Cuttle-Fish. 



123 



Mr. Beale, twined its limbs around that gentle- 

 man's arm, which, was bared to the shoulder for the 

 purpose of thrusting into holes of the rocks after 

 shells, and endeavoured to get its horny beak in a 

 position for biting. The narrator describes the 

 sickening sensation of horror which chilled his very 

 blood, as he felt the creature's cold slimy grasp, 

 and saw its large staring eyes fixed on him, and the 

 beak opening and closing. He called loudly for 

 help, and was soon joined by his companion, who 

 relieved him by destroying the Cuttle-fish with a 

 knife, and detaching the limbs piece by piece. 



There are several species of these cephalopods ; 

 the most generally distributed appears to be the 



O. VULGARIS. S. VULGARIS. S. OFFICINALIS. 



Octopus vulgaris, or Common Cuttle-fish, which ia 



