646 C. H. MARTIN. 
The nematoblasts could now be seen passing down the pro- 
boscis into the body of the animal with a peculiar gliding 
motion. In the course of this passage the long axis of the 
nematocyst was always parallel to the long axis of the pro- 
boscis; and when the nematoblasts passed simultaneously 
down the proboscis they followed parallel paths, thus indica- 
ting a feature that has already been described in the sections 
of the proboscis, the prolongation of the tentacles as separate 
3. 
Trxt-FIGURE 3.— Living feeding Proboscidiform individual 
with contracted proboscis, only a few of the tentacles are 
shown. a. Nematoblasts still fixed in the aperture of the 
tentacles. b. Nematoblasts passing down the proboscis. 
tubes down the proboscis. The first stage in feeding is shown 
in Pl. 15, figs. 1 and 2, in which one nematoblast has been 
pulled out of its position in the ectoderm of the hydroid, 
the later stage is shown in a drawing from a living specimen, 
text-fig. 3, and from a stained preparation, Pl. 15, fig. 3. It 
would seem that the size of the nematoblasts prevents their 
passage down the tentacles as long as the proboscis is in its 
fully extended condition. 
After passing down the proboscis the ingested ectodermal 
cells may be found (PI. 15, fig. 3) lying in the cytoplasm of 
the Ophryodendron, and in some cases the whole body is 
absolutely blocked by them. ‘The cytoplasm of these cells 
seems to undergo fairly rapid digestion, but the nucleus is far 
