a species of porcelain shell, beautifully variegated with spots, resembling in some measure those in a peacock's tail.

ARGUTIÆ, witty and acute sayings, which commonly signify something further than the mere words at first sight seem to import.

ARGYLESHERE or ARGYLLSHIRE, an extensive county in the west of Scotland, is usually described under two great divisions,—the mainland, and such of the Western Islands as are politically attached to it. It is of the former only that we propose to give some account at present, referring to the article Hebrides for the islands noted below, which form a part of this county.

The mainland of Argyleshire, situate between 55° 21' and 57° north latitude, and between 1° 22' and 3° 25' of longitude west from Edinburgh, is bounded on the north by Inverness-shire, on the east by the counties of Perth and Dumbarton, on the south by the Irish Sea, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; the Frith of Clyde, which separates it from the shire of Renfrew, forming its boundary on the south-east. Its greatest length, from the Mull of Kintyre on the south to the point of Ardnamurchan on the north, is 115 miles; its breadth above 68; and from the windings of the numerous bays and creeks with which the land is everywhere indented, it is suppos-