240 ALTERNATE GENERATIONS. 
extending and contracting their tentacles, some 
of the heads stretched upwards, others bent 
Single head or branch of Coryne mirabilis, magnified, with two Medusa buds. 
downwards, all seeming very busy and active. 
Each tentacle has a globular tip filled with a 
multitude of cells, the so-called lasso-cells, each 
one of which conceals a coiled-up thread. These 
organs serve to seize the prey, shooting out 
their long threads, thus entangling the victim 
in a net more delicate than the finest spider’s 
web, and then carrying it to the mouth by 
the aid of the lower part of the tentacle. The 
complication of structure in these animals, a 
whole community of which, numbering from 
twenty to thirty individuals, is not more than 
an inch in height, is truly wonderful. In such 
