18 OCTOPODIDZ. 
knew that this fellow’s sucking propensities were not his worst 
ones, for these cuttle-fishes are furnished with sharp jaws, and 
they know how to use them too, so I attempted to get rid of him. 
But the rascal, disengaging one slimy arm, wound it about my 
left hand also, : and I was a helpless prisoner. In vain I struggled 
to free myself—he only clasped me the tighter. In vain I shouted 
to my companion—he had wandered out of hearing. I was 
momentarily expecting to be bitten, when the “ bicho”’ suddenly 
changed his mind. I was never able to discover whether he was 
smitten with remorse and retired with amiable intentions, or 
whether he only yielded to the force of circumstances. At any 
rate he suddenly relinquished his hold upon my hands and dropped 
to the sand. Then raising himself on his long, limsy arms, he 
stalked away towards the water , making such a comical figure, 
that, in spite of my fright, I indulged in a hearty laugh. He 
looked like a huge and a very tipsy “spider, staggering away on 
his exceedingly long legs. 
* Cuttle-fishes are sometimes used for food by the Brazilians, 
and different species may be seen in the markets, where one 
frequently finds them still alive. Sometimes, as he stoops to 
examine one, its body is suddenly suffused with a deep pinkish 
glow. Before he has time to recover from his surprise, this 
color fades, and a beautiful blue takes its place as rapidly as a 
blush sometimes suffuses a delicate cheek. The blue, perhaps, 
is succeeded by a green, and then the whole body becomes pink 
again. One can hardly conceive anything more beautiful than 
this rapid play of colors, which is produced by the successive 
distention of sets of little sacks containing fluids of different 
colors, which are situated under the skin.”—American Nat- 
uralist, iii, 256, 1870. 
“The British Vice-Consul, Green, in a recent report, furnishes 
some novel and interesting particulars as to the fishing and trade 
in cephalopods in the Tunis waters. Octopodia and polypi are 
the trade names under which these cephalopods are known in 
the Levant and Greek markets, where they are solely imported 
for consumption during Lent, the orthodox Church not including 
them in the prohibition against the use of flesh in seasons of 
religious abstinence. 
i "They prefer rocky shallows, and visit these waters, coming 
from the open sea in the months of January, February and 
March. A considerable number of octopodia, however, remain 
permanently near the shores; but it has been observed that when 
their fry, locally called ‘ muschi,’ are numerous from the month 
of June to August, the fishing ‘of the coming season is sure to 
be abundant, whilst the reverse is the case if they appear in 
numbers in November and December. In a good season, the 
