FRESH-WATER POLYZOA. 239 



projecting rootlet or water-soaked object beneath the 

 surface, even to smooth stones. In bulk they may be 

 like a boy's marble, or a cart-wheel, with every inter- 

 mediate-size. They vary so much' that to find a good 

 comparison is not easy, and it is only right to say, lest 

 some lover of these lovely creatures should be envious, 

 that a colony the size of a cart-wheel has, in the 

 writer's locality, been found but once, the foundation 

 of this remarkable growth probably being the rim of 

 an old wheel. 



When the tubular or the jelly-like colonies are removed 

 to the collecting-bottle, they appear lifeless and unat- 

 tractive. The jelly may excite wonder by its size, 

 or curiosity to know what it can be, yet otherwise it 

 will not be noticeable. But wait a while. Place the 

 bottle in the shade and wait a few minutes; then with 

 a pocket-lens look at the surface of the jelly or at the 

 tips of the branching tubes. Treat them with care; 

 move them .gently. The little creatures are easily 

 frightened, and like a flash leap back into their pro- 

 tective case. Perhaps while you gaze at the reddish 

 jelly a pink little projection appears within the field of 

 your lens, and slowly lengthens and broadens, retreat- 

 ing and reappearing it may be many times, but finally, 

 after much" hesitation, it suddenly seems to burst into 

 bloom. A narrow body, so deeply red that it is often 

 almost crimson, lifts above the jelly a crescentic disk 

 ornamented with two rows of long tentacles that seem 

 as fine as hairs, and they glisten and sparkle like 

 lines of crystal as they wave and float and twist the 

 delicate threads beneath your wondering gaze. Then, 

 while you scarcely breathe, for fear the lovely vision 

 will fade, another and another spreads its disk and 



