MOLLUSCA. 139 



has been so wonderfully preserved that the material 

 which, myriads of years ago, might have served the 

 animal to conceal itself from his enemies, still yields 

 the colour with which its image may be drawn." 



After this, my discovery that the fossil Teredo of 

 the Brussels Tertiary formations have a powerful 

 odour of the sea, when freshly taken from the earth 

 and broken, is less astonishing.* 



Certain Cephalopoda swim or dart about more or 

 less swiftly in the water, and have even been seen 

 to leap out of the sea like the flying-fish. This is 

 observed with certain species of Loligo, or " Pen- 

 fish." 



Octopus vulgaris (Sepia octopodia, L.) has eight 

 tentacles, furnished with double rows of suckers. 

 It is common enough in the European seas, and in 

 summer destroys great numbers of lobsters on the 

 coasts of France. It is from this species that the 

 brown colour called ' ' Sepia" was formerly extracted. 

 It is known in English as the Eight- armed Cuttle or 

 Poulp, and when it attaches itself to the arms or 

 legs of a bather is very difficult to get rid of, 

 though they are generally timid creatures, and only 

 fight as a last resource. 



The common Cuttlefish (Sepia offidnalis), whose 

 shell or bone is often thrown upon our coasts by 

 the waves, is probably well known to our readers. 

 * " Comptes Eendus of the Acad. des Sc.," Paris, July, 1856. 



