Chap. I. 



HISTORY OF THE ^VCALEPIIS. 



29 



narrative of the successive steps which have furnished us with a connected account 

 of the extraordinary modes of reproduction of this class of animals. The first facts 

 relating to the history of the earlier stages of development of the most common 

 Jelly-fish of the European seas, the Aurelia aurita, were observed by Sars, and 

 related liy him in a paper puljlished in 182!},'' and more fully illustrated in a 

 subseciuent work.^ issued in 18.35, which opens a new era in the natural history 

 of the Acalephs. The fundamental discoveries made ))y Sars were afterwards 

 generalized l)y Steenstrup, and presented to the world in a most unexpected con- 

 nection with other genetic phenomena which had remained entirely unintelligible. 



The first paper of Sars contains only descriptions of animals not noticed before ; ^ 

 Ijut among them are those found in the sequel to represent the transitory stages 

 in the growth of the common Medusa. These are here described as Scyplnstoma 

 and Strobila ; the first being considered as a distinct genus of Polyps, the second as 



don, 1853, 8vo. fig. — KnonN (A.), Uel)er die Natiir 

 des kuppelformigeii Aiihanges am Leibe von Pliil- 

 lirhoe buceiilialum, Arch. Naturg. 1853, I. p. 278. 



— McCrady (J.), Description of Oceania nutrieula, 

 and tlie Embryological History of a singular Medusan 

 Larva fomid in the cavity of its Bell ; Proc. Elliott 

 Society, Charleston, S. C, 1857. — Gyninoptlialmata 

 of Charleston narl}or, Proc. Elliott Society, Charles- 

 ton, S. C, 1858. — On the Development of two 

 Species of Ctenophorre found in Charleston Harbor, 

 Proc. Elliott Society, Charleston, S. C, 1859.— 

 Allmax (G. J.), On the Structure of the Eepro- 

 ductive Organs of certain Ilydroid Polyps, Proc. 

 Roy. Soc. Edinb. 1858. — Additional Observations 

 on the Morphology of tlie Reproductive Organs in 

 the Hydroid Polyps, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb. 1858. 



— Semper (C), Ueber die Entwickelung der Eueha- 

 ris multicornis, Zeitsch. f. wiss. Zool. 1858, vol. 9, 

 p. 234, fig. 



^ The first paper of Saks aiipeared in 1829, 

 under the title of Bidrag til Siiedyrenes Natur- 

 historie af M. Sars, Cand. Theol. Fiirste-IIaefte, 

 med sex illumineredc StecutrA'ktafler, 8vo. Bergen, 

 1829. At that time Sars was still " Candidatus 

 Theologiaa." An abridged translation of this paper, 

 with a reproduction of the plates, was published in 

 Oken's Isis for 1833, p. 221. I myself have never 

 seen the original, and I find that most writers have 

 quoted the investigations related in this paper as 



bearing the date of 1833 ; but this is erroneous- 

 The paper contained in the Isis of 1833 was not 

 forwarded to Oken by Sars, but is simply a trans- 

 lation of the paper of 1829, with a few introductory 

 remarks by Thienemann. 



^ Sars (1M.), Beskrivelser og .Tagttagelser over 

 nogle ma'rkclige eller nye i Ilavet ved den Ber- 

 genske Kyst levende Dyr af Polypernes, Aca- 

 lephernes, Radiaternes, Annelidei'nes og Mollus- 

 kernes Classer, etc., Bergen, 1835, 4to. with 15 

 plates. I am indebted for a copy of this rare work 

 to my friend Professor Eschschricht of Copenhagen. 

 As it may not be easily accessible to naturalists in 

 this country, I would mention that abstracts of its 

 contents may Ije found in the Isis of Oken for 1837. 

 p. 354, in the Annalcs d' Anatomic, etc., II. p. 81. 

 and in Wiegmann's Archiv fur Naturgeschichte, 

 183f;, 2d vol. p. 197. What relates to Acalephs 

 may be found p. 197-200. 



" I avoid intentionally, whenever I can, the use 

 of the expression jiew, as applied to animals not 

 known before to naturalists ; for, besides the impro- 

 priety of applying the word new to what has onl}- 

 been unnoticed before, I find that students of PahT- 

 ontology are nuich puzzled in ascertaining whether 

 that expression, when applied to fossils, means a 

 newly discovered species, or one belonging to the 

 more recent geological formations. 



