-96 THE OCTOPUS. 



attracted by it. At Trincomalee, at certain seasons of the year, 

 the bay is illuminated during the night by hundreds of lights of 

 fishing boats moving hither and thither. A dead cuttle is generally 

 the bait used. This is suspended in the water, and when hauled 

 in from time to time, one or more of its species are found fast to 

 it, and feeding on their deceased relative. Wlien removed from 

 the water they emit a peculiar " squelching " noise, which has 

 been compared to the grunting of a hog. It appears to me to be 

 caused by the forcing of air, instead of water, through the syphon 

 tube.* 



They are also frequently taken by spearing, as described by 

 Edward Forbes; and my friend, Mr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S., 

 mentions \ having seen in a curious Japanese book, preserved in 

 the British Museum, a picture of a man in a boat engaged in 

 catching cuttle-fishes with a spear, and also of a fishmonger's 

 shop in Japan at which a number of enormous cuttle-fishes are 

 represented hanging up for sale. 



The crystalline lens of the eye, which is soft in quadrupeds, and 

 cartilaginous in fishes, is very solid in the cephalopoda. It is 

 almost calcareous, and very peculiar in its form. It consists of 

 two double concave portions, divided by a deep groove, in which 

 are inserted the ciliary processes. The two halves, which are 

 almost globose at their outer surfaces, separate easily, and exhibit 

 internally a series of concentric coats, which reflect light with a 



""' In Jonathan Couch's manuscript diary, which I have had the gratification 

 of perusing, the following entry appears, dated 1819 : — "John Hotton (a 

 fisherman of Polperro), informs me that some time since he was at sea for the 

 purpose of catching cuttles, when the night was so dark, that, though cuttles 

 were in plenty and followed the bait to the surface, he could not see to hook 

 them. He then desired his son to take a lanthorn, and hold it close to the 

 water so that he might see ; when, to his surprise, a great many cuttles gathered 

 round the light, and without bait or hook he caught eighteen by hooking them 

 with the rod (gaff). Since then he has more than once put the same plan in 

 practice with success." 



f "Intellectual Observer," vol. ii., p. 164. 



