482 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



spring. They are rarely seen in the Channel in winter ; but with the 

 vernal sun they appear in large shoals. What is the mechanism by 

 which these animals are moved ? When the cuttle-fish wishes to 

 swim rapidly and backwards, it advances in the water by means of 

 the funnel which ejects the ambient liquid. When they wish to 

 approach a prey slowly in order to seize it, they swim by the aid of 

 their fins and arms. 



The sepi^ are flesh-eaters, and tolerably voracious. They feed 

 upon fishes, molluscs, and crustaceans. They are also true aquatic 

 brigands, who kill, not to feed themselves, but for the sake of killing ; 

 and Nature, by a just equilibrium, applies to them the lex talionis. 

 They fall victims, in their turn, to the vengeful jaws of the porpoises 

 and dolphins. Such is the terrible law of Nature : some must die 

 that others may live. Michelet gives us a glimpse of the manner 

 in which the dolphins dispose of the cuttle-fish in his " Livre de 

 la Mer." " These lords of the ocean," he says, " are so delicate 

 in their tastes that they eat only the head and arms, which are 

 both tender and easy of digestion. They reject the hard parts, and 

 especially the after-part of ihe body. The coast at Royan, for 

 example, is covered with thousands of these mutilated cuttle-fish. 

 The porpoises take most incredible bounds, at first to frighten them, 

 and afterwards to run them down ; in short, after their feast they 

 give themselves up to gymnastics." 



In the spring the sepiae deposit their eggs, but without abandon- 

 ing them. On the contrary, they exhibit a truly maternal care, 

 taking much trouble to attach them to some submarine body, in 

 which position the temperature of the water serves to hatch the eggs. 

 Sepia officinalis^ for example, chooses, at the moment of laying, a 

 stem of Fucus^ or of Gorgojiia, or some other solid submarine body 

 not less in diameter than the little finger, and there it firmly 

 attaches its eggs, which are pear-shaped, that is, pointed at one 

 extremity, while a long lafiiere of a gelatinous nature, flat and black 

 in appearance, with which they are provided, surrounds the solid 

 body like a ring. Each female lays and attaches in this manner 

 from twenty to thirty eggs, which are clustered together somewhat 

 like a bunch of fine black grapes (Fig. 326). About a month after 

 this the eggs are hatched. 



The colours of Sepia officinalis vary considerably ; but in general 

 it may be remarked that the males are ornamented with deeper 

 colours than the females. Transverse bands of a blackish brown 

 furrow their backs, and seem to take from their breadth. Outside 

 of these bands are small spots of a vivid white ; very near the edge 



