102 CAPTUKE OP A PRIZE. 



cement and stuck on the shell, or shaped out of the shell itself 

 by means of a file ! 



In the Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons there is 

 preserved the solitary specimen of the animal of the Pearly 

 Nautilus which the country can boast, and which enabled Pro- 

 fessor Owen to prepare the admirable "Memoir" on the species, 

 which gives the only recent and certain information we have of 

 the organization of this interesting Cephalopod. It was taken in 

 1829, in a bay on the south-west coast of the Island of Erro- 

 manga, in the South Seas, " where," says Dr. George Bennett, 

 who described its capture in his " Wanderings," " it was seen 

 floating on the surface of the water at some distance from the 

 ship. To many it appeared like a small dead tortoise-shell cat, 

 which would have been such an unusual object to be seen in this 

 part of the world, that the boat, which was alongside the ship at the 

 time, was sent for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the float- 

 ing object. On approaching near it was observed to be the shell- 

 fish commonly known by the name of the Pearly Nautilus. It 

 was captured and brought on board ; but the shell was shattered 

 from having been struck with the boat-hook in capturing it, as 

 the animal was sinking when the boat approached, and had it 

 not been so damaged it would have escaped." The idea of send- 

 ing off a boat to look after a dead cat may appear somewhat 

 absurd, but locality must be taken into account, and the reader 

 who is at all versed in the geographical distribution of animals will 

 know that, thirty years ago, a dead cat in the South Pacific 

 would have been as much a marvel as a dead elephant in South- 

 ampton Water. 



Nothing very definite appears to be known as to the habits 

 of the Nautilus. It appears to spend its time chiefly at the sea- 

 bottom, where it creeps along with its house upon its back ; 

 occasionally, however, it ascends to the surface and floats upon 

 the water, though, when there, it is totally incapable of directing 

 its course, except by the action of the ordinary respiratory cur- 

 rents expelled through the funnel. 



The shell of the Nautilus, banded with alternate stripes of 

 orange and white, and to be seen in every " naturalist's," that is 

 to say, bird-stuffer's window, is an exceedingly complicated and 

 interesting structure, and has given rise to much discussion 

 among scientific men. Externally it presents nothing remark- 



