hence the name "pen." These animals are 

 very numerous in individuals and form a 

 large part of the food of fishes, like the 

 blue-fish, black bass, etc., and have even 

 been found in the stomach of jelly-fishes. 

 Besides being eaten by the fish the squid 

 furnishes a large part of the food of some 

 whales, the former occurring frequently 

 in shoals and falling ready victims to the 

 huge monster. 



In Norway and Sweden the people 

 have a legend of a peculiar sea-monster, 

 called the Kraken, which was probably 

 founded on some of the enormous squids 

 discovered during the past thirty years. 

 Many of these mollusks are found ofif the 

 coasts of Norway, Scotland and Ireland, 

 and not a few have been recorded from 

 the coasts of Nova Scotia and New En- 

 gland. In the larger of these animals the 

 body is eight or ten feet long, the short 

 arms eight feet and the long, tentacular 

 arms thirty feet in length, making in all 

 an animal nearly forty feet long when 

 fully stretched out ! The squid is greatly 

 prized as bait and frequently a royal bat- 

 tle will take place between one of these 

 gigantic creatures and a boat's crew. Sad 

 indeed is the fate of the latter if the mol- 

 lusk once gets a firm hold of the boat. 

 Care is used, however, to guard against 

 such a result, and the animal is gradually 

 deprived of its strength by making a sud- 

 den dash, cutting off an arm and as quick- 

 ly retreating. These large squids are not 

 as common as the smaller ones and they 

 are rarely captured. 



An ingenious method of capturing a 

 species of the smaller squids (Ommastre- 

 phes illecebrosa) in use by the fishermen 

 of the New England coast is as follows : 

 The squid has the habit of swimming in 

 an opposite direction to a light, as the 

 full moon, so the fishermen go out to sea 



in boats, light a large torch in each boat 

 and slowly row toward the shore, driving 

 the squid, which of course swim back- 

 ward in an opposite direction from the 

 light, upon the beach, where they may be 

 gathered by thousands after such an ex- 

 pedition. Another method of capture is 

 by jigging; the jig is made of a piece of 

 lead some two inches in length which is 

 armed with a circle of sharp, unbarbed 

 wires pointing upward and curving out- 

 ward. The process of jigging is accom- 

 plished as follows : the jig is attached to 

 twelve or fifteen feet of stout line and is 

 lowered into the water, which is generally 

 chosen of a depth of ten feet from the side 

 of a small boat. When near the bottom it 

 is kept moving slowly up and down until 

 a squid is felt upon it, when it is suddenly 

 drawn to the surface with the squid at- 

 tached. These squid, when caught, are 

 used for bait, a single fishing smack be- 

 ing known to use as many as eighty thou- 

 sand squids in a single season. 



A familiar object to most canary-bird 

 fanciers is the cuttle-bone placed in the 

 cages of these birds for them to sharpen 

 their beaks upon. This "cuttle-bone" is 

 the internal support of the Cuttle-fish 

 (Sepia ofificinalis) and is homologous wdth 

 the pen of the squid, mentioned above. 

 The animal of Sepia is short and rounded, 

 with a large head surrounded by a row of 

 eight short arms and two very long ten- 

 tacular arms, ending in expanded clubs 

 armed with powerful suckers. Like the 

 Octopus and Squid, the Cuttle-fish is ca- 

 pable of many changes of colors by the 

 contraction and expansion of its pig- 

 ment cells. They are found throughout 

 the world, living near the shore, but the 

 species found about European shores are 

 the best kno\vn. 



Frank Collins Baker. 



God made all the creatures and gave them 



Our love and our fear, 

 To give sign we and they are His children, 

 One family here. 



— Robert Browning. 



227 



