THE T^AUTILUS. 51 



ling her mimic vessel by the most simple and expeditious 

 means, — that vessel wliich no human hand has formed — 

 guided by no human skill : a striking proof, amid the terrors 

 and the wonders of the ocean, that, whilst nothing is too 

 great for the controlling powers of Omnipotence, nothing is 

 too humble for his protecting care. 



The human mind, even when unassisted by the light of 

 revelation, could arrive at this conclusion ; and hence, not 

 only trees and flowers, nay, even the most curious shells 

 were supposed to be under the control of, and peculiarly 

 favoured by some presiding Deity. Thus, while in Syria 

 the Buccinum was anciently dedicated to Astarte, in Greece 

 the elegant Chambered Nautilus was peculiarly the care of 

 the famous Eg}^tian priestess, Arsinoe, who was worshipped 

 as a goddess, under the names of Zephyrites, Yenus, and 

 Chloris ; a fact which Callimachus has recorded in the fol- 

 lowing beautiful lines, wherein he commemorates the dedica- 

 tion of a Nautilus to this supposititious deity by Silenoea, 

 the daughter of a nobleman of Smyrna : — 



A sacred shell, Zephyrites divine, 

 Fair Silenoea offers at thy shrine ; 

 And thus thy Nautilus is doubly blest. 

 Since given by her, and still by thee possest. 



E a 



