The HIS FORY 
think the number of thefe ramifications is almoft 
infinite. 
Words cannot do juftice to the contrivance, 
order, invention, and moft elegant conftruction 
of thefe parts ; fo that my figures deferve only to 
be confidered as the faint fhadows of their per- 
fection. The gills are membranaceous under- 
neath, near the roots, where they end in a flen- 
der ftalk, as it were, and are faftened, as ap- 
pears, by a pretty ftrong ligament, //, though 
as yet, [am not fure but this ligament itfelf, 
may be compofed of blood-veffels, not having 
had fubjects enough to examine thefe parts. fo 
much as they deferved. On opening the divi- 
fions of the gills, this ligament makes a pretty 
appearance ; at the fame time, that we may dif- 
cover how thefe parts grow more and more flen- 
der towards their roots, 72. 
Indeed the conftruction of the gills is more ap- 
parent in other kinds of fifth, whofe blood is red; 
for in fome we meet with cartilages, and in others 
real bones, over whofe furface the blood veflels 
are diftributed. ‘This circumftance I formerly 
moft evidently difcovered in the Sturgeon, the 
Whiting, and other fithes, by injecting their 
blood veffels according to a method peculiar to 
myfelf, and of my own invention, This I 
could difcover, and’ 1 faw it with the greateft 
aftonifhment, that the contrivance, ftructure, and 
order difplayed in thefe parts by the fupreme 
Architect, and difcoverable by thofe who love to 
contemplate Him in his works, were infinite in 
perfection and number, as I fhall hereafter en- 
deavour to prove by defcribing and delineating 
fome of them by way of {pecimen of the reft. In 
the mean time, I can fhew the curious the parts 
themfelves injected by me with wax of feveral dif. 
ferent colours. 
In that part of the Cuttle-fith’s body, which 
I confider as the thorax, there is a protube- 
rance, Tab. LI. Fig.1. 2, by naturalifts called 
mutis. Upon this part there is always found 
lying an open pipe, quite loofe, fo as not to 
be confined to any one place 0, but floating 
freely in the body. This pipe is, properly 
fpeaking, the animal’s rectum, or ftraight gut. 
It has alfa a remarkable aperture at its end, by 
which the fith difcharges its inky liquor from 
the bag contrived by nature to contain it. This 
bag lies in the lower region of the belly, where 
it fhews itfelf thro’ the tranfparent interpofing 
parts p. Near the lower part of the ftraight gut 
there are two more fhort, open-mouthed tubu- 
Yar channels gg, for the difcharge of the fe- 
minal matter, the veffels of which lie under 
thefe channels, with an extuberant membrane 
between them +. Lower down in the fto- 
mach s, and under the ftomach, a certain lit- 
tle particle or body ¢, belonging to the {per- 
matick veffels, fhews itfélf thro’ the tran{pa- 
rent parts that lie over.it. 
In that part of the body where the extremi- 
ty of the ftraight gut floats loofely on the right, 
there is on the left another loofely-floating tu- 
bular aperture w, thro’ which the tefticle itfelf 
difcharges its fperm, which is afterwards to 
be carried off into the water, thro’ the com- 
I 
oo MiNRAC Ts. 
143 
mon excretory duét. This tefticle is placed 
with its vas deferens, on the left fide under the 
gills x, and fhews itfelf faintly without diffect- 
ing the parts that cover it. 
It is now time to give a more complete enu- 
meration of all the parts hitherto mentioned, 
with a fuller defcription of them; and the fi- 
gures will make it ftill more intelligible: this 
I thall do, after having firft taken {ome notice 
of the parts of the Cuttle-fith belonging to its 
head, which lies upon the back. It is here 
that we fee its beak, and the muicular circuni= 
ference of its mouth a, which I have here re- 
prefented a little Jefs than nature ; but in every 
thing elfe perfectly agreeable to the life. But, 
not to make mydrawings too large, Ihave taken 
the liberty of curtailing the legs, and the twe 
arms in this figure ¢@, which I have exhibited 
in their natural fituation and pofture. I have 
likewife taken great care to fhew exadtly in what 
order the acetabula are placed on the two fore- 
legs, when the mutfcles of thefe acetabula are 
contracted ; for it isan eafy matter to procure a 
fight of them in this ftate, even in a dead fith. 
This is done by cutting fome of them off, 
with part of the leg to which they belong, 
and then dipping the whole in boiling water ; 
for in lefs than a minute they become perfectly 
contracted. 
Tlikewife give a drawing of thefe mufcles 
with their acetabula, as they appeared at the 
extremity of one of the arms, which I had 
{tripped of its internal fkin; fo that their in- 
fertion and conftruction, Tab. LI. Fig. 1. a, 
may, by this means be very diftinétly feen, as 
likewife the order in which the acetabula them= 
felves are united with their mufcles 4. It like 
wife appears by this figure, that both the aceta- 
bula and their mufcles, are much larger about 
the middle of the arms than at either of their 
extremities ¢ ¢. 
I have thought proper to reprefent in a feg- 
ment of one of the larger legs, that lie over the 
head, Fig.I. yy, the internal ftru@ture of the legs 
themfelves. Their texture on the outfide is 
fibrous and mufcular; but within-fide it is a 
little more fungous. In the middle of them 
there appeared fomething that I took for a 
blood-veffel, and I have here reprefented by a 
black dot}. 
To take a furvey of the Cuttle-fith’s infide, 
it is neceflary to cut away the common ex- 
cretory duct, and the mufcles which move its 
two acetabula, and then very cautioufly to open 
that part which 1 call the thorax, and raife 
from it its membranaceous covering. This 
done, there appears the loofe fungous body, 
called mutis by naturalifts, and thought by 
them to have a great refemblance to the liver. 
Ihave always found this mutis regularly di- 
divided into very diftinct parts. The upper 
part is very thick, and with gentle treatment 
it may on each fide be eafily parted into two 
lobes, Fig. HI. a. Otherwife, on wounding 
the coat that invefts it, its fubftance readily 
flows off, being exceeding foft, and like a liver 
bruifed by an anatomift, in order to extra@ its 
parenchyma, 
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