Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-02
WAYS OF THE OCTOPUS.
Some Specimens show a Certain De-
gree of Ferocity.

! {. F. Holder in the Scientific American.
| One of the most disagreeable animals of
the sea to handle contemplate is the oc-
| topus. 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. l have had under OBJ
| servaton several octopi at the Santa Cata-
| lima Aquarium, and it has been interesting
| to note the characteristic features of the
| various individuals. In a small tank We're
| confined three individuals having radial
spread of perhaps eighteen inches One af-
fected lght yellow hue and was tmid
sulklnS behind a rock. Another, of a dark
reddish cast, was continually nOur:ShinS
Its tentacles, rising and falling on the side
OF the glass until an observer nicknamed ii
the skirt dancer a third was almost
black, and was vindctive fellow ready at
any time to make an attack. When | in
troduced my hand into the tank this oc-
topus would as quick a flash send out
one long attenuated tentacle and coil about
II, then If an advance was made it would
suddenly release its hold upon the rock and
quickly encompass my hand with its eight
arms, pressing the round serrated disks
into the flesh while a tremuous motion
would be felt.
At the first attack of this kind the sem
sation was one of horror. The hideous
creature tlattened out, assimilating the col
or of the flesh TO a marked degree and evil
IDENTIFY endeavoring to smother the hand
with Its folds, as the tentacleS were dis
tended to their utmost limit To hold the
hand firm under such circumstances re-
CURED some effort. and / confess when it
was first attempted, with Florida speci-
men, l beat a rapid and decided retreat:
but IN the latter case l waited to see if the
anmaIS object was to bite, knowing that
the bill of so small a specimen could not
make a serious wound. But the octopus
merely pressed its mouth on the back of
my hand. apparently trying to intimidate
the supposed enemy. While fastened TO
the hand it still held to the rock and Il
was with difficulty released. When | re-
manned quiet the animal began to creep
along like a huge spider, but at the first
movement of my fingers it bounced upon
my hand again, enveloping it in the eight
snakelike arms / finally twisted out of Its
grasp and seized it firmly by the body
when its rage became intense. FIushes of
color passed over ii in rapid succession:
now red. black, yellow and when at the
height of its anger it was notified and
splashed with black-a frightful creature
1t made a desperate effort to escape but
when released elected cloud of ink dart
ing off rapidly under its cover. This octo-
pus resented any intrusion. and advanced
to the attack at once. When a strange oc-
topuS was placed in the tank although
much larger, ii came out of its corner with
out hesitation, eyed the newcomer a mo-
ment, then in some incomprehensible way
hurled itself at the enemy and in a sec
ond the two were rolling over and over in
contest that was amazing to witness.
The sixteen tentacles wound about each
other with the rapidity of light. and both
animals elected the inky fluid from their
Syphons. They resembled a ball of snakes
rolling along and striking at each other
more than anything else. A close examin-
alton of the writing mass showed that
the object apparently was to smother the
opponent Finally, the newcomer beat a
retreat; 1t was badly wounded, and sue
cumbed few hours later.
The octopus is a favorite subject with
popular writers on natural history and
many accounts have been written of its
ferocity, which are almost invariably de-
MED by naturaliStS, yet | an inclined to
think that in some instances certain indi-
viduals are more or less pugnaclous 1 have
handled scores of them from the Gulf OF
Mexico and California, and observed only
one instance-the one cited-where the ami
NAL deliberately rushed to the attack,
though I know of two Others One was OBJ
served by Mr.. Ralph Arnold. a geologist of
Pasadena. He wading 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 NOV
ing toward them a large octopus its long
arms raised above the water. Whether the
animal would have attempted to attack
them is a question. it interrupted
in more or less violent manner. A resi-
dent of Washington told me that once when
visiting the shore he was advised by the
fisherman with him to avoid the pools, and
when 1t became necessary to cross them to
pass quickly as possible as large
octopt frequented them. He considered
this the exaggeration of a fisherman and
paid but little attention to it: but once in
crossing a pool, stepping from stone to
stone suddenly a long livd arm shot out of
the water, and reached insinuatingly for his
legs. the entire animal moving rapidly to-
ward him. He. however, reached the rocks
safely. and bombarded the animal with
stones. He estimated its size at twenty-five
feet across. judging the tentacles to have
been twelve feet in length. Again. 1T can
not be determined from this whether the |
animal would have seized him, though the |
observer was confident that it would. and |
that 1t was large enough to have held him |
under water had he been pulled in.