21 



elapsed before the soft parts, preserved in spirits, reached England; they 

 were presented to Professor Owen ; and although a minute portion of shell 

 adhering to one of the lateral expansions of the belt was all that remained 

 of the original framework, he succeeded by a train of analogy to establish 

 the relation of the whole. His celebrated ' Memoir', which was the result 

 of this investigation, appeared in 1832, and to the severe disappointment of 

 the author, the illustrious Cuvier, who would have hailed the discovery with 

 so much real delight, died only a few days before it issued from the press. 



The soft parts of the Nautilus, of which, as in the case of the Argonaut, 

 no male has been found, form a kind of oblong mass such as may be sup- 

 posed capable, of fitting into the porch or aperture of the well-known shell. 

 The outer portion encloses a well-developed head furnished with a pair of 

 strong horny mandibles, a number of sheathed tentacles, a pair of large eyes, 

 and a number of delicate structures including the organs of hearing, smel- 

 ling, &c, and over all there is a capacious leathery hood winch has been 

 likened by Professor Owen to the operculum in the Gastropods. The lower 

 portion of the body contains the viscera from which proceed a funnel or vent- 

 tube beneath the tentacles. The back part of the mantle is produced into a 

 fold which overlaps the convexity of the shell, and at the lower extremity of 

 the body is a central tubular membrane which passes into the siphonic aper- 

 ture. The animal is attached to the shell by this flexible membrane which 

 [>asses through all the whorls to the iuner wall of the first-formed chamber, 

 and by a broad muscular belt around the circumference of the abdominal 

 sack. At the back of the hood is a concavity fitting to the convexity of the 

 shell, so that it appears to have a hinge-like movement like the lid of a box, 

 and is adapted to close over the tentacles and all the delicate parts of the 

 head. There is no ink-bag in the Nautilus*. The growth of the shell may 

 be supposed as follows : — the animal in embryo constructs a simple hollow 



* In mentioning the circumstance (p. 15) of the paint Sepia, so well known to artists, having 

 derived its name from the Cuttle-fish {Sepia officinalis), I most incautiously gave currency to 

 a popidar error that the celebrated Chinese ink is manufactured from the ink-fluid of the 

 Cephalopod. I am enabled, however, thus early, to correct this absurd notion, through the 

 kindness of a most zealous patron of the natural sciences, John Reeves, Esq., F.R.S., &c; a 

 gentleman whose life and energies have been so intimately associated with all that concerns 

 the physical history of China, that I am sure the following extract from his communication 

 will be read with much interest. 



" With whom the idea originated that the China ink was made from the liquor of a Loligo 

 I do not know, it has been handed down from book to book for a very long time ; but I am sure 

 you would not intentionally continue the error, especially in such a work as you have commenced. 



"The Jesuits, who were permitted free access in China during the reign of the Emperor Kang 

 He, and who then made many proselytes, had opportunities which none other had of acquiring 

 an insight into the various manufactures ; and the result of their enquiries is given in Du Halde's 

 'History of China,' fol., Paris, 1735. 



" The English folio edition of this was published in two volumes, London, 1738 ; and, in the 

 first volume, p. 370-2, you will find a full account of the manufacture of ink. I have the means 

 of knowing from the manufacturers themselves that his account is correct ; — that the basis is the 

 soot from the smoke of oil-lamps, a sample of which I brought from China, and of which I send 

 you a specimen. << j jj_ 



" Clapham, 

 March 2nd, 1846." 



