42 BR. m'INTOSH on BRITISH SALP^. 



or kept too far from shore. Dr. McCuUocli, the discoverer of the 

 species described in the ' British Mollusca,' mentions that he 

 found them from the middle to the latter end of August, and 

 always linked together. They occurred lately from the beginning 

 to the end of August ; and probably the time of their appearance 

 stretches into the end of July and the beginning of September*. 

 They appear to have a v^de distribution on the shores of the 

 Western Islands and the regions bordering on the Minch, north- 

 wards and southwards. 



At the beginning of August Salpa runcinata was the only 

 species met with on the eastern shores of North TJist. The wind 

 was westerly, and the weather good. In the creeks of Lochmaddy 

 the hand-net could scarcely be put in without bringing some in- 

 dividuals of the solitary or aggregate forms to land (figs. 1 to 4). 

 At this time few chains or portions of chains were met with 

 along the beach-line, though the sea was calm. The separation 

 of the aggregate forms must therefore have been due to changes 

 in the individuals themselves or to previous rough weather. These 

 individuals kept a foot or more under the surface of the water, 

 and swam with vigour, showing none of the signs of impaired 

 vitality that might warrant the statement that they soon perish 

 after separation f. 



In the loch itself on a quiet evening this species swarmed, 

 moving in longer or shorter chains a few feet from the surface. 

 Some of the chains had only a very slight bend; others were 

 curved at one end like a crook ; while a third series almost formed 

 a TJ. There was no coiling or uncoiling of the chains, so far as I 

 saw ; but they moved slowly and steadily along, each appearing like 

 a milky, semitranslucent, gelatinous riband marked with a series 

 of dots. The most common hue of the visceral speck is brownish 

 orange, though in some of the smaller individuals it is slightly 

 yellow. Many solitary animals were also caught, and in confine- 

 ment they proved somewhat hardier than the individuals of the ag- 

 gregate form. Dr. McCulloch observes of this species, " that, like 

 the Medusae and analogous tribes, it cannot bear to be confined in 

 a limited portion of water, as it died, even in the ship's bucket, in 

 less than half an hour — a very remarkable circumstance in the 

 economy of these imperfect animals." No dif&culty, however, 

 was encountered in this case in keeping Salpse of all the forms 



* Dr. Fleming got S. runcinata in spring on the coast of Caithness. 

 t Viie Rymer Jones's ' Animal Kingdom,' SalpcE. 



