354 SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 



interesting work a Japanese mode of fishing for cuttles is 

 delineated. A man in a boat is tossing crabs, one at a 

 time, into the sea, and when a cuttle rises at the bait he 

 spears it with a trident and tosses it into the boat. 



The octopus, therefore, though not abundant on our own 

 coasts, is found in every sea in the temperate zone ; and in 

 so far that it secretes an ink with which it can render 

 the water turbid, and has many radiating arms with which 

 it can seize and drown a man, it possesses certain attri- 

 butes of the Kraken : but we have no authentic knowledge 

 of its ever attaining to greater dimensions than I have 

 stated, nor does it bask on the surface of the sea. It is not 

 amongst the Octopidcz therefore that we must look for a 

 solution of the mystery. 



The basking condition is fulfilled by the Sepia ; and its 

 flattened back, supported and rendered hard and firm to 

 the touch by the calcareous sepiostaire beneath the skin, is 

 broader in proportion than that of the octopus or the squid. 

 Thus Sepia might pass as a microscopic miniature of the 

 great Scandinavian monster. But it lacks the character of 

 size. We have no reason to believe that any true Sepia 

 exists, as the family is now understood, that has a body 

 more than eighteen inches long. If it were otherwise it 

 would be more likely to be known of this family than of its 

 relatives, for its lightly constructed and well known " cuttle- 

 bone " would float on the surface for many weeks after the 

 death of its owner, and large specimens of it would be seen 

 and recognised from passing ships. 



As we can find no species of the Octopida or Sepiidc? 

 which can furnish a pretext for the stories told of the 

 Kraken, we must try to ascertain how far a similitude to it 

 may be traced in the third family we have discussed, the 

 Teuthida. 



