bo 
43 
CHAAR ex Eb: 
THE MEDUS#. 
THE semi-transparent bells which float so gracefully in the sea 
are called the M/eduse@—strange organisations, which constitute 
THE CROSS MEDUSA, 
(Rhizostoma cruciata.) 
a large class of frail and wandering animals, to which Cuvier 
cave the name of Acalephe. The reason for this nomenclature 
we shall presently state. The medusa resembles an umbrella, or 
a bell, or better still, an elegant floating mushroom, the stool 
of which has been separated into lobes more or less divergent, 
sinuous, twisted, shrivelled, or fringed. 
At first sight we might 
mistake them for roots. 
The edges of the umbrella-like tops are 
sometimes plain, or sometimes delicately cut ; sometimes ciliated, 
or often provided with long thread-like appendages, which descend 
