676 



VENUS'S GIRDLE. 



general shape of this remarkable being is a bubble-like envelope filled 

 with air, upon which is a membranous crest, and which has a number 

 of long tentacles hanging from one end. These tentacles can be pro- 

 truded or withdrawn at will, and sometimes reach a considerable 

 length. They are of different shapes, some being short and only 

 measuring a few inches in length, while the seven or eight central 

 tentacles will extend to a distance of several feet. These long ten- 

 tacles are formidably armed with stinging tentacles, too minute to be 



seen with the naked eye, but possessing 

 venomous powers even more noxious 

 than those of the common nettle. " It 

 is in these appendages alone,*' writes Mr. 

 D. Bennett, " that the stinging property 

 of the Physalis resides. Every other 

 part of the mollusc may be touched 

 with impunity, but the slightest contact 

 of the hand with the cable produces a 

 sensation as painful and protracted as 

 the stinging of nettles; while, like the 

 effect of that vegetable poison, the skin 

 of the injured part often presents a 

 white elevation or wheal." 



The colors of the Physalis are always 

 beautiful, and slightly variable in both 

 tint and intensity. The delicate pink 

 crest can be elevated or depressed at 

 will, and is beautifully transparent, 

 grooved vertically throughout its length. 

 The general hue of its body is blue, tak- 

 ing a very deep tint at the pointed end, 

 and fading into softer hues toward the 

 tentacles. A general iridescence, how- 

 TiiE Portuguese Man-of-war ever, plays over the body, which seems 

 [Physalis pelayicus). . , - i- ^^ , ■. n "^ j n . 



^ -^ ' in certam lights to be formed of topaz, 



sapphire, or aquamarine. The short fringes are beautifully colored, 

 the inner row being deep purple and the outer row glowing crimson 

 as if formed of living carbuncle. 



If the reader will now refer to the illustration he will see a long, fiat, 

 ribbon-like creature edged with a delicate fringe of cilia. This curious 

 being is called Venus's Girdle, and from its beauty fully deserves the 

 name. This lovely creature is found in the Mediterranean, where it 

 attains to the extraordinary length of five feet, the breadth being only 

 two inches. Rightly, the words " breadth " and " length " ought to be 

 transposed, as the development is wholly lateral. The mouth of the 



