314 FUNCTIONS AND INSTINCTS. 



were, the elements, whether we ascend or de- 

 scend, of all the rest. It appears from the 

 united testimony of almost every writer that 

 has noticed them, that they have it in charge 

 to keep within due limits, a tribe of animals, 

 almost equally destructive with themselves, and 

 which are armed also with weapons of offence, 

 apparently equally terrific to their prey. It 

 will be readily perceived that I am speaking of 

 the Crustaceans, and of the formidable pincers 

 with which they seize their prey. It must 

 be a curious spectacle to see one of the larger 

 poulpes attack a lobster ; at first sight, we 

 should think the latter most likely to master 

 his assailant, covered as he is with a hard crust, 

 and using adroitly his powerful forceps, we 

 should feel sure that the cuttle-fish, with his 

 soft body and oral organs equally soft, stood no 

 chance against such an antagonist. But He 

 who gave him his commission, has fitted him for 

 the execution of it, his soft tentacular organs 

 will bend in every direction, and the numerous 

 suckers wherewith they are planted, by pumping 

 out the medium that forms the atmosphere of 

 marine animals, produce such a pressure where- 

 ever they are fixed, that, struggle as it may, 

 it cannot disengage itself from the grasp of its 

 assailant ; and, by their flexibility, these organs 

 can imitate the fishermen, and tie together the 

 two pieces of the forceps, so that it cannot bite ; 



