8 



animal was recently taken out of the water, was of a dark red colour, inclining 

 to brown (in fact resembling the colour produced by the Koka on the stained 

 cloth of Tongatabu,) intermingled with white. Tlie mantle and remainder of the 

 Ix)dy were of a light blueish tinge." — Journal, Part 10th.* 



On the arrival of Mr. Bennett in this country, he presented (July 1831) this 

 sjiecimen (together with other valuable objects of Natural History) to the Mu- 

 seum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, where it is now preserved. 



§ 1 . Of the External Form. 



The soft parts of Nautilus Pompilius, when the beak and tentacles are re- 

 tracted, form an oblong mass, which is slightly compressed or flattened laterally, 

 inclines to a point anteriorly, and terminates behind in a rounded extremity 

 adapted to the last cavity of the chambered shell in wliich it is naturally lodged. 



The admeasurements of the specimen were as follows : — 



The length of the body 5^ inches. 



The vertical diameter of the same 3 



The transverse diameter 2^ 



The body is naturally divided into two parts, of which the anterior is densely 

 muscular or ligamentous, and includes the organs of sense and locomotion ; 

 while the posterior is soft and membranous, and contains the viscera. 



The latter part, though analogous to the corresponding division in the Cuttle- 

 fish, yet resembles rather what is called the hernia of the viscera in the Snail ; 

 for, as in both animals it is protected by a shelly covering, the more immediate 

 investment, or mantle, requires not that thickness and firmness of structure ob- 

 servable in the sac of the naked Cephalopods. 



Posteriorly the mantle of Nautilus is as thin as fine writing-paper, and 

 appears to be of a dry and rather brittle texture : it increases in thickness 

 anteriorly, and is there evidently muscular ; but even at the anterior margin, 

 where the thickness was probably in a great measure owing to a state of con- 

 traction, it does not exceed one line. A fibrous texture is also evident at the thin 

 posterior part, the fibres being chiefly disposed in the longitudinal direction. 



* See also Mr. Bennett's account published in the Medical Gazette, vol. nii. p. 729, with a figure 

 of the animal as it appeared when first taken out of the shell. 



