152 CUTTLE-FISH. 



can exist for long periods without food, as some 

 kinds of snails have been known to live for years 

 in a quiet state, without eating, and almost with- 

 out air. 



Some of these animals are provided with feel- 

 ers, or tentacula, which generally surround 

 the mouth, and sometimes with a foot for motion. 

 The tentacula can be moved about in all direc- 

 tions, and serve the same purpose as the antennae 

 of insects. The cuttle-fish has eight of them, 

 with which it catches its prey, or defends itself : 

 in this singular creature they are very strong, 

 and of considerable length, and what is very 

 curious, they are furnished with numerous little 

 cups or suckers along their inside, which enable 

 them to cling fast to anybody they are applied to. 



The cuttle-fish grows to a great size, and be- 

 comes very powerful. It generally Ifes hid in 

 holes in the rock, with its arms stretched out in 

 all directions, ready to seize any thing that may 

 pass its den. It has also a strong pair of jaws, a 

 beak like a parrot, and is covered with a tough 

 coarse skin, looking like leather. Another singu- 

 lar thing about the animal is, that it possesses a 

 bladder filled with a black fluid, which it can throw 

 out at pleasure, and thus hide itself. This fluid, 

 when dried, forms a valuable colour, and is much 

 used by artists. One kind of cuttle-fish is very 

 common on our coasts, and a particular bony sub- 

 stance, found in its body, is largely used for mak- 

 ing tooth-powder. 



