Class I. Mollusca... Soft Animals
The Squid
There is a singular genus of animals, called Sepia, of which the cuttle-fish is a familiar example. Some of them are of great size, having arms nearly thirty feet in length. We are told of a Sardinian captain, who, while bathing, felt one of his feet in the grasp of a squid; he instantly tried to disengage himself with his other foot, but this limb was immediately seized by another of the monster’s arms. He then with his hands endeavored to free himself, but these also, in succession, were firmly grasped by the creature, and the poor man was shortly after found drowned, with all his limbs strongly bound together by the arms and legs of the fish; and it is extraordinary that, where this happened, the water was scarcely four feet deep.
Mr. Beale gives us the following narrative: “While upon the Bonni Islands, searching for shells, I one day saw, towards the surf, a most extraordinary-looking animal, crawling upon the beach. It was creeping on eight soft and flexible legs, and, on seeing me, made every effort to escape. To prevent this, I pressed one of its legs with my foot; but it quickly liberated the member. I then laid hold of it with my hand, and gave it a powerful jerk, which it resisted by clinging with its suckers to the rock; but the moment after, the apparently enraged animal let go its hold, and sprang upon my arm, which I had previously bared to the shoulder, and clinging to it with great force, endeavored to get its beak between its arms in a position to bite.
“A sensation of horror pervaded my whole frame. Its cold, slimy grasp was extremely sickening, and I immediately called to the captain, who accompanied me, and who was at a little distance, to come and release me from my disgusting assailant. He came and set me free, by cutting my tormentor apart with his boat-knife. It must have measured four feet across its extended arms, while its body was not larger than a clinched hand. This was of that species called by whalers ‘rock squid.’”
THE NAUTILUS.
In some places, where the sea is not agitated by winds, great numbers of these singular creatures may occasionally be seen sailing and sporting about. Le Vaillant observed several of them on the sea near the Cape of Good Hope; and, as he was desirous of obtaining perfect specimens of the shells, he sent some of his people into the water to catch them; but when the men had got their hands within a certain distance, they always instantly sank, and, with all the art that could be employed, they were not able to lay hold of a single one. The instinct of the animal showed itself superior to all their subtlety; and when their disappointed master called them away from their attempts, they expressed themselves not a little chagrined at being outwitted by a shell-fish.
THE SNAIL.
M. de Martens states that the annual export of snails from Ulm, by the Danube, for the purpose of being used as food in the season of Lent by the convents of Austria, amounted formerly to ten millions of these animals. They were fattened in the gardens in the neighborhood.
Mr. Rowe gives us the following account: “I was at Mr. Haddock’s,” says he, “in Kent, and was making a little shell-work tower, to stand on a cabinet in a long gallery. Sea-shells running short before I had finished, I recollected having seen some pretty large snails on the chalk hills, and we all went out one evening to pick up some. On our return, I procured a large China basin, and putting a handful or two of them into it, filled it up with boiling water. I poured off the first water, and filled the bowl again. I then carried it into a summer-house in the garden. Next morning, how great was my surprise, on entering the summer-house, to find the poor snails crawling about, some on the edge of the basin, some tumbling over, some on the table, and one or two actually eating paste that was to stick them on! I picked up every snail carefully, and carried them into a field, where I make no doubt that they perfectly recovered from their scalding.”
THE OYSTER.
A gentleman who lived at Salisbury, England, used to keep a pet oyster, of the largest and finest breed. He fed it on oatmeal, for which it regularly opened its shell. It also proved itself an excellent mouser, having killed five mice, by crushing the heads of such as, tempted by the meal, had the audacity to intrude their noses within its bivalvular clutches.
A great number of large creeks and rivers wander through the marshes on the seaboard of Georgia. Whenever the tide bends forcibly against the land, the effects are counteracted by the walls of living oysters which grow upon each other from the beds of the rivers to the very verge of the banks. They are in such abundance, that a vessel of a hundred tons might load herself in three times her length. Bunches of them sufficient to fill a bushel are found matted as it were together, and the neighboring inhabitants and laborers light fires upon the marsh grass, roll a bunch of oysters upon it, and then eat them.
THE SCALLOP.
The Great Scallop has the power of progressive motion upon the land, and likewise of swimming on the surface of the water. When it happens to be deserted by the tide, it opens its shell to the full extent, then shuts it with a sudden jerk, often rising five or six inches from the ground. In this manner, it tumbles forward until it regains the water.
When the sea is calm, troops of little fleets of scallops, it is said, are sometimes to be observed swimming on the waves. They elevate one valve above the top of the water, which is used as a kind of sail, while they float on the other, which remains on the surface.