308 MOLLUSC A. 



bottom of the sac ; two oviducts take up the ova and pass them 

 out through two large glands which envelope them in a viscid 

 matter, and collect them into clusters. The testis of the male, 

 placed like the ovary, communicates with a vas deferens which 

 terminates in a fleshy penis, situated on the left of the anus. 

 A bladder and prostate terminate there likewise. There is 

 reason to believe that fecundation is effected by sprinkling, as 

 is the case with most Fishes. In the spawning season the blad- 

 der contains a multitude of little filiform bodies, which, by 

 means of a peculiar mechanism, are ruptured the moment they 

 reach the water, where they move about with great rapidity, 

 and diff'use a humour with which they are fdled. 



These animals are voracious and cruel ; possessed both of 

 agility and numerous modes of seizing their prey, they destroy 

 immense quantities of Fish and Crustacea. Their flesh is 

 eaten ; their ink is employed in painting, and the Indian, or 

 China ink is supposed to be made from it(l). 



The Cephalopoda comprise but a single order, which is di- 

 vided into genera, according to the nature of the shell. 



Those which have no external shell, according to Linnaeus, 

 formed but the single genus, 



Sepia, Lin. (2) 

 Which is now divided as follows: 



Octopus, Lam. — Polypus of the ancients. 



But two small conical granules of a horny substance, on the two 

 sides, of the thickness of the back; the sac,- having no fins, resembles 

 an oval purse; eight feet, all of which are about equal, very large in 

 proportion to the body, and united at base by a membrane; they are 

 employed by the animal in swimming, crawling, and seizing its 

 prey. The length and strength of these limbs render them fearful 

 weapons, which it twines round animals; in this way it has even de- 

 stroyed men while bathing. The eyes are small in proportion, and 

 the skin contracts over them so tightly as to cover them entirely at 



(1) M. Ab. Uemusat, however, can find nothing in the authors of China which 

 confirms this idea. 



(2) M. de Blainville makes an order of them, which he calls the Crtptodibkan- 



CHIATA. 



