22.\ 



BY THE DEEP SEA. 



The miniature elephant's tusks represented in the illustra- 

 tion with the Hungarian Cap are really shells, called Tusk 

 or Tooth-shells (Dentaliuni). They are represented of the 

 natural size. The shell is open at each end, and is tenanted 

 by a strange little . 

 animal who is at- 

 tached to it near 

 the small end. The 

 Dentalium is not a 

 very highly devel- 

 oped creature, for 

 though it has a 

 head, it is quite a 

 rudimentary one, 

 without eyes. But 

 though it lacks 

 eyes, it has a 

 mouth, surrounded 

 by eight tentacles, 

 and into this go 

 foraminifera and 

 other minute crea- 

 tures it picks up on 

 the sands and mud 

 in deep water. We 

 have two British 

 species, of which HUNGARIAN CAP. TUSK-SHELL. 



we may occasionally rind the empty shells washed up on the 

 sands. Of these the Elephant's-tusk (Dentalium entalis) is 

 very smooth and quite white throughout ; whereas the Grooved- 

 tusk (D. tarentutuni) is delicately grooved at the larger or fore 

 end, and tinged with pink at the small end. 



In chipping off fragments of rock at lew-water, upon which 

 anemones and other specimens are sitting, you may often get 

 more than you had thought, for sometimes when the piece 



