THE NAUTILUS. 3 
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forceps what seemed to be the veritable monster in all his glory of 
estivation, the Vaginulus solea d’Orbigny, or more correctly 
according to Tryon, Veronicella, One more specimen was found 
with its egg-nest. Both specimens were curled, and the tentacles 
were not visible, in fact, it looked like a lifeless mass of very dark 
grayish-brown opaque glue, with lighter gray spots: about the size 
of that warred-upon Bland dollar, with a notch in one side and a 
crack extending nearly to the center. ‘Turning it over it presented 
the well known under surface as shown in d’Orbigny’s figure. Soon 
two tentacles came forth, which stuck up in the air, and each had a 
bright black eye visible in the exact center of its free end; then 
two more were observed, which projected downward and were 
broader and stouter than the others, and appeared bifurcated ; these 
latter were constantly in motion, apparently acting as feelers, and 
later when the animal was moving along on a glass plate seemed 
to act as suckers. Finally he slowly straightened out until he was 
ten centimeters long and a little over two wide. I next took a look 
at the nest, of which I had found several in the woods, only never 
very large, usually containing about ten or fifteen eggs, but in this 
one I counted seventy-five, although, much to my discouragement as 
an amateur artist, in my sketch of it I can only account for forty- 
five—it was about the size of a silver half dollar and hemispherical, 
the eggs being regularly arranged around the circumference and 
held together by a heavy mucous-like rope. The eggs were oval in 
shape, some perfectly clear and transparent, others yellowish and 
more or less opaque, and all were covered by the stercoraceous 
deposit of some insect, I judged. Unfortunately, it broke to pieces 
before I reached the ship on account of the rough handling of curi- 
osity. One specimen of the solea was much darker in color than 
the other, and the lighter seemed to fade before I had my water 
color sketch finished ; subsequent finds may show considerable varia- 
tion in coloration. I killed the first specimen in a solution of 
bichloride of mercury, 1 to 500, and then dropped it into glycerin 
hoping thus to preserve its colors, but it has contracted and become 
very dark: the second I killed in the same solution, in which it still 
remains. In dying it threw out much mucus, most rapidly and in 
greatest quantity from the extreme end so that I suspect there may 
be a mucous pore there; it also seemed to come from its whole sur- 
face enveloping it quickly in a cloud, completely hiding it, and in 
sufficient quantity to render the fluid as nearly opaque as milk. 
