Curious Creatures 



207 



Internal calcareous shell secreted by the cuttlefish. 

 Cuttlefishes are abundant in tropical waters; I have 

 seen their white shells so thickly strewn on East African 

 beaches that it was all but impossible to keep one's eyes 

 open in the dazzling glare. The animals are harmless 

 and inoffensive to man, and never attain the size of the 

 octopus. Yet, so firmly established is the fear of devil- 



CUTTI.EFISH. 



fishes in general that the most venturesome of a mis- 

 informed public will shrink from bathing in waters that 

 are known to be frequented by these cephalopods. 



Indeed, the universal prejudice against the larger 

 cephalopods is maintained in more restricted environ- 

 ments. In an actual test made in a marine laboratory 

 where an octopus with arms a foot long was confined, 

 scores of visitors who passed the tank were asked to 



