60 



SARSIA PROLIFERA. 



one 



„„„ of the gemms has attained a stage of development far beyond that of the other children 

 of its parent, for it has assumed a distinct campanulate form ; its sub-umbrella is lineated by 

 the gastro-vascular canals ; its tentacular bulbs are defined, and separated from the margm, 

 and present large and conspicuous ocelli, and its tentacles have assumed a definite form and 

 ample dimensions. The whole hangs by a very short and slender peduncle to the tentacular 

 bulb, which exhibits besides three other buds in early stages of development, ready to advance 

 when the firstborn of the parent finger has loosened its ties, and embarked on a free voyage 

 of its own. A youthful Sarsia, which has just cast off its leading-strings, is represented at 

 3, i. The funiculus still remains projecting from its summit, and its stomach is so rudi- 

 mentary, that, for its own sake, we must wish it a rapid accumulation of new tissue, since at 

 present it can scarcely hope to live very long, unless it provides itself with a more efiicient 

 receptacle for nourishment. Perhaps it was undutiful, and left its mother too soon ; all the 

 worse for it, and the better for us, since we learn from its examination, that the little process at 

 the summit of the sub-umbrella is the remains of the funiculus, and that the umbrella does 

 not attain its true shape and dimensions till after the sub-umbrella has been formed, and the 

 tentacula and organs of sense comparatively advanced. The great size of the ocelli in these 

 young animals, as compared with the entire body, is very striking, especially in the species 

 before us, where the ocellus is eventually very small and inconspicuous, though well defined. 

 The order of formation of tissues and organs in the Bar sice seems to be as follows : — 1st, the 

 motor tissue begins ; 2d, the cavity of the disk is outlined, though closed ; 3d, the pigment 

 cells of the oceUi commence to appear ; 4th, the cavity opens, and the tentacula grow as lobes ; 

 5th, the vessels are formed, and the distinction between the tentacle-bulbs and tentacles 

 appears ; at this time the veil between the tentacle-bulbs is indicated by lobes, and the 

 peduncle appears ; and 6th, the mass of the cellular tissue of the umbrella is formed, and the 

 peduncle completed after the bud has become free. 



What strange and wondrous changes ! Fancy an elephant with a number of little 

 elephants sprouting from his shoulders and thighs, bunches of tusked monsters hanging 

 epaulette-fashion from his flanks in every stage of advancement ! Here a young pachyderm 

 almost amorphous, there one more advanced, but all ears and eyes ; on the right shoulder a 

 youthful Chuny, with head, trunk, toes, no legs, and a shapeless body ; on the left an infant, 

 better grown, and struggling to get away, but his tail not sufficiently organized as yet to 

 permit of liberty and free action ! The comparison seems grotesque and absurd, but it really 

 expresses what we have been describing as actually occurring among our naked-eyed Medusae. 

 It is true that the latter are minute, but wonders are not the less wonderful for being packed 

 into small compass. The multitude, being muddle-headed, love magnitude, but the philo- 

 sopher does not estimate a whale above a minnow for his mere bigness. " Nosci digna hsec 

 animalcula, non quia Deus maximus in minimis est, seque enim magnus in omnibus, at ob 

 eximiam membrorum exilitatem, miram organorum diversitatem, varia Creatoris eundem finem 

 obtinenda media et pulchritudinem et proportionem quam nihil excellit." So wrote Otho 

 Frederic Muller— filled, by his studies of minute life, with a deep spirit of reverence and 

 admiration of his monocuh ; so might we write of our Medusae. But when to all the wonders 

 of their structure are added such surprising physiological facts as those which we have just 

 been narrating concerning their reproduction, the spirit of reverent astonishment fills us 

 fuller and fuller. " La force qui developpe, Tintelligence qui specific et co-ordonne, I'amour 



