TPIE CUTTLE FISH. 



161 



dilated portion terminated by a little disk, and about twenty 

 of these are enclosed in each sheath. Thus every one of 

 these little creatures, which 

 often crowd the surface of 

 the Polar Seas in incalcu- 

 lable numbers, and form 

 the chief nourishment of 

 the huge whale, is fur- 

 nished with no less than 

 three hundred and sixty - 

 thousand sucking disks 

 a magnificent profusion, 

 which may well be called 

 one of the miracles >f 

 Nature ! But we have 

 not yet done with the Clio, 

 for on opening its mouth 

 we shall find new occasions 

 to admire the care that 

 has been bestowed upon its 

 organisation. On each side 

 of the buccal aperture pro- 

 jects a hard shining sub- 

 stance, which is not a single 

 tooth, as it might appear to 

 the naked eye, but rather 

 a dental apparatus (a), consisting of a bundle of about thirty gold- 

 coloured crooked, stiff, and sharp hooks derived from a common 

 base, and forming a pair of lateral jaws, which, when protruded, 

 seize their prey like a couple of long tenacious combs. A tongue- 

 like organ (d) situated in the cavity of the mouth and studded 

 with about eight hundred booklets assists their functions, and 

 facilitates the propulsion of the food into the stomach. 



As the sea-urchins are the first among the radiata, thus the 

 cuttle-fish are the most perfect specimens of the molluscar type. 

 These remarkable creatures consist of two distinct parts : 

 the body, which in form of a sack, open to the front, encloses the 

 branchiae and digestive organs; and the well -developed head, pro- 

 vided with a pair of sharp-sighted eyes, and crowned with a ring 

 of feet, arms, or feelers. 



M 



Clio Borealis. 



a dental apparatus, and 6 c single teeth, magnified 28 

 diameters, d lateral view of free portion of tongue 

 magnified 130 diameters. 



