GIGANTIC CEPHALOPODS. 83 



their length, went' completely over and beyond it. Seizing his 

 hatchet with n. desperate effort, one of the men succeeded in 

 severing those limbs with a single well-delivered blow; and the 

 creature finding itself worsted, immediately disappeared beneath 

 the wafers, leaving in the boat its amputated members as a 

 trophy of the terrible encounter. One of the arms was unfortu- 

 nately destroyed before its value was known ; but the other, 

 when brought to St. John's and examined by the Rev. M. 

 Harvey, was found to measure no less than 19 feet; and the 

 fisherman who acted as surgeon declares there must haA T c been at 

 least feet more of this arm left attached to the monster's 

 body. This separated member is described by Mr. Harvey MS 

 being livid in color and pointed at its extremity, where alone it 

 is covered witli rows of cartilaginous horny suckers, each about 

 the si/e of a quarter-dollar. Unfortunately, the fishermen were 

 too much frightened during the short time the adventure lasted 

 to form a reliable opinion of the length of the animal's body; 

 under the influence of terror they set it down at 40 feet, an 

 estimate which, notwithstanding the extraordinary dimensions of 

 the arm secured, must be received as a considerable exaggeration.* 



Rev. Mr. (iabriel states that in the winter of 1,870-71 two 

 cuttle-fish were stranded on the 1 teach near Lamalein, south 

 eoasi, of Newfoundland, which measured respectively 40 and 47 

 feet. 



Mr. Murray refers also to a specimen caught at Logia Hay, 

 near St. John's, \ewfoiindland, November, 1 873, which measured 

 as follows: Body, 7 feet long; circumference, 5 feet; tail, fan- 

 shaped, pointed at middle extremity, 2 feet; large arms, (', to 7 

 foet long, and 7 to !) inches circumference, covered on the lower 

 surface with about 100 denticulated cups; tentacles, 24 feet long 

 and 3 inches circumference, with the clubs armed with about 

 eighty denticulated suckers. 



A very respectable person informs me that he has seen many 

 of these gigantic squids upon the coast of Labrador; and that 

 he measured the body of one SO feet from beak to tail, lie also 

 states that a certain Mr. Haddon, a school inspector of this place 



: W.S. Kent, Zonl, Proc,., 178, 1874. Other accounts of this animal 

 maybe found in Am. JV///v/?v//M, viii, 120, 1874; Proc. Boat. Soc. N. H., 

 xvi', 101, 1878. 



