THE FAIRY SAILOR AND HIS COUSINS. 



Ill 



Fig. 43. The Paper Nautilus (Argonauta Argo), with 

 the arms of the animal extended. 



Madame Jeannette Power, a French lady residing in Sicily, 

 has transmitted to the learned societies of Europe accounts 

 of observations made by herself upon the argonaut of 

 the Mediterranean, 

 which prove that 

 the &quot;native pilot&quot; 

 is the rightful and 

 original owner of 

 the &quot;little bark,&quot; 

 while the latter, in 

 stead of being de 

 voted to the pur 

 poses of fairy navi 

 gation, is but a coat 

 of mail for protec 

 tion against ugly 

 foes, and the &quot; two 

 fold sail&quot; is trtie &quot;mantle&quot; extended over the animal s back, 

 a secretion from which forms and enlarges the shell with 

 the growth of the animal. The propulsive power of the 

 animal, instead of ^Eolian breezes, is a jet of water squirt 

 ed from a tube or &quot;funnel,&quot; which, like a rocket-power, 

 drives the argonaut backward ; and its &quot; tier of oars&quot;&quot; is 

 used with the animal inverted, crawling, like a snail, with 

 his house upon his back. 



Something still more familiar to every reader is the 

 &amp;lt;c cuttle-fish bone,&quot; which the apothecary sells for canaries. 

 This substance is not a &quot; bone,&quot; and does not come from a 

 &quot; fish,&quot; but is a rudimentary shell formed beneath the skin 

 which covers the back of a molluscous animal. The cala- 

 maries are similar to the cuttle-fishes, but their shell is 

 horny instead of stony. The poulp, or cuttle-fish of the 

 southern coast of Europe, has been longest known. It was 

 called &quot; polypus&quot; by Homer and Aristotle, because it has 



