The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-02-19
TIN DxvIL-r1sH.


A piece Of rare good fortune has
fallen in my way, in connection with
this extraordinary fish. In my last
lecture, l gave your readers an ac-
count Of an interview which two of
our fishermen had with monstrous
specimen Of the race, in Conception
Hay, and Of the amputatron Of two OF
its arms. Yesterday a fisherman
from Logic Bay, called on me and in
formed me that he had captured
devil fish in : net. On examination
found that his statement was cor
rect, and that though the dimensions
Of this specimen are small, compared
with the monster Of Conception Bay,
il is by no means ito be sneezed at, J"
and is much larger than Victor HUI
COS celebrated devil-fsh. ! am now
the possessor of complete specimen
Of this remarkable cuttle-fsh; and,
judging from the articles which have
recently appeared on the subject, in
the Scientjfc american, there is no
other specimen on this side Of the
Atlantic. 1t took four stout fisher
men to kill it; and they were at
length compelled to cut off its head,
in order to accomplish their object
Had it not been entangled in . her.
ring net, 50 that its huge arms were
not available, as it could not get hold
By its suckers, the men would have
had no chance of capturing it. !
have Just been examining and meas
uring my prize, and certainly it is
one Of the most extraordinary and
horrible creatures ever drawn from
the great deep. The entire length
Of the body is about nine feet, and
about i've feet in girth at the thick
est part. The beak is small-not
much bigger than = mans fst-and
shaped exactly like that of parrot.
Round the head eight arms extend,
two Of them being long tentacles,
twenty-five feet in length, ribbon
like strips, not more than two inches
in circumference, and armed at the
extremities with rows of suckers
having teethed edges. The remain
ing six are powerful arms, each six
feet in length, and at the junction
with the body almost as thick as a
mans thigh. They taper to fine
point, and are entirely covered with
large suckers, having denticulated
edges, diminishing toward the ex-
tremities, where they are not larger
than . split pea. Clasped in those
six clammy arms, with some three
hundred suckers acting at one mo-
ment, and their sharp edges sinking
into the flesh, and seeming to drink
the blood, how powerless and hapless
a victim would ut once become! The
suckers stand out prominently from
the surface of the arm, to which each
is attached by stout ligature.-
How the creature can work these
long tentacles, which are but a strip
of cartilage, darting them them with
almost lighting speed, is inconceiva-
BILE. 1t seems to me that they must
be used as cables to anchor itself to
the rocks or to the bottom of the sea,
where the water is shallow, and thus
give it purchase" in grasping its
prey. Possibly, too, they may be
used as organs Of locomotion in NOV
ing forward along the bottom OF the
sea, or for the purpose Of grasping
more distant objects, and drawing
them within the reach OF the shorter
and stouter arms. The long arms Of
this specimen are very much thinner,
and not within ten feet as long as
the arm brought in by the fishermen
Of Portugal Cove, which must have
belonged to very much larger cut
tie. Altogether, my specimen is
wonderful sight-a huge cartilage
nous tube surmounted with beak
and eyes, but no face, around which
the immense arms radiate like the
spekes Of a wheel. The glutinous
mass has livid corpse-like appear
ance. If Barnum had it in his show
room, what rush there would be to
see it! At present it occupies an ig-
noble position on the floor of an out
house, but am taking means to hav-
inc il nreseryed.