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These tentacles can be protruded or withdrawn at will, and sometimes reach a con- 

 siderable 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 dis- 

 tance 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 de- 

 tached 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 short tentacles. 



The colors 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 colored, the inner row being deep purple, and the outer row 

 glowing crimson, as if formed of living carbuncle. The larger tentacles are nearly 

 colorless, 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 

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

 body still inflated with air. 



OUR 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 Diphyidae, 

 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 the aperture. 



The connection 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 develop- 

 ment. A number of tiny disks set on footstalks are also distributed along this appen- 

 dage, 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 comb-bearers, because their 



