Cuttle-Fish. 123 
Mr. Beale, twined its limbs around that gentle- 
man’s arm, which was bared to the shoulder for the 
purpose of thrusting into holes of the rocks after 
shells, and endeavoured to get its horny beak in a 
position for biting. The narrator describes the 
sickening sensation of horror which chilled his very 
blood, as he felt the creature’s cold slimy grasp, 
and saw its large staring eyes fixed on him, and the 
beak opening and closing. He called loudly for 
help, and was soon joined by his companion, who 
relieved him by destroying the Cuttle-fish with a 
knife, and detaching the limbs piece by piece. 
There are several species of these cephalopods ; 
the most generally distributed appears to be the 

O. VULGARIS. 8. VULGARIS. 8. OFFICINALIS. 
Octopus vulgaris, or Common Cuttle-fish, which is 
