Within the Deep | Page 8

foot of the Octopus is divided into
eight strips. These long strips are set round his head, hence the name
head-footed. Because there are eight of these long feet he is named
octo-pus or eight-feet.
The feet--or arms, or tentacles, as they are called--are joined at their
base by a skin. It makes a sort of webbing. In the centre of this is a
horny beak, usually of a brownish colour. It is just like a parrot's beak,
only of thinner and lighter stuff. There are two parts to it, the top one
curving down over the lower one. Behind this beaked mouth is a hard,
rasping tongue. On each side of the head is a big, staring eye; and
behind the ugly head is the ugly body, like a bag.
The Octopus breathes by means of gills. Water enters through a big
hole under the head, passes over the gills, and out again through a
funnel, or siphon. Now the Octopus can make good use of this siphon.
Sometimes he is attacked, and wishes to "make himself scarce." So he
sends the water rapidly through the siphon; the force is enough to jerk
him quickly backwards, his "arms" trailing behind.

The Octopus and his relations have another dodge as well. They
possess a bag of inky fluid. By mixing this ink with the spurt of water
from the funnel, the Octopus leaves a thick cloud behind him. The
enemy is lost in this dark cloud, while the Octopus darts safely away.
[Illustration: THE OCTOPUS--A MONSTER OF THE DEEP]
Having no armour to protect him, and no shelly home like that of the
snail, the Octopus is an easy prey to large fish, Seals and Whales. So
this trick of shooting backwards, hidden in a cloud of ink, must be of
great use. Soldiers and sailors use clouds of smoke to baffle their
enemy in battle. The Octopus uses clouds of ink.
Sharks, Conger Eels, and Whales are able to fight the Octopus and eat
his soft body; but small fish and Crabs keep away from the ogre if they
can. This is not easy, for he hides away under rocks, watching with his
great eyes for passing prey. If anything comes near enough, out flicks a
long, tapering, snaky arm, and holds the victim tight.
Down the inside of each arm are nearly three hundred round suckers.
Each one acts like those leather suckers with which boys sometimes
play. Once fixed, it is nearly impossible to unloose them, without
chopping or tearing the arm to pieces. First one and then another sucker
takes hold, and the wretched victim is drawn up to the ogre's beak, with
no chance of escape.
When one sees the grasping power of even a small Octopus, it is easy
to believe that a large one would be a dangerous enemy. The strongest
swimmer would stand no chance: those clinging arms could hold two
or three men under water.
[Illustration: WHALING.]
Luckily, the Octopus has no wish to attack people. It is not fierce. But
to the Crabs it must seem an awful ogre. I once watched an Octopus on
the lookout for food. It had its lair between two rocks, its twining arms
showing outside, its eyes and body in the shadow. Along came a Crab,
scuttling near the rocks. He spied the ogre, at once stopping and raising

his claws as Crabs do, like a boxer ready to fight. The Crab having
strong pincers, and a good suit of armour, I expected to see him fight
for life. But no! Like poor Bunny chased by the dreaded Stoat, the Crab
gave in as soon as the ogre flicked him with an arm. The suckers
gripped him fast and, still holding up his claws, he was drawn into the
den of his dreadful enemy.
Although armed with a beak, the Octopus seems not to use it against
the Crab. He prefers to pull the poor Crab to pieces with his strong
arms, and then to pick up the crab-meat with the hooked beak. When
full-fed, he retires to his den; he sometimes pulls shells and stones over
the entrance, and rests within until hungry.
In this strange order of molluscs there are dwarfs and giants. One kind
is never more than two inches long, others are vast monsters. The
Octopus is big enough and ugly enough to make one shudder to see
him, but the real ogre of the deep is the Giant Cuttle-fish, beside which
the Octopus is a tiny mite.
These Giant Cuttles have ten arms, two of them being very long. The
Octopus's body is round, like that of a fat spider, while the Cuttle has a
long body. The Cuttle has many sharp claws on its arms, besides
numbers of big, strong