I So 



NATURE'S CALENDAR 



August 10 



The jellyfishes. or medusae, are among 

 the loveliest of living things, having an 

 extremely simple organization, closely al- 

 lying them to the polyps on one hand and 

 to the echinoderms on the other. They 

 consist of hardly more than films and 

 threads of a glutinous substance, almost 

 unorganized and more or less transparent, 

 and most of them are nourished by mi- 

 croscopic food taken from the sea-water 

 which permeates their substance, though 

 others are carnivorous. 



These lambent gems of the sea, softly 

 radiant with the shifting play of their own 

 phosphorescent light, mantling their crys- 

 talline bells and lace-like appendages with 

 blushes of submarine lightning, swarm in 

 incredible numbers and diversity in all 

 summer seas. Some are oceanic, and 

 known only where they burst into tiny 

 rockets under the, prows of far-sailing 

 ships ; but the main body of the tribe 

 frequents the coast, seeking the still, warm 

 water of protected bays and lagoons, and 

 floating like chains of prismatic bubbles 

 — necklaces of pearls on Ocean's breast. 

 But a cloudy or stormy day will send 

 most of them to imperturbable depths, 

 and others avoid the noonday glare. 



One of the commonest forms on our 

 beaches in late summer is the great Aure- 

 lia, or "sunfish," of which vast shoals are 

 sometimes seen basking on the bosom of 

 the sea, preyed upon by squids, whales, 

 turtles, and some fishes, though well able 



August II 



