, 1881-09-18
FINDING A WANDERER.

native Sta tel Will ever 9NlltI To Tue lHuAe
FINDING A WANDERER.
i portusuese 1Ian-o'-syar Picked Up
OHFlre eIsland-Puraiyzed by 1t.
Ne.v Forl: Sun.
s'Bad weather all along the coast" said
the skipper of small yacht, liaiing from
Fire Island, that dropped anchora few days
ago off Quaratinc Station ''The day we
left marl-o'-war went ashore aud broke up.
and the tide went out and left her high and
DRY, so ynu could walk all around her.
The shippers face was expressfonless but
twinkle in his eyes caused his hearers to
express doubt concerning the news.
sDon't believe ?" he said. Swell, just
step down below. We didn't expect to be
believed, so brought part Of the wreck
along"
Following him down into the snug little
cabin, llc hauled out from a locker 4 box
cover, on which was fastened what seemed
to be large bubble of pearly white, from the
bottom of which extended a mass of blue
strings glued and pasted together. The bub-
BILE was rare creature III these waters,
probably the only one ever seen before, al
though well known i'll the Gulf Stream as
the Portuguese mail-o'-war.
..If you have any further doubts as to its
being cruiser the skipper continued,
laughing, s'just touch that blue part"
Having met with tile mal,-u'-War before
and knowing its power, the Invitation was
declined.
awe were running along,'' lie said, '>close
in shore, and sighted this fellow, which we
thought at first was Il bubble. but one of the
1nen 1llatlc \ grab ut it as we went by. and
found out his mistake. Show your hand,
Bob''
Bob, who had joined us, tlnrolled several
bandages, and held up a hand that was a.;
blue as indigo, and looked rs though it had
been fancIiully painted IN India ink.
''Hurt:?'', he said. - / thought my hand
never saw one before,'' the skipper con
tlnuetl, so went about and picked it
up in a scoop net, and man at the
hotel told us what it was. When float
ing IN tue waite; it was fs the the prstt1eSt thn
fore-and-aft sail like satin, the top frlnged
with pink. Tie body or bubble was pearl
colore,, bnt its bottom was blue, and from it
hung I'LL these strealners. Some oL th6nt uilSt
have been ten or twelve fect long, evidently
acting as !. rudder, while the wind caught
tine sail and blew it along. You see It turled
its sail Just like vessel AS suon as we got
it aboard it commenced to take it III, and in
ten minntes it had all gone-drawn into the
bubble, perhaps"
Tile fairy ship was scientifically the physa:t-
lii. u compound animal closely related to the
jelly fishes, and usually found only i'll the
warm waters OF the Southern coast It
prnoao1y eame uP tne ;'S's cgass os af mT tr uii
the great river OF waters THAT circuits our
Eastern coaSt. \ fine nautilus, equally Us
rare, once came ashore at Nantucket. The
powets "a :, lug pHS;} : =; st os a,y bS 1 s,.
louv been known. and numbers of curious
experiments Mane Mith them. lney are
very numerous IN me Gns1, ala gre ire
aiehtiy see!s salllns a!ong tn lleets, tIe uelt7
cate, menlpra!le9us s;tls tt.sed % ere preeze;
there IS IL @ little sea tney woula hardly pa %
served. me :Wr1ter once WsS sNttnnithS
along M 0n hts slde. aud passed. alrectly over
one. Ile wilele lnSss OF {e'.taeles. l1stenstl
on 70 ths eest uo st2iias,; ane eleet netng
OF Tue parts: Ile T. nl.te III! masS had to be
seraped away WIN Knives. anu tor more than
4 year a1te: the niue tl;scefy : r. was Va visible
efverywnere u I;o : t?senGt'' Wa1ie III the tlnie
lifs was almost despaIred OF.
I!ls animal Is a colony Of compound ny
Grplus tlias are called zooitls, peing OF .tlt-
terent k1ntts- Soule are tor 1oconlption.
o!hers 1eeuerS whiie qtheIs again are Tor r.
ptuuuct.ne ,i pu1Pvscs W. ~ Ky otu.nary oo
lelly-liEe mass of threads, coiilng: draw
lnS ny, 2nd lowering again like so
many SNAKES On closer examination
the secret of their power IS seen. The
tentacles are covered with minute cells. each
Of which contains Il ulln10e eoiled dart called
Il lass0: and the moment q foreign substance
comes III contact with the tentaeles, MILL
ions OF these weapons are hurled into it
Ike hot shots from q gun, producing
the !. peculiar parsly;lc ehccL This Is
particularly noticeable i'll fishes. The
1no':'c.:t they touch the tempting; bit which
they mistake fur food they lose pt'wer of mo-
to, a'ia @ are ~ ut1%l' ,S nn ana a2sorosd into the
it happens that tish fairly swallows a dis
connected piece nf The te1tacle, aid although
de;.1 any separated from the .lral-o';war for
Weeks, tt does ITS deadly work, the blue
poison that accompanies the darts seeming
g.; e. pel,strtty ;r,: f the entire system of the
fish that had fed upon Il ptysalia Is de-
sctibed by Pr. Leblond. Il famous French
naturalist. liz says: "Suppi,g at I'LL all
bergc Oh one occ;si ion. with other persons, a
becune was served I'D, Of which g;lstrono-
nlcrs are very fond, and which is usually |