masses below, to discover the animal in ceedingly rare. The natural position of 

 its favorite haunts. The experienced eye the female is with its arms spread out and 

 of the native may probably encounter it hanging about the shell, four in front and 

 in its usual position, clinging to some four behind, the two broad aTms support- 

 prominent ledge, with the shell turned ing the shell being spread out and closely 

 downwards. The tackle consists first, of embracing the latter. The siphon is 

 a large, round, wicker-work basket, turned toward the ridged part of the shell 

 shaped very much like a cage rat-trap, and the animal progresses in a backward 

 having an opening above, with a circlet of direction by forcibly ejecting water 

 points directed inward, so as to permit of through this organ. It crawls with the 

 entry but to preclude escape ; secondly, a shell on its back, like a snail, 

 rough piece of rope of sufficient length to The poets have given us many beauti- 

 reach the bottom ; and lastly, a small ful writings detailing the vices and virtues 

 piece of branched wood, with the of the lower forms of life and among these 

 branches sharpened to form a sort of the Pearly Nautilus and Paper Sailor 

 grapnel, to which a perforated stone is at- have received a goodly share of the 

 tached, answering the purpose of a sink- muse's attention. But, alas ! for the poet, 

 er. The basket is now weighted with who, not being a conchologist, has sadly 

 stones, well baited with boiled cray-fish misused and misjudged these helpless and 

 (the principal food of the Nautilus is harmless creatures. Thus we are told 

 crabs of different species), and then how the paper nautilus sails over the 

 dropped gently down near the victim, ocean with his "sails" (meaning the two 

 The trap is now either closely watched or expanded arms) spread out to catch the 

 a mark is placed upon the spot, and the breeze, and how, when the storm ap- 

 fisherman pursues his avocation upon proaches, it folds its sails and disappears 

 other parts of the reef until a certain beneath the waters of the ocean. Alas 

 period has elapsed, when he returns and for the poet ! he puts the most beautiful 

 in all probability finds the Nautilus in his ideas together in verse, ideas and themes 

 cage, feeding upon the bait. The grap- which we would fain believe; but along 

 nel is now carefully let down, and having comes cold, calculating science, and at 

 entered the basket through the opening one fell stroke sweeps away all that the 

 on top, a dextrous movement of the hand poet has done, for in the poem on the Ar- 

 fixes one or more of the points or hooks gonaut all is wrong, the animal does not 

 and the prize is safely hoisted into the and could not sail, for were it to do so 

 canoe." the shell would fall and become lost in 



The animal is made into soup by some the bottom of the ocean, 



of the natives while others boil it in a pot. A mollusk whose shell is cast upon the 



The shells are used by the natives to shore by thousands, but the animal of 



make beautifully carved figures, the con- which is very rare, is the Spirula. The 



trast of the dark outer coating against the shell is less than an inch in diameter, is 



light, pearly, inner coating producing a made in the form of a loose spiral and is 



striking effect. The shell is also used in divided into little chambers connected by 



England and on the Continent to produce a siphuncle. The shell of this genus does 



elegant cameos. not contain the animal, as in Nautilus, but 



The Argonaut," or "Paper Sailor," is it is enveloped in two flaps of the mantle, 



no less beautiful and interesting than the at the posterior part of the animal, the 



Pearly Nautilus. The thin and fragile shell being concealed with the exception 



shell cannot be compared with that of the of a part of the edge on each side. The 



Nautilus nor with the pen, or internal body of the animal is long and cylindrical 



support, of the squid, for it is attached to and the arms are quite short, more near- 



the animal by no muscles, and is only kept ly resembling those of the Nautilus than 



in position by the broad webs on the up- those of the Octopus or squid. The body 



per arms of the female (which alone pos- ends in a disk which is supposed to be a 



sesses a shell), its function being simply kind of sucker, by which the animal can 



to protect the eggs. The male is very adhere to rocks, thus enabling it to freely 



much smaller than the female and is ex- use its arms in obtaining food. It has 



225 



