58 M. SANDER RANG 



with the tube below, and the dorsal region above ; and he 

 consequently infers that our argonautic Octopus is in an ano- 

 malous position, while the Octopi, properly so called, are in 

 a normal one : from which M. de Blainville deduces a new 

 proof of the parasitism of the animal. 



Without venturing to discuss the validity of this argument, 

 we will merely observe that if we do not admit it, it is in a 

 great measure because we are not agreed as to its elements. 



We have often seen Octopi out of the water, in the act of 

 progression ; and a drawing made on the coasts of Provence 

 by.M. de Blainville himself, and which he very kindly showed 

 us, appeared in some measure to confirm what we on our part 

 had observed. The species we have seen is precisely the 

 same as that which engaged the attention of this naturalist; 

 we have found it in the same position as he did, but we are 

 far from affirming that it assumes no other, for we have often 

 observed the contrary. 



The Octopus moschatus is undoubtedly, of all the species, 

 the one which most readily accommodates itself to this expe- 

 riment, not only because it is the most common in the nets of 

 the Mediterranean fishermen, but also because, when out of 

 the water, it exhibits surprising strength and agility. We 

 have studied it in the road of Algiers, at the instant when the 

 fishermen hoisted up their nets, almost always full, upon the 

 deck of their boats. Escaping through the meshes, these ani- 

 mals would run about, endeavouring to regain the sea ; and 

 nothing in fact could be more curious than the motions used 

 to attain that end. They did not crawl in the manner of 

 gasteropods, but holding themselves bent double, so that only 

 their head and the extremity of their sac rested upon the deck, 

 they seemed to gallop at a great rate, if we may so express 

 ourselves, enlarging their back or stomach according to their 

 position ; while their arms, which they carried before them, 

 or by their sides, had an undulatory or serpentine motion, 

 and, fixing themselves alternately by their suckers, assisted 

 the Octopus to draw itself along, while raising itself on its 

 extremities. What we inferred from this was, that when out 

 of the water, these invertebrate animals move themselves as 

 they can, by the power of the arms furnished with suckers, 

 according to the position in which they find themselves 

 placed, and according to the vitality remaining in them. This 

 condition is really an accidental one for them, since by the 

 nature of their organization, the power of living habitually 

 out of the water has not been granted to them, and conse- 

 quently they have not been provided with any particular organ 

 for terrestrial progression. But their normal state is when 



