192 



A R G O N A U T A. 



unruffled, the Argonaula is said to have been ob- 

 served gently rising with the keel of the shell turned 

 upwards, in order, it may be supposed, to present less 

 opposition in its ascent through the water ; this may 

 be mechanically effected by the animal ejecting a 

 portion of the water contained in its shell, thereby 

 rendering it specifically more buoyant ; but what pe- 

 culiar organisation enables it either to rise to the 

 surface, or sink into the depths of the ocean, cannot 

 yet be satisfactorily explained. When it has reached 

 the surface, it gradually assumes its sailing position, 

 extending three tentacular appendages, which pass- 

 ing over the thickened auriform notch on either side 

 of the shell, serve as so many oars, while in the 

 centre of these, two spoon-shaped membranes are 

 elevated, acting as sails, to catch the passing breeze ; 

 and thus this pretty boat is propelled and guided on its 

 way through the azure main. On the approach of 

 any sudden danger, or of tempestuous weather, the 

 little mariner lowers the sails and withdrawing the 

 oars, retires into the hull of its vessel, again sinking 

 to the bottom of the ocean, undismayed by the perils 

 of the deep, a circumstance elegantly alluded to by 

 Byron, when describing the dangerous vicissitudes of 

 a sailor's life. 



" The tender Nautilus, who steers his prow, 

 The sea-born sailor of this shell canoe ; 

 The ocean Mah, the fairy of the sea, 

 Seems far less fragile, and alas ! more free ! 

 He, when the lightning- wing'd tornados sweep 

 The surf, is safe, his post is in the deep, 

 And triumphs o'er the armadas of mankind, 

 Which shake the world, yet crumble in the wind." 



Lamarck placed this mollusk in his second order, 

 Cephalopoda, Cuvier also considers it properly so 

 classed ; but De Blainville, in his system of Mala- 

 cology, does not admit that the animal belongs na- 

 turally to the shell in which it has been constantly 

 found, considering it a parasite, he says the animal of 

 the genus Argonauta is altogether unknown, but a 

 consideration of the form of the shell, induces him to 

 suppose it closely allied to the Spiratella and Ata- 

 lanota ; he has therefore placed it following these 

 genera, forming the family Pteropoda, of the fifth 

 order, Nucleobranchiala ; second class Paraccpha- 

 lophora. 



This interesting little animal has perhaps furnished 

 more matter of dispute, a greater diversity of opinion, 

 and, in some instances, more ill-will among naturalists 

 than any other subject in the whole range of animated 

 nature ; and during a period of more than two thou- 

 sand years, the question is not yet decided, nor ap- 

 parently nearer being so, whether the animal in- 

 variably found in the Argonauta is the architect of 

 that shell, or merely a pirate. As it does not however 

 form any part of the object of this work, to take up 

 the dispute on either side ; and as we do not arro- 

 gate to ourselves the power of elucidating a matter 

 so involved in doubt, we shall only for our part say, 

 that the animal never having been found in any part 

 of the world living free from the shell, though cer- 

 tainly not conclusive, is good presumptive, evidence 

 of its being "the lawful owner of its fairy bark." 

 Whether it should be considered one of the genus 

 Ocythoe, or, as others imagine, Octopanus, it ap- 

 pears to us quite certain, that none but a similarly 

 organised animal could have constructed such a 

 dwelling ; an opinion we deem to some extent con- 

 firmed by an examination of the mollusk, whose 

 smooth thickened auriform processes on either side of 



the aperture, appear to serve as points d'appui for 

 the tentacular members said to act as oars, and they 

 are therefore wisely so constructed, to prevent the 

 laceration that might otherwise ensue from the con- 

 stant action of rowing, had those parts been formed 

 thin and cutting, as is the case with the other portion 

 of the aperture. 



Several scientific naturalists of the present day 

 have published opinions on this subject ; to some of 

 which we will briefly allude, leaving our readers to 

 draw their own conclusions. Dr. Leach, in a Me- 

 moir published in the Philosophical Transaction?, June 

 5th, 1817, states, that " Pliny, Androvandus, Lister, 

 Rumphius, D'Argenville, Bruguiere, Bosc, and Shaw, 

 have described a species of this genus, that is often 

 found in the Argonauta argo (common paper nau- 

 tilus), and which they have regarded as its animal, 

 since no other inhabitant has been observed in it. 



" Sir Joseph Banks and some other naturalists have 

 always entertained a contrary opinion, believing it 

 to be no more than a parasitical inhabitant of the 

 argonaut's shell ; and Rafinesque (whose situation on 

 the shores of the Mediterranean has afforded him 

 ample opportunities of studying this animal, and of 

 observing its habits), has regarded it as a peculiar 

 genus, allied to the polypus of Aristotle. (Sepia octo- 

 podia of Linnaeus.) De Blainville, ten months since, 

 said ' animal unknown ; ' and he has lately informed 

 me thafhe has written a long dissertation to prove that 

 the oeythoe of Rafinesque does not belong to the 

 shell in which it is found, but," continues Dr. Leach, 

 " Mr. John Cranch, zoologist to the unfortunate Congo 

 expedition, has cleared from my mind any doubts on 

 the subject. Having taken several specimens of a new 

 species of oeythoe, which were swimming in a small 

 argonauta, on the surface of the sea, in the Gulf of 

 Guinea." 



W. J. Broderip, Eeq., F.R.S., has published a 

 paper on the argonaut in the fourth volume of the 

 Zoological Journal, in which he says, " Is it not 

 strange that it should now be a question whether the 

 animal usually found in the shell popularly called the 

 paper nautilus is the lawful owner of its fairy bark ? 



" From the time of Aristotle, the delicacy of the bark 

 and the habits of its sailor have afforded a subject to 

 every observer ; and we have in addition to the de- 

 scriptions, a succession of figures by Aldrovandus and 

 others, which though most of them afford proofs of a 

 very lively imagination on the part of the designers, 

 are still evidently figures of a cephalopod, which 

 would in the age of Linnaeus have been ranged under 

 the genus Sepia, if it had been taken swimming at 

 large and free from any shell. It is curious to ob- 

 serve how assertion upon assertion at last accumu- 

 lates into something that is taken for positive proof, 

 till at last we have descriptions apparently the result 

 of actual observations. De Ferussac in his " Notice 

 sur F Animal du Genre Argonaute" arguing for the 

 legitimate title of the animal to the shell in which it 

 is found, is of opinion that it is no parasite, and in 

 opposition to the opinion of De Blainville considers 

 the question put to rest. Risso who appears to be 

 of the same opinion with De Ferussac, says Je nai 

 famaisvurctirer cet animal de la mersans etrc ton jours 

 muni de coquille." Mr. Broderip concludes, by saying 

 " There is not, perhaps, sufficient evidence to con- 

 vict the subject of our memoir of piracy, but there is 

 quite enough to make us strongly doubt the assertion, 

 that he is his own industrious shipwright." 



