At Teneriffe, in the Brazils, in Peru and Chili, in India and China, various species of cephalopods are used as food. Along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, the common sepia constitutes now, as in ancient times, a valuable part of the food of the poor. "One of the most striking spectacles," says Edward Forbes, "is to see at night on the shores of the Ægean the numerous torches glancing along the shores, and reflected by the still and clear sea, borne by poor fishermen, paddling as silently as possible over the rocky shallows in search of the cuttle-fish, which, when seen lying beneath the water in wait for his prey, they dexterously spear, ere the creature has time to dart with the rapidity of an arrow from the weapon about to transfix his soft but firm body." Animals exposed to the attacks of so many enemies must necessarily multiply in an analogous ratio. Their numerous eggs are generally brought forth in the spring. In the species inhabiting the high seas, they float freely on the surface, carried along by the currents and winds, and form large gelatinous bunches or cylindrical rolls, sometimes as large as a man's leg. The eggs of the littoral cephalopods appear in the form of dark-coloured, roundish or spindle-shaped bodies, of the size and colour of grapes, and hanging together in clusters. They are soft to the touch, with a tough skin, resembling india-rubber; one end is attenuated into a sort of point or nipple, and the other prolonged into a pedicle, which coils round sea-weed or other floating objects, and serves to fix the berry-like bag in its place. At an early stage these "sea-grapes," as they are called by the fishermen, contain a white yolk enclosed in a clear albumen, and nearer maturity the young cuttle-fish may be found within in various stages of formation, until finally, hatched by the heat of the sun, it emerges from the husk perfectly formed, and launches forth into the water. [Illustration: Ova of the Cuttle-fish.] Some species of cephalopods are only about the size of a finger, while others attain an astonishing size. Banks and Solander, in Cook's first voyage, found the dead carcass of a gigantic cuttle-fish floating between Cape Horn and the Polynesian islands. It was surrounded by aquatic birds, which were feeding on its remains. From the parts of this specimen, which are still preserved in the Hunterian collection, and which have always strongly excited the attention of naturalists, it must have measured at least six feet from the end of the tail to the end of the tentacles.