THE SEA BLADDER. 201 



the argonaut withdraws all its arms into the shell, contracts^ 

 itself there, and descends to the bottom. The body does 

 not penetrate within the spire of the shell, nor does it 

 adhere to it; at least, there is no muscular attachment, 

 which led to the supposition that it occupied a shell belong- 

 ing to some other animal. This freebooting stigma does not 

 belong to the argonaut, for experiments have proved that 

 the animal is its own builder, and consequently a rightful 

 tenant of his mansion. 



There is a curio as and highly interesting floating object 

 to which we may call the reader's attention, the Sea-Bladder, 

 called by seamen the '* Portuguese man-of-war, and by the 

 French sailors the "galley" or "frigate." This singular 

 zoophyte, or animal plant, for it combines the two natures, is 

 seen floating, sometimes singly, at other times in vast num- 

 bers, in the tropical seas, and attracted the attention of 

 naturalists from a very early period. The notion of its sailing 

 properties may have arisen in consequence of the crest which 

 it has the power of erecting along the ridge of his back, which, 

 when caught by the wind, assumes somewhat the appear- 

 ance of a natural sail, by means of which it seems enabled 

 to glide over the surface of the ocean. This, however, is not 

 the case, as the creature does not move by this means, nor 

 does it appear to possess the power of imparting any special 

 direction to its course, which is entirely at the mercy of the 

 wind and waves. The body itself, upon which the ridge or 

 crest erects itself, is of a slight half-transparent character, 

 and has somewhat the appearance of an unusually solid soap- 

 bubble, glistening with a more than ordinary amount of 

 various colored hues. 



Mr. Bennett describes this body as of delicate crimson 

 tints, as he saw it floating on the waves. There are alsa 

 veinings of rich purple, and opaline flashes of azure, orange, 

 and green, changing in color at every movement; and its^ 



