258 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



solution of a difficulty which perplexed me much, con- 

 cerning the manner how such a wonderfully soft, deli- 

 cate, and seemingly unmanageable length of body could 

 possibly move itself from one place to another. But 

 from the moment when I observed this, I was con- 

 vinced that this must be the state which the creature 

 assumes when disposed to change its station ; not only 

 as thus it is contracted into the most compact size 

 which its make is susceptible of, but likewise that 

 when so modified, every spire or volution, by a distinct 

 impulse applied in an appropriate manner, will assist 

 in the act of progression by shifting forward the whole 

 of its amazing length at the same instant, without 

 danger of breaking. 



When I took it up at the sea-side, collecting such 

 an immense creature in a confused manner into an 

 oyster-shell (a very large one indeed), I thought it 

 would have been almost impossible to unravel it ; but 

 it is astonishing to think how readily it was disen- 

 tangled, owing to the extraordinary smoothness of its 

 surface. 



It is impossible to make a guess at the length of 

 it when alive, on account of its constantly extending 

 and contracting itself w r hen touched, and that with 

 such ease as almost to exceed belief. I once observed 

 a part of the fore-end extended to a length of be- 

 tween two and three feet along the margin of the 

 dish and the table, which part, on the animal being 

 disturbed, was in a short time contracted so as not to 

 exceed so many inches ; and as, when it w r as thus ex- 

 tended, it was full three times as thick as I have seen 

 it upon other occasions, I may well say that it is 



