THE CEPHALOPODS. 249 
Many of the cuttle-fish possess the power of changing colour; 
they pass from a whitish purple to a livid grey, from a livid grey 
to a brown; their tints appear and disappear most rapidly. 
When the animal is irritated or frightened, its spots expand or 
fade away far faster than the shades of the chameleon. Some 
naturalists suppose that this power is used by the animal to 
puzzle its enemies. 
Sometimes bathers are extremely inconvenienced, not to say 
endangered, by the presence of the larger cephalopods—the 
poulpes. Frequently the legs are tightly embraced, and so firmly 
are the arms attached, that it is with great difficulty the swimmer 
Its Envelope opened.) (Its Envelope stripped off.) 
EGG OF THE CUTTLE-FISH. 
can disengage himself. Dr. Franklin found that a few drops 
of vinegar on the back of the creature at once persuaded it to 
release its hold. 
In times long past, we read of calmars and poulpes of sizes far 
greater than any which now are found upon our coasts; indeed, 
the naturalists and sailors who narrate the stories, describe them 
as approaching the gigantic dimensions of the whale. Pliny 
relates the history of an enormous cuttle-fish which haunted the 
coast of Spain in the neighbourhood of Castria, devouring all the 
fish, and destroying the fishing-grounds. At last the monster was 
captured. Its body was found to weigh 700 lbs., and its arms 
were more than thirty feet long. Its head was as large as a tun, 
and the fragments of the creature filled fifteen amphore, and were 
sent to the pro-consul Lucius Lucullus. Olaiis Magnus gives 
credence to the report that the northern seas were infested by 
