St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-04-19

| out She could not be found. and suppOsin
she had been drowned. boat load @
natives started OF to examine the bottom
Some distance away. neSr a ledge o
rocks. they found the body, and resting
on 1t, or with its tentacles about il. wa
q monster octopus. 1t was claimed tha
the big sea-spider had seized the womaI
and dragged her down beneath tn,
waves; but it is equally possible tina
she was drowned by natural causes. ant
the octopus was there by accident IL
this as it may. single octupus Of larg'
size could hold down three or four men
! venture this assertion from experience
with small ones with radial spread o.
When struck, the octopus would imme
diately throw out cloud of ink. and en-
deavor to escape among the coral
and the moment it was lifted by ths
spear it would hold with such power
that it was often impossible to dislodge
it without tearing it in pieces; and fire.
quently, in putting my entire strength
into play, the coral itself would give
way, and the octopus would come uE
holding in its eight sucker-lined arms
from twenty to thirty pounds of branch
coral.
No more disagreeable objects can be
imagined than a living octopus. Waves
OF color seem to follow each other over
its surface with remarkable rapidity;
its eyes are greenish yellow, emitting a
baneful light; and the drops of ink might
be taken as blood, adding to the disa-
greeable picture.
The tenacity of their hold was laugh
ingly illustrated in the case of a friend
Of the writer. lie was collecting coral.
and when the boat was filed they pulled
to neighboring island and placed the
lunches upon the beach to bleach. His
assistant was barefooted. with his
trowsers rolled up above his knees, so
that he could wade about. and while he
was carrying up large bundle of coral,
= big octopus dropped out upon the sand,
and began to make for cthe water.
Wishing to secure it as a speci-
men for the alcohol bottle, the
man ran before it, and just as it
reached the water. thoughtlessly struck
it with his foot, intending to kick it
higher up toward the shore. But the
octopus resented the insult, and, as
quick as wink, threw its arms about
the bare legs of the man, and held him.
yelling and screaming, until my friend
had recovered from his laughter. and
tore the insulted animal away, who, it
is to be hoped. received its liberty after
such fight for it.
Another instance of an octopus at
tacking man is the case of Mr.. Beale,
the English naturalist. He was walk
ing around among the sea-weed of one
Of the Pacific islands, and seeing curi-
ous, spider-like animal. he attempted to
take it up, when it sprang at him, fast
ening its tentacles about his arms. and
could only be removed by the assistance
Of his friends, who cut it away with
knives piece by piece.
The largest octopus is found in Alaskan
waters, and good-sizcd ones are often
near San Francisco, and can
sometimes he seen in the markets. being
by the French, Italians and
Chinese as articles of food. In the
'ropics they are very common, lurking
n the lunches of coral, and small
'pecies, named after the late Prof.
Specer +. Baird. of the Smithsonian. is
ound off the New England coast in
luite deep water.
Much more remarkable in its way is
he giant squid, another spider-like ami
nal, and q cousin of the octopus. They
liffer from these animals. however, in
living in mid-water, and in being re-
swift swimmers, having
ong body, generally terminating in an
or pointed fin. The squids
4 our own shores are small, averaging
rom eight inches to . foot in length;
nut, in the open ocean. and especially
n the coast of Newfoundland, some
cry remarkable specimens have been
iscovered that dwarf our familiar ones.
Some years ago fisherman observed
white mass floating near shore and |
truck at it with his oar. Instantly two |
normOus black eyes appeared. and the |
quid-for such it was-threw several of |
IS arms over the boat. which were |
hoped of by the frightened man.
he animal was secured, however. and |
ound to be, from the tip of its tail to |
he end of the long tentacles, over fifty |
Get in length. Instead of eight arms,
he squids have ten, or are decapods in |
tead of octopods. Two of the arms are
cry long, with suckers at the tips only. |
lille the other eight resemble those of |
he octopus. The writer examined one
these monsters once, which was about /
feet in length. Its two long
were about thirty feet in
,ngth, and its body, which was barrel
haped, ending in an arrow-like tail
m feet long. Its estimated weight
as about that Of large horse. In
winning, the squid moves backwards,
: tail first propelled by a stream OF
ater which it forces from a siphon. The
vo long arms are kept coiled near the
ody, and are darted out suddenly to
.pture fishes, which constitute the food
the animal. Once caught, the fish is
rawn up or in among the smaller arms
nd there pressed upon the parrot-like
eaks of the animal.
In killing their prey, no little intelli-
snce is used, even among the small
luids- In almost every fish examined
, the writer. that had been captured
= squids, it had been killed by a bite.
lat severed the backbone, instantly de-
roying the animal and preventing it
ON struggling or escaping. A use for
le long arms has been observed in the
ortk. A squid, being down among the
'eakers and in danger Of being washed
shore, fastened its long tentacles to
*, and used them as cables with
hich to ride out the gale.
The eoui6 and rr<opus ara ro1aNaA "a \