VIII.] THE AMBER COAST. [63
the comparison of the combination of the elements to the pulmo
marinus, or jelly-fish; and this, as might be Com ftrison
expected, has been interpreted in a great variety of to the Puimo
ways. It is hard to think—though this is usually
assumed—that it is the material substance, or pulpy mass, formed
by these creatures on the surface of the water, to which the
general aspect of the northern world is here likened; for the
comparison is, to say the least, inapposite. We should also
remark that the expression cthat which resembled' (TOX lot/cos),
which Pytheas uses, applies just as well to a feature of the scene,
as to a material object. It may perhaps be worthy of considera-
tion, in view of the great difficulty which the passage involves,
whether the point of comparison in the/#//«0 marinus which is
here intended is, not its gelatinous substance, but its phosphores-
cent appearance. These Medusae are found in the northern
ocean1, and their vast swarms are known to be accompanied by
marvellous effects of luminous brilliancy3. If the phenomenon
which the natives reported, and which Pytheas himself saw, was a
peculiar glare of light upon the surface of the sea, it would be
suitable enough to remark on the resemblance which this pre-
sented to the jelly-fish.
Finally, before retracing his course to Massilia, Pytheas visited
the district from which amber was obtained. His
acquaintance with this we discover by a comparison
of several passages in Pliny, the statements con-
tained in which are undoubtedly derived from his work, either
directly, or through the medium of Timaeus the historian, who
borrowed largely from it These are introduced, after the manner
of Pliny, without any attempt at criticism, but we seem to gather
from them with a fair approach to certainty, that the land which
is indicated is the coast of Friesland and the adjacent islands
1 See Elton, Origins, p. 70 note I.
2 It has now been discovered by naturalists that the jelly-fish are not
themselves phosphorescent. They swarm, however, at the same time and
under the same conditions with various marine animals which are luminiferous,
and it seems to be from this cause that phosphorescence is attributed to them.
In any case—and this is the important point for our argument—the popular
idea has generally been that they possess this quality.
II—2