THE FORAMINIFERA. 65 
elongating themselves ; and now again contracting, appearing, and 
disappearing. 
The Radiolaria float in abundance on the surface of the sea 
under the beautiful sky of Messina. They may be seen moving 
THE LIEBERKUHNIA OF WAGENER. 
on the blue water in such numbers that they appear like a scum 
of mobile, transparent, colourless jelly. Their forms vary from a 
point to a line, they may be spherical, or elliptical, or cylindrical, 
and sometimes the creature is wreathed into a crown. If you try 
to take them with the forceps, they tear; if you lift them from the 
water with a net, they adhere to the meshes, and you mutilate them 
in endeavouring to detach them. They can only be procured 
intact by taking them from the sea in a glass, so that they can swim 
in the water at liberty. When seen in the light, these jellies lie 
F 
