FABllLOrS CEl'irALOPODS. 



91 



Donys Monlfbri's nionslcr is (nildonc, liowcver, by tlio Nov- 

 wouiiin Kijikcii (U'scrilicd by IJislioi) \']v\e I'ontoppidaii as an 

 aiiiinnl. I lie l:ii-<>(.'st in creation, wliosr body rises abovo tlio siirfaoe 

 oriiic water Hkt' amountain. and its arms bivo I lie masts of ships, 

 and a wliole reo-iment oC solcbers conld easily <j,-o tJironjj-h Iheii' 

 nianceuvres on its l)aek. This abnosi mnrvi'lnns aeeonnt is eon- 

 iirmed l)y wliat happened to ihe Uishop of Xidros. wlio, (Useov- 

 ei-inu- one ol" these gio-antie monsters asleep in the snn, naturally 

 mistook it for a laro-e rock, and raised an altar on its surface, 

 where he celebrated Mass. The oood-natnred Krakeu permitted 

 the worthy ]iishop to finish the ceremony and regain the shore, 

 before disappearing- beneath the wayes. After this account, who 

 shall belieye the malicious inyentions of Yictor Hugo and Deuys 

 Montfort? A celebrated Krakeu of autiqnity was the Hydra of 

 Lerua, destroyed by Hercules. 



Among the curious inyentions of ancient and modern roman- 

 cists upon the subject of the oeto])od or jtonlp. none is more 

 bizarre than the description giyen of it in Victor Hugo's noyel, 

 '•The Toilers of the Sea." That author inyests the animal with 

 a strange organization and stranger feelings : this "jelly seasoned 

 with hatred has but one opening in the centre of his ra<lial. Is 

 this only hiatus the anus? Is it the month ? H is both. The 

 sam(> opening performs both functions. H, is entrance and out- 

 let." Again, he denies to the creature a beak, yet he makes it 

 powerful for the destruction of human life. A yery caustic criL- 

 icism on this work of M. Hugo, by Mr. Henri Crosse, under tlie 

 title of •' A well-abused Mollnsk." was printed in Journal dc 

 Gonchyliolof/ie^ 1800, and a translation of it Avas published in 

 '• Am. Jour. Conch.," ii, 294. 



GephaJnprxh in their Rdatiom^ iin'tJi 0th cr Animals.'^ 



The number of cei)halopods of small size is excessiyely great, 

 but they become the prey of a multitude of enemies. On the 

 loth Jan.. lsr)R. the Dutch ship Yriendentrouw sailed for two 

 hours through dead Loligos. coyering the surfoce of the sea as 



* A list of animals parasitic upon the C'ephalopoda, is given by Kefer- 

 stein (Bronn's Klassen und Ordnungen). 



