ORIGINAL POETRY A SONG OF THE BEROE. (Dedicated to the Members of Section D.*) The fact I have now to report, Is one partly old, partly new, sirs; About a remarkable sort Of the ciliograde Medusas. With a subject so charming and light, ‘Tis certainly fair to make merry; we Will endeavour to do so to-night, By chaunting our song of the Beroe. The species of which we've to tell, Is that which old Otho Fabricius Examined in Greenland so well, When christening sinners and fishes : ‘Mongst others he fished up this same, (It abounds in the Arctic ocean,) And cucumis gave it for name, Because of its jerking motion! * As the Gazette has heretofore lightened the dulness of Science with similar compositions, we have much pleasure in adding the " Song of the Beroe" to the lyrics of the British Association.- ED. L. G.
Strange to say if you knock it about, Though so membranous and evanescent, It only makes light of the clout, And flares up the more phosphorescent; As ticklish as Alderman Gibbs, And I fancy a little more bright, sirs; No wonder a poke in the ribs Should stir up a shine in its lights, sirs. It battles the currents and tides By millions of vibratile flappers, All clothing and knocking its sides Like so many miniature rappers. These little hairs stand up and shake, Like the wig of a fool in quandary: Which maybe's the reason they take The name of the silly-hairy! Though in thousands our Beroes go, Stirring fires that the fishes might all fry; Yet nobody ‘mongst us did know, How the big ones concocted the small fry. When one day we netted a red one, That gave double light on percussion, And carefully searching the said one, Discovered the cause of its blushing. For ranged like so many gay pegs, We found that the crimson-hued varlet, Had stowed away two rows of eggs, All dyed a magnificent scarlet. And the better their presence to hide, Since such things may tell many sins, sirs, Had covered them up on each side, With a baby-cloth made of its skin, sirs! MORAL. In this zoological screed, The poetry (truly) of science, A long string of morals we read Adapted for wise men and lions. (1) To never mind knocking about ; (2) When poked to flare-up in a merry way: (3) To blush when your sins are found out; (4) And never say die-like the BEROE! В. В.
Ok, #ctenophoreday was yesterday on here, but for Edward Forbes any day was ctenophore day. Here’s his poem about Beroe cucumis, written during the 1849 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (‘Section D’ was Zoology), from the Literary Gazette, 6 October 1849.
