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THE CEPHALOPODS. 
IF we picture to ourselves a long cylindrical body, flat and flabby, 
terminating in a great head, the most remarkable part of which 
is a couple of enormous eyes, one on each side, its summit con- 
taining a mouth, or rather, a beak—a horny prominence, sharply 
bent like the bill of a parrot—around which branch out eight or 
ten arms, two much longer than the rest, we shall then have 
a general idea of those curious and ravenous creatures which 
Cuvier called “ Cephalopods,” that is, mollusks which have their 
feet branching out of their “ead. 
The class is divided into three groups :—(1) The Cuzfttle-fish, 
which have a fin running down each side of the sac; (2) the 
Calmars, which have two distinct fins affixed to the upper part 
of the body; and (3) the Powlpes, which have neither. This 
difference in the three groups was pointed out by Aristotle. 
This great philosopher wrote a history of these creatures, and 
described their anatomy with a wonderful degree of accuracy. 
The cephalopods are the princes of the mollusks. In them 
this great class of marine animals reaches its highest develop- 
ment. They swarm in the waters of the ocean, and in the 
Mediterranean. Some of them are found upon the coasts; others 
are inhabitants of the deep water. When we said they were 
the princes of the mollusks, we might have said they were the 
ruthless despots, for their love of taking life is only bounded 
by their power. Not being able to pursue their prey, for their 
motion is slow, they have resort to craft, and, like hunters of wily 
game, they lie in ambush awaiting its approach. Ensconsing 
their bodies in a hole, they leave their long arms ready for action. 
Their great eyes, always widely opened, patiently watch for the 
approach of the prey. The instant the unlucky creature is within 
arm’s reach, it is seized; the cluster of arms encloses it, and draws 
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