(iUiANTlC ('Kl'll.\l,(>rt)TiS. ^/ 



liy :i ship dl' lliispoi't wiiilsi aiR-liori'd on llio i-,oast of Aii-ola. 

 A I'oiiliic of (Ircadliil (liiiicnsioiis iiUaclR-d ilse'll' to Llu' vessel 

 and allcinpU'd lo sink ii. (Jiandpro. author of a xoyagc lo 

 AlVica. t-erlilii's lo the (.'xisicuct' of monstrous |'oul[)rs ai a 

 certain dis!aiu-c IVoin die hind. AnoUu'i; sailor. Jean Magnus 

 Dens. was. aeeordinu' lo Monlforl. aitaeked l»y a uiiiauLie 

 '•KncorneL" durinu' (he [iassa<j,-e between the ishind of St. 

 Ih'leiia and Caiie Neuio. 



Ijeavinu' lliese siispieious doemneius lor the relations of those 

 iiiori" worthy of t'onlhh'iiee, we find the following- in (^iioy and 

 (iaimard (- Voy. Urtiiiie" 1. 2d Tart. 411): 



In the Athuuie Oeeaii. near the eiiuator. we collected ilie 

 remains of an enurnioiis Cahnnai'y. What was left of it might 

 weigh 100 pounds, and it was hut a longitudimil moiety deprived 

 of its tentacles, so thai one can without exaggeration assign the 

 weiglit of 200 i)Ounds to tlie entire animal. 



Rang ('• Manuel des Moll.," 8()) is not less explicit. We have 

 ciK'ountered in the middle of the ocean, a species quite distinct 

 frcnn the others, of a very dark red, having short arms, and tlu' 

 si/A' of a tun. 



Mr. .1. 8. (ieorge. of Nassau. N. P.. Bahamas, mentions that 

 a monster Octopus was found dead upon the beach. It was 10 

 feet long, each arm measuring 5 feet ; the weight was estimated 

 at between 200 and oOO [)ounds. ]Mr. George adds ■•this is the 

 tirsi si)ecimen 1 have seen during twenty-seven years' rt'sidence 

 in Bahamas. ])ut they arc known here traditionally of immense 

 size.* 



On the oOtli of Xovendier. 1S(;0. the French steamer Alecton, 

 commanded liy Lieut. Uouycr. encountered, between Madeira 

 and Tenerilfe, an enormous Poiilpe. which was swimming on the 

 surface of the water. The animal measured lo to IS feet in 

 lengili. without counting the formidable arms, covered with 

 cups, which crinvned its head. Ics color was brick-red ; its eyes 

 had a prodigious de\elopment and frightful fixity. Its mouth, 

 like the beak oH a i)arrot. could be opened to the extent of 18 

 iiudies. Its body, fusiform but much swelled towards the centre. 



Am. Naturalist, vi, 772, 1872. 



