TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



277 



town with its crowd of roofs and its forest of masts ; 

 to the left was the horizon, heaven and ocean united, 

 and forming between the coast of Calvados and Cape 

 Antifer a quarter of an immense circle. 



Leon had placed himself in the fore part of the 

 vessel, and without speaking he remained there as if 

 fascinated, seated and leaning on his elbow, fully 

 occupied with gazing. 



Eene with much curiosity noticed the Medusae, 

 through whole shoals of which the vessel occasionally 

 passed. Carried about at the mercy of the currents, 

 they were displayed in the water like globes of opal 

 surrounded by a circle of amethyst. 



"What strange creatures!" he suddenly said to 

 the doctor. " In vain I have looked quite through 

 them, but I see no stomach, nor anything else. Have 

 they, then, no internal organs ? " 



"It is rather because their organs are also trans- 

 parent," said Uncle Bob. " If you were to place a 

 Medusa, for a few hours only, in a coloured liquid, 

 such as a solution of carmine, you would afterwards 

 be able to study all the details of its structure with 

 facility." 



Eene considered it a point of duty to put himself 

 in a position to make the experiment, so, taking up a 

 net that was at hand, he captured a Medusa and 

 flung it on the deck. 



Now that it was out of the water it appeared to be 



