208 THOSE OTHER ANIMALS. 



unctuous advertisements, which, catching the eye of the 

 unwary, persuade him that money is to be had for asking, 

 upon terms to suit all pockets ; but, as in the case of the 

 octopus, once the suckers catch hold, there is no escape ; 

 nearer and nearer the victim is drawn, in spite of his 

 struggles, to the parrot mouth that will tear him to pieces, 

 and swallow up him and his belongings. The analogy is 

 in all ways extremely close, and yet the man who would 

 shudder at the thought of entering a cave in the depth of 

 whose waters the octopus is lurking, will enter the pro- 

 fessional money-lender's den with an unmoved countenance 

 and an even pulse. Happily, there is every reason for 

 supposing that the fish which form the staple of the diet of 

 the octopus suffer less in the process of destruction than 

 does the victim of the money-lender. Fish are certainly 

 almost, if not entirely, insensible to pain, and there is no 

 reason to suppose that they are gifted with strong powers of 

 imagination ; it may therefore be believed that although a 

 fish may struggle to escape from the grip of the tentacle, it 

 feels none of the horror that seizes a human victim when 

 once grasped by one of the larger species, and that its doom 

 is hidden from it until the savage beak seizes it, and at once 

 puts an end to its existence. 



While man can to a certain extent enter into the feelings 

 of a large proportion of the animal creation, it is beyond 

 his power to imagine himself an octopus, or to get himself 

 en rapport with its thoughts. Has it any higher impulses ? 

 Is it naturally cruel, or does it view its own methods and 

 conduct from a strictly business point ? Does it persuade 

 itself that it is an estimable character ? Is it in its own 

 private circle affectionate and domesticated ? Has it the 



