composed of a firm substance; and a process projects from the upper
margin of the pupil, which gives that membrane a semilunar form."[11]
The exterior coat or ball is remarkably strong, so as to seem almost
calcareous, and is, when taken out, of a brilliant pearl colour; it
is worn in some parts of Italy, and in the Grecian islands by way of
artificial pearl in necklaces.

[10] In all other worms the eyes are entirely wanting, or their
existence is very doubtful. Whether the black points at the
extremities of what Swammerdam calls the horns of the common
snail, are organs which really possess the power of vision,
is still problematical.

[11] Blumenbach, Man. Comp. Anat. p. 305.

Next we may notice the curious provision by which the Cuttle-fish is
enabled to elude the pursuit of its enemies in the "vasty deep." This
consists of a black, inky fluid, (erroneously supposed to be the
bile,) which is contained in a bag beneath the body. The fluid itself
is thick, but miscible with water to such a degree, that a very small
quantity will colour a vast bulk of water.[12] Thus, the comparatively
small Cuttle-fish may darken the element about the acute eye of the
whale. What omniscience is displayed in this single provision, as well
as in the faculty possessed by the Cuttle-fish of reproducing its
mutilated arms! All Nature beams with such beneficence, and abounds
with such instances of divine love for every creature, however humble:
in observing these provisions, how often are we reminded of the
benefits conferred by the same omniscience upon our own species. It is
thus, by the investigation of natural history, that we are led to
the contemplation of the sublimest subjects; thus that man with God