212 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



human ingenuity, for all the cumbrous engineer- 

 ing required by man to urge their movements is 

 not needed ; each float self-moving keeping time 

 with all the rest," 



This wonderful creature, endowed with so 

 marvellous and complicated a mechanism, is 

 nevertheless amazingly simple in structure, so far 

 as appearance would lead us to suppose ; it is so 

 translucent, that during day it is visible only by 

 the iridescent hues shot forth from its paddles as 

 they strike the water, and in darkness it shines 

 with a blue phosphoric light, reminding one of a 

 bubble inhabited by some sea-fairy, whose diadem 

 glows through the fragile covering in which she 

 is encased. 



Another species of the medusa derives its title 

 (Physograde) from the circumstance that it moves 

 by means of a kind of air bladder with which it is 

 furnished, and by inflating which it can also rise 

 to the surface. The well-known Physalia, or 

 Portuguese man-of-war, is an example of this 

 order, and can hardly be considered one of our 

 native species, although occasionally found on the 

 shores of the South of England and Ireland. 



The Cirrhigrade, of which the Velella is an 

 example, is another species of the jelly-fish. 



The Velella sails on the surface of the sea, and 

 may be found in multitudes on our south-western 

 shores during summer and autumn. It has a 

 flattish oblong body, which, although membranous 

 and fleshy, is transparent, and is tinged with dark 

 blue spots. It is distinguished from any of the 



