60 MEMORANDA. 



will then have the satisfaction of knowing that there do 

 exist, in the pond he is searching in the summer, the mature 

 animals themselves. In order to obtain statoblasts, I would 

 say, look out for the sheltered spots in the pool, "where are 

 collected all the floating rubbish, tangled masses of Algae, 

 decayed roots of grasses, feathers of birds, &c, &c. (it is a 

 curious fact that I have almost always found a quantity of 

 Cristatella statoblasts attached to feathers ; so that I had 

 only to find these, and I was nearly sure to be rewarded 

 with a number of these little round membranous cases 

 agglomerated in one mass). Carefully examine the rubbish 

 bit by bit ; in your hands if you like ; but the best way is to 

 separate and thin out the rubbish in the water, when the 

 statoblasts will readily show themselves as dull masses, 

 sometimes nearly an inch long. The isolated individuals 

 are not to be depended upon as a rule, if you wish to watch 

 the germination ; for they are generally only the separated 

 faces of old specimens. I have taken home frozen-up lumps 

 of rubbish, and have from these obtained statoblasts which 

 have duly germinated, though I have never been able to keep 

 the young polypes alive more than a few weeks. 



But if the fully developed colony is the object of your search, 

 then in the months of July and August, and even in June 

 if the weather has been warm, visit the pond wherein the pre- 

 viously discovered statoblasts had shown evidence your ma- 

 tured treasure would be, and be not content with merely 

 stooping down, and pulling out the weeds of Ranunculus aqua- 

 trilis and the Potamogetons, and examining them in your hands 

 out of the water, for such a search will most probably prove an 

 ineffectual one — it being almost impossible, amid the con- 

 fervoid growth which covers the plants, to detect the col- 

 lapsed form of your much-prized Cristatella ; but you had 

 better lie flat down at once on the edge of the bank (the 

 Polyzoa are almost always within a few feet of the bank, 

 covered by water varying from an inch in depth to about 

 two feet), flat down in ventrem, with your eyes close to the 

 surface of the water — then, with as little disturbance of the 

 water as possible, gently with your hand clear away the 

 floating weeds, and examine every submerged plant in situ, 

 just as it grows in the water, with much patience. Probably, 

 for a minute or two, you will see nothing like a Cristatella; 

 but be patient, continue to gaze, and you will be rewarded 

 most likely by observing, amid the scum and conf) na\ an 

 oblong-shaped feathery object, about an inch long perhaps, 

 of a pale-yellow colour, bearing a strong resemblance to the 

 well-known gelatinous egg nidamenta of Li minus slagnulis 



