2G4 EDIBLE BItlTISH MOLLUSCA. 



kind of Cuttle-fish, but different from the Sepia, and has 



ink of a pale colour. Alexis talks of cooking them 



thus : — 



" I took the teuthides, cut off their fins, 

 Adding a little f;it, I then did sprinkle 

 Some thin shred herbs o'er all, for seasoning." 



Bk. vii. c. 130, Athen., Deipnosophists. 



And Antiphanes, in his * Female Fisher/ says (refer- 



riug to the ink) : — 



" Give me some cuttle-fish first. O Hercules, 

 They've dirtied every place with ink ; here, take them, 

 And wash them clean." 



According to Pliny, Anaxilaus states that the ink 

 of the Sepia is possessed of such remarkable potency 

 that if it is put into a lamp, the light will become 

 entirely changed, and all present will look as black as 

 Ethiopians.* 



The ink of the Cuttle, or Sepia, is dried, and imported 

 from China to Liverpool, where it arrives either in 

 cakes, or is there made into cakes called Sepia, which 

 is used in painting. Dr. Lankester, in his little work 

 on ' Animal Products/ says that the Cuttle-fish is very 

 abundant in the Mediterranean, and that the ink-bag 

 is carefully extracted, the liquid being poured out to 

 allow of its drying as quickly as possible. It is then 

 triturated with a little caustic soda, or potash, and after- 

 wards boiled with caustic lye for half an hour, when it 

 is filtered, and the caustic liquid is then treated with 

 an acid till it is neutralized. After standing, a pre- 

 cipitate falls, which is collected, washed with water, 

 and finally dried by a gentle heat. This substance is 

 the dark pigment used by artists under the name of 

 Sepia. 



* Pliny, 'Nat. Hist.' vol. vi. bk. xxxii. c. 52. 



