84 THE HALL OF SHELLS, 
main.’ Six of its arms it dropped as oars at 
the side of its shallop and two more with their 
membranes of silk were spread to the wind. 
“Tt is said that catching glimpses of this 
little marmer with whose mner life, 1t now ap- 
pears, the ancients had no ‘very intimate ac- 
quaintance, they conceived the idea of the ves- 
sels which they constructed, propelled by oars, 
or wafted by the winds. The steamer, too, was 
an outerowth of hints given by these little 
cephalopods, who by forcing water violently 
through a tube in the body drive themselves 
with considerable speed in a backward di- 
rection. 
“Pictures of these little marimers sailing in 
fairy fleets have fascinated the world from 
Aristotle down, and we can hardly pardon 
scientists of the present day who compel to 
the belief that these stories are but charming 
myths. The pretty fleets the ancients saw, we 
are told, were probably not Vautili at all, but 
were the Avgonauta, which are true floating 
mollusks ; but even these we are now informed 
never row their tiny craft nor spread a topsail. 
“The ‘arms’ of these little animals, we 
must now believe, were held during the voyage 
close to the side of the ‘sharp-keeled, high- 
pooped’ little vessel ‘to keep its balance 
