24 



ACALEPIIS IN GENERAL. 



Part 1. 



In the jear 1820, Ilsehsclioltz/ wlio had made two vo3-ages round the Avorld 

 with Captain K()tzel)ne, pnhHshed his .-system of tht' Acalephs, the most important 

 work jet pn1)hshed upon this ehiss, as it endiodies not oidy the results of all the 

 investigations of his predecessors, Init presents, with great fulness and precision, 

 original investigations made hy himself upon all the memhers of this class now 

 referred to it, with the sole exception of the Ilydroids. Tlie figures, though mere 

 outlines, are invaluable for their accuracy. In the following year DeBlainville 

 pul)lished a general accoiuit of the Z(jophytes, in which the Acalej^hs occupy a large 

 place; l)ut it can hardly he said to mark a progress in our science, notwithstanding 

 the many additions it contains in the details, for De Blainville" has ])een led in 

 the classification to make changes Avhich are \uijustifiahle, and to remove from 

 among the Acalephs a large number of genera which undoubtedly belong to this 

 class. The more recent publications of systematic importance are those of Mertens,^ 

 Brandt,* and Lesson;^ and with the latter ends faiily the period of the i)vu'ely 

 descriptive history of Acalephs. There are, still, many pa])ers published at a later 



^ EsciisciiOLTZ (Fr.), System duv AcalephiMi, 

 einc ausfiilirlielie Bfschreibung aller niedusenartigeii 

 Straliltliiere, Berlin, 1829, 4to. with fourteen plates. 

 Esclisclioltz niaile two voyages round the world, 

 the tir,st in IS]. 3-1818 as iihysiciau on board the 

 brig Knriek under the eonim.-iud of Cajitain Otto 

 von Kotzebue, while C'hamisso was naturalist to 

 the expedition. lie has contributed several papers 

 to the report of this voyage. The results of the 

 second voyage, in the years 18'J;j-lS"i(i, on board 

 the l'red})riaetie sloop of war, under the eomniand 

 of the same distinguished seaman, are jiartieularly 

 interesting to American naturalists, as, during a 

 prolonged stay upon the north-west coast of this 

 continent, Eschseholtz visited California, and discov- 

 ered a great many curious animals jieenliar to our 

 western Fauna, which are described for the first 

 time in the '• Zoologischer Atlas, enthallend Abbild- 

 ungen uud Beschreibungen neiier Thierarten, wjdi- 

 rend (h-s Flottcapitains v. Kotzebue's iter Iveise um 

 die Welt, von Dr. Friedr. Eschseholtz, Berlin, 1820- 

 1833, in 5 Ilcfte," the last of which was edited by 

 Rathke, after the author's death. The name of 

 Eschseholtz is familiar to every lover of flowers, in 

 the elegant plant that now adoi-ns our gardens and 

 which bears his name, the Esclisclioltzia of California. 



The scientitic results of the first voyage of Kotzebue 

 were in part published by Chamisso and Ei/seiiliardt 

 in N. Act. Nat. Cur. X. 1821. 



- Blainvh.le (II. D. de), Article Zoophytes 

 in Noiiveau Dicli<innaire d'liistoire natnrelle, Paris, 

 18;]0. Kepulilished under the title of Manuel 

 d'Actinologie, Paris, 1834, 2 vols. 8vo. lig. 



^ Meutexs (H.), Beobachtungen iibi.'r die Be- 

 roeartigen Acalephen, i\Iem. Acad. Pet<M-sli. 1833. 



■• BuANDT (.1. F.), Ausfuhrliehe Beselireibung 

 d<'r von C. II. Mkrtens beobachten .Srhirni(|ualleu, 

 etc., Petersb. 1.S3S, 4to. fig. col., Mem. Acad. Pet. 

 ser. 0, 11. Also Prodromus, etc. lS.';ri. 



'" Lessiin, Ilistoire naturi-lle des Zoophytes, Aca- 

 lephes, I'aris, 1.S13, 1 vol. 8vo. fig. — Centurie 

 Zoologicjue, Paris, 1830, 8vo. fig. — Taldeau de la 

 famille des Zoophytes Beroides, Ann. Se. Nat. Y. 

 ]). 2.34, ls3i;. Translated in Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 III. p. 2. — Prodrome d'une Monograiihie des Me- 

 duses, in-lto. de 02 jiages, Rochefort, jnin, 1837. 

 Edw. Forbes (piestions the existence of this work ; 

 but it was really published, in the shape of auto- 

 graphed slieets, of which, hofl'cver, a very snudl 

 number of (■(i|ii(^s wei-e issued. I nij'self used it 

 when preparing tlie Nomeuclator Zoologicus. The 

 eoi>y I saw belongs to Dunieril. 



