CLASS I. CEPHALOPODA: ORDER 1. DIBR ANCHI AT A. 499 



arm, and clung to it by means of its suckers with great power, endeavoring to get its beak, 

 which could now be seen between the roots of its arms, in a position to bite. A sensation 

 of horror pervaded his whole frame, when he found that this hideous animal had fixed itself 

 so firmly on his arm. Its cold, slimy grasp was extremely sickening; and he loudly called to 

 the captain, who was at some distance, to come and release him from his disgusting assailant. 

 The captain 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 destroy- 

 ing his tormentor with the boat-knife, which he accomplished by cutting away portions at a time. 

 There are several other species of this genus ; among them is the 0. moschatus, found in the 

 Mediterranean, and having a strong musky smell. The species of the genus Eledone, have only 

 a single row of suckers on each arm. Li these the head and body are even shorter and rounder 

 than in the 0. vulgaris. 



THE DECAPODA. 



These animals resemble the preceding, but instead of eight arms or tentacles, they have ten, 

 two of them usually much longer than the others ; they are retractile, of a cylindrical form, 

 and provided with suckers at the extremity. Some are furnished with an internal bony support, 

 and some have a chambered shell. 



Genus SEPIA: Sepia. — This includes the Common European Cuttle-Fish, S. officinal/ s,vfhich 



is twelve to eighteen inches long; the skin smooth, whitish, 

 and spotted with brown and purple ; it has an internal support 

 of a calcareous nature, and formed in laminae ; this is the well- 

 known ctittle-Jish bone, used for cage-birds, and also for mak- 

 ing pounce ; when reduced to powder, it is employed as a mould 

 for fine castings. The eyes of this species are strong and hard, 

 and when extracted, of a brilliant pearly 

 tint ; in some parts of Southern Europe, they 

 are worn as necklaces instead of pearls. It 

 is exceedingly fierce and voracious, and 

 from its depredations on the fishes inclosed 

 in floating nets, is a source of great annoy- 

 ance and serious loss to the fishermen. 

 From its wariness and agility, however, it 

 is difficult of capture. A writer on this 

 subject says: " We well remember in our 

 youth, going far out with an old fisher- 

 man 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 en- 

 tangled was great ; but to the great dis- 

 comfiture of the fisherman, who was elo- 

 quent on the occasion, almost every other 

 fish was locked in the embraces of a cuttle- 

 fish, plying his parrot-like mandibles to some purpose. The fisherman, who seemed to regard 

 these unbidden guests as an incarnation of all evil, carried a capacious landing-net, but so quick 

 was the sight of these Cephalopods, so ready were they in letting go, and agile in darting back 

 and sideways, clear of the net, that though the greedy creatures held on to the last moment, the 

 fisherman did not secure above three out of the crowds that had spoiled his haul." 



This species is common on the coasts of Europe, and is abundant around the British shores. 

 There are several other species distributed in various seas. 



Genus LOLIGO : Xo%o.— This includes several species, called Squids, and also Calamaries, 

 from the shape of the bony plate of the back, which resembles a quill-pen, calamus in Latin, and 



THE COMMON CUTTLE-FISH. 



BONE OP THE COTTLE-FISH. 



