58 THE SEPIOLE. 



and slirimps ; worms ; sponges ; sea- weeds ; all pre- 

 sented claims to notice ; and all contributed represen- 

 tatives to my stock, in the successive emptyings of the 

 dredge, for we worked pretty nearly all the way home. 

 And when we came to bring on shore the bottles, 

 jars, pans, pails, and tubs, we found them all well 

 tenanted with strange creatures, the greater part of 

 which were despatched on their way to London by 

 that same evening's mail-train. 



The Plate on the opposite page represents a group 

 from the interior of an Aquarium. Over the stone in 

 front is crawling the Eyed Cribella [Cribella oculata), 

 while a specimen of the Bird's-foot Starfish [Palmi- 

 pes memhranaceus) is mounting up the mass of broken 

 rock behind. On the right of the picture is a small 

 frond of the much folded and crumpled Sea-lettuce 

 (Ulva latissima) ; the pencilled plant of a darker 

 green that rises in the rear of the Ulva is Cladophoixi 

 rupestris ; while a tuft of Polysiplionia urceolata 

 springs from a crevice in the rock above the Star- 

 fishes. Almost all the species have been already 

 described in these pages. 



THE SEPIOLE. 



My notions of the Cephalopoda, derived from 

 figures of the various species in books, were anything 

 but agreeable. I thought of them as hideous, repul- 

 sive, fierce, atrocious creatures, hated and feared when- 

 ever seen. But an acquaintance with the pretty 

 Sepiola vulgaris has not a little modified these ideas ; 

 and its beauty, sprightliness, and cui'ious habits have 

 made it quite a favourite pet among the denizens of 



