CEPHALOPODA. 43 
The Nautilus appears to have been known to Aristotle, of whose shell-bearing 
polypi, the second is considered to be the Nautilus Pompilius ; the first species, the true 
Nautilus of the ancients, and to which Gualtieri gave the name Cyméium, is the 
Argonauta of Linneus. Although the shell of the recent Nautilus has long been 
commonly known, little information existed as to the animal, beyond that given by 
Aristotle, until a comparatively recent period. At the beginning of the last century 
the Dutch naturalist Rumph drew the attention of zoologists to the animal of the 
Nautilus; a description of which, illustrated by figures, he gave in his work 
‘PD Amboinische Rariteitkamer.’ From Rumph’s description, which, however im- 
perfect, was more intelligible than his drawing, De Montfort gave an imaginary 
representation of the animal, wide of the truth, but which was adopted by Shaw. 
After the time of Rumphius not any additional information was procured until the 
arrival in England, in 1831, of aspecimen of the Nautilus Pompilius, taken by Mr. Bennett 
in Marachini Bay on the south-west side of the island of Erramonga, one of the New 
Hebrides. Itis true that in the preceding year MM. Quoy and Gaimard had published, 
in the ‘ Annales des Sciences Naturelles,’ an account of a portion of some unknown 
molluscous animal, which they supposed to be the Nautilus Pompilius, found near the 
island of Celebes; but the remains were too imperfect for satisfactory description, 
and, in fact, they have generally been attributed to a Heteropodous Mollusc, either 
Carinaria or Pterotrachea. The specimen brought over by Mr. Bennett was placed in 
the hands of Professor Owen, who in 1832 published his Memoir before referred to 
with minute anatomical descriptions and illustrations. In 1839 M. Valenciennes 
published an account entitled ‘ Nouvelles Recherches sur le Nautile flambé,’ taken 
from an individual transmitted to the Museum of Natural History at Paris. These 
two works afford ample information as to the animal, but it is unnecessary to enter into 
the details, a brief outline, sufficient for the present purpose, having already been 
given. Of the soft parts of the animals which inhabited the fossil shells, no trace has 
been found to assist the Paleeontologist, who must, therefore rely wholly on the 
calcareous remains for specific distinctions. As regards the tertiary species, these 
distinctions appear to be tolerably well defined ; and but little difficulty will be found 
in the determination of the species. 
The shell is smooth, spiral, and symmetrical ; suborbicular, or somewhat depressed, 
and more or less round on the ventral aspect; the margins of the aperture are smooth 
and simple ; the whorls are contiguous, and convoluted in a vertical plane, the last 
being the largest and concealing the rest, by which character it is distinguished from 
Planulites, the whorls of which are exposed. In some species the umbilicus is open; 
but more generally it is closed, as in the adult specimens of the recent V. Pompilius, by 
a deposition of nacreous or calcareous matter. The lines of growth are distinct, and 
in some species strongly marked, giving a somewhat striated appearance to the shell ; and 
they are reflected backwards, in which respect they differ from those of the Ammonitide, 
