610 Radiafa. 



described as occurring in the Sea Anemones, and it is to 

 these that the stinging power of the Medusas is due. 

 The motion of the Medusae through the water is effected 

 by the alternate expansion and contraction of its um- 

 brella, which is slightly inclined in the direction towards 

 which the creature is moving, and it is a most beautiful 

 sight to look down upon a fleet of these animals, all 

 advancing in the same direction at a depth of two or 

 three feet in the water, as may often be seen in fine 

 weather at the mouths of our rivers. 



At first sight it may be thought that the Medusas have 

 but little in common with the Hydroid or any other 

 Polyps, but it has been fully proved by late researches 

 that the young animal produced from the egg of the Me- 

 dusa is a regular Polyp, which adheres by its base, arid 

 obtains its food by the agency of a crown of tentacles sur- 

 rounding its mouth ; nay, it even propagates in this form 

 by pushing out buds exactly in the manner described in 

 the case of the fresh-water Hydra. In course of time, 

 however, the body of this Polyp becomes elongated, 

 and its surface is marked into rings, the grooves sepa- 

 rating which gradually become deeper until the whole 

 body breaks up into a number of saucer-like segments, 

 each of which becomes a Medusa. How fully does this 

 extraordinary mode of reproduction show that the won- 

 ders of the Creator are no less striking in the lowest 

 than in the highest of his creatures, and that for all, 

 from the highest to the lowest, the same prescient care 

 has been exercised, the same goodness evinced. Verily, 

 we may follow the pious example of the great Linnasus, 

 and exclaim with the Psalmist, " O Lord, how manifold 

 are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all." 



