168 



FRAGILITY OP BEROE. 



body of the animal, or they can be shot out to 

 lengths that appear wonderful, considering the 

 size of the creature to which they belong. The 

 supplementary tendrils elongate themselves when 

 the fishing-line is drawn out to its full length, 

 and become more tightly twisted as the line is 

 retracted into the body. Many people, and espe- 

 cially those who live on the sea-shore, imagine 

 that the beroe is the egg of the sea-urchin. 



It must be remembered that the creature can 

 alter its shape by expansion and contraction; 

 which circumstance accounts for the fact, that if 

 several artists sketch this creature, each figure 

 may have a different form. The species repre- 

 sented in the engraving is Gydippe piteus, shown 

 as it appears when fully expanded. The life of 

 the creature is fragile as its form ; and if it is 

 kept in a vessel of water, it plays about rapidly 

 for a time, then dies, and disappears as if it had 

 melted into nothing. Yet, if it be cut into pieces 

 while lively, or broken up by the force of the 

 waves, as is often the case, its ciliated bands still 

 continue to perform their work, and the iridescent 

 light plays over the fragments as beautifully as 

 when the creature was entire. It is seldom or 

 never found in an entire state at the surface of 

 the water when the wind is rough, but sinks 



