BELEMNITE. 351 



forwards in a horny condition, so as still to envelope the cham- 

 bered cone. In the last or largest chamber of the co4ie, distinct 

 remains of an ink-bag have been frequently met with ; from 

 which it has been argued, that, notwithstanding the strong 

 resemblance of the shell to that of many genera allied to the 

 true Nautilus and belonging to the Tetr 'abranchiate group, 

 the animal must have been Dibranchiate, and must have 

 included the shell together with its massive sheath, in the same 

 manner as the Cuttle-fish included the pounce-bone. This argu- 

 ment was founded upon the fact, that the Nautilus the only 

 Tetrabranchiate Cephalopod now living possesses no ink-bag ; 

 its power of withdrawing the body completely into its shell, 

 rendering such a means of protection unnecessary : and its 

 justice is made evident by the recent discovery of specimens 

 of Belemnite, in which the soft parts of the animal are so well 

 preserved, as to enable their form and general structure to be 

 distinctly traced. From these it has been ascertained, that the 

 arms were furnished with hooks, as in the Onychoteuthis ; and 

 that the body had a pair of small lateral fins situated at about 

 the middle of its length. From the weight of its dense internal 

 shell, the Belemnite may be supposed to have commonly main- 

 tained a vertical position ; and, as its chambered portion was 

 provided with a siphuncle analogous to that which we find in 

 the Nautilus ( 894), the animal probably had the power of 

 ascending and descending in the water with facility. It would 

 rise swiftly and stealthily to fix its claws in the belly of a fish 

 swimming at the surface above ; and then, perhaps, as swiftly 

 dart down and drag its prey to the bottom, and devour it. We 

 cannot doubt that, like the hooked Calamaries of the present 

 seas, the ancient Belemnites were the most formidable and 

 predaceous of their class. 



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