30 
SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 
The octopus, therefore, though not abundant on our own 
coasts, is found in every sea in the temperate zone ; and in 
so far as that it secretes an ink with which it can render 
the water turbid, and has many radiating arms with which 
it can seize and drown a man, it possesses certain attri- 
butes of the Kraken ; but we have no authentic knowledge 
of its ever attaining to greater dimensions than I have 
stated, nor does it bask on the surface of the sea. It is not 
amongst the OctopidcB therefore that we must look for a 
solution of the mystery. 
The basking condition is fulfilled by the Sepia ; and its 
flattened back, supported and rendered hard and firm to 
the touch by the calcareous sepiostaire beneath the skin, is 
broader in proportion than that of the octopus or the squid. 
Thus Sepia might pass as a microscopic miniature of the 
great Scandinavian monster. But it lacks the character of 
size. We have no reason to believe that any true Sepia 
exists, as the family is now understood, that has a body 
more than eighteen inches long. If it were otherwise it would 
be more likely to be known of this family than of its relatives, 
for its lightly constructed and well known " cuttle-bone " 
would float on the surface for many weeks after the death 
of its owner, and large specimens of it would be seen and 
recognised from passing ships. 
As we can find no species of the Octopidce or Sepiidce 
which can furnish a pretext for the stories told of the 
Kraken, we must try to ascertain how far a similitude to it 
may be traced in the third family we have discussed, the 
Teuthidce. 
The belief in the existence of gigantic cuttles is an 
ancient one. Aristotle mentions it, and Pliny tells of an 
enormous polypus which at Carteia, in Grenada — an old 
and important Roman colony near Gibraltar — used to 
