66 GLAUCUS; OR, 
and you will see the siphons clearly. The valves 
gape apart some three-quarters of an inch. The 
semi-pellucid orange “ mantle” fills the intermediate 
space. Through that mantle, at the end from 
which the foot curves, the siphons protrude; two 
thick short tubes joined side by side, their lips 
fringed with pearly cirri, or fringes; and very 
beautiful they are. The larger is always open, 
taking in the water, which is at once the animal’s 
food and air, and which, flowing over the delicate 
inner surface of the mantle, at once oxygenates its 
blood, and fills its stomach with minute particles 
of decayed organized matter. The smaller is shut. 
Wait a minute, and it will open suddenly and 
discharge a jet of clear water, which has been 
robbed, I suppose, of its oxygen and its organic 
matter. But, I suppose, your eyes will be rather 
attracted by that same scarlet and orange foot, 
which is being drawn in and thrust out to a length 
of nearly four inches, striking with its point against 
any opposing object, and sending the whole shell 
backwards with a jerk. The point, you see, is 
