on the shore,
especially after a severe storm. There it lies, a mass of helpless
jelly, which slips and breaks through your fingers if you try to lift
it.

It cannot move back to its watery home, and in a short time the sun's
warmth will have dried it up, leaving but a mark on the sand, and a few
scraps of animal matter; for these strange creatures are little else but
water. A Jelly-fish, which weighed two pounds when alive, would leave
less than the tenth part of one ounce when dried!

There is a story of a farmer who, on seeing thousands and thousands of
Jelly-fish along the shore, thought he would make use of them. He
decided that they would serve as manure for his fields, and so save him
much money. He went home, and sent men with wagons to be loaded with the
Jelly-fish. This was done, and the Jelly-fish were spread over the soil.
On looking at his fields the next morning, the farmer was astonished to
find that every scrap of his new manure had vanished as if by magic!

[Illustration: WEST PAN SAND BUOY. ONE OF THE MANY BUOYS AT THE MOUTH OF
THE THAMES.]

In the sea the Jelly-fish looks like an umbrella of bluish-white jelly,
from which hang tassels and threads. Look over the side of a boat, or
from the pier, and you often see them drifting by, hundreds of them,
like so many ghosts.

Each one is moving along, with its edges partly opening and shutting. It
is plain that this waving motion causes the creatures to move through
the water. Also, they can rise to the surface, or fall to the depths,
and do not collide with one another. So the Jelly-fish is not at all
helpless.

At night Jelly-fishes sometimes look very beautiful. Each one shines in
the water, with a soft yet strong light, like fairy lamps afloat in the
sea.

They are of all sizes. Some you could put in a small wineglass, others
measure nearly two feet across. Evidently the Jelly-fish grows, and, in
order to live and grow, it must eat; but what does it eat, and how does
it obtain its food?

[Illustration: MEDUSA.]

Before noticing the wonderful way in which this animal finds its dinner,
let us look at its body. In any large Jelly-fish you can see marks which
run from the centre of the body, and another mark round the edge of the
"umbrella." These are really tubes. They all join with a hollow space
inside the body, which is the creature's stomach. The mouth-tube opens
under the body, as can be seen by turning the Jelly-fish on its back,
and movi