256 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



had scarcely regained the shore, before the monster 

 replunged into the deep.* 



The Hydra of Lerna, destroyed by Hercules, was 

 most certainly a polypus, or sepia, and in at least one of 

 the early representations of the subject, the animal is 

 most- correctly drawn as a cuttle-fish or polypus. 

 Montfaucon represents the Hydra as a " Monster with 

 several heads some seven, others nine, and others 

 ~ifty but that it was not a dragon is evident, not only 

 rom the waves which are at its feet, but also from the 

 form and capaciousness of its breast, and whole body ; 

 and again, its connection with the ocean can be traced 

 in the crab being sent to its assistance by Juno, to bite 

 Hercules in the heel, and when he crushed it, he over- 

 came the Hydra. Juno, unable to succeed in her 

 attempts to lessen the fame of Hercules, placed the crab 

 amongst the constellations, and it forms one of the signs 

 of the zodiac. It represents the month of June, because, 

 when the sun has come to this constellation he begins 

 to go backwards like a crab."-f 



Pliny mentions several kinds of polypi, one of which 

 he especially calls the land polypus, and states that it 

 is larger than that of the sea ; and Hardouin says it is 

 the species found on the seashore, which more fre- 

 quently conies on dry land than the other kinds. J 



In the Polynesian islands, the natives have a curious 

 contrivance for catching cuttle-fish. It consists of a 

 straight piece of hard wood, a foot long, round, and 

 polished, and not half an inch in diameter. Near one 



* ' Le Monde de la Mer,' par Fredol. 



f Nat. Hist, of Crabs and Lobsters,' by Frank Buckland, Esq. Joint 

 -\ppendix, No. ii. * Report on Ciab and Lobster Fisheries, &c., 1877.' 

 + Piiu}, ' Nat. Hist.' vol. ii. bk. ix. c. 46; see note. 



