Ocean Flowers and Lamps 



Many years ago a story was told of a certain 

 farmer, who had heard that medusae were 

 particularly good as manure. He had large 

 supplies of them carted to his land, with much 

 expense and trouble. Not till later did he learn 

 how small a part of the creatures consisted of 

 anything but water; how easily he might have 

 had the whole mass of them dried, and then 

 carried by hand, at almost no cost. 



Medusae, as earlier stated, are of all sizes, 

 from tiny translucent bags of liquid to huge 

 discs of jelly-like substance, rivalling a man's 

 umbrella in diameter. 



They are also of all kinds and shapes. Many 

 of umbrella-shape have, in place of a handle, 

 bundles of fleshy tentacles hanging down below, 

 and thin streamers reaching to a length of a 

 hundred feet. Some are more like saucers or 

 bowls. Others of longer and narrower make 

 have been likened to large thimbles. Some 

 are ribbon-like beings, moving in graceful 

 serpentine folds. Others have the outlines of 

 elegant tubes. Many, again, are like little in- 

 verted delicate shrubs, or fairy-seaweed fronds, 

 hanging downward. Some carry sail upon the 

 surface of the water. 



While all are of a more or less jelly-like 

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