42 G1OIMATTON-. 



which it obtains. But Professor Forbes, in his elaborate work 

 before quoted from, helps us to estimate the oddity of the process, 

 by supposing it to be observed amongst animals somewhat more 

 bulky, and higher in the scale than Jelly-fish. " Fancy," he 

 says, " an elephant with a number of little elephants sprouting 

 frorr* his shoulders and thighs, bunches of tusked monsters hang- 

 ing, epaulette-fashion, from his flanks, in every stage of advance- 

 ment. Here a young Pachyderm, almost amorphous ; there one 

 more advanced, but all ears and eyes ; on the right shoulder a 

 youthful Chuney, with head, trunk, toes, no legs, and a shape- 

 less body ; on the left, an infant, better grown, and struggling 

 to get away, but his tail not sufficiently organized as yet to per- 

 mit of liberty and free action ! The comparison seems grotesque 

 and absurd, but it really expresses what we have been describing 

 r.? actually occurring among our naked-eyed Medusse. It is true 

 that the latter are minute, but wonders are not the less wonderful 

 for being packed into small compass." 



No less than four species of Jelly-fish found around our own 

 shores have been observed to reproduce their kind in this manner ; 

 one of the number being the graceful little Sarsia gemmifera, 

 in which the young brood may be seen sprouting from the sto- 

 machal peduncle of the parent. 



It is to the development of the ova of the Jelly-fish, however, 

 that the chief interest pertains, the germs being now ascertained 

 to pass through a series of the most remarkable transformations 

 before assuming their mature form. 



The extraordinary history which follows is that of the common 

 Jelly-fish of our own coast (Medusa aurita) which every visitor 

 to the sea-shore must have often seen, and will at once recognize 

 by the four pinkish rings in the centre of its almost colourless 

 disc. The eggs of this species are produced within the body of 

 the Jelly-fish in regular ovaries the rings above mentioned 

 whence they are transferred to a number of curious pear-shaped 

 sacks, which are developed from the under surface of the arms 

 which surround the mouth. Here they are retained for a time, 

 and then, the sacks bursting, the embryos escape in the form of 

 minute oval bodies, covered with cilia, and, to all appearance, a 

 swarm of infusorial animalcules. In this state the young brood 

 remains for some days, sporting gaily in the water, and subsisting 

 apparently in just the same manner as the creatures they SQ 



