ON CEPHALOPODA. 293 
istence than the aforesaid tail. It has been said by observers 
that the males are much more numerous than the females, and 
that in intercourse there is a very strong adherence between 
the two individuals; in fact, the fishermen of the French 
coast have a peculiar mode of fishing for the octopi, as for the 
sepiz, by attaching a living female individual to the end of a 
cord and letting it go, tne male then approaches, and on 
drawing the cord two individuals are brought up, interlaced 
together. It is only necessary to repeat this operation to 
get possession of all the male individuals in the district. 
This fishery takes place towards the middle of spring, and 
nevertheless, according to Aristotle, it is in winter that the 
intercourse of the sexes takes place, so that the female de- 
posits her eggs in spring. They forma mass, more or less 
considerable, according to the age of the individual, which 
mass the Greek philosopher compares to the fruits of the 
alder, or of the wild vine. Their number is considerable, and 
the united mass which they form is much greater than the 
part of the body from which it issued. This shows that these 
eggs are like those of many other aquatic animals, which 
swell considerably after they have been ejected. It is always 
in some hole or cleft of the rocks that the octopus deposits its 
eggs: Aristotle had already made this observation when he 
said that the octopus seeks a convenient place for the deposi- 
tion of her eggs, such as the interior of a shell, the bottom of 
a vessel, or of some other cavity, to the sides of which it sus- 
pends them. He adds, that this animal hatches its eggs, that 
is to say, that it sometimes places itself upon them, and that 
sometimes it fixes itself at the entrance of the hole where it 
has placed them, disposing its arms in such a way as to cover 
them more securely. During this time the animal grows thin, 
for it eats nothing. He says also that fifty days must elapse 
before the little octopi come forth from their eggs. It is pro- 
bable that, as these eggs are conformed altogether like those 
