SQUIRTS, POLYPS, AND JELLY-FISHES. 63 



is surmounted by a beautiful, flower-like, drooping 

 head of a pink or bright red color. These heads are 

 often broken off, or even voluntarily cast off, when 

 the animals are unhealthy, but new ones are soon 

 reproduced, and therefore this does not seem to be 

 a very serious accident, though certainly a very in- 

 convenient one, for the mouth, stomach, tentacles, 

 and most other organs are all lost when these 

 heads drop off" (Verrill). As in Tubularia, the re- 

 productive buds hang down in drooping (red) grape- 

 like clusters, but they do not develop into free 

 medusae. 



JELLY-PADS AND JELLY-FISHES. 



The favored few among the ' dwellers by the 

 sea' to whom a bright and warm summer's day is 

 something more than a source of unmitigated 

 discomfort and complaint cannot easily pass a 

 more delightful hour than by navigating the quiet 

 waters in search of medusae. These exquisite creat- 

 ures, for all the world like water- 

 bubbles, will almost surely be out 

 in greater or less number; but 

 some of them are so minute, al- 

 most microscopic, others so trans- 

 parent, that, unless the sea is ac- 

 tually covered by them, a sharp medusa. 

 watch must be kept, or else they 

 will escape us. A glass jar will be of service in a trip 

 of this kind, as through its aid a rapprochemmi may 

 be effected between us and the tiny creatures whose 

 habits we wish to study. Some appear nearly tor- 

 pid on the surface, dragging their tentacles wearily 



