210 MOLLUSCA. 



general appearance, unless closely inspected, is often 

 mistaken for a species of Medusa, or Sea Blubber." 91 

 Though the Cephalopoda are voracious destroyers 

 of fishes, it appears that some species at least form 

 part of the natural food of fishes. The Squid of the 

 coast of Newfoundland, a species of Loligo, is very 

 extensively used as bait for the Cod-fisheries, and is 

 more successful in its season than any other. To 

 procure the Squid, men go out in boats in July and 

 August to a certain part of the harbour, where the 

 animal is always more abundant than at any other 

 spot; they are provided with Squid-jiggers, a formid- 

 able apparatus consisting of about a dozen hooks, three 

 inches long, so soldered together in the shank, that the 

 points radiate in all directions. These are not baited, 

 but dropped into the water, one line in each hand, 

 and are jerked up and down with an uniform motion. 

 To see from the shore a line of boats, with a hun- 

 dred and fifty men standing side by side, all with 

 their elbows see-sawing together, is quite amusing. 

 The animals are hooked of course in any part of the 

 body, and when drawn up from the water, their first 

 impulse is to eject their copious stream of ink. This 

 is done in about a quarter of a minute after leaving 

 the water, and the fishermen, from long habit, are 

 sufficiently expert to take them from the jigger, and 

 throw them into the boat before they perform this 

 action, or to hold them in such a manner, that the 

 funnel shall point outward, and the liquor be dis- 

 charged into the sea. A slight warning is given, 

 * Shaw, Zool. Lect. ii. p. 1 33. 



