78 



Dwellers of the Sea 



In Hempstead Harbor two striking and uncommonly 

 beautiful forms make their appearance regularly in the 

 middle of May in each year. These are Aiirella flavU 

 diila and Cyanea fiilva; and they sometimes occur in 

 such enormous shoals that one has difficulty in making 

 his way with a boat lest his oars strike them and muti- 

 late their beautiful bodies. Storms sweeping in from 

 the Sound with unwonted violence will occasionally 



tlu 111 11.111 1)1 ' 'jijgS^Ct '^"^ t'^-^'S^ '1' I I'l' " 11 '~'i ! 

 i! tint Ilk- nv\J^^t\{tii (ij DP. !i ^i^/'^A(|y ' < " "l'"l 

 i\> 1] J < nii ijlip^fill^u fiiSii tfS 



il.. 



'?!.■> I 1 1 • 1 



4^'^iH** ^ \ 



DISK OF A DRIED JELLYFISH. A TRAaSPARENT EILM THROUGH WHICH TYPE EASILY 

 CAN BE READ, IS ALL THAT REMAINS AITER EXPOSURE TO THE SUN AND AIR. 



throw them up on the beaches in masses, where ex- 

 posure to the sun reduces them in a short time to an 

 almost invisible film. This almost total obliteration by 

 the sun is due to the relatively small actual body sub- 

 stance that constitutes the jellyfish; for despite their 

 large bulk, they are slightly less than one hundred per 

 cent water. 



Aurelia, when full grown, is about ten inches in 

 diameter. Its broad, transnarent disk is somewhat like 



