PH YSOPHORID^. 1 4 3 



which, being arrested by the membranous walls of the outer sac, 

 give to the sail that appearance of vertical wrinkles which is so 

 conspicuous." 



When it is filled with air the body of the bladder is almost pro- 

 jected out of the water. In order to descend it is necessary to 

 compress itself or dispel the air, in part, for the centre of gravity in 

 the animal is displaced according as the air is in the vesicle or in 

 the crest. When the last is distended it rises out of the water, and 

 becomes nearly vertical ; in short, it then becomes a sort of sail. 

 The floating appendages beneath the body are of divers kinds. 

 Some of these are reproductive individuals ; some are nurse fomis ; 

 some are tentacles ; finally, there are organs designated under the 

 name of Sondes by French naturalists ; probes or suckers, we may 

 call them, forming offensive and defensive arms truly formidable ; 

 for these elegant creatures are terrible antagonists. Du Tertre, the 

 veracious historian of the Antilles, relates the following : — " This 

 ' galley ' (our Physalia), however agreeable to the sight, is most 

 dangerous to the body, for I can assert that it is freighted with the 

 worst merchandise which floats on the sea. I speak as a naturalist, 

 and as having made experiments at my own personal cost. One 

 day, when sailing at sea in a small boat, I perceived one of these 

 little ' galleys,' and was curious to see the form of the animal ; but I 

 had scarcely seized it, when all its fibres seemed to clasp my hand, 

 covering it as with birdlime, and scarcely had I felt it in all its 

 freshness (for it is very cold to the touch) when it seemed as if I had 

 plunged my arm up to the shoulder in a caldron of boiling water. 

 This was accompanied with a pain so strange that it was only with a 

 violent effort I could restrain myself from crying aloud." 



Another voyager, Leblond, in his "Voyage aux Antilles," 

 relates as follows : — " One day I was bathing with some friends in a 

 bay in front of the house where I dwelt. While my friends fished 

 for sardines for breakfast, I amused myself by diving, in the manner 

 of the native Carribeans, under the wave about to break ; having 

 reached the other side of one great wave, I had gained the open 

 sea, and was returning on the top of the next wave towards the shore. 

 My rashness nearly cost me my life: a Physalia, many of which were 

 stranded upon the beach, fixed itself upon my left shoulder at the 

 moment the wave landed me on the beach. I promptly detached it, 

 but many of its filaments remained glued to my skin, and the pain I 

 immediately experienced was so intense that I nearly fainted. I 

 seized an oil flask which was at hand, and swallowed one half, while 

 I rubbed my arm with the other : this restored me to myself, and I 



