70 MODEERIA FORMOSA. 



five days ; and there are grounds for assuming that successive colonies come from the same 

 specimens of the zoophyte. 



" I cannot presume to affirm that any connexion, immediate or remote, connects the 

 Medusa ocilia and the Tuhularia ramosa ; far less to conclude that the former shall be 

 metamorphosed in progress of time to the latter, with its numerous and beautiful appurte- 

 nances. I have not seen both the beginning and the end ; nor does the fugitive existence of 

 so deUcate a creature seem well adapted for permanent observation. (Dalyell's Rare and 

 Remarkable Animals of Scotland, vol. i, p. 66, pi. XI.) 



Genus XVI. Modeeria, Forbes, (1846). 



Umbrella globose; radiating vessels four, simple; four marginal tentacles 

 opposite the four simple vessels ; ocelli conspicuous ; peduncle inflated, balloon- 

 shaped, contracted below, and terminating in four lanceolate lips. 



I have dedicated this very distinct genus to Adolph Modeer, a naturahst of no mean 

 eminence, whose name has hitherto remained without such association in zoology. No one 

 has a juster right to preside over a good genus of Medusa than Modeer, since to him we owe 

 the first attempt of any value towards systematising the knowledge of the tribe acquired up to 

 his time. This is contained in the twelfth volume of the ' New Transactions of the Swedish 

 Royal Academy,' published in 1791, and is a very elaborate and masterly treatise for its day. 

 The author was a Swede. He was a man of considerable and varied acquirements, and 

 brought a mind exercised in comprehensive and practical thought, to bear beneficially upon 

 natural history. As secretary to the Patriotic Society of Stockholm, he worked advan- 

 tageously for the benefit of his native country, especially directing his attention towards the 

 improvement of its agriculture and industrial arts. He wrote a ' History of the Commerce of 

 Sweden,' and was the author of a ' Bibliotheca Helminthologia,' published at Brlangen in 

 1776. He died at the age of 60, in 1799. 



Modeeria formosa, Forbes. 

 Plate Vn, Fig. 1. 



The largest objects are not always the most beautiful. Little diamonds may sparkle 

 brighter than the monster gems of a regal crown. There is not a Medusa in all the ocean 

 which can match for beauty with the minute creature now before us, though its smallness is 

 such, that a split pea would overtop it. Yet small though it be, it has shape, colour, and 

 substance so disposed, that as yet no explorer of the sea has met with another like it. It is 

 gorgeous enough to be the diadem of the smaUest of sea-fairies, and sufficiently graceful to be 

 the nightcap of the tiniest and prettiest of mermaidens. 



The umbrella is globular, or slightly elliptical, smooth, and transparent. Its inner margin 

 is bordered by a membranous veil. On the outer edge are four conspicuous tubercles, each 



