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The ultimate source from which the food of all these animals comes—and which, from its abundance, is the cause of life being so extremely prolific in all those regions—is to be found in the vast number of medusoe or jelly-fishes with which the seas in those latitudes are filled.
在那樣的緯度上，富含水母或海蜇的海域，可以讓所有動物都能從中獲取食物，這是動物們的終極食物來源——并且，從其豐富性可以看出，這也是各個區(qū)域中使得生命生生不息的原因。
Some of the species have a sort of fringe of hairs, like little snakes, which hang from the margin of the cup-shaped disc that is formed by their bodies, and float writhing and twisting in the water as the cup, by alternate expansions and contractions, forces its way along. It is from this circumstance that they have received their name of medusæ—Medusa having been a fabled monster of ancient times whose head was adorned with snakes instead of hair.
有些物種長著垂發(fā)，像小蛇一樣，從形成其身體的一部分的杯狀圓盤邊緣懸垂下來，通過交替的擴張和收縮，隨著杯狀頂部在水中翻滾和扭動，從而一路前進。正是由于這種狀況，它們才得到了美杜莎（水母）的美名，又叫蛇發(fā)女妖——古代寓言中以蛇來代替頭發(fā)的女妖。
Many of the medusæ are phosphorescent: and these luminous species are sometimes so numerous that the whole surface of the ocean glows with them at night, as if the waves were undulations of liquid fire.
很多水母都是發(fā)光動物，這些發(fā)光的動物如此之多，有時夜晚連整個海洋表面都會顯得波光粼粼，起伏不定的海浪就好似液體的火焰閃閃發(fā)光。
The different species vary extremely, both in form and in size. Some are so minute as not to be seen by the naked eye; in consequence of which it often happens that curious persons, seeing the whole surface of the sea glowing with the light which they produce, are surprised to find nothing visible in the water when they draw up a bucketful of it to the deck of the ship in order to ascertain the cause.
海洋生物在形態(tài)大小上差異相當大。有些生物小到連肉眼都看不見；正因為這樣，一些好奇的人們，為了查明海面泛光的真實緣由，就在甲板上從大海里提起一桶水，卻驚訝的發(fā)現(xiàn)里面什么都沒有。
Others of the medusæ are of great size and strength. They sometimes seize and devour fishes of considerable magnitude; and yet their bodies contain so little substance, that when drawn up on the beach, they look like a mere mass of jelly. On being exposed for a short time to the sun and air, they almost entirely dry up and disappear, leaving nothing behind them but a thin filmy web.
其他一些種類的水母，個頭很大也很強壯。它們有時會抓住并吞噬某些個頭相當大的魚類；但是，它們本身看上去卻又那么缺乏物質(zhì)形態(tài)，以至于當它們被拉上岸邊，看上去只有一堆膠狀物。暴露在空氣和陽光下一段時間后，它們幾乎就被風(fēng)干消失了，只留下一層薄薄的網(wǎng)狀物。
Animals of this class swarm in countless millions in all the northern seas. So dense are the shoals sometimes, that the whole colour of the sea for hundreds of miles is changed by them! They furnish, of course, immense quantities of food for whales and other cetaceous animals, and also for fishes of all kinds; which in their turn give sustenance to bears, seals, walruses, and multitudes of other animals.
北半球的海域中有數(shù)不盡的這類無脊椎動物，有時，幾百英里海平面都會因為它們的密度不同，呈現(xiàn)深淺不一的色彩。當然，它們?yōu)轹L魚、其他鯨類動物及各種魚類提供了巨大數(shù)量的食物，也使北極熊、海豹、海象和其他眾多動物得以生存下去。
