Various

“ There have even been found "fixed jelly-fish" (Fig. 5) —those so fond of a settled resting-place that they have put out suckers by which they attach themselves permanently to some rock or stone.
Although jelly-fish are so brilliant in the daytime, they have a different beauty at night, when they throw out a golden light slightly tinged with green, resembling the light of a glow-worm. Vast numbers of small animals in the sea have this power of throwing out light from their bodies. ”

“ I don't know how it is that a feller so thin as Treat is can eat so much."
"Uncle Dan'l says it's 'cause he works so hard to get full," said Toby, quietly; "an' I shouldn't wonder if I grew as thin as the skeleton one of these days, for I eat jest as awful much as I used to."
"Well, you look as if you got about all you needed, at any rate," said Ben, as he mentally compared the plump boy at his side with the thin, frightened-looking one who had run away from the circus with his monkey on his shoulder and his bundle under his arm. ”

“ I am sorry that several complaints have come about careless little people who forget, when they send their exchanges, to inclose plain directions as to where they live; and, worse still, stories have been told about some who appear to be dishonorable. I will not believe that a single boy who reads Young People ever willfully cheats another boy. ”

“ Neither could the pig stand still, and while the women at the kitchen door and window were laughing until the tears came into their eyes, the speckled unfortunate was dodging in every direction in a desperate effort to regain his freedom. Bun had deceived him when he enticed him from the barn-yard. The gate through which he had consented to be driven was well known to Speckle as leading into the garden, and all the free rooting to be desired of any pig could be had there. ”

“ After three hours, which seemed as many ages, the daylight broke, and revealed the fact that unless aid was given from the cliff above them, escape was impossible, while the total disappearance of the ship left no evidence of their position, their guns and signals of distress through the night having been unheard by reason of the roaring of the gale.
The only hope of escape was to creep along the ledge to its extremity, and then, on a ridge nearly as broad as a man's hand, to turn a corner, and then scale a precipice almost perpendicular and two hundred feet in height! ”

“ The thrust, however, it may be remarked, is always some kind of a longe, and in parrying the one sword does not beat the other aside, but simply turns it by a turn of the wrist. The idea of the parry may be gathered from the fact that the point of the foil always describes a circle of not more than three feet in diameter in the air. Thus the adversary's point is turned aside from its object.
The art of fencing is so difficult to learn without a master that it is useless for any one to attempt by himself to do more than acquire skill in the simpler movements ”

“ Mr. Meriton thought he perceived that the sides of the ship were visibly giving way; that her deck was lifting, and that consequently she could not much longer hold together.
On leaving the roundhouse to see whether his suspicions were correct, they received a terrible confirmation. The ship had separated in the middle, and not a moment was to be lost in seizing the slender chance of saving his life. As a great sea struck the ship the poor ladies cried out: "Oh, poor Meriton, he is drowned! Had he staid with us he would have been safe." ”

“ It is not much more than a hundred years since gentlemen gave up wearing rapiers at their sides—a practice which was once as common as is that of carrying a cane among us. And with a weapon so handy, it can easily be believed that it was drawn on very slight provocation. Hence every gentleman who valued a whole skin was diligent to make himself a master of the small-sword, as it was generally called. ”

“ When that decisive period came, it appeared that Mattie had decided to lend me one of her own costumes. It was a last year's white muslin, trimmed with Valenciennes lace, and so much finer than anything I had ever owned that I was completely carried away by the prospect of wearing it. It is true that for a few minutes my sense of refinement was disturbed. In our simple home we would never have dreamed of borrowing any finery.
"Oh, Mattie!" I said, timidly, "I never wore any one else's things. What would papa say?"
Mattie laughed shrilly. "Don't be a goose!" she exclaimed. ”

“ The size of jelly-fish is greatly enlarged by the water they absorb; indeed, the substance of which they are composed consists largely of water. A specimen weighing several pounds when alive will shrink away to almost nothing if exposed to the sun and the wind. As the body contains no bones or other solid matter, it all perishes together, and no trace is left of its former beautiful shape. You will see that jelly-fish are in no way like real fish. ”

“ Each position, whether for thrust or parry, is easy by itself, but when your thrust is quickly parried, and the point of your opponent's foil is reaching for your breast quick as thought, then the cool head, the quick eye, the ready hand, are brought into play. The first thing for the beginner to do after equipping himself for the contest—and about this we shall have a few words to say later on—is to master the proper position. In no exercise is position of greater importance. Let the right side of your body be half turned toward your adversary ”

“ So are jelly-fish, and they are often found floating in large companies. Jelly-fish are propelled by alternately taking in and throwing out water under the bell. This gives them a jerking movement, which looks as if it were caused by breathing. They come to the surface chiefly when the water is quiet, and, as they like the warm sun, you will not see many of them at an early hour in the day. They are easily alarmed. If they meet with an obstacle in their course, or if they are touched by an enemy, the bell contracts, the tentacles are instantly drawn up, and the creature sinks in the water. ”

“ The lasso cells of this specimen are exceedingly delicate and simple, but in some animals the lasso may be seen coiled within the cell; and when thrust out it bristles with sharp stings. Is it not a dainty weapon to be used in the continual warfare carried on by these innocent-looking creatures? Small as the lasso cells are, they serve to protect the soft-bodied animals from their numerous enemies.
Jelly-fish would hot hesitate in the least to use these tiny weapons upon us if we should touch their soft, pretty tentacles with too much familiarity. ”

“ This rough treatment, together with the fact that he would sometimes pick the kitten up by the tail or the head, and carry her for several minutes in a most trying position, proved too much for the meek little animal's constitution, and one day, to his great disappointment, the dog found her dead, and so cold that she was no longer of the slightest use to him.
It is a great pity that other dogs have not discovered that cats can be put to good use if dogs only take a little pains to win their friendship and develop their useful qualities. ”

“ We each have a rabbit. One is black with a white breast, and the other two are white and gray. We give them apple-wood, and they peel the bark off so clean! We have two cats, both gray. One of them is very old; we call her Kitty Gray. The other is a kitten, and is named Christopher. He will run up my dress to fetch a piece of bread which I hold as high as I can. We have eight bantams; one of them is blind. We ourselves write a paper called "The Monthly Budget"; we compose it all. We like Young People very much. ”

“ The movements of this jelly-fish are languid, and it sometimes remains perfectly quiet in the bright sunshine for hours, not even moving its tentacles.
Fig. 5.—Fixed Jelly-Fish.
You have probably noticed a great difference in the movements of people. So with jelly-fish: some are much more active and energetic than others. While some kinds appear to delight in darting through the water, until one might suppose from their frisky motions that they are having a great deal of fun and frolic, others prefer to make no exertion, and to drift idly with the waves. ”

“ There are apple-trees in our yard, and every spring a great many robins and other birds come and build in them. Louis and I often feed them. One day we put some bread in some empty cigar-boxes and set them on the ground for the birds; but they did not eat out of the boxes, so we emptied the bread off the ground, and very soon we saw a number of birds eating it. I think they did not like the smell of tobacco which was about the boxes. Last year two robins had a nest of young ones in one of the trees. ”

“ In longeing, as in the "on-guard" position, the nails of the sword-hand must be turned up. This may seem a trifle, but in reality it is of the greatest importance, since the force and directness of the blow depend upon it. Try it with a cane, and you will at once feel how much firmer your wrist is than when you thrust with your nails turned down. To prove it another way: do the stroke with a long poker, and see how much easier it is to extend the poker and hold it extended with your nails turned up than when they are turned down.
There are four thrusts in fencing, and twice as many parries ”

“ The tentacles of jelly-fish are covered with a great many lasso cells. These lasso cells are too small to be seen without a microscope; still, they are powerful weapons in their way, and are quite sufficient to enable the jelly-fish to catch its food. Many of you know how the skillful hunter uses a lasso for catching wild cattle. The jelly-fish uses its lasso in quite a different manner, but it may be equally unfailing. ”

“ Hold on tight, Jeff. He'll make things rattle. Look, mother!"
She looked, and so did Grandmother Gates and Aunt Dorcas, but it was half a minute before there was anything to see, and Bun punched his queer "horse" with a long stick to set him going. A short sharp grunt replied to the punch, and suddenly the speckled pig made a plunging dart forward, and the wagon went with him.
"See!" shouted Bun. "That harness is just beautiful. It pulls first-rate. He'll go anywhere." ”

“ A person will rarely tire of watching a boat as its prow [Pg 437] turns up a furrow of liquid fire, and each dip of the oar sends a miniature flash of lightning through the otherwise dark water. It fills us with wonder to think of the countless millions of little creatures required to produce these marvellous effects all over the ocean, and wherever the restless waves break in lines of light, either upon tropical shores or ice-bound rocks. ”

“ Are the King and Queen chosen to their positions for their beauty, their scholarship, or their winning ways? I suppose the other pupils vote for them. Do you remember the story of "Susie Kingman's Decision," and has anything like it ever happened in your school? When I was a little girl I used to look forward to our May party just as you do. We elected our Queen and her Maids of Honor, but had no King, as our only boy school-mates were little fellows just tall enough to make the sweetest small pages you ever saw. ”

“ Although I am thirteen years old, I am not too old to write to a young people's paper. I went to school in the winter, but just a week before school closed the school-house burned. My papa owns a hop yard, and in the fall we have a number of girls to pick hops. I like to pick quite well, but when the sun is hot the hops settle, and you don't get your box full so quickly. ”

“ As it may be seen at anytime of the year illuminating air oceans, it is an unfailing source of delight to voyagers. It is most conspicuous on a dark night, when the water is agitated by the motion of a boat, or by the breaking-waves, because the disturbance of the water excites the little animals. ”

“ Thompson followed the barn-swallow, too frightened to know where, for as he turned back he saw the hawk pounce upon an unfortunate bird, and bear it off in his claws.
When they reached the house again, the swallow said, "Well, do you think that the life of a bird is unalloyed pleasure?" Mr. Thompson paused for a moment, and the swallow continued: "First, there are the boys who steal the eggs, then they shoot at you; then there are the hawks, and the snakes, and the cats."
"Cats?" inquired Mr. Thompson.
"Yes, cats!" screamed the swallow in alarm, fluttering away. Mr. Thompson was too late. ”

“ Lean too far forward, and you can not spring back instantly and without effort to the position of defense, and thus you are at the mercy of your opponent, who will quickly parry your blow, and be able to reach you almost without advancing his right foot. Instantly after longeing you must spring back, in order to be able to parry the longe of your adversary. ”

“ The proper armor to wear is a padded leather jacket, a gauntlet on the right hand, a piece of padded leather on the right thigh, and a wire mask over the head. Secondly, never use any but a good and sound foil, and see that the button is firm: many accidents have been caused by a broken foil or an unsafe button. Lastly—and though this applies to all games, it is perhaps more necessary in small-sword exercise than in anything else—remember that the coolest head always goes with the quickest eye and the surest hand. ”

“ The eggs of jelly-fish are formed in large quantities in the tubes leading from the centre. In Fig. 1 you will see the enlarged cavities containing eggs. At certain seasons of the year great clusters of bright-colored eggs may be seen through the transparent flesh. A few jelly-fish are thought to produce young ones resembling themselves, without passing through the strange forms we noticed in studying hydroids.
Hydroids, about which I told you in Young People March 14, No. 124, you will remember, are abundant in all oceans. ”

“ Although they never grow to be perfect eyes and ears in the jelly-fish, they promise that Nature has in store for her children the precious gifts of sight and hearing. Such imperfect organs are called by the wise men rudimentary organs. This is the lowest animal in which anything corresponding to our nerves is found.
Fig. 2.—Lasso Cells from a Fresh-water Hydroid (Magnified) .
Delicate fringes and tentacles hang from the lower edge of the bell, adding greatly to its beauty. The tentacles are often many feet long, yet the animal has the power of drawing them up so that they are not visible. ”