The PoulpeThe Argonaut. 537 



THE POULPE, (Octopus vulgaris,) 



HAS only eight arms, the two long tentacles of the Sepia 

 being absent. It is found on our coasts, and is especially 

 abundant in the Mediterranean, where it is regularly 

 brought to market as an article of food. 



THE AEGONAUT, OE PAPEE NAUTILUS, 



Is a kind of Poulpe, in which only six of the arms 

 present the ordinary form, the other pair being ex- 

 panded into broad, flat organs. It was supposed by 

 the ancients, and, indeed, until very recently, that these 

 expanded arms were used by the animal as sails ; it was 

 described as floating at the surface of the sea, with the 

 back of the shell downwards, the six arms sticking into 

 the water like so many oars, and the two broad members 

 elevated to catch the breeze ; but it is now known that 

 the so-called sails are used to embrace the shell when 

 the animal is swimming backwards, in the same way as 

 its allies, and it also appears that it is by these arms 

 that the shell is enlarged. The Argonaut is found in 

 the Mediterranean. 



