4106 The Zoologist — August, 1874. 



to details and admeasurements of actual objects still accessible, still 

 inviting the examination both of the critical and the sceptical. 



The evidence of the capture of one of these monsters is most 

 circumstantially given in the 'Field' newspaper for January 31st, 

 of the present year, and portions of this, as well as the whole 

 of a second specimen are preserved for the satisfaction of future 

 enquirers. The narrative is given thus : — 



" On October 20th, while two fishermen from St. John's were pb'ing 

 their vocation at the eastern end of Great Belle Island, Conception Bay, 

 they descried, at a short distance, a dark shapeless mass floating on the 

 water. Concluding it was a bale of goods, possibly a portion of the cargo 

 of some wrecked vessel, the men rowed up to it, anticipating a valuable 

 prize, and one of them struck the object with his boat-hook. In an instant 

 the dark mass became animated, and opening out like a huge umbrella, 

 displayed to view a pair of prominent ghastly green eyes of enormous size, 

 which glared at them with apparent ferocity, its huge parrot-like beak at 

 the same time opening in a savage and threatening manner. The men 

 were so terrified by the terrible apparition that for a moment they were 

 unable to stir, and before they could recover their presence of mind suffi- 

 ciently to endeavour to make their escape, the monster, now but a few feet 

 from the boat, shot out from and around it several long arms of corpse-like 

 fleshiness, and, grappling for the boat, sought to envelope it in these livid 

 folds. Two of these reached the craft, and, in consequence of its greater 

 length, one went completely over and beyond it. At this moment one of the 

 men, by name Thcophilus Picot, fortunately recovered from his fright, and 

 seizing a hatchet that happened to be on board succeeded by a desperate effort 

 in severing both these arms. On finding itself wounded the animal moved 

 off backwards, at the same time darkening the water with its inky emissions, 

 and presently became lost to sight beneath the surface of the waves. The 

 amputated arms, which were left in the boat as trophies of the terrible 

 encounter, were brought to St. John's, and through the energy of Mr. 

 Harvey, the longer one was secured for the museum." — Page 1:20. 



This so-called "arm," or rather that portion of it which has been 

 preserved, measures nineteen feet in length; it is extremely slender, 

 measuring only three inches and a half in circumference, excepting 

 towards the extremity, where it widens into a spalhulate or oar- 

 shaped disk, covered with suckers to the very extremity, which 

 terminates in a "pretty fine point." All naturalists know that the 

 cephalopods have either eight or ten of these so-called " arms," 

 and that they are denominated octopods or decapods according to 

 the number, but it does not seem to be so generally understood that 



