NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. i8t 



the god of the fea f . This ftrange and wonderful Star-fifh, or 

 Kors-trold, is faid to be only the young, or perhaps only a grain 

 of the roe of that great and frightful fea-monfter, which is call'd 

 here Kraake, and which fhall be defcribed in the following chap- 

 ter. But as far as I could get information from feveral fifher- 

 men, who all agree in their accounts, this cannot poffibly be true. 

 I choofe rather, from its connexion with Neptune, and the re- 

 femblance it bears to the head on Minerva's fhield, to give it the 

 name of Caput Medufae, or Medufa's head. 



The Mangete, the Sea-nettle, Urtica Marina, which we call sea-nettle, 

 Soe-nelde, is a fofter fort of thofe creatures, which we call here 

 by the common name, Trold, or Sea-trold. Its ftiape is round, 

 almoft like a fmall plate, convex above, and underneath flat, or 

 rather a little concave. It is throughout foft, fmooth, and trans- 

 parent, and feems a kind of (lime, or jelly, though it adheres 

 together pretty firmly, and is mark'd with a crofs, fomewhat 

 like a flower-de-luce, in the middle. Thefe creatures are blue 

 white or red ; fome of them have many branches underneath; 

 Thefe are ufually fome thing larger than the common fort, and of 

 a dark red, The Manasten abounds with a corrofive poifon ; and 

 if it drops upon the hands, or any part of the body that is naked, 

 it caufes a fmart and an inflammation, like that raifed by nettles. 

 Hence it has the aforefaid name, Soe-nelde, i. e. Sea-nettle *. 

 However, it is rio Vegetable, but is evidently a living animal ; 

 for it has fenfation, and grows, moves, fwims, and contracts and 

 extends itfelf. It often picks up fmall Fifh or worms, which it 

 devours, and is again devoured in its turn by other Fifh. Pliny 

 looks upon it as fomething between an animal and a vegetable; 

 but it certainly belongs to the former clafs. " Equidem, et his 

 ineffe fenfum arbitror, quae nee animaliuiii ua limit um fed ter- 

 tiam ex utroque naturam habent, urticis dico & fpongiis. Urtiese 

 noclu vagantur, no&uque mutantur, carnofse frondis his natura, 

 8c carne vefcuntur. Vis pruritu mordax, eademque quae terreftris 

 urtica." Hift. Nat. Lib. ix. cap. xlv. 



Kircher, who calls the Manseten Pulmo Marinus, that is, Sea- 

 lungs, defcribes it as a poifonous creature ; and fays, the exhala- 

 tions from their dead carcafes are very pernicious to the lungs. 

 As a confirmation of this he fays, that in the province of Nar- 

 bonne a great number of people annually die of confumptions, 



f In Happelij Relat. Curiof. T. iv. P. ii. p. 444, there is to be feen a drawing of this 

 Stella Aborefcens, but not fo compleat and perfect as that which I have had drawn 

 from feveral fpecimens, all perfect. 



* The ufual Norvegian name is, without doubt, of the fame etymology ; for Ma- 

 nage fignifies Mar-nettel, Hav-naslde, which is Sea-nettle. 



Part II. A a a which 



