346 
EEYIEWS. 
Lamarck, These two distinguished men fell short, perhaps, of what 
might have been expected from them in their attempts to group in a 
natural manner the organisms thus accumulated, a task the success¬ 
ful accomplishment of which was reserved for Eschscholtz. This 
zoologist, in 1829, # raised Medusa and Beroe , with their respective 
allies, to the rank of orders, Discophorce and Ctenophorce , which with 
a third order, Siphoncephorce (including Bor pita, Velella and the 
AcalepJice hydrostatich of Cuvier), formed the revised class of 
Acalephce. The Discophorce were arranged under two sections, 
Cryptocarpce and Phanerocarpce. All competent investigators, who, 
since Eschscholtz, have busied themselves with these Acalephs, 
bear testimony alike to his sagacity and extensive practical 
knowledge of a group of animals, then little studied or cared for, 
and whose mutual relations he so successfully sought to unfold. And 
the two divisions of Discophorce which he proposed have, in sub¬ 
stance, been adopted by most zoologists, though the names given 
to them have more than once undergone alteration. 
Edward Forbes,f referring to the fact that the reproductive 
organs of the Cryptocarpce were by no means so inconspicuous as 
their name would seem to imply, designated this sub-order Gym- 
nophthalmata. The Phanerocarpce were termed Steganophthalmata , 
because in them, the supposed eyes around the margin of the 
swimming disc were protected by hood-like coverings. AVe shall, 
however, see that differences in the position of their generative organs 
constitute the best marks of distinction between these two groups, 
while the character on which Eorbes so strongly insisted fails. 
This latter fact was very clearly pointed out by Gegenbaur who, 
in 1857, published the best paper on the discoid Medusae which had 
up to that time appeared.]; For in some genuine Bhanerocarpce no 
hoods, in others no eye-specks are present, and in certain £ Naked-eyed 
Medusce ’ all trace of “eyes,” or other marginal bodies, seem wanting.|| 
Gegenbaur noted further that all Cryptocarpce were furnished with 
a veil-like projection around the margin of the bell, while in those 
Bhanerocarpce which he examined such a structure was not discover¬ 
able. For these, therefore, he suggested the name of Acraspeda; 
the Cryptocarpce , or naked-eyed Medusce, being designated Craspedota. 
He also removed from this section the Oceania marsupialis§ of 
Eschscholtz {Charybdeamarsupialis, Peron et Lesueur), to constitute, 
under the name Charybdeidce, the fourth family of his Acraspeda. And 
* System, cler Acalephen, published a year before the third volume of the second 
edition of Cuvier’s Regne Animal, in which the Acalephce are systematised. 
f A Monograph of the British Naked-eyed Medusce, 1848. 
j Yersuch eines Systemes der Medusen, mit Beschreibung neuer oder wenig 
bekannter Formen; zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Fauna des Mittelmeeres. 
Siebold und Kolliker’s Zeitschrift, Band VIII. 
|| Gegenbaur, op. cit. p. 207. 
§ A very remarkable Medusa, figured in 1739 by Plancus. Its specific name 
originated with Linneus. In 1833 it was made the subject of an elaborate essay by 
Milne Edwards (Ann. S. N., XXVIII). 
