In what ways does the hydra show "division of labor"? Answer this by explaining the classes of cells specialized to serve a different purpose. Which cells of the hydra are least specialized? In what particulars is the plan of the hydra different from that of a simple sponge? An ingenious naturalist living more than a century ago, asserted that it made no difference to the hydra whether the ectoderm or the endoderm layer were outside or inside,—that it could digest equally well with either layer. He allowed a hydra to swallow a worm attached to a thread, and then by gently pulling in the thread, turned the hydra inside out. More recently a Japanese naturalist showed that the hydra could easily be turned inside out, but he also found that when left to itself it soon reversed matters and returned to its natural condition, that the cells are really specialized and each layer can do its own work and no other.
Habits.—The hydra's whole body is a hollow bag, the
cavity extending even into the tentacles. The tentacles
may increase in number as the hydra grows but seldom
exceed eight. The hydra has more active motion than
locomotion. It seldom moves from its place, but its tentacles
are constantly bending, straightening, contracting,
and expanding. The body is also usually in motion, bending
from one side to another. When the tentacles approach
the mouth with captured prey, the mouth (invisible
without a hand lens) opens widely, showing five lobes or
lips, and the booty is soon tucked within. A hydra can
swallow an animal larger in diameter than itself.
The endoderm cells have ameboid motion, that is, they extend pseudopods. They also resemble amebas in the power of intra-cellular digestion; that is, they absorb the harder particles of food and digest them afterwards, rejecting the indigestible portions. Some of these cells have flagella (see Fig. 39) which keep the fluid of the cavity in constant motion.
Sometimes the hydra moves after the manner of a small caterpillar called a "measuring worm," that is, it takes hold first by the foot, then by the tentacles, looping its
