162 Pelagian MoUusca collected on a [no. 2, new series, 
of Mollusca approaching in their physical conformation and instincts 
to the YERTEBRATA. This superior intelligence was exhibited 
by the animal in question. When taken out of the towing net it 
had artfully folded its limbs over the shell so as to resemble a no- 
dulous mass of brown sponge, wliich indeed I at first supposed it 
to be, but when placed in a tumbler of sea water and left undisturb- 
ed, it cautiously began to creep about the bottom of the tumbler, 
head downward, it then repeatedly darted against the sides of the 
tumbler and while doing so, it often changed color rapidly from 
pale brown to dark purple, apparently wdth the double object of 
concealment and escape. In swimming ths animal effected locomotion 
not only by the rapid contraction and expansion of its arms but by 
the forcible expulsion of water through its syphon. The tubular 
extremity of the syphon is seen in Fig. 1. At the approach of death 
the animal underwent some convulsive movements which appeared 
to disengage it from its shell, after which it ceased to move and 
quickly died ; another specimen taken on the following evening 
exhibited precisely similar phenomena when dying. Naturalists 
were long divided as to what animal was the true possessor of the 
Paper Nautilus, some throwing doubts on the Cephalopod being 
the original inhabitant of the shell. Even at the present day authors 
are at variance upon this point, some even asserting that the 
Argonaut is not a shell but merely an envelope for containing the 
eggs of the Cephalopod found in it. This scepticism in the public 
mind appears the more extraordinary, from the well established 
fact, that this animal (and no other) has been found in this shell 
in all various stages of growth, as has been fully proved by the 
interesting experiments of Madame Power. Professor Owen has 
also demonstrated that the pearly Nautilus and other allied shells, 
recent and fossil, appertain to Cephalopods. Much more might 
be adduced to prove that this animal is the legitimate owner of 
the shell but it has already been done by abler hands. However I 
conceive that as the matter stands at present, every circumstance 
should be noted that may tend to remove obscurity, either by 
imparting new facts or by corroborating those already recorded. 
Our voyage was now near its close and notwithstanding that we 
continued to ply our nets assiduously, we did not succeed in cap- 
