462 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
attributes with which it is gifted, it is at once one of the most curious 
and elegant creations of Nature. 
Fig. 319. Shell of Argonauta argo (Linnams). 
Its body (Fig. 320) is ovoid in form, and it is furnished with eight 
tentacles, covered with a double row of suckers. Of these tentacles 
six are narrow and slender, tapering to a point towards the extremity- 
while two of them expand toward 
the extremity in the form of wing® 
or sails. These are all folded up 
when in a state of repose. Th® 
body itself is contained in a thin* 
white, and fragile univalve shell* 
which is oval, flattened on the eX ' 
terior, but rolled up in a spiral i» 
the interior, the last turn of th e 
shell being so large as to give 
something of the form of an ele* 
gantly- shaped shallop. Singularly 
enough. 
the body of the 
Fig. 320. The Argonauta argo (Linnteus). 
does not penetrate to the bottom 
anima* 
of 
the shell, nor is it attached to i 
by any muscular ligament ; nor is the shell moulded exactly upon & 
as is the case with most other testaceans. 
