CUTTLE-FISHES. 229 



imagination in the description of his peculiar species 

 of cuttle-fish (or "cuddle "-fish, from the powers 

 of embracing possessed by its long arms), portions of 

 gigantic specimens have been found off the coasts of 

 Newfoundland, and described in the scientific journals. 

 These fragments indicate the actual, but fortunately 

 rare, existence of cuttle-fishes nearly 30 feet in length, 

 arms included. The old fishermen's stories of boats 

 being sometimes enveloped by the arms of these huge 

 '* krakens," have a semblance of truth. The common 

 octopus (Octopus vulgaris) is now kept in all our ma- 

 rine aquaria. Its structure is very peculiar, for the 

 water admitted into a special chamber for aerating 

 purposes, can be so expelled as to subserve the 

 purpose of locomotion. The animal usually crawls 

 along the sea-floor head downwards, moving about by- 

 means of its long tentacles. But when it wishes to 

 move more rapidly, all these are drawn together in front 

 of the head, the water is jerked out of the branchial 

 chamber through a special funnel, and the cuttle-fish 

 is thus driven backward by the rebound. The suckers 

 on the tentacles are most formidable organs for re- 

 taining hold, each one being provided with a natural 

 piston, so that a vacuum can be created when it is 

 withdrawn at the will of the animal. The horny 

 mandibles of the mouth are very much like those of 

 the parrot, and by their means the cuttle-fishes can 

 bite through the carapaces of the crabs, &c., on which 

 they habitually feed. Although this species pos- 



