THE CUTTLE 17 



All these arms are set with rows of round 

 suckers, which are so strong that if even a small 

 cuttle catches hold of you, it will not be very 

 easy to make him let go. So if you do happen 

 to find a cuttle in a rock-pool it will be better to 

 watch him in the water, without attempting to 

 catch him. 



Down in the middle of all these branching arms, 

 just where they spring from the head, are two 

 very curious organs. The first of these is the 

 beak, which is very strong, very sharp, and *: 

 good deal hooked. In fact, it is rather like that 

 of a parrot. The other consists of two tubes 

 which run downwards into the head, lying side 

 by side together like the barrels of a double- 

 barrelled gun. 



These tubes are called the " siphon," and they 

 are used for three purposes. 



First of all, they are used for breathing. The 

 cuttle breathes water by means of gills, like those 

 of fishes, which lie inside the head ; and the 

 water passes down to them through one of the 

 siphon tubes, and then goes out again through 

 the other. 



Next, they are used for swimming. When a 

 cuttle wants to swim it gathers all its arms 

 together in front of its head, fills both its siphon 

 tubes with water, and then squirts their contents 

 out again as hard as it can. The result is that 

 two jets of water come rushing out of its head 



