. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 650 ACALEPHA. THE THIRD CLASS OF THE RADIATA — THE ACALEPHA,— Includes all those Radiated Animals which swim in the waters of the ocean ; and in which we can still perceive vessels, though these vessels are, in truth, little else than intestinal tubes, ramified through the parenchyma of the body. They admit of a natural division into two orders,—Simple and THE FIRST ORDER OF THE ACALEPHA. THE ACALEPHA SIMPLICIA. These float and swim in the water, by alternate contractions and dilatations of the body, alt
. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 650 ACALEPHA. THE THIRD CLASS OF THE RADIATA — THE ACALEPHA,— Includes all those Radiated Animals which swim in the waters of the ocean ; and in which we can still perceive vessels, though these vessels are, in truth, little else than intestinal tubes, ramified through the parenchyma of the body. They admit of a natural division into two orders,—Simple and THE FIRST ORDER OF THE ACALEPHA. THE ACALEPHA SIMPLICIA. These float and swim in the water, by alternate contractions and dilatations of the body, although their substance is merely gelatinous, and without any apparent fibres. The apparent vessels found in some of them are only hollows in the gelatinous substance originating from the stomach, and off'ering no proof of a true circulation. There are obvious points of resemblance among them all ; but still they admit of division into genera and subgenera. Medusa,— Have a central disc, more or less convex, on the upper surface, something like the head of a mushroom, and termed the umbrella. The contractions and dilatations of this disc con- tribute to the locomotion of the animal ; [but they are not powerful enough for stemming rapid currents of the water.] The margins of the umbrella, and those of the mouth, or of the suckers which supply the place of a mouth, in the middle of the under surface of the disc, are furnished with tentacula, very much varied in form and size, and these variations are the basis of many subdivisions of the genus. [They are very numerous ; and the small ones give the seas in which they abound the appearance of being crowded with flakes of half-melted snow. Some of these show fine prismatic colours ; and in not a few the gelatinous matter which fills the integument of the disc is of so acrid a nature as to irritate and blister the skin, even after it has been dried.] Medusa, properly so called, includes all those that have a true mouth on the un
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublishe, booksubjectanimals
