JELLYFISHES. 



243 



forms and structure, their beautiful colors of claret, 

 rose and pink, their varied and almost magical move- 

 ments, as varied and graceful as those of the birds and 

 insects of the air, their phosphorescence by night, 

 causing them to be called the " lamps of the sea," 



Fig. 472 



Jellyfish. 



and their curious changes in passing from the young 

 to the adult state, have interested all intelligent visit- 

 ors to the seaside, and have caused these animals to be 

 carefully studied by some of the most eminent natural- 

 ists of Europe and America. The word Acaleph 

 means nettle, and is given to these animals because 

 some of them cause a stinging sensation when they 

 touch our flesh ; hence they are often called Sea Net- 

 tles. They are also as often called Medusae. Their 



