Natural Science News. 



VOL. II ALBION, N. Y., FEBBUABY 1, 1896. No. 1-53 



Natural Science News. 



A Weekly Journal Devoted to 

 Natural History. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and Items of interest to the 

 student of any of the various branches of the 

 Natural Sciences solicited from all. 



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The Radiata. 



The zoological class termed the 

 radiata was comparatively un- 

 known until within the past cen- 

 tury, and its species were consid- 

 ered to be connecting links be- 

 tween the animal and the vege- 

 table kingdoms, being known as 

 zoophytes; and Linnaeus defines 

 them as "composite animals which 

 i appear to rank between animals 

 j and vegetables; though they are 

 true animals, and possess sensa- 

 tion and voluntary motion." 



The radiata are entirely aquatic, 

 and are mostly marine. They are 

 divided into three classes. These 



are: 1. Polyps — sea anemones, 

 nearly all the corals, etc. 2. Acal- 

 ephs — jelly fishes, medusa;, Por- 

 tuguese men-of-war, etc. 3. 

 Echinoderms — sea cucumbers, star 

 fishes, crinoids, etc. 



The structural plan of all the 

 polyps is so nearly similar that a 

 single illustration will answer for 

 all, although they differ greatly 

 in size, shape, and minute parti- 

 culars. Let us suppose an orange 

 with a small portion of the stem 

 end removed, and a hole descend- 

 ing to a little past the center from 

 this end. Now the skinny parti- 

 tions which, like longitudinal 

 planes, extend through the fruit 

 will divide it into chambers. We 

 must suppose a similar wall sur- 

 rounding the cavity which runs 

 down from the end of the fruit, 

 but communicating freely with all 

 the inner portions of the orange, 

 through the lower end of this open- 

 ing. Polyps have but this one 

 orifice, which is the mouth. Into 

 this all the food is taken, and from 

 this all rejected matter is thrown 

 out. The digested food passes 

 from an opening in the lower por- 

 tion of this cavity or sack into all 

 the chambers of the polyp, and fin- 

 ally into the delicate, hollow ten- 

 tacles with which the upper part 

 of the body is fringed. This is 

 the general form of life of all the 

 polyps, some of which, like the 

 corals, are stationary, while others 

 are nomadic, and still others are 

 parasites, living in the mouth folds 

 of still larger radiata. The polyps 

 vary quite materially in shape, 

 some being almost saucer-like, 

 others pyramidal, cone-shaped, etc. 



In the lower polyps the eggs are 

 formed on all the inner edges of 

 the vertical partitions, and when 

 these are ready for exclusion they 

 drop to the bottom of the diges- 

 tive sack, whence they pass out- 

 ward through the mouth. In the 

 higher order of polyps not all of 

 these partitions are fruitful, the 

 limitation increasing as the species 

 rise m organic superiority. Some 

 of the polyps also increase by buds 

 similar to fruit buds, others by 

 subdivision. Polyps may be cut 

 into several pieces, and the major- 

 ity of these will each become a 

 perfect animal. They vary in size 

 from a foot in diameter to mere 

 microscopic mites. 



From what has been said of the 

 growth of these polyps it will be 

 seen that coral insects have too 



long enjoyed the fellowship of 

 bees, ants, etc., as hardworking 

 creatures, with some knowledge or 

 method of architecture. They 

 produce coral no more ingeniously 

 or laboriously than a fish produces 

 bones, and cannot help it if they 

 would. Coral is only what is left 

 after the death of a whole commun- 

 ity — a village of individuals whose 

 bones, not their houses, are fash- 

 ioned by cunning artisans into 

 such beautiful adornments for our 

 fashionable belles. 



The acalephs are perhaps more 

 interesting to the student and nat- 

 uralist than the polyps. In these 

 we find exemplifications of the cu- 

 rious law of alternate generations. 

 The egg of a butterfly produces a 

 caterpillar, which in turn becomes 

 a chrysalis, and from this the per- 

 fect fly is in due time hatched. In 

 some of the jelly fishes different 

 but no less wonderful changes take 

 place, while in others the method 

 of reproduction is similar to that 

 of the budding polyps. In some 

 cases two generations intervene be- 

 tween the parent and a progeny 

 which resembles it in form or mode 

 of life. 



The jelly fishes, with few excep- 

 tions, are short-lived in compari- 

 son with other radiates, some of 

 the polyps living many years, while 

 star fishes and sea urchins are 

 sometimes ten or a dozen years in 

 attaining their maturity. The aca- 

 leph's cycle of existence is only 

 about twelve months. The eggs, 

 laid in the fall, become hydroids in 

 the winter, jelly fish in the spring, 

 and, having made the necessary 

 arrangements for a continuance of 

 thespecies. die d ,- r'ng the autumn. 

 Great numbcii lu jelly fishes are 

 annually killed by the severe 

 storms of that season, and are 

 washed upon the beach, where 

 they almost literally melt into jelly, 

 and leave no trace behind, there 

 being none but the most perish- 

 able elements in their physical 

 construction, nearly the entire an- 

 imal being water. Mention is 

 made of one specimen, which 

 when alive weighed thirty-four 

 pounds, being left to dry for some 

 days, and then weighed five and 

 one half ounces. The radiate par- 

 titions of the polyps are changed 

 into tubes in the jelly fishes, but 

 the general law of radiation is 

 strictly followed. Excepting a 

 few species they are all jelly-like 

 in their construction; the discophora 



