He had scarcely strength to reach the vessel and get aboard again before the pain and inflammation were so violent that brain fever declared itself, and great fears were entertained for his life.” It is a disputed point whether the Physalia is poisonous or not when eaten. It was a commonly‐received idea in the Antilles that they are, and that the negroes sometimes made use of them, after being dried and powdered, to poison both men and animals. The fishermen there believe that fish which have eaten parts of the Physalia become unfit for human food. A French physician, M. Ricord‐Madiana, settled in Guadaloupe, made many experiments to attempt the settlement of the question. He found that ants and flies partook of them with impunity; a dog, a puppy, and a fowl, swallowed parts of them nearly with impunity, the first named only seeming to have severely felt the sting in his mouth, but recovering perfectly soon after. The ardent experimentalist next ate, and caused his servant to eat, the chicken which had fed on Physalia, and no inconvenience followed; subsequently he ate twenty‐five grains of the dried and powdered animal in a little bouillon, and he was unharmed. Yet there is some evidence on the other side which would indicate that on occasions, at least, it is poisonous. The habits of the Physalia are only known in part, though they have been studied by many scientists. Among the many denizens of the ocean, “none,” says Gosse,(33) “take a stronger hold on the fancy of the beholder; certainly none is more familiar than the little thing he daily marks floating in the sun‐lit waves, as the ship glides swiftly by, which the sailor tells him is the ‘Portuguese man‐of‐war.’ Perhaps a dead calm has settled over the sea, and he leans over the bulwarks of the ship, scrutinising this ocean‐rover at leisure, as it hastily rises and falls on the long, sluggish heavings of the glassy surface. Then he sees that the comparison of the stranger to a ship is a felicitous one, for at a little distance it might well be mistaken for a child’s mimic boat, shining in all the gaudy painting in which it left the toy‐shop.