PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. 39 



to that of the odd-looking crimson skull-cap of his Eminence the 

 Cardinal. 



All the Jelly-fish of this division have the stomach in the form 

 of an inverted flask, hanging from the under surface of the body, 

 with the mouth at its lower extremity. The cirri immediately 

 surrounding the mouth are adapted rather for prehension than 

 locomotion, and while some of the members are busily employed 

 in seizing the minute prey, others are engaged in holding small 

 shells and stones, the ballast necessary to trim the little vessel as 

 it calmly sails along the surface of the deep. 



The fourth and last section of the Jelly-fish includes the 

 animals which Cuvier termed Hydrostatic acalephce. According 

 to the classification now adopted, they constitute the order Physo- 

 grada, so named from the inflated air-bags with which they are 

 provided, and by means of which, in part at least, they effect 

 locomotion. In this section of the Jelly-fish we entirely lose the 

 circular radiate structure, by which the previous orders are dis- 

 tinguished, and have, instead, a sort of lateral symmetry or corre- 

 spondence between the two sides of the animals composing it. 



A well-known member of this division is the Physalia pelagica, 

 or Portuguese-man-of-war of sailors. The body of this singular 

 Jelly-fish consists of a large pear-shaped air-bladder, beautifully 

 tinted with blue, green, and crimson. It is surmounted by a 

 fringed crest or sail of the richest purple, and has depending from 

 it a cluster of variously-shaped tentacles, some of great length, 

 and employed in the capture of prey ; others short, tubular, and 

 terminated by suckers through which the Physalia, destitute of 

 a true mouth, imbibes its food. This food consists, it is said, 

 principally of small fish ; and the long tentacles by which they 

 are caught are truly formidable implements. According to 

 Dr. Cr. Bennett, they can be coiled up within half an inch of the 

 air-bag, and then suddenly shot out to the length of twelve or 

 eighteen feet, twining round and round the body of the prey, 

 paralyzing it by means of their acrid secretion, and then con- 

 tracting so as to bring it within reach of the tubular suckers. 



On one occasion Dr. Bennett captured some specimens of the 

 Pliysalia, which had several small fish entangled in their ten- 

 tacles ; and by placing them immediately in a large vessel of 

 sea- \vater, the process of feeding by absorption was distinctly 

 observed. The tubular suckers were soon seen to be filled with 



