The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-23
THE WAYS OF THE OCTOPUS.
A Naturalist Admits That Some In
divduals Show a Certain Degree OF

A Naturalist Admits That Some In
| dividuals Show a Certain Degree of
Feiocity
One of the most disagreeable ami
| mails of the sea to handle or contem-
plate is the octopus. The tangle of
arms, the snakelike movements, the
strange flashes of color, the green gilt
| terng eyes, are all features that
arouse a strong feeling of aversion on
the part of the observer. | have had
under observation several octopi at
| the Santa Catalina Aquarium, and it
| has been interesting to note the char
acteristlc features Of the various indi-
viduas In a small tank We're conin-
ed three individuals having a Sradial
spread of perhaps is inches. One af-
fected light yellow hue and was tim
id, sulking behind a rockk. Another,
| of dark reddish cast, was continual
ly fourishing it's tentacles, rising and
falling on the side of the glass until
! an observer nicknamed 1t the "'skirt
dancer" A third was almost black,
and was a indicative fellow, ready at
any time to make an attack When l
introduced my hand into the tank.
| this octopus would as quick as a flash
, send out one long attenuated tentacle
and coil about it, then if an advance
was made it would suddenly release its
hold upon the rock and quickly encon-
pass my hand with its eight arms,
| pressing the round serrated disks into
the flesh while tremulous motion
would be felt
! At the first attack of this kind the
sensation was one of horror. The hid
eous creature flattened out, assimilat-
ing the color of the flesh to a marked
| degree and evidently endeavoring to
smother the hand with it's folds, as the
tentacles were distended to their ut
most limit To hold the hand firm I'M
der circumstances required some eff
fort, and / confess when it was first
attempted with a Florida specimen,
beat a rapid and decided retreat; but
in the latter case | waited to see if
the animals object was to bite, know
ing that the bill of so small a speci-
men could not make a serious wound.
But the octopus merely pressed its
mouth on the back of my hand, APP
parently trying to intimidate the sup
posed enemy. While fastened to the
IL, /
was with difficulty released. When L
remained quiet, the animal began to
creep along like a huge spider, but at
the first movement of my fingers it
pounced upon my hand again, envelop-
ing it in the eight snakelike arms. |
finally twisted out of its grasp and
seized it firmly by the body, when its
rage became intense. Flushes of color
pressed over it in rapid succession;
now red, black, and when at the
height of its anger it was notified and
splashed with black-a frightful Great
ure. 1t made a desperate effort to es-
cape, but when released elected
cloud of ink, darling off rapidly under
its cover This octopus resented any
intrusion, and advanced to the attack
at once. When a strange octopus was
placed in the tank, although much
larger it came out of its corner with
out hesitation, eyed the newcomer a
moment, then in some incomprehensi-
BILE way hurled itself at the enemy,
and in a second the two We're rolling
over and over in a contest that was
amazing to witness. The sixteen tenta-
cles wound about each other with the
rapdity of light, and both animals
elected the inky fluid from their sy-
phons. They resembed a ball of
snakes rolling along and striking at
each other more than anything else.
A close examination of the writhing
mass showed that the object appar-
emily was to smother the opponent.
Finally the newcomer beat a retreat;
it was badly wounded, and succumbed
a few hours later.
The octopus is favorite subject
with popular writer's on atural history
and many accounts have been writ
ten of its ferocity, which are almost
invariably denied by naturalists;; yet
am inclined to think that in some in
stances certain individuals are more or
less pugnacious | have handled scores
of them from the Gulf of Mexico and
California, and observed only one in
stance-the one cited-where the ami
NAL deliberately rushed to the attack
though | know of two others. One
was observed by Mr.. Ralph Arnold
geologist of Pasadena. He was wad-
ing among the pools at low tide at
Point San Pedro when suddenly he
heard cry, and, turning, saw some
children in a pool wading, and moving |
toward them a large octopus, it's long
arms raised above the water. Wheth- |
er the animal would havhe attempted
TO attack them 10 d question, as il Was F.,
in a more or less violent |
manner. A resident of Washington
told me that once when visiting the |
shore he was advised by the fisherman |
with him to vaoid the pools, and when |
1t became necessary to cross them to |
pass over as quickly as possible. as
large octopi frequented them He con- |
sidered this the exaggeration of a fish |
erman and paid but little attention to |
1t; but once in crossing pool, step |
ping from stone to stone, suddenly a |
long livid arm shot out of the water, |
and reached insinuatingly for his legs, |
the entire animal moving rapidly to- |
ward him, He, however reached the |