Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20): Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky
Science
Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20): Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky
Science -- Juvenile literature
At the top of the ball is a slight bulge which is the mouth (_m_ 2,
Fig. 9), and from it, inside the ball hangs a long bag or stomach,
which opens below into a cavity, from which two canals branch out, one
on each side, and these divide again into four canals which go one
into each of the tubes running down the bands. From this cavity the
food, which is digested in the stomach, is carried by the canals all
over the body. The smaller tubes which branch out of these canals
cannot be seen clearly without a very strong lens, and the only other
parts you can discern in this transparent ball are two long sacs on
each side of the lower end. These are the tentacle sacs, in which are
coiled up the tentacles, which we shall describe presently. Lastly you
can notice that the bands outside the globe are broader in the middle
than at the ends, and are striped across by a number of ridges.
In moving the tumblers the water has naturally been shaken, and the
creature being alarmed will probably at first remain motionless. But
very soon it will begin to play in the water, rising and falling, and
swimming gracefully from side to side. Now you will notice a curious
effect, for the bands will glitter and become tinged with prismatic
colors, till, as it moves more and more rapidly these colors,
reflected in the jelly, seem to tinge the whole ball with colors like
those on a soap-bubble, while from the two sacs below come forth two
long transparent threads like spun glass. At first these appear to be
simple threads, but as they gradually open out to about four or five
inches, smaller threads uncoil on each side of the line till there are
about fifty on each line. These short tendrils are never still for
long; as the main threads wave to and fro, some of the shorter ones
coil up and hang like tiny beads, then these uncoil and others roll
up, so that these graceful floating lines are never two seconds alike.
We do not really know their use. Sometimes the creature anchors itself
by them, rising and falling as they stretch out or coil up; but more
often they float idly behind it in the water. At first you would
perhaps think that they served to drive the ball through the water,
but this is done by a special apparatus. The cross ridges which we
noticed on the bands are really flat comb-like plates (_p_, Fig. 9),
of which there are about twenty or thirty on each band; and these
vibrate very rapidly, so that two hundred or more paddles drive the
tiny ball through the water. This is the cause of the prismatic
colors; for iridescent tints are produced by the play of light upon
the glittering plates, as they incessantly change their angle.
Sometimes they move all at once, sometimes only a few at a time, and
it is evident the creature controls them at will.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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