1 64 ROT1FERA. PART in. 



the tunic in an instant. It terminates in two short 

 conical fingers or toes, which can be widely sepa- 

 rated or brought into contact. By means of these, the 

 Brachion has the power of mooring itself even to the 

 smooth surface of glass so firmly, that it can stretch 

 itself in all directions, shaking itself to and fro with 

 sudden violence without letting go its hold. The Boti- 

 fers usually fix themselves before they set their wheels 

 in motion in search of food. 



From the anterior rim of the shelly cup, the Brachion 

 protrudes a waved outline of limpid flesh which, as soon 

 as it rises above the level of the sharp-pointed spines, 

 spreads out into three broad flattish muscular lobes. 

 On the edges of the middle one there are very strong 

 cilia like stiff bristles, which do not vibrate, but are 

 either erect or converge to a point, whereas the edges 

 of the other two lobes are thickly fringed with long 

 stout cilia, which, by striking the water in perpetual 

 rapid succession, each cilium bending and rising again, 

 produce the appearance of two circles of dark spots in 

 rapid horizontal rotation, like wheels on their axis. It is 

 merely an optical deception, for both the animal and its 

 lobes may be at rest. The vibrations of the cilia can 

 be instantaneously arrested, and the whole apparatus 

 drawn out of sight, and as instantaneously protruded 

 and set in motion. 



In the flesh, on the ventral side of the Brachion, there 

 is a deep cleft, the edges of which as well as the whole 

 interior of a tube of which it is the orifice, are thickly 

 covered with vibratile cilia. This tube leads to a mouth 

 with powerful jaws of unwonted structure, which is so 

 deeply sunk in the tissues of the body, that it never 

 comes into contact with the water. It opens into a 

 gullet leading to a stomach, intestine, and vent, at the 

 posterior end of the body. 



The vibrations of the cilia on the lobes of the animal's 



