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APPENDIX, No. II. 



Observations on the Genus Ocythoe of Rafinesque, with a Descrip- 

 tion of a new Species. 5j/ William Elford Leach, M. D. 

 F. R. S. 



From the Philosophical Transactions. 



Flint, Aldrovandus, Lister, Rumphius, d'Argenville, 

 Bruguiere, Bosc, Cuvier, and Shaw, have described a spe- 

 cies of this genus, that is often found in the Argonauta argo 

 (common paper-nautilus), 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 Rafi- 

 nesque, (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 ge- 

 nus, allied to the Polypus* of Aristotle, residing parasitically in 

 the above mentioned shell. 



Dr. Blainville, ten months since, when speaking of the 

 Argonauta, said, " animal unknown," and he has lately informed 

 me, that he has written a long dissertation to prove, that the 

 Ocythoe of Rafinesque, does not belong to the shell in which 

 it is found. 



The observations made by the late Mr. John Cranch, zoo- 

 logist to the unfortunate Congo expedition, have cleared from 

 my mind any doubts on the subject. In the gulf of Guinea, 



* Sepia octopodia Linne'. 



