BLROliS. 



33 



melon, and arc in form not nnlike an oranjje or an apple, from 

 which circumstance they take their specific name {Ci/dippe 

 pomiforviis. Fig. 19)-* If gently lifted from the net, and 

 placed in a glass of sea-water, the little animals will begin to 

 move by means of eight bauds of vibratile cilia, which extend 



FlO. I'J.— CVDIPPE. 



from the upper to the lower extremity of the body. From 

 this peculiar mode of locomotion, they are termed ciliogrades, 

 and constitute a family which is distinguished by the classic 

 appellation of Beroe, from one of the fabled sea-njTuphs. 



Specimens of the Cydippe, when recently taken, form most 

 attractive objects, even to the unscientific. Their cilia, which 

 act like so many little paddles on the water, produce a beau- 

 tiful iridescence, and suggest, as not inapplicable, the language 

 of the poet, — 



-" Gay creatures of the element, 



That in the colours of the rainbow live." — Milton. 



Their movements are incessant and ever-varying. The little 

 animals can rise or fall at pleasure, executing, as they meve 

 np and doiivni, a whole series of g)Tations ; or without actual 



* Transactions of Royal Irish Academy, Tol. xix. p. 91. 



PART I. G 



