A monograph of the British naked-eyed Medusæ : with figures of all the species

作者：Edward W. Forbes · 年份：1848 · DOI：10.5962/bhl.title.54122 · 被引用次数：43 · 研究领域：Historical and Literary Studies、Botany and Plant Ecology Studies、Sesquiterpenes and Asteraceae Studies

by far the most prolific in results ; the voyages which I had the pleasure of making with my friend Mr. M'Andrew around the British coasts having afforded admirable opportunities for the study of our Medusae.These creatures are of so very dehcate and often unpreservable a nature, that casual circumstances usually determined the extent to which the examination of their structure and habits could be pursued, and as most of my observations had necessarily to be made at sea, those circumstances were not always most favorable.In the present very unsatisfactory state of this branch of zoology, however, I do not think it necessary to apologise for unavoidable imperfections, for having often experienced the difficulty of con- ducting inquiries into tribes of which the species had as yet been but vaguely defined and rarely figured, I trust this account of an important and beautiful tribe of animals, of which so far as the British seas are concerned, only a few very fragmentary notices are accessible, may serve as a basis for future and more extensive researches.They offer a fresh and but little explored field for discovery.Their organization is but partially understood, and much requires to be done before the signification of their several parts be fully made out ; of their habits we possess but very slight knowledge.Their development is a subject of the greatest interest, seeing that upon its clearing up will probably depend the future classification of the zoophytes.On most of these...