and on the construction of its Shell. 121 



memoir was the result, though not containing much of novelty 

 beyond a difference in his calculation of the tentacles, and the 

 demonstration of an organ of hearing*. His observations are 

 conducted with accuracy and plainness, but the memoir is not 

 so rich in that eloquent analogical reasoning which so vividly 

 characterizes the writings of his contemporary. The oppor- 

 tunity that was thus afforded the continental professor of ex- 

 amining the soft parts of the Nautilus, was highly satisfactory 

 to Mr. Owen, for he arrived at precisely the same conclusion 

 as himself in regard to their relation with the shell. " En 

 conformant " says Valenciennes, " la manure de voir de M. 

 Oiven, si juste et si conforme a la nature, fat etabli V animal 

 dans la vraie place occupee par lui dans sa coquille,je ne laisse 

 plus aucune discussion raisonnable possible sur ce point." Here, 

 however, was no direct proof, the testimony of both the learned 

 professors was alike circumstantial ; indeed, the very necessity 

 for the introduction of the word raisonnable in this statement 

 proclaimed it to be an hypothesis. Mr. Owen was himself 

 singularly destined to prove the truth of his conjecture, for 

 only two days since a magnificent specimen of the Nautilus, 

 with its shell entire, was presented to him by Capt. Belcher, 

 R.N. The individual in question was captured by that gen- 

 tleman at Amboyna, not long since ; it was secured alive, and 

 has been preserved, together with its shell, in spirits without 

 the slightest injury. When put into Mr. Owen's hands, he was 

 extremely gratified to behold that the animal held exactly the 

 position in its shell that he had ventured to assign to it ; and we 

 doubt not but that M. Valenciennes will be as highly pleased 

 to find that his expectations have been so soon realized f. 



Having detailed the history of the Nautilus from the time 

 of Aristotle to the present day, it now remains for us to speak 

 of its structure and general habits. The soft parts of this 

 animal form a kind of oblong mass, such as may be supposed 

 capable of fitting into the porch or aperture of its well-known 

 shell, and, like the rest of the Cephalopods, consist of two 



* Mr. Owen says on this head, " Wilh respect to the sense of hearing, I 

 have not heen able to detect a distinct organ for that faculty." 



f We shall not readily forget the glorious delight of the Hunterian Pro- 

 fessor, as he hurried past our door only yesterday on his way to the Zoolo- 

 gical Society ; his treasure proudly suspended in an anatomical jar ; himself 

 loaded with the controversial theories of his contemporaries, that he was 

 about to level at a breath. Nor can we fail to remember his animated en- 

 thusiasm at the Meeting, when, holding up the precious truant, fresh as it 

 were from its native element, without a fracture, and apparently dozing 

 under its capacious hood, he proved, beyond the possibility of contradiction, 

 the generalizations he had so admirably worked out as a student ten years 

 before by an ingenious complication of analogies. 



