506 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



nious, that it might almost be taken for a bed of 

 flowers endowed with life, and wandering about to 

 show its splendours. These and a hundred more, 

 presenting various forms of beauty, are procurable on 

 every beach. Specimens of different species of Doris 

 (PI. VIII. fig. 15) are common on most parts of the 

 coast, and sometimes are met with in considerable 

 numbers. Thirteen occurred at once between the 

 valves of an old empty shell, and at another time 

 fifteen were obtained from a moderate quantity of 

 miscellaneous gatherings ; so that the reader need be 

 under no apprehension of being disappointed in his 

 attempts to obtain specimens for examination. 



The spawn of these animals is deposited in the 

 form of a long gelatinous riband, which is sometimes 

 an inch broad and above a line in thickness, the 

 dimensions of course depending upon the size of the 

 parent. A Doris of medium bulk has been seen to 

 produce in the course of ten days a spiral festoon, 

 resembling a frill of fine lace, that must have con- 

 tained at least 20,000 ova ; and in larger specimens 

 the number of the eggs really exceeds computation, 

 insomuch that it almost baffles conjecture to account 

 for the fate of a vast proportion of the multitudinous 

 progeny of these prolific animals. 



On cutting off a portion of the gelatinous frill in 

 which the ova are enclosed, and subjecting them to 

 examination with the microscope, a singular scene 

 manifests itself. The most mature parts will be 

 found to consist of numerous perfectly transparent 

 capsules, of a spherical shape, deposited in the same 

 mass of albuminous matter. In each of these cap- 



