Cuttles 397 



species. The pen is very narrow and bears a hollow 

 cone at its hinder end. 



The Flying Squid {Ornx^mastreplies sagittatits), or 

 Sea Arrow of sailors, gets its name from the shape 

 and position of the fins. If the animal be viewed 

 with the arms towards us and the fins away, its 

 form is seen to be that of a thick arrow with barbed 

 point ; and as the seamen see these hurl themselves 

 from mid-ocean to the vessel's deck they come like 

 flying arrows, point first. This species is about 15 

 inches long, and has been taken at Shetland, St. 

 Andrews, the Firth of Forth, and Durham. 0. 

 ehlance has been taken at Plymouth, Belfast, and in 

 Dublin Bay; and a third species, 0. coindeti, is re- 

 corded from the Firth of Forth and Eastbourne. 

 The Flying Squids occur in schools, and are of 

 great importance in connection with the New- 

 foundland cod fishery, forming as they do the 

 principal bait used in that industry. They also 

 form important items in the bills of fare of whales, 

 dolphins, and some of the larger oceanic birds. 



To the same family belongs the genus Architeiitliis, 

 containing the largest species of Cuttles known to us 

 — the creatures that have often been still further 

 enlarged by the sensational writer, acting on the 

 principle of " to him that hath shall be given." 

 More than once some giants of this tribe have shown 

 themselves in the vicinity of these islands, so that 

 we are able to claim A. ononachus as sometimes 

 British. More than two hundred years ago a gigantic 

 Cephalopod was cast ashore at Dingle, County Kerry, 

 whose leno-th was 19 feet. Its tentacles were 11 

 feet, but they had been mutilated, so that their 



