THE MEDUS&. 133 
vertically into the water. Occasionally the creature is colourless, 
and as transparent as crystal; generally, however, it is slightly 
opaline, with a delicate blue or pink tint, and in certain species the 
shades are bright, and the reflections iridescent. In some meduse 
the central parts only are coloured—red, yellow, blue, or violet—the 
remainder of its body being semi-transparent. The central mass 
THE MEDUSA OF GAUDICHAUD. 
(Chrysaora Gaudichaudi. ) 
appears covered with a thin veil, a beautiful film, showing all the 
colours of the rainbow, which is like a glass shade covering a 
bouquet of flowers. 
The acalephz are without consistence, and soaked with water. 
It seems quite impossible that their delicate frames can resist the 
force of the waves, or even the motion of the currents ; yet the waves 
bear them tenderly, and the tempests drive them without doing 
them harm. When the ebbing tide leaves them on the shore, their 
substance dissolves, decomposition sets in, and the creature goes 
to nothing; if the sun be hot, this disorganisation is complete in 
