constrained and ordered the uncertainties and perils of our lot, as not only to reconcile all its apparent contradictions with the ends of moral discipline and benefit, but to make even the darkness of calamity flash rays of brightness and of hope.  Thus, along with an enlarged knowledge of men and things, he gives us the wisest counsel about our conduct and proceedings in the world, and also the most encouraging conclusions with regard to our final destiny and prospects.

FOOTNOTES: 

[1] 1. Friends in Council:  a Series of Headings and Discourse thereon.  New Edition.  Two vols. 2. Companions of my Solitude.  Pickering.  London:  1851.

JELLY-FISHES.

We inscribe at the head of this paper the popular name of a class of beings, which, though simple in their organisation, are full of interest to the zoologist, and attractive to the common observer from the singularity or beauty of their forms, and, in many cases, the brilliancy of their colouring.  The ocean, throughout its wide extent, swarms with myriads of gelatinous creatures—­some microscopic, some of large dimensions—­which deck it with the gayest colours by day, and at night light up its dreary waste with ‘mimic fires,’ and make it glow and sparkle as if, like the heavens, it had its galaxies and constellations.  These are the jelly-fishes, or sea-nettles (Acalephae), as they are often called, from the stinging properties with which some of them are endowed.  The commoner forms are well known, for the beach is often strewn with the carcasses of the larger species.  On fine days in summer and autumn, whole fleets of these strange voyagers appear off our coasts.  Their umbrella-shaped, transparent disks float gracefully through the calm water, and their long fishing-lines trail after them as they move onward.  At times, multitudes, almost invisible to the naked eye, tenant every wave, and give it by night a crest of flame; while other kinds measure as much as a yard in diameter.  The Acalephae present the greatest variety of form and colour, as well as of size, but they are all of the most delicate structure, frail, gelatinous, transparent.  Some are so perfectly colourless, that their presence can with difficulty be detected in the water.

The following description, by Professor E. Forbes, applies to a large proportion of the species:—­’They are active in their habits, graceful in their motions, gay in their colouring, delicate as the finest membrane, transparent as the purest crystal.’  The poet Crabbe has characterised them well in the following passage:—­

    ’Those living jellies which the flesh inflame,
    Fierce as a nettle, and from that the name;
    Some in huge masses, some that you might bring
    In the small compass of a lady’s ring;
    Figured by hand divine—­there’s not a gem
    Wrought by man’s art to be compared to them;
    Soft, brilliant, tender, through the wave they glow,
    And make the moonbeam brighter where they flow.’