As a proof that they do not live into a
second year there is the fact that, after the birth of the little
octopuses in the late summer or beginning of autumn, it is seldom that
a large-sized octopus is visible, whereas a little before this time of
year the creature is at its largest. After the eggs are laid, they say
that both the male and the female grow so old and feeble that they are
preyed upon by little fish, and with ease dragged from their holes;
and that this could not have been done previously; they say also
that this is not the case with the small and young octopus, but that
the young creature is much stronger than the grown-up one. Neither
does the sepia live into a second year. The octopus is the only
mollusc that ventures on to dry land; it walks by preference on
rough ground; it is firm all over when you squeeze it, excepting in
the neck. So much for the mollusca.
It is also said that they make a thin rough shell about them
like a hard sheath, and that this is made larger and larger as the
animal grows larger, and that it comes out of the sheath as though out
of a den or dwelling place.
The nautilus (or argonaut) is a poulpe or octopus, but one
peculiar both in its nature and its habits.
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