Molluscs 145 



vivid imaginations in their descriptions 

 of these animals, more than a single 

 octopus washed up from the ocean 

 depths has been found to measure nearly 

 forty feet across the arms, and therefore 

 quite capable of overpowering a human 

 being. Victor Hugo's blood-curdling 

 account of a man-versus-octopus fight in 

 his " Toilers of the Sea " may therefore 

 not be so very far from the truth. The 

 cuttle-fish likewise attain to vast pro- 

 portions, the tentacles of a giant specimen 

 that was landed a few years ago off 

 Milford Haven measuring twenty-four 

 feet in length. 



The Cephalopods are not only the 

 largest but the most remarkable of 

 molluscs, and to the casual observer have 

 little in common with their relatives the 

 Winkle, snail and oyster. They are 

 provided with remarkably well-developed 

 brains enclosed in cartilaginous skulls, 

 and eyes larger in proportion to the size 



K 



