1326 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



of things very gracefully, and their motions are 

 rhythmical, like the ticks of a clock, in succession. 

 Have they nerves and eyes? Science answers in the 

 affirmative. These creatures, consisting- of a vast 

 proportion of sea-water, breathe, digest, and feed. 

 More than this, they produce young; and' if they are 

 pale in color, bluish, or roseate in hue during the 

 day, they are the glory of the deep during the night; 

 and each one is a globe of light, the luminousness 

 being the result of the action of the mysterious energy 

 of life upon matter. 



Many of the jelly-fish found on the shores dead 

 and injured are eighteen inches across, and it is not 

 uncommon to see one swimming freely whose body 

 is larger than that. Yet in spite of this size, and of 

 the gifts of the creature, it has one of the shortest of 

 lives, and it is born, grown, and dead between the 

 spring and the winter. 



On examining a large jelly-fish, it will be noticed 

 to have not only four round bodies on the top, 

 round the centre, and the four lobes hanging down 

 beneath, but that the edges of the body are not 

 quite round, but are notched, so as to make eight 

 lobes to it. And if a little care be taken, marks can 

 be seen on the under part of the body, from the round 

 centre spots to each of the eight splits in the disk; 

 and a magnifying-glass shows a little substance there 

 which feels gritty, and is sometimes colored. Other 

 branching tube-marks pass from the midst of the 

 body to the edge of the umbrella, and a tube runs all 

 round the edge. The tubes communicate in the midst 

 of the body with a cavity, into which the finger can 



