398 THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



and the eight hundred discs, with their cold, adhesive touch, gluing 

 themselves to you with a grasp which nothing could relax, and 

 feeling like so many mouths devouring you at the same time." 



These creatures frequently attain to a gigantic size. Occa- 

 sionally specimens are cast ashore whose long tentacles, from tip 

 to tip, measure more than thirty feet when fully spread; so, one 

 may easily understand that a human being, if once seized in their 

 terrible grip, would have no chance of escape. 



The long arms, or tentacles, of a cuttle-fish, with their 

 formidable array of suckers, are employed for purposes of loco- 

 motion as well as in capturing prey. For the animal walks upon 

 its head by using its tentacles in place of feet. 



But the cuttle-fish has another method of progression, which it 

 adopts when alarmed or hurried. It breathes by means of gills, 

 one of which lies upon either side. When the water has passed 

 through these organs it is conducted out of the body by a short 

 tube, which is directed towards the head, and is usually known 

 as the " siphon ". 



Now the cuttle-fish is able both to regulate the passage of water 

 through this siphon, and also to expel the liquid, if need be, with 

 considerable force. When it wishes to swim, therefore, it gathers 

 up its long arms, so that they may project straight from the body 

 and offer no hindrance, and then sends out a jet of water sharply 

 and suddenly. This jet, of course, acts upon the surrounding water 

 just as the volume of gas which pours out from the mouth of a 

 sky-rocket acts upon the surrounding atmosphere; and the animal 

 is driven rapidly backwards by the recoil. 



So swiftly can a cuttle-fish swim in this manner, that it is very 

 difficult for the eye to follow its course. When alarmed, too, 

 and anxious to escape from an enemy, the animal makes use of 

 a most remarkable means of protection, which renders it for a time 

 invisible. 



Inside the body is a sac, or bag, which has the property 

 of secreting a liquid of intense blackness. This liquid can be 

 expelled through the siphon at the will of the animal. When 

 a cuttle-fish is frightened, therefore, it swims rapidly backwards, 

 and at the same time ejects its inky, liquid. The water through 



