believes that the capsule contains a substance which swells very rapidly when brought into contact with water, and that in the undischarged condition the capsule has its opening closed by a plug of protoplasm (x, fig. 7) which prevents access of water to the contents; when the cnidocil is stimulated it sets in action a mechanism or perhaps a series of chemical changes by which the plug is dissolved or removed; as a result water penetrates into the capsule and causes its contents to swell, with the result that the thread is everted violently. A second point of dispute concerns the spot at which the poison is lodged. Iwanzov believes it to be contained within the thread itself before discharge, and to be introduced into the tissues of the prey by the eversion of the thread. A third point of dispute is whether the nematocysts are formed _in situ_, or whether the cnidoblasts migrate with them to the region where they are most needed; the fact that in _Hydra_, for example, there are no interstitial cells in the tentacles, where nematocysts are very abundant, is certainly in favour of the view that the cnidoblasts migrate on to the tentacles from the body, and that like the genital cells the cnidoblasts are wandering cells. [Illustration: FIG. 7.--Diagrams to show the structure of Nematocysts and their mode of working. (After Iwanzov.) a, Undischarged nematocyst. b, Commencing discharge. c, Discharge complete. cn, Cnidocil. N, Nucleus of cnidoblast. o.c, Outer capsule. x, Plug closing the opening of the outer capsule. i.c., Inner capsule, continuous with the wall of the filament, f. b, Barbs.] The muscular tissue consists primarily of processes from the bases of the epithelial cells, processes which are contractile in nature and may be distinctly striated. A further stage in evolution is that the muscle-cells lose their connexion with the epithelium and come to lie entirely beneath it, forming a sub-epithelial contractile layer, developed chiefly in the tentacles of the polyp. The evolution of the ganglion-cells, is probably similar; an epithelial cell develops processes of nervous nature from the base, which come into connexion with the bases of the sensory cells, with the muscular cells, and with the similar processes of other nerve-cells; next the nerve-cell loses its connexion with the outer epithelium and becomes a sub-epithelial ganglion-cell which is closely connected with the muscular layer, conveying stimuli from the sensory cells to the contractile elements. The ganglion-cells of Hydromedusae are generally very small. In the polyp the nervous tissue is always in the form of a scattered plexus, never concentrated to form a definite nervous system as in the medusa. [Illustration: From Gegenbaur's _Elements of Comparative Anatomy_.