332 SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 



" I do not in the least insist on this conjecture being true," he writes, 

 " but willingly submit my suppositions in this and every other dubious 

 matter to the judgment of those who are better experienced. If I was 

 an admirer of uncertain reports and fabulous stories, I might here add 

 much more concerning this and other Norwegian sea-monsters, whose 

 existence I will not take upon me to deny, but do not chuse, by a 

 mixture of uncertain relations, to make such account appear doubtful 

 as I myself believe to be true and well attested. I shall, therefore, 

 quit the subject here, and leave it to future writers on this plan to 

 complete what I have imperfectly sketched out, by further experience, 

 which is always the. best instructor." 



It is easy to recognise in Pontoppidan's description of 

 the Kraken, the form and habits of one of the " Cuttle- 

 fishes," so-called. The appearance of its numerous arms, 

 with which it gathers in its food, and which grow thicker 

 and thicker as they rise above the surface, is just what 

 would take place in the case of one of the pelagic species 

 of these mollusks raising its head out of the sea. The 

 rendering of the water turbid and thick by the emission of 

 a substance which the narrator supposed to be faecal 

 matter, is exactly that which occurs when a cuttle dis- 

 charges the contents of the remarkable organ known as 

 its ink-bag ; and the strong and peculiar scent mentioned 

 as appertaining to it, is actually characteristic of its inky 

 secretion. The musky odour referred to is more percep- 

 tible in some species than in others. In one of the Octo- 

 pods (Eledone moschatus}, it is so strong, that the specific 

 name of the animal is derived from it. 



The ancient Greeks and Romans, v/ho were well ac- 

 quainted with the various kinds of cuttles, and regarded 

 them all as excellent food, and even as delicacies of the 

 table, applied the word "polypus" especially to the 

 octopus. But Pontoppidan evidently uses it as descriptive 

 of all the cephalopods. It must not be forgotten, however, 



