PAPER NAUTILUS. 305 



weeks or two months, before they are taken out for sale. 

 Oysters are not considered to be in perfection until they 

 are about a year and a half old ; and they are out of 

 season, and not good for the table, from the end of April 

 until St. John's Day, that being their breeding-time. 

 The Oyster, when first produced, is of a somewhat 

 greenish colour, covered with a slight film or crust, and 

 appears not much unlike the drop of a candle. 



MUSCLES adhere to rocks and other solid bodies, but 

 in a manner very different from oysters. They are fur- 

 nished with a means of forming a great number of silky 

 threads, by which, as it were, they anchor themselves, 

 and this so strongly, that the most tempestuous weather 

 can scarcely dislodge them. These animals subsist prin- 

 cipally on the little earthy particles whicli the water 

 transports into their shells. The Common or Edible 

 Muscle is a well-known species, which constitutes a rich, 

 and, generally speaking, a nutritive food. Some persons, 

 however, have suffered great inconvenience from the 

 eating of muscles, the best remedy for which is said to 

 be a mixture of oil and lemon-juice. 



ARGONAUT. The Paper Nautilus is a very beautiful 

 species of the Argonaut tribe, which is found near the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and in the seas of other hot climates. 

 It is six or eight inches in length, of a white or yellowish 

 colour, and, in substance, not much thicker than paper. 

 The animal which occupies this shell is able, at pleasure, 

 to raise and depress itself in the water. When on the 

 surface it extends two of its arms upward, and employs 

 the other six, with which it is furnished, in the place of 

 oars and rudder, for the purpose of moving itself along. 

 During calm weather it is said that great numbers of 



