NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS — VOL. VIE 



known larvae of this sub-order and in tracing them to their 

 proper genera, for he had no living material to work with, 

 excepting the two species — Squilla empusa and Lyslosquilla 

 excavatrix — which he had studied from the southern coast of 

 the United States. 



During the period from 1880 to 1883, Professor Brooks un- 

 doubtedly contemplated the preparation of a work on the 

 higher Crustacea, of greater scope than anything which he 

 later produced, and this was only partially fulfilled in the pub- 

 lication, in collaboration with F. H. Herrick, of "The embry- 

 ology and metamorphosis of the Macrura," in the Memoirs of 

 the National Academy of Sciences for 1892. Moreover, it 

 should not be overlooked that one of his most notable papers, 

 in which he described how a Stomatopod — Gonodactylus chi- 

 ragra — was reared, for the first time, from the egg, and in 

 which he traced all its successive stages in the living state, 

 appeared as Chapter III of the latter work. 



Another group of animals to which Professor Brooks de- 

 voted a large amount of attention is that of the Hydromedusae. 

 In the study and drawing of these beautiful and delicate forms 

 he combined the enthusiasm of the naturalist and that of the 

 artist. From 1880 to 1886 he published seven papers on the 

 Medusae, chiefly of the Beaufort region, culminating in his 

 monograph on "The life-history of the Hydro-medusae: A dis- 

 cussion of the origin of the Medusae and of the significance of 

 metagenesis" (Memoirs Boston Society Nat. Hist., Vol. 3, 

 67 pp., 8 plates). This work contains an account of his obser- 

 vations on the life-history of a Narcomedusa, a Trachomedusa, 

 an Anthomedusa, and a Leptomedusa, the four species selected 

 for study being "among the most abundant and characteristic 

 of our Southern coast, yet none of them have been well stud- 

 ied." This is one of the most beautiful, complete, and satis- 

 factory papers which Doctor Brooks wrote ; the observations 

 are beautifully recorded, the evidences from his own work and 

 that of others are completely marshalled, and his conclusions 

 give the satisfaction which comes from a broad outlook, an in- 

 timate knowledge and a logical presentation of a great subject. 

 In brief, his conclusion as to the origin of the Medusae and the 

 significance of metagenesis are these : ( 1 ) The remote ancestor 



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