112 NATURE AND THE CAMERA 



avoid being cut. Therefore I advise watching how 

 the fishermen do it. By so doing and by following 

 their method much unnecessary inconvenience and 

 pain may be avoided. 



Should you ever be tempted to photograph the 

 Portuguese man-of-war {Physalia arethusa)^ be most 

 careful how you handle them. Do not let the ten- 

 tacles come in contact with your skin unless you 

 wish to enjoy the sensation of being stung by an in- 

 finite number of nettles. In photographing these 

 interesting and beautiful creatures, some difficulty 

 will be experienced. They are so light in colour, 

 resembling as they do a very brightly coloured soap- 

 bubble, that a white background is not desirable, 

 while a dark one has the disadvantage of caus- 

 ing the glass to reflect the camera and everything 

 else about it. Another difficulty is with the creature 

 itself, which insists on coming in contact with the 

 glass (this is probably due to capillary attraction) 

 and when removed leaves a jelly-like scum on 

 the surface of the glass. This, needless to say, must 

 be cleaned off before the photograph can be made. 

 I would suggest that a very thin piece of white silk, 

 or other almost transparent material, be fastened 

 tightly across the length of the aquarium at a dis- 

 tance of two or three inches from the front glass; 

 this would, I think, keep the creature away from the 

 glass without causing it to alter its form. In photo- 



