lled by whalers 'rock squid.'"

THE NAUTILUS.

In some places, where the sea is not agitated by winds, great numbers
of these singular creatures may occasionally be seen sailing and
sporting about. Le Vaillant observed several of them on the sea near
the Cape of Good Hope; and, as he was desirous of obtaining perfect
specimens of the shells, he sent some of his people into the water to
catch them; but when the men had got their hands within a certain
distance, they always instantly sank, and, with all the art that could
be employed, they were not able to lay hold of a single one. The
instinct of the animal showed itself superior to all their subtlety;
and when their disappointed master called them away from their
attempts, they expressed themselves not a little chagrined at being
outwitted by a shell-fish.

THE SNAIL.

M. de Martens states that the annual export of snails from Ulm, by the
Danube, for the purpose of being used as food in the season of Lent by
the convents of Austria, amounted formerly to ten millions of these
animals. They were fattened in the gardens in the neighborhood.

Mr. Rowe gives us the following account: "I was at Mr. Haddock's," says
he, "in Kent, and was making a little shell-work tower, to stand on a
cabinet in a long gallery. Sea-shells running short before I had
finished, I recollected having seen some pretty large snails on the
chalk hills, and we all went out one evening to pick up some. On our
return, I procured a large China basin, and putting a handful or two of
them into it, filled it up with boiling water. I poured off the first
water, and filled the bowl again. I then carried it into a summer-house
in the garden. Next morning, how great was my surprise, on entering the
summer-house, to find the poor snails crawling about, some on the edge
of the basin, some tumbling over, some on the table, and one or two
actually eating paste that was to stick them on! I picked up every
snail carefully, and carried them into a field, where I make no doubt
that they perfectly recovered from their scalding."

THE OYSTER.

A gentleman who lived at Salisbury, England, used to keep a pet oyster,
of the largest and finest breed. He fed it on oatmeal, for which it
regularly opened its shell. It also proved itself an excellent mouser,
having killed five mice, by crushing the heads of such as, tempted by
the meal, had the audacity to intrude their noses within its bivalvular
clutches.

A gr