SECRETS OF THE OCEAN 157 



parasitic life, in colour being throughout of the 

 same milky semi-opaqueness as their host, but one 

 very curious thing about them is, that when taken 

 out and placed in some water in a vial or tumbler 

 they begin to turn darker almost immediately, and 

 in five minutes all will be of various shades, from 

 red to a dark brown. 



I had no fear of Aurelia, but when another free- 

 swimming species of jelly-fish, Cyanea, or the 

 blue-jelly, appeared, I swam ashore with all speed. 

 This great jelly is usually more of a reddish liver- 

 colour than a purple, and is much to be dreaded. 

 Its tentacles are of enormous length. I have seen 

 specimens which measured two feet across the 

 disc, with streamers fully forty feet long, and one 

 has been recorded seven feet across and no less 

 than one hundred and twelve feet to the tip of the 

 cruel tentacles! These trail behind in eight 

 bunches and form a living, tangled labyrinth as 

 deadly as the hair of the fabled Medusa — whose 

 name indeed has been so appropriately applied to 

 this division of animals. The touch of each ten- 

 tacle to the skin is like a lash of nettle, and there 

 would be little hope for a diver whose path crossed 

 such a fiery tangle. The untold myriads of little 

 darts which are shot out secrete a poison which is 

 terribly irritating. 



On the crevice bottoms a sight now and then 

 meets my eyes which brings the "devil-fish" of 

 Victor Hugo's romance vividly to mind, — a mis- 



