Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-12-05
IT INSPIRES HORROR.
| a Hlbeous CREATURE TO coNTEM-
PLATE Is THE OCTOPUS

Crash TAen In It's siiny ana writh-
Ing Tentacles.
One OF the most dlsagreeable animals
of the sea to handle or contemplate IL
the octupus. The tangle Of arms. the
snakelIke movements. the strange
flashes Of color. the green glittering
eyes, are all features that arouse a
strong feeling Of aversion on the part
OF the observer. have had under OBJ
servation several octopi at the Santa
Catalina aquarium. and II has been In
teresting to note the Characteristic Tea
lures of the various individuals, In q
small tank were confined three indi-
viduais having a radial spread Of per
haps IS inches. One affected a light
yellow hue and was timid. sulking be-
hind rock Another. OF dark reddish
cast. was continually Hourishing Its
tentacles. rising and failing on the side
Of the glass until an observer nick
named II the skirt dancer" A third
was almost black. and was a vindic'
tive fellow, ready at any time to make
an attack. When l introduced my hand
into the tank. this octopus would
as quick as fash send out one
long attenuatcd tentncle and coll
about Il: then II an advance was made
II would suddenly release Its hold upon
the rock and quickly encompass my
hand with Its eight arms, pressing the
round serrnted disks into the flesh
while a tremulous motion would be
felt.
At the first attack Of this kind the
sensation was one Of horror. The hid
eous creature fiattened out. assimilat-
Ing the color Of the flesh to n marked
degree and evidently endeavorlng to
smother the hand with Its folds. as the
tentacles were distended to their ut
most limit. To hold the hand arm
under such circumstances required
some effort. and confess when II was
first attempted. with a Florida speci-
men. beat rapid and decided re-
trent: but In the latter case ] waited
10 pee II the animals object was to
bite. knowing that the bill OF so small
n specimen could not make serious
wound. But the octopus merely pressed
It's mouth on the back OF my hand. APP
parently trying TO intimidate the sup
posed enemy. While fastened TO the
hand. Il still held TO the rock, and IL
was with difficulty released. When !
remained quiet. the animal began to
creep along like a huge spider. but At
the FIRST movement Of my fingers II
pounced upon my hand again. envelop-
Ing Il In the eight snakelike arms. l
finally twisted out Of Its grasp and
seized IL firmly by the body. when Its
rage became intense. Flushes OF color
passed over IL I'm rapid succession: now
red. black. yellow and when at the
height 81 Its anger II was notified and
splashcd with black-a frightful crea-
turc. II made desperate effort TO es-
cape. but when released elected cloud
OF ink. darling Of rapidly under It's COW
er. This octopus resented any intrusion
and advanced 10 the attack at once.
When n strange octopus was placed In
the tank. although much larger. IL came
out OF It's corner without hesitation.
eyed the newcomer moment. then In
some incomprehensible way hurled II
self AT the enemy, and In second the
two were rolling over and over In a
contest that was amazing 10 witness.
The 10 tentacles wound about each
other with the rapidlty OF light, and
both animals elected the lnky auid
from their siphons. They resembled
ball OF snakes rolling along and
striking AT each other more than any
thing else. A close examination OF the
writhing mass showed that the object
| apparently was TO smother the oppo-
nent. Finally, the newcomer beat a
| retreat: II was badly wounded and sue
cumbed few hours later.
The octopus is favorite subject
with popular writer's on natural his
tory. and many accounts have been
written OF Its ferocIty. which are al.
most invariably denied by naturalists;
yet am inclined 10 think than In some
Instances certain individuals are more
or less pugnacious. ! have handled
scores Of them from the gulf OF Mexl-
CO and California and observed only
| one instance-the one cited-where the
animal deliberately rushed to the at
tack. though I know Of two others.
One was observed by Mr.. Ralph Ar
mold. geologist OF Pasadena. He war
wading among the pools nj low tide
| Mt Point San Pedro when suddenly he
heard q cry, aud. turning. saw some
children In a pool, wading. and moving
toward them large octopus. Its long
arms raised above the water. Whether
the animal would have attempted 70
attack them is question. as It was
| interrupted I'm 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 10 avoid the pools and when
| II became necessary to cross them tc
pass over rs quickly as possible, as
large octopi frequented them. He con
sidered this the exaggeration Of fish
erman and paid but little attention to
Il: but once In crossing pool. stepping
| from stone TO stone. suddenly long
livid arm shot out Of the water and
reached insinuatingly for his legs. the
entire animal moving rapidly toward
him. He. however. reached the rocks
safely and bombarded the animal with
| stones. He estimated its size at x
feet across, judging the tentacles t
have been II feet In length. Again, 4
| cannot be determined from this wheth
er the animal would have seized him
| though the observer was confident thai
| II would and that II was large enough
| to have held him under water had ht
been pulled inc. 4. Holder In Scien
| tific American.
The Father N.ew.
Mrs. Worth-John. think this gold
pen would be the most appropriate ar
ticle we could send Harvey for birth
day present.
Mr.. Worth-No. no; II We sent him
| thot tho Nrst uSa he'd make of II