154 



Marvels of the Universe 



seen swaying in accord with some motion 

 of the unstable sea that is imperceptible to 

 man, dipping and rolling indeed as if 

 making believe very much that the 

 weather is " quite rough, you know." 



Many people have confused this little 

 creature with the more highly-organized 

 mollusc known as the Nautilus, with its 

 exquisitely beautiful shell. The Portuguese 

 Man-o'-War has no shell or bone, or any- 

 tliing about it but what will melt under the 

 Icrvent rays of the sun if out of the water. 

 Its " sail " is but an air-sac, filmy almost 

 as a soap-bubble, inflated by who knows 

 what mysterious impulse from the little 

 colony beneath. For herein lies another 

 mystery : The Portuguese Man-o'-War is 

 manned, if the term may be forgiven. It 

 IS not an individual, but a colony of indi- 

 viduals, which is subject to continual 

 birth, growth, and death ; but which 

 appears to be actuated by a common im- 

 pulse ; one law which governs the whole 

 without friction, knows no disobedience or 

 insubordination. 



Few things are more startling to wit- 

 ness, even by one ignorant of the organiza- 

 tion of these colonies, than the way in 

 which, as if at some imperative signal, all 

 those sapphire sails are suddenly furled 

 and the toy fleet disappears. Such a disap- 

 pearance is usually only momentary ; .even 

 while the onlooker is lamenting the absence of such a wonderfully decorative adjunct to the plain 

 sea-surface, they will all reappear, nodding and rolling as bravely as ever. 



Yet it must be noted that, beautiful and helpless and innocent as these miniature ocean voyagers 

 appear, they possess a weapon that, while it is powerless to defend them from destruction, can, 

 and does, inflict terrible punishment upon any aggressor. I allude to the extraordinary quality 

 possessed by all of them of scarifying the flesh of anything that touches them almost as badly 

 as vitriol does. It is probabh? an exceedingly potent digestive fluid secreted by the creature; 

 but whatever it is, its effects are, in some cases at least, maddening. I can never forget seeing a 

 pet pig of ours in a ship of which I was second mate writhing in agony, which culminated in our 

 having to destroy her. She found a Portuguese Man-o'-War lying on deck, whither it had been 

 washed in a gale the previous night, and essayed to eat it, with lamentable results. And I have 

 seen a man temporarily bereft of reason through just touching the tentacles of a Portuguese Man-o'- 

 War while swimming. 



But, after all, this innocent and faery-like ship of the sea forewarns us of its dangerous 

 qualities ; for the bright colours it displays are given to it for the especial purpose of a danger 

 signal. Whoever, therefore, becomes a victim to this potent sting must take the onus of his 

 predicament on himself and not blame this beautiful denizen of the ocean. 



llill J. Ti-lleiihurri. 



THE PORTUGUESE MAN-O'-WAR. 



This most brilliantly coloured member of the tribe of Jelly-fish maUes 

 a brave show in the waters of the Mediterranean. 



