Radiates

There is no more interesting series of transformations than that of the development of Radiates.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various

But first, a few words upon the growth of Radiates in general.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various

If I succeeded in explaining my subject clearly in the last article, my readers will have seen that the five Orders of the Echinoderms are but five expressions of the same idea; and I will now endeavor to show that the same identity of structural conception prevails also throughout the two other Classes of Radiates, and further, that not only the Orders within each Class, but the three Classes themselves, Echinoderms,

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various

Radiates undergo all their transformations, from the Polyp phase of growth to that of Acaleph or Echinoderm, after birth; while others pass rapidly through the lower phases of their existence within the egg, and are born in their final condition, when all their intermediate changes have been completed.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various

This difference in the relative importance and duration of certain phases of growth is by no means peculiar to the Radiates, but occurs in all divisions of the Animal

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various

But the metamorphoses of the Radiates are too little known to be characterized by popular names; and when they were first traced, the relation between their different phases of existence was not understood, so that the same animal in different stages of growth has frequently been described as two or more distinct animals.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various

The plumage of the tropical birds, the down on the most brilliant butterfly's wing, are not more beautiful in coloring than the hues of many Radiates, and there is no grace of motion surpassing the movements of some of them in their native element.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 57, July, 1862 Various

I wish that I could take as the illustration of this statement animals with whose structure the least scientific of my readers might be presumed to be familiar; but such a comparison of the Vertebrates, showing the identity and relation of structural elements throughout the Branch, or even in any one of its Classes, would be too extensive and complicated, and I must resort to the Radiates, -- that branch of the

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 57, July, 1862 Various

For I shall hardly be able to allude to the formula of the Radiates, for instance, -- the abstract idea that includes all the structural possibilities of that division of the Animal Kingdom, -- without recalling to my readers a Polyp or a Jelly-Fish, a Sea-Urchin or a

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 57, July, 1862 Various

Perhaps, of all the three Classes of Radiates, Acalephs are the least known.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 59, September, 1862 Various