SQUIRTS, POLYPS, AND JELLY-FISHES. — 63 
is surmounted by a beautiful, flower-like, drooping 
head of a pink or bright red color. These heads are 
often broken off, or even voluntarily cast off, when 
the animals are unhealthy, but new ones are soon 
reproduced, and therefore this does not seem to be 
a very serious accident, though certainly a very in- 
convenient one, for the mouth, stomach, tentacles, 
and most other organs are all lost when these 
heads drop off” (Verrill). As in Tubularia, the re- 
productive buds hang down in drooping (red) grape- 
like clusters, but they do not develop into free 
meduse. 
JELLY-PADS AND JELLY-FISHES. 
The favored few among the ‘dwellers by the 
sea’ to whom a bright and warm summer’s day is 
something more than a source of unmitigated 
discomfort and complaint cannot easily pass a 
more delightful hour than by navigating the quiet 
waters in search of meduse. These exquisite creat- 
ures, for all the world like water- | 
bubbles, will almost surely be out 
in greater or less number; but 
some of them are so minute, al- 
most microscopic, others so trans- 
parent, that, unless the sea is ac- 
tually covered by them, a sharp MEDUSA. 
watch must be kept, or else they — 
will escape us. A glass jar will be of service in a trip 
of this kind, as through its aid a rapprochement may 
be effected between us and the tiny creatures whose 
habits we wish to study. Some appear nearly tor- 
pid on the surface, dragging their tentacles wearily 
