Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-09-12
PORTUGUESE MEN-oF-wAR.

Two Rare Specimens of This Queer Jelly
Fish In American Waters.
Two objects half foot long were
discovered floating OF Coney Island q
few days ago by fisherman. They
were evidently jelly fish, but of a
species known to very few fishermen
in this part of the world. They seemed
to be a transparent bag of jelly, long
and narrow, with beautifully tinted
comb running from stem to stern. and
their backs rose far enough above the
water to catch the breeze. so they
sailed along right merrily. They were
captured in a pail of water and carried
ashore. where an old sailor said they
were Portuguese men-of-war, and that
they were strange sight north of the
Antilles.
seas They usually grow to be six or
eight inches in length, but have been
seen longer. Above the surface
of the water the physalia (the
scientific name of the fish) appears
like a big bubble-like envelope filed
with air, with raised crest divided
longitudinally, and brilliantly colored
with blue or yellow or pink or deep
purple. On the under side of the
variety of appendages. some of which
are feeding mouths having flask
shaped bodies with the mouths of the
TASKS opening downward. while others
are magni6cently tinted streamers
which trail far behind the fish as it is
waited along by the wind.
The body of the physalia is usually
perfectly white and transparent Some
times it is opalescent or topaz or sap
phire or aqua marine tinted. while an
iridescence plays over the surface in a
or depressed at the pleasure of the
fish. It is the most beautiful of all
jelly fishes.
It is common sport with sailors to
get a greenhorn to pick up a Portu-
guese man-of-war out of the water.
The sailor who performs this simple
act doesn't forget it for many a day
| AS he takes up the fish the tentacles
| entwine around his hand. and imme-
diately there is a most intense sting
| ing sensation on every spot of flesh
| where the filaments touch. In fact,
| the pain is so pungent that the sailor
| often faints. To remove the singing
nettles every particle must be torn off
| piece by piece, so closely do they adj
| here to the skin, and so long as the
| minutest fragment remains so long
1ooo tho voisopo,,c pott1o Torment fb G
| poor sailor. In fact. even after the
| tentacles are pulled off. the hand
| swells and white ridges appear on the
skin like those caused by the poison
| Gus nettle weed, and instances have
been known where the arm and shout
der have swollen frightfully and the
| lungs been SO affected that breathing
| became difficult. In twenty-four hour.
after this experience the sailor is well
again.
It is on record that a sailor who had
| heard of the poisonous nature of the
| Portuguese man-of-war, and who, re
fusing to believe the story. proceeded
| to cook and eat one, died in a few
hours in great agony.
Fish sharps affirm that the jelly
fish. by means of the long, poisonou.
tendrils beneath it. paralyzes fish thai
| come in its way, and thus render then
a helpless prey. Fishes have beer
| found in it's stomach half digested
It will not endure long confinement
After great storms in the tropics Por
-tuguese men-of-war are often found
stranded on the beach. Sailors de
clare that the appearance of Portu
guese men-of-war so far north fore
BODIES something perfectly awful. but
what it is they don't divulge.-N. Y