LECTURE X. 
133 
babit of occasionally darkening the water by the 
discharge of its ink. Instead of the remarkable 
calcareous bone belonging to the common Cuttle- 
Fish, we find in the Calamary a long, thin, trans- 
parent, pen-shaped cartilage, of a curious appear- 
ance, pointed at the tip of the dilated part, and 
semicylindrical at the other end, somewhat repre- 
senting the stem of a quill. This is supposed to 
be the reason of the name of Calamary ^ applied to 
this species. Its general habits are very similar to 
those of the Cuttle-Fish. It is a very prolific animal, 
and the eggs are of a very singular and curious ap- 
pearance : they are deposited in the form of nume- 
rous lengthened groups, radiating from a common 
centre, and spreading every way into a circular 
form : each egg is of a glassy transparency, and 
the young animal may be very distinctly observed 
in each, many days before the period of exclusion. 
These groups of the eggs of the Calamary are often 
seen swimming on the surface, and are occasionally 
thrown on shore; the whole groupe sometimes 
measures more than a foot in diameter, and from 
its general appearance, unless closely inspected, 
is often mistaken for a species of Medusa or Sea- 
Blubber, 
