the Physalia pelagica. 137 
search of something. There is another kind, of a flattish 
form, hut of great length, sometimes several feet, having 
spiral fibres on one margin, and on the other, which is 
looser, many suckers, like those on the arms of a Sepia. 
This kind seems to be used for laying hold of its food, 
and carrying it up to the tubular tentacula, which are 
considered its stomachs, and is capable of very great 
contraction, and more rapid in its movement than any 
other part of the animal. There are other filaments, 
more or less of a pyriform shape, considered to be ova- 
ria, and young animals not quite developed. 
To preserve the tentacula, they should be laid across 
plates of glass, and separated from each other as much 
as possible, and dried by exposure to the sun’s rays in 
that state. The bladder, again, may be preserved, after 
being separated from the filaments, by exposure to the 
direct rays of the sun in the same manner for several 
days; the heat rarifying the contained air whilst it dries, 
and thus keeping the bladder dilated. This part of the 
animal I have never seen described, and in fact it 
can only be observed by the examination of a dried 
■specimen, for when lecent it collapses as soon as it is 
opened, and then the crest appears a congeries of cells. 
If one dried specimen be cut carefully longitudinally, and 
another transversely, the anatomical structure of it will 
be easily seen. The lower part is cylindrical, but broader 
at one end than the other, where the tentacula are 
chiefly grouped on its under surface. On the upper side 
rises the crest, of a semi-lunar shape, generally tinged 
with pink, and sometimes with blue. This part is 
divided transversely by septa of three different sizes 
alternating with each other ; the largest being the whole 
depth of the crest, the next reaching half-way down, and 
the smallest, which are equal in number to both the 
other two kinds, are very small in size. The animal has 
