A. E. Verrill — Earth American Cephcilopods. 183 
No. 3.— Coombs' Cove specimen, 1872. ( A. Raneyi ?, ?.) 
Another specimen (No. 3), probably considerably larger than the 
last, was captured at Coombs’ Cove, Fortune Bay, Newfoundland. 
The following account has been taken from a newspaper article of 
which I do not know the precise date,* forwarded to me by Professor 
Baird, together with a letter, dated June 15, 1873, from the Hon. 
T. R. Bennett, of English Harbor, N. F., who states that he wrote 
the article, and that the measurements were made by him, and are 
perfectly reliable. f 
“ Three days ago, there was quite a large squid run almost ashore 
at Coombs’ Cove, and some of the inhabitants secured it. The body 
measured 10 feet in length and was nearly as large round as a hogs- 
head. One arm was about the size of a man's wrist, and measured 42 
feet in length ; the other anus were only 6 feet in length, but about 
9 inches in diameter, very stout and strong. The skin and flesh 
were 2’25 inches thick, and reddish inside as well as ont. The suc- 
tion cups were all clustered together, near the extremity of the long 
arm, and each cup was surrounded by a serrated edge, almost like 
the teeth of a hand-saw. I presume it made use of this arm for a 
cable, and the cups for anchors, when it wanted to come to, as well 
as to secure its prey, for this individual, finding a heavy sea was 
driving it ashore, tail first, seized hold of a rock and moored itself 
quite safely until the men pulled it on shore.’’ 
Mr. Bennett, in a memorandum subsequently given to Mr. Sander- 
son Smith, and communicated to me by him, states that both the 
tentacular-arms were present and that the shorter one was 41 - 5 feet 
in length. The large diameter of the short arms, compared with 
their length, and with that of the long arms, and their shortness 
compared with the length of the body, are points in which this 
specimen apparently differed essentially from those that have been 
preserved and are better known. It was probably a female. The 
total length, as I understand the measurements, was 52 feet. 
* The exact date of this capture I do not know, but it was probably in the autumn 
or winter of 1872. 
f Through Mr. Sanderson Smith, who visited Mr. Bennett after the publication of 
my former articles, I learn that this specimen is the same as the one designated as 
No. 6 in my previous papers, and that the measurements of No. 6. as given to me by 
Mr. Harvey, are incorrect, owing to a mistake in supposing that 42 feet was the total 
length, instead of the length of the longer tentacular-arm. 
