80 



EGGS OF CUTTLE. 



the sky with stars. And one of those strange 

 amphibious humanities, who get their living by 

 collecting shells, curious pebbles, sea-weed, 

 zoophytes, and other saleable curiosities, per- 

 sisted in declaring that the hermit crab was the 

 young of the common edible crab, and that when 

 it grew old enough, and was too large for its 

 shell, it abandoned the useless adjunct, and com- 

 menced another course of life. 



But to return to our sea- grapes, of which a 

 sketch may be seen on plate h. fig. 5. These are 

 the eggs of a cuttle-fish, and curious eggs they 

 are. Each is produced into a flexible stalk, by 

 means of which the mass is held together, and 

 affixed to any convenient object. The egg-cluster 

 from which the sketch was taken was one of four 

 or five which I preserved at difierent times, in 

 order to watch their progress. Here and there, 

 among the dark mass of eggs, appeared one 

 nearly white, and semi-transparent, through 

 whose delicate walls might be seen the little cut- 

 tle within, very lively and seemingly anxious for 

 his emancipation. At the bottom of the egg- 

 cluster may be seen one of the young creatures 

 escaping from the prison that had confined him, 

 and, as will be seen, the young cuttle is rather a 

 comical-looking little animal. 



