II LBITfl 01 NIK . I. I'll M.ol-on \. 



Mil clielllN , nr M noise, CaUSeti M milch accelcrah'd. jerk\ Ulld 



ide lll<>\ einelit. To ellect t Ills t lit- :i ni 111:1 1 -pl> iin- 



:iiid suddenly reunite- them ; \vhils! the tins, reduced t< inact ion. 

 :nv folded upon tin- ventral face of I la- body, the pOBterioi 



V\l frinil \ of one of them co\ eriliLi- Mia! of ,he other. 



This accelerated action is t hrii due to t he im>\ einent s of the 



arms, which cause :i series of extremel} rapid progressions, in 

 which, perhaps, the funnel as-j-ts l>\ its ilisrli:rii-rs. it ierro- 



iicoiis lo ri-^rinl !he rniuirl. :is >oinc !:a\c done, as the principal 

 or onl\ >\\immiiio or^in <t' the ( Vphalopods. 



< 'apt nrinu,-. l>\ the seine, two Sfpias of somewhat uneipial ^i/.e. 

 I was surprised to lind tlieir arms interlaced and their niandiMe^ 

 apparently in contact. They were M-parated and placed in a 

 luieket of waier. when they iimnedia! cly rouined tlieir |>ositioii 

 in contact ; and this was u^ain I'encwcd. an hour al'terward>. in 

 one of the l>asins ol' t he a*pia riuin. The larger of t he pair t hrew 

 itself upon ihe smaller ; the first pair of a rins were raised, the 

 fouri h pair depressed, the others interlaced ; and the t wo animals 

 einliraced. mouth to mouth, for aloin live minutes. Durintr this 

 contact the Sepias maintained themselves in the water with 

 scarcely a movement. Their eyes, usually narrowly contracted. 

 I'ecame circular, largely dilated, and kept a fixed stare; with the 

 pupil jet Mack and brilliant. When the animals are di^enpm'ed. 

 they advance slowly; the male is followed by the female, which 

 swims above him : she seemed to be unable to abandon him, and 

 lets fall her fourth pairot'arms upon his back. The^exuul exci- 

 tation seemed to endure longer with the female t lian wit h the 

 male, for the dilatation of her eyes still continued, whilst his had 

 reMimed their usual form. 



Tin- distinction of the sexes, ordinarily, appears impossible 

 without dissection: it is only prior to ovipositioii that the 

 females ma\ be known by t he amplit ude of the abdomen. The 

 feinale->. \\heii adub. are about a third larger than the only male 

 that I have seen. and I believe that i he latter an- more ran- than 

 the females; a fact observed by Needham in the < 'alamarie-. al-o. 



This description corresponds with t he oli-er\ at ion- recorded 



by the Father of Natural History, . \risiotle, and recalU the 



passage of Opplan, who echoes the belief of his time- in the pa-- 



: "The Sepias ate unhappy in their love*. The fishermen 



