PELAGIC LIFE, FALMOUTH. 311 



abundant, and with them specimens of various common species 

 of copepods, the only interesting form among them being one 

 Monstrilla rigida. On the 7th, a few specimens of Cyphonautes 

 were noticed. On the 13th, while sailing in my canoe to St. 

 Mawes on a shore hunting expedition, I noticed in the sea some 

 beautiful specimens of a species of Ctenophore new to me. 

 swimming just beneath the surface of the water. I managed 

 with a hand-net to capture some specimens of this species, as all 

 those collected with a surface-net were invariably damaged. A 

 short time later, as I was unable to identify this Ctenophore, I 

 sent some rough sketches to Mr. Grarstang, who kindly replied to 



my queries as follows : — "I was much interested in your 



queries after my paper read at the Devon Association, because 

 your " Fig. 1 " is certainly one of those which I described to them 

 — a Ctenophore of the Lobate Order, Genus Bolina. The species 

 is not quite certain, but it is probably hydatina of Chun, and 



also probably alata of L. Agassiz They appeared in the 



Sound in great numbers on May the 28th, and a few were seen 

 on the 27th and 29th." 



Although I was not using the surface-net on the dates 

 mentioned by Mr. Garstang, owing to the presence of the gela- 

 tinous bodies in the sea, I feel fairly confident that these 

 Ctenophores did not then occur in Falmouth harbour in any 

 quantity. All that time I was industriously engaged shore- 

 hunting in various parts of the harbour, and I feel confident that 

 so prominent an object as this Ctenophore would not have escaped 

 my notice. Be that as it may, after the 15th of this month I 

 was unable to secure any more specimens of this beautiful 

 species. 



On the 16th and two following days, I captured in the 

 surface-net a few specimens of the free larval form of a species 

 of Synapta. The only description I have been able to discover 

 relating to the later stages of this species is by Mr. W. Thomson 

 (9). I made some drawings of my specimens, and also placed 

 about a dozen of these larval forms in a jar with a slow current 

 of water always passing through it. In spite of all my care, in 

 a few days all these specimens died. During this month 

 specimens of Thaumentias pilosella, already recorded by Dr. 

 Cocks, were very abundant in tow-net gatherings, made not only 



