SEPIADiE.— CUTTLE. 
173 
vast numbers^ as to sink tbe ships upon which they 
fall* 
Another of the Teuthidse, which is rare on our coast, 
but is common in the Mediterranean, Sepiola Rondeletii^ 
is eaten at Nice, and is called supieta or sepiata, and is 
said to be a very delicate morsel. The Italians call it 
calamaretto and seppietta, and quantities are consumed 
at Genoa, and at Leghorn. 
Aristotle speaks of the Teuthis, which he says is a 
kitid of cuttle-fish, but different from the sepia, and has 
ink of a pale colour. Alexis talks of cooking them 
thus : — 
“ I took tlie teutMdes, cut off their fins, 
Adding a little fat, I then did sprinkle 
Some thin shred herbs o’er all, for seasoning 
Bk. vii. c. 130, Athen., DeipnosopMsts. 
And Antiphanes, in his ^ Female Fisher,^ says (referring 
to the ink) — 
“ Grive me some cuttle-fish first. O Hercules, 
They’ve dirtied every place with ink ; here take them 
And wash them clean.” 
According to Pliny, Anaxilaus states that the ink of 
the sepia is possessed of such remarkable potency that 
if it is put into a lamp, the light will become entirely 
changed, and all present will look as black as Ethio- 
pians, f 
The ink of the cuttle, or sepia, is dried, and imported 
from China to Liverpool, where it arrives either in cakes, 
or is there made into cakes called sepia, which is used in 
painting. Dr. Lankester, in his little work on ^ Animal 
Products,^ says that the cuttle-fish is very abundant in 
the Mediterranean, and that the ink-bag is carefully 
* Pliny, Nat. Hist. vol. vi. bk. sxxii. c. 6. t Ibid. c. 52. 
