Stranded Medusae A curious phenomenon of the season, which has
been full of curiosities, has been observed at several places on the West Coast, especially near Prestatyn, and a good deal of curiosity has been aroused. The shore has been dotted with great quantity of jelly fish—as we call them—of unusual size. The larger ones are described as about eighteen lilacs across the circular part, and have tentacles, so-called, half as long as the body. They are so large and many that it is even suggested they might be a danger to bathers. Some of the smaller medusae are entirely " l_ttoral," only at home in shallow waters, but the biigest, as well as the smallest, are drifters and liable to be stranded in quantity after a prevalent wind from the sea. These giants that were stranded on the Western shore at the end of the year were probably Scypho-Medusae ; and so far as bathers or investigators are concerned may be touched with impunity. Some few of them " sting " (as a nettle stings) mildly, but none, I think, has anything approaching the virulence of the Portuguese man-of-war, which floats by aid of an air sac, and can sting with a vengeance. None is of the same race, though they come in the same class as the cuttlefish or squid. * *
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