178 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF. 



" Here's what did it," said Dick, holding up 

 a stick upon which hung something that looked 

 like a bubble attached to a long mass of blue 

 streamers. 



" What is it ? " Tom asked. 



"It is the Physalia, or Portuguese nian-o'- 

 war," said the doctor ; " one of the most beautiful 

 of all marine animals, and at the same time, as 

 you can testify, one of the most dangerous. It is 

 a mere bubble that floats on the water, dragging 

 these tentacles after it. They are covered with 

 minute cells, and when touched throw out mill- 

 ions of barbed darts, carrying with them the 

 blue poison which, as you see, covered you with 

 a network of lines.' 1 * 



" Why do they call them ' men-o'-war,' doc- 

 tor I " inquired Henry. 



"Because this membrane on the top can be 

 spread out by the animal, and, when the wind 

 catches it, the PJtymlia bowls along like a man- 

 o'-war under full sail," the doctor explained. 



" Some men-o'-war blow up," said Long John ; 



* This was the author's experience, and I carried the marks for 

 nearly a year. 



