28 ABUNDANCE OF JELLY-FISH. 



It is hardly necessary to say, that the designation " Jelly-fish " 

 is correct only in reference to the apparent nature of their sub- 

 stance, and not at all in respect to any supposed affinity between 

 these animals and true fish. They constitute, in fact, one of the 

 humblest tribes of sentient beings, and appear to come but just 

 within the limits of organic nature. Cast ashore, they exhibit 

 not the slightest sign of life, and often pass amongst fishermen as 

 " sea-blubber." But by far the most general of the popular names 

 under which the Jelly-fish are known, are those which refer to 

 the property which many of them possess, like the nettle, of 

 stinging the hand that touches them. Hence it is that they 

 derive the names of " stingers" " stang-fisJi" and " sea-nettles" 

 amongst ourselves, and that of " Orties de mer " along the coast 

 of France. It was from this circumstance, also, that Aristotle 

 bestowed upon them the term Acalephce, the Greek word for 

 nettle, which is still retained as the scientific designation of the 

 entire class. 



The ocean swarms with these animals, from the equator to the 

 poles ; and in the tropic seas the voyager often falls in with vast 

 shoals of them, through which the vessel has to plough its way 

 for many miles. At certain seasons of the year the Jelly-fish 

 visit our coast in countless profusion, resorting principally to the 

 bays and estuaries, whence stragglers are carried by the tides and 

 currents to every part of the shore. In the year 1846, these 

 animals suddenly made their appearance on several parts of our 

 coast, in such extraordinary abundance as to embarrass the fisher- 

 men in casting their nets ; and, after remaining for a while, they 

 at length disappeared as mysteriously as at first they came. It 

 is only as an occasional haunt, however, that these frail and 

 delicate creatures approach the land ; their proper home is the 

 open sea, where, driven by wind and wave, or wandering at their 

 own sweet will, they roam the pathless waste, basking in the sun- 

 beams by day, and at night lighting up the waves with their 

 brilliant phosphorescent fires. 



One of the most remarkable things in connection with these 

 animals is the extraordinary character of their composition. 

 Nearly all the commoner kinds consist almost wholly of water. 

 The only thing besides water which the most careful examina- 

 tion of their structure reveals, is an exceedingly small quantity 

 of filmy tissue, which, in the living animal, forms an intricate 



