IMARINE ANI.MALS — MEDl'S.E. 2/ 



stream. Off the coast of Newfoundland a branch scpa- chap, il 

 rates from it, and runs from S.W. to N.E. towards the 

 coasts of Europe. 



From Corunna to 36° of latitude, our travellers had Meausae. 

 scarcely seen any other animals than terns (or sea- 

 swallows) and a few dolphins; but on the 11th June 

 they entered a zone in which the whole sea was covered 

 with a prodigious quantity of medusae. The vessel was 

 almost becalmed ; but the mollusca advanced towards 

 the south-east with a rapidity equal to four times that of 

 the current, and continued to pass nearly three quarters 

 of an hour, after which only a few scattered individuals 

 were seen. Among these animals they recognised the 

 Medusa uurita of Baster, the M. pelagica of Bosc, and a 

 third approaching in its characters to the M. hysocelia, 

 which is distinguished by its yellowish-brown colour, 

 and by having its tentacula longer than the body. 

 Several of them were four inches in diameter, and the 

 bright reflection from their bodies contrasted pleasantly 

 with the a/Aire tint of the sea. 



On the morning of the 13th June, in lat. 34° 33', Daffj-sa 

 they observed large quantities of the Dagysa no'Mta, of ""'"'^ 

 which several had been seen among the medusae, and 

 which consist of little transparent gelatinous sacs, ex- 

 tending to fourteen lines, with a diameter of two or 

 three, and open at both ends. These cylinders are 

 longitudinally agglutinated like the cells of a honey- 

 comb, and form strings from six to eight inches in length. 

 They observed, after it became dark, that none of the 

 three species of medusa which they had collected emit- ^^mission of 

 ted light unless they were slightly shaken. When a "^ 

 very irritable individual is placed on a tin plate, and 

 the latter is struck with a piece of metal, the vibrations 

 of the tin are sufficient to make the animal shine. 

 Sometimes, on galvanizing medusae, the phosphorescence 

 appears at the moment when the chain closes, although 

 the exciters are not in direct contact with the body of 

 the subject. The fingers, after touching it, remain 

 luminous for two or three minutes. Wood, on being 



