370 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



sures me it was 10 inches in diameter and 6 feet in length. The other arm was 

 brought to Saint Jolm's, but not before 6 feet of it were destroyed. For- 

 tunately, I lieard of it and took measures to have it preserved. Mr. Murray, 

 of tlie geological survey, and I afterwards examined it carefully, had it pho- 

 tographed, and immersed in alcohol ; it is now in our museum. It measured 19 

 feet, is of a pale, pink color, entirely cartilaginous, tough, and pliant as leather, 

 and very strong." 



In a letter dated November 27, 1877, Mr. Harvey gives an account of another 

 specimen, which was stranded on the shore at Lance Cove, Smiths Sound, 

 Trinity Bay, about 20 miles farther up the bay than the locality of the Catalina 

 Bay specimen (No. 14). He received his information from Mr. John Duffet, a 

 resident of the locality, who was one of the persons who found and measured 

 it. His account is as follows : " On November 21, 1877, early in the morning, 

 a ' big squid ' was seen on the beach, at Lance Cove, still alive and struggling 

 desperately to escape. It had been borne in by a ' spring tide ' and a high in- 

 shore wind. In its struggles to get off it ploughed up a trench or furrow about 

 30 feet long and of considerable depth by the stream of water that it ejected 

 with great force from its siphon. When the tide receded it died. Mr. Duffet 

 measured it carefully, and found that the body was nearly 11 feet long (prob- 

 ably including the head) ; the tentacular arms, 33 feet long. He did not 

 measure the short arms, but estimated them at 13 feet, and that they were 

 nmch thicker than a man's thigh at their bases. The people cut the body open 

 and it was left on the beach. It is an out-of-the-way place, and no one knew 

 that it was of any value. Otherwise, it could easily have been brought to St. 

 John's, with only the eyes destroyed and the body opened." It was subse- 

 quently carried off by the tide, and no portion was secured. 



From Capt. J. W. Collins, of the United States Fish Conuuission, I learn 

 that in October, 1875, an unusual number of giant squids were found floating 

 at the surface on the Grand Banks, but mostly entirely dead and more or 

 less mutilated by birds and fishes. In very few cases they were not quite 

 dead, but entirely disabled. These were seen chiefly between north latitude 

 44° and 44° 30', and between west longitude 49° 30' and 49° 50'. He believes 

 that between 25 and 30 specimens were secured by the fleet from Gloucester, 

 Mass., and that as many more were probably obtained by the vessels from other 

 places. They were cut up and used as bait for codfish. For this use they 

 are of considerable value to the fishermen. Capt. Collins was at that time in 

 command of the schooner Hoioard, which secured five of these giant squids. 

 These were mostly from 10 to 15 feet long, not including the arms, and aver- 

 aged about IS inches in diameter. The arms were almost always mutilated. 

 The portion that was left was usually 3 to 4 feet long, and at the base about 

 as large as a man's thigh. 



One specimen, when cut up, was packed into a large hogshead-tub, having a 

 capacity of about 75 gallons, Avhich it filled. This tub was known to hold 700 

 pounds of codfish. The gi'avity of the Architeuthis is probably about the same 

 as that of the fish. This would indicate more nearly the actual weight of one 

 of these creatures than any of the mere estimates that have been made, which 

 are usually much too great. Allowing for the parts of the arms that had been 

 destroyed this specimen would, probably, have weighed nearly 1,000 pounds. 



Among the numerous other vessels that 'were fortunate in securing this kind 

 of bait Capt. Collins mentions the following: 



