THE KRAKEN. 347 



vicinity of the shore, and for comparatively shallow water. 

 It there attaches its grape-like eggs to some convenient 

 stone or growing alga, and delights occasionally to sink to 

 the bottom, and there to rest half covered by the sand, 

 a habit for which the form of its body is well adapted. 

 But the calamaries they of the horny pen prefer the 

 wide waters of the open ocean ; and although they, too, 

 especially the smaller species, are common upon the coasts, 

 they are frequently met with far out at sea, and away from 

 any land. The elongated and almost arrow-like shape 

 of their bodies enables them to glide through the water 

 with great rapidity, and the momentum imparted by a 

 vigorous out-rush from their syphon-tube is sometimes so 

 great that when the opposite pressure thus produced is so 

 exerted as to cause them to take an upward direction they 

 leap out of the water to so great a height as to fall on the 

 decks of ships ; and are, therefore, called by sailors, 

 " flying squids." Their spawn is very different from that 

 of either octopus, or sepia. It consists of dozens of semi- 

 transparent, gelatinous, slender, cylindrical sheaths, about 

 four or five inches long, each containing many ova imbedded 

 in it (making a total number of about 40,000 embryos), all 

 springing from a common centre and resembling a mop 

 without a handle. I have never seen any of these " sea- 

 mops " attached to anything, and the pelagic habits of the 

 calamaries render it probable that they are left floating on 

 the surface of the sea. 



Having made ourselves acquainted with the structure 

 and habits of these three divisions of the eight-footed and 

 ten-footed mollusks, let us take evidence as to the size to 

 which they are respectively known to attain, and the degree 

 in which they may be regarded as dangerous to man. 



An octopus from our own coasts having arms two feet in 



