THE INK-BAG OF THE CUTTLE. 179 



prepared from lamp-black. A great deal of rubbish of this kind is probably sold ; but I have recently 

 seen at Messrs. Newman's, the well-known artists' colourrnen, in Soho Square, thousands of ink-bags 

 of Cuttles in the raw state ready to be manufactured into ' s-ipia.' Tlie fishermen of some of our 

 southern counties, when cleaning Cuttles and Squids for bait, habitually dry the ink-bags and their 

 contents, and preserve them till Messrs. Newman's agent visits the district and collects them. If the 

 Newfoundland fishermen, when 'Squid-jigging,' would take the trouble to preserve the .ink-bags, 

 they would find a ready sale for them, and might make of them a profitable perquisite. The beautiful 

 drawings with which Cuvier illustrated his ' Anatomy of the Mollusca ' were executed with the ink 

 which he had collected whilst dissecting many specimens of Cephalopoda ; and it is well known that 

 fossil Cuttle-fishes have been found with the ink-bag perfect, and that from its contents excellent 

 'sepia' has been obtained." (Henry Lee.) 



" The eggs of the various families of Cephalopoda differ greatly from each other. Those of the 

 Cuttle (Sepia] are like black grapes, each having a flexible stalk, looking and feeling like india-rubber. 

 The mother takes a turn with this stalk round the stem of the twig or seaweed to which she wishes 

 to attach the egg ; the india-rubber-like material is soft and sticky when first laid, and so, instead of 

 splicing the loop, she brings the end round to the base of the stalk, close to the egg, and cements or 

 welds it there into a solid ring. Thus the eggs are attached one by one. Sometimes the stalk of one 

 is fastened round that of another, and occasionally the process is repeated until the whole mass is made 

 up in this way, without any central stem. The work is as well and neatly done as if skilled hands 

 had been employed on "it, but how the mother Cuttle-fish effects it I believe no one knows. I hope 

 we may some day have opportunities of watching her. 



" Aristotle wrote that the Sepia fastens her eggs near land upon seaweeds, reeds, and other bodies 

 which may be found on the shore, and even around sticks and faggots placed there for the purpose of 

 entrapping her. ' She does not lay them all at once,' he says, ' bxit at several intervals, the operation 

 lasting fifteen days ; and after the oviposit is completed she sheds her ink upon them, which turns 

 them from white to black, and causes them to increase in bulk.' He also avers that she hatches them 

 in the place where she has deposited them, and is often to be seen with her body resting on the 

 ground and covering them. I do not think that the dark hue of the membranous integuments of the 

 eggs, and of their pedicle, or foot-stalk, is in any way attributable to their being stained by the 

 animal's inky secretion, although I have frequently seen masses of these eggs, the integuments of 

 which were not black, but perfectly colourless and pellucid. That the mother broods over them, ami 

 protects them till they are hatched, is quite in accordance with the observed habits of the Octopus,, 

 and is therefore not improbable. But, as with the Octopus, I am satisfied that no incubation takes place. 



" At intervals, for many years past, I have found the eggs of the Sepia and Loligo in early stages: 

 of their development, and have hatched them out, without any assistance from their parent, by merely 

 suspending them in sea-water in a tank or tub, and changing the water frequently. The same also 

 has been frequently done in the Brighton Aquarium. This having been proved and demonstrated by 

 actual experiment, it is unnecessary to fortify facts by reasoning. But I have seen a branch of a 

 tree or shrub, measuring more than two feet in height from the base of the broken stem to the upper 

 part of its branches, and fourteen inches from side to side across the tips of the twigs, covered with 

 the eggs of Sepia in single rows along them. I cannot, of coui-se, be certain that these were all laid by 

 one female, but it is evident that one could not cover so great an area continuously as an incubator, 

 and that, if it were possible, she would subject herself to unnecessary toil in so doing, seeing that they 

 were all hatched in a tank, after having been for about ten days deprived of maternal care. 



" The young Sepia, when born, is much larger than a baby Octopus or Squid. It is of about the 

 size of a rather small horse-bean. When about half developed, the little animal has the head and eyes 

 disproportionately large, but gradually acquires a greater resemblance to its parent. If the black in- 

 tegument be removed, as one would skin a grape, it may be seen moving in the fluid which fills the 

 egg. Cut down to the little living grape-stone under water, and away it will swim, with all its wits 

 about it, and in possession of all its faculties, with as much facility and self-possession as if it had con- 

 siderable knowledge of the world. It sees and avoids every obstacle, and if you take it out of the 

 water in your hand, the precocious little creature, not a minute old, and not sufficiently matured to 

 leave the egg naturally, will spurt its ink all over your fingers. You may tame an old Cuttle-fish. 



