LECTURE X. 133 



habit of occasionally darkening the water by the 

 discharge of its ink. Instead of the remarkable 

 calcareous bone belonging to the common Cuttle- 

 Fish, we find in the Calamary a long, thin, trans- 

 parent, pen-shaped cartilage, of a curious appear- 

 ance, pointed at the tip of the dilated part, and 

 semicylindrical at the other end, somewhat repre- 

 senting the stem of a quill. This is supposed to 

 be the reason of the name of Calamary, applied to 

 this species. Its general habits are very similar to 

 those of the Cuttle-Fish. It is a very prolific animal, 

 and the eggs are of a very singular and curious ap- 

 pearance : they are deposited in the form of nume- 

 rous lengthened groups, radiating from a common 

 centre, and spreading every way into a circular 

 form : each egg is of a glassy transparency, and 

 the young animal may be very distinctly observed 

 in each, many days before the period of exclusion. 

 These groups of the eggs of the Calamary are often 

 seen swimming on the surface, and are occasionally 

 thrown on shore; the whole groupe sometimes 

 measures more than a foot in diameter, and from 

 its general appearance, unless closely inspected, 

 is often mistaken for a species of Medusa or Sea- 

 Blubber. 



