LAMP SHELLS. 43 



microscopic prey with three hundred and sixty thousand 

 hands. Besides this, it has a pair of many-toothed jaws and 

 a toothed tongue. Wliile extremely small, these animals 

 exist in such vast multitudes, that they probably constitute 

 an important food for certain whales. 



One of the most interesting of the Pteropods, or wing- 

 footed animals, as associated with our present subject, is the . 

 Qleodora laneeolata (Plate VI., Fig. 1). It has a pyramidal 

 shell, terminating in three sharp spines, the wing-like . fins 

 rising above. It is rarely over half an inch in length, almost- 

 transparent, and bears in its shell a small light, which, how-" 

 ever, is distinctly seen through the transparent covering. 

 A more beautiful living lamp it would be difficult to ima- 

 gine ; and when slowly flying through the ocean, in countless' 

 myriads, they must present a wondrous sight. One of this 

 genus, observed by Giglioli, emitted a very livid red light; 

 the luminous organ being at the summit of the shell. There, 

 are many different genera and species. Hyalea, an oceanic 

 wing-foot, moves very rapidly, and looks not unlike a butter- 

 fly darting here and there, in erratic flight, in search of food ; 

 but the little Oleodora moves in a regular and stately manner.' 

 In Hyalea observed by Giglioli in the harbor of Anjer, Java, 

 the light, which contributed largely to the general phospho- 

 rescence, was confined to tlie basal part of the shell. 



My young readers interested in geology are probably 

 familiar with the curous Conularia, or cone in cone, which 

 has been found in Australia sixteen inches in length, and has 

 always been regarded a puzzle. It has been suggested that 

 this is a gigantic fossil Pteropod. The little needle-like 

 Tentaculites, from the Silurian and Devonian rocks, are' also 

 allies. 



