Daily camera., 1901-06-15
DEVIL FISH PLAGUE.
English Channel Overrun with the
Demons Of the Sea.
Surprising Features of d Plague That
Has Recently Fallen Upon the
Nnglish and French Sea
Coasts,

Aplague as horrid in it's way rs any
OF those from which the ancient
Egyptians suffered has assailed the
south coast of England.
Countless hordes of octopi : the
devil-fsh of Victor Hugo-have in
vaded the English channel and have
swlrmed along the shores of Devon
and Cornwall in such numbers as to
beggar belief Travelling about in
marauding armies, they have we'll
nigh destroyed the local lobster and
crab fisheries by devouring these
crustaceans wholesale, reports the
New York World.
On the French side of the straits,
especially in the department of Fin
istere, they are thrown up on the
beaches by the sea after storms in
such quantities that their loathsome
bodies have been gathered up and
removed by hundreds OF carloads to
prevent them from endangcring the
public health by rotting.
Many of these creatures have n
spread of six feet or more, the ten
tacles being three feet in length and
cent pieces. But specimens have
been seen very much greater in size,
and individuals are known sometimes
to attain measurement of l6 feet
from urm tip to arm tip. That the
larger ones will readily attack hui
man beings is well known, the suck
ing disks with which the arms are
provided holding the victim with an
irresistible force. Once fairly en-
braced by the animal, there is small
chance for the strongest man, unless
he is lucky enough to have big
knife or spear.
The most surprising point about
the plague referred to is that the oc-
topus has rarely been seen hitherto
in British waters. so rarely, indeed.
that during many years past spcci-
mems could only be obtained for
aquaria in England at long inter
walls, and half sovereign was fre-
quentIy paid for small one alive.
1t is very numerous in the Mediter-
ranean and ranges as far north as
the south side Of the English chan
mel. which is its extreme limit ordi-
nnrily.
Seemingly the present scourge is
due to a series of hot summers and
mild winters, which have encour-
aged the propagation of the disgust
ing mollusk-by nature a warm wa
ter animnl-and possibly other con-
ditions may have helped ii to null
tiply In unprecedented numbers. Its
marked increase was first noticed
along the French shores in 1893, and
recent Investigations go to show that
after having exhausted the avajla BILE
food supply on that side of the strait,
the overplus migrated in swarms
across the channel to England.
One OF the first signs of its ar
rival upon the shores of Devon and
Cornwall was the appearance of
great numbers of crabs which had
been driven into the shallow waters
by the marauding mollusks. The lat
ter enter the traps of the fishermen
and destroy the Holsters and crabs
which have been caught. and some
times the seine nets are literally
burdened with the writhing, pulpy
monsters.
The female octopus makes her nest
in any sheltered and convenient hol-
low in the rocks. There she lays her
eggs, which in due time hatch out
young octopods. One Of the curious
phenomena incidental to the recent
plague has been the finding of i'm
mense numbers of minute poulps. not
long hatched, and hardly bigger than
grains of rice. Not much is known
as to their rate of growth, but it
takes them years to mature.