UNIVALVES. 145 
the sand; the latter attached to a group of sea-weed, 
with an elegant little Rotatus, or Wheel Nautilus, a 
species of shell-fish commonly found on the British 
coasts, though one of the least valuable of the numer- 
ous family of Nautilus. Among which the superb 
N. scrobiculatus, or Sunk-spire Nautilus, and the 
N. pompilius, or Great Chambered Nautilus, are two 
of the most conspicuous for beauty and evident de- 
sign. The shell of the latter is often converted by 
the inhabitants of the East into a drinking-cup, on 
the surface of which various ornaments and devices 
are engraven: they also frequently remove the outer 
coatings, and thus render visible the pearly appear- 
ance of the shell beneath. An exquisite specimen 
was exhibited among the curiosities of Fonthill.— 
The decorations were executed in the first style by 
Hillican ; the subject, the Triumph of Neptune and 
Amphitrite. It was mounted in the most elegant 
manner in silver gilt; embossed, and decorated with 
finely engraved shells, with mosques, and Cupids, 
and a coat of arms and helmet, beautifully pierced 
and worked in gold. 
These curious shell-fish differ considerably in size : 
some are so exquisitely minute, that they can only 
be defined by the aid of a high magnifier, others are 
nearly a foot in diameter. And yet, however dissi- 
milar in this respect, the same admirable arrangement 
L 
