Miscellaneous. 235 



the Norwich Museum." He adds in a note, " the specific name of the 

 example taken and here referred to has not, I believe, been deter- 

 mined. A reference to a paper by M. "\'alenciennes in the ninth 

 volume of the ' jMemoires du Museum', which supplies detailed 

 descriptions of four species of the genus, would probably settle this 

 point. A representation of the most common species, Zygcena mal- 

 leus, Val., is here given as a vignette to draw the attention of ob- 

 servers to the subject." Upon inspection of the vignette the Tenby 

 specimen was instantly recognized*, and its identity with Zygcma 

 malleus, Val., completely established by a subsequent reference to 

 the ' Memoires.' The owner of the fish would be very glad to dispose 

 of it. 



Amongst the variety of animals which we had opportunities of 

 seeing during our stay at this charming marine watering-place, none 

 aftbrded greater interest than a small Medusa belonging to the ge- 

 nus Cyantca, Cuv. It cannot, I think, be referred to any known spe- 

 cies f, for it diflFers from all the figures of the smaller Medusae in the 

 ' Zoologia Danica,' the ' Tableau Encyclopedique,' and ' Regne 

 Animale,' and likewise from those illustrative of Dr. Macartney's 

 paper in vol. c. of the ' Philosophical Transactions,' chiefly in the 

 depth of the bell or disc and length of the tentacula. 



Having been discovered by Mrs. Davis, who had likewise the best 

 opportunity of watching its motions during several weeks that she 

 kept it in a glass of sea- water at Tenby and afterwards here, whi- 

 ther it was conveyed in a phial of the same, and lived three weeks 

 after its arrival, I will state the history of this " thing of light and 

 life" in her own words : " One morning, while pouring some sea- 

 water into the vessels containing my Actiniae, I observed two small 

 objects, which I took for the young of these animals, and as quickly 

 as possible raised them in a spoon out of the basin and placed them 

 in a tumbler of clean sea-water. The}'' resembled tiny bell-glasses. 

 Four transverse rays were perceptible on their sides, and a minute 

 red body, with four white arms forming a cross, was suspended in the 

 water. Around the edge of the bell or disc appeared a delicate white 

 fringe, which was lengthened or shortened at the pleasure of the 

 animal. The contraction was sometimes so great as to give to the 

 fringe the appearance of being knotted up to the edge of the bell or 

 disc. It was highly interesting to watch their movements in the 

 water as thej' ascended from the bottom, the bell or disc contracting 

 and dilating alternately until the animal arrived near the surface of the 

 water. Tliis motion was particularly conspicuous at the edge of the 

 disc, and the fringe or tentacula became shortened as the animals rose 

 in the water; but when they descended again the tentacula lengthened, 

 sometimes to a great degree, after which the animals sunk gradually, 

 and without any visible eflfort. At the end of a fortnight one of my 

 pets turned itself inside outwards, and remained in this state for 

 some time, when it died and left only a few fiocculent particles at 



• See also Suppl. to British Fishes, Part II. p. 6K 



\ Perhaps it may be a species of Oceania, allied to O. cacuminata of 

 Eschscholtz, ;uid which has not before been noted as British. — Ed. 



