After all, it is to the poets we must go if we would describe the beauties of Nature aright. Michelet, speaking of the Medusa, says:—“Why was this name, of terrible associations, given to a creature so charming? Often have I had my attention arrested by these castaways, which we see so often on the shore. They are small, about the size of my hand, but singularly pretty, of soft light shades, of an opal‐white, where it lost itself as in a cloud of tentacles; a crown of tender lilies—the wind had overturned it; its crown of lilac hair floated about, and the delicate umbel, that is, its body proper, was beneath; it had touched the rock—dashed against it; it was wounded, torn in its fine locks, which are also its organs of respiration, absorption, and even of love.... The delicious creature, with its visible innocence and the iridescence of its soft colours, was left like a gliding, trembling jelly. I paused beside it, nevertheless; I glided my hand under it, raised the motionless body cautiously, and restored it to its natural position for swimming. Patting it in the neighbouring water, it sank to the bottom, giving no sign of life. I pursued my walk along the shore, but at the end of ten minutes I returned to my Medusa. It was undulating under the wind; it had really moved itself, and was swimming about with singular grace, its hair flying round it as it swam; gently it retired from the rock, not quickly, but still it went, and I soon saw it a long way off.” The Medusæ are found in all seas, and usually inhabit the depths, although often seen on the surface. They voyage usually in considerable battalions, and sometimes cover miles and miles of sea. They constitute one of the principal supports of the whale. They are themselves singularly voracious, and snap up their prey—small molluscs, young crustaceans, and annilids—at a mouthful. Their mouths are in the centre of the lower side of the umbrella. They vary from a very small size to as much as a yard in diameter, while to describe the known varieties would occupy the remainder of this volume, so numerous are they. It has been ascertained that these jelly‐like creatures breathe through the skin, have a distinct circulation and some nervous sensations. Most of them produce a stinging pain when they touch the human body, and until lately they were, adopting Cuvier’s classification, designated _Acalephæ_, or “sea‐nettles,” in consequence. [Illustration: PRAYA DIPHYES.]