2o6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore 



selects for her nest a recess in the rocks below the low- 

 tide level, and guards her eggs with all the jealousy of 

 a mother hen. The eggs, when first laid, are small oval 

 bodies somewhat resembling translucent grains of rice 

 growing around a common stalk. Each one is sepa- 

 rately attached to the stalk by a short peduncle, the 

 whole being not unlike a bunch of tiny white grapes. 

 The average number of individual units in the brood 

 of a full-grown female is fifty thousand. She aerates 

 them frequently by manipulating the clusters with her 

 tentacles and directing a current of water upon them 

 with her siphon. Only occasionally does she leave the 

 lair, and then merely for a short time when it becomes 

 necessary to search for food. The brooding period 

 lasts for about seven w^eeks; at the end of which, the 

 young hatch soon leave to begin a life free from fur- 

 ther maternal care. In appearance the new-hatched 

 octopus is greatly unlike the adult; its arms are quite 

 undeveloped and decorate the head like a raked crown. 

 In the cuttlefish we find a cephalopod having most of 

 the attributes of the squid. That is to say, it is an 

 active swimmer and it has ten arms anci a propor- 

 tionately long, but somewhat flat, body. All but two 

 of its tentacles are relatively short; these two are de- 

 void of suckers along their length except on the club- 

 shaped enlargement at the ends. They are generally 

 kept retracted close to the head and are brought into 

 play only in the capture of prey. It is from the ink bag 

 of this animal that the India ink and sepia of commerce 

 is obtained. This creature is also the source of the 

 familiar cuttle "bone" that is given to caged birds. 

 Strictly speaking, this object is not a bone but is the 



