LECTURE X. 
135 
the removal of the animal ; a kind of stinging or 
iirtication remaining for many hours, and long af- 
ter this, a troublesome irritation and itching. 
This species arrives at a very large size, being 
often seen so large that the body equals the size 
of a gourd, while the arms measure from three to 
four feet in length, and from nine to twelve in cir- 
cumference when spread out in the form of a star, 
which is a posture in which the animal frequently 
places them. It resides in the deep channels 
formed by large rocks, and is generally seen in 
pairs. The male is said to wander about in quest 
of prey to a certain distance from its recess, while 
the female rarely wanders from it. The eggs of 
the Eight- Armed Cuttle-Fish are extremely numer- 
ous, and are disposed in a kind of grape-like clus- 
ter : they are of a glassy transparency, so that the 
young animal, as in those of the Calamary, may be 
seen in them long before the time of its exclusion. 
The SepicB or Cuttle-Fish in general, were 
often called by the ancients by the title of Polypi, 
on account of their numerous limbs : they also 
possess, like the Polypi of modern Natural His- 
tory, a considerable degree of reproductive power ; 
