i^ THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



suckers, by which it fixes itself to its prey, or to a rock, 

 or it can swim with them, or walk on them with its head 

 downwards. The specimen here engraved (Fig. 102) is 

 the Cuttle-fish, which, although it has no shell, but is 

 contained in a skin, carries inside a hard mass, called 

 "cuttle-bone;" this however, is not bone, but seems like 

 a portion of an internal shell. You can easily obtain one 

 at a druggist's shop, and examine it for yourself, and you 

 will find it useful too, for it is a natural ink-eraser, and 

 serves to clean the edges of your drawings, &c. These 

 animals possess an internal bag containing a dark fluid, 

 which, when irritated or pursued, they empty into the 

 water, so as to be entirely hidden from its enemies. 

 They are caught in numbers on the coast of the Medi- 

 terranean, and the bag extracted ; the inky fluid, after 

 undergoing preparation, becomes the valuable colour 

 known as Sepia. According to Professor Forbes, " these 

 mollusks still constitute, as in ancient times, a valuable 

 part of the food of the poor, by whom they are mostly 

 used. One of the most striking spectacles at night on 

 the coast of the vEgean, is to see the numerous torches 

 glancing along the shores, and reflected by the still and 

 clear sea, borne by poor fishermen, paddling as silently 

 as possible over the rocky shallows in search of Cuttle- 

 fish." These animals not only escape by very rapid swim- 

 ming, or rather darting through the waters, but elude 

 observation by a chameleon-like power of changing colour. 

 The Paper-Nautilus and the Pearly- Nautilus, which 

 inhabit such beautiful many-chambered shells, belong 

 to the Cephalopoda. 



The second group of the Mollusca is called Ptero- 

 poda,* or wing-footed ; these are but small animals, 

 contained in a very thin and delicate shell. The wing- 



Pteron, a wing ; pom, a foot. 



