SEPIAD^. — CUTTLE. 173 



vast numbers^ as to sink the ships upon which they 

 fall* 



Another of the Tcuthidse, which is rare on our coast, 

 but is common in the Mediterranean, Sepiola Rondeletii, 

 is eaten at Nice, and is called supieta or sepiata, and is 

 said to be a very delicate morsel. The Italians call it 

 calamaretto and seppietta, and quantities are consumed 

 at Genoa, and at Leghorn. 



Aristotle speaks of the Teuthis, which he says is a 

 kind of cuttle-fish, but different from the sepia, and has 

 ink of a pale colour. Alexis talks of cooking them 

 thus : — 



" I took the teuthides, out off their fins, 

 Adding a little fat, I then did sprinkle 

 Some thin shred herbs o'er all, for seasoning ;" 



Bk. Tii. c. 130, Athen., Deipnosophists, 



And Antiphanes, in his ' Female Fisher,' says (referring 

 to the ink) : — 



" Give me some cuttle-fish first. O Hercules, 

 The.y'ye dirtied every place with ink ; here take them 

 And wash them clean." 



According to Pliny, Anaxilaus states that the ink of 

 the sepia is possessed of such remarkable potency that 

 if it is put into a lamp, the light will become entirely 

 changed, and all present will look as black as Ethio- 

 pians, t 



The ink of the cuttle, or sepia, is dried, and imported 

 from China to Liverpool, where it arrives either in cakes, 

 or is there made into cakes called sepia, which is used in 

 painting. Dr. Lankester, in his little work on ' Animal 

 Products,' says that the cuttle-fish is very abundant in 

 the Mediterranean, and that the ink-bag is carefully 



* Pliny, Nat. Hist. vol. vi. bk. xxxii. v. 6. t Ibid. c. 52. 



