48 The Underwater World 



The giant jelly-fish are the most 

 formidable poisoners, their murderous 

 weapons being larger than those of the 

 anemones. Certain kinds are dangerous 

 to the human bather, raising blisters 

 similar to those produced by a nettle, 

 though more severe and lasting, whilst 

 certain specimens have been known to 

 cause a fatal cramp. Potent as is the 

 poison injected by our large jelly-fish, it 

 is far more so in the case of a beautiful 

 foreign example the Portuguese Man-of- 

 War (Physalia) a representative of the 

 Siphonophora a creature characterised 

 by a large float, shaped like a cock's 

 comb, which projects above the surface 

 of the water and acts as a sail. These 

 animals are occasionally drifted to our 

 shores by the winds or Gulf Stream, and 

 as they generally appear in shoals of a 

 thousand or more strong, their efficiency 

 to put a luckless bather out of action 

 may easily be imagined. Their stinging 



