Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-03

equipped with suckers, and the frightened
animal sinks with its captive to the bottom,
where it tears him to pieces with its pow
erful parrot-like beak, goggling the while
with great greenish eyes over Its hideous
repast."
The giant squid, by the way, has eve
many times bigger than those OF any other
known animal, measuring quite IL inches
in diameter in full-grown specimen. Those
of the diminutive individual referred to In
the National Museum are each one foot
across. One point for which the great
ichthyosaurus of the Mesozoic Epoch was
remarkable was its huge eyes, which were
inches in diameter, being set in bony cups
like those of bird, but they did not COM
pare in size with the ocular organs OF this
mighty mollusk. In passing it may be re-
marked that only few years ago an
ignorant ship captain, who never could
have heard of the original reptile, arrived
at the port of San Francisco with detailed
and completely accurate description OF
creature that he had seen in a calm on the
bottom off the Pacific coast, which, If his re-
port was true, must have been q living
plesiosaurus This extraordinary aquatic
animal, supposed to have been extinct for
ages, would answer very well to the con-
ventional description of the sea serpent, re-
sembling gigantic snake threaded through
the body of turtle, and having the head of
lizard, the feet of a crocodile, a neck like
a serpent 80 feet long, the ribs of chame-
leon and the paddles of whale.
The Appearance in 1913.
The ''glistening eye" of the monster is q
point particularly mentioned in the ac-
counts given of what was in some respects
the most remarkable appearance of the sea
serpent on record, inasmuch as the creature
was viewed by thousands of people COIN
cidently. 1t selected as the spot for exhibit
ing itself the bay off Nahant-that staid
and sober place which has been described
as "a slice of cold roast Boston" The
the weather was pleasant and calm, SO that
the crowds which gathered on the shore
were able to observe the great SNAKE" to
the utmost advantage, as it swan about
between two projecting headlands, coming
SO near the beach as to cause many of the
spectators to retreat affrighted. 1t appeared
to be about so feet long, of dark color and
held its head two feet out of water, through
which it progressed at the speed of an
ordinary steamboat. As it turned short,
after advancing to within 100 feet of the
land, and went seaward, its snake-like form
became apparent, the body bending like an
s.
shore by people afoot and in carriages.
Attempts have been made to identify this
sea serpent with a supposed giant squid
which may have found its way into the bay.
These great mollusks not infrequently run
ashore, and they are very numerous in the
North Atlantic.
A Monster Too Big to Catch.
On November 30, 1861, between Madeira
nd ho
ton: commanded by Lieutenant Bouyer,
came upon an enormous specimen appar-
emily asleep. Many bullets that were fired
at 1t passed through its soft flesh without
doing it much harm apparently, and har-
poons buried in its body would not hold.
Finally, a rope with a running moose was
slipped over the tail of the animal, but when
it was attempted to hoist it upon deck,
the enormous weight caused the rope to cut
through the mass, which fell and sank. On
July s, 1873, according to afidavits made
by the officers and crew of the barque
Pauline, they all saw three large sperm
whales of the lee bow, being at the time in
latitude 30 49, south, and longitude $50
west. Suddenly strange and unknown
monster appeared just ahead and threw an
arm that was quite 100 feet long around one
of the whales, encircling the latter three
times, and dragged it head foremost to the
bottom
The giant squid swims backward by ex-
pelling stream of water from huge sip
hon with which it is provided. While feed
ing at the surface, its tail projects above
and the convolutions of the long tentacles
following after might easily produce to the
eye the effect Of snake in motion.
The Octopus of the Seas
In the same apartment at the Nationa
Museum with the model of the monster pre
viously described is a hideous reproduction
in papier mache of that other frightful mol
lusk, the poulp or octopus, the specimen
represented having a spread Of 16 feet. This
creature chooses for its haunt some dark
Granny in the rocks, where it lies in wait,
clinging with three or four of its great arms,
while the others, waving, gliding and feel
ing about in the water, are on the alert to
grasp any prey. A man who is so unfortu-
nate as to come within reach is at once
embraced. 1nstantaneously the pistons of
hundreds of suckers that cover the eight
tentacles are drawn inward, the air is re-
moved from the pneumatic holders, and,
vacuum being created in each, the victim is
so pinioned that hardly a struggle is posi-
BILE. The other arms are Immediately
wrapped about him, and he is drawn into a
closer embrace to be torn TO pieces by the
creature Dedk anu ABSORBED.
The Chinese regard these octopods as a
great delicacy for eating, and they are SINH
larly relished in many other parts of the
world. In the Mediterranean numerous
species of them, mostly of small size, are
fshed for, and along the coast of Algeria
they are caught in a very curious fashion
by means of earthen jugs junk in the water
Probably because the poulp Is soft-bodied
animal and therefore an easy prey for many
enemies, it will eagerly take advantage of
an opportunity to seek shelter in jug,
from the mouth of which it can spread its
tentacles for prey. Accordingly, it is not
uncommon for the fishermen, on hauling
up these queer traps after few hours, to
find every one of them occupied by an oc-
topus
The Eevil Fish Is Dangerous
The term ''devil fish" is commonly ap-
piled to the great octopus, though the true
devil fish is quite different animal, be-
longing to the family of rays. This latter
monsters of the deep. When full grown, it
measures 80 feet from tip to tip of its tre-
mendous "wings," which are merely very
much developed feshy fms Its muscular
power is so enormous that there are many
well-authenticated stories of its carrying off
small vessels, having become fouled with
the anchor lines. A specimen captured off
Barbados required seven oxen to draw it
over the land Accounts of less relia-
BILE authority are given of its assailing
boats, swamping them with upIifted wing.
A beak consisting of two heshy horns that
extend forward from its head assists it in
grasping its prey. Being carnivorous, it
would presumably devour human beings