The fluid itself
is thick, but miscible with water to such a degree, that a very small
quantity will colour a vast bulk of water.[12] Thus, the comparatively
small Cuttle-fish may darken the element about the acute eye of the
whale. What omniscience is displayed in this single provision, as well
as in the faculty possessed by the Cuttle-fish of reproducing its
mutilated arms! All Nature beams with such beneficence, and abounds
with such instances of divine love for every creature, however humble:
in observing these provisions, how often are we reminded of the
benefits conferred by the same omniscience upon our own species. It is
thus, by the investigation of natural history, that we are led to
the contemplation of the sublimest subjects; thus that man with God
himself holds converse.
BONE, OR PLATE.
[Illustration: Bone, or Plate.]
The "bone" of the Cuttle-fish now claims attention. This is a
complicated calcareous plate, lodged in a peculiar cavity of the back,
which it materially strengthens. This plate has long been known in
the shop of the apothecary under the name of Cuttle-fish bone: an
observant reader may have noticed scores of these plates in glasses
labelled _Os Sepiae_.
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