he most
hideous inhabitant of the deep.

Then, like the ogre, the Octopus lives in a cave, and goes forth at
night to claim his victims. He tears them to pieces, and returns to his
dark cavern when daylight comes.

Before seeing how this ugly monster lives, eats, breathes and fights, we
must know something of the way he is made. In the first place, it may
surprise you to know that the Octopus's body is made on the same plan as
that of the snail. The ogre of the ocean and the Garden Snail are second
cousins! Their family name--_mollusc_--means _soft-bodied._

But there are such numbers of molluscs that we split them up into
different orders, just as a big school is split into classes. The
Octopus belongs to an order of molluscs with a long name, which only
means _head-footed._ Why is he called head-footed? The snail, as you
know, has one broad foot under its body. The 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 b