CEPHALOPODS. 



469 



gination of the Greeks and Eomans ; it also attracted the attention 

 of the Chinese, who call it the boat-polyp. Bumphius informs us, 

 that in India the shell fetches a great price (Fig. 327). Women 



Fig. 327. Shell of Argonauta argo (Linnaeus). 



consider it a great, a magnificent ornament. In their solemn fetes 

 dancers carry one of these shells in the right hand, holding it proudly 

 above their heads. Nor did it require the dithyrambic praises with 

 which the ancients have surrounded 

 it to recommend it to the admi- 

 ration of modern naturalists. 

 Without exaggerating the graceful 

 attributes with which it is gifted, 

 it is at once one of the most curious 

 objects in Nature. 



Its body (Fig. 328) is ovoid in 

 form, and it is furnished with eight 

 tentacles, covered with a double row 

 of suckers. Of these tentacles, six 

 are narrow and slender, tapering 

 to a point towards the extremity, 

 while two of them expand toward 

 the extremity in the form of wings 

 or sails. These are all folded up when in a state of repose. The 



