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CHAPTER II. 



A DISQUISITION OK JELLY-FISH. 



"Those living Jellies which the flesh inflame, 

 Fierce as a nettle, and from that its name; 

 Some in huge masses, some that you may bring 

 Iii the small compass of a lady's ring ; 

 Figured by hand divine there's not a gem 

 Wrought by man's art to be compared to them ; 

 Soft, brilliant, tender, through the wave they glow, 

 And make the moonbeam blighter where they flow." 



POETS have rarely deigned to sing the praises of the Jelly-fish, 

 which, perhaps, is one reason why there arc so few popular errors 

 to correct concerning them. It is somewhat strange, certainly, 

 but the bay-leaves and the professor's gown seldom do well 

 together. The silk is almost sure to suffer. Perhaps it is that 

 that " fine freuzy " in which the poet's eye is wont to roll has 

 something to do with the matter. But, be that as it may, the 

 fact is clear, and we seldom even expect to find correct science 

 " done into " verse. In the passage quoted above, however, the 

 amiable author of " The Borough " has given us a noteworthy 

 exception to the rule ; and, in the compass of a few brief lines, 

 has finely epitomized the leading points of Jelly-fish economy. 

 Bear with us, good reader, the while we discourse to you for a 

 brief space on these curious samples of ocean confectionery. 



No one that has paid an occasional visit to the sea-coast can 

 be wholly unacquainted with the Jelly-fish. They are amongst 

 the most familiar objects to be seen in rambling along the shore ; 

 and, after violent winds, may often be met with, thrown upon the 

 beach by the fury of the waves. In the calm bright days of 

 summer, numbers of the commoner kinds may be seen gently 

 flapping their way through the still water skirting the shore, 

 their delicate and graceful forms alternately contracting and di- 

 lating as they propel themselves along, and sometimes only faintly 

 discernible from the water itself. 



