1 882.] American Work in Recent MoUvsca in 1881. 967 



Francisco, the Chief Engineer reported that the San Rafael ferry- 

 slip, now six and one-half years old, was practically ruined by the 

 teredo and would have to be replaced. Nearly all the submerged 

 wood-work was actually destroyed. — San Francisco Bulletin. 



W. N. Horton, of Olympia, W. T, has invented a plan for cir- 

 cumventing the teredo. He is also the inventor of a process for 

 boring logs for water pipes and pumps. His machinery cuts out 

 a cylinder two inches thick, from between the core and the out- 

 side of a log and of any desired caliber. By retaining the core 

 and filling the cylindrical excavation around it with a special 

 cement, it is thought that the ravages of the teredo would be con- 

 fined to the outer part of a pile, so treated, and the core which is 

 expected to sustain the needed weight would be protected by the 

 cement, which in its turn would be preserved from friction by the 

 outer coating of wood and bark. 



In the Sea World elsewhere alluded to (Dec. 7th, 1881), a 

 resume of facts relating to the giant cuttlefishes, is given, under 

 the title of " The Devil Fish of the Atlantic." 



In the Weekly Bulletin, San Francisco, Aug. 24, 1881, in an 

 article on " San Francisco Fishermen," it is stated, that the Octo- 

 pus (O. punctatus Gabb) is largely used for food by the Italian 

 fishermen of that port, being made into a kind of chowder with 

 vegetables and a sauce of olive oil and lemon juice, after the 

 intestines have been removed, and is considered as especially 

 appropriate food for fast-days. They are also dried for export 

 by the Chinese. 



In the Gulf of California the ten-armed cuttles sometimes 

 attack the divers for pearl oysters. One killed, while attacking 

 a diver, had arms twelve feet long, and a body larger than a beef 

 barrel [lb., Nov. 9th, 1881.) 



The Nczv York Herald, of Nov. 25th, 1881, gives three col- 

 umns to an account, by Mr. Morris, of the capture of an immense 

 squid {Architcuthis harveyi V.) at Portugal cove, Newfoundland, 

 on the 10th of November, and a resume of facts relating to these 

 animals. The specimen in question was brought to New York. 

 Harper's Weekly for Dec. 10th, '81, has an illustrated article on 

 the same subject apparently by the same author. 



A fictitious account of an imaginary capture of a giant squid 

 ("Architcuthis") appears in Lippincotfs Magazine, Aug., 1 881, 

 P- 124, from the pen of Mr. C. F. Holder. 



