THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIKNC'K 



or some smell displeases it, sheathes eyes and nose in 

 their covering; it puts them into its pocket, as Emile 

 says." 



"It is an ingenious way," Claire remarked. 



"You said, too," interposed Jules, " that the 

 horns served it as a blindman's cane." 



"The animal is blind when it has drawn in its 

 upper tentacles, partly or wholly; it then has only 

 the two lower ones, which explore objects by the 

 touch better than does the cane of a blind man, for 

 they are very sensitive. The two upper tentacles, 

 besides their functions of eye and nose, also play 

 the part of blindman's cane, or, better still, that of a 

 finger that touches and recognizes objects. You see, 

 little Emile, one does not know everything about a 

 snail when one knows its wail on the fire." 



"I see. Who of us would have suspected that 

 those horns are eyes, nose, blindman's cane, fingers, 

 all at the same time?" 



