30 



Marvels of the Universe 



SUCKERS OF THE OCTOPUS. 



The arm is dra\\n in section at the right of the 

 figure to show how the suckers are worked. 



romance of anticipation, " T\vent\' Thousand Leagues 



r.'^^'sc-^ ,<=c^ -. Under the Sea," also given a magnificent description 



. ;• f ot a hght between the voyagers and a number of 



r^' ^^ " Poulps," as he calls them, but although it is difficult to 



believe that he means anything but Octopods, he may be 

 alluding to gigantic squid, which really do attain to 

 enormous proportions. 



Lying in the centre of all those writhing arms, a 

 point to which all their energies are directed, all they 

 capture brought, is a pair of horny mandibles exactly 

 like the beak of a parrot, but very much more power- 

 ful. This apparatus is capable of crushing an oj'ster or 

 a whelk, to say nothing of the carapace of a crab 

 or a lobster, and it is most probable that, in spite of its omnivorous character, the Octopus 

 finds its chief sustenance in these comparatively helpless and sluggish Crustacea. This horny 

 beak is common to all the varieties of shell-less cephalopods and is found intact in that 

 amazing substance, ambergris, which is secreted by the sperm whale. 



Perhaps the most remarkable thing about all these 

 molluscs, Octopods and Decapods alike, is the way in 

 which all the fish of the sea love to devour them. In 

 fact, the}' may truly be said to form the base of the 

 great pyramid of the higher life of the sea ; for while 

 the}' do undoubtedly prey upon all that lives in the 

 ocean, there is no fish or mammal that does not love 

 their gelatinous muskj' flesh. They are oviparous, and 

 their rate of production is immense, as it need be, 

 considering the demand made upon them as a food 

 suppl}' for the other sea-creatures. But so terrible are 

 they when they have grown to any size, that few of 

 their neighbours care to attack them then. Occasion- 

 ally a monster conger-eel, that python of the sea, gets enwrapped in deadly conflict with an Octopus, 

 and usually comes off victor, his slimy body offering but a poor holding surface for the clutching 

 discs, and his razor-edged teeth cutting through the gristly tissues with ease. 



Another characteristic, which the Octopus shares with the squid, is the power to secrete sepia 



in such quantities as to enable the creature at will 

 to conceal itself by darkening all the water adjacent, 

 creating a murkiness through which its powerful 

 eyes are able to discern either enemy or prey. It 

 is the possession of this well-known substance which 

 makes the creature commercially so valuable, for 

 its indelibility and unfading quality is such that 

 even the sepia from fossil Octopodia is as good as 

 that from the recent mollusc. The creature's habit, 

 too, of varying its tint like the chameleon, either for 

 disguise or in irritation, is not the least marvellous 

 feature of this extraordinary denizen of the deep 



.^' 



The parrot-like beak of the Octopus. 



The mouth of the Octopus surrounded^by the web 

 and bases of the arms, with some of the suckers. 



In conclusion,, I would say to any reader who 

 imagines that I have overstated the case as to the 



