Mr. A. Hancock on a species of Hydra. 281 



wing-ribs and the rib-veins are yellow ; the brands and the veins 

 are brown, and the latter are very distinct. 



1st var. The seventh joint of the feelers is hardly longer than 

 the fourth. 



2nd var. The mouth is dull yellow with a black tip. 



3rd var. The nectaries are one-tenth of the length of the 

 body. 



4th var. The legs are black : the base of the thighs is yellow 

 in the fore-pair, and has a slight tinge of yellow in the rest. 



The oviparous wingless female ? The head, the underside, and 

 sometimes the chest, and even the whole body, are red: the 

 mouth is pale yellow with a black tip. Found in the autumn. 



The winged male ? Black, and very small : the abdomen is very 

 dark green : the feelers are a little longer than the body : the 

 mouth is dull yellow; its tip and the nectaries are black, and 

 the latter are as long as one-sixth of the body : the legs are black ; 

 the base of the fore-thighs, and the shanks, except their tips, are 

 dark yellow : the wings are nearly twice the length of the body ; 

 the wing-ribs are pale yellow. In the beginning of November. 



Length of the body J -f line; of the wings lf-2^ lines. 

 [To be continued.] 



XXVIII. — Notes on a species of Hydra found in the Northumber- 

 land Lakes. By Albany Hancock, Esq. 



[With two Plates.] 



On visiting the Northumberland lakes last August for the pur- 

 pose of prosecuting my inquiries respecting the freshwater Asci- 

 dian Polypes, I took a very beautiful Hydra abundantly in 

 Bromley Lough. On a subsequent occasion numerous speci- 

 mens of the same species were also obtained in Crag Lough. 

 They were found associated with the various Bryozoa that 

 inhabit these waters, adhering to the under side of stones that 

 lie scattered by their margins, and in situations where there was . 

 neither mud nor vegetation. From the peculiar character of the 

 locality, so different from that of the usual habitat of the Hydra, 

 I was induced to examine the specimens with great care, and 

 find that they do not exactly agree with any of the known forms, 

 though they come very near to H. fusca, of which they may pro- 

 bably prove to be a variety. 



On removing from the water a stone to which these Hydra 

 are attached, they appear as irregular, minute, depressed globules 

 of gelatine of a pale red flesh- colour, dispersed over the surface, 

 sometimes in great numbers on one stone, but never crowded on 

 each other. When placed in a bottle of water they soon become 

 fixed to its sides, and spreading out their tentacles display them- 



