SEPIAD^ CUTTLE. 251 



which they call Chatrou (or La pieuvre), is a most 

 formidable enemy to swimmers and divers, for when it 

 has embraced the limbs with its tentacles, it adheres 

 with such tenacity that it is quite impossible for a 

 person to disengage himself, or to move any of his 

 Irnbs.* 



The common Octopus punctatus of the west coast of 

 North America is the largest of its tribe hitherto studied ; 

 but the gigantic squids far exceed it in size, as we 

 shall read presently. Mr. W. 'H. Dall, in the ' American 

 Naturalist/ 1873, tells us that this species of Octopus 

 occurs abundantly at Sitka and there reaches a length 

 of sixteen feet on a radial spread of nearly twenty- 

 eight feet, but the whole mass is much smaller than 

 the decapodous (or ten-armed) cephalopods of lesser 

 length. In the Octopus above mentioned, the body 

 would not exceed six inches in diameter, and a foot in 

 length, and the arms attain an extreme tenuity towards 

 their lips. Dr. W. 0. Ayres informed Mr. Verrill, 

 the writer of the above, that he has often seen this 

 species exposed for sale in the markets of San Francisco, 

 where it is eaten by the French, and that specimens 

 with the arms six or seven feet long are common; and 

 Professor W. H. Brewer states that he has seen speci- 

 mens in the same markets which spread fourteen feet 

 across the outstretched arms.f 



The ten-armed Cephalopods, or Gigantic squids, attain 

 larger dimensions than the Octopus, viz. the species 

 of Architeuthis (a genus which is closely allied to 

 Ommastrvphes), Ortychoteuthis robusta (or Lestoteu- 



* * Life in Normandy,' note. D. D. 



f ' Cephalopoda of the North Eastern Coast of America,' by A. E. 

 Verrill, Part i. p. 252. 



