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upon the hand, that instant almost, from its extreme delicacy, it •vvas 

 destroyed: the digitations of the fins fell ofF, the least movement 

 destroyed the beauty of the animal; it speedily lošt all the deep 

 purple and silvery enamelled tints, and became a loathsome mass. 

 Thus do •vv'e too often find animals beautiful in extemal adomments, 

 curious in their habits and organization, and calculated in every re- 

 spect to supply us ■\vith inexhaustible souixes of intellectual gratifi- 

 cation, doomed speedily to perish ; brief is the period allotted to 

 them in the busy theatre of animated existence ; but doubtless, \vith 

 the gift of existence, they have received frora the bounteous hand of 

 their Creator, the means of enjoying their fleeting lives. 



" To place these Uttle animals in the glass of water from the towing 

 net \vithout injury to their delicate structure reąuired care ; so that as 

 soon as they vvere captured in the net, attached to the meshes, they 

 were not handled, but carefully washed ofF, ■vvhich was efFected by 

 dipping the meshes in the glass of water, when the animal soon 

 detached itself without sustaining any injury, and floated in the 

 water. 



" Although these animals are eo fragile, so easily destroyed on 

 being taken out of their natūrai element, yet they fling themselves 

 about in the water without sustaining any injury, vithout even the 

 loss of any of the digitated processes of the fins ; yet when there is 

 much movement of the water in carrj^ing the glass from one place 

 to another, they are evidently disturbed and restless, and the fins 

 are dropped; if therefore, a sUght motion of the water disturbs them, 

 ■what can become of these delicate moUusks during tempestuous 

 ■vveather ; can they be similar to the delicate Ephemeris, doomed to 

 live merely for the space of a day and perish in myriads ? From the 

 immense number seen only from the ship — and how many myriads 

 more extended beyond our range of vision! — it conveyed to the mind 

 some idea of the profusion of li^dng beings inhabiting the wide ex- 

 panse of ocean, and a feeling of astonishment at the inconceivable 

 variety of forms and constructions to which animation has been im- 

 parted by creative power. 



" The tail of this animal has been described as resembling that 

 of a Lizard : the comparison is good, not only \vith regard to form, 

 but also, ■vv'ith perhaps a little more flexibility of motion, ■vvhen in 

 action. Sometimes the animal thro\vs its tail up to the body, as if in- 

 tended to brush off any annoying object, and at other times, it has 

 been observed to tum the head towards the side as if for a similar 

 purpose. It seems, in the action of eating, to resemble a Cater- 

 pillar. 



" No more of these animals were seen until the 15th of May at 

 10 P.M., when in lat. 24" 18'-5, long. 31° '"01 W., moderate 

 breezes and fine weather ; a number of Glauci \vere captured as well 

 as Porpita ; some of the latter had been partially devoured, and in 

 some only the horny disc remained; this, there was no doubt, from 

 the previous knowledge of the carnivorous propensities of the 

 Glaucus, \vas their work, more especially as we liad positive proof 

 that tribes of them were wandering or prowling about the ocean to- 



