Difference between revisions of "Nautilus"
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The '''nautilus''' or ''chambered nautilus'' is a sea animal. It is a cephalopod, like the squid, octopus, and cuttlefish. It grows a large, beautiful spiral shell. The shell is lined with glistening [[mother-of-pearl]]. As it grows, it builds partitions which divide the shell into chambers; it lives in the outermost partition. These shells were common decorations in Victorian England and the United States. | The '''nautilus''' or ''chambered nautilus'' is a sea animal. It is a cephalopod, like the squid, octopus, and cuttlefish. It grows a large, beautiful spiral shell. The shell is lined with glistening [[mother-of-pearl]]. As it grows, it builds partitions which divide the shell into chambers; it lives in the outermost partition. These shells were common decorations in Victorian England and the United States. | ||
| − | [[Oliver Wendell Holmes]] wrote a famous poem entitled | + | [[Oliver Wendell Holmes]] wrote a famous poem entitled :The Chambered Nautilus." In this poem, he admires the "ship of pearl" and the "silent toil/That spread his lustrous coil/Still, as the spiral grew/He left the past year's dwelling for the new." He concludes with the hope that his soul is as beautiful as the shell of the chambered nautilus: |
:Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul. | :Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul. | ||
Revision as of 17:59, January 21, 2007
The nautilus or chambered nautilus is a sea animal. It is a cephalopod, like the squid, octopus, and cuttlefish. It grows a large, beautiful spiral shell. The shell is lined with glistening mother-of-pearl. As it grows, it builds partitions which divide the shell into chambers; it lives in the outermost partition. These shells were common decorations in Victorian England and the United States.
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a famous poem entitled :The Chambered Nautilus." In this poem, he admires the "ship of pearl" and the "silent toil/That spread his lustrous coil/Still, as the spiral grew/He left the past year's dwelling for the new." He concludes with the hope that his soul is as beautiful as the shell of the chambered nautilus:
- Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul.
Many ships, particularly submarines, have been named "the Nautilus." Three famous ones are:
- Robert Fulton's Nautilus, the first submarine that actually worked;
- Captain Nemo's fictional submarine in the Jules Verne novel Vingt Mille Lieues sous les Mers ("Twenty thousand Leagues Under the Sea")
- The first nuclear submarine, U. S. S. Nautilus