Tank 15. 
49 
"funnel”, the flap being kept closed. This alternating movement serves 
also as a means of progression, the water which is being forced out, 
propelling the animal with its hind-end foremost (Fig. 78). The arms 
are used for crawling and climbing, they serve also to catch and hold the 
prey with their suckers. Food consists chiefly of crabs and fishes. The 
Octopus are strong and daring robbers, lying in wait for their prey in 
the crevices of the rocks. In the Aquarium they pile up large stones 
into a heap behind which they conceal themselves, ready to pounce out 
on the unwary fishes; their power of changing their colour and of pro¬ 
ducing all sorts of warts and wrinkles on their otherwise smooth skin, 
enables them to counterfeit so Closely their surroundings, that they can only 
be distinguished with difficulty. They are caught all round the coasts of the 
Mediterranean, allured by baits, upon which they pounce and with which 
they are hauled up. They are found in all Neapolitan fish markets, as they 
are often eaten, and the arms of young specimens are especially esteemed. 
4 
