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Show ( I~O J 2. "NYM·PRS r YOU adorn, in gloiTy volutes roll'd, 'The gaudy conch with azure, green, and gold. 66 You round Echinus ray his arrowy mail, Give the keel'd Nautilus his-oar and fail; The,gaudy conch. 1. 66. The fpira1 form of many ihefls feems to have afforded a more frugal manner of covering the long tail of the filh with calcareous armour; fince a fingle ihin partition between the adjoining circles of the fi1h was fufficient to defend both furfaces, and thus much cretaceous matter is faved; and it is probable that from this fpiral form they are better enabled to feel the vibrations of •the element in which they exifi. See note on Canto IV. I. 162. This cretaceous matter is formed by a mucous fecretion from the fkin of the fifh, as is feen in crab-fiD1, and others which annually cafl: their lhells, and is at firfl: a mucous covering, (like that of a hen's egg, when it is laid a day or two too foon,) and whid1 gradually hardens. This may alfo be feen in common fl1ell fnails, if a part uf ;heir fhell 'be broken it becomes repaired in a fimilar manner with mucus, which by degrees hardens into !hell. lt is probable the calculi or fl:ones found in other animals may have a fimibr origin, as they are formed on mucous membranes, as thofe of the kidney and bladder, chalkHones in the gout, and ga!l.fl:ones; and are probably owing to the inflammation of the membrane where they are produced, and vary according to the degree of inflammation ·of the membrane which forms them,. and the kind of mucus which it naturally produces. Thus the fhelly matter of dtfferent fhell-fi1h differs, from the coarfer kinds which form ~he D1ells of cr;:bs, to the finer kinds which produce the mother-pearl. ~he beautiful colours of fome fhells originate from the thinnefs of the lamina:! of whtch th~y. confifl:, rather than to any colouring matter, as is feen in mother-pearl, which refle~s dtffc.rent ~olours according to the obliquity of the light which falls on it. The beautiful pnfmat1c colours feen on the Labradore fl:one are ow1'ng to a r.1 'I [c · . . 11 n1 ar cau e, v1z. the tlunnefs of the lammre of which it conllfts, and has probably been formed from mother-pearl fhells. 1t is curious that fome of the moil: common foffil fhells are net now known in their recent fl:ate, as the cornua ammonis ; and on the contrary many 11..e·11s h' h ~ · f · · ' 111 w IC are very ·~en~ ~1~n thetr recent !late, as limpets, fea-ears, volutes, cowries, are very rarely ~un ~ 11. Da Cofl:a's Conchology, P· 163. Were all the ammonix de!lroyed when t te co.ntmcnt_s were .raifed? Or do fome genera of animals perifh by the increallng fowet o_f fhe1r enemtes? Or do they fl:ill refide at inacceflible depths in the fea' Or do ome animals change their forms gradually and become new genera? . Echinus. Nautilus. I. 67, 68. See additional note~, No. XXVII. ( I~I Firm to his rock with filver cords fufpend The anchor' d Pinna, and his Cancer-friend ; With worm-like beard his toothlefs lips array, And teach the unwieldy Sturgeon to betray.Ambulh' d in weeds, or fepulchred in fands, In dread repofe He waits the fcaly bands, Waves in red fpites the living lures, and draws 7 5 The unwary plunderers to his circling jaws, Eyes with grim joy the twinkling fhoals befet, And clafps the quick inextricable net. You chafe the warrior Shark, and cumberous Whale, And guard the Mermaid in her briny vale; Feed the live petals of her infeB:-Rowers, Her lhell-wrack gardens, and her fea-fan bowers Pinna. Cancer. 1. 70. See additional notes, No. XXVII. With W!Jrm-like beard. 1. 71. See additional notes, No. XXVIII. 8o Feed the live petals. I. 81. There is a {ca-infeCl: defcrib ed by Mr. Huges whofe claws or tentacles being difpofed in regular circles and tinged with variety of bright lively colours reprcfent the petals of fome mofl: elegantly fringed and radiated flowers as the carnation, marigold, and anemone. Philof. Tranf. Abridg. Vol. IX. P· IIO. T~e Abbe Dicquem:mc has further elucidated the hil1ory of the actinia; and obferved thetr PARTI. R |
