162 Pelagian Mollmca collected on a [no. 2, new series. 



of Mollusca approaching in their physical conformation and instincts 

 to the VERTEBRATA. 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, which 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 with the double object of 

 concealment and escape. In swimming the 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- 



