28 



ARGONAUTS. 



Fig. 12. ARGONAUT. 



19. The Argonauts — Argonauta (Fig. 12) — are cephalopods 

 very closely allied to the poulpe, but the pair of feet which is 

 nearest the back is dilated at the extremity into a broad mem- 

 brane, and the body is always lodged in a very delicate and ex- 

 tremely beautiful shell, vulgarly called the paper nautilus. It is 

 not certainly known, however, whether this shell really belongs 

 to the animal that inhabits it, or whether it is derived from some 

 other mollusk. Be this as it may, the cephalopod does not ad- 

 here to it, but uses it as a boat to float on the surface of the water 



19 What are the general characters of the argonaut ? 



