456 



ItADIATA : ACALEI'H.E. 



FIG. 688. 



SECTION III. 



THE CLASS OF ACALEPH.E OR JELLY-FISHES. 



SUB-SECTION I. 



THE ACALEPHS CONSIDERED AS A CLASS. 



THE Jelly-fishes are among the most wonderful of 

 all the animals of the sea. Their jelly-like bodies, 

 curious forms and structure, 

 their beautiful colors, of claret, 

 rose, and pink, their varied and 

 almost magical movements, as 

 varied and graceful as those of 

 the birds and insects of the air, 

 their phosphorescence by night, 

 causing them to be called the 

 " Lamps of the Sea" and their 

 curious changes in passing from 

 the young to the adult state, 

 have interested all intelligent 

 visitors to the sea-side, and have 

 caused these animals to be care- 

 fully studied by some of the 

 most eminent of naturalists. 



The name Acalephse (from 

 the Greek akalephe, a nettle) 

 is given to these animals be- 

 cause some of them cause a stinging sensation when they 

 touch our flesh ; hence they are often called Sea-Nettles. 

 They are also as often called Medusae. 



If we examine the structure of Acalephs, we find a 

 cavity or stomach, hollowed out of the mass of the body, 



Jelly-fish, Pf.lagia cyanella, Ag. 



