372 THE RED-LINED CHRYSAORA. 



?iaora had produced the least alteration in the appear- 

 ance of the fish ; the surface of which was as clean^ 

 and its edges as smooth and well defined, as they 

 had been three hours before. Yet I would not hence 

 too hastily conclude that no nutriment whatever had 

 been extracted by the pores of the stomachal membrane. 

 It seemed possible, too, that the weight and unwieldy 

 dimensions of the fish may have disappointed the 

 animal of its expected feast ; and that a smaller 

 morsel might have been more completely inclosed. 



Acting on the last suggestion, I off'ered to the 

 Chrysaora, a day or two after the above experiment, 

 a piece of cooked meat about half-an-inch square. It 

 was caught by the furbelows, and slowly passed up to 

 their base, where it was closely embraced for several 

 hours. I know not how long it remained there, but 

 the next morning I found that it had been received 

 during the night into one of the four cavities, into 

 which the peduncle is divided. It was visible through 

 the pellucid integuments from above, and without any 

 intervening substance from below, through the oval 

 aperture of the chamber, which was not closed upon 

 it. Here it remained two days and nights, being 

 dropped to the bottom in the course of the third eve- 

 ning. I examined the morsel ; it was white from the 

 long maceration, but was not decomposed, nor sur- 

 rounded by any mucus, as are the rejecta of the 

 Actiniae, &c. ; nor had it the least putrescent smell, a 

 circumstance which appears to me to prove that a 

 true digestive process had operated on it. For if the 

 morsel had lain in the water for that time, it would 

 undoubtedly have become ofl^ensive, whereas the gas- 



