Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-09-10
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The Character of CuttIe-Fish.

Our commerce with Japan is introducing
some rather novel articles of trade about the
mercantile value or use Of which few persons
are well informed. One Of the most valu-
able of these, rapeseed oil, is beginning to be
pretty we'll appreciated as a burning-huid.
Others, however, are mainly used by Asiatio
residents, and among these we may enumer-
ate seaweed and cuttle-fsh. The former is
a glutinous substance, and much priced by
those who esteem most highly the far-famed
"bird's nest luxury. OF the cuttle-fsh we
have heretofore known little except that it
afforded peculiar-shaped bone, indispensa-
BILE to the aviary, or at least that portion of
it assigned to the canary. The flesh Of this
fish, however, is highly priced in Asiatic
countries as an article of food; and by the
japanese, on the coast Of whose country it
is found in abundance, it is dried, and be-
comes an article of mercantile value.
The cuttle-fish belongs to the class mol
lusca, and without essentially varying in
characteristics from the small quid used as
bait by cod-fishers, to the monster kraken
(the cephalopoda of naturalistsl whose arms
have been known to be forty-fve feet in
length, is Of all possible sizes, so that it has
been designated by sailors to be both the
largest and smallest fish known to sea-going
men. The larger varieties of the cuttle-fsh,
however, seldom frequent the shores, but
inhabit deep waters, where they become the
prey, and perhaps the antagonist, of the
sperm-whale. The noted whaler Captain
Coffin some years ago, on being interrogated
by committee of the British House of
Commons ON some points designed to eluci-
date the formation of ambergris, incidently
stated that he once killed sperm-whale
from whose stomach he took part of the arm
of cuttle-fsh, which portion measured
twenty-eight feet. Montfort relates that on
the Norwegian coast, the flesh of the larger
cuttle-fsh is deemed by the sailors great
delicacy.
But it is the smaller animal of this descrip-
tion that is taken hV the Japanese. 1t is
found in crevices of rocks, but is almost en-
tirely aquatic, preying upon fish and vermin.
Montfort describes itas holding on to the pro-
iecting rocks on shore, by one or two of its
arms, while with the others of these mem
bers it gropes for its prey in the water.
When thus found, it has sometimes been
known to have attained the size of the hu-
man head, and had arms six feet in length
and several inches in diameter. Their cap
ture is said to be q work of great risk, as
they are by no means non-combatants, and
possess the power and the disposition TO in
volve the attacking party in the coils oftheir
long and serpent-likea arms. Montfort relates
that, on one occasion, himself and power
full mastiff which accompanied him, barely
escaped with life from an encounter with
one of these shore mollusci ban
The bone of the cuttle-fish, which is uni
versally known, (the os sepia of the drug
gist,j seems to be the skeleton Of the fish,
and is found in great abundance in various
parts of the world. The shores of Australia
are said to afford them in myriads. 1t occu-
pies the center of the bag-like body of the
| fish, and seems assigned by nature merely to
sustain and give shape to the fabric around
it. 1t is a chalky substance, and in former
days was supposed to possess rare medical
virtues. 1t still enters into the composition
of some dentrifices, and is said to form a
part of the best Partisan "rouge"
The pigment well-known as India ink is
made from a fluid secreted by the cuttle-
fish. This fluid is of a jet black color, and
is exuded in great quantity even by the di-
-minutiVesquid. According to travellers who
describe The manufacture of India ink, the
Chinese gather the fish, and throw them TO-
gether in watts, where the ink flows out, and
is drained off in proper vessels. 1t is wei
known that the black tint of the fluid Sc
creted by the cod-bait is ineradicable.
The aneients were well acquainted with
the cuttle-fsb, and the Greeks and Romans
esteemed it delicaey, and paid for it high
price. According to Pliny, the gourmands
of Rome ate every variety of this fish found
in the Mediterranean.
But, after all, it may be deemed question
able whether the opening up of Japanese
commerce can be the means of introducing
the cuttle-fish to the tables of Anglo-Ameri-
can barbarians. Still, if our Asiatic resi-
dents prize it as an article of food, its im-
portation is all well enough. Commerce is
not at all fastidious. If cuttle-fish, sea-weed
or any thing else will "pay," let us have it,
Alta Californian. .a'.t .-.,-.- ......