[ [79] ] "At 100 fathoms the pressure exceeds 265 lbs. to the square inch. Empty bottles, securely corked, and sunk with weights beyond 100 fathoms, are always crushed. If filled with liquid the cork is driven in, and the liquid replaced by salt water; and in drawing the bottle up again the cork is returned to the neck of the bottle, generally in a reversed position."—Sir F. Beaufort, quoted by Dr. S. P. Woodward in his 'Manual of the Mollusca.'
[ [80] ] I need hardly say that before the nacreous layer of the shell from which this animal takes its name is made visible, an outer deposit of dense calcareous matter has to be removed by hydrochloric acid: the pearly surface thus exposed is then easily polished.
[ [81] ] It is so interesting to most of us to know something of the early work of our greatest men, and of the tide in their affairs, which, taken at the flood, led on to fortune, that I hope I may be excused for referring to the period when the distinguished chief of the Natural History Department of the British Museum, the great comparative anatomist, the unrivalled palæontologist, the illustrious physiologist, the venerable and venerated friend of all earnest students, was beginning to attract the attention, and to receive the approbation of his seniors as a promising young worker. In Messrs. Griffith and Pidgeon's Supplement to Cuvier's 'Mollusca and Radiata,' published in 1834, the treatise in question is thus mentioned: "We have much pleasure in referring to a most excellent memoir on Nautilus pompilius, by Mr. Owen, with elaborate figures of the animal, its shell, and various parts, published by direction of the Council of the College of Surgeons. The reader will find the most satisfactory information on the subject, and the scientific public will earnestly hope that the present volume will be the first of a similar series." This hope has been more than fulfilled. Dean Buckland, in his 'Bridgewater Treatise,' wrote of this work: "I rejoice in the present opportunity of bearing testimony to the value of Professor Owen's highly philosophical and most admirable memoir—a work not less creditable to the author than honourable to the Royal College of Surgeons, under whose auspices the publication has been so handsomely conducted."
[ [82] ] Riva, 1559, leaf 142.
[ [83] ] 'Historia Simplicium,' lib. iii. p. 327.
[ [84] ] Prodrom. Hist. Nat. Scot. parts 2, lib. iii. p. 21, 1684.
[ [85] ] Otia Imperialia, iii. 123.
[ [86] ] For this quotation and the following one I am indebted to Professor Max Müller's Lecture before referred to.
[ [87] ] 'Chorographical Description of Norway,' p. 244.
[ [88] ] Æneas Sylvius gives us information concerning the personal appearance of his royal host, whom he describes as, "hominem quadratum et multa pinguedine gravem,"—literally, "a square-built man, heavy with much fat."