THE JELLY-FISHES. 



677 



Venus's Girdle occupies a very small space iu proportion to the large 

 dimensions of the creature to which it belongs. 



We now come to a very large order of acalephs, including all those 

 beings which are so familiar under the title of Jelly-fishes, Slob- 

 bers, and similar euphonious names. They are all united under the 

 name of Discophora, or " disc-bearers," because they are furnished with 

 a large umbrella-like disc, by means of which they are enabled to pro- 

 ceed through the water. 



Venus's Girdle {Cesium Veneris). 



In the illustration on page 678 an example may be seen of the 

 typical genus of this family, which is a native of our own seas. This 

 is a sufficiently common species, and may be found plentifully on our 

 shores, together with its kindred. There are few more beautiful sights 

 than to stand on a pier-head or lie in a boat and watch the Medusae 

 passing in shoals through the clear water, pulsating as if the whole 

 being were but a translucent heart, trailing behind them their delicate 

 fringes of waving cilia, and rolling gently over as if in excess of happi- 

 ness. At night many of the Medusse put on new beauties, glowing with 

 phosphorescent light like marine fireflies, and giving to the ocean an 

 almost unearthly beauty that irresistibly recalls to the mind the " sea 

 of glass mingled with fire." 



ZOOPHYTES. 



Quitting the Acalephse, we come to the vast class of Zoophytes, or 

 "animal plants," so called because, though really belonging to the an- 



57* 



