256 Miscellaneous. 



vol. vii. p. 91, Feb. 1873, all the facts that have been published in 

 regard to this individual. But its jaws have since been sent to the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and are now in my hands to be described 

 and figured. They were thought by Professor Steenstrup, who saw 

 a photograph of them, to belong to his Arcluteuthis monachus, which 

 inhabits the northern coasts of Europe, but is still very imperfectly 

 known. The horny jaw or beak from this specimen is thick and 

 strong, nearly black ; it is acute at the apex, with a decided notch 

 or angle on the inside, about '75 of an inch from the point ; and 

 beyond the notch is a large prominent angular lobe. The body of 

 the specimen from which this jaw was taken is stated to have 

 measured 15 feet in length and 4 feet 8 inches in circumference. 

 The arms were mutilated ; but the portions remaining were estimated 

 to be 9 or 10 feet long, and 22 inches in circumference, two being 

 shorter than the rest. It was estimated to weigh 2000 poiinds. 



2. A large individual attacked two men, who were in a small 

 boat, in Conception Bay ; and two of the arms which it threw across 

 the boat were cut off with a hatchet and brought ashore. FuU ac- 

 counts of this adventure, written by 'Mr. M. Harvey, have been 

 published in many of the newspapers*. One of the severed arms, 

 or a part of it, was preserved in the museum at St. John's ; and a pho- 

 tograph of it is now before me. This fragment represents the distal 

 half of one of the long tentacular arms, with its expanded terminal 

 portion covered with suckers, 24 of which are larger, in two rows, 

 with the border not serrate, but 125 inch in diameter ; the others 

 are smaller, very numerous, with the edge supported by a serrated 

 calcareous ring. The part of the arm preserved measured 19 feet in 

 length, and 3-5 inches in circumference, but wider, " like an oar," 

 and G inches in circumference, near the end where the suckers are 

 situated ; but its length, when entire, was estimated at 42 feett. 

 The other arm was destroyed, and no description was made; but it 

 was said to have been 6 feet long and 10 inches in diameter ; it was 

 evidently one of the eight shorter sessile arms. The estimate given 

 for the length of the " body " of this creature (60 feet) was probably 

 intended for the entire length, including the arms. 



3. A specimen was found alive in shallow water, at Coomb's' 

 Cove, and captured. Concerning this one I have seen only news- 

 paper accounts. It is stated that its body measured 10 feet in length 

 and was "nearly as large round as a hogshead" (10 to 12 feet); 

 its two long arms (of which only one remained) were 42 feet in 

 length and " as large as a man's wrist ;" its short arms were 6 feet 

 in length, but about 9 inches in diameter, " verj-^ stout and strong ;" 

 the suckers had a serrated edge. The colour was reddish. The loss 

 of one long arm and the correspondence of the other in size to the 

 one amputated from No. 2, justifies a suspicion that this was actually 



* Also in the 'Annals and Magazine of Natm*al History,' January 1874, 

 with a woodcut of the ann. 



t Doubtless these long arms are very contractile and changeable in 

 leneth, like those of the ordinary squids. 



