82 



CUTTLE. 



The mode by which the creature forms this 

 little burrow is sufficiently curious. Its siphon 

 is a slightly projecting tube, and by bending this 

 towards the spot selected, and then forcibly 

 ejecting a column of water, the sand is displaced 

 apparently by magic. This siphon is also useful 

 as a means of progression ; and, in one of the 

 cephalopods, as these creatures are called, because 

 their feet are situated on their head, has not only 

 cast out water, but also the mistaken notions 

 with which careless observers had obscured its 

 history. 



Some cephalopods have bodies soft and naked, 

 while others are protected by a shell secreted by 

 themselves. Among these shelly cuttle-fish is 

 the well-known nautilus, who was once said to 

 row himself over the sea with his legs, and to 

 stretch out his wing-like arms as sails to catch 

 the breeze. But it is now known that these sails 

 are kept closely wrapped round the shell, which, 

 indeed, they secrete originally, and can mend 

 if injured, while the legs are suffered to trail 

 loosely. Successive jets of water are then ejected 

 from the siphon, by which the creature is driven 

 in a contrary direction. By this water-power the 

 nautilus is urged through the waves, but when it 

 wishes to move about on the bottom of the sea, 



