146 THE SEA. 



neatli it is yellow; above, a dull, earthy hue; nothing could render that inexplicable shade- 

 dust-coloured. Its form is spider-like, but its tints are like those of the chameleon.. 

 When irritated it becomes violet. Its most horrible characteristic is its softness. Its 

 folds entangle; its contact paralyses. 



"It has an aspect like gangrened or scabrous fish. It is a monstrous embodiment of 

 disease. 



" It adheres closely to its prey, and cannot be torn away a fact which is due to 

 its power of exhausting air. The eight antennse, large at their roots, diminish gradually, 

 and end in needle-like points. Underneath each of these feelers range two rows of 

 pustules, decreasing in size, the largest ones near the head, the smaller at the extremities. 

 Each row contains twenty-five of these. There are, therefore, fifty pustules to each feeler,, 

 and the creature possesses in the whole four hundred. These pustules are capable of acting- 

 like cupping glasses. They are cartilaginous substances, cylindrical, horny, and livid. Upon 

 the large species they diminish gradually from the diameter of a five-franc piece to the- 

 size of a split pea. These small tubes can be thrust out and withdrawn by the animal 

 at will. They are capable of piercing to a depth of more than one inch. 



" This sucking apparatus has all the regularity and delicacy of a key-board. It stands 

 forth at one moment and disappears the next. The most perfect sensitiveness cannot 

 equal, the contractibility of these suckers always proportioned to the internal movement 

 of the animal and its exterior circumstances. The monster is endowed with the qualities 

 of the sensitive plant. 



:s This animal is the same as those which mariners call poulps, which science designates 

 Cephalopoda, and which ancient legends call krakens. It is the English sailors who call 

 them ' devil-fish/ and sometimes bloodsuckers. In the Channel Islands they are called 

 pienvres. 



" They are rare at Guernsey, very small at Jersey ; but near the island of Sark are 

 numerous and very large. . 



" When swimming the devil-fish rests, so to speak, in its sheath. It swims with 

 all its parts drawn close. It may be likened to a sleeve sewn up with a closed fish 

 within. The protuberance which is the head pushes the water aside, and advances with 

 a vague undulatory movement. Its two eyes, though large, are indistinct, being of the 

 colour of the water. 



"When in ambush, or seeking its prey, it retires into itself, grows smaller, and con- 

 denses itself. It is then scarcely distinguishable in the submarine twilight. At such times 

 it looks like a mere ripple in the water. It resembles anything except a living creature. 

 The devil-fish is crafty. When its victim is unsuspicious, it opens suddenly. A glutinous 

 mass, endowed with a malignant will, what can be more horrible ? 



" It is in the most beautiful azure depths of the limpid water that this hideous, 

 voracious polyp delights. It always conceals itself a fact which increases its terrible 

 associations. When they are seen, it is almost invariably after they have been captured. 

 At night, however, and particularly in the hot season, the devil-fish becomes phos- 

 phorescent. 



"The devil-fish not only swims, it walks. It is partly fish, partly reptile. It crawls 



