FUNICULINA QUADRANGULARIS. 17 



Gosse, in his account of the mesenterial filaments of the Sea- 

 anemones,* describes them as of two kinds, which he distinguishes by 

 the names of cra^peda and acontia, assigning the former name to the 

 thickened cord-like edges of the mesenteries, and the latter to certain 

 spirally-twisted threads similar in structure to the cmnpeda, and 

 attached to them by one end, but with the greater part of their 

 length lying freely in the body-cavity, and capable of being shot out 

 through special apertures [cinclides) in the body-wall. From the 

 description given above, it is evident that FunicuUua, to use Gosse's 

 nomenclature, has craspeda, but no acontia. Heiderf and others have 

 indeed doubted whether Gosse's acontia really exist in the Sea- 

 anemones. 



Concerning the function of these mesenterial filaments there has 

 been so much dispute that a few words may not be out of place here, 

 although the subject is one which we havehad no opportunity of inves- 

 tigating physiologically in FunicuUna, and which, therefore, does not, 

 strictly speaking, fall within the limits of the present report. 



By different writers all possible functions appear to have been 

 assigned to these organs. Contarini, Delle Chiaje, Spi.K, Johnston, 

 Wagner, and Owen, describe them as the male reproductive organs, 

 either essential or accessory; by Rapp, Cuvier, R. Jones, and Quatre- 

 faga, they were regarded either as ovaries or oviducts ; others have 

 considered them to be bile vessels ; while Frey, Leuckart, Schmarda, 

 and more recently Heider and the Hertwigs, are of opinion that as 

 they contain both gland-cells and thread-cells their main function is 

 probably that of digestive organs, the thread-cells serving to paralyse 

 or kill the prey after being swallowed alive, and the gland-cells to 

 digest it when dead. 



By far the most important evidence on the subject, however, is 

 that submitted by Dr. KrukenbergJ: as the result of a direct physio- 

 logical investigation of the action of the mesenterial filaments of 

 Sea-anemones. He finds that the mesenterial filaments have a very 

 considerable power of digesting albuminous substances, such as raw 

 fibrin or raw pieces of flesh ; and by mixing portions of the fllainents 

 with small pieces of raw meat in a very finely-divided state, he was 

 able to watch the process of solution, i.e., digestion of the meat under 

 the microscope. Furthermore, by experimenting in a siinilar manner 

 with portions of the stomach, tentacles, body- wall, etc., of the 

 Anemone, he was led to the important conclusion — that not only have 

 the mesenterial filaments the power of digesting albuminous bodies, 

 but that they are the only portions of the body which possess this 

 power: that they are not only digestive organs, but the digestive 

 organs of the Anemone so far as proteid matters are concerned. 



* Gosse, op. cit.. Introduction, pp. xxiii-xxix. 



+ Heider, loc. cit. 



I Krukenberg: " Vergleichend physiologische Studien an den Kiisten der 

 Adria." Erste Abtheilung, 1880, pp. 38-56. " Ueber den Verdauungsmodus der 

 Aetinien." For a knowledge of this interesting and important paper we are 

 indebted to Professor tlay Lankester. 



