136 REMINISCENCES OF 



often several feet in length before they are broken by 

 the sand ; they are probably employed both to entice 

 and secure the prey, and they produce a sharp, stinging 

 sensation, when applied to the skin. It is from the ap- 

 pearance and offensive power of these last organs, that 

 seamen have given the animal the title of the sea nettle, 

 and naturalists the generic name medusa. 



I have offered this rude description of the medusa, as 

 a familiar example of the class of animated beings 

 which are the subjects of the following remarks. They 

 are all alike gelatinous and transparent, and many of 

 them melt and flow away when exposed in the open air 

 to the direct rays of the sun. 



Of all the tribes of molluscse which are scattered over eve- 

 ry part of the ocean, the most splendid and the best known 

 is the Portuguese man-of-war (physalia). This is an 

 oblong animated sack of air, elongated at one extremity 

 into a conical neck, and surmounted by a membraneous 

 expansion running nearly the whole length of the body, 

 and rising above into a semicircular sail, which can be 

 expanded or contracted to a considerable extent, at the 

 pleasure of the animal. From beneath the body are 

 suspended from ten to fifty or more little tubes, from 

 half an inch to an inch in length, open at their lower 

 extremity, and formed like the flower of the blue bottle. 

 These have been regarded as temporary receptacles for 

 food, like the first stomach of cattle ; but as the animal 

 is destitute of any visible mouth or alimentary canal, 



