COASTLINES 



is only a light wind then the streamers are shortened so 

 that there is little or no "drag" and the vessel gets the 

 utmost benefit from the available wind. 



To alter the vessel's course, the streamers change both 

 size and position. Those on the starboard side may- 

 shorten and adjust themselves to the ''ship" so that it can 

 turn to port, either sharply or slowly — and vice versa. 

 The streamers can also prevent lateral drift and keep the 

 vessel on a steady course. Lengthened considerably they 

 can make the vessel "heave to" and "anchor," even in 

 mid-ocean. 



One investigator of the man-of-war's extraordinary 

 habits, took one of the creatures — holding it by a special 

 device, to prevent it stinging him — and lowered it slowly 

 into a bucket. As he did so the streamers — touching the 

 bottom of the bucket — shortened and shortened, until 

 they were only a fraction of their original length. 



The man-of-war does not attempt to control its move- 

 ments when the surface of the sea is too rough — it allows 

 itself to drift with the wind and tide, so that it is some- 

 times cast up on beaches. Bathers who have come across 

 the dead bodies of these creatures have often learned, too 

 late to prevent acute discomfort, that even after the 

 "vessel" itself is dead, the "fighting units" may still live 

 on — releasing their poisonous barbs when contacted. 



There have been cases of people killed by the man-of- 

 war. One of the most recent was a strong and healthy 

 young Filipino, nineteen years old, who was gathering 

 firewood while working waist-deep in the water of a 

 Philippine Island mangrove swamp a year or so ago. 

 He was stung by a man-of-war concealed in the waters. 

 His fellow-workers rushed him to the shore and he was 

 examined by Dr. H. W. Wade, Chief Pathologist of the 

 near-by Culion Leper Colony. The only mark on his 

 body was a purplish discoloration encircling his right 

 knee. Dr. Wade concluded that he had died from drown- 

 ing, through being rendered helpless by the stings. 



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