100 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 
we look into the mouth of a good-natured 
horse when it yawns we see ridges crossing 
the palate; if these ridges were to grow into 
long vertical plates and become horny they 
would correspond to whalebone plates. Every 
now and then the whale raises its tongue and 
brushes a myriad of creatures towards the 
back of the mouth, where they are swallowed. 
It is interesting that this giant should feed on 
such dainty morsels. The reason why it does 
not drown as it rushes open-mouthed through 
the water is that it shunts its glottis (the 
entrance to the windpipe) forward to embrace 
the posterior end of the nasal passage, so that 
no water goes down the wrong way! 
But there is love as well as hunger in the 
open sea, and no better example could be found 
than the Paper Nautilus or Argonaut. This is 
a kind of cuttlefish which floats on the surface, 
and is not to be confused with the Pearly 
Nautilus which belongs rather to the shore 
haunt. The most remarkable thing about the 
Argonaut is that the female makes, for the pro- 
tection of its eggs and young ones, what may 
well be called the most beautiful cradle in the 
world. It is not a house to live in like the 
chambered shell of the Pearly Nautilus; it is a 
