84 THE HALL OP SHELLS. 



main.' Six of its arms it dropped as oars at 

 the side of its shallop and two more with their 

 membranes of silk were spread to the wind. 



" It is said that catching glimpses of this 

 little mariner with whose inner life, it now ap- 

 pears, the ancients had no very intimate ac- 

 quaintance, they conceived the idea of the ves- 

 sels which they constructed, propelled by oars, 

 or wafted by the winds. The steamer, too, was 

 an outgrowth of hints given by these little 

 cephalopods, who by forcing water violently 

 through a tube in the body diiye themselves 

 with considerable speed in a backward di- 

 rection. 



" Pictures of these little mariners sailing in 

 fairy fleets have fascinated the world from 

 Aristotle down, and we can hardly pardon 

 scientists of the present day who compel to 

 the belief that these stories are but charming 

 myths. The pretty fleets the ancients saw, we 

 are told, were probably not Nautili at all, but 

 were the Argonauta, Avhich are true floating 

 moUusks ; but even these we are now informed 

 never row their tiny craft nor spread a topsail. 



"The 'arms' of these little animals, we 

 must now believe, were held during the voyage 

 close to the side of the 'sharp-keeled, high- 

 pooped' little vessel 'to keep its balance 



