THE NAUTILUS. Up with thy thin transparent sail, That Zephyr, in his wanton play, Up, little Nautilus! Thy day That woos thy prow so lovingly. Away! thou first of mariners :- Up, beauteous Nautilus !—Away! Heaven grant, that she through life's wide sea May sail as innocent as thee; And homeward turn'd, like thee may find REV. E. BARNARD. Few objects in nature have excited greater admiration than the elegant shell of the Nautilus, Argonauta Argo. It is exceedingly thin and fragile, of a paper-like substance, and divided into as many as forty chambers or compartments, through every one of which a portion of its body passes, connected as it were, by a thread. In calm Summer days it may occasionally be seen steering its little bark on the surface of the Mediterranean. The Roman naturalist, Pliny, thus delineates its habits. "Among the principal wonders of Nature is the animal called Nautilos or Pompilos. It ascends to the surface of the sea, in a supine posture, and gradually raising itself up, forces out, by means of a tube, all the water from the shell, in order that it may swim more readily; then, throwing back the two foremost arms, it displays between them a membrane of wonderful tenuity, which acts as a sail, while, with the remaining arms, it rows itself along, the tail in the middle acting as a helm to direct its course, and thus it pursues its voyage; and if alarmed by any appearance of danger, takes in the water, and descends."-Nat- Hist. ix. 29. The Nautilus is also well described in the following beautiful lines by Montgomery : Light as a flake of foam upon the wind, Fraught with young life, it righted as it rose, Put out a tier of oars on either side, Pelican Island. It has been supposed by some naturalists that the Sepia or Cuttle fish takes possession of the shell of the Nautilus, and uses it as a boat after having destroyed its original inhabitant. In India they form drinking-cups of the Nautilus Pompilius, which are rendered valuable by being richly enchased. For other interesting particulars respecting the Nautilus, see Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. 1, p. 28, and vol. 3, pp. 255 and 528. THE CORAL-GROVE. DEEP in the wave is a Coral-grove, But in bright and changeful beauty shine, Their boughs, where the tides and billows flow: For the winds and waves are absent there; The sea-flag streams through the silent water; To blush, like a banner bath'd in slaughter: There, with a slight and easy motion, The fan-coral sweeps through the clear deep sea; * A term applied to the sea-weeds composing the genus, Ulva or laver. And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean Is sporting amidst those bowers of stone, The purple mullet and gold-fish rove, Through the bending twigs of the Coral-grove. J. G. PERCIVAL. Naturalists have not yet satisfactorily ascertained to what situation in the system of Nature, belong the marine substances, termed by Linnæus Corallina. Some refer them to the animal, and others to the vegetable kingdom. When living, the Corallina are of a beautiful reddish or purple colour, which they lose after death, and when exposed to the action of the sun and air, assume a great variety of tints. They are generally found on rocky shores, attached to rocks or marine plants. For a description of coral reefs, see Captain Basil Hall's Voyage to the Loo-Choo Islands, in the Chinese Sea. THE TOAD. THOU ugly thing, that hoarsely croak'st at night Of pond or river, I, a boy, have seen And live, vile beast, as though thou lived'st not. J. R. The Toad, Bufo vulgaris, is so familiar to every one that a lengthened description is superfluous. Its extremely forbidding appearance has obtained for this reptile a very unjust character. It is persecuted and murdered wherever it appears, on the supposition merely that because it is ugly, it must in consequence be venomous. Its eyes are proverbially beautiful. Shakspeare, in Romeo and Juliet, iii. 5., thus notices them ; Some say, the lark and loathed toad change eyes. The progress of Natural Philosophy has destroyed much of the beauty of another passage of Shakspeare ; Sweet are the uses of adversity; Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, As you like it, ii. 1. Toads feed chiefly on insects and worms. In the winter they hybernate, eating no food, but do not become actually torpid. Many instances are on record of these reptiles having been found in blocks of stone or enclosed in the trunks of trees, where it is supposed they had remained for a number of years; -but none of these cases appear well authenticated, at least so far as to prove that the atmospheric air was totally excluded, See Literary Gazette, March, 1831, and Jesse's Gleanings in Nat. Hist., p. 115. OBERON'S FEAST. A LITTLE mushroom table spread; The elves present, to quench his thirst |