SEPIA OFFICINALIS. 



coast, from the South of England to the Zetland isles. It is 

 said that the cuttle-fish is considered a luxury by all classes 

 of the Sandwich-Islanders, and that when fresh and well 

 cooked it is excellent, being in consistence and flavor not un- 

 like the flesh of a lobster's claw. 



CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES. 



The substance called Os SEPIJE, or Cattle-fish bone, is an 

 oval or oblong calcareous bone (sometimes termed a shell) de- 

 posited in the mantle of the Sepia officinalis. It has a cellular 

 texture, and is lighter than water, of a white color, a feeble 

 odor of sea-plants, and a saline taste. It contains, according 

 to John, from 80 to 85 per cent, of carbonate of lime, besides 

 animal matter, a little common salt, and traces of magnesia. 

 Reduced by levigation and elutriation to a fine powder, it 

 may be given as an antacid, like chalk or oystei-shell. It is 

 sometimes used as an ingredient of tooth-powders. Small 

 pieces of it are often put into bird-cages, that the birds may 

 rub their* bills against them, and the powder is employed for 

 polishing. A powder is also made from it called pounce^ to 

 prevent ink from spreading upon paper after erasures. It has 

 been supposed that the celebrated paint so universally known 

 as Indian Ink is made by the Chinese from the inky fluid of 

 some animal of this kind. 



Another useful product of the cuttle-fish is the blackish- 

 brown fluid ejected by the animal. This is dried and used 

 in the preparation of the water-color called SEPIA. That this 

 juice was used as ink by the ancients, is well known. 



" Tune qucritor, crassus calamo quod pendeat humor, 

 Nigra quod infusa vanescat sepia lympha ; 

 Dilutas queritur geminet quod fistula guttas." Pers. Sat. III. 



Compare Pliny (Nat. Hist. Lib. II. cap. 29), where he says 

 that it was the property of this fish, when it was inclosed by 

 a net, to shed a black juice, which so darkened the water that 

 the fishermen could not see it. It is insoluble in water, but 

 is extremely diffusible through it, and is very slowly deposited. 

 When prepared with caustic ley, it forms a beautiful brown 

 color, with a fine grain, and has given name to a species of 

 drawing now extensively cultivated for landscapes and other 

 branches of the fine arts. The honor of the invention of the 

 sepic drawing is due to Professor Seidelmann, of Dresden, 

 who discovered it at Rome in 1777. 



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