“It winds around the sufferer, covering and entangling him in its long folds. Underneath it is yellow; above, a dull, earthy hue; nothing could render that inexplicable shade dust‐coloured. Its form is spider‐like, but its tints are like those of the chameleon. When irritated it becomes violet. Its most horrible characteristic is its softness. Its folds entangle; its contact paralyses. “It has an aspect like gangrened or scabrous fish. It is a monstrous embodiment of disease. “It adheres closely to its prey, and cannot be torn away—a fact which is due to its power of exhausting air. The eight antennæ, large at their roots, diminish gradually, and end in needle‐like points. Underneath each of these feelers range two rows of pustules, decreasing in size, the largest ones near the head, the smaller at the extremities. Each row contains twenty‐five of these. There are, therefore, fifty pustules to each feeler, and the creature possesses in the whole four hundred. These pustules are capable of acting like cupping glasses. They are cartilaginous substances, cylindrical, horny, and livid. Upon the large species they diminish gradually from the diameter of a five‐franc piece to the size of a split pea. These small tubes can be thrust out and withdrawn by the animal at will. They are capable of piercing to a depth of more than one inch. “This sucking apparatus has all the regularity and delicacy of a key‐ board. It stands forth at one moment and disappears the next. The most perfect sensitiveness cannot equal the contractibility of these suckers—always proportioned to the internal movement of the animal and its exterior circumstances. The monster is endowed with the qualities of the sensitive plant. “This animal is the same as those which mariners call poulps, which science designates _Cephalopoda_, and which ancient legends call krakens. It is the English sailors who call them ‘devil‐fish,’ and sometimes bloodsuckers. In the Channel Islands they are called _pieuvres_. “They are rare at Guernsey, very small at Jersey; but near the island of Sark are numerous and very large.... “When swimming the devil‐fish rests, so to speak, in its sheath. It swims with all its parts drawn close. It may be likened to a sleeve sewn up with a closed fish within. The protuberance which is the head pushes the water aside, and advances with a vague undulatory movement. Its two eyes, though large, are indistinct, being of the colour of the water. “When in ambush, or seeking its prey, it retires into itself, grows smaller, and condenses itself. It is then scarcely distinguishable in the submarine twilight. At such times it looks like a mere ripple in the water. It resembles anything except a living creature. The devil‐fish is crafty. When its victim is unsuspicious, it opens suddenly. A glutinous mass, endowed with a malignant will, what can be more horrible?