CONDITION ON LEAVING THE EGG. 329 



and of a spherical shape. When hatched, the embryos 

 have exactly the appearance of Infusorial animalcules ; 

 in form they are elongated, flattened, and begirt with 

 cilia ; their length three times their breadth ; their 

 colour a faint dingy yellow j their body generally 

 opaque, but with lighter portions on some specimens. 

 Their movements towards the end of June become 

 rather slow, and sometimes the little creatures display 

 a tendency to revolve horizontally on the centre of the 

 body as on an axis. The further development of these 

 embryos has not as yet been satisfactorily traced. 



The Cirratulus is tolerably patient under confine- 

 ment : one specimen survived eighteen months, and 

 then it perished accidentally. 



