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PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



[April, 1857. 



lines of varying length passing and fading away into the blue of 

 the air-bladder. These lines correspond to the partition walls of 

 the crest. On its outermost edge above, the crest is margined by 

 a bright golden yellow or orange line, which adds greatly to the 

 vividness as well as delicacy of the whole effect. The elongate 

 racemose area which correspond to the digestive trunk is of a 

 whitish and yellowish semi-transparency. The greater digestive 

 trunks are of a rich, greenish tint, those towards the inferior ex- 

 tremity being bluer than the others. Of the great tentaculiform 

 individuals, the greater have their pads of thread-cells of a green 

 color, while the same parts in the less are of a lilac-like shade 

 of purple. In the clusters of sexual medusae, the individuals 

 have their sexual organs colored a beautiful rose-pink within, 

 shading off into delicate orange where it comes in contact with 

 the hyaline bell-wall, and this combination gives to the clusters 

 an indescribable softness and beauty. The coloration of the 

 parts as given above is that of large and fully developed speci- 

 mens. In small ones the crest is much less vividly colored, and 

 the golden line so far as my observations extend, always want- 

 ing, while on the other hand the blue of the air-bladder in small 

 specimens is much deeper and more intense than in the large. 

 In general the pink colours are faint in small specimens and the 

 blue more pronounced. 



So slight is my knowledge of this Physalia, that I should have 

 refrained from any attempt at description, were it not important 

 in my opinion to present, as soon as possible, a general view of 

 this much neglected class in its relation to the fauna of at least a 

 portion of the Southern States of the Union. That Physalia aurif- 

 era is a new species, I can hardly doubt, since it differs from 

 such species as have been described from the same latitudes or 

 the same isothermal zones of the Atlantic. Yet the circumstan- 

 ces under which all my specimens have been taken render it 

 probable that no one of them was perfect, and therefore the ob- 

 servations recorded, must most of them be used with caution. 

 The golden line upon the crest, from which I have derived the 

 trivial name, I do not find noticed in such descriptions of other 

 species as are within my reach. 



Physalia, like Porpita, is not an inhabitant of Charleston Har- 

 bor, nor is it brought from the ocean thither, so far as my obser- 

 vations extend, except by prolonged southerly winds. 



