5o6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



for its delicacy and rarity is the argonauta <vi- 

 treiiSy Lin., found in the South seas. There are 

 but three specimens of it known in Europe ; we 

 owe that in our possession to captain Huon, 

 who commanded the expedition in search of 

 La Peyrouse, after the death of Entrecasteaux. 

 Near it, are the shell and the animal of a small 

 and very rare species preserved in spirits of wine, 

 which was discovered in the Mediterranean. 



The order of the cephalopoda is divided into 

 three sections; the sepiaria, the monothalamice , 

 and the polyihalamice. The sepice (cuttle-fish) have 

 no shell, but under their mantle is a calcareous 

 plate, which is horny in the loligo. Some large 

 specimens of both these genera are placed at the 

 bottom of the case, with the other mollusca pre- 

 served in spirits of wine. Close to their liver is 

 a bag filled with a black or brown substance, 

 which they make use of to darken the water 

 around them. It is from this substance that the 

 genuine Indian ink and the colour called sepia 

 are made. 



There is but one genus of the monothalamia, 

 the argonauta (paper nautilus), of which we 

 have seven species. The shell which is very 

 thin, of an elegant form, and of a pure white, 

 has no interior partitions ; one from the Indian 

 ocean (a. tuberculosd) is much sought after, under 



