ORDER CEPHALOPODA. 



19 



some autliors, there can be no doubt that it attains a 

 very considerable magnitude. When attacked in its 

 own element, it has been known, even in the seas of 

 temperate latitudes, capable of overcoming a powerful 

 mastiff. The jaws of all this tribe are, likewise, extremely 

 strong, formed like the beak of a 

 parrot, and very hard. In addi- 

 tion to these means of defence, it 

 possesses within its body a blad- 

 der, containing an inky- coloured 

 fluid, which it has the power of 

 throwing out at will, and, by thus 

 discolouring the water, it escapes 

 the pursuit of its enemies. This ^^^'^^ "'^ -^ cephalopod. 

 inky liquid, when dried, forms a very valuable colour, 

 used by artists, and called, after the animal, Sepia. 

 The eggs of the female are of an oval form, and joined 

 to each other in clusters. They are of the size of filberts, 

 of a black colour, and commonly known by the name of 

 Sea Grapes. They are found attached to sea-weed, 

 rocks, and other marine substances. 



The Cuttle Fish generally remains with its body in 

 some hole in a rock, while its arms are extended in. 

 every direction, to seize the wanderer that may chance 

 to pass its place of ambush. Its appetite is voracious, 

 and it seizes as its prey every living thing that it has 

 the power to conquer. 



The species figured in the engraving is very common 

 on the English coasts, and the bone which is enclosed 

 in its body is frequently found on the sands ; it is a well- 

 known substance, and much employed in the manu- 

 facture of tooth-powder. This bone, which, with the 

 exception of the jaws, is the only solid part in the Sepia, 



