^°1893!''] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 163 



quite ismall and are destitute of mesenterial filaments. This was the 

 arrangement in a specimen which ha<l about forty-eight tentacles. It 

 will be seen from this that we have an arrangement of the mesenteries 

 whicli Ilertwig considers typical for the Sagartida», but a careful 

 search, both in dissected specimens and in sections, for acoutia failed 

 to reveal their presence. The longitudinal muscles of the mesenteries 

 form a distinct, though somewhat narrow, pennon (PI. xxiii, Fig. 35), but 

 the parieto-basilar appears to be very weak. 



14. Paractis vinosa, sp. iiov. 



Plate XXIII, Vit^a. 37-40; Plate xxiv, Fiy. 41. 



No. 731. Station 2839. Lat. 33" 08' N. ; lou.ijf. 118-^ 40' W. Depth, 414 fathoms. 

 Many specimens. 



The majority of the speidinens were contracted, many, however, show- 

 ing the tentacles protruding (PI. xxiii, Fig.37), while in others they were 

 not at all infolded. In the latter the height of the column was l.I to 

 1.6«"' and its diameter l.li to 1.0*='". 



The base is adherent and thin, allowing the insertion of the mesen- 

 teries and the dark color of the mesenterial filaments to be seen through 

 it. In some specimens it is covered by a somewhat granular membrane, 

 which is very fruible and easily removed in fragments, and seems to be 

 equivalent to the firm basal membrane occurring, for instance, in Adam- 

 sia palliata. 



The column is of a leathery consistence, quite thin near the base, 

 where it is marked with vertical furrows corresponding to the mesenteries, 

 and fading out rapidly above. lu color the column wall is white, owing 

 to the absence of ectoderm, the few fragments of this which persist 

 being of a pale brown coh)r. The mesoghea. has a finely granular ap- 

 pearance in sections and is thickest near the margin. The sphincter 

 muscle (PI. XXIV, Fig. 41) occupies the greater part of this thickened re- 

 gion and is strong. Below it tapers off slowly, extending a^ long dis- 

 tance down the column wall, lying immediately below the endoderm 

 and i)assing gradually into the ordinary endodermal circular muscles 

 whicli are well developed and borne on strong ju-ocesses. (PI. xxiii. 

 Fig. 10.) 



The margin is smooth, although in some more contracted specimens 

 it may be thrown into a few folds. The tentacles are arranged in about 

 four cycles, and their number appears to be sixty-four They are Avhite 

 and translucent, but probably this is due to the ectoderm having been 

 macerated away from their exposed surfaces, since in some of the 

 strongly contracted specimens the ectoderm of the tentacles contains 

 granules of reddish pigment. The disc is of a deep wine color, as is 

 also the stomatodteum, the pigment granules being so abundant in the 

 ectodermal cells as to completely obscure tlieir structure. The ecto- 

 dermal muscles of the tentacles and disk are imbedded in the mesogioea, 



