124 CEPHALOPODA. 



about and sprinkles them over with its milt^ a mode of 

 fertilization supposed to be peculiar to certain fishes ; 

 and that the Octopus incubates or broods, taking no 

 nourishment during that period, and consequently be- 

 coming weak and much reduced in size. He gives 

 about two years as the duration of life for all the 

 Cephalopods. None of the above observations have 

 been confirmed. There can be no doubt that this class 

 comprises the giants of the Mollusca, bearing the same 

 relation as whales to other Mammalia and sharks among 

 the Fishes. The kraken, even, may not be an absolute 

 myth, but one of the endless wonders 



'E^ a\6s, Old re TroXXa rpecbex kXvtos 'Aixcpirpirr]. 



Prof. Steenstrup has collected several trustworthy ac- 

 counts of such monsters, Avhich he refers to a species of 

 Architeuthis, his A. monacJms. One of these, described 

 in Paulsen^s MS., was cast ashore on the Danish 

 coast ; its body measured 3| fathoms, and the tentacles 

 3 fathoms, a total length of 39 feet. Dr. Morch in- 

 forms me that another was found in 1854 at the Skag, 

 in Jutland, which filled a large cart ; its beak was 9 in- 

 ches long. The mutilated carcase of a huge Cephalo- 

 pod, perhaps belonging to Steenstrup^s species, was 

 stranded in 1860 or 1861 between Hillswick and 

 Scalloway, on the west of Shetland. From a com- 

 munication received by Prof. Allman it appears that 

 the tentacles were 16 feet long, the pedal arms about 

 half that length, and the mantle-sac 7 feet ; the mantle 

 Avas terminated by fins; one of the suckers examined 

 bv Prof. Allman was | inch in diameter. Dr. Johnston, 

 after showing that the adhesion of the suckers in some 

 Cephalopods is strengthened by a horny ring round the 

 edge of each, which is often armed with sharp incurved 



