A. E. Verrill — North, American Cephalopods. 
39 
mostly entirely dead, and more or less mutilated by birds and fishes. 
In very few cases they were not quite dead, but entirely "disabled. 
These were seen chiefly between north latitude 44° and 44° 30', and 
between west longitude 49° 30' and 49° 50'. He believes that 
between 25 and 30 specimens were secured by the fleet from Glou- 
cester, Mass., and that as many more were probably obtained by the 
vessels from other places. They were cut up and used as bait for 
codfish. For this use they are of considerable value to the fishermen. 
Captain Collins was at that time in command of the schooner 
“ Howard,” which secured five of these giant-squids. These were 
mostly from 10 to 15 feet long, not including the arms, and averaged 
about 18 inches in diameter. The arms were almost always muti- 
lated. The portion that was left was usually 3 to 4 feet long, and at 
the base, about as large as a man’s thigh. 
One specimen (No. 25), when cut up, was packed into a large hogs- 
head-tub having a capacity of about 75 gallons, which it filled. This 
tub was known to hold 700 pounds of codfish. The gravity of the 
Architeuthis is probably about the same as that of the fish. This 
would indicate more nearly the actual weight of one of these crea- 
tures than any of the mere estimates that have been made, which are 
usually much too great. Allowing for the parts of the arms that 
had been destroyed, this specimeu would probably have weighed 
nearly 1,000 pounds. 
Among the numerous other vessels that were fortunate in securing 
o o 
this kind of bait, Captain Collins mentions the following : 
The schooner “ Sarah P. Ayer,” Captain Oakley, took one or two. 
The “ E. R. Nickerson,” Captain McDonald, secured one that had 
its arms, and was not entirely dead, so that it was harpooned. Its 
tentacular arms were 36 feet long (No. 26). 
The schooner “ Tragabigzanda,” Captain Mallory, secured three in 
one afternoon. These were 8 to 12 feet long, not including the arms. 
These statements are confirmed by other fishermen, some of whom 
state that the “ big 'squids” were also common during the same sea- 
son at the “ Flemish Cap,” a bank situated some distance northeast 
from the Grand Banks. 
The cause of so great a mortality among these great Cephalopods 
can only be conjectured. It may have been due to some disease 
epidemic among them, or to an unusual prevalence of deadly para- 
sites or other enemies. It is worth while, however, to recall the 
fact that these were observed at about the same time, in autumn, 
when most of the specimens have been found cast ashore at New- 
