140 OUT OF DOORS. 



beach, a loose, roundish mass of tawny membranes and 

 fibres, something like a very large handful of lion's 

 mane and silver paper, let him beware of the object, 

 and, sacrificing curiosity to discretion, give it as wide 

 a berth as possible. For this is the fearful stinger, 

 scientifically called Cyanea capillata, the most plenti- 

 ful and the most redoubtable of our venomous medusae. 



My first introduction to this creature was a very 

 disastrous one, though I could but reflect afterwards 

 that it might have been even more so. It took place 

 as follows. 



One morning towards the end of July, while swim- 

 ming off the Margate coast, I saw at a distance some- 

 thing that looked like a patch of sand, occasionally 

 visible, and occasionally covered, as it were, by the waves, 

 which were then running high in consequence of a 

 lengthened gale which had not long gone down. Know- 

 ing the coast pretty well, and thinking that no sand 

 ought to be in such a locality, I swam towards the 

 strange object, and had got within some eight or ten 

 yards of it before finding that it was composed of animal 

 substance. I naturally thought that it must be the 

 refuse of some animal that had been thrown overboard, 

 and swam away from it, not being anxious to come in 

 contact with so unpleasant a substance. 



While still approaching it I had noticed a slight 

 tingling in the toes of the left foot, but as I invariably 

 suffer from cramp in those regions while swimming, I 

 took the ' pins-and-needles ' sensation for a symptom 



