238 
A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalopoda. 
Taken from the stomach of Alepidosaurus ferox , lat. 42° 49', long. 
62° 57', off Nova Scotia, by Capt. J. W. Collins and crew of the 
schooner “Marion,” 1879. 
All parts back of the eyes are absent, the eyes are mutilated, but 
the specimen is otherwise in excellent preservation, even the web 
and suckers being nearly uninjured. 
Observations on some of the more important specimens described 
from other localities. 
We are largely indebted to Professor Steenstrup and to Dr. Harting 
for our knowledge of the specimens preserved in European museums, 
or cast ashore on the European coasts. Professor Steenstrup* has 
given accounts, compiled from contemporary documents, of a speci- 
men taken at Malmo, Sweden, about 1546 or 1549, and of two speci- 
mens of huge cephalopods cast ashore at Iceland, in 1639 and Nov. or 
Dec., 1790. 
The specimen of 1790, described in the MSS. of Svend Paulsen, 
1792, had tentacles 3 fathoms long; the body (with head) was 3^ 
fathoms long. That of 1639, described in Olafseus og Povelsens 
Keise til Island, ii, 716, was 4 to 5 fathoms long. 
In the article published in 1857, he also briefly mentioned a speci- 
men cast ashore at Jutland, Dec., 1853, of which the jaws were pre- 
served, and on which he then based the species Architeuthis mona- 
chus ; and another specimen, which he named Architeuthis dux , taken 
by Capt. Villi. Ilygom, in the western Atlantic. lie has also since 
described and figuredf the jaws of the specimen of Architeuthis 
monachus , obtained at Jutland, in Dec., 1853. 
In the same memoir, of which I have seen only the first part, there 
are references to a description and figures of ‘A. Titan? obtained in 
1855, by Capt. Ilygom, in N. lat. 31°, W. long. 76°. The latter 
specimen appears to be the same as that referred to in 1 856, as A. 
* Meddelelse om tvende Kiaempestore Blfeksprutter, opdrevne 1639 og 1790 ved 
Islands Kyst, og om nogle andre nordiske Dvr. Forhandlinger Skandinaviske Natur- 
forskeres, v. pp. 950-957, 1847, Copenhagen, 1849. 
Oplysninger om Atlanter colossale Bl;eksprutter Forhandlinger, Skand. Xaturf., 1856, 
vii, p. 182, Christiania, 1857. Cephalopodum, qui in Museis Hafn. inveniuntur, Kjo- 
benhavn Oversigt., 1861, pp. 89, 165. 
f In a paper of which I have seen some proof-sheets, given by him to Dr. Packard, 
entitled “Spolia Atlantica.” This memoir has not been published. The plate (1) that 
I have seen is marked “ Yid. Selsk. Skrifter, Y. Rtekke, naturv. og mathem. Afd. iv 
Bind;” and there are references to three other plates, illustrating ‘A. Titan' etc. 
