33- 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



above the surface, it follows that, after being long immersed under 

 water, the columns have been elevated to their present position. The 

 temple has been restored to its primitive elevation, 

 carrying with it, engraved in the marble, ineffaceable 

 proofs of its immersion. Sir Charles Lyell has 

 devoted a long chapter to the successive sinking 

 and elevation of this temple, where the fact is most 

 conclusively proved. 



The second family of the Gastrochcenidse, is a 

 somewhat heterogeneous one, as it contains the 

 genera Saxicava and Aspergillum. We have only 

 space for a short account of the latter genus. A. 

 i'af:;inifer7im has received the strange name of the 

 \\'atering-Pot, and is represented in Fig. 134. It 

 inhabits a calcareous tube, thick, solid, of consider- 

 able length, and nearly cylindrical, presenting at 

 one extremity an opening fringed with one or many 

 foliaceous folds in the form of frills, and at the 

 other extremity a convex disc, pierced with holes 

 like a watering-pot, whence its name. The animal 

 is attached by certain muscles to the interior of the 

 tu'.je. Chenu, to whom we are indebted for our 

 information respecting this curious mollusc, tells 

 us " that the animal which inhabits this curious 

 shell was first described by Russell, whose account 

 of it is deficient in tlie anatomical details, which 

 might explain the utility of the holes in the disc 

 of the central fissure, and of the spiriform tubes 

 found there." We suppose that this arrangement 

 is necessary in order to facilitate respiration ; and 

 M. de Blainville thinks the small tubes are intended 

 for the passage of tlie muscles which are necessary 

 to fix the animal to the body on which it is to live, 

 and in such a manner as to admit of its movements 

 Y\z. 1 34-— Aspergillum round a fixed point. 



vaginiferum (Lamarck). ^.j^^ ^^^j^^^^j ^^,j^;^j^ inhabits the Aspergillum is 



elongated, contractile, and only occupies the upper 

 part of the tube, but it can stretch itself out sufiiciently for all its wants. 

 Shells of this genus are rare, although a great number of species are 

 known. They are found in the Red Sea, and in the seas of Australia 

 and Java. The shells are generally of a white or yellowish tint ; some 



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