The Poulpe — The Argonaut. 
537 
THE POULPE, (Octopus vulgaris,) 
Has only eight arms, the two long tentacles of the Sepia 
being absent. It is found on our coasts, and is especially 
abundant in the Mediterranean, where it is regularly 
brought to market as an article of food. 
THE ARGONAUT, OR PAPER NAUTILUS, 
Is a kind of Poulpe, in which only six of the arms 
present the ordinary form, the other pair being ex- 
panded into broad, flat organs. It was supposed by 
the ancients, and, indeed, until very recently, that these 
expanded arms were used by the animal as sails ; it was 
described as floating at the surface of the sea, with the 
back of the shell downwards, the six arms sticking into 
the water like so many oars, and the two broad members 
elevated to catch the breeze ; but it is now known that 
the so-called sails are used to embrace the shell when 
the animal is swimming backwards, in the same way as 
its allies, and it also appears that it is by these arms 
that the shell is enlarged. The Argonaut is found in 
the Mediterranean. 
