214 MOLLUSCA. 



ter of black grapes, being of about the same size, 

 black, oval, but sharp at the end, and united to each 

 other in bunches by means of footstalks. The 

 young are perfectly formed on their exclusion. The 

 ink is said to be of a more intense blackness than 

 that of other genera, and its bag is situated deep in 

 the body. 



The common Cuttle, (S. Officinalis,) numerous on 

 our coasts, is about a foot long in the body ; smooth 

 and whitish, with red dots, sometimes purple. The 

 eye of this species is very strong and hard, and when 

 extracted is of a brilliant pearly tint ; in some parts 

 of Southern Europe, they are worn in necklaces in- 

 stead of pearls. It is exceedingly fierce and vora- 

 cious, and from its depredations on the fishes en- 

 closed in floating nets, is a source of great annoy- 

 ance and serious loss to the fisherman. From its 

 wariness and agility, however, it is difficult of cap- 

 ture. The author of the article "CEPHALOPODA," 

 in the Penny Cyclopaedia, observes, " We well 

 remember in our youth, going far out with an old 

 fisherman of Dawlish, to visit his floating nets, 

 which he had laid for the Pilchards. As we looked 

 down into the clear blue water, we could see that 

 the number of fish entangled was great ; but to 

 the great discomfiture of the fisherman, who was 

 eloquent on the occasion, almost every other fish 

 was locked in the embraces of a Cuttle-fish, ply- 

 ing his parrot-like mandibles to some purpose. The 

 fisherman, who seemed to regard these unbidden 

 guests as an incarnation of all evil, carried a capa- 



