252 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



this), as the following account taken from Mr. A. E. 

 Verrill's 'The Cephalopods of the North-Eastern Coast 

 of America/ will prove. He mentions the early litera- 

 ture of Natural History containing allusions to large 

 species of Cephalopods, accompanied by more or less 

 fabulous and usually exaggerated descriptions, as for 

 instance the one given by old Eric Pontoppidan, which 

 I shall quote further on. Professor Steenstrup, and 

 Dr. Harting were the first to describe and figure these 

 Gigantic squids scientifically. The American fishermen 

 frequently meet with these big squids, in the waters of 

 Newfoundland and the adjacent coasts ; and the cod- 

 fishermen who visit the Grand Banks, appear to have 

 been long familiar with them, and occasionally to have 

 captured and used them as bait. The whalemen state 

 that the sperm whale feed upon huge squid, and that 

 when wounded they often vomit large fragments of 

 them in such a condition as to be recognizable,* and this 

 statement is corroborated by Mr. P. Warrington, of 

 Apothecaries' Hall, who informed Mr. H. Woodward 

 that the test of the genuineness of i( Ambergris " as 

 imported, which is found in the sperm whale (Physeter 

 macrocephalus) is, that it is full of the undigested beaks 

 of the Galamary, upon which it feeds; and one of the 

 "Delphinidse/' the Hyperoodon, or Bottle-headed whale, 

 is also said to feed upon cuttle-fishes, as Mr. W. Vrolik 

 found in the stomach of one specimen about ten 

 millions of the mandibles of a species of Loligo.f 



According to Mr. H. Woodward, the undigested 

 remains of fossil cuttle-fishes are frequently noticed 

 within the ribs of the Ichthyosauri, and Plesiosauri of 



* Maurz's ■ Sailing Directions,' as quoted by Mr. A. E. Verrill. 



f Description de ' Deux Cephalopodes gigantesques,' par P. Harting. 



