THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 17, 1860. 
147 
of tho species having the power, on being handled, of cruising a 
pungent and burning pain similar to that produced by the loaves 
of that most unpleasant herb after which it is named. But as all 
the species are not possessed of this stinging property, it is mani¬ 
festly incorrect to apply the title of “ Sea Nettles ” to the family 
in general. Again, they are called Sea Blubbers, from their 
peculiar appearance; but, as before stated, it is, perhaps, better 
to bring the whole class under the simple and common denomi¬ 
nation of Jelly Eish. 
The history of these strange creatures is unfortunately still 
very imperfect. They are, of course, treated of more or less 
extensively by all writers on marine zoology ; but they have no 
special historian of their own, if wo except Professor Eorbes, 
whose “ Monograph of British Naked-eyed Medusas ’ is a very 
able and entertaining work. Eor this reason any attempt at a 
detailed and elaborate account of their numbers, orders, distinct 
formation, habits, or peculiar characteristics, would bo necessarily 
imperfect, and consequently unsatisfactory. Enough, however, 
may be gathered for the tourist to identify the creatures when ho 
meets with them, and to satisfy his curiosity on their general 
structure and character. 
The Jelly Fish, then, may bo described generally as animals 
of a transparent gelatinous substance; masses of which may 
be seen on the seashore, where they have been thrown by 
the waves, and which lie there inert and motionless during the 
ebb, as they can only move by contraction and expansion in 
the water. To contemplate this mass, the observer would with 
difficulty believo tho beauty of iorm and colour peculiar to 
each individual member of it when carefully examined. The 
amount of solid matter, however, contained in the tissues is 
incredibly small. The greater portion of their substance appears 
to consist of a fluid differing in a very slight degree from the 
sea water itself; and if this be drained away, so extreme is the 
tenuity of the membranes which contained it, that the dried 
residue of a Jolly Fish, weighing originally two pounds, was 
found to weigh only thirty grains. The most common form of 
these animals is that of an umbrella or Toadstool—that is, they 
have a broad, convex-circular disk of a gelatinous substance, 
mostly clear and colourless, but occasionally resembling ground 
glass in its semi-opaqueness, and sometimes" tinted with the most 
delicate colours. From the under surface, or “ sub-umbrella, 
as it is called, commonly depends a fleshy mass, resembling the 
stick of the umbrella, or stalk of the Toadstool, ihis diflers in 
form; sometimes being found long and slender, but more fre¬ 
quently short and thick. It usually terminates in four expanding 
triangular lips, occasionally furnished with long tentacles. The 
centre of these lips is the mouth, leading to the stomach, which 
is a cavity in the upper portion of the fleshy mass mentioned, 
and where the food is digested. Slender vessels radiate from this 
cavity across the under surface of the umbrella-like disk to the 
circumference, where they open into another vessel, which runs 
completely round the margin. In all these vessels the nutritive 
fluid circulates from the stomach, which may be satisfactorily 
seen on examining them by the aid of a microscope. 
In some species the sexes are separate ; others appear to be bi¬ 
sexual. Traces of a nervous system are present, at least in some ; 
although organs of sense, except certain appendages which serve 
for feeling, are absent in many, if not most of them ; whilst others 
have in addition parts which some authorities consider to be 
organs of sight, others organs of hearing. How long a period is 
requisito for their full growth and development is unknown, but 
it is manifestly an error to ascribe to them in general a short 
duration of life and a rapid growth, or even to name them 
annual animals. Some species are able to bear tho loss of parts ; 
but these when removed do not continue to grow. 
The Jelly Fish is met with in all seas. A very considerable 
number belonging to the most different orders arc found in tho 
Mediterranean. Some species are widely diffused, as the Eared 
Medusa ( Medusa aurita) ; the Hairy Medusa ( Cyancea capillata ). 
The first has been found in the Red Sea, and no difference was 
discovered in it and those met with in the North and Baltic Seas. 
Oftentimes many varieties of Jelly Fish collect in such quantities 
at certain places, that they form, as it were, banks in the sea, 
which it requires days to sail through ; and I have been told by a 
friend who was an eye witness of the fact, that in the summer 
months the immense harbour of Halifax, in Nova Scotia, pre¬ 
sented one vast and connected mass of them. These are mostly 
of the stinging species, as he was cautioned against handling 
them. In fine, calm weather the Jolly Fish come to the surface, 
but during a storm they seek the quieter waters of the depths. 
The stinging property peculiar to certain members of this 
family, and which has gained for them tho denomination of Sea 
Nettles, is caused by minute threads situated on the surface of 
the skin. This is plainly demonstrated from the fact, that in 
thoso species not possessed of this obnoxious quality no such 
threads are discoverable. However, the effect can scarcely bo con¬ 
sidered to arise from a purely mechanical cause: it is most 
probable that there is an acrid fluid, the precise nature of which 
has not been ascertained, secreted by the cells and imparted to 
the threads. 
Professor Forbes gives an entertaining sketch of the stinging 
Medusoe, which we shall give in his own graphic words :— 
“Among them (Acalephes), Cyancea capillata of our seas is 
a most formidable creature, and the terror of tender-skinned 
bathers, with its broad, tawny, festooned, and scalloped disk, 
often a full foot or even more across. It flaps its way 
through tho yielding waters, and drags after it a long train of 
riband-like arms, and seemingly interminable tails, marking its 
course when the body is far away from us. Once tangled in its 
trailing hair, the unfortunate who has recklessly ventured across 
the graoeful monster’s path, too soon writhes in prickly torture. 
Every struggle but binds the prickly threads more firmly round 
his body, and then there is no escape; for when tho winder of the 
fatal net finds his course impeded by the terrified human wrest¬ 
ling in its coils, he, seeking no combat with the mightier biped, 
casts loose his envenomed arms and swims away. The am¬ 
putated weapons severed from tho parent body vent vengeance 
on the cause of their destruction, and sting as fiercely as if their 
original proprietor itself gave the word of attack.” 
This very singular property appears to be shared by animals 
of a very different structure. For instance: on the Mangroves at 
Botany Bay are found great numbers of small green caterpillars ; 
their foreheads are thick-set with hairs, and they range them¬ 
selves on the leaves side by side, like a file of soldiers, to the 
number of twenty or thirty together. The hairs of their bodies 
have the quality of a Nettle, and inflict on those incautious 
enough to meddle with them a pain equally acute, although not 
so durable. 
Other peevdiarities of the Jelly Fish, together with a more 
detailed account of the orders into which they are commonly 
divided, must be reserved for the following chapter.—W. 
{To le continued .) 
