RADIATES. 343 
met with in summer on most 
parts of the coast, swimming 
near the surface, and may 
readily be taken in a gauze 
drag-net. It has a melon- 
shaped body, from half an 
inch to nearly an inch in 
length, clear as crystal, and 
divided, as it were, into 
gores by eight longitudinal 
equidistant bands or ribs. 
These ribs, when minutely 
examined, are found clothed 
with innumerable flat plates 
resembling the paddles of 
a water-wheel placed one 
above another, and acting 
under the control of the will 
of the animal. When the 
Beroe wishes to move, these 
paddles are set in motion, 
and by their united action 
on the water propel the liv- 
ing globe of crystal, with a 
swift and easy motion, for- 
VE ward or backward, as it 
aN e wills; and when it wishes 
to turn, it merely stops the 
movement of the paddles on 
ge side. The cilia, in sunlight, reflect brilliant prismatic 
colors, and in darkness flash with a beautiful blue light. 
Delicate as are its organs of motion, the fishing appara- 
tus of the Beroe is not less elegant. This consists of two 
long and exceedingly slender tentacula, five or six inches 
in length when fully extended, but capable of being whol- 
ly drawn within the body of the creature, where they are 
lodged in tubular sheaths. To the long filament is at- 
Fig. 269.—Beroe. 
