146 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



great pain on the edges of its lips ; it foamed at the mouth and 

 rubbed it in the sand, or upon the grass, leaping about, passing its 

 paws over its jaws, and exhibiting every symptom of excessive pain. 

 T mounted my horse, and, in spite of its sufferings, the poor animal 

 followed me as it was wont. After twenty minutes, when its sufferings 

 were over, I had a piece of bread, which I gave it, and it ate it with 

 appetite, swallowing it without any difficulty ; it only seemed to feel 

 the pain on the edges of its mouth : it was well enough all day, and 

 had evacuations which gave no indication that the Physalia had any 

 influence over the digestive organs. Next day and the day following 

 it was as well as usual, exhibiting no signs of inflammation either in 

 the mouth or throat. 



"IV. On the 20th of the same month I took two 'galleys' on 

 the sea-shore and cut them in pieces ; then, with a spoon, I had them 

 forced down the throat of a puppy which still sucked its mother ; 

 this strong dose of Physalia had no eftect upon it, the tentacles 

 having probably been surrounded by the fleshy parts of the animal 

 in dividing it, so as not to touch the mouth; it seems probable, 

 therefore, that the internal mucus is capable of subduing the irri- 

 tation, which is so distressing when applied to membranes exposed 

 to the external air. We swallow some things with impunity, which 

 we could not support in the mouth if the burning substance remained 

 there. 



" V. I have also procured many ' galleys ' since these experiments, 

 and, having placed them in a glass tube, left them to dry and had 

 them pulverised ; twenty-five grains of this powder administered to a 

 very young dog produced no deleterious effects. Twice this quantity 

 administered to a young cat produced no more, nor has this surprised 

 me ; for, if the fresh animal has no poisonous properties, how can it 

 be supposed that drying the zoophyte can have increased its poisonous 

 })roperties, if it really possesses them ? On the contrary, it is more 

 reasonable to suppose that, by desiccation, the deleterious principle 

 from any animal, whether a Physalia or an Holothurion, should lose 

 infinitely in its principle by evaporation, and by the changes that 

 heat and air produce in the process of drying. 



" VI. I have had a 'galley' cut into pieces, and got a fat young 

 chicken to swallow them. It caused no inconvenience. Three hours 

 after, I had the chicken killed and roasted ; then I ate it, and made 

 my servant eat it too. Neither of us experienced any inconvenience 

 from it, a certain proof that it is not from eating Physalia that the fish 

 becomes poisonous. 



"VII. I put twenty-five grains of powdered Physalia in a little 



