200 THE ARGONAUT. 



pure loveliness of this "gem of the deep;" the interior 

 being white, like the finest porcelain, and streaked with red- 

 dish chestnut. It is highly prized in Eastern countries, 

 where it is made into drinking cups. The Chinese are par- 

 ticularly expert in manufacturing it into various ornaments. 



There are other floating navigators of the deep ; among 

 others, the Snail-slime-fiskes, which frequent the Arctic seas, 

 and are found in immense quantities on the coast of Spitz- 

 bergen. The shell is the boat of this animal, which it rows^ 

 through the water by a dip of its raised fins. In this act 

 the open extremity of the shell is its prow, the opposite endi 

 occupies the place of a poop, and the margin of the body 

 resembles and performs the office of a keel. A writer says : 

 *' I have often seen it with admiration and pleasure. He 

 can move in a retrograde manner. When weary with row- 

 ing, or when touched, the little boatman contracts his oary 

 fins, and drawing within the shell, sinks to the bottom,, 

 where he rests for a short time. Then again he rises up- 

 wards, rowing obliquely until the surface is attained, when 

 his course is held in a straight line over the trackless surge. 

 When taken out of the shell, although without injury and in- 

 the water, he immediately dies." 



Before quitting the nautilus, we may add, that the shells 

 of this " ocean navigator" abound in the coral seas, and are 

 cast on shore in such profusion, that many tons' weight are 

 collected at New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands, and are con- 

 veyed to Sydney. The young shells when polished obtain 

 a high price. 



The Argonaut differs from the true nautilus, inasmuch as 

 the shell is not divided into chambers, but has one spiral 

 cavity, into which the animal can entirely withdraw itself. 

 Prom the disproportionate size of the last whorl (a wreath 

 or turning of the spires of univalves, or shells of one piece 

 only), it has some resemblance to a canoe, the spire repre- 

 senting %he poop. If the waves rise or danger threatens. 



