172 



ARMS OF THE NAUTILUS. 



death within a few hours at 

 farthest. Some anatomical 

 data bearing immediately on 

 the subject might here be 

 adduced, but we shall not 

 enter into abstruse details. 



With respect to the use 

 and position of the arms, 

 or sails as they have been 

 termed, of this curious ani- 

 mal, it may be stated, that 

 ^Madame Power, in reference 

 to their relative position, de- 

 scribes them as " being plac- 

 ed next the involuted spire 

 of the shell, over which they 

 are bent, and expanded for- 

 ward so as to cover and con- 

 ceal the whole of the shell ; 

 and from which they are 

 occasionally retracted in the 

 living argonaut." She fur- 

 ther made the important dis- 

 covery, that these expanded 

 membranes are the organs of 



Argonaut a 



