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the body in the water , so that the swimmer may exert his powers to the best advantage ; how to overcome the nervousness so many experience when in the water for the first time ; his directions how to tread water : all these will bo thoroughly appreciated by the expert swimmer , while to the tyro , they will prove invaluable . The p lates are very serviceable in illustrating the positions of a swimmer ,

according to the stroke he adopts . Of course a narrative of Captain Webb ' s life , and his advice to swimmers would be incomplete without a full record of his various swimming feat . It is , iu keeping , therefore , with the rest of the book , that an account of his two attempts to swim the Channel should be given . But other swimming feats are also given , so that the little

volume contains far more than the average amount of useful information , imparted in a style which is acceptable chiefly by reason of its extreme simplicity . We must add that Mr . Payne , as editor , has played his part extremely well . He has arranged the contents admirably . True , the duties were not very onerous , but as Captain

Webb ' s avocations have probably not admitted of his cultivating letters to any extent , we may fairly assume that the literary credit of the work is due principally to Mr . Payne . Be this as it may , both Captain Webb and Mr . Payne deserve our thanks for having published so interesting and so useful a work , and we thank them accordingly , without stint or arriere pensde .

The Octopus ; or , the " Devil-Fish" of Fiction and of Fact . By Henry Lee , F . L . S ., F . G . S ., F . Z . S ., & c , Naturalist of the Brighton Aquarium . With illustrations . London : Chapman and Hall , 193 Piccadilly . 1875 . THE spirit in which our esteemed Bro . Henry Lee has written this highly interesting book , or rather the series of notes , which originally

appeared in Land and Water , and aro here formed into one continuous narrative , may be judged from a single sentence . In answering Victor Hugo ' s question , " Of what are such creatures ? What purpose do they serve ? " Bro . Lee having mentioned certain uses to which they are applied in some countries , and before entering upon the discussion of the higher purposes they serve , says , " That this" ( toserve

as food , or a means of obtaining food ) "is the sole object of their being I cannot for one momeut suppose ; and therefore I am content to believe that the Great Architect of the Universe made them and all things for Himself , and that for His pleasure they are and were created . " It is thus evident that to a profound knowledge of his subject , and the enthusiasm proper to an eager Student of Nature

the author unites a deep feeling of reverence for the Supreme Being . This , indeed , was to be expected . The naturalist , by reason of his superior knowledge of created things , can better- appreciate the grand works of the Deity than thosn who see , yet understand not . However , it follows not that a work whieh is written in a becoming spirit of reverence is of necessity either instructive or interesting . But

these Aquarium Notes are both . Wo know of no one whose account of the Octopus and its habits could possibly bo more instructive ; for where can we find a higher authority than Bro . Lee ? And the author being about as admirable a personification of geniality as is to bo found anywhere in this mundane sphere of ours , it , were strange , indeed , had he not infused in his narrative a considerable amount of

what is the leading feature in hi .- ; character . So much for the style of the book . Asto its contents , wo must confine ourselves to indicating their character . Though admirers of Nature , wo are not , unfortunately , professed Naturalists . Even were wo such , we should pause long , and probably think more than the prescribed three times of Mr . Gladstone before attempting fn nir our little knowledge in tho presence of

so great an authority . After a brief introduction , the author describes the position of tho Octopus and its relatives in the animal kingdom . Ho then gives an account of " Octopods" ho " has known . " Next he examines Victor Hugo's well-known romance , Los Travailleurs dn la Mer , or , rather those portions of it in which tho Octopus figures , with a view to pointing out how far the great French novelist has

drawn upon his imagination , how far he has adhered to facts . He then describes the Octopus out of water , and various matters relating to the habits of this animal and its relatives , tho Cuttles aud Squids , with which we are somewhat more familiar , and the economic value of cuttle-fishes , while , in the last chapter of all , he gives an account of gigantic cuttle-fishes , whose existence has been perfectly

authenticated . It will be seen from this slight , and we fear , somewhat lame , account of the book , that , from a technical point of view , the author has omitted from his programme nothing which could throw any light upon this singular creature . Ono other aspect only remains in which wo need consider this volume . We have shown that tho spirit which animates the author is ono o / reverence for the G . A . Q . T . TJ .

We have indicated , sufficiently , we hope , that it is very instructive . We shall experience still less difficulty iu proving it to be , in the highest degree , interesting . Those of our readers who aro nt all acquainted with tho columns of that most edifying of journals , Lund and Water , know well tho singularly happy style in which Bro . Lee imparts his knowledge to the public . These are the identical notes

with the advantage of a careful revision by the author , which originally appeared in that journal . From notes thus happily written , whoso publication occurred at intervals more or less regular , it is obvious that a most entertaining narrative must be made ; but , as u'it all of our readers , perhaps , have seen them in their original form , we take leave to quote one or two extracts for their benefit . Thus , the following as to danger to bathers from the Octopus : —

" I have often been asked whether au octopus of tho ordinary size can really be dangerous to bathers . Decidedly 'Yes , ' in certain situations . An octopus would not seize a man for the purpose of devouring him ; nor do I believe that the act would be

prompted by a deliberate intention to drown him , that his dead body niight become an attractive bait for crabs , which are the animal ' s favourite food ; but rather by an instinctive desire to lay hold on nything moving within reach . The holding power of its numerous nckera is enormous , It is almost impossible forcibly to detach it

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from its adhesion to a rock or the flat bottom of a tank ; and if a large one happened to fix one or more of its strong , tough arms on the leg of a swimmer whilst the others hold firmly to a rock , I doubt if the man could disengage himself under water , by mere strength , before being exhausted . Fortunately , it can be made to relax its hold by grasping it tightly round tho ' throat' ( if I may so call it ) , aud it may be well that this should be known . "

Instances are given iu confirmation of this view , and one of them , narrated by Major Nowsome , lt . E ., as having occurred to him once when bathing in a deep port at East Loudon , about 900 miles from the Cape , ou the East Coast of Africa , we quote : — " One morning I took a header into one of these pools , which was , perhaps , 20 feet long , 7 to 8 foot wide , aud deep in the centre—8 or

9 feet . As I swam from one end to the other , I was horrified at feeling something around my ancle , and made for the side as speedily as I could . I thought at first it was only sea-weed ; but as I lauded , and trod my foot on the rock , my disgust was heightened at feeling a fleshy and slippery substance under me . I was , I confess , alarmed , and so , apparently , was the beast on whom I trod , and whom , I

suspect , I thereby discomfited , as he quickly detached himself and made again for the water . Some fellow-bathers , whom I hailed , camo '; to my assistance , and with a boat-hook , on to which the brute clung , he was , eventually , safely landed . When extended he would have filled a hoop of five feet diameter . The grasp of an ordinary sized octopus holding to a rock would , I suppose , in lat . 30 ° , be not

less than 40 lb . to 50 lb . The floating power of a man is between 5 lb . aud 6 lb ., aud it takes a very strong swimmer to convey an ordinary fowling-piece , which weighs only 7 lb ., across a river , dry . Had I not kept mid-channel , I believe it would have been a lifeand-death struggle between myself and tho boast on my ancle . In the open water I was the best man ; but near the bottom or sides ,

which I could not have reached with my arms , but which he could have reached with his , he would , certainly , have drowned me . " Iu the chapter on " The Octopus out of Water , " tho author tells us how , in May 1870 , the attendants at the Brighton Aquarium were puzzled to account for the almost regular disappearance of certain lump fish . " Almost daily there was a fresh and inexplicable vacancy

in the gradually diminishing family circle , and morning after morning a handbill might have been issued : — 'Missing ! Lost , stolen , or strayed , a young ' lump-sucker , ' rather below tho middle size , ' and enormously stout ; had on a bright blue coat , with several rows of buttons on it , and a waistcoat of lighter colour . Whoever will give such information as shall lead to the discovery of the same , or

produce satisfactory evidence of his death , will relieve the troubled minds of the curators ! ' ' What on earth can have become of them ?' ' Where can they be ? ' woro tho questions each attendant asked in vain of another . " They had not died , or their bodies would have been in the tank ; they had not burrowed in tho shingle , for it , was

not deep enough , aud they were too obese to have jumped out . A watch was set and the mystery wai at once solved . One morning an Octopus was found in tank 27 , all among the lump fish . It had got out of its own tank for tho purpose of preying on the latter ; but lot Bro . Leo give his own version : —

"The marauding rascal had occasionally issued from tho water in his tank , and clambered up the rocks , arid over the wall into tho next one ; there he had helped himself to a young lump-fish , and , having devoured it , returned demurely to his own quarters by tho same route , with well filled stomach and contented mind . This was not very difficult for him to accomplish , for the partition between the two tanks is only about a foot above the surface of the water . Having

accidentally , or otherwise , discovered that there was a preserve of live stock suitable to his palate next door , he paid frequent nocturnal poaching visits to it , and , after clearing up every remnant of his meal , regularly slunk home before daylight ; until , like most criminals , becoming careless by frequently escaping detection , he , on the last occasion , indulged at supper time in an inordinate gorge , and slept under his neighbour ' s porch , instead of going to bed . "

We could go on quoting almost ad infinitum , and we should much like to do it , but considerations of space forbid us . If our readers wish to know how to settle an Octopns if embraced by one , when taking a dip in the briny , near some rocky cleft where Octopod mostly do conceal themselves ; if they would study their marriage customs , their spawning , tho treatment of the yonng by tho mother

Octopus ; if they would know about the cuttles , their habit of , and skill in , squirting an inky secretion at those who touch them , how tho late Tom Hood the younger , when fishing iu Looe harbour , caught one of them , and receiving a squirt full in his face , exclaimed that , " he did not exactly know what ho had ou his line , but he thought ho had caught a young garden engine , " and how a certain Essex fisherman ,

known as Bill , once got a squirt of ink ou his nose from another ; if they would have authentic information of the monster Cuttle fishes , which are to be found iu tho Atlantic , off the coast of North America , and in other seas , tho advice wo givo iu all sincerity is , go and read Bro . Lee ' s Aquarium Notes on The Octopus ; the Devil Fish of Fictivn

and of Fact . It only remains that wo should congratulate Bro . Lee on the reappearance of these notes iu a connected form . We thank him " muchly " for the opportunity he has afforded us of extending the circle of our knowledge , uudcr very enjoyable circumstances .

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