174 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Chylaqueous Fluid in the Actinoida. 



meter by '0003 iu shorter. Treated with nitric acid, the drop 

 immediately and strongly coagulated. 



Sag. bellis. — Corpuscles moderately few; remarkable in general 

 for the perfect circularity of their figure ; from '000] to '0003 

 inch, but for the most part attaining the latter measurement. 

 Under nitric acid, a milkiness very slight, but perceptible, was 

 produced, much as in S. parasitica. 



Bunodes clavata. — Corpuscles rather sparsely scattered ; vary- 

 ing much in size, from '0001 to "0008 inch, but averaging 

 •00025 ; their form roundish ; their appearance (as usual) pale 

 yellow, granulose; and the larger ones contained oil-globules. 



Bunodes crassicornis. — Corpuscles very few and remote ; nearly 

 round ; clear pale yellow ; not evidently granulose ; averaging 

 from "OOOIS to "00025 inch. With the addition of nitric acid, 

 no milkiness was produced that I could with confidence pro- 

 nounce as such. 



This specimen of B. crassicornis, after having been wiped dry 

 with a cloth, I allowed to lie in a saucer without water for half 

 an hour, and then tapped it a second time. I wished to ascer- 

 tain whether the fluid contained within the body at any given 

 moment, would or would not become more organized, if 

 allowed to remain without communication with the sea-water. 

 The fluid was now, as I had anticipated, very rich in morphotic 

 elements, being densely a'owded with, corpuscles having the same 

 character and average dimensions as those I had found at first. 

 There was, moreover, a very marked coagulation, under treat- 

 ment with nitric acid. 



Yet again ; having taken this Anemone from the saucer, I 

 found about a quarter of a teaspoonful of fluid where it had 

 lain, which had drained from it during the forty minutes that 

 had elapsed since I had taken it from the tank. I examined 

 a drop of this fluid. Though not quite so full of morphotic 

 matter as that last taken from the animal, it was still richly 

 corpusculated ; and, on the addition of nitric acid, coagulated 

 strongly. 



But were not these exceptional cases ? Have I not selected 

 for record a few samples in which I succeeded in finding or- 

 ganized elements, cushioning the many in which I failed ? No : 

 I have given the results of every case that I examined. The 

 specimens were taken at random, and yielded the same un- 

 deviating result. There was not a single exception. 



Having thus found corpuscular elements in the chylaqueous 

 fluid of the above seven species, of four genera, I next set my- 

 self to examine the water of the different vessels in which the 

 animals had lived. These tanks and vases were five in num- 

 ber. A di'op of water, taken from each of these in succession, 



