POLYPES. 



6 a 



Polypes, the embryos are escaping by thousands. Mr 

 Peach, who first observed them, thus describes the scene 

 he saw. Having, on the 19 th of February, placed a 

 specimen of Laomedea dichotoma in a large glass of sea- water, 

 he found, a day or two after, that the water appeared 

 muddy, an appearance caused by myriads of moving objects, 

 that resembled umbrellas without handles, or very wide 

 and short hand-bells. " I took," says this agreeable ob- 

 server, " a small quantity of the water, and placed it under 

 the microscope, when thousands of the objects were sport- 

 ing about in all directions, moving at a rapid rate by the 

 ciliary appendages on their rim. All at once they would 

 withdraw their cilia, and the handle-like appendage on the 

 back, and become a mere speck • and after resting a short 

 time they would again throw out their cilia and appendage, 

 and round they went waltzing with each other. It was 

 perfectly astonishing in this crowded assembly to find that 

 they very seldom came into collision ; and if so, how soon 

 matters were again accommodated. They continued active 

 up to the 2d of March, when I lost them as if by magic. 

 I fancied they might have been the young of worms ; 

 therefore, I took the Laomedea, washed it, took fresh sea- 

 water and filtered it through three or four folds of fine 

 linen, and placed the speeimen in this : the next morning 

 I had a still more innumerable host of these delightful 

 things. They assume various positions, and when in the 

 water they remind me of thousands of parachutes thrown 

 from a balloon, descending in various states of expansion." 



The author of these pages has had an opportunity of 

 confirming and extending the observations of Mr Peach. 

 It is easy to find the minute, sylph-like creatures, for all 



