330 
UTILE FOLKS 
be fables, they have told us facts quite as wonderful, and the curi- 
ous little fellow has lost none of its interest for us. 
To begin with, its shell is as frail as an egg shell, and will 
crush in the hand, and so white and transparent that one can see 
through it. While the animal is alive it is somewhat elastic — like 
thin horn, but after the death of the owner, it becomes brittle. 
The Nautilus not being anywhere attached to its shell, and not 
being shaped at all like it — as most shelled creatures are — the 
ancients thought the animal they always found in that shell, was a 
robber, who had stolen the residence of some other creature. But 
it has been found out that that story is a slander; the little fellow 
not only has a perfect right to its house, but builds the whole 
thing itself, enlarging it as it grows, and if a piece is broken out, 
the owner can put in a new piece, just as perfect as the first. 
This is done by means of the singular arms which the ancients 
called sails. Here is a picture of the creature, as it looks when 
out of the beautiful shell. 
You see it has eight arms — like 
the rest of the cuttle fishes, two of 
which are expanded in a curious way 
at the ends while the rest are covered 
with suckers. The two broad arms 
are what used to be considered as 
sails, but are now known to be the 
working tools of the Nautilus. By 
close watching, it has been discovered 
that these arms secrete the material 
for the shell, and mold it into shape, 
besides serving to hold on when it 
wants to swim about. In the next 
picture, where the Nautilus is shown 
drawn into its shell, you can see the 
broad arm more than half covering the shell on the outside. 
You will notice that the body of this little creature is not very 
graceful in shape, but I can assure you that if not elegant in shape, 
it is in color. It is of a silvery color, with spots of beautiful rose 
color, and it has the curious power of changing its color — blushing, 
as it seems, when agitated in any way. These changes can be seen 
through the lovely transparent shell. 
The six awkward long arms which hang down so ungracefully 
