Читать книгу The Book of Shells. Containing the Classes Mollusca, Conchifera, Cirrhipeda, Annulata, and Crustacea онлайн

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The curious inhabitant of this elegant shell has, from the earliest ages, excited the admiration of the student in natural history; and, at the same time, its real place in the system has eluded the research of the most acute observers. The animal agrees, in many points, with the sepia, or cuttle fish, which never possesses a shelly covering, so that, had it been found without that beautiful addition, naturalists would have referred it, without hesitation, to that particular division of the dwellers in the deep; it is, however, always met with along with the shell; and, although there appears to be no bond of union between the tenant and its dwelling, still the purposes to which it applies it, imply, at any rate, a long-continued occupancy, if they do not absolutely point out the Nautilus as the original architect of the shell.

The name Argonaut has been applied to this sea-born navigator from its resemblance, when floating on the surface of the waves, to a vessel in full sail, Argo being the name of the ship, which was supposed to have been the first fitted out for commercial adventure.