Morning journal and courier., 1880-03-12
Monsters of the Deep.

NEA8MtB OA UnG NOFtn AtA@mBtC SPGCkeS-
 The Octopus of the Mediterranean-
 Their Habits, Size and Other Char : acteristics Suckers, Beaks.
 Means of LOcOm0tiOn-TerrOr of Sea-
 men-FriGhtened VOyaEers-IllustrR-
 ti0ns Upon 1he Screen-The Latest
 About the CePhaIOpOds.
 Prof. VerriH delivered the eleventh lecture in the mechanics course at North Sheffield
 Hall last evening before an audience of sev-
 eral hundred people, including various of the professors of Yale, students and ladies. It
 was, as predicted by the nature of the topic and the high qualifications of the lecturer, of
 peculiar and even absorbing interest Amer ica takes the palm for big prairies, the biggest
 waterfalls and sundry other huge affairs, and
 in the matter of devil fish she is not sur-
 passed, her North Atlantic waters possessing
 the most gigantic sized creatures of the kind
 found anywhere as yet on the globe. The lec-
 ture was of special value also as affording the
 latest and most authentic information yet ob-
 tained regarding these monsters of the deep.
 Professor Brewer, stepping to the platform,
 announced Q lecture for tonight at the hall
 by General Abbott, of the United States En
 gineers, the head of the engineering school |;
 subject: ''Torpedoes" It is the last in the
 course of lectures to the students of the school
 now pending and is open to the public.
 Prof. VerriH said that many of the huge
 fish caught on the coast of Florida and the
 Indies, which were twenty-five or thirty
 feet long, were commonly called devil fish, or
 vampires, but they belonged to another class.
 So also of another fish found in Northern
 La T a.I> R.I>1
 small sized ones of which are found of New
 Haven. The name devil fish was applied
 properly to different class of creatures, to the
 interesting class termed the cephalopods, and was applied more particularly to that group
 called the octopi. An illustration of an oc- topus was given upon the screen calling forth wondering glances. The octopus was a gen. uine cephalopod and belonged to that divis- ion of the species which have eight arms. These arms are covered with cup shaped suckers. by means of which 1t is able to seize hold of it's prey. The term devil fish Is not restricted to these creatures. The cutie fish are of this variety. The differ ence between an octopus and the North Allan tic devil fish is that the one has eight arms the other ten. The latter are possessed of two extra arms which are covered with suck CTS only at the end and are much longer than like what are called squids, which are used extensively as bait in the codfsheries. Jars containing specimens of these were shown. The gigantic species called devil fish is frs- quently found on the coast of Newfoundland. It grows to be the largest of all the inhabit- ants of the ocean, and is only exceeded in size by the whale and the largest sharks while with their long arms counted in they present much more gigantic appearance than the latter. The largest known from authentic sources which has turned up had total length of ffty-fiVe feet from the end of the tail to the tip of the long arms. better idea, the professor added, would be conveyed by imag- ! ming that the head of this giant was where ! he stood In that case the arms would reach ! all the people present. The audience occu- pied large area and seemed to vividly grasp | the force of the illustration. The body of this creature was 19 feet in length and IA in circumference, and it's weight was something over 4 ,O0O pounds. It was certainly a for midable creature and fairly entitled to the name devil fish.
 The speaker now referred to Victor Hugo's vivid picture of the devil fish in his ssToilers of the Sea-, and while allowing full weight to the genius of the description said, in effect. that the great author had "mixed those chil- dren up, having confounded the octopus with | a devil fish, and also having on paper created a new marine monster the like of which did not exist in the waters beneath He made many other errors in this wise, and he should have confined himself strictly to
 his own personal observations of an octopus l in that chapter. The octopus is exceedingly | muscular. Its arms are sold as food in the ! fish markets of France and Italy. Victor Hugo described the arms as hollow, and he l thought the suckers were to get the blood of
 the victim with, whereas they were simply for the purpose of holding fast the prey.
 The professor doubted if there was any positive information to justify the belief that the octopus or any other huge cephalopod was ever guilty of willfully destroying human
 being, but supposed that one of these fish
 might lay hold of the body of man whom ii had found drowned and use it for food. The | octopus lives upon cIams oysters, Holsters | and creatures of like character. We must summarize owing to the lateness of the hour. The professor said of the devil fish that lie at the bottom of the ocean, wait for | their prey, such as codish, mackersl, etc., l they seize the fish by their long arms, pass | it to their short arms, the suckers of which
 hold it fast, and it is then passed to it's horny, | peaked mouth, where it is rasped very finely | by the tongue, and then is swallowed. The throat is small. The fish propels itself by ejecting a volume of water from its body. These devil fish (and some squids shown) are l the most highly organized of all the squid l CESdG1Ou3 huu Ghuh tA0 AABhoSb. lucy hEO LAS | most intelligent, the most highly endowed with 1 the organs of sense havethe most perfect eyes, | have wonderful means of offense and defense l Gin their suckers), and have in their head | which is cartilaginous, considerable quan- l tity of brains. One of the most singular | features of the cephalopod is it's organ o1 ! locomotion. They have large internal | cavity containing gills, and having an open | ing at the side through which the water enters the cavity. There is flap or valve and tunnel-shaped tube. When the sides oi I the body contract the water rushes out the tube with great rapidity. and the action of this | water ejected on the surrounding water causes ! the passage of the fish through the water. | This is the principal means of locomotion oi | the ten-armed cephalopod. The devil
 fish swims usually backward, but car | also swim forward. The difference between the suckers of the devil fish and the l octopus was told. Those of the former are | supplied with saw-shaped teeth all around the | rim. The one is attached to the limb by g | stem, in the other case it is not. The sucker | with a stem is best, allowing free motion and | change of position. Another interesting fact
 concerning these devil fish is that they are ot various hues and colors, and some are ar l rayed in very beautiful colors. These colors also may shift and change as rapidly al | light moves. This is in some cases a means | of protection against foes The devil fish al
 so elects an inky fluid, which is also a pro | lection. The dlhculty or obtaining specimens | was referred to- as fishermen almost invaria bly, attack and kill, when they summon ur | courage, and like them long distance off | However, Prof. Vsrrill has in the Peabody Museum many specimens, including parts o1 some of the monsters. Also these fish l (weighing LOGO pounds) are used to feast doRi | with, and will last a whole pack all winter. Il | is to be added that as far as known none oi
 these devil fish ever come to the surface until | sick or disabled. ssWe append various accounts l concerning the monster, which were given by
 the professor.
 No. 16. In letter dated Nov. 27, 1877, MT. Harvey gives an account of another spec l imen, which was stranded on the shore al ! Lance Cove, Smiths Sound, Trinity Bay. He received his information from MT. John Duff | fet, resident of the locality, who was one | of the persons who found and measured it. His account is as follows -"On Nov. q, 1877,
 early in the morning,s big squid' was seen on the beach, at Lance Cove, still alive and strug- gling desperately to escape. It had been
 borne in by 8 spring tide and high inshore wind. In it's struggles to get of it ploughed ' up trench of furrow about thirty feet long I and of considerable depth by the stream of | water that 1t elected with great force from it's N csn 1o 7aI ;al