THE ARGONAUT, OR PAPER NAUTILUS. 
305 
purposes which, have been mentioned, they are also used as legs and enable the creature to 
crawl on the ground, the shell being then uppermost. 
We will now proceed to a few selected species of Cephalopods, and in the course of 
describing the several individuals, will examine the curious points of structure which are 
common to all. 
DIBRANCHIATA. 
Our first example is the celebrated Argon- aut, or Paper ISTatjtiltts, the latter title being 
given on account of the extreme thinness and fragility of the shell, which crumbles under a 
heedless grasp like the shell of an egg, and the former in allusion to the pretty fable which 
was formerly narrated of its sailing powers. It is rather remarkable, by the way, that the 
shell of the Argonaut is, during the life of its owner, elastic and yielding, almost as if it were 
made of thin horn. 
Two of the arms of the Argonaut are greatly dilated at their extremities; and it was 
formerly asserted, and generally believed, that the creature was accustomed to employ these 
arms as sails, raising them high above the shell, and allowing itself to be driven over the sur- 
face by the breeze, while it directed its course by the remaining arms, which were suffered to 
hang over the edge of the shell into the water and acted like so many oars. In consequence of 
this belief, the creature was named the Argonaut, in allusion to the old classical fable of the 
ship Argo and her golden freight. 
Certainly, the Argo herself could not have carried a more splendid cargo than is borne by 
the shell of the Argonaut when its inhabitant is living and in its full enjoyment of life and 
health. The animal, or “poulp ” as it is technically called, is indeed a most lovely creature, 
despite of its unattractive form. “It appeared,” writes Mr. Rang, when describing one of 
these creatures which had been captured alive, ‘ ‘ little more than a shapeless mass, but it was 
a mass of silver with a cloud of spots of the most beautiful rose-color, and a fine dotting of the 
same, which heightened its beauty. A long semi-circular band of ultramarine-blue, which 
melted away insensibly, was very decidedly marked at one of its extremities, that is of the 
keel. A large membrane covered all, and this membrane was the expanded velation of the 
arms, which so peculiarly characterizes the poulp of the Argonaut. 
“ The animal was so entirely shut up in its abode, that the head and base of the arms only 
were a very little raised above the edges of the opening of the shell. On each side of the head 
a small space was left free, allowing the eyes of the mollusk some scope of vision around, and 
their sharp and fixed gaze appeared to announce that the animal was watching attentively all 
that passed around it. The slender arms were folded back from their base, and inserted very 
deeply round the body of the poulp, in such a manner as to fill in part the empty spaces which 
the head must naturally leave in the much larger opening of the shell. ’ ’ 
Mr. Rang then proceeds to show the real use of the expanded arms, which is to cover the 
shell on its exterior, and, as has since been definitely proved, to build up its delicate texture 
and to repair damages, the substance of the shell being secreted by these arms, and by their 
broad expansions moulded into shape. The expanded extremities of these arms are seen 
covering nearly the whole shell, and their bases, set with suckers, are bent bridge-like over the 
rest of the animal. The large eye is seen just protruding out of the shell, the bases of 
the arms are curved over and behind it, and some clusters of eggs are seen sheltered under the 
arch of the expanded arms. 
The modes of progression employed by the Argonaut are to the full as wondrous as its fabled 
habits of sailing. Its progression by crawling has already been casually mentioned. While 
thus engaged, the creature turns itself so as to rest on its head, withdraws its body as far as 
possible into its shell, and using its arms like legs, creeps slowly but securely along the 
ground, sometimes affixing its discs to stones or projecting points of rocks for the purpose of 
hauling itself along. 
When, however, it wishes to attain greater speed, and to pass through the wide waters, it 
makes use of a totally different principle. 
Vol. ILL —39. 
