228 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
animal it just holds on patiently until its victim is tired 
out. Among tbe curious tilings about these Jelly-fish is 
the way in which they multiply. In their youngest state 
they possess the power of motion, and after a while they 
become attached to a stone or other object and become 
A MEDUSA OR JELLY-FISI 
fixed. Now a strange thing takes place ; the young 
Jelly-fish grows into a body that looks like a number of 
saucers placed one upon another in a pile. These little 
saucers keep on growing, until at last the upper one 
breaks away from the pile, turns over, and swims away 
Jelly-fish give off light in the dark, and it is by these 
that the phosphorescence of the eea that you have read 
about is cause .1. 
Another strange thing often met with at sea in pleas- 
ant weather, is the "Portuguese Man-of-War," al- 
so called the Sea-blad- 
der and Little Galley. 
The upper portion, 
which looks much like 
a blown -up bladder, 
is rilled with air, and 
has a handsome crest. 
It is colored blue and 
purple, and the crest 
often has a tinge of 
carmine, so you may 
imagine the '• Man-of- 
War" is a very pretty 
object as it floats upon 
the sea and is wafted 
along. It is not, how 
ever, like the Medu- 
sa, a single animal, but 
a curious compound 
as imal made up of sev- 
eral united individu- 
als. These are seen 
below the floating por- 
tion, and they possess 
the power of throwing 
out threads many feet 
in length. Though 
eo beautiful in ap- 
pearance, one must be- 
ware how he touches 
this •* Man-of-War," as 
it possesses the power 
of stinging in a most 
painful manner. It 
throws its slender arms 
around one, and at the same time gives off a fluid that 
produces the most painful irritation. There are several 
accounts of persons who have come in contact with 
these while bathing and found great difficulty in reaching 
the shore. Tue Doctor. 
always run— but if the fanner was slow of foot, his 
dog was not, and the urchins had hard work to keep 
ahead of him. They knew that if they were once across 
the brook they would be safe— but the water was high, 
PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. 
and the holes were deep, and wading was .out of the 
question. Persons in danger have their wits finely 
sharpened and think very quickly, and it occurred to the 
foremost boy to bridge the stream by means of a young 
birch that grew upon its borders. Climbing up into the 
slender, waving top of the tree, his weight threw it 
across the stream, and lauded him safely on the other 
side, where he held the bridge in place until the others 
THE B It I D G E OF SAFET Y. — Drawn and EnyrGvea for the American agriculturist. 
from the rest a regular Jelly-fish. After a while, the 
next saucer-like hody goes through with the same per- 
formance, until each one of the pile of a dozen or more 
saucers has in its turn grown to the proper size and 
started off in au independent life. Some of the minute 
No doubt these youngsters have been out on some 
skylarking expedition, and have heen caught in a scrape. 
Perhaps they made a raid upon the melon-patch or the 
orchard of some farmer who started in pursuit. Of 
course they ran— people who feel that they are guilty 
could cross in the manner that you see in the picture. It 
is wise to take a good idea from a bad boy, and the bridge 
built in a hurry by these young rogues to escape pursuit 
may serve as a hint to others who see no other means of 
crossing a deep stream. 
