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. For it is these that have to support
the weight, and to take the main part in locomotion. And the outer two
of the upper six are bigger than the pair which intervene between them
and the uppermost of all, because they have to assist the lowermost
pair in their office. In the Poulps, on the other hand, the four
central feet are the biggest. Again, though the number of feet is
the same in all the Cephalopoda, namely eight, their length varies
in different kinds, being short in the Sepias and the Calamaries,
but greater in the Poulps. For in these latter the trunk of the body
is of small bulk, while in the former it is of considerable size;
and so in the one case nature has used the materials subtracted from
the body to give length to the feet, while in the other she has
acted in precisely the opposite way, and has given to the growth of
the body what she has first taken from the feet. The Poulps, then,
owing to the length of their feet, can not only swim but crawl,
whereas in the other genera the feet are useless for the latter mode
of progression, being small while the bulk of the body is
considerable. These short feet would not enable their possessors to
cling to the rocks and keep themselves from being torn off by the
waves when these run high in times of storm; neither would they
serve to lay hold of objects at all remote and bring them in; but,
to supply these defects, the animal is furnished with two long
proboscises, by which it can moor itself and ride at anchor like a
ship in rough weather
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