THE KRAKEN. 
II 
One of the great primary groups or divisions of the 
animal kingdom is that of the soft-bodied mollusca ; which 
includes the cuttle, the oyster, the snail, &c. It has been 
separated into five "classes," of which the one we have 
especially to notice is the Cephalopoda,* or " head-footed," 
— the animals belonging to it having their feet, or the 
organs which correspond with the foot of other molluscs, so 
attached to the head as to form a circle or coronet round 
the mouth. Some of these have the foot divided into eight 
segments, and are therefore called the Octopoda :\ others 
have, in addition to the eight feet, lobes, or arms, two 
longer tentacular appendages, making ten in all, and are 
consequently called the Decapoda. 
Of the ten-footed section of the cephalopods, there are 
four " families ; " two only of which exist in Britain — the 
Teuthidce, and the Sepiidce. The Teuthidce are the Cala- 
maries, popularly known as " Squids," and are represented 
by the long-bodied Loligo vulgaris, that has internally 
along its back a gristly, translucent stiffener, shaped like a 
quill-pen ; from which and its ink it derives its names of 
"calamary" (from calamus J' a "pen"), "pen-and-ink 
fish," and " sea-clerk." The SepiidcE are generally known 
as the Cuttles proper. As a type of them we may take the 
common "cuttle-fish," Sepia officinalis, the owner of the 
hard, calcareous shell often thrown up on the shore, and 
known as " cuttle-bone," or " sea-biscuit." 
It must here be remarked, that as these head-footed mol- 
lusks are not " fish," any more than lobsters, crabs, oysters, 
mussels, &c., which fishmongers call " shell-fish," are " fish," 
the word " fish " is misleading, and should be abandoned ; 
and secondly, that the names " cuttle " and " squid," as dis- 
* From the Greek words cephale, the head ; and poda, feet, 
t From octOj eight ; drndpotis {poda)^ feet. 
