66 THE WALKS ABROAD OF 



believe, was the last to put the sepia ink to an impor- 

 tant use. As a fit whim for a scientific man, he made 

 use of it to write his memoir on Cephalopoda, and to 

 make the drawings. But I say, we are not making a 

 bad bag to-day. I had already some calamaries and 

 squids, cuttle-fish allied to the Sepia, in my collection, 

 and this specimen, after it has been prepared so as to 

 render the organs visible, and placed in alcohol, will 

 make a splendid specimen. The only portion of a 

 Sepia I previously possessed was their flat bone, with 

 which you are no doubt acquainted." 



" What ! do you mean to tell me that the flat 

 biscuits given to birds to sharpen their beaks on are 

 obtained from these fish ? " 



" The Sepia is not a fish." 



" And yet it is not a radiate ; still less an annelid; 

 nor a mollusc." 



" Why not?" 



"Well, because the Sepia is far too knowing a 

 creature, and far too complicated in structure, to take 

 a place in the family of oysters and mussels; as I 

 am sure Black would confirm if he could speak. And 

 besides, as you know, the cuttle-fish have no shells." 



" That is true, but their near relatives, the argo- 

 nauts, have. Moreover, on such grounds the great 

 slugs would also not be mollusca." 



" Quite so, although I admit that it did not occur to 

 me before. But then you neglected to tell me the 



