THE NOCTILUCA. 325 



and stray bits of weed ; but we know better. Those bubbles 

 are not all of foam ; some of them are exquisite creatures of 

 living crystal ; and on reversing the net into the glass jar of 

 sea-water, behold ! they swim before our delighted eyes 

 as Cydippes, Noctilucse, and Naked -eyed Medusag. The 

 Cydlppe (Plate I., fig. 2) is melon-shaped, with longitudinal 

 bands, on which are transverse rows of very active cilia, not 

 unlike tiny treadmills, and with two long streamers, which 

 follow like the tail of a comet. As we capture these beauties, 

 our boatmen are lost in astonishment. They never " see'd 

 such things afore — that they never did — never in all their 

 lives, long as they've been at sea." Nor can they understand 

 how we distinguish them from the foam-bubbles. Indeed, 

 I cannot myself precisely indicate the characters by which 

 they are recognised ; and yet no sooner was there one in the 

 net than it was detected. If the reader desire to learn a 

 simple plan by which he will infalhbly detect them, when 

 they escape his rapid eye, let him place his hand underneath 

 the net, where the bubbles are, and the greater opacity of 

 the animals will at once betray them. Then, without loss 

 of time, let him reverse the net into a jar or bucket, and the 

 creatures will float off. 



On bringing them home, we place our captives in glass 

 vases, and begin to study them. The Noctilucce are little 

 crystal balls of about the size of a pin's head, which, under the 

 microscope, present the appearance figured in the Frontis- 

 piece (fig. 3). The transparence of its structure permits an 

 easy investigation. Not a fibre is to be seen, unless, with 

 De Blainville, we consider the transverse markings of the 



