JELLY FISH'S POISONOUS STING. 97 



One fact that militates against the electric theory is, 

 that the poison-threads do not depend for action upon 

 the will of the creature to which they belong. If a single 

 filament be separated and be washed against the human 

 skin, it will sting with as much virulence as if it were still 

 attached to the body whence it sprung, and which may 

 be miles away. 



This I have personally experienced. I seem to have a 

 particular attraction for the terrible " Stinger " or " Stan- 

 ger " of our coasts (Cyanea) ; and if a single filament 

 should happen to be floating about when I am. in the 

 water, it is sure to find me. I have been stung even in 

 an enclosed swimming-bath on the Devonshire coast, an 

 almost invisible fibre having been introduced into the 

 bath through the supply pipe. 



Now we will turn to the umbrella-like disc, and shall 

 find that it is by no means the homogeneous lump of jelly 

 that it appears to be when carelessly inspected. 



Look at any one of them as it lies on the sea-shore, 

 and you will see four rings of darker substance than the 

 rest of the disc. These are the four lobes of the stomach ; 

 and on turning it over, you will see that the appendages 

 which hang from the centre are arranged round the 

 aperture which leads into the stomach. 



Next examine the creature still more carefully, and 

 you will find that a number of whitish lines radiate from 

 the stomach to the circumference, some straight, while 

 others are wavy and branched. In the Cyanea there are 

 sixteen straight lines and as many branches. All these 



H 



