MOLLUSCA 



BY 



ARTHUR ADAMS, F.L.S., & LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. 



I. CEPHALOPODA. 



The chief objects of scientific interest collected during the voyage of the Samarang 

 among the highest forms of Mollusca, consist of a new Loligopsis, Argonauta gondola with 

 the soft parts, a species not hitherto described which we propose to name A. Owenii, and 

 two mutilated specimens of the Spirula Peronii. No living Nautilus was detected throughout 

 the course of the expedition, though it was assiduously sought for, which circumstance may be 

 recorded in further testimony of the rare appearance of this deep-dwelling animal on the 

 surface of the ocean. A very complete specimen was collected by Sir Edward Belcher in the 

 Sulphur, and its anatomy has been fully demonstrated by Owen, Valenciennes, and Vogel. 

 The capture of the animal of Spirula, of which the shell has been so long and abundantly 

 known to naturalists, though imperfect, was a matter of great good fortune, and it is with 

 much pleasure we are enabled to give a detailed account from the pen of Professor Owen 

 of such parts of its anatomy as the specimens present. The drawing of Argonauta gondola, 

 taken from life, presents an additional evidence, if any were needed, of the cephalopodic 

 origin of these fragile Paper Sailors, and the Loligopsis, of which Professor Owen kindly 

 promises the dissection before the close of our volume, will prove a valuable acquisition 

 towards the history of that somewhat obscure and little-known genus. 



Before proceeding to describe these animals in detail, Mr. Adams notes the following 

 on the Octopi of the Eastern Seas. 



Oetopi of enormous size are occasionally met with among the Islands of the Mei'a-co-shimah Group. 

 I measured one, which two men were bearing on their shoulders across a pole, and found each brachium 

 rather more than two feet long, giving the creature the power of exploring an area of about twelve feet 



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