L I d It A 1 1 i 



I'M V KirSITV OK 



CALIFORNIA. 



II AlilTS OF THE CEPHALOPODA. 65 



two minutes after it had been captured by that animal, was 

 already dead, although apparently uninjured either externally or 

 internally. 



The debris of the victims of the Poulpe, such as shells, cara- 

 paces of crustaceans, etc.. accumulates in front of his retreat, 

 which it serves to cover. The animal seizes portions of these 

 by the suckers towards the base of his arms, and with them 

 shields his body, only revealing; the watchful eyes the arms 

 being; thrown back on each side of his body. 



A Poulpe may eal several shells and a crab daily, but if his 

 supply fails, he will support an abstinence of some days. 



The epidermis of the cups renews itself unceasingly, and is 

 detached in entirety above all after a meal. The water is filled 

 with little transparent bodies in form like umbrellas, of which 

 the disks are rayed these are the rejected skins. 



The slow movements of the Poulpe are very strange ; it ele- 

 vales its body and walks along 1 on the recurved points of its 

 arms, and without the assistance of its siphon. But in a large 

 basin the Poulpe swims readily and without the awkwardness 

 which I before remarked of its movements in an aquarium. Its 

 rapid swimming is always retrograde; its body and arms main- 

 tain a horizontal position, the latter remaining absolutely passive ; 

 the siphon alone being used. 



When the Poulpe swims, its color is a little different from that 

 which it possesses when in repose, and I have frequently re- 

 marked a colored longitudinal ray starting from behind the eyes. 



I have been a witness only once to the forward swimming of a 

 Poulpe ; it progressed very slowly, in truth. The arms, divided 

 into two symmetrical bundles, were turned back on the body. 

 This position is very unfavorable to swimming; the resistance of 

 the water is much greater, and one can readily comprehend that 

 the animal would use it rarely. 



The- number of respirations is variable, but much inferior to 

 that, of the Sepias: it averages from thirty to fifty in a minute. 

 It is probable that in the sea the Poulpe respires much more 

 slowly. In the aquarium respiration is accelerated by the vitia- 

 tion of the water.* 



* Fischer, Ann. Set. Nat., 5 ser., viii, 97-104, 1867, 



