CORRESPONDENCE. 
Editor American Naturalist : 
In the July number of the American Naturalist, among his “ Notes 
on the Ccelenterate Fauna of Woods Hole," Dr. C. W. Hargitt has 
defined: what he considers to be a new species of tubularian hydroid, 
under the name of Tubularia parasitica, During the past summer 
I have been enabled to observe the development of the western rep- 
resentative of the genus Corymorpha, C. palma, a few facts concerning 
which will show, I think, that 7: parasitica is but a young form of the 
pendula on which it was growing. It has seemed best that attention 
should be called to this at once to prevent future inconvenience to 
taxonomists. 
As with C. pendula, the meduse of C. palma are permanently 
attached. The eggs arise on the manubrium, break through the 
ectoderm when ripe, and, in quiet water, settle at once to the 
bottom. The egg case is adhesive, fastening to the first object 
with which it comes in contact. Many eggs are dropped at the 
same time, and often cling to the rootlets of the parent hydroid, 
where 7: parasitica was found. There is no free larval stage. The 
embryo is able, however, to change its location very slowly, leaving 
a trail of perisarc behind it. Such a movement accounts for the 
clusters of six or eight individuals which are commonly found adher- 
ing to each other near their bases. The stem has a single central 
canal at first, as in Tubularia. The peduncles: which support the 
medusz appear very early. When there are not more than eight 
proximal tentacles, buds arise on the base of the hydroid and develop 
into rootlets. They are the structures, I suspect, which Dr. Hargitt 
has taken for “absorbent organs." 
The young Corymorpha further agrees with 7: parasitica in size, 
number of tentacles, and general aspect. 
I shall describe the development of C. palma more fully in another 
conpanhia, Harry Beat Torrey. 
ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
BERKELEY, CAL, Sept. 5, 1902. 
