The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-24
OCTOPUS AN UNCANNY MONSTER.
Hideous Creature Which II Is Dang
erOus for Man or Fish to Meet,

Hideous Creature Which 1t Is Dang
erOus for Man Fish to Meet.
Prof. c. F. Holder in Scientific American
one of the most disagreeable animals of
the sea to handle or contemplate is the
octopus. The tangle of arms, the snake
like movements, the strange flashes of
color, the green, glitterng eyes are all
features that arouse a strong feeling of
aversion on the part of the observer. l
have mad under observation several oc-
topi at the Santa Catalina Aquarium, and
il has been interesting to note the charac-
terisHc features of the various individuals
In small tank were confined three lndi-
viduals having radial spread of perhaps
eighteen inches One affected light yell
| low hue and was timid, sulking behind a
rock. Another, of a dark reddish cast,
was continually flourishing its tentacles,
| rising and falling on the side of Inc glass
until an observer ncknamed it the skirt
dancer" third was almost black and
was vindictive 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, attenuaed ten
tacle and coil about il; then if an adj
vance was made it would suddenly re-
lease its hold upon the rock and quickly
encompass my hand with its eight arms,
! pressing the round, serrated disks into
the flesh, while tremulous motion would
| be felt. At me first attack of this kind the
| sensation was one of horror. The hideous
creature fattened out, assimilating the
| color of the flesh to a marked degree and
evidently 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 cir
| cumstances required some effort, and
| confess, when it was first attempted, with
| a Florida specimen, l beat rapid and
| decided retreat but in the latter case |
waited to see if the animals object was
to bite, knowing that the bill of so small
| a specimen could not make a serious
| wound But the octopus merely pressed
his mouth on the back of my hand, ap-
parently trying to intimidate the sup
| posed enemy. While fastened to the hand,
it still held to the rock, and it was with
| difficulty released. When 1 remained quiet
| the animal began to creep along like
| huge spider, but at the first movement
| of my fingers 1t bounced upon my hand
| again. enveloping it in the eight snake
| like arms. I finally twisted out of its
| grasp and seized it firmly by the body
when its rage became intense. Flushes of
| color passed over il in rapid succession;
| row red, black, yellow and when at tine
! hight of its anger it was notified and
| splashed with black-a frightful creature
| 1t made a desperate effort to escape, but
| " men ItlGdStu 6JeCleQ ClOuu OF INK,
| darting off rapidly under its cover.
The octopus resented any intrusion and
| advanced to the attack at once. When
| strange octopus was placed in the tank,
| although much larger, it came out of its
| corner without hesitation, eyed the new
| conner a moment, then in some incompre-
| hensible way literally hurled itself at the
| enemy, and in a second the two were roll
| ing over and over in a contest that was
| amazing to witness. The sixteen tentacles
wound about each other with the rapidty
| of light, and both animals elected the
inky fluid from their siphons. They re-
sembled a 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 APP
parently was to smother the opponent.
Finally, the newcomer beat retreat; it
was badly wounded and succumbed a few
hours later.
A resident of Washington told me that
once when visiting the shore he was adj
vised by the fisherman with him to avoid
| the pools, and when it became necessary
| to cross them to pass over as quickly rs
| possible, as large octopi frequented them.
| He considered this the exaggeration of a
| fisherman and paid but little attention 10
| it. but once in crossing a pool, stepping
| from stone to stone suddenly a long livid
| arm shot out of the water and reached in
| sinuatingly for his legs, the entire animal
moving rapidly toward him. He how
| ever, reached the rocks safely and bonn
| barded the animal with stones He Is
| timated its size al twenty-five feet across,
| judging the tentacles to have been twelve
| feet in length. 1t cannot be determined
| from this whether the animal would have
| seized him, though the observer was con-
fident that it would. and that it was large
| enough to have held him under water had
| he been pulled in.
| The octopus is a favorite subject with
| popular writers on natural history, and
| many accounts have been written of is
ferocity which are almost invariably de-
MED by naturalsts, yet I am inclined to
| think that in some instances certain ind-
| viduals are more or less pugnacious I
| have handled scores Of them from the
| Gulf of Mexico and California. and OBJ
| served only one instance-the one cited
where the animal deliberately rushed TO
| the attack, though l know Of two others
| one was observed by Ralph Arnold, geo
| ogist of Pasadena. He was wadlng among
| the pools al low tide at Point San Pelro
when suddenly he heard cry and. turn
| ing, saw some children in a pool wadng
| and moving toward them large octopus
| its long arms raised above sthe water
| Whether the animal would have Attended
| to attack them is a question, as IL was
interrupted in a more or less violent man.
ner.
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