The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-29 00:00:00

THE CUTTLE FISII.

A very interesting addition has been made to the zoo-
logical department of the Dublin Exhibition—a specimen
of a living cuttle fish, or octopus, which attracted a
crowd of visitors. It is placed in a glass vivarium,
filled with sea water, near the salmon fry. To the an-
tiquarian the animal is interesting, as in some old draw-
ings of the Labours of Hercules in the Combat of the
Hydra, the monster is represented as an enormous cuttle
fish, from which the hero is lopping off arm after arm,
and to the lover of the marvellous the animal is equally
interesting, as tales reach us occasionally of cattle fish
of such size as to be able to drag down men from the
decks of large vessels in the Indian Ocean, and arms
have been found of 20 and 24 feet long. If there be
any truth in the stories that occasionally reach us of
sea serpents, it is most probable the cuttle fish has
been the animal seen, for even in this small specimen
the eyes are large and as brilliant as those of an eagle,
while its arms, best seen when the animal isin motion,
give an idea of great power, and when of a large size
must be terrible to behold, both from shape and power.
It would appear as if the creature had little power, for
its body is soft or cartilaginous, but it is armed with
8 long tentacula, or arms, with which it has the power
of enveloping any animal with which it may come in con
tact ; and from its grasp no animal can extricate itself,
OA each arm is furnished with innumerable suckers,
armed with little circles of bony teeth. Once wrapped
round with these, all struggles are useless ' • and thus
even the largest lobster and crab fall an easy prey to an
animal without any shell or armour, and apparently,
compared with them, feeble and helpless. But not the
least wonderful part is the head of the animal, placed
in the middle of the circle from which the tentacula
or arms spring, and from which animals of this
class are named cephalopoda. The head or mouth is
armed with a beak, consisting of two bills—an upper
and lower, in shape, colour, and texture exactly resem-
bling a parrot's beak, and with this, while the lobster is
held helpless, the beak now works its way through the
shell. The power which the cuttle fish possesses of
changing colour is very extraordinary. In a second of
time it will change from a grey to white, then to a
spotted tint like a leopard's skin, and quickly from this
to perhaps a vivid vermillion or crimson—in this far sur-
passing the chameleon. It has two modes of progres-
sion, one by walking with its head downwards like the
ceiling-walker--the other, very strange, by ejecting from
an orifice close to its beak water with great force, by the
re-action of which the animal is propelled like a rocket in
the contrary direction. And to add to all this, it is the
animal which furnishes Indian ink, so much prized by
our artists. As a type of a class of animals among the
most wonderful of the creation, and to be found on our
own shores, this creature is well worth a visit. We
were near forgetting to add not the least and not the
last of the wonders of this curious race, that this animal
is provided with no less than three hearts to carry on its
circulation. If it came thousands of miles to us, and
that only a single specimen were obtained in a space of
years, it would be sought after as a marvel, and would
make the fortune of a zoological garden. The cuttle fish
is, in every respect of formation, habits, and shape, more
wonderful and more beautiful than a hippopotamus or an
anteater, and not the less to be admired that we have
got it in our own sea. The specimen in the Exhibition
was obtained in Dalkey Sound.