254 



ALTERNATE GENERATIONS. 



animal. On the upper side of the body, but 

 alternating in position with these curtains, are 

 the four ovaries, crescent-like in shape, and so 

 placed as to form the figure of a cross, when seen 

 from above through the transparency of the disk. 

 I should add, that, though I speak of some organs 

 as being on the upper and others on the lower 

 side of the body, all are under the convex, 

 arched surface of the disk, which is gelatinous 

 throughout, and simply forms a transparent 

 vaulted roof, as it were, above the rest of the 

 body. 



Aurelia flavidula, seen in profile. 



When these animals first make their appear- 

 ance in the spring, they may be seen, when the 

 sky is clear and the sea smooth, floating in im- 

 mense numbers near the surface of the water, 

 though they do not seek the glare of the sun, 

 but are more often found about sheltered places, 

 in the neighborhood of wharves or overhanging 

 rocks. As they grow larger, they lose something 

 of their gregarious disposition, — they scatter 



