San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1877-11-10
The Devil-fish.

Mr.. Thomas Beale, who was the an,
geon of South Sea whaling-ship, ana
who afterward printed a History ~
the Sperm Whale," gives an interestin.
account of his encounter while on ~
BONN Islands with q small octonD,
which had been washed ashore and lsA
by the reoeding tide. 1t seemed fright
ened at first, and endeavored to escaO.
and in trying to detain it he pressed on
one of its legs with his foot. He Con-
tinues: "But, although I made use a
considerable force for that purpose, h
strength was so great that it sevnl
times quickly liberated its memberb
spite of all the efforts l could employb
this way on wet, slippery rocks. In~
laid hold of one of its tentacles with m,
hand, and held it firmly so that III,
limb appeared as if it would be torn as
under by our united strength. soon
gave it a powerful jerk, wishing to dis.
engage it from the rocks to which It
chung so forcibly by its suckers, which
it ellectually resisted; but the moment
after, the apparently enraged animal
lifted its head, with its
large eyes projecting from The
middle of its body, and letting go ih
hold on the rocks, sprang upon my arm
which I had previously barred to the
shoulder, and chung with its suckers TO
it with great power, endeavoring to get
its beak, which could now see between
the roots of it's arms, in position to bite,
A sensation of horror pervaded my
whole frame when | found this mon.
strous animal had affixed itself so firmly
to my arm. Its cold, Shiny grasp was
extremely sickening, and | Immediately
called aloud to the Captain, who was
searching for shells at some distance, to
come and release me from my disgust
ing assailant. He quickly arrived, and
taking me down to the boat, during
which 1 was employed in keeping the
beak away from nay hand, quicklyre.
leased me by destroying my torment0r
with boat knife, when 1 disengagedt
by portions at time. This animal
must have measured across its EXTENDED
arms about four feet, while its body was
not larger than large clenched hand
This little fellow which it took two men
to destroy, when he was out of his ma
tive element, was hardly one-tenth the
size of the one now in New York"
The octopus has another means Of
self-protection, which, though never
failing in the water, is useless when he
happens to be stranded on the shore. He
is provided with remarkable organ,
commonly called his "ink bag" which
is filled with dense fluid. When
frightened or disturbed he discharges
this in such quantities as to discolor the
water for a considerable space above
and around him, and under cover Of its
inky darkness he propels himself swiftly
from the place of danger. Cicero speaks
of the use of this ink for writing pur.
poses, and from it is now prepared the
true "Sepia" of artists. The drawings
with which Culver illustrated his can
atomy of the Mollusca." were executed
with the ink he had collected while dis
secting numbers of specimens OF the
cephalopoda.
The good livers and epicures of an
cient times regarded the octopus Or
polypus as table delicacy entirely be-
You'd the means of poor man, a dainty
dish only within the reach of the rich.
The fishermen of Newfoundland even
now value the flesh of the octopus very
highly as the best bait they can obtain
for cod-fshing, and with it it is said
over one hundred millions of cod are
caught annually.-New York Sun.