CEPHALOPODA. 207 



rocks, suddenly sprang upon Mr. Beale's arm, (which 

 he had previously bared to the shoulder for the pur- 

 pose of thrusting it into holes in the rocks after 

 shells,) and clung to it by means of its suckers with 

 great power, endeavouring to get its beak, which 

 could now be seen between the roots of its arms, 

 in a position to bite. A sensation of horror per- 

 vaded his whole frame, when he found that this 

 monstrous animal had fixed itself so firmly on his 

 arm. He describes its cold slimy grasp as extremely 

 sickening ; and he loudly called to the captain, who 

 was similarly engaged at some distance, to come and 

 release him from his disgusting assailant. The cap- 

 tain quickly came ; and taking him down to the 

 boat, during which time Mr. Beale was employed 

 in keeping the beak of the Octopus away from his 

 hand, soon released him by destroying his tormentor 

 with the boat-knife, when he disengaged it by por- 

 tions at a time. This Cephalopod measured across 

 its expanded arms about four feet, while its body 

 was not bigger than a man's fist. The species is 

 usually called by the whalers the Rock Squid.* 



The common Poulpe (0. Vulgaris) of our own 

 shores, bears upon each of its long arms a hundred 

 and twenty pairs of suckers, making the astonishing 

 aggregate of nearly two thousand in all. Their ap- 

 plication to the human skin, is said to cause inflamma- 

 tion and subsequent pain. It has the reputation of 

 being occasionally highly luminous ; Linnaeus quotes 

 Bartholinus, who says of one, that it shone so, " that 

 * Hist, of the Sperm Whale. 



