THE SALLEE MAN. 739 



beautiful little creature, we need only observe that this being has been proved to be the 

 young, or larval state of the Feather-star. During this stage of its existence, the young 

 Comatula is affixed to its ever-lengthening stem, but when it has attained adult age, it 

 leaves its footstalk and wanders freely through the ocean. 



The reader will not fail to observe that herein the creature acts in precisely the opposite 

 mode to that which is adopted by many beings which have already been described. In 

 those marine animals of which the acorn-barnacle is a good example, the young enjoys 

 freedom throughout its earlier stages, is furnished with certain organs which it afterwards 

 loses, and does not settle down to one spot until it has attained adult age. In the case of 

 the Comatula, the contrast between the two states of life is very strongly marked, the 

 creature being of a more nomad nature than the rest of its kin, and, in swimming, 

 presenting a curious resemblance to the Medusa, the arms contracting and expanding in a 

 manner that strongly reminds the observer of the pulsating disk of the acaleph. 



ACALEPHA. 



WE now arrive at a large and important class of animals. 



These beings are scientifically termed Acalepha, or Nettles, a word which may be freely 

 rendered as Sea-nettles. The term is appropriate to many of the species which compose 

 this large class, for a very great number of the Acalepha are possessed of certain poisoned 

 weapons which pierce the skin, and irritate the nerves as if they were veritable stinging- 

 riettles floating about in the sea. Popularly, they are known by the familiar term Jelly- 

 fishes, because their structure is so gelatinous, mostly clear and transparent, but sometimes 

 semi-opaque or coloured with most beautiful tints. 



The whole history of these remarkable animals is curious and interesting in the extreme, 

 for not only do they exhibit some of the most graceful shapes and pleasing hues that can 

 add beauty to a living being, but they also afford examples of the earlier forms of organs 

 and members which in the higher animals attain their fullest development. 



When they have attained their adult condition, they roam the seas freely, though in 

 their earlier stages they are fixed to one spot and assume a shape quite unlike that of 

 their parent. Examples of this curious phenomenon will presently be given. 



The function of nutrition is carried on in these animals in a method sufficiently 

 simple. They are furnished with a cavity, corresponding to the stomach of higher 

 animals, in which the food is placed, and from which a number of diverging vessels convev 

 the nutritive fluid to the rest of the body. 



For convenience sake, this class is divided into three groups or orders, the first of 

 which is called the Siphonophora, and includes the best organized members of the class. 

 In them the shape of the body is irregular, and there is no central cavity. They are 

 furnished with sucking organs, and move by means of a certain cavity into which water 

 is received gently and from which it is expelled forcibly, or sometimes by means of little 

 sacs or vesicles charged with air. 



Owing to the vast number of species contained in this class, it is manifestly impos- 

 sible to mention all the curious and interesting animals which it includes. Care, however, 

 has been taken to select those species which afford the best types of their orders, and it 

 will be found that almost every group of importance will find its representation in the 

 following pages. 



ON the right hand of the accompanying illustration may be seen a remarkable 

 creature, called by the popular name of SALLEE MAN, sometimes corrupted, in nautical 

 fashion, into SALLYMAN. 



