350 



that's it; 



monly found upon the shore, 

 which induces us first to speak 

 of the fish. It is of an oblong 

 form, about six inches in length, 

 and three and a half in breadth. 

 The head is surrounded with 

 eight arms, and two feet ; the 

 two feet being nearly similar 

 in their structure to the arms, 

 or tentacula, but considerably 

 larger in their dimensions. The 

 head is divided from the sac, or 

 body, on all sides by a neck. 

 The sac is furnished on each 

 side throughout its whole length 

 with a narrow fin. The suckers 

 are irregularly scattered on the 

 arms and feet ; and the back is 

 strengthened by a complicated 

 calcareous plate, which is fre- 

 quently found washed upon the 

 shore, and recognised as the 

 cuttle-fish bone, having on one 

 side a hard and shiny surface, 

 and upon the other a soft gritty 

 substance, which may be scraped 

 away by the finger nail. The 

 cuttle-fish figured in the engra- 

 ving is not the one found com- 

 monly upon the British shore, 

 but an allied species, somewhat 

 resembling it. 



The operations of thes« curious creatures are 



far more formidable than may be supposed by 

 the occasional visitor to the sea-side. We well 

 remember in our youth going out with an old 

 fisherman of Dawlish to visit his floating nets, 

 which he had laid down for pilchards. As we 

 looked down into the clear blue water, we could 

 see that the number of fish en taneled wa c great; 

 but to the discomfiture of the fisherman, who 

 w;es eloquent on the occasion, almost every 

 other fish was locked in the embraces of a 

 cuttle-fish, plying his tentacula to some purpose. 

 The old man, who seemed to regard these un- 

 bidden guests as an incarnation of all evil, 

 carried a capacious landing net ; but so quick 

 was the si<rht of these cephalapods, s > ready 

 were they in letting go, and a<;ile in darting 

 back or sideways clear of the net, that though 

 they held on until the last moment, the fisher- 

 man did not secure more than three out of the 

 crowds that bad spoiled his haul.* 

 * Penny Cyclopaedia. 



The ink formed by the cuttle- 

 fish is of a deep black, and is 

 produced by a gland appropriated 

 for its secretion, and reserved in 

 a small sac until demanded by 

 the exigencies of the animal, 

 when it is effused for the purpose 

 of creating a dark cloud in the 

 water, and enabling the cuttle- 

 fish to escape. 



The black secretion of the cuttle-fish was 

 used by the Romans as ink ; and Greek women 

 used the back bones as pincushions; they also 

 dried and powdered the black matter, and used 

 it to beautify their eyebrows. 



The eggs of the cuttle-fish, 15, 

 are commonly found in bunches 

 upon the sea shores, and are 



15 



familiarly termed sea grapes. If 

 you ask a fisherman the name of 

 them (says the Rev. Mr. Wood), 

 he will tell you that they are 

 " sea grapes," but for any further 

 information you may usually ask 

 in vain. Indeed, as a general 

 fact, those who live on the sea 

 shore are lamentably ignorant of 

 its treasures. These sea grapes 

 are, however, the eggs of the 

 cuttle-fish, and curious eggs they 

 are. Each is produced with a 

 flexible stalk, by means of which 

 the mass is held together, and 

 affixed to any convenient object. 

 Here and there, among the dark 

 masses of eggs, appears one 

 nearly white, and semi-trans- 



