'HI (iKlA.NTir CEPH7ALOPOD8. 



mess? In favor of the first hypothesis, it may be said that: 



I. In in'tirlij (i,ll the u'reat divisions of the cephalopods. o-iirantic 

 individuals have been observed ; 11. Monstrous specimens ol' 

 Ammonites, Nautilus, etc., are found amon^ the fossil cephalo- 

 pods. also; J1I. That the rarit\ itself of I he occurrence of these 

 lai'ii'c individuals would lie presumptive evidence of 1 he almornial 

 development of a species usualh much smaller; for example, 

 the liTeat L. Itoinjeri is perhaps the same species as cephalopoda 

 seen by the (ishennen of the Canaries, and which do not exceed 

 about <> feet. On the other hand, it may be supposed: I. 'Thai 

 the rarity of these immense animals is due io their habits as 

 well as their sixc. that they fre<|iieni very Lireat depths, ami that 

 we consequently only encounter feeble or half-dead individuals ; 



II. That the si/e of some of them is so out of proportion with 

 the ordinary sixe of related species, that it is wiser to consider 

 them distinct. Messrs. Cross*- and Fisher, in concluding the 

 observations of which the above is a succinct resume, express 

 a guarded preference for the first hypothesis.- 1 -' 



Fabulous Cephalopoda* We have already alluded to Henys 

 Mont fort 's " Colossal Ton lite. 11 which, cut wining its anus about 

 the masts ol' a ship, nearly caused the destruction of the vessel. 



Amonir the extraordinary mistakes or inventions with which 

 the dawn of natural history has been encumbered, one of the 

 most remarkable is the six-armed poiilpe or *SV /*/</ /n'.rti/nnliti of 

 Molina, in the " Hist. Nat. del Chili." l7S-_>. It was adopted by 

 (imelin under the name of tfc/n'a //r./v/ymx. and by IJose. Turlon 

 and Ocken; and Denys Mont fort has composed ami published 

 an imaginary figure of ihis strange beast in accordance with 

 Molina's description. Fi'russae (Ann. ti<: \nf. Z<><>L. \\ . 11:;. 

 IS. ,.")) has ^iven a history of this animal, in which he shows that 

 the Spectre, an ort hop! erous insect, is the original of Ihis 

 "species;" which, in addition to its six arms, possessed a six- 

 jointed body. Montfort's figure is reproduced in our frontis- 

 piece, in connection with that of the "colossal poulpe" with 

 which his fervid imagination has enriched science. 



* Jour, de Conch., 3d ser., ii, IW, ls5t>. 



