26 • NATURAL HISTORY. 



direction ; while all parts are so connected by the tubular axis that the 

 eating of one serves for all. The species figured is a small one, our cut 

 representing it of natural size. Its colors, as described by Mr. Agassiz, 

 are as follows : " The float is of a brilliant garnet color ; from it hangs 

 the rosy-colored axis with its pale swimming-bells, and, further down, the 

 scales, protecting the different kinds of feeding-polyps, with them various 

 kinds of tentacles projecting in all sorts of angles and curves from the 

 main axis of the body, like the festoons of a chandelier ; the darker- 

 colored polyps, tipped and mottled with scarlet, being visible underneath 

 the protecting scales." 



Other forms are much larger, some exceeding twenty feet in length. 

 Some are glassy clear, while others are brightly colored, red being the 

 prevailing color. With most of these forms we can have nothing to do 

 here ; but there are two which demand more mention, not only from the fact 

 that they differ considerably from the form figured above, but from the 

 popular interest that surrounds them. 



First comes the "Portuguese man-of-war," whose stinging qualities 

 were referred to several pages back ; indeed, so strongly can it sting that 

 the part of man affected by it remains benumbed for several hours. 

 But this animal [Physalia it is called) appeals to the eye if not to the 

 sense of feel, for it is most beautifully colored. There is a large pear- 

 shaped float, sometimes ten inches long, which rides on the surface of the 

 water, while a crest on the top acts as a sail, driving the animal hither 

 and thither over the waves. This float is bright blue, shading to rose, 

 but, instead of giving rise to the long axis of the preceding form, it directly 

 supports all the tentacles, feeding-polyps, and the like, which trail behind 

 as the animal floats along. The Physalia is common in the tropical 

 Atlantic, and is occasionally drifted as far north as the southern coast 

 of New England. 



The other form of which we would speak is Velella, the general 

 appearance of which is shown in our cut. Here the float is shaped 



like a raft, and from the centre arises a 

 flattened leaf-like "sail." On the under 

 side of the raft are suspended the various 

 zooids, corresponding to those of the " Por- 

 tuguese man-of-war," and the other form 

 described. The Velellag are smaller than 

 the Physalia, specimens three inches in 



fig. 27.— Velella scaphidia. , i i • 



length being large. One species of a blue 

 color is common on our southern Atlantic coast, sometimes drifting north 

 to Massachusetts. Another occurs on the Pacific shores. It is usually 



