58 
iteresting to microscopists, During the interval he had been furnished 
by afriend with the head of alarge cuttle (Sepia Officinalis), to some 
points in the anatomy of which he should chiefly confine his remarks. 
Subsequently, Mr. Hennah had furnished him with specimens of Sepiola 
Atlantica, to which he would also allude. 
The Cephalopods, to which the Cuttle belonged, were a vast tribe ; 
but, as before stated, by confining himself to one, he might better 
indicate points worthy of observation by the members. First, as 
regarded the organs of prehension, situated around the mouth. These 
varied from 8 to 10 in number, and were armed with most perfect 
suckers, cupping instruments, or air pumps of marvellous construction, 
and which consisted of cups having a hardened margin, in some cases 
toothed, and in others hooked as well, and supplied with pistons, which 
enabled the creatures to hold onorlet go at will, as each sucker was 
supplied with its own particular nerve, sothat the suckers could act 
separately or collectively. In. the case of those having ten arms, two 
possessed very great power of elongation, so that the creature could 
approach any object of which it was suspicious by means of them, itself 
remaining at a distance. They also served to anchor it to the rocks in 
rough weather. 
The next point to which Dr, Hallifax called attention was the eye, 
which, compared with the creature, was wonderfully large, and pro- 
tected against injury by a transparent integument. The most curious 
fact in connection with it was, that the crystalline lens was a perfect 
Coddington lens, viz., a spherical lens with a deep groove filled with 
dark pigment. 
In general the cephalopods were without external or internal 
skeleton, but the cuttle bone, a wonderful example of lightness and 
strength, and the sea-pen were well known. As was evident from an 
examination of the rocks constituting the earth’s crust, the cephalo- 
pods, under a great variety of forms and names, played a very 
important part in the economy of past animal life. Shells of ammon- 
ites had been met with four feet in diameter. There were many other 
points worthy of notice, such as the ink-bag, muscular structure, &c. 
Mr. Hennau said there were some facts in the reproduction of some 
of the cephalopods of very great interest to microscopists. One point he 
might mention. While examining a common squid, loligo vulgaris, he 
Ee 
