50 CATECHISM OF CONCHOLOGY. 



Q. Are the habits of the Nautilus as curious 

 as those of the Argonauta ? 



A. Equally so : the animal inhabitant floats on 

 the water with the assistance of tentacula and a 

 membranaceous sail. It is frequently found re- 

 versed, with the shell upon its back. 



Q. What says the author of the Conchologist's 

 Companion, respecting this extraordinary shell- 

 fish ? 



A. That it is a vessel which no human hand 

 has' formed, guided by no human skill ; a striking 

 proof, amid the terrors and the wonders of the 

 deep, that whilst nothing is too great for the con- 

 trouling power of Omnipotence, nothing is too 

 humble for his protecting care ! 



CHAR XXIII. 



UNIVALVES: 

 CONUS; Cone. 



Q. WHAT have you to tell me respecting the 

 Conus ? 



A. That the shell is convolute and turbinate, or 

 in other words, that the whorls . turn round a 

 lengthened cone, and that the belly of the shell 



