. The illustrated natural history [microform]. Reptiles; Fishes; Mollusks; Natural history; Reptiles; Poissons; Mollusques; Sciences naturelles. THE MAGIIJrs. 379 ^rillly otlior iii(illus('8 socroto a cf)l()uring fluid, such as Murex trunculua, which-wa,?, aiKitlit'i' 'â¢t'tlic sheila omployod torurnish tlio inip(!riiil piirplo ; nwAMnrcx hrnndarts soems to hiivc boon used for a similar purposo. Ono of tlu! stairoaso sliolls, Scalaria diademn, also socrotes a substance ; and Ccritht'um tdcscojmm has been known t(> stain a piece of paper a permanent green. XwM Z<<'^^
. The illustrated natural history [microform]. Reptiles; Fishes; Mollusks; Natural history; Reptiles; Poissons; Mollusques; Sciences naturelles. THE MAGIIJrs. 379 ^rillly otlior iii(illus('8 socroto a cf)l()uring fluid, such as Murex trunculua, which-wa,?, aiKitlit'i' 'â¢t'tlic sheila omployod torurnish tlio inip(!riiil piirplo ; nwAMnrcx hrnndarts soems to hiivc boon used for a similar purposo. Ono of tlu! stairoaso sliolls, Scalaria diademn, also socrotes a substance ; and Ccritht'um tdcscojmm has been known t(> stain a piece of paper a permanent green. XwM Z<<'^^'^. MAOILUS. - Magilua niiliuiiut. , "AS^f. â â â ' ti Onk of the strangest, tliouoli not the most beautiful, of shells is the Magilus, a native of tlie Eod Sea and the Mauritius. On roforenco to the iUustration, the reader will see two figures, one representiue a gmup of madreprros, in which a small and delicate shell is lying, and the other a lon(^ crumpled, and partly spiral tube, with a shell at one end and an opening at the other' Strange as the assertion may seem, these two figures represent the same "animal in two stages of its development. For the purpose, apparently, of carrying out some mysterious object, the Magilus resides wholly in the masses of madrepore, and in its eo:;. .-outh is a thin and delicate shell without anything remarkable about it. As it advam s m age, it enlarges in size, as IS the case with most creatures ; but its gi-owth is confined to one direction, and, instead of enlarging in diameter, it merely increases in length. The cause of the continual addition made to its length is ])robably to be found in the growth of the madrepore in which it is sheltered, and which M-ould soon inclose the iMagilus within its stony walls did not the niullusc ]n-ovide against such a fate by lengthening its sheU and taking up its residence iu the mouth. The most curious point, however, in the economy of the ]\ragilus is, that, as fast as it adds a new sh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubj, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectmollusks
