ANIMAL LIFE IN THE GULF STREAM. 651 



supporters of the belief that the sea is still possessed of some 

 descendants of the enormous fish-like reptiles which inhabited it 

 in early geological periods. A fair picture but poor description 

 of an octopus is given by Victor Hugo in his " Toilers of the 

 Sea." He, in the course of his description, becomes very much 

 confused, mixing devil-fish with polyp, and describing an animal 

 possessed of habits belonging to each of these two widely sepa- 

 rated groups. The confusion apparently arises from the fact 

 that a common name for the octopus is poulp, but this etymo- 

 logical resemblance to the polyp, or sea-anemone, is the only one. 

 He also confounds the name Cephalopoda with Cephaloptera, a 

 gigantic ray or skate, also called devil-fish, and this causes new 

 confusion in the description. There are gigantic octopi in the 

 Southern waters, and these furnish food for the toothed sperm 

 whale. Our Northern devil-fish is not a true octopus, but a squid, 

 for it has ten arms instead of eight. 



A sword-fish captured during the voyage was found to have in 

 its stomach over thirty eyes and twenty beaks of the small cuttle- 

 fish, together with a few partly digested individuals. Sword- 

 fishes and sharks are natural enemies, always fighting when they 

 meet, and there are accounts of fierce and deadly encounters be- 

 tween them. An ugly sword-fish is a bad enemy to encounter, 

 using its weapon, as it does, with such ease and force. One 

 will often drive its sword through the bottom of a boat, and, if 

 it succeeds in withdrawing it without breaking it off, the boat 

 rapidly fills with water, and the occupants, driven into the sea, 

 are savagely attacked and badly wounded by the furious fish. At 

 times they are abundant on all sides, lying near the surface, with 

 their dorsal fin projecting above. 



A sailor speared a dolphin one day, much to our surprise, for 

 they seldom came near enough to reach. For several days there 

 had been a school around, probably attracted by the refuse thrown 

 overboard, by the brilliant light at night, and by the cuttle-fish 

 which kept near the vessel. They usually remained many feet 

 below the surface, and, viewed through the deep azure-blue water 

 of the Gulf Stream, the different colors of their bodies reflected 

 in the sunlight, and again in the electric light, were beautiful in 

 an extreme degree. At last one, coming too near the surface, re- 

 ceived a fatal wound, and was successfully brought on deck. I 

 had often heard of the changing colors of a dying dolphin, and 

 now I was to witness them for the first time. No one can ex- 

 aggerate the weird beauty of the sight as the fish in its last 

 struggles changes through all its various hues. One can see the 

 colors disappear, to be followed by others. Beginning with the 

 head, they seem to sweep as a wave over the body. Blue gives 

 place to white, then a light yellow, which in turn changes to a 



