DIPHYES. 741 



is a membranous crest, and which has a number of long tentacles hanging from 

 one end. 



These tentacles can be protruded or withdrawn at will, and sometimes reach a 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 tentacles are most 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 cables 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. 



Nor is the inconvenience confined to the hand ; a dull aching pain usually proceeds 

 up the arm and shoulder, and even extends to the muscles of the chest, producing an 

 unpleasant feeling of anxiety and difficulty in respiration. Washing the injured part 

 with water rather aggravates than relieves the pain, which is best remedied by friction 

 with olive oil. The cables retain their urent property long after they have been detached 

 from the animal, and their viscid secretion when received on a cloth retains the same 

 virulent principle for many days, and communicates it to other objects." 



It is most probable that these terrible appendages are employed for the purpose of 

 procuring food, and that they serve to entangle and kill the creatures on which the 

 Physalis lives. Several of these acalephs have been observed with the bodies of half- 

 decomposed fishes entangled among the snort tentacles. 



The colours of the Physalis are always beautiful, and slightly variable, both in 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, taking a very deep tint at the pointed end, and fading into softer hues 

 towards the tentacles. A general iridescence, however, plays over the body, which seems 

 in certain lights to be formed of topaz, sapphire, or aquamarine. The short fringes are 

 beautifully coloured, the inner row being deep purple, and the outer row glowing crimson, 

 as if formed of living carbuncle. The larger tentacles are nearly colourless, but are banded 

 at very small intervals throughout their length, giving them the appearance of being 

 jointed. 



It is a common trick with sailors to induce a "green hand" to pick up a floating 

 Physalis, and to make him buy a rather dear experience at the cost of several hours' smart. 



The vesicular body seems to be permanently filled .with air, the animal having no 

 power of inflating or collapsing at will. Many of these beings may be found on the sea- 

 shore, where they have been flung by a tempest, the tentacles all decayed, but the body 

 still inflated with air. 



OUK last example of this order is seen in the next illustration, where it occupies the 

 lower part of the engraving. This is one of a tolerably large family termed Diphyidse, or 

 double animals, because they are formed, as it were, of two animals, one fitting inside the 

 other. Their general form is bell-shaped. In the present genus, both animals are similar, 

 and of a somewhat pyramidal shape, and have a few points round tne aperture. 



The connexion between the two portions of the DIPHYES seems to be very slight, inas- 

 much as the two halves are often found separated from each other. The progress of the 

 animal is achieved simply by taking water slowly into the bells, and expelling it smartly, 

 much after the fashion of the ordinary Medusae. 



Trailing from the interior of the bells may be seen a curiously-elongated appendage, 

 studded with globules, which are, -in fact, the offspring in different stages of development. 

 A number of tiny discs set on footstalks are also distributed along this appendage, and 

 save the power of adhesion to any object which they may happen to touch. 



We now come to a fresh order named Ctenophora, or cornb-bearers, because their 



