<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN>
<div class='transnote pleasehide'>
<p class="ph3">Transcriber's Note:</p>
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<div class="break-before">
<h1>HALF HOURS WITH<br/> THE LOWER ANIMALS</h1>
<p class="ph3">
PROTOZOANS, SPONGES, CORALS, SHELLS<br/>
INSECTS, AND CRUSTACEANS</p>
<p class="ph3">BY</p>
<h2 class="nobreak">CHARLES FREDERICK HOLDER</h2>
<p class="ph4">AUTHOR OF "ELEMENTS OF ZOÖLOGY," "STORIES OF ANIMAL LIFE,"
"LIFE OF LOUIS AGASSIZ," ETC.</p>
<div class="figtitle">
<ANTIMG src="images/title-emblem.jpg" alt="Publisher Emblem" /></div>
<p class="ph4">NEW YORK ᠅ CINCINNATI ᠅ CHICAGO</p>
<p class="ph3">AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<div class="copyright">
<p class="ph4 smcap">Copyright, 1905, by</p>
<p class="ph3">CHARLES F. HOLDER.</p>
<p class="ph4 smcap">Entered at Stationers' Hall, London.</p>
<hr class="tb" />
<p class="ph4">LOWER ANIMALS.</p>
<p class="ph4">W. P. 2</p>
<hr class="chap" /></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>PREFACE</h2></div>
<p>At the present day education is not complete without
definite courses of nature study. We are living in an age
of strenuous business life and activity, where the best
equipped students along the various lines secure the best
positions. Time was when zoölogy, botany, and kindred
nature studies were classed with music and the so-called
dead languages, and were taken up as incidentals or were
employed in "mind training"; but to-day there are a
thousand branches of trade and commerce which require
knowledge that can be obtained only through nature
study.</p>
<p>It is not necessary that the student, unless he intends
to be a teacher of science or a professional naturalist,
should be able to pass examinations in the abstruse classification
of animals or delve into difficult anatomical
studies. What the average student needs is a broad and
general idea of animal life, its great divisions, and notably
the relationship of the lower animals to man in an economic
sense, the geographical distribution of animals, etc.
It is vastly more important for the coming lumber merchant
to know the relationship which forests bear to the
water supply, and to have a general idea of forestry and
the trees which make forests, than to be able to recite a
long formula of classification or analysis, of value only to
the advanced student or specialist. The future merchant
who is to deal in alpaca, leather, dye, skins, hair, bone
products, shell, pearl, lac, animal food products, ivory,
whalebone, guano, feathers, and countless other articles
derived from animals is but poorly equipped for the strug<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</SPAN></span>gle
for business supremacy if he is not prepared by nature
study, nature readings, and other practical instruction
along these lines.</p>
<p>It is believed to-day by those who have given the subject
the closest attention that the initial move of the
teacher should be to call the attention of the child to the
beauties of nature, the works of the Infinite, and thus
early inculcate a habit of observation. The toys of the
kindergarten should be fruits, flowers, shrubs, trees, pebbles,
and vistas of mountains, hills, lakes, and streams,
and nature study in some form should be continuous in
school life.</p>
<p>In the following readings the story of lower animal life
has been presented on broad lines, divested of technicality,
and at almost every step supplemented by forceful and
explanatory illustrations as ocular aids to the reader. The
subject has been divested of dry detail, and I have introduced
notes and incidents, the results of personal observation
and investigation in various lands and seas, and
have given attention to the often neglected fauna of the
Pacific coast as well as that of other regions.</p>
<p>While the volume is a supplementary reader, the matter
is so arranged that it can be used by the teacher as a text-book,
and the pupil who undertakes the various "half-hour
readings" of this series will have covered in the
main the ground of the ordinary text-book for intermediate
grades in the form of readings. In a word, I have endeavored
to make this volume a popular combined review
and supplemental reader on the lower forms of animal life
from the Amœba to the insects inclusive, and the series
to follow will present the entire subject of animal life or
zoölogy, voluminously illustrated, on a similar plan.</p>
<p class="right">
CHARLES F. HOLDER.</p>
<div class="blockquot">
<p><span class="smcap">Pasadena, California.</span></p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>CONTENTS</h2></div>
<table summary="Contents">
<tr>
<td class="rom">CHAPTER</td>
<td class="cht"> </td>
<td class="pag">PAGE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">I.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Inhabitants of a Drop of Water</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_7">7</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">II.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Sponges</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_18">18</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">III.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Jellyfishes</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_26">26</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">IV.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Sea Anemones</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_38">38</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">V.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Corals</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_44">44</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">VI.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Stone Lilies</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_56">56</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">VII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Stars of the Sea</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_60">60</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">VIII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Ocean Hedgehogs</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_65">65</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">IX.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Sea Cucumbers</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_70">70</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">X.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Worms</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_73">73</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XI.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Two-valved Shells</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_89">89</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Univalves</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_103">103</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XIII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Cuttlefishes</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_117">117</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XIV.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Crustaceans</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_128">128</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XV.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">From Barnacles to Lobsters</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_134">134</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XVI.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Crabs</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_145">145</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XVII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Luminous Crabs</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_156">156</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XVIII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Insects</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_159">159</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XIX.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Lower Forms of Insects</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_164">164</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XX.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Spiders</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_168">168</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXI.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Some Six-legged Insects</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_178">178</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Some Mimics</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_186">186</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXIII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Grasshoppers and Locusts</span>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</SPAN></span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_190">190</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXIV.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Beetles</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_195">195</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXV.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Bugs</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_199">199</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXVI.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Flies and Mosquitoes</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_204">204</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXVII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Butterflies and Moths</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_212">212</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXVIII.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Ants</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_222">222</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom">XXIX.</td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Bees and Wasps</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_228">228</SPAN></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="rom"> </td>
<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Index</span></td>
<td class="pag"><SPAN href="#Page_233">233</SPAN></td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="mt4 mb4">
<p class="ph2">HALF HOURS WITH</p>
<p class="ph1">THE LOWER ANIMALS</p>
<p class="ph3">PROTOZOANS, SPONGES, CORALS, SHELLS, INSECTS,
AND CRUSTACEANS</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<h2>I. INHABITANTS OF A DROP OF WATER</h2></div>
<p>The most unobserving stroller through the forest or by
the seashore can not fail to be impressed by the abundance
and variety of animal life; yet the forms visible to
the naked eye really constitute but a fraction of the vast
horde which makes up what we call life.</p>
<p>In the year 1901 a strange phenomenon appeared off
the coast of southern California. The ocean assumed a
reddish muddy hue which was traced for four hundred
miles up the coast and from one to twenty miles offshore;
hence, at a conservative estimate, the reddish color
occupied a space of ten thousand square miles. At night
it assumed a greenish light, and when the wind rose
and formed whitecaps, each became a blaze of light, and
the ocean as far as the eye could reach was converted into
a mass of seeming flame. The sands of the beach gave
out flashes of light when touched; the footsteps of dog or
man on the sands left an imprint of vivid light, and figures
made on the sands with a finger or stick stood out in
lines of light. Ten thousand square miles of phospho<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</SPAN></span>rescent
light; ten thousand square miles of living beings,
each so minute that it was almost if not quite invisible
to the human eye. Who could estimate the individuals
in one square mile, one square foot, or even a drop of
this reddish water? This illustrates the fact that the
greater number of the earth's population are unseen, even
though not invisible to the unaided eye.</p>
<p>These minute animals are as interesting as the larger
forms. Equipped with a microscope, we are prepared to
explore the regions in which they live and observe their
habits. A favorite hunting ground for this small game is
some long-standing water in which plants have been growing.
Placing some of this, with the green scraping of the
glass, on the slide, we shall soon make out, moving mysteriously
along, something which resembles the white of
an egg, an atom of slime or jelly. Now it stops and
throws out parts of itself which seem to fuse together
again; now it is long, now short and compact, again circular.
You almost believe it is a mere atom of slime, yet
it is an animal which eats and lives its life cycle in a drop
of water, one of the lowest of all animals.</p>
<p>It is called Amœba (Fig. 1), and although it is hardly a
hundredth of an inch in diameter, yet if we devote some
time to it we shall find that it is a very remarkable animal.
Thus if it wishes to move in any given direction, a portion
of the body becomes a seeming leg and protrudes in that
direction, the rest of the body following, drawn along in
some mysterious manner. If it wishes to eat, it is not
obliged to twist around to bring the food or victims
opposite the mouth, as a mouth forms there and then;
the Amœba merely glides around it and covers it up.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>We may even notice a difference in the parts. Thus
the center calls to mind ground glass; it is blurred or
granular, while around the edges is a little border which is
transparent, like ordinary window glass. So the Amœba
is a minute mass of jelly inclosed in a layer a little clearer.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_009.jpg" name ="i_009.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_009-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span>—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Amœba proteus</i>, with the pseudopodia (false feet) protruded, enlarged
200 diameters (after Leidy): <em>n</em>, nucleus; <em>c</em>, contractile vesicle; <em>v</em>, one of the
larger food-vacuoles; <em>en</em>, the granular endosarc; <em>ec</em>, the transparent ectosarc; <em>a</em>,
cell of an Alga taken in as food (other cells of the same Alga are obliquely shaded).]</p>
</div>
<p>Floating in the granular portion is seen a minute round
body called the nucleus, clearer than the fluid in which it
rests, and not far away another clear, circular body, which
from time to time contracts or sometimes disappears in a
marvelous fashion, but always returns. This is called the
contracting vesicle, and here our discoveries end, so far as
organs and structure are concerned, as these are nearly<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</SPAN></span>
all that have been found; yet the Amœba eats, doubtless
sleeps, and grows.</p>
<div id="Fig_2" class="figcenter">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_010a.jpg" alt="" />
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span>—Amœba eating:
<em>Pv</em>, contracting vesicle.]</p>
</div>
<p>We may watch it at its dinner. When a victim is found,
an animal smaller than itself, out shoots a little cape or
extension from the clear rim, creeping slowly up the side
of the animal; and if we watch very
closely, we shall see the thicker
portion of the Amœba, that which
calls to mind ground glass, running
or flowing into it. Then another
false foot, as it is called, slowly
creeps out on the opposite side and
joins its companion, more of the
ground-glass matter slides or pours into this, filling it
out, and, presto! the two arms merge one into the other.
The victim has been swallowed and is now being digested
<SPAN href="#Fig_2">(Fig. 2, <em>d</em>)</SPAN>.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_010b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"> <span class="smcap">Fig. 3.</span>—Amœba separating.]</p>
</div>
<p>That this minute atom has its likes and dislikes is evident,
for if the food is too large, or not to its taste, it
retracts, or even draws away from it after it has swallowed
it. The shells of its victim, if it has them,
are rejected in a manner equally simple;
the Amœba flows away from them. Jar it
with a needle point and it contracts, showing
that it can be irritated. At times the
body is seen to divide and two Amœbæ are
formed (Fig. 3), each of which has a separate
existence from then on. Such is one
of the lowest of all animals. It is made
up of but a single cell. All the members of the other
great branches of the animal kingdom and the higher<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</SPAN></span>
plants are made up of many cells; hence we see that the
Amœba is the simplest and lowest of all animals.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_011.jpg" name="i_011.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_011-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 4.</span>—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ciliated Infusoria</i>: <em>A</em>, Bursaria; <em>B</em>, Nyctotherus; <em>C</em>, Amphileptus; <em>D</em>,
Ceratium; <em>E</em>, Monosiga; <em>f</em>, flagellum; <em>n</em>, nucleus; <em>c</em>, contractile vesicle.</p>
</div>
<p>In looking into our drop of water our attention has perhaps
been distracted by other animals. In point of fact,
it is very difficult to keep the eye on this mass of slime in
its slow movements, for about it, over it, and constantly
bumping into it are countless other forms whose motions
convey the impression that life to them is very active.
The most numerous are little objects (Fig. 4) resembling
hats or bells, which go rushing along, bumping aimlessly
into all others, and always in a hurry. Around the edge
of the bell or hat are numerous hairs (cilia) which are<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</SPAN></span>
really locomotive organs by which the little animals whirl
themselves along. Near them we see numbers of similar
objects, each one forming the cup of a seeming flower,
each having a long stem. These are Bell Animalcules
(Fig. 5) or Vorticellæ, among the most beautiful and
graceful of all the minute animals, but much higher in the
scale of life, as they have a permanent mouth and form.
Among them, swimming rapidly, comes a giant by contrast,
the Paramœcium (Fig. 6) or Slipper Animalcule, so
called from its resemblance to a slipper. It, too, is a
higher form than Amœba, as it has a permanent shape;
yet in other ways it is as simple as Amœba. The Paramœcium
has a marvelous array of oars which cover its
body. Under the glass they look like eyelashes or whips,
and by their rapid movements they drive the animal along.
On the side is the mouth opening, into which the animal
fans minute animals, and they can be seen swept along<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</SPAN></span>
by the irresistible current, caught by the mouth if desirable,
or tossed off if not to the taste
of the wonderful living slipper.
After glancing at the drop of
water for a few moments the
observer is convinced that here
is a world in itself, with a population
growing, increasing, developing,
devouring its prey, and in
such multitudes that the mind
can not grasp the figures.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_012.jpg" name="i_012.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_012-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 5.</span>—<em>A</em>, Stentor; <em>B</em>, Vaginicola; <em>C</em>, group of Vorticellæ; <em>D</em>, bud of Vorticella.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_013a.jpg" name="i_013a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_013a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 6.</span>—Paramœcium: <em>e</em>,
mouth; <em>v</em>, contracting vacuoles.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_013b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 7.</span>—Nummulites.</p> </div>
<p>If the reader visits Egypt and
climbs the pyramids, he will be
impressed by these the greatest
works of mankind. If a small
portion of the stone from which
they are constructed is placed
under the glass, it will be found
in many instances made up almost
entirely of beautiful shells (Fig. 7).
These are the shells of an amœba-like
animal known as a Nummulite, which lived millions
of years ago, and whose fossil
remains formed the stone
from which the early Egyptians
in turn built the great
piles or monuments of their
kings. Man is powerful, but
in this instance one of the
most insignificant of animals
made his work possible. These shells are of great beauty<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</SPAN></span>
and variety (Fig. 8). Many are perforated, and through
the minute holes are seen the
false feet of the Amœba reaching
out for food. They illustrate
the boundless resources
of nature, and suggest that
the very lowest of creatures
are not too insignificant to
be dressed in most beautiful
garbs, as all these forms vie
with one another in the delicacy
of their designs (Fig. 9)
and the grace of their shapes.
Some of these shelled forms are giants two inches across.
All these minute shells perform a marvelous work in building
up the crust of the earth, forming the bottom of deep
seas and the platforms of coral reefs. The chalk cliffs of
England are composed of shells of unestimated millions
(Fig. 10), which were once dropped upon the bottom of a
deep sea and piled upward until some were crushed into<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</SPAN></span>
a shapeless mass of lime, others retained their shapes
(Fig. 11); and all, by some convulsion, were afterward
lifted high into the air.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_014a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 8.</span>—Flint-shelled Radiolarian.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_014b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 9.</span>—Flint-shelled Polycystina.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_015a.jpg" name="i_015a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_015a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 10.</span>—Foraminifera from
Atlantic ooze.</p>
</div>
<p>The entire ocean is as thickly populated with these
atoms as the drop of fresh water. The shelled forms are
as constantly dying, the shells falling or sinking in a continual
rain of shells upon the bottom, piling up eternally.
Who shall estimate their countless numbers? It is
believed that these minute shells are as abundant down
to a depth of six hundred feet as they are at the surface.
There are more than sixteen tons of limy shells floating in
the uppermost one hundred fathoms of every square mile
of the ocean. These facts convey an idea of one way in
which the earth is growing—increasing in size but not in
weight, as these delicate creatures merely secrete the
carbonate of lime which forms their shells. They take it
from the surrounding water of which it has been a part.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_015b.jpg" name="i_015b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_015b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 11.</span>—Section of English chalk
cliff. Highly magnified. Bottom of an ancient sea.</p>
</div>
<p>It would be of great interest to learn exactly how these
humble creatures take lime from the water and produce<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</SPAN></span>
shells of such marvelous beauty: to learn why one is of
lime and others, like the Radiolarians, are of silica; why
some live at the surface and are free swimmers, while
others creep about in the ooze. When the deep-sea
explorers first began to dredge, they found over vast areas
a peculiar mud or ooze, and investigation showed that it
was formed almost entirely of the shells of a certain
minute shell maker, from which it was named the Globigerina
ooze. Finding these vast banks or beds of mud at
this depth is suggestive that the deepest seas may yet be
filled by the dropping of this invisible rain; but as the
average depth of the ocean is nearly if not quite three
miles, many centuries must pass before this will be accomplished.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_016.jpg" name="i_016.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_016-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 12.</span>—Noctiluca. Highly magnified.</p>
</div>
<p>The marvelous phosphorescent
light previously
described came
from a minute armored
form known as Peridinium,
but even this is
exceeded by the glories
of a little monad called
Noctiluca (Fig. 12). It
is a giant of the tribe,
and is visible to the
naked eye, being almost
as large as the head of
a pin, and resembling a currant in shape. It has a single
hairlike organ or lash, supposed to be a locomotive organ,
by which it whirls itself through the water. Of all the
light givers of the sea this is the most common, some of<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</SPAN></span>
its species being found in every sea, and where they are,
it is necessary only to splash the water to cause a blaze of
light to follow. A French naturalist placed on record the
fact that so brilliant was the light occasioned by this
minute organism in African waters that he read by their
light standing on a beach where a heavy surf came pounding
in upon the sand. The light of this little creature is
remarkable not only for its vividness but for its many different
tints. Now it is a fitful vivid green, again the water
is a blaze of yellow light, or orange. At such times, when
a ship is plowing along, the light is so brilliant that the sails
and rigging are brilliantly illumined, casting weird shadows.</p>
<p>Some Noctilucæ emit a clear blue light, but when the
same animal is disturbed it appears white with green and
blue flashes of great beauty and intensity—a telling
illustration of the boundless, and marvelous, resources of
nature. Many interesting experiments have been tried
with these dainty light givers. A tube fifteen millimeters
in diameter was filled with them, and by shaking this novel
lamp a printed page was read a foot distant; yet when a
delicate thermometer was thrust into the fiery mass, the
mercury was not affected in the slightest, showing that
here was that wonder of wonders—vivid light without
heat—a secret which man has vainly endeavored to wrest
from nature. The vast number of these minute creatures
can be realized when it is said that the ship <cite>Magenta</cite>
sailed nearly five hundred miles among swarms of Noctilucæ,
which gave splendid displays of phosphorescent light at
night. Sometimes the light emitted was milky white;
again it was green, or blue, the different species possessing
different colors.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>II. THE SPONGES</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_018.jpg" name="i_018.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_018-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 13.</span>—Living sponges.</p>
</div>
<p>Almost every day, for several years, I devoted
one or more hours to the pastime of floating or
drifting over a part of the great coral reef
which constitutes the most westward portion
of Florida where it reaches out in the direction
of Yucatan. The islands composing the
group are the Tortugas Keys, and are just
above water; indeed some disappeared
when a particularly heavy hurricane came,
and in the center of the island upon which
I lived, the water at very high tide appeared
above the surface.</p>
<p>Among the commonest objects
seen on the reef were
huge vases (Fig. 13).<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</SPAN></span>
They were found in water from a foot to fifteen feet or
more in depth, and were attached so strongly to the
bottom that it required considerable strength to lift
them up. Some were three feet high, and I have often
dived down to them and for a few seconds sat upon
them as a jest for the edification of my companions in
the boat above. A common name for them on the reef
was "Neptune's Seats." The seats were sponges, and
their collection on the Florida reef has for many years
constituted an important industry, vessels being fitted
out from Key West and other places for this purpose.
This industry is also followed in the Mediterranean
Sea, where the finest sponges known are found. To
take them, men go out in small boats, and in shallow
water bring them up with hooks. In the greater depths
a water box is used, a box with a glass bottom, which
placed over the water makes everything visible, and by
this the sponger secures the sponge. Other collectors,
especially those of Syria, dive for them and wrench
them from the bottom, then ascend to the surface with
the load. There are many different kinds of sponges,
those commonly used being divided into grades, from
the delicate face sponge to the coarse specimens used
for washing carriages. Then there are hundreds of kinds
of sponges which have no value but to form veritable
mimic forest growths at the bottom of the sea (Fig. 14).
Some grow upon stones or sea mud and are brilliantly
colored; others again are like glass, and all represent
one of the lowest forms of animal life, yet one of the
most beautiful, and one that is very useful.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_020.jpg" name="i_020.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_020-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 14.</span>—A sponge (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ascetta primordialis</i>): I. <em>o</em>, exhalent opening; <em>p</em>, inhalent
pores; <em>g</em>, ova. Starlike spicules are seen on the outside. II. Section showing
pores (<em>p</em>), with cilia of the cells extending into them. III. Cell showing lash, or
cilium. IV. Same, with lash retracted. V. Embryo of <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ascetta mirabilis</i>. VI.
Section of embryo.</p>
</div>
<p>In handling a sponge the most indifferent person has<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</SPAN></span>
not failed to observe two peculiarities, one that the
sponge is soft, another that it is filled with holes, small<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</SPAN></span>
and large, and has a marvelous faculty of retaining water,
in which property lies its value to man. Now if we take
a sponge and cut down through it, making a section, we
shall find that these holes are nothing more or less than
doors or mouths which lead into the interior of the
sponge. If we are so fortunate as to have a live sponge
to study, we shall see that water is being forced through
all the small pores and out into the larger ones; and if
we could examine the water, we should see that the
water which passed in, is laden with living creatures
which have been described in a previous chapter, while
the water which is discharged contains little or no
living matter. The reader will have suspected what
this in-going and out-coming is. It is the operation
of eating on the part of the sponge, which, while it
looks very much like a plant and appears to be growing
from the ground, is an animal, or a community of
many cells—a many-celled animal.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_021.jpg" name="i_021.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_021-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 15.</span>—Flint spicules highly magnified.</p>
</div>
<p>In our section of a
sponge we may follow
the winding channels
which connect one part
of the sponge with the
other, and we see that
the body is a mass of
fibers made up of curious
and beautifully
shaped objects called
spicules (Fig. 15). The
spicules are the bones
of sponges, the hard<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</SPAN></span>
portion, the framework. In the sponge we find here and
there little oval rooms, and in these are packed, side by
side, minute objects with tails (Fig. 16). Each little cell
has its tail upon the outside,
which is really a whip or lash,
used for capturing passing food.
In these rooms the cells congregate
and are fed by the constant
onward flow of water laden with
food. The food is in the shape
of minute animals and plants
which these little whips catch
as they pass by. The whips
have another purpose; their constant
motion serves to force
the water along through the
canals, carrying air as well as
food.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_022.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 16.</span>—Parts of a sponge (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Grantia</i>): <em>B</em>, cross section showing pores leading into tubes <em>C´</em>;
<em>C</em>, enlarged tube; <em>D</em>, cells magnified.</p>
</div>
<p>Some of the sponges have very singular shapes. One
is called the finger sponge, and often takes the form of a
hand. Others are very long and slender (Fig. 17).
Some are perfectly round; others creep over stones and
form a brilliant red matting, a charming object in the
water.</p>
<p>The great vase or seat sponges are often the habitations
of animals of various kinds—shrimps, crabs, and fishes.
After a hurricane I have found a windrow of them on the
beaches. When the sponge is taken from the water it is
fleshy and seems covered with a reddish colored mass of
jelly, or it is black, brown, or yellow, as the case may be.
The sponge of commerce is the skeleton, the mass of living<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</SPAN></span>
spicules after all the animal matter has been removed and
the framework, elastic and soft, thoroughly bleached.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_023.jpg" name="i_023.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_023-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 17.</span>—Sponges: <em>A</em>, Axinella; <em>B</em>, Sycandra.</p>
</div>
<p>The variety in
shape, color, and
size in sponges is
remarkable and
can not be appreciated
until a collection
of these
lowly animals is
seen with the individuals
side by
side. In such a
collection one
sponge, shown in
Figure 18, will
attract the observer
for its remarkable
beauty;
indeed few would
consider it anything
but a beautiful glass vase. Some years ago one
was brought to England from the South Pacific and sold
for several hundred dollars. It was believed to be the
work of some skilled native artist in glass. But finally
some one discovered that the natives did not make them,
but hooked them up from the bottom of the ocean, when
they had no resemblance to the glass vases of commerce
sold for enormous sums under the title of Venus's flower
basket. When first brought up the vase was dark and
covered with mud; then it was found that it was a sponge,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</SPAN></span>
and that the so-called
glass was
merely the interior,
the framework over
which was drawn
the ugly exterior
animal matter. It
is needless to say
that the enormous
price of the Venus's
flower basket
dropped, and it can
now be bought for
a few cents.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_024.jpg" name="i_024.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_024-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 18.</span>—Skeleton of a sponge.</p>
</div>
<p>No more beautiful
object can be
imagined than this
sponge, known as
the Euplectella. It
has great wisps of
glasslike matter at
the bottom, which
anchor it in the
sand or mud, and
the framework appears
to rise upward
in whirls, the
surface being made
up of squares or
basket work, so
artificial that it is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</SPAN></span>
difficult to believe that it is not of human make. This
vase has a top to it. It is perforated with squares, and
is often a prison for various small animals, as crabs, which
have passed into the interior when very small and which
are now too large to escape, only their claws or feelers
being seen protruding through the little portholes.</p>
<p>The sponges in their habits show a variety of tastes.
Many grow in the mud, the majority upon rocks. On the
New England shores there is one of a yellowish hue which
lives in the sand. It is very light, and the pores are so fine
that the sand does not enter them. After a storm on Cape
Cod thousands are found on the beaches, blown far inshore.
Black and pure white sponges are found in fresh water as
well as in salt. They increase by depositing eggs. In one
stage of their development the young (Fig. 14, V.) are free-swimming
animals.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>III. THE JELLYFISHES</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_026.jpg" name="i_026.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_026-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 19.</span>—A jellyfish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Pelagia</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>Among the most beautiful and fragile of all animals are
the singular forms which we call jellyfishes (Fig. 19).<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</SPAN></span>
They are so delicate that we can not lift them, and in many
instances they have ninety-five per cent of water in their
composition. They would almost seem to be purely
ornamental did we not know that they fill an important
niche in the hall of nature, constituting almost the sole
food of many whales.</p>
<p>The jellyfishes are found in all waters, salt and even
fresh. They may be seen floating near or at the surface,
often in vast numbers. Sometimes they are found deep
in the heart of the upper part of the ocean, often in such
quantities that the water appears to be filled with their
graceful shapes.</p>
<p>In the Santa Catalina Channel a beautiful lavender-hued
form is common, the water being alive with them at times,
and I have seen specimens with tentacles streaming behind
them an estimated length of twenty feet, the entire animal
appearing like a huge comet in the blue sky of the ocean.
Mrs. Agassiz describes a jellyfish called Cyanea which was
six feet across its disk and which had tentacles over one
hundred feet in length. Specimens have been seen in
East Indian waters which were much larger, having an
estimated weight of several tons. An English naturalist
describes one which stranded in India and gave out so
vivid a light at night that the natives were afraid to
approach it; yet large as was this monster, a few hours in
the sun caused it to disappear or literally evaporate, water
forming so large a part of its make-up.</p>
<p>In appearance the jellies resemble umbrellas, dinner
plates, or inverted bowls, from which depend streamers or
tentacles of various kinds and shapes, often richly colored,
especially the very minute forms. The mouth is in the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</SPAN></span>
center, the eyes are around the edge of the disk, while
the huge tentacles, which can be lifted or lowered as fancy
dictates, are so many fishing lines by which this jelly finds
its food. I have often watched them floating near the surface,
the delicate vermilion-tinted tentacles floating gracefully
about, and serving as so many tempting baits. Should
a sardine or other small fish venture to attack this tempting
lure, we can almost imagine it struck by an electric
shock, as it rolls over dead. The secret is very easily
discovered. Lift the tentacles with the hand and a burning
sensation will be experienced, in some cases very painful.
The tentacles of the jellyfish are armed with stings.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_028.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 20.</span>—Lassos or weapons of a jellyfish.</p> </div>
<p>The weapons are known as lassos (Fig. 20). Under
the microscope the tentacles appear to be filled with little
cells or oblong objects, which when examined are found to
be capsules (<em>C</em>) resembling long glasslike bodies in which is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</SPAN></span>
coiled a thread. This latter is a miniature javelin, and
when the tentacle of a jellyfish is seized by a fish or an
enemy, tens of thousands of these cells literally explode
(<em>D</em>) and the javelin springs out like a Jack-in-the-box
(<em>A</em>) and penetrates the intruder. With many jellyfishes
the effect of this bombardment is a stinging sensation. It
paralyzes small fishes which, when benumbed, are lifted up
by the tentacles and eaten.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_029.jpg" name="i_026-thumb.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_029-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 21.</span>—Jellyfish and young (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Aurelia</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>The jellies develop in various ways. In Figure 21 we
see a common and very beautiful form resting on the
rocks. Near by are various little plantlike creatures, the
young jellies, which undergo a remarkable series of
changes in their growth from the egg to the adult form.
Minute eggs are deposited in the autumn, which drop into<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</SPAN></span>
the crevices of the rocks and soon change to pear-shaped
objects which attach themselves to the bottom. Each little
jelly pear (Fig. 22) divides after a while until it looks like
a pile of platters one upon the other. The upper one dies,
and the rest break away, each becoming a separate jellyfish,
which ultimately grows to be a giant.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_030.jpg" name="i_030.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_030-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 22.</span>—The development of a jellyfish.</p>
</div>
<p>The story of the growth and development of these
little jellies is one of the most marvelous pages in the
history of nature. In some forms the father and son are
entirely different, and it is only the father and grandson
that resemble each other. Not only this, the father is a
seeming plant, while the son is a free-swimming jellyfish
of great beauty. The seeming plant is in reality a
hydroid community. The buds are immature jellyfishes
which finally break away and assume the typical jellylike
form, free swimmers bearing not the slightest resemblance
to the parent. This jelly deposits eggs which attach
themselves to the bottom and become not jellies but the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</SPAN></span>
shrublike form. Hence it is the parent and its grandchildren
that bear a close resemblance to one another.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_031a.jpg" name="i_031a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_031a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 23.</span>—A large jellyfish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cyanea</i>).</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_031b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 24.</span>—Flowerlike jellyfish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Lucernaria</i>).</p> </div>
<p>No conception of the beauties of the jellyfish can be
formed from pictures, or from the stranded "sunfishes"
found along the shore at low tide. In the water they
move along or swim by
the slow pumping or
rising and falling of the
umbrella or disk, and
are of all the colors of
the rainbow. Some,
like the dark, lavender-splashed
specimens,
can be seen from a
long distance, while
others are almost invisible,
in fact, are like
glass or crystal, and
interpose no obstacle
to other forms beyond.
The ocean is filled with
them; their chaste
shapes presenting one
of the most beautiful
spectacles to be observed in the ocean as they drift about.
Some are merely great
disks towing behind them
enormous masses of pink
fluted jelly, as in Figure
23; others are simple
flowerlike forms (Fig. 24).</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>If these graceful forms are beautiful during the day,
what shall we say of them at night, when they blaze and
glow with marvelous phosphorescent
lights of yellow, green, and gold.
Gazing into the ocean these great
jellies appear like comets moving
through the clear atmosphere of the
sea. The Cyanea is pale blue. One
jelly, called Melicerta, emits a pale
golden radiance, and Rhizostoma (Fig.
25) gives out a fixed steely blue light.
It would be difficult to find one out of
all this marvelous procession of living
gems that does not emit a light more
or less peculiarly its own.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_032.jpg" name="i_032.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_032-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 25.</span>—Jellyfish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Rhizostoma</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>If this phosphorescence is fascinating
as we are drifting over the scene
and the light givers are not alarmed,
how much more dazzling is the display when the sea is
beaten into foam. In a certain cave on the coast of
Santa Catalina Island, California, the sea rushes in and,
striking the rocks, rises like a wave of fire and bathes
the entire interior with liquid light which slowly falls in
gleaming rivulets to the sea.</p>
<p>But the most magnificent display is seen at Point
Firmin Light during a storm. Here stands a lofty rock
pillar which has breasted the sea for ages. At low tide,
when a storm sea strikes the ledge, the spray rises to an
altitude of three hundred feet, and spreading as it rises,
fairly fills the air with a gigantic mass of silvery light,
that on a dark night presents an appalling spectacle as it<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</SPAN></span>
drops, changing its shape continually. On such nights
the line of breakers changes into silvery flame, while the
roar resembles a cannonade, fairly shaking the earth. In
the breakers the jelly light givers are breaking up and
adding fuel to the seeming flame. Some, as Pelagia,
are luminous over their entire surface; in others, the
light is confined to certain parts, which are either fixed or
flashing lights. How vivid this light is may be imagined
when it is said that a single jellyfish, Aurelia, when
squeezed into a glass of milk, has produced a light by
which a letter was read.</p>
<p>This peculiar phosphorescence is not their only interesting
feature. Nearly all the jellies afford protection to
fishes, crabs, and various small animals. As I drifted over
the waters of the Gulf of Mexico almost every large jelly
that I examined had one or more little fishes of the mackerel
family up among its lobes or tentacles. As they
always resembled the tentacles in tint or color, a delicate
pink, they found protection amid the death-dealing darts.
The most remarkable example of this strange companionship
of dangerous jellies and delicate fishes is found in the
Physalia, or Portuguese man-of-war (Fig. 26), one of the
most beautiful of all the animals that make up the group
to which the jellyfishes belong. Physalia is a bubble tinted
with purple hues, four or five inches long—a fairy ship
of pearly tints. On its upper portion is a sail which can
be raised and lowered, while from the lower part depends
a mass of beautiful blue or purple tentacles which sometimes
are nearly one hundred feet in length. During the
summer of 1902 I found them on the outer islands of the
Texan coast in great numbers, stranded on the sands, while<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</SPAN></span>
scores of others
sailed on through
the pass into the
quiet waters of
Aransas Bay.
Among the islands
of the Tortugas
group I
often saw them
dotting the calm
waters, the sunlight
on their
delicate tints presenting beautiful combinations
of colors.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_034.jpg" name="i_034.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_034-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 26.</span>—The Physalia.</p>
</div>
<p>It may appear strange that one of the most
resplendent of animals should be the most dangerous,
yet such is the case. The attractive
tentacles which drag behind the Physalia are
deadly to almost every fish. I have found a
hawkbill turtle weighing twenty pounds caught
and benumbed by one; and fishes which touch
the seeming worms roll over dead, as though
stunned by an electric shock. In swimming around one<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</SPAN></span>
of the keys of the reef I unwittingly passed over the
train of one, and if I had been alone, I doubt if I could
have reached the shore, so terrible was the burning
pain. A year afterward my flesh had the appearance
of having been tattooed in fanciful designs. Yet despite
the deadly nature of this maze of traps and lures, a
little fish lives up among them, and what is more remarkable,
is the exact color of the tentacles, a rich blue. So
exact is this resemblance that it is very difficult to see
the little attendants, but if you lift the dainty man-of-war
by its sail, they rush about greatly alarmed by their exposed
condition. I have been told that the Physalia eats
these attendant courtiers, but in hundreds of specimens
which I examined I never saw the little fish in the toils.
They swam about among the death-dealing tentacles with
the greatest freedom. The secret of the poison lies in the
lasso cells of the tentacles, as in the case of the jellyfish,
but in this instance they are much more poisonous. Along
the southern beaches, where the Physalia is common,
their stranded hulks form after storms a windrow of mimic
balloons which explode like torpedoes beneath the feet, as
one strolls along the sands.</p>
<p>No branch of the animal kingdom contains more beautiful
and radiant forms than that which includes the Portuguese
man-of-war. They are the fairy crafts of the sea,
graceful, seemingly formed of water in some instances, and
nearly all so delicate that they usually drop to pieces when
captured. I have kept all for a brief time in confinement,
but few survived more than a few hours.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_036a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 27.</span>—Velella.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_036b.jpg" name="i_036b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_036b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 28.</span>—<em>A</em>, Praya; <em>n´n´</em>, mouths; <em>ss</em>, swimming
bells. <em>B</em>, single polypite (<em>p</em>), enlarged.</p>
</div>
<p>In a tank at Santa Catalina Island I had at one time,
besides a Portuguese man-of-war, the delicate Velella, a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</SPAN></span>
raft of sheeny silver which floated on the surface, having a
silvery sail (Fig. 27), beneath
which hung short tentacles of
a brilliant hue. More beautiful
than these were the "swimming
bells"—strings of beautiful
pink and crystal bells attached
to a central cord (Fig. 28).
One of these, Praya, three or four feet long, was a veritable
string of little pumps, each of which pumped water
very rapidly, urging
the entire animal
along. Each
little cup seemed
carved in glass and
colored by some
artist, so perfect
were the tints, so
delicate was the
design. Many of
these forms could
be seen in the
ocean only by fitful
glances, so delicate
were they. Most
beautiful of all
these prisoners in
the tank was one
called Physophora, or by the Italian fishermen, Boguetti.
It had a central stem like the glass of a thermometer, the
bulb being uppermost and filled with a gas that was almost<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</SPAN></span>
exact in its resemblance to mercury. When the bulb
was full the animal floated at the surface. I have
watched the animal force the gas down by repeated
restrictions of the tube until it could descend beneath the
surface with ease. On the sides of the central pillar were
numbers of beautifully tinted pumps, the locomotive organs.
Underneath was a mass of lacelike tentacles, richly tinted,
purple and vermilion, so Physophora was one of the most
gorgeous objects to be imagined. A unique feature of this
animal was its rapid movements. When it so desired it
dashed around the tank with great velocity, in strange
contrast to the labored movements of other jellylike forms,
or the utter and complete helplessness of Physalia, Velella,
or Porpita. These latter were ships at the mercy of every
breeze, the Physalia alone being able to anchor itself on a
lea shore, but always beaten in by the heavy surf.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>IV. THE SEA ANEMONES</h2></div>
<p>In the last century many of the animals of the ocean
were considered plants, and the sea anemones, which
appear to open and shut like flowers, were described and
painted in verse and prose as the flowers in the gardens of
the sea. The sea anemone, common in almost every rocky
pool, and found everywhere from the rocks bare at low
tide to the greater depths, certainly has a very flowerlike
appearance, some of them resembling a flower without a
stem. Petals branch out on every side. Some are large,
some small, and as though to carry out the idea the anemones
are of all possible shapes and colors. Some are vivid
red, others blue, some almost white, others spotted black
and white, brown and barred. Almost every color is seen.
Some are tall and slender, five or six inches high; others
are flat. Some live in exposed places, as the luminous
form attached to the shell of a hermit crab in Figure 29.
Others bury themselves in the sand or hide beneath large
jellyfishes, displaying the most remarkable tastes and fancies.
Little wonder that the ancients believed that they
were flowers. But touch one, and presto! it appears to
draw within itself, and becomes a mere mound in place of
the gorgeous creature which spread its splendors to the
current.</p>
<p>The sea anemone is a highly organized animal several
degrees above the jellyfishes in the scale of life, yet a
very humble creature after all. They are tubular in shape,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</SPAN></span>
and are attached to the rocks by a sucking disk which
clings so tightly that it is only with great difficulty they
are forced off. Yet they have the power of moving, and
slowly, very slowly, drag themselves along. Some move
perhaps three or four inches a day; but this would be a
long journey for many anemones, and the greatest number
are fixed for life and live in crevices in the rocks. The
only one I ever saw actually moving was traveling slowly
across the glass of a tank. As it moved small pieces of
the disk appeared to be torn off and left behind, each of
which grew into a perfect sea anemone.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_039.jpg" name="i_039.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_039-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 29.</span>—Sea anemones—one in the upper right hand corner is a luminous
form on a hermit crab.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>On the upper portion around the rim are the tentacles,
armed with the same kind of ammunition (Fig. 30) found
in the jellyfish, namely, lassos. In the center
is the mouth.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_040a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 30.</span>—Lasso or dart of a sea anemone.</p> </div>
<p>We may imagine the anemone feeding, and we
may easily see what occurs. The anemone
displays its beautiful flowerlike face; it is spread
out, waiting for prey. A shrimp comes swimming
along, and innocently drops upon the
beautiful flower. The moment it touches the
attractive arms it is pierced by the lassos, and
unless very vigorous is soon involved. The arms
are thrown over it, the body shrinks, grows perceptibly
smaller, the shrimp is pressed against
the mouth, and finally ingulfed, and the once
gorgeous anemone resembles (Fig. 31) a mere
mound, a
form which it may
retain until the food
is digested.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_040b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 31.</span>—A sea anemone closed.</p> </div>
<p>The structure of
this interesting animal
may be observed
by glancing at Figure
32. The stomach is placed in the center of the
animal, and is held in position by a number of partitions
that are attached to the side of the anemone. These
form little rooms in the body of the anemone, arranged
about the stomach, but not opening into it. Each room
has two windows leading into the room beyond, hence
all are connected, and at the bottom all are connected<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</SPAN></span>
with the stomach. Each room connects upward with a
tentacle, which is hollow. When the animal is swallowing,
the food passes
down and is floated
in water through the
various rooms, the
hard portions being
rejected at the mouth.
The animal has a
current of water circulating
through it
almost continually,
and it is water which,
filling them, makes
the tentacles stand
upright and firm.
Between the bases of
the tentacles are the eyes. When the animal closes up,
it forces the water out of its mouth and is able to shrink
to a small and inconspicuous object.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_041.jpg" name="i_041.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_041-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 32.</span>—Section of an anemone: <em>c</em>, tentacles;
<em>g</em>, little rooms; <em>d</em>, mouth; <em>g´</em>, opening between
rooms; <em>a</em>, sucking deck or foot; <em>e</em>, stomach.</p>
</div>
<p>Lowly as are the sea anemones, they often display an
amount of intelligence that few would give them credit for.
On the Florida Reef was a large lagoon, its bottom pure
sand, and so light that the slightest dark object was easily
observed. In the sand, buried several inches deep, lived
a large anemone, whose normal hue was a dark brown,
but when expanded was almost the exact color of the sand;
not only this, its tentacles were covered with bits of sand.
In a word, the anemone had disguised itself so that large
and threatening fishes would not see it, as they swam
along in search of food. The habit of placing bits of<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</SPAN></span>
shells and sand on the tentacles is a common one. I have
noticed it in a sand-living form on the California coast.
As the tide went out and left the anemones dry, they were
invariably covered with sand which adhered to the tentacles
as though it had been gummed. To accomplish this protection
from the hot rays of the sun, the anemone had
picked up the atoms of sand with its tentacles and distributed
them over its surface. As there were thousands
of pieces, the amount of work may be imagined.</p>
<p>Anemones are found in many strange places. One, as
we have seen, rides about upon the back of a hermit crab;
another is so often found on the top of an ordinary crab
that it is evidently a habit of the anemone. The anemone
thus travels about with its host and shares its food. In
the Indian Ocean a German naturalist found on every crab
of a certain kind, which he caught, a sea anemone fastened
upon the inside of the large biting claw. Thinking it
accidental, he caught a number of crabs, but nearly all had
the small anemone, which was so placed that when the
crab raised its claw to its mouth to eat and tear its food,
the sea anemone was in a position to obtain a full share
of the food. Still thinking that this must be an accident,
the naturalist placed a large number of the crabs
bearing the sea anemones in a tank and removed the
anemones with a knife, placing them in the water. The
following day when they were examined every crab had its
attendant again upon its claw. Again the experiment was
tried, and again the crabs collected their curious attendants.
The naturalist now cut one of the animals into
several pieces, and even then the crabs attempted to
collect them.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The anemones deposit eggs in vast numbers, which
change into strange, free-swimming animals that finally
settle upon the bottom and soon grow into the adult
forms. They have another method of developing. Singular
little "buds" appear on the sides and base of the
adult, which soon resemble the parent. The anemone is
very long-lived; specimens have been kept for nearly a
century. They also have a marvelous faculty for renewing
themselves if injured. If one is divided, sometimes two
anemones will be the result, recalling their distant cousin
the little hydra, which when turned inside out receives its
food and eats as though nothing had happened. No
amount of mutilating appears to affect its various portions,
as each soon develops into a perfect hydra.</p>
<p>The sea anemone is a common form of the aquarium.
It is easily secured by those living near the ocean, forming
a most interesting pet, taking food from the hand, and soon
proving itself possessed of a remarkable appetite. The
anemones are among the great purifiers of the ocean,
devouring a vast amount of dead matter which might
pollute the water, and continually pumping the water
through their systems, sifting out the animal life, dead or
alive. Aside from this, the anemones are chiefly useful as
beautifiers of the ocean. In the Mediterranean Sea they
are sometimes eaten by the Italians and French. Certain
fishes and crustaceans prey upon them.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>V. THE CORALS</h2></div>
<p>The real gardens of the sea, the "Gulfs enchanted
where the siren sings and coral reefs lie bare," are in
the tropics, where the great coral reefs extend for miles
in countless shapes, forming branches, heads, fans, and
many forms which never fail to delight the eye of the
observer. For many years I lived upon a coral key or
island in the center of a coral reef. The key was half a
mile in circuit, and was made up of coral sand, or sand
composed of ground coral and shells. It was just above
the surface, so near that almost anywhere salt water could
be found a few feet below; yet in this sandy soil cocoanuts,
bananas, and other tropical plants grew in profusion.
A grove of bay cedars and mangroves added to its attractiveness
and gave it the name of Garden Key.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_045.jpg" name="i_045.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_045-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 33.</span>—Branch coral (reef builder), showing polyps expanded and withdrawn.</p>
</div>
<p>The history of this reef is easily told. Ages ago there
was no reef. There was no island, but perhaps a submarine
plateau, a long distance below the surface. It
gradually grew by the dropping of the minute shells
described on page 15. After many ages it attained
an altitude which brought its summit within one hundred
or two hundred feet of the surface. Now its growth became
more rapid as a new factor came upon the scene. The
reef-building corals do not, as a rule, thrive or grow in
water deeper than two hundred feet, and nearly all prefer
water very much shallower. So, as soon as the submarine
hill entered this zone, the eggs and young of the various<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</SPAN></span>
reef-building corals (Figs. 33, 37) obtained a foothold,
and the growth was ever upward, countless forms aiding
in it. The lower portion was continually dying, the
animals occupying only the upper story, so that a cap of
stone was being formed on the top of the hill which after
many years reached the surface. The sea now broke up
the tips of the branch coral. They became ground up.
A curious seaweed which secreted lime appeared, and this
and the ground coral and shells formed a muddy flat
which, aided by various objects that float upon the ocean,
constituted a miniature island. Now something which<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</SPAN></span>
resembled a cigar, one end downward, came floating
along. If we could have examined it, curious little rootlets
would have been seen growing from the lower portion.
This stranded on the island, and the little cigar
proved to be the seed of the mangrove tree; its roots
grew and caught in the mud, and soon a tree appeared
growing on the new-born island. Its roots presented a
base, about which sand and mud rapidly accumulated, and
so the key or island grew until it became the Garden Key
of to-day.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_046.jpg" name="i_046.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_046-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 34.</span>—Mushroom coral; a single polyp (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ctenactis</i>), one fourth natural size.</p>
</div>
<p>Such is the history of an ordinary coral island, built up,
not by corals alone, but by countless animals. Even to-day
some writers describe this coral animal as an "insect," but
it is an entirely different animal, being a polyp, so closely
related to the anemones that very few can distinguish
between them. For the purpose of examination we may
consider a coral animal as a sea anemone possessing the
faculty of taking lime from the sea water and secreting it
in the little rooms which we have found existing in the
anemones (Fig. 32), there forming a little platform, then<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</SPAN></span>
partitions or cells, as the case may be. In Figure 33 is
shown a section of branch coral. The starlike spots are
the polyps with
their tentacles outspread
as in feeding.
They may be
considered so
many anemones,
each resting in a
little cell, and all
connected by a
common brown or
olive-hued tissue.
This is a many-celled
coral, while
that shown in Figure
34 is an example
of a single-celled coral, a huge anemone with a framework
of lime. These single-celled corals are often found
in very deep water.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_047.jpg" name="i_047.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_047-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 35.</span>—A single polyp coral (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Caryophyllia</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>In the vicinity of Garden Key on the Florida Reef there
are six or seven keys, each almost surrounded by a deep-blue
channel. On the east a long fringing reef is forming
which some day may form an atoll (Fig. 36). In this
lagoon are acres of beautiful branch coral, rising two or
three feet from the bottom in a mass of points almost bare
at low tide, and at the very lowest tides becoming exposed
and dying. At certain places on the edges of channels
are vast heads of coral (Fig. 37), some being four feet high
and six or seven feet across. Many of these are hollowed
out into great vases and filled with beautiful sea fans, the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</SPAN></span>
Gorgonias, in yellow, lavender, and brown, while in and
out swim fishes of beautiful colors. The surface of these
heads is often dotted with objects which resemble flowers
of gorgeous hues, red, blue, white, and spotted. At the
slightest alarm or jar these disappear, showing themselves
merely worms, which have bored into the coral, the flowerlike
petals being the breathing organs. Along the sides
of the channels the groves of branch coral (Fig. 33) dip
down, and thirty feet below the surface the growth is
much more vigorous, the branches often being three or
even four feet in length, and resembling the antlers of the
elk.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_048.jpg" name="i_048.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_048-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 36.</span>—An atoll.</p>
</div>
<p>Wishing to see how deep the coral descended, I had a
boat held on the edge of the channel, and taking a heavy
stone in my hands allowed myself to sink. The stone
carried me down rapidly for perhaps twenty feet, until the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</SPAN></span>
water was perceptibly colder and the light very dim, yet
as far below me as I could see, the almost perpendicular
wall of coral extended, being in all probability sixty feet
in height and almost vertical. As I swam upward not
four feet from the jagged points, I could plainly see the
beautiful coral with parrot fishes garbed in brilliant tints,
poising among the great branches.</p>
<p>The coral on this reef grows or flourishes more or less
in communities. The great heads are found in groups,
the branch coral in plantations, if the word can be used,
in the center of the lagoon and on the edge of the deep
channels. On a shallow point, growing among seaweeds,
I found small heads five or six inches long.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_049.jpg" name="i_049.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_049-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 37.</span>—Coral head, with many polyps (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Astræa</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>In the surf, where it piled in upon the reef, grew a
beautiful form known as leaf coral, spreading out like
the horns of the moose in great leaflike shapes. This
crept near the ground, and was surrounded by its cousins,
the Gorgonias, in lavender and yellow. The whole pre<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</SPAN></span>sented
a beautiful appearance when seen from above
through a water glass or glass-bottomed boat.</p>
<p>In most of these corals the branches were covered with
the small cells of the coral animal, made up of thousands
of individual polyps. Others again had very minute cells,
yet the entire head might weigh a thousand pounds.
Another large head is called brain coral, as the animals
are arranged in deep trenches or convolutions. In the
star coral (Astræa, Fig. 37) the polyps resemble stars and
are much larger than those on other corals.</p>
<p>Occasionally I have found a branch of coral on which
there was, perhaps, a bunch of eight cells, each half an
inch across, the group resembling a bunch of flowers.
These were generally in the deeper parts of the lagoon,
where the water was fifteen or more feet deep, and therefore
out of reach of the coral tongs. I would, therefore,
dive down for it, the coral being distinctly visible in these
clear and limpid waters. This rose coral, as we called it,
was the work of a few polyps. Another kind was very
delicate, the polyps being almost invisible. It was called
pepper coral, as when tasted it burned the tongue violently.
Still another, which grew in heads a foot or two
across, had a peculiar habit of floating when free of animal
matter. Large heads, when tossed from the beach
where they had drifted, went sailing away like boats.</p>
<p>Still another coral has cells at short intervals up the
branch; another is cup-shaped with a single polyp. One
of the most remarkable corals (Fig. 38) has the cells of
the polyps arranged after the fashion of a pipe organ,
from which the coral takes its name, while the polyp
itself, when expanded, resembles a daisy. Formerly<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</SPAN></span>
corals were supposed to be confined to the warm waters
of the tropics, but this is true only of the reef builders,
which require a temperature not lower than 63°, and are
rarely, if ever, found at a greater depth than about 180
feet. Single polyp corals, like Fungia, are found at great
depths in the ocean, and certain corals grow in the Santa
Catalina Channel on the Pacific coast. In the Atlantic,
as far north as Long Island Sound, where the water is
often icy cold, is found the beautiful Astrangia, a coral
in which the polyps are pure white and about five one-hundredths
of an inch in length.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_051.jpg" name="i_051.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_051-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 38.</span>—Organ-pipe coral (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Tubipora</i>): <em>A</em>, cell tubes; <em>B</em>, polyp expanded.</p>
</div>
<p>In a general way we have passed in review some of the
typical corals, and may now glance at their manner of
growth. If we cut one of the cells of a coral across, we
shall have a figure similar to that shown in Figure 39.
The white radiating partitions are coral, the black spaces
are rooms, which correspond to the little apartments in
the anemone. The coral develops by eggs and by budding,
just as in the case of its cousin, the anemone. The
eggs, after enjoying a free-swimming life for a while,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</SPAN></span>
settle upon the bottom and begin to secrete lime. They
do not build up a house as the mythical "coral insect" is
described as doing, but secrete it much as any animal
secretes its bones or shell. As the water flows through
the animal it is enabled to secrete the lime dissolved in the
water. If we could watch every step of the growing process,
we should first see a little platform of lime attached
to the stone or object upon which the young coral animal
has dropped, then a little edge or rim which increases in
size daily. Out from this rim shoot the partitions, as
shown in Figure 39. It will be observed that they do not
meet and join, but leave a place in the center for the
stomach. Finally, the cell is completely formed, and we
have a perfect cup of lime, a coral cell in which is ensconced
the anemonelike coral polyp. Its color is an olive
brown, and when the polyp is expanded its little tentacles
resemble the petals of a flower. With these it catches
food, which it eats in very much the same way as do
the anemones. If this cup is a branch coral, soon a bud<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</SPAN></span>
appears upon the side, and a new cup or cell takes shape.
Then another is added, and we see the coral enlarging,
branching out either by budding or simply dividing until
a large branch is the result.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_052.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 39.</span>—Sections of a coral cell.</p> </div>
<p>This growth is much more rapid than is generally
supposed. The brain coral has been known to grow an
inch or double its size in a year, and branch corals grow
six or eight inches in this time. The corals and reefs
form the great girders of the globe. The one off Australia
is over a thousand miles in length, and all over
the world are found fossil reefs. Thus in the Helderberg
Mountains of New York I have followed and traced a
coral reef, quite as wonderful in its way as that now growing
and reaching out in Florida. By some upheaving of
the earth's surface it has been pushed up into the air, a
monument telling of the wonderful changes in nature and
of the time when the waters of New York were as warm
as those of Florida.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_053.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 40.</span>—Surface of sea fan, enlarged.</p> </div>
<p>Side by side with the corals and among the most beautiful
objects of these submarine gardens, we find objects
which resemble plumes and fans
(Fig. 41). These are called Gorgonias,
and are cousins of the
corals. They resemble fans made
up of a fine network or reticulated
surface (Fig. 40). They are richly
colored yellow, brown, and lavender,
those of the latter color being
particularly beautiful. When
there is a surf they can be seen
waving and bending gracefully, like the limbs of a tree<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</SPAN></span>
in a gale. One of
the best known of
this group is the
red coral of commerce,
found in the
Mediterranean Sea
and the Indian
Ocean. When
alive, the coral
base or branch is
covered with a
crust or skin in
which the animals
live, connected one with another. The polyp stands very
high and is white. The crust itself, the solid lime base,
is formed of a number of minute
parallel tubes. This coral is dredged
by collectors in the deep water and
is scraped and polished until the
beautiful red color, so highly prized
for jewelry, is brought out.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_054a.jpg" name="i_054a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_054a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 41.</span>—Sea fan (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gorgonia</i>).</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_054b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 42.</span>—Sea pen.</p> </div>
<p>Closely allied to the corals are the
sea pens (Fig. 42) which are common
in almost all waters, and among
the most beautiful forms. They are
communities of polyps. In the sea
pen the polyps are arranged along
the branches so that a fluffy fan or
an ostrich plume is imitated. I have
taken these animals from deep water
when they measured perhaps five<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</SPAN></span>
inches in length; but an hour later when placed in a
tank the insignificant animal had expanded until it was
five times as large, and beautiful beyond description in
its garb of delicate pink. At night it was a blaze of light
which flashed from branch to
branch, from polyp to polyp.
When irritated in a perfectly
dark room this specimen created
so brilliant a phosphorescent
light that I could almost read
large print by it.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_055.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 43.</span>—Veretillum, a wonderful light giver.</p> </div>
<p>In the deep sea lives a giant
form, the Umbellularia, four or
five feet high; and there are
many more, all of which add to
the lights of the deep sea. Near
allies of these attractive forms
are the comb bearers, free-swimming,
jellylike forms of
great beauty and grace. I have
kept the radiant Pleurobrachia in a tank where I observed
its wonders and beauties. The one known as Veretillum
(Fig. 43) is very beautiful and a marvelous light giver.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>VI. THE STONE LILIES</h2></div>
<p>A number of years ago I took a number of walking
trips over that section of New York state known as the
Catskill Mountain region. The start was made at the
mouth of Catskill Creek,
which was followed up
into the mountains until
we came to a peculiar
light, slate-colored rock.
This rock, where the
stream had washed the
earth away, was dotted
with little disks (Fig.
44), which being harder
than the rock itself had
been weathering, and
stood out in high relief.
A mile or two from the
river the rocks were
covered with these disks,
in fact, seemed to be
made up of them.
Some were large, some
small, as if millions of pipestems had been cut into
sections and scattered about.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_056.jpg" name="i_056.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_056-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 44.</span>—Sections of fossil crinoid stems, Catskill Creek.</p>
</div>
<p>These disks told an interesting story. We read by
them that ages ago the region now covered by farms<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</SPAN></span>
and summer resorts was the bottom of a shallow, tropical
sea. We could go further and describe even the appearance
of the bottom of that sea, and what grew and lived
there. Scattered about on the rock were myriads of shells,
corals, teeth, fish bones, and a variety of objects, all the
remains of animals which once lived in this ancient
ocean.</p>
<p>We find that the little disks fit together, and collecting
them, pile them up, forming a stem a foot or more long.
Among them we find one which
is attached to a rootlike object,
and this is placed at the bottom.
Near by we find a flowerlike or
budlike form (Fig 45), which
may well serve as the flower of
this stem, and so we add it and
produce a striking resemblance
to the crinoid shown in Figure
46. This is an interesting and
beautiful animal which was one
of the commonest forms of the
ancient seas. It grew in groves
and masses, as we may see by the
vast numbers strewn in the old ocean bed; and when they
died, they were scattered here and there and hardened
into the old bed.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_057.jpg" name="i_057.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_057-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 45.</span>—Fossil crinoid.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_058.jpg" name="i_058.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_058-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 46.</span>—A living crinoid (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Pentacrinus</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>The crinoids resemble lilies so closely that they are
called stone lilies. They are animals, however, related to
the starfishes. They have a long stem, with rootlike
branches to support it, and are capped with what appears
like an inverted starfish, and is literally a starfish perched<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</SPAN></span>
upon a stem. Fossil
crinoids have
long been known,
and beautiful specimens
may be seen
in all our museums,
but the fact that
they still live upon
the globe is a
modern discovery.
It is said that
Agassiz stated that
he expected to find
them alive off the
coast of Cuba, and
when a deep locality
was dredged,
up came the living
crinoids, or forms
almost identical
with them. Since
then they have
been dredged in
great numbers by
all the great deep-sea
explorers.
Some have long
stems, some short.
On one, the Comatula,
when it is full
grown, the crinoid<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</SPAN></span>
leaves its stalk, and lives a free, roving life after the fashion
of many starfishes.</p>
<p>The crinoid, with its long slender stem, its branching
tendrils, its flowerlike top, is one of the most graceful of
all animals, as might be imagined from the drawing.
Examine the crinoid as closely as one may, it still
resembles a stone lily, and only its slow movements,
contracting and folding, suggest life. Nevertheless, it is
a very complicated animal. It consists of a central body,
protected by numerous plates, as seen in Figure 46. From
the edges extend five, or often more, branches or arms, and
from them in turn branch other arms, so that the top resembles
a feather or brush, from which they are called
feather stars. In the center of the stars is a mouth, food
being caught by the many branching tentacles. The history
of the development of crinoids is very interesting.
They pass through several curious stages in the course of
growth from infancy to old age, and some of the shapes
are so curious that no one, not familiar with them, would
suspect that here was a growing crinoid.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>VII. THE STARS OF THE SEA</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_060.jpg" name="i_060.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_060-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 47.</span>—Basket starfish.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_061.jpg" name="i_061.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_061-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 48.</span>—Lower surface of starfish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Goniaster</i>), showing suckerlike feet; a slow
mover.</p>
</div>
<p>Beneath almost every rock along the New England
coast, and under the branch coral in the tropics, we may
find a typical star-shaped animal, and by dredging offshore,
thousands are brought up, even from very deep
water, showing that the stars of the sea are almost as
plentiful as they appear in the sky above. These starfishes
are of all shapes, kinds, and colors. Some are a foot
or more across, huge, domed fellows with rough backs,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</SPAN></span>
showing little if any signs of life (Fig. 48); others have five
long legs and a small body (Fig. 49). Others, again, are
perfectly round and have many rays, while some have
few rays which are round, like the body of a snake, and
which they whip and slash about, displaying great activity.
Once in reaching beneath a coral branch to find a certain
shell which I knew lived there, my hand grasped something
which felt like a ball of snakes, each of which closed
about it, producing a most disagreeable sensation. I drew<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</SPAN></span>
it out and found it was one of the starfishes, common on
many shores as the basket starfish (Fig. 47). As I lifted
it up it was a veritable mass of coiling arms, a Medusa's
head of the sea, coiling and uncoiling. It was merely a
starfish in which each arm branches in two parts, each
branching out into two again with the result pictured, a
confused mass of arms. As I lifted my capture above
water and it felt the air it began to shed its arms, so that
it fairly rained pieces of starfish, and before I reached the
boat, but a few feet away, all that remained was the body.
My starfish had almost committed suicide.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_062.jpg" name="i_062.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_062-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 49.</span>—A deep-water starfish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ophiocoma</i>), a rapid mover.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The starfishes are found everywhere in the tropics.
Every bunch of coral contains scores of them. Many
resemble spiders, and are
a vivid red hue, others
are bronze or brick red,
while still others are
barred or spotted, as in
Figure 50. They are
all interesting creatures,
especially our common
Eastern starfish, which is
found in little caves at
low tide, clinging to the
walls. It is not very
attractive in appearance, and apparently not disconcerted
by being left by the tide.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_063.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 50.</span>—A brittle starfish.</p> </div>
<p>If we take a common starfish and turn it upon its back,
we observe that the lower portion is covered with short
tentacles, each having a little sucker on the end. These
are the feet of the starfish, by which it walks or moves.
In the center of the body is the mouth leading into the
stomach which reaches into each ray. The eyes are at
the tip of each ray. On the back of the star we find a
little red disk with a rough surface. This is really a sieve
for straining the water which pours in through a little
canal encircling the mouth and leading off into each arm,
carrying water to each one of the myriads of feet.</p>
<p>The feet move independently, and the starfish walks
much faster than would be imagined. This can be illustrated
by the sudden appearance of the starfish, in Long
Island Sound. One night when the oyster men left the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</SPAN></span>
beds no starfishes were seen. The following day they
were there in such vast quantities that it was estimated
they covered the entire bed, two or three deep, and tens
of thousands of dollars were lost by the destruction of the
oysters.</p>
<p>How an oyster can be opened by a soft, helpless starfish
would seem a mystery; but it is a very easy matter.
The starfish drags itself over the shell and places its
mouth at the end, extending its long arms downward,
literally swallowing part of the shell. It is supposed to
eject some secretion into the shell that causes it to open.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>VIII. OCEAN HEDGEHOGS</h2></div>
<p class="ph3">(<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">The Echini</i>)</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_065.jpg" name="i_065.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_065-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 51.</span>—Sea urchins burrowing in the rocks.</p>
</div>
<p>On the Florida Reef and off the rocky shores of California
one of the most conspicuous among the rock-living
animals is the black, long-spined Echinus. In the water it
looks like a huge pincushion (Fig. 51) filled with black<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</SPAN></span>
pins, points outward, and every crack and crevice is filled
with them. When
found on the beach,
despoiled of their
spines, they resemble
bleached shells,
and are then known
in Florida as sea
eggs (Fig. 52).
The long black
spines are continually
moving up and
down, and constitute
the armament of the sea urchin, and an effective
one to all except very large fishes, as some rays, which
have pavementlike
teeth fitted particularly
for such not
especially dainty
morsels. The spines
emit a bluish secretion
which is left in
the wounds made
by them, and is more
or less poisonous.
This common sea
urchin is a type of
hundreds found in
almost all seas from
very shallow water
to the abysmal regions of the ocean.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_066a.jpg" name="i_066a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_066a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 52.</span>—Sea urchin without its spines.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_066b.jpg" name="i_066b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_066b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 53.</span>—Short-spined sea urchin, showing the biting teeth.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Some sea urchins have short spines (Fig. 53) and are
almost pure white; some are flat like the sand dollars,
the spines feeling like sandpaper, so short and fine are
they. The latter are small, and appear to be covered with
waving filaments. Many have spines like needles; in others
the latter are blunt, clublike organs. Many other strange
variations are seen in an exhibition of the various kinds in
some museums.
None are more
remarkable than
those having five
holes through
them like Chinese
money
(Fig. 54).</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_067.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 54.</span>—Flat sea urchin, "sand dollar."</p> </div>
<p>The urchins
are very closely
allied to the
starfishes, especially
in structure.
They
have the same
kind of feet,
and among the
spines is seen
a singular handlike organ common to the starfishes. It
has three fingers (Fig. 55) and a short stem, and is constantly
in motion, its office appearing to be to clean the
body. Foreign objects are taken up by this peculiar hand
and passed on from one to the other until they are finally
dropped off. Here is the same madreporic plate or sieve,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</SPAN></span>
and the structure of the Echinus (Fig. 56) is very similar
to that of the starfish. The former has a long set of jaws,
hence is a biter and nipper, while the
starfish is a sucker. The shell of the
Echinus is really a beautiful object when
divested of the spines and bleached in
the sun, appearing as pure white as coral
after bleaching. It is made up of about
six hundred hard, limy plates arranged in double rows,
which contain about thirty-seven hundred pores through
which the feet protrude. Despite this marvelous supply
of feet, or organs of locomotion, the Echinus is a very
slow walker. The spines number four thousand or more,
and each one works on the ball-and-socket plan, is hollow,
and moves readily in all directions.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_068a.jpg" name="i_068a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_068a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 55.</span>—Handlike organ of sea urchins and starfishes.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_068b.jpg" name="i_068b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_068b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 56.</span>—Structure of the Echinus: <em>a</em>, mouth; <em>o</em>, anus; <em>c</em>, stomach; <em>f</em>, madreporic plate; <em>d</em>, intestine; <em>p</em>, ambulacra; <em>v</em>, heart; <em>z</em>, spines.</p>
</div>
<p>The sea urchin is produced from eggs. The young pass
through some remarkable changes before they assume the
adult form. In one of these changes they appear as free-<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</SPAN></span>swimming
animals (Fig. 57), and resemble anything but
the perfectly developed Echinus. Some of the sea urchins
of deep water, as the Hermiaster
and others, carry their
young in pouches, the spines
being folded over them to
hold them in place. They
rarely move from the crevice
on the rock which they select.
They can be found in the
same place for months together,
and have a limited
power of wearing out the rock.
How the Echinus grows inclosed
in so hard a shell
might be a puzzle did we not
know that the shell is covered with a skin, each plate being
literally surrounded by it. This skin secretes lime, taking
it from the water and depositing it on the edges of all the
plates, so that the animal grows rapidly and symmetrically.
The Echini are the scavengers of the ocean, and they aid
in maintaining the clearness and purity of the water. In
some countries certain kinds are eaten, and one species
is valuable for its spines, which are used as slate pencils.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_069.jpg" name="i_069.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_069-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 57.</span>—Young sea urchin.</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>IX. THE SEA CUCUMBERS</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_070.jpg" name="i_070.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_070-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 58.</span>—Sea cucumber, showing its breathing organs.</p>
</div>
<p>Once, when poling my boat over the great coral reef of
the outer Florida Keys I came upon a little plot of seaweed
in shallow water which was so covered with huge sea cucumbers (Fig. 58)
that it would have been an easy matter to fill the boat. They were from
six to twelve inches in length, two or three inches across, and bore a
striking resemblance to actual cucumbers. In color they were brown, and
when lifted from the water they slowly moved or twisted, sending out a
stream of water.
They might have been made of leather, so far as any evidence
of life was concerned, and were so tough that a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</SPAN></span>
spear thrust into one had to be cut away, so tenacious was
the hide of this singular sluglike animal. Taking a large
one from the bottom, I placed it in a glass jar standing on
the deck of my boat, whereupon a very singular occurrence
took place. When the air began to be exhausted in the
water of the glass, out from the sea cucumber came a long,
slender fish, so ghostly and ethereal that when it died, as
it did almost immediately, I placed it upon a piece of
newspaper and read print through its body. The fish
was known as Fierasfer, and it lived in the long intestine
of the sea cucumber. Since then the fish has been closely
studied in the Naples Aquarium, where it had the same
habit, and where the attendant naturalists saw the fish
come out, and return tail first.</p>
<p>The great sea cucumber of Florida may be taken as a
type of all the group which differ mainly in size, color, and
shape. Some are very short and have a decided flat lower
surface; others are long, fragile, and easily broken; and
many are brilliant in color. Nearly all are famous for
their singular and often beautiful breathing organs which
protrude from the mouth and bear the most remarkable
resemblance to plants. In many specimens of the
Atlantic Pentacta (Fig. 58), kept in an aquarium, this
resemblance was very marked, as the animals at once
buried themselves in the sand from which beautiful plants
seemingly grew, being merely the breathing organs of the
wily mimic. These organs vary much in size and beauty.
In some species they are very elaborate, in others they
are simple, flowerlike objects. The greatest variation is
found in them. In one which I observed the tentacles
resembled small toadstools.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_072.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 59.</span>—Anchorlike spicules of Synapta.</p> </div>
<p>Many of the sea cucumbers, or holothurians, are very
sensitive, and when captured will often cast off their various
organs. This does not indicate the death of the animal,
as they are soon replaced. A singular trait of the long
glasslike Synapta is that of cutting itself in two when
starved. At first an end of the animal is dropped, then
another piece, and this is continued until nothing but the
mouth remains, everything having seemingly been sacrificed
to save this portion. If food is now supplied, this
animal will soon recover and assume its normal condition.</p>
<p>Synapta has no feet, their place seemingly being taken
by peculiar limy spicules, shaped like anchors (Fig. 59),
which are deeply buried in the skin. In its structure the
sea cucumber resembles its cousins the starfishes and sea
urchins, and standing on end,
may be compared to an elongated
sea urchin. Nothing can be
more uninviting than these animals,
and when dried the flesh
has the consistency of leather.
Yet the sea cucumber is highly
regarded by the Chinese as a
delicacy, and the Malays have a large fleet engaged in the
business of gathering and preparing them. The animals
are collected and dried, then smoked and packed in bales
and sent to China. They may be found in any of the
markets of these people, in San Francisco and New York.
About the Pacific island of Santa Catalina they are very
commonly seen through the bottom of the glass-bottomed
boats, lying in the seaweed and imitating it in
color.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>X. THE WORMS</h2></div>
<p>Few groups of animals differ so much in general appearance
as the worms. Some resemble miniature snakes;
others are flat, some are like needles, one lives in a cell;
another stays in the tissue of some animal, while certain
others infest the soil. Almost everywhere, on land and in
the sea, under nearly all conditions, we shall find these
remarkable creatures, which may be briefly described as
animals having a head, tail, and upper and lower surfaces,
and made up of a great many rings, or segments. In
them we find an approach to the higher animals. Thus
they have a heart, with red or green blood, breathing
organs, though many breathe through the body walls, and
a nervous system consisting of a minute brain in the upper
portion of the small head.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_073.jpg" name="i_073.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_073-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 60.</span>—Development of a planarian worm.</p>
</div>
<p>All the worms deposit
eggs, and nearly all are
remarkable for the wonderful
changes through
which they pass before
they attain maturity.
This is well illustrated
in a planarian worm
(Fig. 60), which seems to
require the presence of
another animal to enable
it to complete its develop<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</SPAN></span>ment.
The little creature which
breaks from the egg (<span class="smcap">A</span>) is a free-swimming
creature surrounded by
cilia or hairlike swimming organs.
By these it moves through the
water, and with strange instinct
searches for some animal, generally
a snail, which it enters. There it
becomes surrounded by a sack and
produces a little creature called the
nurse (<em>b</em>), which soon grows to
resemble the tadpolelike creature
(<span class="smcap">C</span>), which is filled with small egglike
or germlike objects (<em>a</em>). It now changes into a wormlike
creature (<span class="smcap">D</span>), in which the
germs have assumed the
shape of worms (<em>a</em>), and
soon breaks forth as a little
form with a tadpolelike tail
(<span class="smcap">E</span>)—a remarkable performance.
But the end is not
yet; another animal is
necessary to complete the
change. Swimming about,
the little creature is swallowed
by some animal in
drinking, and finds its way
to the liver, where it lives,
the tail being lost. The
animal now changes into
a perfect flukeworm (<span class="smcap">F</span>),<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</SPAN></span>
which finally leaves the animal or host and lays eggs in
the water; these pass through the same wonderful transformation.
The flukeworms (Fig. 61) are disagreeable
flat creatures, not often seen, the marine forms attaining
large size.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_074a.jpg" name="i_074a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_074a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 61.</span>—A flukeworm.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_074b.jpg" name="i_074b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_074b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 62.</span>—Thorn-headed worm.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_075.jpg" name="i_075.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_075-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 63.</span>—Supposed horsehair worm (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gordius</i>): <em>A</em>, adult; <em>B</em>, young (larva).</p>
</div>
<p>Many of the worms are parasites living upon other
animals. The thorn-headed worm (Fig. 62) is an example.
Who has not heard the story of the living horsehair?
Almost every country newspaper
has told the story, that some
farmer after washing his horses
had found several hairs taken
from the horse's tail which
"were alive," and to prove the
story the farmer produces the
"living horsehair" which is a
remarkable imitation of the long
hair of a horse's tail. But
the hair is a well-known worm
(Fig. 63) called Gordius aquaticus.
It is almost exactly like
a horse's hair, two or three feet
in length, and found coiled up in
ponds or snugly tucked away in
the interior of a beetle or grasshopper
which it has seized upon
as a host. The deadly Trichina spiralis belongs to this
group (Fig. 64). If the vinegar bottle is examined, in
what is popularly called the "mother" at the bottom,
still another member of the family will be found. This
is a minute round worm almost invisible to the naked<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</SPAN></span>
eye. It is very active and disagreeable to contemplate,
living in the sour, fiery liquid.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_076a.jpg" name="i_076a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_076a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 64.</span>—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Trichina spiralis</i>: a deadly worm from pork.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_076b.jpg" name="i_076b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_076b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 65.</span>—The rotifer.</p>
</div>
<p>In this group are many dangerous worms, as the guinea
worm of remarkable length. While nearly all worms are
disagreeable creatures, a few are very beautiful. Such
are the rotifers or wheel animalcules (Fig. 65). These
are the smallest and most active of the tribe of worms.
To be found they must be sought in a drop of standing
water, and as they are rarely ever over one thirty-sixth
of an inch in length, a microscope is necessary. Among
the throng of wonderful creatures one will be seen seemingly
rolling over and over like a barrel, a minute whirling<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</SPAN></span>
Dervish of the water. The rotifers assume a variety of
shapes. One is a typical worm, another darts along by the
aid of two circlets of cilia which vibrate so rapidly that the
illusion of rolling is produced. No more wonderful creatures
than these little worms are known, and they well
repay the study required to know them well. Some of
them are fixed and unable to swim, and many of the stories
of spontaneous generation are due to the faculty these
minute rotifers (often but three one hundredths of an inch
in length) have of enduring almost any amount of drying.
Thus if a pond is dried up by the sun, the rotifers seem to
be able to lie dormant for a long time, and when a rain
falls in the locality for the first time in years, the pool is at
once peopled with rotifers which awaken from their long
sleep. When it is known that Ehrenberg, the German
naturalist, found that a certain species produced sixteen
million young in less than two weeks, it is easy to under<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</SPAN></span>stand
how quickly a new pond might become rapidly
equipped with a large population.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_077.jpg" name="i_077.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_077-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 66.</span>—Polyzoans: 1, colony in plant form; 2, 3, cells of the worms magnified.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_078.jpg" name="i_078.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_078-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 67.</span>—Polyzoan, magnified.</p>
</div>
<p>It is a singular fact that myriads of worms are seen
daily, but are not known as such. These are the minute
and beautiful Polyzoans (Fig. 66). They are marine animals,
grow in colonies, and look like delicate seaweeds. They
are often called moss animals. At the seashore we
shall find the rocks and particularly the broad fronds of
kelp near shore often encrusted with a delicate, beautiful
tracery of pure white. In California I have found the
kelp leaves at the surface covered with it, having the
appearance of being coated
with silver. Beneath the glass
it develops into a beautiful
tracery filled with cells.
When magnified these cells
are seen to resemble Figure
67, each one having its
worm, which seems to blossom
like a flower. These worms
are minute imitators of corals,
as they form a corallike structure,
the worms having the
faculty of secreting lime, as
do the corals, yet they are much higher in the scale of
life. One of the common seaweeds of the seashore is the
sea mat or Flustra. No one would suspect it of being
other than a beautiful marine plant with large leaves or
branches, and many a collection of "seaweed," preserved
through many years, contains the Flustra arranged among
the real "plants" of the sea. But Flustra is merely a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</SPAN></span>
colony of worms. The minute spots seen upon it when
enlarged beneath a microscope resemble so many cells of
carbonate of lime secreted by the worms of the community
or colony. Another species of Flustra is shown in Figure
68, and a part of the skeleton of the colony or of each
cell is the peculiar bird's head which has a beak. This
beak, even after the death of the worm, is seen to open
and shut, snapping continually, much quicker than the little
pincerlike objects we have seen in the sea urchins. The
use of the so-called bird's head is not well understood.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_079.jpg" name="i_079.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_079-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 68.</span>—Bird's-head Flustra: 1, Flustra mat, showing cells; 2, diagram of a single worm (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Polypide</i>); 3, bird's-head process.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_080.jpg" name="i_080.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_080-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 69.</span>—Sea mat: 1, sea mat, natural size; 2, 3, section of the animal much enlarged.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_081a.jpg" name="i_081a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_081a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 70.</span>—Lingula.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_081b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 71.</span>—Lamp shells, showing gills.</p> </div>
<p>This Flustra (Fig. 69) is very beautiful, forming a delicate
little plantlike form about an inch and a half in size.
But the crowning glory of these worms, as shown in the
figure, is the circular crown of tentacles by which food
is grasped as it passes by. Any one who has collected
fossils in what is known as the Trenton limestone is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</SPAN></span>
familiar with the little fossil shell called Lingula, of which
two thousand species are known. Curiously enough this
little shell has come down to us to-day, and in Figure 70
we see the living Lingula of our waters with its long stem
by which it fastens itself in the sand. Lingula resembles
a small clam shell, has two perfect shells, and probably
holds a place in many collections as a shell; yet Lingula
is a worm which secretes a two-valved, unhinged shell,
that is an almost perfect imitation of a bivalve mollusk.
In the Santa Catalina Channel, California, from water
six hundred feet in depth, I have dredged shells resembling
those in Figure 71. They hung upon rocks in
clusters, and were very striking in their rich colors of
yellow, red, etc. In shape these Terebratulas, also common
among the fossil shells, resemble ancient Roman<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</SPAN></span>
lamps, and hence are called lamp shells. They too are
worms, however, and many more shell makers
called brachiopods. The
"wick," a muscular stalk
or byssus, becomes firmly
attached to some object at
the bottom. But in the
instance of the little Lingula
the stalk or anchor rope
merely passes between the
curious shells. If the latter
are opened, we find a singular
bridge or limy framework
which is intended to
support the soft parts of the
bridge, a very conspicuous
feature of which are what are called
arms, long, ribbonlike, fringed processes
(<em>a</em>) which are coiled up in the
shell and
serve as breathing organs and
to obtain food as well. They
can be extended some distance
from the shells. The curious
frame upon which they rest
is well shown in Figure 72.
It is on record that during
the Sikh rebellion an entire
English regiment was put to
flight by a force of worms.
The troops were marching<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</SPAN></span>
through a forest when land leeches began to fall from
every branch and leaf, dropping in such vast numbers
that the men were almost crazed by the
vicious bloodsuckers; hence they broke
and ran for clear ground, where they
could rid themselves of the terrible
pests. Semper, the naturalist, states
that he was driven from the forests of
Luzon by these leeches, which fell upon
him like dew. The ordinary leech of
commerce (Fig. 73) belongs to this
group. It has a sucking mouth, which
bears three teeth. It was once much
used by physicians for bleeding purposes,
in fact, the animal derives its
name from the fact that medical men
in England were formerly called leeches.
The leech had a high commercial value,
over seven million being used in London
in a single year, valued at ten
dollars a thousand. Leech raising is
a regular business in Russia, Bohemia,
and Hungary.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_081c.jpg" name="i_081c.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_081c-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 72.</span>—Brachiopod, showing supporting loop.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_082.jpg" name="i_082.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_082-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 73.</span>—The leech of commerce: <em>a</em>, anterior sucker; <em>b</em>, posterior sucker; <em>d</em>, stomach; <em>s</em>, glands of the skin.</p>
</div>
<p>The best known of all worms, perhaps,
because all boys are fond of
fishing, is the angleworm or earthworm
(Fig. 74), which can be found where
the earth is rich and moist. This worm
is really a beautiful object, being highly
iridescent, flashing a thousand hues in the sunlight to
which it has a decided objection, as the heat soon dries<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</SPAN></span>
it up. The ringed or segmented arrangement is easily
observed as it moves along. By this marvelous arrangement
a worm can either stretch itself
out to an inordinate length, or telescope
itself until it can hardly be recognized
as a worm. There are several interesting
features about earthworms which
ordinarily escape the notice of even
the angler. One is its feet, which
differ from those of any other animal.
They are very minute, and are bristles,
each segment or ring being supplied
with four. Another peculiarity of the
earthworm is that instead of hunting
out food in the earth it swallows the
earth as it meets it, allowing the animal
matter to be absorbed within. It then
casts up the earth, which are the little
mounds of mold found in the grass or
turf every morning. This habit has
made the worm a valuable aid to the
farmer in preparing the soil, filling it
with tunnels and constantly bringing new earth to the surface
and turning it over. The amount of earth moved in
this way was made a special study by Charles Darwin.
In the year 1842 he spread a field with broken chalk, and
after twenty-nine years examined it and found that the
chalk in that time had been buried seven inches by the
worms.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_083.jpg" name="i_083.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_083-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 74.</span>—Earthworm: <em>c</em>, egg; <em>d</em>, young escaping from egg.</p>
</div>
<p>This gives us some idea of how important a factor these
humble creatures are, working mainly at night, in burying<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</SPAN></span>
the works of man. It is evident that in two or three
centuries portions of buildings could be concealed. In
England numbers of ancient Roman villas have been
discovered, beautiful floors and foundations of ancient
buildings which have been lost to sight by being covered
by these night workers. To give an adequate idea of
the work they accomplish, Darwin says that the amount
of vegetable mold brought to the surface in a single year
amounts to ten tons to a single acre. They rarely descend
below six feet, and Darwin estimated that in favorable
localities there are 100,000 in every acre. In New
Zealand 348,480 have been found in a very rich acre.
The worms eat the earth, and drag leaves and soft twigs
into their holes at night. They plant seeds and bury
stones. Some of the casts of giant worms of India are
a foot in length. They live entirely beneath the ground,
lining their burrows with very soft fine earth, which
appears to be powdered for the purpose. All their operations
are carried on at night, when they come to the
surface and eject the casts. They have a habit of lying
near the surface at the entrance of their burrows, a fact
which the birds have discovered, robins and mocking
birds particularly being very clever in hunting them out.</p>
<p>One of the most remarkable features of these worms is
their phosphorescence, which I have found is more brilliant
than that emitted by any other animal. Crossing an
orange grove in southern California one dark and rainy
night in January, I stumbled over a clod of earth, and if
I had kicked a mass of live coals, the result could not
have been more marked, as flashes of vivid light darted
in every direction with the earth, caused by several earth<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</SPAN></span>worms
which had exuded so much phosphorescent matter
that it had pervaded the entire mass of surrounding soil.
The phenomenon on a small scale can often be seen in
southern California, especially in winter, when the ground
is moist and wet.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_085.jpg" name="i_085.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_085-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 75.</span>—Marine worm (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cirratulus</i>).</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_086.jpg" name="i_086.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_086-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 76.</span>—A marine worm (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Nereis</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>Probably the most beautiful of all worms are those of
the sea, the marine forms found everywhere from the
mud banks to the long fronds of kelp washed by the
foaming sea. Perhaps the most gorgeous creature taken
from deep water is Aphrodite, several inches long, an inch
across, and about the size of a mouse. The worms are provided
with an array of iridescent bristles, so beautiful as<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</SPAN></span>
to appear artificial, blazing with golden lights. Some of
these worms are covered with strange and brilliantly colored
streamers, as Cirratulus (Fig. 75). Others are long and
slender, as Nereis (Fig. 76), a very common form alongshore.
It is sought after by fishes with good
appetites, and often caught, despite the fact
that it has four eyes, four hundred paddles,
and fierce jaws for seizing prey. Nereis
lives in the sand in a tunnel. It has a habit
of coming out at night and swimming abroad,
when, creating a blaze of light, it becomes
a very conspicuous object and is quickly
caught by some wandering fish. These
worms are among the most brilliant of all
light givers; not alone for the intensity of
light, but for its variety in tint and color.
The most remarkable light givers are Polynoë,
Syllis, Chætopterus, and Polycirrus.
The first-mentioned emits a green light at the
attachment of each scale. In the second
the feet are light givers and emit a blue
light. In the third the light blazes on the
back at the tenth joint alone. The last is
a worm of fire, the strange, little understood
light blazing over its entire surface, a vivid blue.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_087.jpg" name="i_087.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_087-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 77.</span>—A tube-secreting worm.</p>
</div>
<p>I was once sitting on the shore of Avalon Bay in
southern California when, in the darkest corner in the
shadow of a high cliff, I saw, two hundred feet away,
what appeared like candle lights floating upon the surface.
Rowing a boat to the lights, I found that each
one came from a spot of phosphorescence floating on the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</SPAN></span>
surface. When it moved, as it often did, phosphorescence
streamed away in its wake. When taken in my hand the
latter became bathed with the light which ran from the
invisible animal. I succeeded in capturing one entire light,
but could not make out the animal. Soon I noticed lights
upon the bottom in water five feet deep. They appeared
to be as large as saucers, but grew rapidly in size until they
were as large as dinner plates, then the yellow light gradually
diminished until it was not larger than a hazelnut, and
came wriggling upward in a zigzag of fire, finally reaching
the surface and resting, as one of the peculiar lights I had
seen so far away. I captured several, and in the morning
found that my light giver was a minute sea worm not half
an inch in length. When discovered, the little animal was
leaving its burrow or cave in the sand for a nightly swim
at the surface.</p>
<p>Many of the most beautiful of
the marine worms are cell builders
(Fig. 77). In some the worms
secrete a tube of carbonate of
lime. In others the den is made
of bits of sand. I found on the
Florida Reef many remarkable
examples of the latter. The nest
or tube was built among the seaweed,
several inches above the
bottom, and would naturally be
a conspicuous object; but here the intelligence of the
little creature is seen, for it covers the outside of the
column with the plates of a lime-secreting seaweed, which
look like shingles, and mounts upon the upper portion<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</SPAN></span>
of the column a green bit of seaweed. This is glued to
the tube and so arranged that it falls over the entrance
and closes it, thus serving the purpose of a door and
making the tube mimic a bit of sea grass. The worm lifts
the grass door when it comes out.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_088.jpg" name="i_088.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_088-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 78.</span>—A group of tube-secreting worms (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Serpulæ</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>One of the most familiar forms is Serpula (Fig. 78),
whose tubes wind in and out in every direction. No garden
of pansies gives a greater variety of tints than did a mass of
these radiant creatures that I found on a floating spar
in the Pacific at Avalon Bay. But touch these "flowers"
or jar them and they disappear like magic, leaving a
hole closed by a little door, which is formed by a part
of the worm that thus defies all intruders.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XI. THE TWO-VALVED SHELLS</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_089.jpg" name="i_089.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_089-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 79.</span>—The oyster: <em>A</em>, muscle; <em>B</em>, mantle; <em>C</em>, gills; <em>D</em>, labial palpi; <em>E</em>, hinge; <em>F</em>, mouth; <em>G</em>, liver and stomach; <em>H</em>, heart.</p>
</div>
<p>The beautiful objects which we know as shells, and
which form ornaments in many a home far distant from
the sea, are the coverings of a group of animals called
mollusks. They are found in all seas, many upon land,
and in fresh-water streams, and are among the most attractive
of all natural objects, so much so that many persons
devote their entire lives to their collection, and many
others much time to the study of their habits. It is rare
to find a new shell, so well have these shell hunters
searched the waters of the world. Such collections, especially
if complete, are very valuable, and many of the
great museums have paid thousands of dollars for them.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_090.jpg" name="i_090.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_090-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 80.</span>—Anatomy of snail: <em>a</em>, mouth; <em>b</em>, foot; <em>c</em>, anus; <em>d</em>, lung; <em>e</em>, stomach; <em>f</em>, intestine; <em>g</em>, liver; <em>h</em>, heart; <em>i</em>, aorta; <em>j</em>, gastric artery; <em>k</em>, foot artery; <em>o</em>, lung and heart artery.</p>
</div>
<p>The mollusks or shells present a striking contrast to the
worms. They have no joints, are soft, seemingly without
form, and are very helpless creatures. The body is enveloped
in a muscular coat or mantle, as shown in the
oyster (Fig. 79). They have a nervous system, and a
heart (<em>H</em>) which pumps colorless blood. Some have a foot
for locomotion and eyes more or less well developed. The
oyster represents a large group which have two shells,
called bivalves. In Figure 80 we see the animal portion
of the common snail, which illustrates another group with
but one shell. These are called univalves. To the bivalves
belong the shells best known, the oysters, clams,
scallops, pectens, pearl oyster, razor shell, and many
others, of which the oyster is the most familiar. The
mantle, the soft, delicate lining, is the shell maker, and
not only forms it, but repairs damages to it, piling up layer
after layer of pearly matter called nacre. As there is a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</SPAN></span>
mantle on each side, two values are secreted. The sharp
portion of the oyster is called the beak. Here the growth
of the shell begins, and here
are the marvelous valves
which fit with such accuracy.
These complicated parts are
easily seen in the clam (Fig.
81). The hinge is joined
by teeth (<em>c</em>, <em>d</em>, <em>d</em>,) which fit
into cavities on the opposite
valve, while the valves are
held together by a perfect
hinge, a horny ligament (<em>h</em>)
that tends to open the shell
or throw the valves apart.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_091a.jpg" name="i_091a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_091a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 81.</span>—Bivalve shells: <em>a</em>, beak; <em>k</em>, base; <em>b</em>, <em>b</em>, hinges; <em>c</em>, <em>d</em>, <em>d</em>, teeth; <em>n</em>, ligament; <em>e</em>, <em>e</em>, adductor muscles; <em>l</em>, lines of growth; <em>f</em>, pallial line.</p>
</div>
<p>In the interior of all shells
are seen certain scars; in
others a purple mark. These
marks (<em>e</em>, <em>e</em>,) indicate the location of a strong muscle by
which the clam or oyster closes its shells and keeps them
closed with such rigidity.
In opening oysters the
man severs this muscle
and the shell opens,
forced apart by its ligament.
This explains
why most shells found
on the beach are wide
open. The curious columnar
objects in rows
are the gills or breathing organs of the oyster, and are<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</SPAN></span>
covered with little oars (Fig. 82), or cilia, which move to
and fro, continually sweeping the currents of water along,
bearing oxygen and food. The former is taken up by the
gills to purify the blood, and the latter is swept into the
mouth located near the lungs.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_091b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 82.</span>—Cilia or oars of a mollusk, highly magnified.</p> </div>
<p>There is great variety in the hearts of shells. In the
oyster (Fig. 79) it is composed of one auricle and one
ventricle; but in other shells the heart may be three-chambered,
or there may be two distinct hearts, each having
two chambers. The eyes of the shells are very minute
and are situated along the mantle. Those of the pecten
are very beautiful and are distinctly visible, resembling
gems or emeralds.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_092.jpg" name="i_092.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_092-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 83.</span>—A clam: <em>f</em>, foot; <em>m</em>, mantle; <em>s</em>, siphon.</p>
</div>
<p>The clams (Fig. 83) differ from the oysters in having
a pronounced foot (<em>f</em>) which protrudes from the large end
of the shell; and with it the animal digs its burrow. It
also hears indirectly by its foot, as its ears are in this
organ, little transparent sacs containing a clear fluid in
which floats a glassy globule. The clam also has a siphon
(<em>s</em>), which in the common clam is very long. It has a
black head or tip and the clam may rest some distance
down in its hole and take in water through its siphon,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</SPAN></span>
which is double-barreled. One opening (<em>in.</em>) receives water
containing food and oxygen; the other (<em>ex.</em>) expels the
water. In strolling along the sands at low tide one often
sees a spurt of water shoot out of a hole, and may assume
that a clam has been
alarmed and has
retracted its siphon
so suddenly that it
has shot a stream
of water above the
surface. The shells
increase by eggs, the
oyster depositing a vast number, which at first are curious
little free-swimming objects (Fig. 84) paddling by the aid
of cilia or whips, but soon attaching themselves to the
bottom and taking the oyster form.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_093.jpg" name="i_093.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_093-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 84.</span>—Free-swimming young of a bivalve.</p>
</div>
<p>The oyster is perhaps the most valuable bivalve to man,
being a favorite article of food, for which $1,500,000 is paid
annually in New York alone. Thousands of men find
employment collecting them in various parts of the world.
In this country the most valuable oyster beds are in the
vicinity of New York, at the mouth of the Shrewsbury
River, in the Chesapeake Bay, and at various points alongshore
to Florida, where there are large banks at the mouths
of the rivers. In watching the excavation of a cellar at the
town of Mayport at the mouth of the St. John River I saw
oyster shells thrown up as deep as the men went. The
town is built on an ancient oyster bed. Among the old
shells numerous pieces of pottery have been found, showing
that the early natives frequented the spot. The living
oyster bed here to-day is some distance out in the stream.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</SPAN></span>
When sailing up a small river in Maine some years ago,
I found, about ten miles from its mouth, a mound of oyster
shells thirty or forty feet high. The river appeared to
have cut the bed in two, and out of the top of the mound,
which was of solid shells, grew a tree which must have
been a century old. I believe there are no oysters on
the Maine coast to-day, and the great pile was accumulated
ages ago when Maine had oyster beds and the Indians
carried the oysters ten miles up the river to this spot
which must have been the site of an ancient Indian town
or city. The pearl oyster is another valuable shell
(Fig. 85). It is common in warmer waters. Near La
Paz in the Gulf of California is a famous fishery, which is
owned by the government and farmed out. In Ceylon it
is estimated that 17,000,000 oysters are destroyed to obtain
$80,000 worth of pearls. The shells are also very valua<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</SPAN></span>ble,
being made into buttons and various other objects.
Liverpool is the great receiving port for these, and many
tons are used annually. In diving for pearls the Ceylonese,
who are able to remain beneath the water several
minutes, place as many shells as possible in a basket and
then ascend, leaving the crew to haul the basket up. In
Lower California many divers of to-day go down in
armor.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_094.jpg" name="i_094.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_094-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 85.</span>—Pearl oysters.</p>
</div>
<p>Pearls are generally valued according to their symmetry
and color. Some are perfect, and when of large size bring
vast sums. One of the shahs of Persia owned a necklace
in which the pearls were perfect and as large as hazelnuts.
The pearl is the result of the oyster's attempts to
protect itself from injury. If we should take one of these
beautiful pearl oysters and with a gimlet bore a hole
through the shell from the outside and replace it in the
water, we should find, months after, if the oyster was
examined, that it had, by using its mantle, secreted a large
amount of pearly nacre over the wound, not only filling up
the hole, but heaping the pearly secretion over it until a
projection a quarter of an inch high was the result, resembling
a pearl attached to the shell. This is the way imperfect
pearls are formed; they are the attempts on the
part of the oyster to prevent injury to itself. Occasionally
some foreign body, like a grain of sand, will enter the
shell. Its sharp edges will cut the soft flesh of the delicate
creature, which immediately covers it with pearly
nacre. The larger it grows the more the oyster notices
it among its folds, and the more it instinctively covers it
with pearl. In this way the pearls grow.</p>
<p>The seed pearls are those in which some impurity has<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</SPAN></span>
been covered but a few times, while the very large pearls
are those which have been bathed in nacre time and again.
If a large pearl is cut in halves, the various layers can be
counted, the sections recalling the interior of an onion.
The skillful native fakirs of the East take advantage of
this industry of the pearl oyster to introduce metal beads
and figures of the Buddha into shells, which are then
marked. The objects finally become covered, when they
are removed from the shells and sold to the unsuspecting
natives as "miracles."</p>
<p>One of the interesting shells of the seashore is the
Pinna. I have found the shores of the outside islands of
Texas scattered with them. They are also called fan
shells, and are attached to the bottom by a peculiar cable,
or byssus, formed of a silklike substance which has been
woven. Gloves and hose of pinna silk may be seen in
the British Museum.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_096.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 86.</span>—Pectens swimming.</p> </div>
<p>The pectens are common forms famous for the beautiful
gemlike eyes seen along the edge of their mantles. I
once kept a number of these
shells in an aquarium, and
they were a source of much
amusement, from their
habit of dancing (Fig. 86).
Generally they lay in the
sand in the bottom of the
tank with their valves open
an inch or more, their bright eyes gleaming. Without
any warning, one would open and close its valves with
great rapidity, which would cause the shell to take convulsive
and bounding hops. Then another shell would<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</SPAN></span>
follow, and soon all the pectens were leaping up and down
in a most extraordinary dance. The pecten changes its
position or travels, not by pushing itself along, but by a
sudden and spasmodic hop, clearing a foot or more.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_097.jpg" name="i_097.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_097-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 87.</span>—Mussel climbing: <em>B</em>, cables; <em>F</em>, foot.</p>
</div>
<p>The locomotion of shells itself is a fascinating subject.
An interesting instance is observed in the common mussel.
This shell has a remarkable foot, a pointed, fleshy organ
which can be protruded. With this organ the mussel bores
holes in the sand, jerks itself
along, or clears the surface
with a bound. But its most
remarkable service is in aiding
the mussel to climb. In the
foot, near its base, is a gland
which secretes a peculiar substance,
which when exposed to
the water hardens and resembles
silk. The resemblance is
so perfect that the "silk" has
been woven into various articles,
and an attempt was made
in France to raise mussels for
this purpose. When the animal
desires to climb, it reaches out its foot as high as it can
(Fig. 87), and presses it upon the pile or rock, whereupon
a delicate cord, one of the cables of its byssus, is seen.
Again the foot is extended, again a cable is attached, the
entire operation calling to mind the action of a spider.
Each step raises the mussel a little higher, and as it moves
on, the cables that would hold it back are broken off, and
the mussel at length reaches the position it desires.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The fresh-water mussels found in the Ohio and other
rivers and streams are pearl producers. Very valuable
gems have been taken from them in various states, and the
fresh-water pearl fishery of the United States is of considerable
importance. A fresh-water pearl found in New
Jersey was valued at $2000, and one taken from a stream
in Scotland brought $50,000.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_098.jpg" name="i_098.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_098-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 88.</span>—Giant clam.</p>
</div>
<p>The vast number of shells and the varieties of each kind
can hardly be realized by those who have not examined a
well-equipped collection. Over four thousand species of
the mussel are known, and hundreds of species of almost
every shell exist in various streams and seas. The shells
range from minute specimens hardly visible to giants
weighing several hundred pounds, one of the latter being
the huge clam, Tridacna (Fig. 88), found in the equatorial
Pacific. There
are several species,
and in the largest
each valve weighs
about two hundred
and fifty pounds.
The animal itself
weighs thirty
pounds, and affords
a meal to forty or
fifty men. The
shell, by means of
its foot, buries itself in the soft rock of the regions in
which it lives. With its valves partly open it resembles
a huge sea anemone; but it closes them at the slightest
alarm. Large fishes, and even natives, it is said, have been<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</SPAN></span>
trapped by this giant, whose jawlike valves, with three huge
teeth, grip the fin of a fish or the foot of an unfortunate
wader with a vicelike grasp. The byssus or
anchor of this huge shell is so thick and tenacious
that it is severed only with great difficulty
and labor. The shells are valuable as ornaments,
large numbers being sent to various
countries for this purpose. The giant never
moves, and in this respect is a sharp contrast
to the little donax, so common on our various
shores and in France, which leaps along the
muddy flats by convulsive movements of its
fleshy foot.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_099.jpg" name="i_099.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_099-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 89.</span>—Razor clam.</p>
</div>
<p>The common razor clam, of which sixty or
more species are known, by means of its foot
(Fig. 89) digs a deep burrow which is filled
with water even at low tide. The shell is often
found at the entrance, but at the slightest
alarm it dashes deep down into its den, to be
caught only by persistent digging.</p>
<p>The odd shapes assumed by many bivalves is well illustrated
in the hammer oyster (Fig. 90) and the pholas.
The latter illustrates the power of the most insignificant
animals, as by means of its foot this little shell burrows
into the hardest granite. It is invariably found there and
imprisoned; for when it reaches the interior of a stone, it
grows and enlarges, leaving but a small opening for the
siphons. It is supposed by some that the pholas possesses
some secretions by which it dissolves the stone, and by
others that it wears away the rock by using its shell as a
file. In any event the shell is known to contain aragonite,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</SPAN></span>
a very hard substance. In the pillar of the temple of Serapis,
Italy, the holes made by this shell are seen.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_100a.jpg" name="i_100a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_100a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 90.</span>—Hammer oyster.</p>
</div>
<p>Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the pholas is its
power as a light giver. It emits a delicate blue light, dead
or alive. One placed in a glass of milk has
been used as a lamp, illuminating the faces
near it. Another placed in honey retained
its phosphorescence for over a year. The
little pholas is found all over the world, more
than eighty different species being known.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_100b.jpg" name="i_100b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_100b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 91.</span>—Teredo, a boring shell.</p>
</div>
<p>The teredo or shipworm (Fig. 91) is called
a worm because it secretes a limy shell, but
it is really a bivalve shell open at both ends, a shell which
with one exception causes more destruction than all other
marine animals combined. Instinctively it bores into
wood, forming an irregular tunnel and lining it with a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</SPAN></span>
delicate coating of carbonate of lime. Some years ago
I visited on the outer Florida Reef, an old wreck which
was newly buried in the sand and partly exposed at low
tide. The timbers of the vessel looked strong and able
to stand many a storm, yet with a blow of my hand I
broke through the planking. The interior was completely
honeycombed by the teredo, so that it was a maze of tubes.
At this place the life of a pile of yellow pine was a year
and a half; in other words, after being exposed to the
teredo for this length of time, it was useless. On the
Pacific, at Avalon Bay, the piles last about two years, being
rapidly destroyed, even though soaked in various poisonous
fluids and coated with tar. Many thousands of dollars
have been expended in experiments with devices to outwit
the teredo, but without avail, and they are the greatest
menace to navigation and piers to-day, making their way
into hulls, despite the copper sheathing. In the mud
banks of the waters of Sumatra, teredos are found which
attain a length of six feet, with tubes four inches in
diameter.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_101.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 92.</span>—Mactra: <em>a</em>, foot; <em>b</em>, <em>c</em>, siphons.</p> </div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The shells are famous for their beauty, the polished
valves and their marvelous tints
presenting attractive combinations.
The common mactra (Fig. 92), the
cockle (Fig. 93) with its deep
radiations, the gorgeous pectens of
the South, the splendid pearl-bearing
shells, all tell a wonderful story
of the resources of nature, and
emphasize the fact that the smallest
and most inconspicuous animals vie
with the larger forms in beauty of shape and color.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_102.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 93.</span>—Cockle.</p> </div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XII. THE UNIVALVES</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_103.jpg" name="i_103.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_103-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 94.</span>—Group of shells: 1, Cymbium; 2, Cerithium; 3, Voluta; 4, Cardium; 5, Phorus; 6, Murex; 7, Vermetus; 8, Trochus; 9, Pholas; 10, Turritella.</p>
</div>
<p>The shells which have been noticed in the preceding
chapter belonged literally to the stay-at-homes of the
family. They rarely wander far, and many, as we have
seen, never leave the place which the young shell first
selected as its home. What are known as the univalves,
the mollusks with one shell, or perhaps no shell at all, are
the reverse of this, being in many instances travelers,
wandering here and there. This suggests that they have<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</SPAN></span>
more highly organized locomotive organs. Those shown
on the upper part of Figure 94 are univalves, and if we
make a section of a univalve
(Fig. 95), we see that the shell is
much more complicated than in
the previous forms. The univalve
has a shell-secreting mantle and
organs resembling those of the
bivalves, only differently placed.
This marvelous mantle performs
some singular feats, judging from
the spines found on many shells.
To make these, the mantle must
have been thrown outward and
upward, forming a tube in which
the spine was secreted.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_104.jpg" name="i_104.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_104-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 95.</span>—Section of a univalve.</p>
</div>
<p>In the univalves a distinct head
is seen (Fig. 98) with tentacles
and prominent eyes. The foot is
now elaborated into a huge sucking, clinging, disklike
organ. In the whelk it is as long as the shell, the latter
being perched high above it, presenting a remarkable
spectacle as it moves along the sandy floor of the ocean.
On the head are two tentacles, feelers or sense organs,
and sometimes the eyes are mounted on tall stalks, that
the shell may have a wide range of vision. A siphon,
such as we have seen in the clam, is present and extended
upward and forward. It protrudes from a canal formed
in the shell for the purpose, and is often very long. If
the whelk (Fig. 99) is disturbed, it suddenly withdraws
its body, including the enormous colored foot; and if the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</SPAN></span>
shell is picked up, the entrance is found securely closed
by a horny door called the operculum, which is attached
to the foot (Fig. 99). This door takes many shapes. In
the beautiful conch it is saber-shaped, and is used to dig
into the sand, or, as a lever, to force the conch along by
a series of jerks. In other shells it is apparently made
of porcelain, hard and highly polished. It is well known
as the "eye stone"
of popular fancy.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_105a.jpg" name="i_105a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_105a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 96.</span>—Tongue and teeth of a univalve: <em>A</em>, portion of tongue of Velutina; <em>B</em>, portion of tongue of whelk; <em>C</em>, head and tongue of limpet; <em>D</em>, portion of same enlarged.</p>
</div>
<p>Many of the univalves
are flesh
eaters, preying upon
others of their kind.
They have a remarkable
tongue (Fig. 96)
for the purpose, in
fact, the teeth are upon the tongue in sawlike rows. The
tongue, which is called the lingual ribbon, is ribbon shaped,
long and slender, and is really a soft, pliable saw with
which the animal bores into
the hardest shells of the helpless
clams. In strolling alongshore
a large majority of the
"dead" clam shells found
bleaching in the sun, where
they have been washed by the
sea, will be seen to contain a
circular hole of perfect symmetry
(Fig. 97). This has been made by the boring, sawlike
tongue of a univalve, which, after gaining an entrance
into the tightly locked shell, deliberately sucked it out.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</SPAN></span>
It is interesting to note the location of this hole, which is
invariably over the softest and plumpest part of the victim,
near the lungs, showing that the cannibalistic univalve is
very clever in its mode of attack.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_105b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 97.</span>—Clam shell bored by a univalve.</p> </div>
<p>While the oyster deposits vast quantities of eggs, which
float out into the water to be destroyed by other animals,
many of the univalves protect their eggs in remarkable
cases. I have often found on the Florida Reef strings
(Fig. 98) of singular objects which resembled sections of
a yellowish cylinder connected by a little cord. Each
section is an egg case, or capsule, and contains many
shells, the entire chain being two or three feet in length.
This becomes tangled in the coral or seaweed, and holds
the young shells, all of which escape through a little door
in each section.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_106.jpg" name="i_106.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_106-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 98.</span>—Egg case of a conch.</p>
</div>
<p>Other shells, as the whelk (Fig. 99), deposit their egg
cases in heaps or mounds. They are soft and spongelike,
and are often mistaken for sponges when divested of their
shells and cast ashore. Perhaps the best-known egg case
is that of the common Natica, which forms a singular
object called the "sand collar" (Fig. 100). The animal
molds this collar out of fine sand with its foot, and<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</SPAN></span>
deposits its eggs in the interior, all being cemented or
glued together in a solid mass. We shall find that certain
birds deposit their eggs in the nests of others, so saving
the wearying process of hatching.
A certain shell, called Nassa, has
a similar habit. At times it deposits
its eggs on the collar nest
of the Natica.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_107a.jpg" name="i_107a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_107a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 99.</span>—The whelk: <em>A</em>, living shell; <em>B</em>, empty shell; <em>C</em>, egg case.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_107b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 100.</span>—Egg case of the Natica.</p> </div>
<p>Among the myriads of shells
which we may select to illustrate
the various interesting types,
shapes, and kinds, are the Chitons (Fig. 101). Their
shells are made up of many plates resembling the plates<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</SPAN></span>
of a hawkbill turtle. Many live in holes in the rocks,
and all have a very large, sucking, disklike foot which
clings to the rocks with great tenacity. Resembling them
somewhat are the limpets. These are
interesting and beautiful shells, especially
when polished, forming attractive domes
marvelously tinted and colored. Some
are called keyhole limpets (Fig. 102), from
the fact that they have a keyhole-like
opening in the top. They range in size from very minute
forms to giants a foot in length.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_108a.jpg" name="i_108a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_108a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 101.</span>—The Chiton and its free-swimming young. I. Adult, showing plates.
II. Chiton dissected: <em>o</em>, mouth; <em>g</em>, nervous ring; <em>ao</em>, great artery from the heart,
aorta; <em>c</em>, ventricle; <em>c´</em>, an auricle; <em>br</em>, left branchiæ; <em>od</em>, oviducts. III, IV, V.
Development of free-swimming young.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Among the most beautiful of all shells, and at the same
time the most common in tropic and semitropic seas, are
the abalones. They are also called ear shells. They
have an enormous foot that covers the entire lower surface,
being a remarkably powerful organ. Instances have
been known where Chinese abalone hunters have tried to
pry off the shell from a rock with their hands, and have
had their fingers caught and held as though by a vice.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_108b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 102.</span>—Keyhole limpet.</p> </div>
<p>The Haliotis is very common on the shores of the
southern Californian islands. In some localities every
rock is covered with them, and in places where the black
abalone is common, I have found them piled one upon the
other. There are two hundred species living. Every tint,
color, or tone known in the scale of color, or its combinations,
is flashed from these marvelous shells, which, if rare,
would be counted among the most beautiful of all natural
productions. On the Californian coast they are collected
in large numbers, and when polished are converted into
buttons and a thousand and one other objects. The meat,
which is of excellent quality, is sold in large quantities to
the Chinese. Thousands of the shells are bought by
tourists, the outside being richly polished. From the
ancient graves or Indian mounds of the Californian islands
I have taken quantities, especially the large kind known as
the red abalone, showing that they were used by the
ancient inhabitants. In all of these islands heaps and
piles of abalones are found far from the water. By stopping
up the holes in the shell with asphaltum, which
drifts ashore here, the natives had an excellent dish, or
bailer. They cut the shell into earrings and ornaments
of many kinds, and most of their fishhooks were evolved<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</SPAN></span>
from this beautiful shell, which also supplied a large
proportion of their food.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_110a.jpg" name="i_110a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_110a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 103.</span>—Great conch (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Strombus</i>).</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_110b.jpg" name="i_110b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_110b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 104.</span>—Queen conch (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cassis</i>).</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_110c.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 105.</span>—Cypræa.</p> </div>
<p>On the Florida Reef the great conchs (Fig. 103) are
very common. They live on the sandy floor of the lagoons,
hitching themselves slowly along by their long-pointed,
saberlike operculums. This is the conch of commerce,
in which appears the most delicate of all pink colors, and
which is the source of the rare pink pearls. In the same
locality, but in deeper water, is found the Queen conch
(Fig. 104), which is cut into medallions and
cameos. The beautiful Cypræa (Fig. 105), of
which many varieties are known, are called
micramocks in Florida, and cowries elsewhere.
Their luster and natural polish often excite
wonder, for they commonly live concealed in
the rough portions of dead coral branches,
where they would easily become scratched.
The cowry, however, is protected by a remarkable mantle<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</SPAN></span>
which covers the entire shell, thus keeping its pianolike
surface as smooth as a mirror. Many cowries are beautifully
striped; some are spotted with dark spots on a
white background; some are yellow; others are red or
old gold, every tint and color seemingly being employed by
nature in painting these gems of the sea. Few other shells
have been so universally esteemed by all nations. Among
certain African tribes they are used as money, and not
many years ago collections of cowries were made with
all the ardor that actuated the tulip collectors, thousands
of dollars being paid for single shells, as the orange cowry.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_111a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 106.</span>—Cone shell (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Conus</i>).</p> </div>
<p>The cone shells (Fig. 106) represent a beautiful
group, spotted like
leopards, striped like the
tiger, black, red, yellow.
Some shells are very pointed, like the augur shell (Fig.
107). Some have an extraordinarily long projection for
the siphon, as the spindle shell (Fig. 108). In some the
opening is very small, as the cone shells, while in others
it is immense, and protected by a large, doorlike oper<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</SPAN></span>culum.
The Bulimas is a famous nest builder. Bulla is
interesting from the lightness and delicacy of the shell
and its rich neutral browns.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_111b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 107.</span>—Augur shell (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Terebra</i>).</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_111c.jpg" name="i_111c.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_111c-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 108.</span>—Spindle shell (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Fusus</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>Among the very familiar shells are the land snails
(Fig. 109), common in every garden and raised and sold in
France and Italy
as table delicacies.
Closely
allied to them
are the slugs,
which bear upon
their backs, beneath
the skin,
a delicate, scale-like
shell. On
the island of San Clemente, fifty miles off the coast of
California, I found an extensive sandy plain which was
so thickly strewn with the white, bleached snail shells
that I could hardly step without crushing several. The
verdure had died, and the snails were doubtless killed by
the direct rays of the sun.</p>
<p>These interesting animals are called pulmonates because
they breathe air directly.</p>
<p>The slugs (Fig. 110) have many peculiar characteristics.
If the long tentacles on the short eye stalk are destroyed,
the snail will reproduce them. In winter the snails descend
into the ground, or hide themselves away, literally sealing
themselves in their shells by closing the door firmly, and
there hibernate until spring, neither eating nor drinking,
and hardly breathing during this time; if placed in a cold
storage box, they will remain several years in this state.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_112.jpg" name="i_112-thumb.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_112-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 109.</span>—A snail crawling.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_113.jpg" name="i_113-thumb.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_113-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 110.</span>—Slugs and snails.</p>
</div>
<p>Some of the snails of Africa are six inches across, and
the eggs are an inch in length. Semper found a little
snail in the Philippines, which when caught by the foot or
"tail" throws it off as a lizard jerks off its tail. This is
not a great hardship, as the tail is soon renewed. In a
collection of shells which came from France some years
ago I found several snails of different colors which were
joined one to the other. The collector had cut the top
from an empty brown snail and placed a living snail with
a yellow shell upon it, tying the two together. The snail,
supposing that its shell had been broken, immediately
began to repair the wound, and closed up the breach with
its shell-secreting mantle, so that the two shells became
one.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_114.jpg" name="i_114-thumb.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_114-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 111.</span>—A sea slug (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Dendronotus</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>In floating on the borders of the Sargasso Sea, the
vast sea of weeds in the South Atlantic, I found numbers
of a beautiful sea slug (Fig. 111) which so resembled the
weeds in shape and color, a rich olive green, that it was
almost impossible to distinguish it, except when very close
to the surface. They
have attractive names,
as Doris, Tritonia, Æolis,
and Aplysia, and are
among the wonders of the
great belts of kelp which
surround the continent. I once found a slug at Santa
Catalina which was a vivid, almost iridescent purple;
another was yellow; but the most interesting was Aplysia,
a giant two feet long, which I kept in an aquarium.
It weighed nearly eight pounds, could lengthen itself
out to a distance of nearly three feet, or contract into a
dark, olive-hued ball, scarcely six inches across. It took
sea lettuce from my hand, eating with avidity, and when
disturbed emitted a purple ink which filled the water and
hid the monster "sea hare" from view. It laid its eggs
on the sides of the tank in long chains, but if not well
fed, exhibited a decided cannibalistic tendency, devouring
its own progeny. This animal had an enormous foot by
which it crept rapidly along, and it invariably protected
itself by imitating the color of the bottom upon which it
rested.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_115a.jpg" name="i_115a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_115a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 112.</span>—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Onchidium</i>, a sea slug with eyes on its back.</p>
</div>
<p>One of the most interesting slugs is the Onchidium
(Fig. 112). According to the naturalist Semper, it has
upon its back numerous eyes, which enable it to see
from above. It is a mud-loving form, common in our<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</SPAN></span>
new provinces, the Philippines,
where the heat is intense and
the water warm. One of the
land slugs, Limax noctiluca,
emits light; and the eggs of
another, Arion, have been
noticed to be luminous for
nearly two weeks after being
deposited.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_115b.jpg" name="i_115b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_115b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 113.</span>—<em>A</em>, <em>B</em>, <em>C</em>, pteropods; <em>D</em>, young of Cleodora, all highly magnified.</p>
</div>
<p>Nearly all these shells are
slow-moving animals, but there
are others, the pteropods
(Fig. 113), which are swimmers.
The veritable fairy craft of the sea, they are<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</SPAN></span>
housed in shells of dainty structure and moving by singular
winglike fins, which give them the name of ocean
butterflies. They have the property of phosphorescence
to a remarkable degree. Cleodora (Fig. 113, <em>D</em>) emits a soft
light which gleams through the delicate shell like a light
in a lantern. In swimming it moves its fins up and down
very much like a butterfly, so that they touch at the top.
As delicate and dainty as this little creature is, it has a
marvelous arrangement for seizing prey, each tentacle
having about three thousand transparent cylinders, each
of which contains twenty stalked suckers. As there are
six tentacles on each sucker, Cleodora can grasp its prey with
three hundred thousand hands. Equally dainty in its way
is the sea snail, Ianthina, a violet shell of great delicacy,
whose foot develops a raft which resembles a mass of
soap bubbles, so the violet snail floats upon the surface
of tropical and semi-tropical
seas. I
have seen the shores
of the keys of the
Florida Reef lined
with an undulating
ribbon of these
shells after a storm.
When touched they
emit a rich violet ink
which lasts a long
time as a stain.
A small species of Ianthina is found in the winter on the
southern Californian shores, and beneath the attractive
float will be found the eggs.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_116.jpg" name="i_116.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_116-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 114.</span>—1, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Dentalium entalis</i>, natural size; 2,
shell magnified, and broken to show animal within; 3, animal projecting from the shell; 4, animal from below, magnified;
6, same from above; 5, same, showing internal structure.</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XIII. THE CUTTLEFISHES</h2></div>
<p>In the great libraries of the country will be found books
dating back to the last two centuries, many of which contain
cuts and descriptions of frightful animals resembling
huge spiders, called krakens, or devilfishes. They are
represented climbing over ships, and hauling them down.
One is described as so huge that the crew of a vessel
landed upon it, not
discovering that it was
not an island until
they had built a fire,
when the supposed
island, really a kraken,
sank beneath them.
These are tales of
romancers, but it is
interesting to know that they are based upon a slight
foundation of fact. Devilfishes have been discovered in
various seas, which weighed several hundred pounds,
and whose length ranged from fifty to seventy or more
feet. Such an animal is the giant squid (Fig. 115),
which is a very timid animal, and though it might overturn
a small boat, it is not likely to make the attempt.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_117.jpg" name="i_117.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_117-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 115.</span>—A giant squid, fifty feet long.</p>
</div>
<p>These animals are called cephalopods because their feet
are attached to the head; in other words, they are head-footed.
The typical squid or cuttlefish has a barrel-shaped
body, and a tail resembling an arrowhead. Its head is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</SPAN></span>
separated from the body by a seeming neck, and is provided
with two immense eyes (Fig. 116). Projecting forward
are two long, slender arms, and eight shorter ones,
which in the giant squid are from six to ten feet in length.
These are armed with peculiar
suckers (Fig. 117), each of
which is extremely powerful.
In a specimen six feet long,
which I kept for an hour
alive in a large tank, some idea of the strength of a
squid could be obtained. It fastened its eight arms to the
tank, and with all the force I could bring to bear I was
unable to tear them off. Besides the eight short arms
there are two long ones.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_118a.jpg" name="i_118a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_118a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 116.</span>—Squid (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sepia</i>), one fifth natural size.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_118b.jpg" name="i_118b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_118b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 117.</span>—Suckers of a squid.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_119a.jpg" name="i_119a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_119a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 118.</span>—Beak or bill of a squid.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_119b.jpg" name="i_119b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_119b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 119.</span>—Showing parts
of a squid: <em>T</em>, tentacles; <em>O</em>,
mouth; <em>F</em>, siphon; <em>In</em>, intestine;
<em>I</em>, ink bag; <em>B</em>, gills; <em>H</em>,
heart; <em>K</em>, blood vessel; <em>C</em>,
lobes of tail.</p>
</div>
<p>In a specimen of the giant squid which I handled and
measured, the long arms were about thirty feet in length.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</SPAN></span>
The ends were enlarged with paddlelike organs, and bore a
group of suckers. The object of the long arms is to serve
as graspers. They are kept near the body, coiled up, and
can be shot out with remarkable velocity, grasping a fish
like two hands with gigantic arms.
They haul the prey to the short
arms, when hundreds of sucking
disks hold the victim that is now
pressed to the remarkable mouth.
This lies between the base of the
arms, and in color and appearance
is almost exactly like the beak of
a parrot, with the exception that the under bill fits over
the upper (Fig. 118). These bills almost invariably nip the
struggling fish over the vertebra or back bone, severing
it at once, and ending the struggle. The tongue of the
squid is a ribbon with teeth upon it. Such an armament
alone is sufficient to attract attention to the animal, but<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</SPAN></span>
it has still another feature which adds to its interest as
a weird and disagreeable creature. The squid has a
siphon which terminates in a tube, opening beneath the
head. Into this an ink bag opens (Fig. 119). In swimming,
the squid rarely if ever rests upon the bottom, but
takes in water around the edge of the mantle and ejects
it with more or less force from the siphon, and thus the
squid is driven along, tail foremost. When alarmed its
movements are very rapid. If in danger, the squid pours
an inky secretion, which is the sepia of commerce, into the
siphon, and the secretion is swept out into
the water in a cloud which spreads rapidly,
to the confusion of any following enemy.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_120a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 120.</span>—Cuttlefish bone.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_120b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 121.</span>—Eggs of the squid.</p> </div>
<p>The squid has a shell, but it is very small,
and internal. It is called the pen, and that
of some species is the cuttlefish bone of
commerce (Fig. 120). In specimens six or
seven feet long, taken at Santa Catalina,
California, the pen
was fifteen inches
long and glasslike—a
perfect pen
in shape. Such is
this peculiar creature, and if we
add that it can change its color
from very dark brown to almost
white, adapting it to the color of
the bottom over which it rests,
we can form some idea of one
of the strangest of all animals.
They deposit eggs in clusters.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The squids range in size from gigantic specimens seventy
or more feet in length to the minute Cranchia, which is
luminous at times. Some have no tails, some only the suggestion
of a tail, some have very pointed ones, some very
broad ones. In specimens of the little Cranchia which I
observed the head was very small and the body long in proportion.
One form appears to have side winglike fins. The
large squids live in the deep sea, and most of the specimens
known have been taken from the deep fjords of Newfoundland,
which appears to be a favorite locality for
them. They doubtless live everywhere in the deep seas,
as they are almost invariably found in the stomach of
the sperm whale, evidently constituting a favorite food of
this giant-toothed whale.</p>
<p>The squids live mainly upon fishes, and are very skillful
in taking them, poising like a cat, near the bottom, creeping
upon a school of sardines,—all the time simulating the
color of the bottom, and almost invisible but for their large,
dark eyes standing out,—then suddenly darting tail first
into the school, flinging the long arms at the flying fishes,
and almost always catching one, which is dragged up to
the parrotlike bill and dismembered. In the six and seven
foot squids taken at Santa Catalina the stomachs were
filled with seaweed, showing that at least some of these
animals are vegetarians.</p>
<p>On all tropical shores is found a beautiful coiled shell,
the Spirula, with little pearly septa dividing it. I have
seen a windrow of these shells a mile long, but never
found the animal and shell together, so easily are they
disconnected. It is the smallest and the most beautiful of
all the cephalopods.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_122.jpg" name="i_122.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_122-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 122.</span>—Octopus or devilfish.</p>
</div>
<p>The familiar devilfish or octopus (Fig. 122) is another
form, a bottom lover, found among the rocks, rarely
attempting to
swim. It has a
round, baglike
body, often covered
with soft,
fleshy spines; two
fiery green eyes,
which always
seem to emit a
baneful light;
eight sucker-lined
arms, which can
be thrown in any
direction, and the
beak and ink bag
noticed in the
squid, but no pen
or shell. The
octopus lives in
dens or crevices in the rocks, and ranges in size from
specimens a foot or two across to giants with arms
having a radial spread of nearly thirty feet (Fig. 123).
These large individuals are found along the Pacific coast
from California to Alaska, and when caught generally
make a desperate struggle for liberty and display a vast
amount of strength. I once kept a number in a tank,
which were two or three feet across, and when they
had grasped firmly it was almost impossible to wrench
them from the glass. They differed much in temper.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</SPAN></span>
Some would apparently play with my hand, tapping it with
their tentacles, or gripping it gently. Others would crouch
like miniature tigers, quivering with rage, and with green
eyes shining, would spring upon it and attempt to smother
it with their arms—a most disagreeable sensation,
especially when it was almost impossible to remove the
hand from the uncanny grasp without lacerating their flesh.
One large octopus in this family, when it obtained a grip,
would hold my hand firmly; hence I concluded that a
specimen thirty feet across, similar to those represented by
casts in the Yale and National Museums, might easily
overcome a man. Yet the octopus is a very timid animal
in the open water. I rarely caught them either in Florida
or California, unless they were cornered, and they never
attempted to bite. But I seized one in the coral, and it
wound about my arm so tightly that I was obliged to
wrench away twenty or more pounds of branch coral, before<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</SPAN></span>
I could release it without laceration. When attacked the
octopus changes color with great rapidity from black to
gray, and when enraged it often has the appearance of a
leopard. Then it hurls a cloud of ink into the water, and
endeavors to slink away under this cover, gliding through
crevices that would seem entirely too small to admit so
large an animal.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_123.jpg" name="i_123.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_123-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 123.</span>—Giant octopus, radial spread twenty-two feet.</p>
</div>
<p>The octopus swims when forced to do so, using a
weblike membrane which is seen to connect the base of
the eight arms or by forcing water from its siphon.
These arms, when extended, give the octopus a faint
resemblance to an umbrella without a handle, and with
very long supports. The octopus preys upon very
small animals, particularly crabs. I have lain among the
bowlders on the shores of the Californian islands and
watched the octopus hunting. They selected the flood
tide and crept near the shore, moving along slowly, on
the watch for a species of Grapsus very common here,
a land crab which occasionally enters the water. The
crabs crept down to the water's edge, and often entered,
and in this moment of incaution were pounced upon by
the disagreeable creature so well named the devilfish.
Sometimes they were caught at the very edge; a long, livid
tentacle would come shooting out of the water like a flame
and seize the victim. Despite its struggles, it was soon
hauled in, the octopus immediately covering it with its
umbrellalike bag, doubtless bringing its nippers into play.
I have seen an octopus dash out of water two or three feet
and scramble up the dry rocks with remarkable speed
after an escaping crab. At these times the octopus can
be caught by seizing it quickly, but some experience is re<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</SPAN></span>quired
before one can grasp a large octopus and retain the
hold, so disagreeable is the sensation of the snakelike tentacles
winding about hand and arm. The very appearance
of the octopus is like a horrible dream, and so intensely
repulsive is the animal that in an actual test not one person
in fifty who passed a tank containing an octopus with arms
a foot long and a hideous striped body, could be induced to
touch the animal, though assured that it was absolutely
harmless and would merely squeeze the hand.</p>
<p>While the devilfish is the type of all that is hideous and
repulsive in nature, it has a near relative, the paper nautilus,
which is a very dainty and beautiful creature. It
appears to be an octopus which lives in a shell. The
argonaut, as it is called, has eight short arms, the upper
pair being largely developed at their tips, forming fanlike
or saillike organs. It was formerly believed that these
were really sails, held aloft to catch the breeze to blow
the fairy argonaut along. So fixed in the public mind
was this erroneous belief that illustrations in various works
otherwise correct, display the argonaut in this incorrect
position. The animal is the female, which, to protect and
carry its eggs, is provided with a dainty shell which it
secretes, but is not attached to, and would lose were it
not for the two large-ended tentacles with which it grasps
the beak of the shell (Fig. 124). These arms also bear
the shell-making and repairing glands. The argonaut can
crawl upon the rocks at the bottom, swim through the
water, forced along by its siphon stream, or float calmly
at the surface. About nine species are known; generally
in some tropical waters. Every year a few are found
stranded upon Santa Catalina Island, California.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_126a.jpg" name="i_126a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_126a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 124.</span>—Argonaut in natural position, arms holding the shell.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_126b.jpg" name="i_126b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_126b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Figs. 125, 126.</span>—Sections of an ammonite.</p>
</div>
<p>In many of the fossil deposits are found gigantic shells
resembling the wheels of a cart, and enormously heavy.
These are ammonites
(Figs. 125, 126),
and ancestors of the
nautilus (Fig. 127),
another member of
this wonderful family
of animals, with feet
attached to their
heads. It has a shell
of radiant pearl, divided,
like the little
Spirula, by pearly
septa or partitions,
into rooms or chambers
(<em>C</em>) all of which
surround a small
tube (<em>s</em>) called the siphuncle. This contains a long,
fleshy pedicel, hence the nautilus is attached to its shell
and can not leave it.
The shell chambers
are filled with gas,
and the animal has
the power to change
its specific gravity,
to float or rise. The
nautilus forces itself
along by a current
from its siphon, and
in a general way re<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</SPAN></span>sembles
others of the group. It has no ink bag, and its
eye is not the striking object seen in the other forms.
It is merely an elevation
bearing a minute
hole which leads into
the globe of the eye,
which during the life
of the nautilus is filled
with water. According
to Doctor Hensen,
in place of a refracting
lens and a cornea,
the animal has an arrangement
for forming
an image on the
principle of a pin-hole
camera. We might
imagine the nautilus
easy to capture; but it is very timid and rarely caught.
Instead of eight or ten arms the nautilus has ninety-four.
The shell is a beautiful object when cleaned and polished,
being a vase of pearl of a chaste and elegant design, often
copied, and in great demand by native artisans who carve
and engrave it, and mount it in gold and silver. The
nautilus, aside from its beauty, is a most interesting animal,
being the last or almost the last of its race of fifteen
hundred species, which have lived in former periods of
the earth. Only two are still alive, and these in all probability
are doomed to extinction.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_127.jpg" name="i_127.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_127-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 127.</span>—Pearly nautilus: <em>T</em>, tentacles;
<em>M</em>, mantle; <em>E</em>, eye; <em>s</em>, siphuncle; <em>S</em>, siphon;
<em>C</em>, chambers.</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XIV. THE CRUSTACEANS</h2></div>
<p>Among all the animals few are more interesting and
whimsical than the crabs and lobsters. They have jointed
legs, feelers and claws in pairs, living in a shell which they
cast like an overcoat when they outgrow it, and have bodies
which are made up of hard, tough, limy rings or segments
(Fig. 128). The crustaceans are found in all waters, fresh
and salt, and on land. They abound in the greatest variety,
and range in size from specimens almost invisible to the
naked eye to forms with a radial spread of over twenty
feet.</p>
<p>During a recent visit to the outlying islands of the Texan
coast, I found these extensive regions populated by vast
hordes of white or yellowish land crabs, which paraded the
beaches and climbed over the dunes in such numbers that
the eyes could not be raised without seeing a dozen or
more. They were so familiar and tame that several large
individuals had burrows by the side of the walk which led
from the hotel, and readily took bread thrown to them.</p>
<p>On the keys of the Florida Reef the "spirit crabs," as
they are called, are equally common. Pretending to be
asleep, I have often watched them cautiously approaching,
led by their curiosity to see what strange object this was
that had washed ashore. If I remained perfectly quiet,
they would gather in dozens, and numbers of little hermits
would crawl over me, to drop off at the slightest alarm.
In the water were countless other forms.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_129.jpg" name="i_129.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_129-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 128.</span>—The Norway lobster, showing jointed structure.</p>
</div>
<p>Wherever we go, from the ocean to the interior, we shall
find some members of this interesting family. On almost
any seashore we shall find a crab or crayfish, from which<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</SPAN></span>
some idea of the structure of these animals can be obtained
(Fig. 129). We see that there are two distinct regions, the
head portion and the tail. The first mentioned is hard and
in one general piece; the latter is made up of joints or
rings. Everything about this curious animal is jointed.
Turning it over (Fig. 130), we see that it has five legs on
each side, all jointed. The first pair are large biting claws,
and in some species others are biters. Even the eyes are
upon stalks and jointed, and about them are two sets of
feelers, whips, or antennæ—one large and one small pair—which
the animal holds out before it as a blind man
does a cane. The mouth is made up of many curious
organs for separating and grinding food.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_130.jpg" name="i_130.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_130-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 129.</span>—Crayfish seen from the side, with that portion of the carapace
removed which covers the branchiæ, or gills. The appendages of the left side only
shown, <em>s</em>, region of stomach; <em>A</em>, abdominal appendages; <em>B</em>, bases of the four
small legs; <em>C</em>, base of large claw; <em>f</em>, "gill-bailer," or flabellum, attached to the
second maxilliped; <em>e</em>, eye. (After Morse.)</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_131a.jpg" name="i_131a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_131a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 130.</span>—Under surface of the crayfish or fresh-water
lobster (<em>Astacus</em>): <em>a</em>, first pair of antennæ; <em>b</em>, second pair; <em>c</em>,
eyes; <em>e</em>, foot jaws; <em>f</em>, <em>g</em>, first and fifth pair of thoracic legs;
<em>h</em>, swimmerets; <em>i</em>, anus; <em>k</em>, caudal fins.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_131b.jpg" name="i_131b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_131b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 131.</span>—A shrimp, showing
anatomy: <em>s</em>, stomach; <em>l</em>, liver; <em>i</em>,
intestine; <em>h</em>, heart; <em>g</em>, chain of
ganglia; <em>hg</em>, head ganglia.</p>
</div>
<p>Some idea of the various internal organs of the crustaceans
may be obtained in Figure 131. The breathing organs
are conspicuous, curled up like plumes on each side of the
crayfish and attached to the base of the legs. Water
enters the shell under the edge,
back of the great claws, and
is swept along over them by
a little organ called the gill
bailer, the gills taking up oxygen
from the water, which in
turn is absorbed by the colorless
blood. The brain is very
small, and nerves can be seen
passing from it to the various
organs. The ears are situated at the base of the small
or first antennæ, and are little sacks on the upper side<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</SPAN></span>
containing a thick fluid in which are floating minute
grains of sand. The tail portion is made up of a number
of rings or segments, and is provided
with small swimmerets. At
the extreme end are seen five paddlelike
or fanlike organs (Fig. 132),
which constitute a most important
swimming organ to the lobsters
and crayfishes, by the violently
flapping of which they dash away backward. In color
the crayfish is yellowish brown or greenish. When alive
it presents (Fig. 133) an attractive appearance.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_132a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 132.</span>—Paddles of lobster.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_132b.jpg" name="i_132b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_132b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 133.</span>—Fresh-water crayfish.</p>
</div>
<p>The crustaceans deposit eggs which they carry about
with them attached to the swimmerets, and resembling
minute bunches of grapes. When first hatched (Fig. 134)<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</SPAN></span>
the young crustaceans are totally unlike the parent in
appearance, passing through several stages before they
reach the adult form. When the crustacean grows too
large for its shell, what are known as casting hairs appear
on the inner side, which push the shell upward.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_133.jpg" name="i_133.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_133-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 134.</span>—Stages of development in a crab.</p>
</div>
<p>I have watched this process in the California sea crayfish,
and it is generally accomplished at night. The flesh
of the animal appears to become very watery and soft at
this time. Finally the animal bursts the shell and by a
slow and convulsive effort drags the flesh from claws, eyes,
swimmerets, and antennæ, and escapes through the upper
portion of the division between the head and tail, and
presto! we have two animals; one flabby and very nervous,
the other the deserted shell, yet seemingly alive. The
crayfish is very helpless now, and secretes itself for several
days until the new skin hardens, when it appears in a
freshly colored coat of yellow and black.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XV. FROM BARNACLES TO LOBSTERS</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_134.jpg" name="i_134.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_134-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 135.</span>—Goose barnacles.</p>
</div>
<p>In strolling along the shore one may often find pieces
of wood washed in by the combing waves, which are covered
with white and blue-tinted objects, resembling dates
(Fig. 135). They have long, fleshy stems, and appear to
have a number of plates or shells, and are by many considered
shells. Other floating matter will be found covered
with small white objects (Fig. 136), and many of the
rocks alongshore are so completely encrusted by them
that the surface of the rock is concealed. On the backs<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</SPAN></span>
of whales are found similar objects, often three inches
across and two inches high. These are barnacles, cousins
of the crabs, which secrete multivalve
shells and are anchored to various
floating or submerged objects. They
are crustaceans which are attached
to the bottom by their antennæ.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_135.jpg" name="i_135.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_135-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 136.</span>—The barnacle:
<em>A</em>, from above; <em>B</em>, section from the side.</p>
</div>
<p>If the shell of a barnacle is carefully
observed, fluffy, feathery objects
may be seen coming out with regular
motion. These are the feet of the
crustacean, which in the barnacles
are modified into food catchers, grasping
at the minute animals contained
in the water. What are called goose
barnacles have long stems, and the
old writers considered them young geese which grew on
trees and finally fell into the water. I have found a goose
barnacle in the mouth of a large sunfish, so placed that the
barnacle swung clear of the curious teeth of the fish. They
are also found on the feathers of penguins in the South
Pacific. Every floating timber or wreck at sea is covered
with the curious, long-stemmed creatures. The barnacles
deposit eggs, and the young are at first free swimming, but
soon acquire a shell, seek the bottom, or some floating object,
and become fixtures for life.</p>
<p>Many of the crustaceans are so small that but few persons
ever see them. Such is Cyclops (Fig. 137), a minute
creature seen distinctly only under a microscope, yet
swimming in fresh water and readily recognized by its egg
pouches, one on either side of the tail. The eggs hatch<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</SPAN></span>
out into singular little objects, having very little resemblance
to the parent.
The Cyclops and others
are very tenacious of life.
When pools and streams
dry up and remain so
for months, they lie
dormant, coming to life
again with the return of
the water. Many of this
group are parasites upon
fishes, as the Lernæidæ
(Fig. 138), which appear
like streamers on the
sides of carp and other
fishes. These parasites, deeply embedded, live upon the
fish.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_136a.jpg" name="i_136a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_136a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 137.</span>—Water fleas: 1, Cyclops, showing
egg pouches; 2, Cypris; 3, Daphnia.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_136b.jpg" name="i_136b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_136b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 138.</span>—A parasite of a fresh-water fish (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cyprinæ</i>): <br/>
1, larva, as it leaves the egg; <br/>
2, larva, more advanced; <br/>
3, adult female, showing the egg sacs. (Nordmann.)</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Some of these minute crustaceans are almost exact
in their resemblance to shells, as Estheria which has
a bivalve shell. But perhaps the most
remarkable creature is Artemis, the
brine shrimp (Fig. 139), which lives in
brine that would be deadly to almost
any other animal. A strange experiment
has been made with this little
creature; thus if the brine is very strong
its form resembles <em>a</em>, but if the brine
is diluted, it changes to <em>b</em>, a very different
animal, so different that it has been
given another name. Many shrimps
seem to prefer extreme cold. The Apus (Fig. 140), withstands
freezing, and hatches readily in the icy water of
the far north. This little
creature has forty-seven segments
and one hundred and
twenty legs. The fairy shrimp
is a dainty and beautiful crustacean
with a marvelous array
of leaflike feet which also
serve as breathing organs.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_137a.jpg" name="i_137a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_137a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 139.</span>—Brine shrimps: <em>a</em>, Branchipus; <em>b</em>, Artemis.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_137b.jpg" name="i_137b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_137b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 140.</span>—Apus.</p>
</div>
<p>In the summer, while strolling
alongshore, one may find
that every piece of seaweed
or rock when turned over
affords concealment to myriads
of "sand fleas" which
belong to a group of crustaceans having fourteen feet.
The sand fleas, true to their name, are remarkable jumpers,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</SPAN></span>
darting in all directions and looking very much like an
ordinary flea (Fig. 141). They are valuable scavengers,
eating all kinds of refuse matter.
They have the most bizarre
shapes, and many, as Arcturus,
resemble twigs or pieces of seaweed,
extremely difficult to see
and doubtless owe their immunity
from attack to this cause. This
Arcturus (Fig. 142) is not only
a remarkable mimic, but carries its young upon its back.
Idotea is a common form
about piers, while the
little Gammarus may be
caught with almost every
haul of a very fine net.
At times one known as
Podocerus builds a singular
nest for its better
security, and one of the
giants of the tribe has eyes so huge that they are made
up of facets and entirely cover the head.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_138a.jpg" name="i_138a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_138a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 141.</span>—Sand flea (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Talitrus</i>).</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_138b.jpg" name="i_138b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_138b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 142.</span>—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Arcturus longicornis</i>, enlarged.</p>
</div>
<p>One of these crustaceans, Limnoria, is among the most
destructive of all animals to the work of man. On the
Pacific coast they vie with the teredo, and on the coast of
southern California are the chief aggressors, the life of a
prepared pile being less than two years. The little creatures
completely perforate it, so that the wood literally
falls in pieces, being so closely filled with circular borings
that the entire interior of the pile seems to have disappeared.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>One of the most beautiful of all the crustaceans, in my
estimation, is the mantis shrimp, or Squilla (Fig. 143),
which I have kept alive. It is found in deep and shallow
water, and is a most remarkable
creature both in shape and color.
Its head is ornamented with
beautifully tinted antennæ, vivid
blues, greens, and yellows predominating.
Its claws are sharp
pointed, and deadly weapons
when used against its prey. The
finlets are richly tinted and in
such rapid motion that they
appear to be a mass of revolving
wheels, so that the Squilla resembles
some strange product of the
imagination rather than a living
animal. Its young are even more
remarkable.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_139.jpg" name="i_139.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_139-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 143.</span>—Mantis shrimp (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Squilla</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>One of the best-known groups
of crustaceans is represented by
those with ten feet, of which the
common lobster (Fig. 144) is a familiar example. In this
instance the first pair of legs are developed into enormous
biting claws; yet when the lobster sheds its skin all the
flesh in the large claws is drawn through the very small
joint. The lobster is a product of the colder waters of the
North Atlantic, not being known on the Pacific slope,
although attempts have been made to introduce it there.
South of Long Island Sound it is very rare, and despite
the stringent laws for its preservation, is rapidly being<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</SPAN></span>
exterminated. Lobsters are caught in traps, called lobster
pots, which are lowered into the kelp and seaweed.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</SPAN></span>
Twenty years ago the annual catch for the state of Maine
was nearly fifteen million pounds, valued at $250,000.
It is far less to-day. The lobster sometimes attains a
weight of fifty pounds; but specimens weighing four or
five pounds are now rare, due to overcatching, and the
destruction of the undersized young. The color of the
animal when alive is a dark green. The familiar red hue
is the result of cooking. The eggs of the lobster are
laid in March, and are masses of green spheres which are
carried about by the female attached to her swimmerets.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_140.jpg" name="i_140.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_140-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 144.</span>—Common lobster.</p>
</div>
<p>In southern waters and on the Pacific coast, the place
of the lobster is taken by the crayfish, or spiny lobster
(Fig. 145). The resemblance to the lobster is almost
exact with this exception: instead of large biting claws,
the latter are but slightly larger than the ordinary claws,
ending with a sharp point, while the antennæ or feelers
are enlarged to an extraordinary degree, becoming highly
serrated and defensive organs in every sense. The
Florida crayfish is a rich reddish yellow, mottled color,
while the California form is a greenish yellow. On the
Florida Reef almost every coral branch or coral head hides
a crayfish, the whips being seen waving to and fro.
This is their day retreat, but at night they wander forth
to feed in the luxuriant pastures of Algæ, or seaweeds, of
various kinds found in the lagoons. By going out early in
the morning, before sunrise, I have often surprised the
crayfishes, the bottom being covered with them, massive
fellows weighing eight or ten pounds. They are not so
delicate in flavor as the lobster, but are very valuable as
bait. The lobster and the Pacific crayfish are both canned,
the industry being an important one.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_142.jpg" name="i_142.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_142-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 145.</span>—Crayfish or spiny lobster.</p>
</div>
<p>The prawns (Fig. 146) and shrimps are well known and
valuable members of this group, swarming in the same
waters, and among the most graceful of the tribe. Many
are absolutely transparent, the large black eyes alone being<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</SPAN></span>
seen. The chameleon shrimp is noted for its rapid changes
of color, green, brown, and reddish hues following each
other over its crystallike body. In the deeper waters
marvelous shrimps have been found, nearly all a dazzling
red. Some of the East Indian shrimps are giants two
feet in length. In England horses are employed to catch
shrimps. A large dragnet is set in shallow water to
which the horse is fastened, the fisherman, mounted, driving
the animal over the shallow flats, hauling the nets inshore.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_143.jpg" name="i_143.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_143-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 146.</span>—<em>A</em>, prawn; <em>B</em>, claw enlarged.</p>
</div>
<p>One of the most interesting of these ten-footed crustaceans
is the blind crayfish of Mammoth Cave. It is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</SPAN></span>
found also in various subterranean streams of the country.
The eyestalk of these little creatures is all that
remains to tell the story of what was once an eye, and
they live and thrive in perfect darkness. The ordinary
crayfish of Western streams has a peculiar habit of burrowing,
which at times has occasioned great damage in undermining
dikes and dams. I once came upon a remarkable
crayfish community in Indiana. There had been a flood
the day previous, and every log in the neighborhood and
the piers of the bridge were covered with crayfish which,
in this locality at least, appeared to be endeavoring to
escape from too much water. On all sides, some yards
from the creek and high above it, the ground was raised
into small heaps six or eight inches across, each, as I discovered,
being the home of a crayfish, and as far as the eye
could see on the prairie were these mounds and heaps,
suggestive of the vast numbers of these little animals in
this vicinity.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XVI. THE CRABS</h2></div>
<p>Of all the crustaceans, the crabs are the most singular
and certainly the most intelligent. Rapid in movement,
good swimmers, alert, garbed in extraordinary colors, often
in stolen homes, they attract attention at once and are the
harlequins and clowns of the animal kingdom. The crabs
are distinguished from the rest of the group principally by
their very short tails. Their bodies are round, elongated,
or oval. They are found almost everywhere, from the deep
sea, where they occupy shells and sometimes drag about a
luminous sea anemone, to every beach. It is in or near
the tropics that the most remarkable crabs are seen.</p>
<p>During a visit to the islands off the coast of Texas, I
once found a remarkable crab community. The islands
were flat sand banks just above the surface, blown and
washed up by the sea, with here and there sand dunes and
shrubs, and again vast stretches of sand inhabited only by
crabs. The latter were all of one kind, a pale gray, so
mimicking the sand in color that it was almost impossible
to distinguish one from the other. There were legions of
them, the sand in places being fairly riddled with their
burrows, into which they darted with inconceivable rapidity.
As I walked along the sands they ran ahead in
rapidly increasing numbers, then divided and were so quick
of foot that it was impossible to run them down. This
vast army of crabs was the sanitary corps of the island,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</SPAN></span>
devouring every dead fish that came ashore and other
animal matter of all kinds.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_146.jpg" name="i_146.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_146-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 147.</span>—A land crab <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Gecarcinus</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>At Garden Key, Florida, these crabs were found in
swarms, rarely entering the water except when driven,
and never venturing far from the reach of the highest
waves at high tide. They had long, stalked eyes, which
seem to follow every movement, and were very comical
and interesting creatures to watch and study. On the keys
covered with bay cedars were other land crabs (Fig. 147),
colored rich red and purple. These crabs lived among
the cactuses and bay cedar bushes. When climbing on
the former their resemblance in shape and color to the
purple fruit was remarkable, and if the crab remained
quiet, it was almost impossible to distinguish it. In these
bushes a tern, the noddy, had built its rude brush nest,
and the young bird and the food brought it by the parents
were the objects of marked attention on the part of not
only the purple-backed crab but a hungry, starving horde
of hermit crabs which climbed the tree and snatched the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</SPAN></span>
bits of fish from the young birds, despite the presence of
their mother. By crawling beneath the thick brush in
heat which was almost suffocating, I watched numbers of
these foraging expeditions on the part of the crabs, and I
think it possible that some of the larger crabs finally
carried off the young birds. This was not an impossible
feat, as Professor Mosely, of the <cite>Challenger</cite> deep-sea
dredging expedition, observed the same crab or a very
near relative, carry off young birds at St. Paul's Rocks.
At Ascension he saw the doughty land crabs stealing
young rabbits, dragging them from their holes by main
force and devouring them. This crab with gorgeous
colors was not very fleet of foot, and when I rose up
suddenly in the cactus by a nest they would draw in
their legs and cling to a branch, mimicking ripe fruit.
The hermits would do the same, and fall to the ground
in a shower.</p>
<p>An interesting crab found here is known as Grapsus,
also a predatory creature with unequaled courage, preying
upon every living thing that it can attack with safety.
It is richly colored red and white; its legs are long; it is a
racer along the sands, impossible to capture. On the
West African coast these crabs, or a near relative, are
very large, and so swift that they have been used in sport,
horsemen following them at full speed as game.</p>
<p>The ordinary crab of the Eastern shore is highly valued,
and vast numbers are shipped from Fort Monroe in Virginia
to the northern cities. The trade in "soft shells"
is even more important. The latter are caught in various
ways. An old colored man of my acquaintance used to
tread for them on the mud flats with his bare feet; but he<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</SPAN></span>
confessed that it was a disagreeable business, as sometimes
he stepped on "hard shells" by mistake and was badly
bitten.</p>
<p>The English edible crab is of large size and always in
demand, resembling the edible crab of the Pacific, which is
also very large and greatly esteemed.</p>
<p>That these crabs have a strong homing sense, or an
affection for certain localities, was demonstrated some
years ago. Two crab fishermen were following their occupation
from the same boat, and each as he caught a crab
cut upon its swimming claw a private mark so that they
could be claimed by the rightful owners at the end of the
day. The boat was overtaken by a storm and the crabs
were tipped overboard five miles from where they were
caught and lost. The following week the two men again
began to fish in the original spot, and to their amazement
began to catch the marked crabs, which had returned five
miles alongshore to the locality of their choice.</p>
<p>The so-called green crab (Fig. 148) is an attractive and
active creature, one that can easily be observed. Its
quaint stalked eyes, which turn this way and that, and
which can be stowed away in little depressions, and its
singular method of walking, are very interesting features.
When a crab walks on land it is usually endwise, and
when it wishes to change its course it is not obliged to turn
about but moves its legs in the opposite direction. It can
also move directly ahead. These movements are all
performed by six legs, which are pointed, the trail of
this crab on the sand resembling pin marks on the hard
beach. The two front claws are for tearing food and for
general defense, while the last pair, widened out at the end<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</SPAN></span>
in some, are paddles by which the crab swims when it
ventures off the bottom.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_149.jpg" name="i_149.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_149-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 148.</span>—The green crab.</p>
</div>
<p>At times the crabs appear to migrate. I have seen the
bottom of a bay on the Virginian coast so covered that it
was impossible to wade without stepping upon a crab. In
the island of Jamaica certain land crabs march to the sea
to deposit their eggs, at which time they appear more or
less indifferent to danger, and move on, despite the attacks
of birds and various animals, including man.</p>
<p>The crabs known as fiddlers (Fig. 149) are common up
and down the Atlantic coast, especially in the warmer
portions. A most interesting colony lived north of Fernandina,
Florida. Some years ago a plank walk led
across their domain, and one could stand and watch their<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</SPAN></span>
ludicrous maneuvers. The fiddler is not over an inch in
length. It is of a dark ivory hue, and its eyes are perched
on long stalks, so that it can bury itself in the mud and
thrust its eyes upward, and thus in perfect safety observe
everything that is going on. The right claw of this crab
is half as long again as its entire body—a colossal weapon
framed for an animal five or ten times its size. Indeed,
it is so large as to be almost useless, for a large amount of
strength is required to operate so gigantic an implement.
To emphasize the undue size of this claw, the left one is a
dwarf, being too small to act as a defensive weapon. How
so small a crab can use so strange a pair of weapons was
a puzzle, until by watching them, I discovered that the
crab uses its large claw as a bogy, brandishing it fiercely,
which gives it a very ferocious appearance. The movement
of the claw back and forth is called fiddling, hence
the name of the crab, which appears to be constantly<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</SPAN></span>
fiddling. Where hundreds are seen, all fiddling and menacing
one another at the same time, the sight is laughable.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_150.jpg" name="i_150.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_150-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 149.</span>—Fiddler crab.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_151.jpg" name="i_151.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_151-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 150.</span>—Spider crab.</p>
</div>
<p>Once while lifting branch coral into my boat on a coral
reef, several crabs fell from the olive-hued mass, and like
spiders in shape and form, made their way slowly along.
Each one was covered with a growth of seaweed. I
took a brush and scoured them, producing veritable
spider crabs (Fig. 150). The body was pear-shaped;
the claws were long and covered with sharp points.
These crabs were placed in a tank, and almost immediately
began to replace the seaweed which had been rubbed off,
evidently being much annoyed at the cleaning process.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</SPAN></span>
In redecorating themselves they broke off small bits
of seaweed from a branch, placed the broken portion
against the mouth, evidently to attach some glutinous matter
or animal mucilage, then raising it with an overhand
movement, they attached it to the back. This was continually
repeated until within a few hours the back of each
crab was changed from a smooth surface to a miniature
garden. As many times as the seaweed was removed, so
many times was it replaced.</p>
<p>The spider crabs range from the beautiful scarlet creatures
found in the coral to the giant Macrocheira of Japan,
which in large specimens has a spread of legs of twenty
feet, some measuring twenty-two feet between the two
large biting claws, each of which is ten and a half feet
long. This huge crab is very slender, and is slow of movement,
its body resembling a rough rock.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_152.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 151.</span>—Crabs that form galls on corals:<br/> <em>a</em>, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cryptochirus</i> (male);<br/>
<em>b</em>, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Coralliodytes</i> (female);<br/>
<em>c</em>, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hapalocarcinus
marsupialis</i> (female), that carries its young in a sac or marsupium.</p>
</div>
<p>Crabs select singular places for homes. One lives in the
sea cucumber; others live in corals, which appear to grow
over them, forming a gall
(Fig. 151). The little oyster
crab found in bivalves is
a familiar form. But perhaps
the most remarkable
home for a crab was the bowl
of an old tobacco pipe in
which a crab I once owned
ensconced itself. This was
a hermit crab (Fig. 152).
The hermits differ from other crabs in having a long, but
soft and totally unprotected tail or abdomen, to preserve
which they enter empty shells and drag them about wher<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</SPAN></span>ever
they go. The hermits occur in great variety, and
there are marine hermits and land hermits. On the
Florida Reef they are found in myriads; every shell alongshore
conceals a baby hermit; and almost every nook or
cranny affords concealment for a score of them, their red
and blue claws forming an attractive contrast to the shell.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_153.jpg" name="i_153.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_153-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 152.</span>—Hermit crab.</p>
</div>
<p>The hermit referred to was first found in a pearly shell
and placed in the office, but finally it outgrew this and deserted
it for the pipe which some workmen had left on the
floor. Every day this old pipe would be clanked and
dragged about the room, and once in a while the crab would
drag it up a table leg, so reaching the tablecloth and then
the table top, where it drank out of a saucer left for the
purpose. Later a marine hermit was found in a pipe bowl,
proudly dragging the grotesque house about. Anything
of this kind would be used by the hermits. One was
found in the opening of a spool; and this would roll over
and over, carrying the hermit with it. Another took pos<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</SPAN></span>session
of a reed. Among deep-sea sponges the hermits
are seen occupying holes in the sponges.</p>
<p>A community of hermits is a laughable sight. They are
very pugilistic, and are always fighting. When a hermit
outgrows its shell and begins to feel uncomfortable it endeavors
to turn out some comrade that has a larger shell,
and in the battle arms and claws are often lost. This, however,
is not serious, as they grow again. When the hermit
finds an empty shell it thrusts in its claws and antennæ,
probing it in every direction to see that it is not occupied.
When satisfied, it jerks itself out of its own shell, and with
the greatest rapidity whisks its soft unprotected body into
the new house, where, if it fits, it remains. The shell, when
large, is not carried, but dragged about, and when the crab
is alarmed or startled it darts backward into the shell,
where its large claw and the others constitute almost as
good a door as the real operculum of shells. The largest
hermits are the marine forms, which enter the large conch
shells and drag them about. These hermits are a brilliant
red in color. Their claws are very rough.</p>
<p>Closely related to the hermit crabs is the famous cocoanut
crab or Birgos of the Spice Islands. This crab is so
strong and powerful that, as Professor Van Beneden
states, one clinging to a tree, seized a small goat and
lifted it from the ground by the ears. The Birgos
resembles a huge hermit crab, but has no artificial shell,
the soft abdomen being protected by a shell of its own.
This large land crab lives mainly on cocoanuts, which it
secures by climbing the trees and biting off the stems.
Descending, the crab will take the nut and with remarkable
discrimination hold it with one claw and with the other<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</SPAN></span>
tear off the husk, always at the end containing the "eyes."
This stripping process, impossible to man without some
implement, is remarkable in itself, and tells the story of
the muscular strength of the crab. When the "eyes" of
the nut are exposed, the crab seizes it by inserting its
claws in the holes, and hammers the shell until it is broken.
The crabs live at the base of the trees and line their dens
with the husk.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_155.jpg" name="i_155.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_155-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 153.</span>—Horseshoe crab: <em>A</em>, upper side; <em>B</em>, lower side.</p>
</div>
<p>In ancient times crablike creatures existed, eight or nine
feet in length. These are represented to-day by the quaint
horseshoe or king crabs (Fig. 153). They are found
in shallow water in Northern waters, and resemble a horseshoe
with a long, sharp spike or spine—the tail of this
strange animal.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XVII. LUMINOUS CRABS</h2></div>
<p>One of the interesting experiences of Nordenskiöld in
the Arctic Ocean was wading through the sludge, as the
soft snow water along the beach is called, and seeing each
footprint turn into a mass of light, caused by the phosphorescence
of a small crustacean called Metridia. The
light was bluish white, of great intensity, and although at
times the cold was so severe that mercury would freeze,
yet everywhere this marvelous light blazed. Even drops
and splashes of the water seemed to be molten metal, but
were merely alive with this minute light giver resembling
Cyclops. In the Pacific, especially in summer, the exhibition
of what might be called "crab light" is marvelous,
and this is often true in the Atlantic. The light following
the splash of an oar, the spray hurled aside by the cut
water, the foaming water around a propeller, and the
strange shifting specter which follows the rudder, are
caused more or less by minute crustaceans which have the
faculty of emitting light without heat.</p>
<p>Along the beach beneath seaweed, we shall find Gammarus,
a long, very small, but mighty jumper, that at night
emits a red light. Many of the near relatives of this little
creature are phosphorescent, and perhaps the most beautiful
of all is one named Idotea phosphorea. It is a yellowish
spotted little creature found in pools alongshore. It
darts about among the weed, and would rarely, if ever, be
noticed during the day; but at night the entire animal seems<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</SPAN></span>
permeated with a golden light which marks it in vivid lines
against the dark bottom, and flashes and miniature meteors
indicate it as it dashes across the little pool, its ocean
world.</p>
<p>The most beautiful of all crustaceans is the one known
as Sapphirina. I have seen the ocean filled with them;
some red, others blue or yellow, purple or green, all known
gems being imitated by these matchless gems of the sea,
which in daylight vie with the most brilliant iridescence in
producing wonderful displays. No more beautiful scene
can be imagined than that embracing these living gems,
standing out in brilliant tints against the deep blue of the
ocean. These gems also have the gift of phosphorescence
and at night appear in a new guise.</p>
<p>One of the singular long-legged spider crabs of the deep
sea, Colossendeis, is said to be phosphorescent. Giglioli,
the Italian naturalist, describes a crab which gives a
golden purple light, the latter appearing from the thorax.
The little shrimp, Mysis, which carries its young in a
pouch, from which it is called the opossum shrimp, is not
phosphorescent, but its young in what is called the zoëa
stage are luminous. The odd-shaped little creature, which
is the mantis shrimp in one of its stages, is brilliantly
luminous, not over its entire body, but in the eyestalks.
Some of the deep-sea crabs have luminous eyes, strange
monsters wandering in the abysmal regions of the deep
sea.</p>
<p>While most of these crabs have the light in only one
place, one discovered by Sir Joseph Banks was luminous
over its entire surface. Exactly what the luminous matter
is, is not known, but in some instances it can be scraped<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</SPAN></span>
off and will render the hands luminous when rubbed upon
them. According to A. M. Norman, naturalist of the
<cite>Porcupine</cite> expedition, the crustacean Ethusa, found at
a depth of eighteen hundred feet, is blind, its eyestalk being
spiny, and the eye replaced by a smooth, round termination
which is supposed to be a light-emitting organ. Aristeus
has phosphorescent eyes, which blaze with the yellow fire
of a cat's eye, and this is true of many other crustaceans.
Some have luminous backs; others have fiery bands upon
the legs, while almost every portion of the body of some
species is the seat of this wonderful light. That the lights
are of some use there can be little doubt. In one little
creature Dr. Gunther found a brilliant light stationed between
its eyes, which certainly was a light to illumine its
way in the deep, dark bed of the ocean.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XVIII. THE INSECTS</h2></div>
<p>Among the best-known and attractive members of the
lower animal kingdom are the insects, represented by the
gorgeous butterflies, the iridescent beetles, the fierce
spiders, and many others. The crustaceans may almost
be called the insects of the ocean, as in general appearance
they closely resemble these animals; but the real insects
are higher forms.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_159.jpg" name="i_159.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_159-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 154.</span>—Parts of a typical insect.</p>
</div>
<p>The skeleton (Fig. 154) of an insect is divided into three
distinct parts instead of two. The head is distinct from<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</SPAN></span>
the body, as in the crabs, and the skeleton, like that of
the crabs, is external, and formed of a horny substance
called chitin. As in the crabs, the body is made up
of rings, or segments: four in the head generally, three
in the thorax, and ten or eleven in the abdomen. It is
interesting to glance at the various parts of insects, and
later on, in reading about the many species, to note the
many different purposes to which each is adapted.</p>
<p>The mouth is a very complicated organ in the crabs, and
equally so in the insects. It is generally separated into
four distinct parts: the upper lip, labrum, the jaws, or
mandibles, a second pair of jaws smaller than the above,
and the lower lip or jaws, labium. These are formed into
sucking organs in the mosquito, biting organs in the ant,
and tremendous graspers in the centipede, all displaying
the most remarkable variety.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_160a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 155.</span>—Head of the grasshopper.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_160b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 156.</span>—Eyes of a fly.</p> </div>
<p>The eyes of insects are wonderful
organs, being both simple and compound.
In the grasshopper (Fig. 155) the two are
easily seen, the compound
eye being the
larger. The fly has a
remarkable compound
eye (Fig. 156), and in
the center of the two eyes are three
simple ones. The compound eye in the
fly is made up of vast numbers of
six-sided eyes crowded together, appearing
under a glass like a honeycomb; yet each of these
facets is a complete eye. In a sectional view of the eye
of a beetle (Fig. 157) we can see the nerve that reaches<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</SPAN></span>
every one. In using the eyes hundreds of images of
the same object must
reach the brain of the
insect, yet the image
of but one is seen.</p>
<p>Attached to the head
of insects are various
sense organs, feelers,
or antennæ, which are
very ornamental, as in
the beetles. The central
portion of the skeleton
bears the wings.
In the beetle the wing
covers are formed of
hard chitin. When
its wings are not in use this insect stores them away in
covers provided for the purpose.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_161.jpg" name="i_161.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_161-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 157.</span>—Sectional view of the eye of a beetle.</p>
</div>
<p>The third or last part of the skeleton, the abdomen,
often bears a weapon of defense, as a sting or a drill for
boring holes in trees, or machines for making silk, as in
the spiders. Here also we find a remarkable variety of
tails, ranging from that of the dragon fly to the long
tail of the scorpion with its dangerous sting or dagger.</p>
<p>The feet of insects would make an interesting chapter
alone, ranging from the curious, sucking, padded foot of
the fly (Fig. 158) to the claws of others. The anatomy
of insects is more or less complicated. The method of
breathing is particularly interesting. It is very natural to
imagine all animals breathing by the mouth or nostrils,
but insects breathe by a singular system of air tubes (Fig<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</SPAN></span>
159), or tracheæ, some having lungs as well. The air
tubes are wound
with threads upon
the inside.
This preserves
their shape and
keeps them
open. If we examine
a grasshopper
(Fig.
160), we shall
see along the
sides openings,
which under a
powerful microscope
resemble
eyelike organs
(Fig. 161). These are air holes, windows,
or spiracles, which lead to the air
tubes, and by minute thread-lined tubes
reach all over the body. To obtain air,
or to breathe, the bee keeps its abdomen
continually in motion, forcing air through the body, carrying
oxygen to the blood
tissues.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_162a.jpg" name="i_162a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_162a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 158.</span>—Foot of a fly.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_162b.jpg" name="i_162b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_162b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 159.</span>—Breathing tubes of an insect.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_162c.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 160.</span>—Grasshopper, showing spiracles, <em>s</em>.</p> </div>
<p>The insects, with
some exceptions, deposit
eggs, and the
young pass through
many strange changes,
or metamorphoses, be<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</SPAN></span>fore
the full-grown form is attained. The eggs of beetles
hatch into larvæ (Fig. 162), which may live weeks or
months or even years in
the ground. The eggs
of other insects, as moths,
may become caterpillars,
which finally spin a cocoon,
as in the case of the silkworm, and from this cell-like
room appears the perfect moth. These changes, so
infinite in their variety, are among the most interesting
features of insect life, and are never failing sources of
wonder and amazement on the part of those who devote
time to the study.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_163a.jpg" name="i_163a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_163a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 161.</span>—Breathing hole or spiracle, highly magnified.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_163b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 162.</span>—Larvæ of insects.</p> </div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XIX. LOWER FORMS OF INSECTS</h2></div>
<p>In the previous chapter we have by the aid of illustrations
glanced at the structure of insects, and noted some
of the features which distinguished them from the crabs.
Now we may take up some of the more important and
interesting groups and observe how Nature has adapted
them to their peculiar surroundings, and for the various
offices they fill in the world.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_164.jpg" name="i_164.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_164-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 163.</span>—The Peripatus.</p>
</div>
<p>In examining the various families of insects it is interesting
to note that many produce certain results or
accomplish certain ends in totally different ways. The
highly organized spider by drawing silk from the spinning
machines at the tip of its abdomen builds a web so strong
that it sometimes captures birds. I recently found a
living humming bird hard and fast in a web at the corner
of my house, and released it just in time to save it from
the spider. In the very lowest groups of insects we find
the Peripatus (Fig. 163), which spins a weblike structure
from glands in its mouth, ejecting the secretion at the
insect it wishes to catch. This appears to crystallize in
the air and hold the victim despite its struggles. The Pe<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</SPAN></span>ripatus,
found in Africa and Central America, resembles a
large caterpillar, having a long, soft, cylindrical body with
many pairs of feet, sometimes sixty-six; the latter are soft
and armed with claws. It is remarkable for the possession
of many legs, but is outdone in this respect by the
millipeds, as some (Fig. 164) have as many as two hundred.
These insects, when placed upon their backs, present
an extraordinary appearance, clawing the air; yet
they are among the slowest of walkers. They live in
the ground, are harmless, feed on vegetable matter, and
deposit their eggs in the earth, which hatch out little creatures
at first resembling crickets.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_165a.jpg" name="i_165a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_165a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 164.</span>—A milliped.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_165b.jpg" name="i_165b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_165b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 165.</span>—A centiped.</p>
</div>
<p>The centipeds, on the other hand (Fig. 165), are animal
feeders, and those found in the tropics are formidable
creatures from six to ten inches in length, supplied with
many claws and terrible fangs. They live a life of rapine
and destruction, and the appearance of a large specimen
almost a foot in length, dashing along with great rapidity
by the aid of its fifteen or twenty pairs of feet, is sufficient<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</SPAN></span>
to demoralize the stroller through the dark glades of the
tropical forests. They have two pairs of foot jaws (Fig.
166) which grasp an enemy with
wonderful tenacity. The second
pair is perforated, and from it pours
a poison dangerous to man in some
tropical species and fatal to small
animals. Several of these hideous
creatures are luminous at times.
Many centipeds have long antennæ.
The eyes are very small, and in
groups. The ordinary centiped of
the North is harmless, despite the tales related of its
ferocity.</p>
<p>Among the very small, though
destructive insects, are the
mites, found in cheese and
sugar; they are parasitic in
cattle and various other animals.
In California certain
forms (Fig. 167) cling to the
bushes.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_166a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 166.</span>—Under surface of head of centiped, showing poison fangs.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_166b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 167.</span>—A mite.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_166c.jpg" name="i_166c.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_166c-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 168.</span>—The scorpion.</p>
</div>
<p>In remarkable contrast to the round-bodied mites are
the scorpions (Fig.
168), in which the
tail is sometimes
two inches in
length and armed
with a sharp,
daggerlike sting,
provided with a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</SPAN></span>
poison apparatus. The scorpions of the largest size are
often found in the tropics in the same locality with centipeds,
under board piles and in dark places, coming out
at night to prey upon small insects, which they seize with
their crablike claws and tear apart. If the insect struggles
violently, the scorpion raises its tail over its back and
pierces it with its dagger, paralyzing it. In striking at
other enemies the scorpion whirls about, keeping its tail
toward them, repeatedly striking down and using its
jointed tail with marvelous ingenuity. A few years
ago these scorpions were common on the Florida Reef
and were frequently killed in my own house at night.
The pain resulting from the sting was about as disagreeable
as that occasioned by a wasp. These scorpions were
about three inches in length, but in Ceylon very much
larger ones have been seen, and known to catch birds.
The young scorpions are born alive and cling to the
mother. The little book scorpion, the large whip scorpion,
and the daddy longlegs, or harvestman, a harmless and
sociable insect, are related to the true scorpions.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XX. THE SPIDERS</h2></div>
<p>A little insect half as large as a grain of corn, finds
itself on a limb high above ground and is desirous of
reaching another, five feet away. It is not a jumper, at
least it could not hope to cover
this distance; neither has it wings.
But it has a marvelous silk-manufacturing
apparatus, known as
spinnerets (Fig. 169), and elevating
its abdomen it reels off a
thread which the wind carries
across the chasm where it lodges.
Across the single cord the spider runs, the act being suggestive
of the intelligence of these insects.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_168a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 169.</span>—Spinnerets of a spider.</p> </div>
<p>The common garden spider (Fig. 170), which may illustrate
the group, is seen to differ very materially from the
scorpion. The abdomen
is not ringed or
made up of segments,
but is large and plump,
and connected with the
thorax by a delicate
cord or pedicel.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_168b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 170.</span>—Garden spider, upper and lower surface.</p> </div>
<p>The spiders, as we
have seen, have a spinning
arrangement by
which they form beauti<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</SPAN></span>ful
webs or nets to capture prey. By this silken cord they
can lower themselves from great heights.
The single thread which supports them
is made up of a number of minute
threads (Fig. 171). The webs are
formed in endless variety and with all
the skill of a bridge maker, being
guyed, supported, and braced in a manner
which, if the work of man, would
be said to be the result of endless study.
They are perfect in their arrangement,
and each web is a study in geometry,
yet the spider builds it with the greatest
rapidity, never hesitating in the making or repairing.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_169a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 171.</span>—Structure of a spider's web.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_169b.jpg" name="i_169b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_169b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 172.</span>—Spider and its web or trap.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_170a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 173.</span>—Highly magnified poison fang of spider.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_170b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 174.</span>—Biting mandibles of a spider.</p> </div>
<p>By my door is a huge spider similar to the one shown in
Figure 172. It has a beautiful web which covers a space<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</SPAN></span>
two feet square, but the spider rarely occupies it. Near
by it has a covering formed of a leaf of a fern which it
has pulled down each side and fastened, forming a little
room just the size of its body. Wondering how the spider
would discover a victim caught in the web, I examined it
carefully, and then placed a grasshopper in the web. Instantly
the spider noted the disturbance, having what to
all intents and purposes was a private telephone line.
This was a single guy line leading from the center of the
web to its retreat, where one of the spider's claws rested
upon it, holding it, so that
the slightest swaying of the
web lifted its foot. When
an insect became entangled,
the spider darted at it, and by
skillful manipulation of its
hind pair of legs reeled off
its silken cord and attached
it to the victim at every point, in a short time literally
binding it in a
roll. If it was
likely to escape,
the spider would
bite it, using its
poison fang (Fig.
173), which paralyzed
it. The
biting mandibles
(Fig. 174) are
terrible weapons, from which there is no escape. The
inner jaws (Fig. 175) are equally sharp and effective.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</SPAN></span>
The eyes of the spider are very brilliant, and in a bright
light can be seen to gleam and glisten like points of steel
or fire. They are minute
dots, seen just above the
mandibles.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_171.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 175.</span>—Jaws of a spider.</p> </div>
<p>The male and female
spiders often present a very
different appearance, the
male being smaller. The spiders deposit eggs which are
inclosed in silken balls or nests of various kinds, in which
they remain until the young are hatched. Some are concealed
in the web; others are placed underground; and
some are perched upon a stalk resembling a plant.</p>
<p>There appears to be no limit to the uses to which the
marvelous silk of spiders is put. Some spiders form balloons
with which they sail away through the air. I have
seen scores of these aëronauts in the air at one time.
Another form constructs a raft of leaves bound together
with silk. Some build nets for small game, as gnats.
The silken cord made by others is so tough that it can be
used as thread.</p>
<p>By partly destroying a web and suspending a black
cloth behind the locality, the operations of the spider in
building and repairing can be plainly seen. It is well to
place the spinnerets beneath a microscope, under which
they appear to be made up of many points. Touch one of
these and a glutinous secretion adheres, which when
stretched is seen to be silk, and each point provides a separate
thread which joins with the others, producing one cable.
The spinnerets are to some extent movable. They can be
turned to the right or left, and wherever they touch, the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</SPAN></span>
silk remains glued fast. This explains why the spider
moves and works so quickly and accomplishes so much.
The amount of silk secreted is astonishing, and some idea
of it can be obtained by walking over the country in spring,
early in the morning. On the slopes of the Sierra Madre,
in the San Gabriel Valley, I have seen the surface of the
ground for a great distance covered with webs which
caught the rays of the sun as it rose, presenting a most
beautiful appearance. This fabric covered hundreds of
acres in a fairy maze of web, so many traps for unwary
small fry of the insect world. With a small stick I have
wound a large amount of silk from the spinnerets of a
spider, there apparently being no diminution of the supply.
Professor Burt Wilder wound from the large spider known
as Nephila plumipes several miles of silk. Some spiders
have long, slender legs and are rapid runners. Others, as
Salticus, are very deliberate, but powerful leapers, jumping
upon their prey like a cat. Perhaps the most remarkable
leaping spider is one from Australia, called the flying Attus,
having singular flaps or winglike extensions upon its sides.
One of the spiders not only runs over the surface of the
water readily, but spends a part of its time under the
surface, carrying down a bubble of air for its supply of
oxygen, the bubble acting as a diving bell.</p>
<p>The spiders are very solicitous of their young, placing
every safeguard about them, and resenting any attack by
a fierce rush. Several large spiders (Fig. 176) carry their
young upon their backs. The little spiders are rubbed or
scraped off when they become too great a burden. The
spiders are natural hunters and trappers, and a volume
could be written on their methods and adventures in run<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</SPAN></span>ning
down prey. Once as I was crawling through the
almost stifling brush of one of the Florida Keys I came to
a little opening about five feet wide, across which was a
large, conspicuous, and powerful web. In the center of
this web clung a huge and most remarkable spider, colored
a vivid yellow and black. I watched it for a few moments
while resting, and then touched the web, whereupon the
spider began to swing, by raising and depressing its body,
increasing its speed rapidly, until I could with difficulty
see it. A moment later it disappeared almost entirely
before my eyes. For half a minute the spider kept up
this motion, then it slowly came to a standstill, having
demonstrated that it could easily disappear from any bird
enemy without running away. I have seen the daddy
longlegs perform the same feat in California.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_173.jpg" name="i_173.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_173-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 176.</span>—Spider with young upon its back.</p>
</div>
<p>The spiders which build webs, from plain geometrical
traps to conelike affairs, are interesting; but the trapdoor
spiders and those which dig burrows are among the wonderful
artisans and engineers of the insect world. One of<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</SPAN></span>
the most perfect doors, in hinge, fit, beauty of interior,
finish, and quality of
its outward defense is built
by a spider (Fig. 177). In
the illustration, the den and its
trapdoor is shown, and in Figure
178 a sectional view of the same
is seen; but the door is never
found open, the spring or hinge
being so devised as to remain
closed. I have found many of
these dens in southern California
sometimes a foot or more in length.
The spider is not the large one
shown in the cut, which is a tarantula,
but is very much smaller,
though a large spider. The genera,
Cteniza and Nemesia, are best
known for their cunning and skill
as builders. The California spider
begins its den when very small,
and I have found many the size of goose quills, with door
complete, in the vicinity of a large den.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_174.jpg" name="i_174.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_174-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 177.</span>—Tarantulas (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mygale</i>)
and the opening of a trapdoor den of another spider (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cteniza</i>).</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_175.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 178.</span>—Section of a den of trapdoor spider.</p> </div>
<p>In forming the burrow the spider carries out the clay bit
by bit, and when it reaches a point below the surface it begins
to line the sides with a silken tapestry. The door is an
upper extension of this lining. It is round, about the size
of a silver quarter, or a little larger, and is formed of silk
so woven and interwoven that it
becomes a pad of seeming satin,
which by continued manipulation
is made to fit with marvelous perfection.
The spring or hinge is
so adjusted that the door always
closes, and with a snap. The exterior
of the door is covered with
clay, and is made to simulate the
surroundings so exactly that only
the sharpest eye, and one skilled
in the work, can distinguish it. In some of the European
spiders of this kind the door is carefully covered with
moss and plants. The work of building is done at night.
The spiders feed at night, and in returning to the burrow
they can lift the lid instantly, dart in, and turn about
to seize the cushion or pad of the door with their fangs,
and hold it so tightly by bracing back that some little
strength is needed to force it. I have often lifted the
door with the blade of my knife and seen the spider
rush up and seize it. In all the doors little round holes
can be seen where the mandibles or fangs hold. The
spider can be caught by pouring water into the burrow
and forcing it out. In the island of Timos there is a trapdoor
spider which does not hunt, but combines the methods
of other spiders. It comes out at night, fastens back its<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</SPAN></span>
door by a thread, then builds a web near by and waits for
its victims to become entangled.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_176.jpg" name="i_176.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_176-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 179.</span>—A chimney-building spider.</p>
</div>
<p>The largest spiders are called tarantulas, though the
term is applied to some forms not so large. They are
hideous creatures, and are very common in southern California.
They are five or six inches across the legs, and
the body in some forms is as large as a small mouse, and
is covered with reddish hair. They form deep burrows,
but not trapdoors, the entrance
being open or covered by a web.
They are supposed to be very
poisonous. Mygale Hentzii is
the name of the common American
species found in the southwest
(Fig. 177). They hunt at
night for grasshoppers, crickets,
and other small game, and can
often be seen lumbering along
over the roads at sunrise, returning
from a hunt. Sometimes<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</SPAN></span>
these huge spiders migrate in a body, such a movement
having been observed in southern California.</p>
<p>A South American species has been known to attack
and capture small birds, though this may be considered
rather the exception than the rule, their food consisting of
large insects and small lizards. Of all the spiders, the
Tarantula turricula (Fig. 179) is the most remarkable, as
it not only makes a deep burrow, but erects above it a
chimneylike structure with all the skill of a human workman.
Indeed, the structure, in neatness and perfection of
design, is far superior to many of the chimneys seen among
the poorer classes of some countries. The spider lays the
miniature timbers across with the precision and exactness
of a skilled carpenter and after the manner of human log-cabin
builders. The female carries her young upon her
back, as shown in the illustration.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXI. SOME SIX-LEGGED INSECTS</h2></div>
<p>One of the great divisions into which the insects are
divided relates to their possession of six legs (Fig. 180).
This includes a marvelous array of creatures. Among
them we find the
singular little glacier
flea (Fig. 181)
and the springtail, a
prodigious jumper
(Fig. 182). The latter
is found in damp
places, and when
touched will release
a forked spring
which is held in
place by a hook,
and this sends the
insect flying into the
air like an acrobat.
These humble little
creatures present a
strange contrast to the lace-winged insects which are
among the most beautiful of the tribe.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_178.jpg" name="i_178.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_178-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 180.</span>—A six-legged insect.</p>
</div>
<p>The May flies (Fig. 183) are well known for the wonderful
exhibitions they sometimes make, the air being filled
with them, a joyous, beautiful throng, destined to live but
a few hours. In South America they occur in such vast<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</SPAN></span>
numbers that they are collected and used as guano. The
young pass through a strange change, having little resemblance
to the parent, and live in the water, where they
breathe by means of several plumelike gills.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_179a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 181.</span>—Glacier flea.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_179c.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 182.</span>—Springtail.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_179b.jpg" name="i_179b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_179b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 183.</span>—May fly.</p>
</div>
<p>Among all the insects of the
field and swamp none are more
familiar than the dragon fly (Fig.
184), which children were once
led to believe had a vicious habit
of sewing up the eyes and mouth
of any one; hence the name
"darning needle." These insects
are often beautiful, with their
rich wings of glistening lace, four
in number, their bodies gleaming
in tints of bronze, blue, and black.
The abdomen is long and slender, like a needle; the head
is prominent and armed with powerful jaws; the eyes<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</SPAN></span>
are large and compound, with several single eyes as well.
Some dragon flies are very small. Others are large, as
those of the Malay Archipelago, where the natives trap
them and use them for food. The dragon flies are hunters,
preying upon other insects which they capture on
the wing, and large forms have been seen taking very
young fishes from the water, swooping down upon them
like hawks.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_180a.jpg" name="i_180a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_180a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 184.</span>—Dragon fly.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_180b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 185.</span>—Larvæ of a dragon fly.</p> </div>
<p>The development of the
dragon fly is interesting from
the fact that the young lives a
long period in the water. The
eggs are deposited in the water,
hatching out into curiously
shaped creatures (Fig. 185),<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</SPAN></span>
which are among the most ferocious of all the water
insects. They pass two years in this form, preying upon
other animals and even small fishes. The larva has a
proboscis which ordinarily folds over the face and is
called the mask (<em>B</em>), but when an insect approaches, this
strange appliance with powerful jaws or hooks is shot out
(<em>A</em>) with dire results. After the two years have passed
the pupa, as it is called, climbs up a stem, leaves the
water and casts its skin, appearing as a full-grown dragon
fly ready for a life of rapine on land.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_181a.jpg" name="i_181a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_181a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 186.</span>—Ant lion, adult and larva.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_181b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 187.</span>—Section of trap of an ant lion.</p> </div>
<p>In many insects the habits of the young are much more
interesting than those of the adults. Not far from my
home, in the Arroyo
Seco, which leads
down from the Sierra
Madre, are great deposits
or beds of fine
sand which I find
often covered with
little pits (Fig. 186).
If a section is made
(Fig. 187), it is found
to be a perfect bowl
almost half an inch in depth, as though a top had been
pressed into the sand and
taken out. If sand is
rolled into the pit, something
appears quickly at
the bottom and mysteriously
tosses it out; and
if an ant topples over the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</SPAN></span>
edge and rolls down the sides, out comes a fierce pair of
jaws and seizes it. If the ant escapes, the unknown creature,
still concealed, hurls sand at it, endeavoring to bring
it down, often with success. This singular creature is the
larva or immature
young of the
ant lion—itself
an attractive,
large, lace-winged
creature
(Fig. 188), resembling
a dragon
fly. It lays its
eggs in dry places. The young are wingless, big-jawed
creatures, which for two years live the life of a trapper,
each forming a pit and concealing itself beneath the sand
at the bottom, the huge jaws being in the center. Ants
are the game of this lion, and as they run along they
often topple over the sides which, like those of a toboggan,
are very slippery. Down the ant goes, its descent being
accelerated by the lion which places sand upon its back,
and bombards the unfortunate, so adding to its confusion
that it rolls down and is seized by the jaws of the lion.
At the end of the two years the lion surrounds itself with
a ball of sand and silk, and in three weeks appears as the
perfect insect.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_182.jpg" name="i_182.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_182-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 188.</span>—Perfect form of ant lion.</p>
</div>
<p>Unless one is familiar with the eggs of the aphis lion
(Fig. 189) he will never find them. They resemble minute
plants growing on long stems, fastened to a leaf. These
hatch out and become little creatures resembling the ant
lion, with huge jaws.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>But the most extraordinary changes and series of different
individuals are found among the so-called white ants,
which are really not ants at
all, but among the most
destructive of all known
insects. The first white
travelers in Africa reported
the discovery of gigantic
ant hills, some of which
were twelve feet in height
(Fig. 190) and one hundred
feet in circumference.
Equally large mounds have
been found in Australia,
large areas of country being
dotted with these striking landmarks, among the most
remarkable of all animal structures. These mounds are
often as hard as rock, and hunters have sometimes escaped
from the charges of wild animals by climbing upon them.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_183a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 189.</span>—Aphis lion, larva and eggs.</p> </div>
<p>They are the work of the so-called white ants. A section
made through one of them, as seen in the illustration,
shows the singular home of a remarkable community.
There are really four kinds of "ants" here, all representing
a different phase in the growth of the insect, and all performing
a certain work. They are the female, the male,
the worker, and the soldier; and there is a winged king.
In their lives these insects have many features which
resemble those of man. They have a king and queen,
which at first have wings; later they lose their wings and
the queen grows until she is thousands of times larger
than the workers, and is kept in a special chamber in the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</SPAN></span>
center of the pile. Here she is attended by the workers,
small ants, who carry out the eggs which are laid by
millions and placed in nurseries or small cemented cells,
designed for the purpose. Sometimes the queen lays as
many as eight thousand eggs a day. An army of workers
carries them off, builds new nurseries, and adds to the heap.
If an enemy appears, the soldiers rush out. These have
large heads and enormous jaws, and are well fitted by
nature for the work they have to perform.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_184.jpg" name="i_184.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_184-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 190.</span>—Hills of the white ant.</p>
</div>
<p>The cunning and intelligence of white ants are well dis<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</SPAN></span>played
in their attacks upon houses. Having decided to
enter a house, they begin to tunnel some distance away,
and finally reach the corner post or some timber that
enters the ground. With remarkable speed the workers
enter this, hollowing it out, until it is nothing but a shell.
They eat to the very surface, leaving only a faint ghost of
a partition, and what appears to be a solid block is really
so thin that a finger can be thrust through it. So clever
are these little ant miners that they have been known to
come up through the floor directly beneath the leg of a
chair, and burrow and eat up through it, so completely
devastating it that when the owner moved it the small hole
in the floor appeared and the chair fell in pieces.</p>
<p>In the Isle of France a new building was ruined by
these insects in a few months; and at Colombo a large
house suddenly fell in over the heads of the occupants,
the beams being crushed like egg shells. The work they
accomplished in this way would hardly be credited were it
not for the substantiated statements collected by the
authorities in the countries where they are mostly found.</p>
<p>The so-called caddis worms
(Fig. 191) are merely the larvæ
of the caddis fly which incloses
itself in a case that is often decorated
in a singular way. The
cases of a number of the worms
placed together display a striking
variety of designs. Some roll up leaves; others spin a
silken thread from the mouth and bind pieces of leaves
together, attaching other pieces to it.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_185.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 191.</span>—Caddis worm and case.</p> </div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXII. SOME MIMICS</h2></div>
<p>All insects have a continual struggle for life. They
constitute the food of many birds, and very few of the
young escape these watchful creatures and attain mature
life.</p>
<p>To enable the insects to escape, nature has given many
a strange protective garb, which is called mimicry or a
protective resemblance. Sometimes it is color, an insect
mimicking a leaf in color; or again, the insect imitates a
twig or leaf in shape, and so escapes attention. We find
examples of this in many families, but particularly among
the insects now under consideration. The mantis (Fig.
192) belongs to a group in which the insects resemble
twigs in shape and color, and nothing could be more
striking than these strange, slow-moving creatures. They
have an uncanny, weird appearance, and look as though
they might have been originally of wood. I have seen
them in the tropics passing slowly along a limb, lifting
one leg at a time, moving it with all the halting deliberation
of an automaton; but when the mantis perceived me, it
stopped just as it was, the foot that was in the air
remaining as though it had been frozen in the act. Some
are a vivid green, and in them the resemblance to twigs is
very striking. I once encouraged a number to live in
my preserves, where I watched and studied and often
fed them. They would take a fly from my hand by
a very rapid movement of the cruel, fore hands or claws,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</SPAN></span>
which were toothed. When food was scarce the insects
would devour one another in the most deliberate fashion,
then assume the quaint, supplicating position with claws
up, from which the insect is called the praying mantis.
My specimens deposited their eggs in a curious case about
an inch long, resembling a trilobite, which they attached
to the fence and colored the exact hue of the latter. The
fence was not painted, and varied in color, yet the nests
always agreed more or less exactly with the shade or tint
of the plank or base to which it was attached.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_187.jpg" name="i_187.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_187-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 192.</span>—The mantis.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>In South America is found a huge mantis so powerful
that it captures birds by grasping them in its terrible
claws. The insect is described by Burmeister as crouching
on the limb, imitating it so closely that the bird approaches
it without fear. In Java a beautiful pink mantis
is so perfect in its mimicry of a pink orchid that insects
alight upon it and are caught. A Philippine Island mantis
is remarkable for its resemblance to a dried and withered
leaf.</p>
<p>The chief characteristic of this insect is its cool, deliberate
ferocity—devouring its mate with indifference, lunching
calmly upon its young, while they are dining among
themselves. When fighting they have the characteristics
of the bulldog, with many times its endurance. A mantis
will continue a combat even
when part of its body is cut
away. I have seen one deprived
of all its legs cling to
a limb with one claw and
continue to reach for its foe
with the other.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_188.jpg" name="i_188.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_188-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 193.</span>—Walking stick.</p>
</div>
<p>Closely allied to the mantis,
and even more remarkable
as mimics, are the walking
sticks (Phasma) (Fig. 193).
I have kept them alive, and
often have been unable to see
them when I knew they were
directly beneath my eyes, so
remarkable is the mimicry. They have no biting claws,
merely long antennæ, a long, sticklike body, and straight-<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</SPAN></span>jointed,
sticklike legs. Some are green. The most remarkable
are those which seem to imitate dead wood. I
have seen a walking stick that was a perfect imitation of a
moss or lichen-covered twig, the body and legs of the insect
being covered with peculiar growths. The largest
walking stick I have seen was twelve inches in length, and
one of the most perfect imitations of a green twig that
could be imagined. This was from the Malay country,
where they grow to a length of fourteen inches. They
stretch out upon long tendrils, extending the limbs or holding
them up, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poseurs</i> of the insect world.</p>
<p>The walking leaves (Phyllium) (Fig. 194) are clever
mimics, resembling leaves. Even the veins and midrib
of the leaf are imitated, and the insect, when
crouching on a limb, is a virtual leaf, so far
as appearance goes, the disguise being absolutely
perfect. Some resemble green leaves;
others dried and withered specimens. Even
the legs of these insects are supplied with
a singular growth. Most of these strange
mimics are found clinging to trees; but one
common in Brazil spends most of the time
during the day under water in streams,
where it clings to the pebbles. In Nicaragua
there are several species that resemble
leaves in all stages of decay. The movements
of some of these insects resemble those of leaves.
I saw one in the Sierra Madre range come down from a
tall sycamore, and supposed it a leaf, as it dropped slowly,
zigzagging down. I should not have discovered the mistake
had not my dog recognized it.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_189.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 194.</span>—Walking leaf.</p> </div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXIII. THE GRASSHOPPERS AND LOCUSTS</h2></div>
<p>These forms may be considered the musicians of the
insect world. None of the insects can produce vocal
sounds, that is, they have no voice,
but they have certain appliances
which enable them to produce sounds
which can be heard a long distance.
On hot days in summer is heard the
constant and shrill zee-zeeing of the locust, while countless
varieties lend their aid in producing a volume of sound.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_190a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 195.</span>—A grasshopper.</p> </div>
<p>The "instruments" in the locust are (Fig. 196) minute
teeth, arranged along the thighs; these are rubbed against
the fore wings, producing the remarkable sounds. The
locusts are commonly called grasshoppers. They have
two pairs of net-veined wings, and hind legs adapted for
leaping, by which
they send themselves
sprawling
through the air,
almost invariably
using this method
of escape instead of unfolding their delicate wings. All
are mimics. The common ground locust resembles the
dusty road and the dried foliage which it affects. Others,
which live on plants, are a vivid green. Some which I
find in my garden resemble closely the tender shoots of
the passion vine, upon which they feed.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_190b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 196.</span>—Musical instruments of the locust: <em>a</em>, leg; <em>b</em>, <em>c</em>, teeth, enlarged.</p> </div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The locusts (Acridiidæ) have short antennæ, large glassy
eyes, and ears at the base of the abdomen. The female is
provided with an appliance called the ovipositor, four sharp
points with which the grasshopper digs holes in the ground;
later these are used as
a guide or funnel for
introducing the eggs
into the burrow. The
mouth is supplied with
parts adapted to biting.
When a grasshopper
(Fig. 195) is caught it
exudes a peculiar fluid
resembling molasses, a
secretion of the salivary
glands. The eggs
are deposited in masses
from sixty to one hundred.
The young resemble the parent, but at first have no
wings. The grasshopper in making its metamorphosis, or
change from one stage to another, casts its skin in a manner
calling to mind the crabs; in a word, it molts several
times (Fig. 197). In accomplishing this, it often climbs a
spear of grass and there shuffles out of its old skin and
jumps away, leaving the hollow skin clinging to the grass.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_191.jpg" name="i_191.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_191-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 197.</span>—A grasshopper and young at different
stages: <em>A</em>, larva; <em>B</em>, pupa; <em>C</em>, adult.</p>
</div>
<p>At times they appear in vast numbers, and in clouds
rise into the air, so that from a distance they might be
taken for smoke or a tornado. This cloud is made up
of starving locusts which devastate the countries they
infest. They alight upon a wheat field, and an hour later
hundreds of acres appear as though a fire had swept over<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</SPAN></span>
the ground. Every spear of grass, every leaf, has been
devoured by this insatiate throng, which can not be destroyed
or even checked. In Africa swarms have been
swept by the wind out over the ocean, to be washed in
in such vast numbers that they formed a line fifty miles
long and three or four feet high alongshore, creating
an odor which drove people from that region. Jægar,
the naturalist, rode through a swarm in Russia for four
hundred miles where they were two feet deep. The entire
country was devastated by this band of locusts, and tens of
thousands of human beings were threatened with starvation.
The government troops were ordered to the place
and warfare declared against the locusts, the soldiers being
armed with shovels instead of guns. A line of thirty
thousand men moved slowly forward, covering the insects
with earth or digging them under, while in various localities
huge fires were built to burn the ground and destroy
the eggs. Despite this, thirty thousand people starved to
death, the direct result of their raids. Almost every portion
of the world away from the poles has been threatened
by these raiders. There are many references in the Bible
to these insects, and their ravages have been carried on from
the earliest times known to man. In America the Rocky
Mountain locust is the most destructive, and many of the
Western states have been ravaged by them.</p>
<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza">
<div class="verse">"Onward they came, a dark, continuous cloud of congregated myriads, numberless.</div>
<div class="verse">The rushing of whose wings was as the sound of a broad river, headlong in its course.</div>
<div class="verse">Plunged from a mountain summit, or the roar of a wild ocean, as the autumn storm,</div>
<div class="verse">Shattering its billows on a shore of rocks."</div>
<div class="right smcap">—Southey.</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Some years ago a flock settled in Colorado Springs, the
streets and roofs being covered with them, so that they
were swept and shoveled about like snow. Some American
swarms have been traced for several hundred miles,
and settling on railroads, have stopped the trains by making
the tracks slippery. Alighting in a cornfield the
rustling sound of their depredation can be heard for some
distance; and when they rise, a fire might have swept over
the fields, so far as appearances go. The swarm, a black,
portentous cloud, sweeps on, flying at a rate of thirty
miles an hour to reach some new field, where they dig burrows
with their curious ovipositors, and deposit their eggs
by millions. Then they move on, leaving an unborn swarm
to develop and later constitute another army to spread
devastation abroad
in the land.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_193.jpg" name="i_193.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_193-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 198.</span>—Crickets.</p>
</div>
<p>The crickets (Fig.
198) are familiar
forms with cylindrical
bodies and large
heads placed vertically,
the ovipositor
often being as large
as the entire body.
The female often deposits
three hundred
eggs in the ground.
The note of the cricket is produced by the male, and is a
decidedly musical chirp, varying in the different kinds.
The close observer may easily find the cave house of
the little singer that is often seen sitting at the entrance,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</SPAN></span>
singing, not at the top of its voice, but with the full
force of its wings, the sound being produced by using the
fore wings, as bows and the hind wings as fiddles, and
sawing with great rapidity.</p>
<p>The crickets are found in the greatest variety. Some
live in the ground, others affect houses, and in the tropics
beautiful tree crickets are found. The snowy tree cricket
has a peculiar note, <em>te-reat, te-reat, te-reat</em>. The broad-winged
tree cricket has a call which resembles a dog
whistle. Another has a piping note resembling the thrilling
musical sound made by rubbing the edge of a glass
with one's finger. The singular cave cricket is wingless,
and has antennæ several times the length of its body. The
Western cricket does great damage to the crops of the
farmer, and when bands are seen marching over the country,
ditches are often dug into which the crickets plunge,
where, in default of food, they begin to devour one another.
The cry of this cricket is harsh and disagreeable, the "musical
instrument" being on the dorsum or back of the shield
which seems to cover the fore part of its back. The curious
mole cricket, which burrows underground and is provided
with enormous jaws, is a menace to the gardener.
In the outer Florida Keys I found that it was almost impossible
to rear plants, so plentiful and ravenous were these
fierce root eaters.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXIV. THE BEETLES</h2></div>
<p>The beetles (Fig. 199) are insects having their fore
wings thickened to constitute sheaths or covers for the
lower pair, used in flight. Their mouths are adapted
for biting, and they
pass through a complete
metamorphosis.
There are about
ninety thousand species,
ranging from
minute creatures to
huge, lumbering goliaths.
When walking
the beetle presents
a trim appearance,
enveloped in a gleaming
armor of the highest polish, and often ablaze with
metallic tints, but when it flies the elytra, or wing covers,
are thrown up, and a pair of soft, silken wings flutter out,
stiffen, and bear the beetle away.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_195a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 199.</span>—A typical beetle (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cotalpa</i>): <em>A</em>, imago; <em>B</em>, larva.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_195b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 200.</span>—Head of a beetle.</p> </div>
<p>The head of the beetle is small and
adapted for biting (Fig. 200); the digestive
apparatus is simple. The most
noticeable feature of many are the
antennæ (Fig. 201), which often are very
long and ornamental. The eyes are
compound. The legs are strong and powerful. The beetles<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</SPAN></span>
spend little time in flying, many being flesh eaters and
continually searching for game under refuse and in dark
places. They lay eggs which
are deposited in the ground,
or in special cavities made
in wood, which hatch into
larvæ (Fig. 202). In the
tiger beetle the larvæ resemble
white worms. In the
rose beetle they look like
grubs. These in time change
to helpless pupæ.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_196a.jpg" name="i_196a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_196a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 201.</span>—Antennæ of beetles.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_196b.jpg" name="i_196b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_196b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 202.</span>—Beetle and young: <em>A</em>, tiger beetle;
<em>B</em>, larva of same, enlarged; <em>C</em>, water beetle.</p>
</div>
<p>The June bug, the beetle
which dashes into rooms, blindly charging lights of all
kinds, is a familiar
example. Its larva
is white and very
destructive. On my
lawn in California
the Bermuda grass
often turns white,
and sections a foot
square can be lifted,
having been cut off
from the roots by
this destructive larva
of the June bug,
which during this
stage of its existence
lives underground, eating roots and plants of various
kinds. For two years this beetle (Fig. 203) lives a sub<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</SPAN></span>terranean,
marauding life, growing and shedding its skin.
It is often considered a complete animal, but at the end
of this period it changes into
what is called the pupa stage,
which does not move; the pupæ
are white, soft, helpless creatures
which are found around
the roots of rose bushes in great
number, and which are so appreciated
by mocking birds that
they and the blackbirds invariably
follow me about the garden when I am overturning the
soil with the trowel. Finally the pupa changes into the
perfect insect.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_197a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 203.</span>—June bug, showing wings and wing covers.</p> </div>
<p>The larvæ of some of the spring beetles remain in the
"grub" stage five years, and are known as wire worms,
doing a vast amount of
damage.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_197b.jpg" name="i_197b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_197b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 204.</span>—Bark-boring beetle.</p>
</div>
<p>The girdler beetle bores
holes in tender limbs of
the hickory, then systematically
girdles the limb
below the eggs, so that by
the time the young hatch
they have soft, dead wood
to feed upon. The bark
borer (Fig. 204) penetrates
the bark of trees, and cuts
winding tunnels here and there, in which are placed its
eggs. Among the most attractive of the beetles are the
carnivorous sexton beetles. They find dead bodies with<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</SPAN></span>
all the skill of a vulture, burrow beneath them and deposit
their eggs within the body, where the young feed. The
work these beetles
accomplish in destroying
animals and even
burying them renders
them valuable scavengers.
Among the destructive
beetles are the
buffalo bugs (Fig. 205),
which have been introduced from Europe; the larva of
these is a strange, fuzzy little creature (<em>a</em>).</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_198a.jpg" name="i_198a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_198a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 205.</span>—Buffalo bug and various stages of young.</p>
</div>
<p>The weevils (Fig. 206) are the bane of the dweller in
the tropics. They infest bread, cake, and flour and meal
of every kind. Perhaps the most dreaded
by the Northern farmer is the potato bug
(Fig. 207), which plays havoc with potatoes,
often ruining the entire crop, the vines being
covered by the soft and
disagreeable larva, more
like a worm than anything
else. The diving beetle is
an interesting insect, being
a flier and a swimmer. Its
hind legs are fringed and adapted for
swimming. On the fore limb is a sucker,
or several, by which the beetle can attach
itself to any object. The larva is a ferocious
creature, armed with a pair of fierce jaws, with which
it attacks small fishes, frogs, tadpoles, and game very
much larger than itself.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_198c.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 206.</span>—The weevil.</p> </div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_198b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 207.</span>—Potato bug, eggs and young.</p> </div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXV. THE BUGS</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_199a.jpg" name="i_199a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_199a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 208.</span>—Chinch bug, egg and various stages of the young.</p>
</div>
<p>The bugs are easily recognized. They have the mouth
parts arranged as a sucking beak or proboscis. The chinch
bug (Fig. 208), the squash bug (Fig. 209), the seventeen-year
cicada, or locust (Fig. 210), and the bean aphis (Fig.
211) are well-known examples.
They represent a group dreaded
for many reasons; many are
parasites on man and beast, while
many others destroy crops of
various kinds.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_199b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 209.</span>—Squash bug.</p> </div>
<p>In nearly all fresh-water ponds
and pools curious flat, long-legged
creatures (Fig. 212) are seen darting over the surface,
being perfectly at home. They are water boatmen,
and one species (Fig. 213) is found far out at sea.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_200a.jpg" name="i_200a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_200a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 210.</span>—Cicada.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_200b.jpg" name="i_200b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_200b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 211.</span>—Bean aphis.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_200c.jpg" name="i_200c.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_200c-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 212.</span>—Water boatmen.</p>
</div>
<p>In passing in review the various insects the peculiar
transformations
through which
they pass are
noticed; some
long, some short,
some partial, and
many complete.
In the cicada, or
seventeen-year locust, or harvest fly, we have an instance
of one of the strangest examples of slow development
known. The
cicada is a
wedge-shaped
insect having
some resemblance
to a
huge fly. At
the base of the
abdomen is a
drumlike organ
by which it
makes a shrill
"zeeing" sound<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</SPAN></span>
which, when thousands are joined in concert, produces
a remarkable sound audible for a long
distance. I have heard it half a mile
with the wind, and by following it up
found a grove filled with insects producing
a roar of sounds, while, clinging
to the trees and branches, were thousands
of empty skins from which the
cicadas had escaped. The cicada deposits
three or four hundred eggs in
holes on the twigs or bark of the oak.
They hatch very promptly in six weeks
or so, and we
might conclude that the young
cicadas would soon appear. But
seventeen long years of life underground
are now required before
the pupa crawls upward, molts, and
appears as an adult cicada. It has
spent all these years as an almost
helpless creature, resembling the
mole cricket, subsisting by sucking
the juices from the roots of plants,
waiting for the ending of its imprisonment.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_201a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 213.</span>—Halobates, a bug that goes to sea.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_201b.jpg" name="i_201b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_201b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 214.</span>—Young leaf hopper and its bubbles.</p>
</div>
<p>On many plants the stroller
through the garden will observe
bits of white froth, like soap suds,
and few persons, were they not in
the secret, would believe that the froth is an especially
devised medium for the little leaf hopper (Fig. 214). The<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</SPAN></span>
adult insect is a curious little creature found among the
grasses in spring. The young require moisture to enable
them to attain their full development, and when hatched
they climb up stalks of grass and pierce them with their
beaklike proboscis and gorge themselves with the juices.
The insect now exudes
a foamy secretion
which bubbles up
about it, in time entirely
surrounding itself
in a mass of
moisture. The insect
converts this into air
globules by pushing
its tail above the mass
(<em>a</em>) and seizing air in
its claspers, which it
passes beneath it to
the spiracle or breathing
pore. In this way
it breathes and also fills the section about it with air.
There the animal passes the time until it is ready to change,
when it escapes and becomes a perfect leaf hopper. The
famous cochineal insects (Fig. 215) belong to this group.
They are minute creatures which live upon certain cacti
in the tropics. When collected they form the celebrated
dye. Another form produces a valuable wax.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_202.jpg" name="i_202.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_202-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 215.</span>—Cochineal insect.</p>
</div>
<p>Who has not found his rose bushes swarming with
minute green bodies, the Aphidæ? Brush them off at
night and in a few hours as many more are seen, due to
the marvelous rapidity of their increase. The eggs are<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</SPAN></span>
laid in the autumn, and hatch in the early spring, the
young then appearing as wingless little creatures which
in turn produce not eggs but winged or wingless Aphidæ
(Fig. 216). These appear in such numbers
and so quickly that in a single
summer a pair of plant lice will produce
one quintillion of young ones. Can we
wonder that it is difficult to keep the rose
bushes free from such a swarm? The story of the development
of these insects is but merely touched upon, but it
is among the most remarkable of all the strange and
unexplainable transformations we find in animal life.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_203.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 216.</span>—Aphis.</p> </div>
<p>Here we may glance at the countless scaly insects
which infest fruit of various kinds. The black, red, and
cottony scale are common in California, and have to be
fought with all the cunning and intelligence that man can
invoke. In 1886 the orange groves of southern California
were almost ruined by the cottony scale. I have seen
trees that looked as though the limbs were covered with
snow. But an enemy of the scale, a little spotted lady
bug, was imported from Australia, and in a few months
the scale had disappeared. The black and red scale and
several others are pests which devastate the groves,
stopping the growth of the trees and operating against
the fruit grower, who is obliged to spray the trees with
poisonous washes to destroy them.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXVI. FLIES AND MOSQUITOES</h2></div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_204.jpg" name="i_204.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_204-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 217.</span>—A fly, natural size and magnified.</p>
</div>
<p>The flies and mosquitoes are among the greatest pests
and dangers to man. Both are conveyers of disease, and<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</SPAN></span>
the former, as an
agent of destruction,
deposits its eggs in
meat of all kinds,
making it impossible
to keep meat in some
countries. On the
other hand, it should
be remembered that
the flies are valuable
scavengers, hastening
the destruction
of dead matter which
might contaminate
the air.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_205a.jpg" name="i_205a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_205a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 218.</span>—Tongue of a fly.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_205b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 219.</span>—Eyes of a fly.</p> </div>
<p>The flies (Fig. 217)
are two-winged insects
with mouth parts adapted for lapping (Fig. 218) or
sucking. Under the microscope these organs often appear
to be composed of needlelike bristles,
forming a proboscis protected by a
scabbard or sheath. In some flies this
weapon is many times as long as the
body. The head is well separated from
the body, and movable. The eyes are
compound and simple, made up of many
facets (Fig 219). The wings are gauze-like,
often beautiful, and when the fly is
in motion, they move in a figure eight,
making, it is estimated, 19,800 revolutions
a minute. The feet (Fig. 220)<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</SPAN></span>
enable it to cling to the smoothest surfaces with ease. The
little pads are extremely irritating at times when the fly
walks over the flesh, tapping here
and there with its soft tongue, in
which all parts except the labium
are rudimentary. The latter has a
broad tip for licking or lapping.
The flies breathe by spiracles, and
are among the most active of all
insects, and the bravest, attacking
man and beast, and refusing to be
driven off, despite the most active
and spirited defense.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_206a.jpg" name="i_206a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_206a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 220.</span>—Foot of a fly.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_206b.jpg" name="i_206b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_206b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 221.</span>—Flesh fly, eggs and young in various stages of development.</p>
</div>
<p>The development of the house
fly is a familiar process. The eggs of the flesh fly, as an
example (Fig. 221), are small, white objects which hatch
into maggots. These change gradually, finally becoming
pupæ, then assuming the adult form. The bluebottle fly
(Fig. 222) is one of the best known. The house fly is
found in greatest numbers near stables, as there, in the
piles of refuse, the eggs are deposited, hatching in twenty-four
hours. The young appear as fleshy, soft, footless
worms or maggots, which are ravenous, and live upon the
most fœtid matter for two weeks, when they change into
a pupa, a barrel-shaped, cocoonlike form. For two weeks<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</SPAN></span>
this remains motionless, when out of it breaks the perfect
house fly, soon to deposit its eggs and help to produce
the tens of millions of flies which
swarm wherever human beings
are found.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_207.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 222.</span>—Bluebottle fly and young.</p> </div>
<p>Among the many species of
flies some are bloodsuckers, as
the horse flies. The robber
flies are the hawks of the race,
carrying off other insects, even
large dragon flies. The many
species of horse flies attack horses and cattle, and the
animals are often driven to a frenzy by their approach.
An entire herd will recognize the approach of these
insects and stampede. Many of the flies deposit their
eggs upon the hairs or nostrils of horses. Flies exist
in countless varieties, from harmless creatures to some
in Africa which are deadly to cattle and horses; from
the ordinary fly whose larva lives in cheese to others
which thrive in alcohol and wine. In California the larva
of one species is found in Lake Mono, where no other
animal can live. Hundreds of bushels of them are sometimes
washed upon the beaches, constituting a favorite
food for the Indians.</p>
<p>The warfare declared against mosquitoes in America,
suggested by Dr. Howard, has attracted widespread attention
to these insects, which have rendered many localities
absolutely uninhabitable. A Florida physician informed me
that in a certain locality horses had been killed by these
insatiate bloodsuckers, which are now known to be the
carriers of the germs of yellow fever. Over almost every<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</SPAN></span>
pond or pool in summer they may be seen in countless
numbers, filling the air with their disagreeable music.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_208a.jpg" name="i_208a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_208a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 223.</span>—Proboscis of a mosquito.</p>
</div>
<p>The proboscis, or sucking weapon, of the
mosquito (Fig. 223) is an innocent-appearing
object when closed; but when the sheath is
open it displays a series of scimeter and sawtooth
daggers (Fig. 224), which fully explains
the torture of the mosquito bite or that of
the gnat which crawls
up one's sleeve (Fig.
225). In all these extraordinary
weapons
we find the same
organs, the labium,
labrum, and others, but
with greater or less development,
according to the nature of the
insect.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_208b.jpg" name="i_208b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_208b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 224.</span>—Proboscis of a mosquito open.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_208c.jpg" name="i_208c.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_208c-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 225.</span>—Biting organs of a gnat.</p>
</div>
<p>It is the female mosquito which occasions all the trouble
and renders mankind miserable in some of the otherwise
most delightful resorts. On the Florida Keys I always<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</SPAN></span>
had a mosquito bar overhead, not merely over the bed but
suspended from the ceiling in midday. Even then these
pests would force their way through the meshes.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_209.jpg" name="i_209.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_209-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 226.</span>—Development of the mosquito.</p>
</div>
<p>The development of the mosquito is interesting
(Fig. 226). The eggs are deposited as a boat-shaped
mass on the surface of the water, where they drift about
for several days. The larvæ appear as wigglers float<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</SPAN></span>ing
in the water, tail upward, and breathing through a
tube at the tip of the abdomen which is projected above
the water for the purpose. After a while the head grows
larger, and several changes ensue. Then the pupa finally
appears. This rises to the surface, and out bursts a full-fledged
mosquito which, like a man in a canoe, balances
itself while its wings dry. A few hours before it was
entirely dependent upon the water and swimming in it, but
now it appears to be fearful of overturning the frail craft
and falling in where it would surely drown. If all goes
well, it soon tries its wings and goes buzzing away. The
devastation caused by the armed and bewhiskered mosquito
is not generally known. Doubtless thousands have
lost their lives from this unsuspected cause.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_210.jpg" name="i_210.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_210-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 227.</span>—The gnat (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Culex</i>) and its development from the egg: <em>A</em>, egg;
<em>B</em>, larva; <em>C</em>, pupa; <em>D</em>, adult.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The common gnat (Fig. 227) has habits similar to those
of the mosquito. They are often seen floating in the air
in great swarms or bands, rising and forming as though in
some mystic dance.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_211.jpg" name="i_211.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_211-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 228.</span>—The flea and its development.</p>
</div>
<p>Closely allied to these forms are the fleas (Fig. 228),
which are at once interesting and irritating. They are
wingless, and have two simple eyes. The larva resembles
a small caterpillar. It attains its growth in twelve days,
then enters a small cocoon, which it weaves. There it
remains for sixteen days, when it breaks forth a full-grown
flea. Of all insects the fleas are the most amenable
to instruction. Some years ago a flea circus was one of
the attractions of New York, where, by looking through a
magnifying glass, one could see fleas dragging chariots
with other fleas dressed as cavaliers sitting on the seats.
Many other seemingly impossible feats were exhibited.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXVII. THE BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS</h2></div>
<p>Of all the insects the butterflies (Fig. 229) are the most
beautiful. Nature has arrayed them in coats of many
colors. Every tint and every possible shade of color, including
metallic, is found among them. In some of the South
American forests they are of gigantic size, a blaze of iridescent
blue, as though formed of the most delicate flakes
of that beautiful mineral labradorite.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_212.jpg" name="i_212.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_212-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 229.</span>—A butterfly.</p>
</div>
<p>The butterflies add to the beauty of nature. Among
the trees they congregate, forming dashes of color, red,
blue, green, and golden yellow. They vie with the flowers<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</SPAN></span>
in their splendors; besides being ornamental they accomplish
a great work in carrying pollen from flower to flower
and from plant to plant. They have small heads (Fig.
230), short antennæ, and four beautiful wings which are
covered with minute scales. Each of the latter when
examined under a microscope becomes a resplendent
object, glistening like the plate of some gorgeous armor.
The mouth parts are adapted for sucking, and are coiled
up when not in use (Fig. 231). They consist of two
tubular or hollow threads.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_213a.jpg" name="i_213a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_213a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 230.</span>—Head of a moth.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_213b.jpg" name="i_213b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_213b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 231.</span>—Mouth parts of a butterfly.</p>
</div>
<p>The ordinary caterpillar is the larva of the butterfly.
The eggs are deposited on leaves and various places,
and soon hatch into caterpillars (Fig. 232). These lead
a predatory life for some time, doing a vast amount
of damage, almost every plant having its peculiar pest.
Some affect one tree, some another. The famous elm trees
of many of the New England cities have more than once<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</SPAN></span>
been threatened by these larvæ. They shed their coats
several times. The caterpillar finally merges into the
chrysalis, from
which it escapes
as the perfect
insect. All of
these changes
can easily be
observed by
keeping a caterpillar
under
continuous observation.
The
butterflies have
well-developed
legs, but they
rarely use them
for locomotion, preferring to fly from flower to flower.
The tortoise-shell
butterfly is a familiar
form (Fig. 233), its
marvelous colors resembling
this shell.
Some have an under
covering of pure
silver. Another
conspicuous form is
the white butterfly
(Fig. 234), which,
as its name suggests, is pure white, with several black
spots.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_214a.jpg" name="i_214a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_214a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 232.</span>—Butterfly and young.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_214b.jpg" name="i_214b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_214b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 233.</span>—Tortoise-shell butterfly.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>When the butterfly is at rest its wings are held aloft, and
many are so colored that in this position the wing resembles
a leaf and the animal
escapes observation. A
marvelous example of this
protective mimicry is observed
in the East Indian
butterfly, Kallima (Fig.
235). The wings have
a little projection which
resembles a stem from
which a dark mark resembling
a midrib extends.
When the butterfly
alights, this seeming
stem, as shown in the
illustration, appears to join to the branch, and the resemblance
to a leaf is so perfect that the most careful observer
is often deceived. Other butterflies observed by Wallace
mimicked dry oak leaves and dead leaves of various kinds.
All the spots and colors of decay were imitated in their
wings. Other Indian forms resemble fungus, and utterly
disappear as they alight upon it. No more attractive butterfly
is seen than the finely marked Vanessa, the peacock
butterfly (Fig. 236), which has beautiful peacock marks
upon its wings in vivid blue.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_215.jpg" name="i_215.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_215-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 234.</span>—White butterfly and young.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_216.jpg" name="i_216.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_216-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 235.</span>—A butterfly which resembles a leaf.</p>
</div>
<p>In southern California, almost every spring, there is a
migration of butterflies from the south northward along
the Sierra Madre. I have watched them for hours, numbers
being seen over a given spot every moment. By
writing to postmasters and other persons in different sec<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</SPAN></span>tions,
I found that the migrating band was two hundred
miles long and from ten to twenty miles wide. Doubtless
this was but a fraction of its actual extent, it being made
up, in reality, of millions of yellow butterflies. Darwin
saw such a migration in South America. Their pathway<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</SPAN></span>
was several miles in width, they filled the air like a yellow
cloud, and were
several hours passing
a given point.
Vessels out at sea
have met with similar
flocks blown
away from the
shore.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_217a.jpg" name="i_217a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_217a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 236.</span>—Peacock butterfly.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_217b.jpg" name="i_217b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_217b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 237.</span>—Silkworm moth.</p>
</div>
<p>The butterflies are
included in the
Lepidoptera, and
are the day-flying
forms. There are
many other insects
equally beautiful, in
more subdued tints, which are night flyers. These are
the moths (Fig. 237), which are slow of flight, ponderous,
and have extraordinary tongues for sucking the juices<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</SPAN></span>
from the flowers. They can be distinguished from the
butterflies by their feathered antennæ. One of the
best known for its ravages is the dwarf moth, the worm
of which plays such havoc among woolens. The cankerworm
moth is equally a pest among valuable shade
trees. Another familiar form is the hawk moth (Fig. 238),
which so resembles a humming bird in appearance and
motion that it is almost impossible to distinguish between
the two, the moth being one of the most active, poising over
flowers and inserting its enormous tongue to secure the
sweets there concealed. A showy moth is the huge Attacus,
its larva being especially large and voracious.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_218.jpg" name="i_218.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_218-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 238.</span>—Hawk moth, a rapid flyer.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_219.jpg" name="i_219.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_219-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 239.</span>—Death's-head moth.</p>
</div>
<p>The moths display as great a variety in their shapes,
colors, and sizes as the butterflies. The death's-head moth
(Fig. 239) is perhaps as startling as any, bearing on its
back a well-defined figure of a skull. The most valuable<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</SPAN></span>
moth to man is the silkworm moth, the wings of which
have a spread of six inches and are a brilliant ochre yellow,
fawn, or mouse color, marked with striking peacock-like
eyes. They deposit eggs, but the development of the
caterpillar is somewhat different from that of the butterfly
larva. The latter passes its pupa stage as an unprotected
chrysalis attached to some object by the tail (Fig. 240),
but the caterpillar of the moth secretes silk from a gland
in its head, and with this forms about itself a cocoon.
This is unwound by machinery and woven into the valuable
silk of commerce. The silk industry brings to the weavers<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</SPAN></span>
of the United States alone an annual sum amounting
to about $30,000,000.
The silkworm can
easily be kept and all
its changes watched,
and many persons are
interested in rearing
the worms. The time
required by the worm to form its silk
cocoon varies with the locality. Thus in
France it will complete it
in four days, while in England
forty or more days
are necessary. About two
hundred cocoons weigh a
pound.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_220a.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 240.</span>—Pupa of butterfly.</p> </div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_220b.jpg" name="i_220b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_220b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 241.</span>—Basketlike cocoon of a South American moth.</p>
</div>
<p>Silkworm moths are
ravenous eaters, living
principally on mulberry
leaves. They show much
intelligence in forming
their cocoons. Thus a South American
moth (Fig. 241) forms a basketlike structure
which it suspends from some limb.
The cradle swings in the wind like a seed
pod, more than anything else, and would
never be suspected as inclosing a living
creature. Many of the moths, by some
remarkable instinct, deposit their eggs where the young
will find an immediate supply of food. This care for
their young is the cause of a vast amount of damage<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</SPAN></span>
among fruit trees. The
fruit moth, as an example,
deposits its eggs in fruit;
the caterpillar penetrates it
and devours the interior,
thousands of bushels of
apples being destroyed
yearly in this way, not to
speak of other fruits.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_221a.jpg" name="i_221a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_221a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 242.</span>—Tent moth, caterpillar and cocoon.</p>
</div>
<p>One of the best known of
the moths is the tent moth
(Fig. 242), the larva of
which forms a tentlike web
for its protection in the
trees it affects. A richly tinted flyer is known as the goat
moth (Fig. 243), the caterpillar being a large and beautiful
creature.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_221b.jpg" name="i_221b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_221b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 243.</span>—Goat moth.</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXVIII. THE ANTS</h2></div>
<p>If the question should be propounded which next to
man is the most intelligent of animals, the reply might be,
the ants; for after a careful study of all the ways and
habits of these small insects, it will be very evident that
the lives of many are conducted with more method than
the lowest human lives.</p>
<p>The ants belong to the great group called Hymenoptera—insects
with membranelike wings, including the gall
flies, bees, and wasps.</p>
<p>Ants are found everywhere. Long lines are seen marching
along, some coming, some going, in countless multitudes.
Yet drop a strange ant into this highway and it is
at once discovered and in danger. If water is poured
into a nest of ants, the inhabitants come rushing out.
Some come to fight, and others bear in their mouths the
young (Fig. 244), countless thousands, to a place of safety.</p>
<p>The ant is a trim, vigorous individual, fleet of foot, tireless,
never weary, brave, industrious, a type of the worker.
The head is large. The eyes are compound, with three
single eyes. The antennæ are long, slender organs by
which ants appear to recognize friends or foes, and possibly
talk with them in some way. Certainly when two
ants meet, a very strange interchange of courtesies with
the antennæ is performed. The males and females are
winged, and there is a third kind without wings, called
workers.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_223.jpg" name="i_223.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_223-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 244.</span>—Ants removing their young to a place of safety.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_224.jpg" name="i_224.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_224-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 245.</span>—Tunnels of ants.</p>
</div>
<p>Ants live in vast communities of from one hundred
thousand to five hundred thousand or more. They excavate
the soil and gravel, descend into the ground, and<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</SPAN></span>
tunnel it in every direction (Fig. 245). In certain places
they store food, in others eggs. The affairs of their vast
underground city are carried on with a marvelous method.
Although the ants have wings, these are soon cast away.
At certain times the winged males and females swarm
out of the nest and fly away, forming other communities.
The males soon die; the females rid themselves of their
wings, and thereafter remain in their new nests. The
entire work of the community falls upon the so-called
workers. They make the nest, repair it, do the fighting
when necessary, move the immature young or eggs, shut
up the nest at night, and open it in the morning. The
eggs are minute, and as soon as laid are taken by the
workers, or nurses, as they are also called, and carried to<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</SPAN></span>
favorable places, where they are carefully watched. They
are shifted about and occasionally for some reason brought
above ground. The larvæ, when they hatch (Fig. 246),
appear as little
worms, or grubs,
which would starve
if they were not
constantly fed by
the nurses. If it
is too cold, these
babies are taken up
into the sunshine, or placed in some hall near the surface
where the sun's rays can reach them. Finally they
change to the pupa stage and are covered by a web.
They are still cared for with the greatest solicitude by
the nurses, which stand by when they finally hatch out
and aid them in their entrance into the world. Nurses
in every sense of the word, their care at this time is one
of the most remarkable exhibitions of human traits in a
lower animal known. Many other human traits find their
prototype among these minute animals. They care for
the young, the sick, and the wounded; they go to war,
capture their foes, make slaves of them, and force them
to work. They keep certain insects for the pleasant odor
they afford and others for the secretions they emit, the
latter action resembling keeping and milking cows. Ants
build remarkable houses arranged in rooms for various
purposes; they plant gardens to raise certain crops; they
introduce plants that will provide certain food; they
retard the growth of seeds in their granaries; build vast
underground or covered roads to escape the heat; they<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</SPAN></span>
make bridges to cross streams; and in numerous other
ways they demonstrate their remarkable intelligence.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_225.jpg" name="i_225.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_225-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 246.</span>—Egg and larvæ of the ant.</p>
</div>
<p>The extent of the homes of ants is astonishing when we
bear in mind the size of the insect. Some often extend
many feet underground, and their tunnels have been
traced beneath the broad Paraiba River of South
America.</p>
<p>Many different species of ants are known, all interesting
for their singular ways of living. The foraging or slave-making
ants of Africa go to war against other ants.
Such foraging trips are carried on with remarkable discipline,
and the warriors may be seen returning, a triumphant
army, bearing the eggs and larvæ of the enemy,
which they nurse and bring up as slaves. These slave
makers are large and powerful Ecitons, the dominant
race of the ants.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_226.jpg" name="i_226.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_226-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 247.</span>—Honey ants.</p>
</div>
<p>Among the slave-making ants the owners often become
so dependent upon the slaves that they are almost helpless,
and would starve were it not for these dependents. The<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</SPAN></span>
so-called honey ants of Texas exhibit some remarkable
traits in the manner of their lives (Fig. 247). These
ants, which I have observed in the Garden of the Gods,
Colorado, select certain individuals as storehouses and
supply them with honey until the abdomen is expanded
to many times its size, resembling a bottle. The ants
when filled are placed in a compartment made for the
purpose, and there hung to the wall, animated honey jars,
which are taken down and made to give up their sweets
as occasion demands. These honey balls are considered a
delicacy in Mexico, and are served as dessert.</p>
<p>Among the ants, those of Texas known as the agricultural
ants are remarkable for their intelligence. They are
farmers, laying out places which they cultivate with a certain
plant, which is especially to their taste, just as farmers
plant corn.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>XXIX. THE BEES AND WASPS</h2></div>
<p>In almost every flower bed in the garden we shall find
the bees, examples of tireless energy, storing up honey for
their young in such vast quantities that the surplus forms
a valuable food supply for man as well. The nests of
bees are systematically robbed of their stores, and for this
purpose the insects are supplied with artificial nests or
hives, in which they deposit their honey, entirely for the
benefit of mankind. Here we see a singular limitation
placed upon intelligence. The intelligence of bees is wonderful
and amazing. Many of their acts and works suggest
those of human beings, yet when the time comes for
thinking after the fashion of men, the bees are lacking.
They go on storing honey in artificial
hives without being able to bridge
the mental chasm and perceive that
they are being robbed and made to
work as virtual slaves. Hence we
assume that the intelligence of bees
is not on the same plane as that of
human beings. They appear to be
acting upon a strong instinct which
impels them to perform acts which
seem intelligent.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_228.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 248.</span>—The head of a bee.</p> </div>
<p>The head of the bee bears two
remarkable compound eyes, with
three simple ones between them.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</SPAN></span>
The antennæ are short. The mouth parts (Fig. 248) are
complicated, and adapted for sucking up the honey or
sweets of flowers or
the juices of fruits.
In California, the
bees eat fruit as well
as honey, and even
flesh or meat, in very
dry seasons, when
flowers are scarce.
The abdomen of the
bee (Fig. 249) is supplied
with a sawlike
stinger or dart (Fig.
250) which inflicts a
painful and poisonous wound. In general appearance the
ordinary honeybee resembles an ant with
wings; but the bee is hairy, it has a
sting, and the legs of the worker are
provided with "honey baskets," which
carry pollen.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_229a.jpg" name="i_229a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_229a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 249.</span>—Bees: <em>a</em>, queen; <em>b</em>, drone; <em>c</em>, worker.</p>
</div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_229b.jpg" alt="" /> <p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 250.</span>—Sting of a bee.</p> </div>
<p>Bees are of several kinds, queens,
workers, and drones, there being a division
of labor. The queen is the largest,
the drone is the smallest, and it has no
sting. The history of the bee and its
development is one of the most wonderful
chapters in the whole story of animal
life. Glancing at the interior of a hive we see that the
bees have constructed a series of hexagonal cells. To
learn how they have accomplished this, we may follow<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</SPAN></span>
a bee in its flight. This may be one or two miles from
the hive, yet so perfect is the knowledge of the bee of
direction, that it is rarely lost. Reaching a flower it
sucks out the honey, which it swallows. It then takes
pollen, the dust from the stamen of the flowers, and
stows it away in little baskets attached to the legs. It
also takes a waxlike substance called propolis from buds
of various trees, which it packs with the pollen in the
baskets. Arriving at the nest, the bee, with countless
others, engages in the construction of the cells, which
are of various sizes. The material for building up the
cells is wax, which is secreted by the bees, appearing in
little flakes under the abdomen, from which it is taken
by the legs of the bee. This is the material from which
the comb is made, while the propolis is employed as a
cement to attach the cells together, and for various minor
purposes. Think of thousands of workers bringing in this
material, working in the dark, yet never making a mistake.
The bee finally ejects the honey which it has swallowed,
placing it in certain cells, where it is sealed up and remains
until it is needed as food. The pollen is also placed in
cells.</p>
<p>A single community of bees may consist of two hundred
thousand individuals. In the hive there is a single queen,
which often lays from fifteen hundred to two thousand
eggs a day, and if we could follow her, we should find that
she lays the eggs in different cells, and in cells of different
sizes. In the first are eggs which develop into workers,
and in the second are larger eggs which will produce males,
called drones. The little eggs soon hatch into white grubs
which are carefully fed by the workers with digested honey<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</SPAN></span>
and pollen. Finally the young larvæ almost fill the cells
and then stop eating. The workers cover them in, and
each spins for itself a silken cocoon, in which it remains
until it breaks out in the form of a perfect bee.</p>
<p>The workers build certain large cells on the side of the
comb, which are called queen cells, and the larvæ which
appear in them are fed with some peculiar food which
produces queens. The workers watch each of these cells
with great care, gnawing the wax away on top so that they
can observe the progress of development. Finally a small
hole is made, through which the proboscis of the young
queen protrudes, and in this way it is fed for several days,
during which it utters a low, piping noise. The queens
attack each other on sight, and previous to the appearance
of a young queen the old one, with thousands of followers,
makes her escape, or swarms. Then the workers liberate
a young queen, and if there are others, there are repeated
swarms, each queen leaving
with a multitude of followers,
till the hive has but one
queen. There are in the
community now a number of
drones, and as they appear
to be an expensive and
worthless burden to carry
during the winter, the workers
attack and kill them,
throwing them out of the
hive.</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_231.jpg" name="i_231.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_231-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 251.</span>—Carpenter bee.</p>
</div>
<p>Among the many kinds
of bees the carpenters (Fig.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</SPAN></span>
251) are famous, boring tunnels into solid wood for the
reception of their young; half an inch a day being accomplished
by these little
carpenters. The
bumblebee, one of
the largest, forms its
nest in the ground
(Fig. 252).</p>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_232a.jpg" name="i_232a.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_232a-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 252.</span>—Bumblebee and nest.</p>
</div>
<div class="figlink">
<SPAN href="images/i_232b.jpg" name="i_232b.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/i_232b-thumb.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
<span class="smcap">Fig. 253.</span>—Wasp and young.</p>
</div>
<p>The wasps (Fig.
253) live in societies
of males, females,
and workers. The
paperlike nests are
familiar objects in
the woods, resembling great bags of paper which when
opened are seen to
be filled with cells.
Many nests are of
beautiful shapes, resembling
candelabra,
while the cells of the
common mud dauber
(Fig. 254) call to mind
the adobe houses of
the Mexicans and
Indians of the Southwest.
The mud cells
of a South American
wasp resemble bottles
(Fig. 255). Many of the large wasps are fierce and vindictive,
and nearly all resent an attack upon their homes.</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>INDEX</h2></div>
<ul class="index">
<li class="ifrst">A</li>
<li class="indx">Abalone, <SPAN href="#Page_109">109</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Æolis, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aeronaut, <SPAN href="#Page_179">179</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Agassiz, Louis, <SPAN href="#Page_27">27</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Amœba, <SPAN href="#Page_8">8</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_10">10</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Anemone, <SPAN href="#Page_38">38</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_43">43</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Angle worm, <SPAN href="#Page_82">82</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Animalcules, <SPAN href="#Page_76">76</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ant, <SPAN href="#Page_223">223</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Antennæ, <SPAN href="#Page_96">96</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ant lion, <SPAN href="#Page_181">181</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aphis, <SPAN href="#Page_202">202</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aphrodite, <SPAN href="#Page_85">85</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aplysia, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Apus, <SPAN href="#Page_137">137</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aragonite, <SPAN href="#Page_29">29</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Arcturus, <SPAN href="#Page_178">178</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Argonaut, <SPAN href="#Page_125">125</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Arion, <SPAN href="#Page_115">115</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aristeus, <SPAN href="#Page_158">158</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ascension Is., <SPAN href="#Page_147">147</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Astræa, <SPAN href="#Page_49">49</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Atlantic, <SPAN href="#Page_51">51</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Atoll, <SPAN href="#Page_48">48</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Attacus, <SPAN href="#Page_218">218</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Attus, <SPAN href="#Page_172">172</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aurelia, <SPAN href="#Page_29">29</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Auricle, <SPAN href="#Page_92">92</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Avalon, <SPAN href="#Page_86">86</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Avalon, Phosphorescence at, <SPAN href="#Page_86">86</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_101">101</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">B</li>
<li class="indx">Banks, Sir J., <SPAN href="#Page_157">157</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Barnacle, <SPAN href="#Page_104">104</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Barnacle, Goose, <SPAN href="#Page_134">134</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bean aphis, <SPAN href="#Page_200">200</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bee, <SPAN href="#Page_228">228</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Beetles, <SPAN href="#Page_195">195</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Beetles, Boring, <SPAN href="#Page_197">197</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bell Animalcule, <SPAN href="#Page_12">12</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bivalve, <SPAN href="#Page_91">91</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Blind crustacean, <SPAN href="#Page_143">143</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bluebottle fly, <SPAN href="#Page_206">206</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Book scorpion, <SPAN href="#Page_166">166</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Brachiopoda, <SPAN href="#Page_81">81</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Branchipus, <SPAN href="#Page_137">137</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Brine shrimp, <SPAN href="#Page_137">137</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Buffalo bug, <SPAN href="#Page_198">198</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bugs, <SPAN href="#Page_199">199</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bulimus, <SPAN href="#Page_112">112</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bumble bee, <SPAN href="#Page_223">223</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Burgos crab, <SPAN href="#Page_154">154</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Butterflies, <SPAN href="#Page_212">212</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Byssus, <SPAN href="#Page_99">99</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">C</li>
<li class="indx">Caddis worm, <SPAN href="#Page_185">185</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cardium, <SPAN href="#Page_103">103</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Carpenter bee, <SPAN href="#Page_231">231</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Caryophyllia, <SPAN href="#Page_47">47</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cassis, <SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Caterpillar, <SPAN href="#Page_164">164</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Caves, Santa Catalina, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Centipede, <SPAN href="#Page_165">165</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cerithium, <SPAN href="#Page_103">103</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Chætopterus, <SPAN href="#Page_86">86</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Challenger, <SPAN href="#Page_147">147</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Chamæleon, <SPAN href="#Page_143">143</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Chinch bug, <SPAN href="#Page_198">198</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Chiton, <SPAN href="#Page_101">101</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cicada, <SPAN href="#Page_200">200</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cilia, <SPAN href="#Page_11">11</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Clam, Giant, <SPAN href="#Page_98">98</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cleodora, <SPAN href="#Page_116">116</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cochineal, <SPAN href="#Page_202">202</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cockle, <SPAN href="#Page_102">102</SPAN>.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</SPAN></span></li>
<li class="indx">Cocoanut crab, <SPAN href="#Page_155">155</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Colossendeis, <SPAN href="#Page_157">157</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Conch, <SPAN href="#Page_106">106</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cone, <SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Conus, <SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Coral, <SPAN href="#Page_44">44</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_51">51</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_53">53</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Coral insect, <SPAN href="#Page_52">52</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cottony scale, <SPAN href="#Page_203">203</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cowry, <SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Crab, <SPAN href="#Page_42">42</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_124">124</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_156">156</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cranchia, <SPAN href="#Page_127">127</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Crayfish, <SPAN href="#Page_130">130</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_144">144</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Crickets, <SPAN href="#Page_165">165</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_191">191</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Crinoid, <SPAN href="#Page_56">56</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Crustacean, <SPAN href="#Page_128">128</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ctenactis, <SPAN href="#Page_46">46</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cteniza, <SPAN href="#Page_174">174</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cuttlefish, <SPAN href="#Page_117">117</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cyanea, <SPAN href="#Page_27">27</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cyclops, <SPAN href="#Page_135">135</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cypræa, <SPAN href="#Page_110">110</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cyprinæ, <SPAN href="#Page_136">136</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">D</li>
<li class="indx">Daddy longlegs, <SPAN href="#Page_167">167</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Darwin, <SPAN href="#Page_83">83</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Decorative crab, <SPAN href="#Page_151">151</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dendronotus, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dentalium, <SPAN href="#Page_116">116</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Devilfish, <SPAN href="#Page_117">117</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Doris, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dragon fly, <SPAN href="#Page_180">180</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">E</li>
<li class="indx">Echinus, <SPAN href="#Page_65">65</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Eciton, <SPAN href="#Page_226">226</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Edible crab, <SPAN href="#Page_148">148</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Eolis, see Æolis.</li>
<li class="indx">Erenberg, <SPAN href="#Page_77">77</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">F</li>
<li class="indx">Fiddler crab, <SPAN href="#Page_149">149</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fierasfer, <SPAN href="#Page_71">71</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Firmin, Point, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Firmin, Point, Phosphorescence at, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Firmin, Point, Waves at, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Flea, <SPAN href="#Page_211">211</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Florida, <SPAN href="#Page_71">71</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Flustra, <SPAN href="#Page_78">78</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fly, <SPAN href="#Page_204">204</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Flying spider, <SPAN href="#Page_172">172</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Foraminifera, <SPAN href="#Page_15">15</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fresh-water pearl, <SPAN href="#Page_98">98</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fungia, <SPAN href="#Page_51">51</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fusus, <SPAN href="#Page_111">111</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">G</li>
<li class="indx">Gall crab, <SPAN href="#Page_152">152</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gammarus, <SPAN href="#Page_138">138</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Garden Key, <SPAN href="#Page_44">44</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Garden of the Gods, <SPAN href="#Page_227">227</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gecarcinus, <SPAN href="#Page_146">146</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Giant clam, <SPAN href="#Page_98">98</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Giant octopus, <SPAN href="#Page_123">123</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Giant squid, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_118">118</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Glacier flea, <SPAN href="#Page_178">178</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Glass-bottom boat, <SPAN href="#Page_50">50</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Glass sponge, <SPAN href="#Page_23">23</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gnat, <SPAN href="#Page_210">210</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Goat moth, <SPAN href="#Page_221">221</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Goniaster, <SPAN href="#Page_61">61</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gordius, <SPAN href="#Page_75">75</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gorgonia, <SPAN href="#Page_49">49</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_53">53</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Grapsus, <SPAN href="#Page_124">124</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_147">147</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Grasshopper, <SPAN href="#Page_190">190</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Green crab, <SPAN href="#Page_149">149</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gulf of Mexico, <SPAN href="#Page_33">33</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gunther, <SPAN href="#Page_158">158</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">H</li>
<li class="indx">Haliotis, <SPAN href="#Page_109">109</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Halobates, <SPAN href="#Page_201">201</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Helderberg, <SPAN href="#Page_53">53</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hermit crab, <SPAN href="#Page_152">152</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hibernation, <SPAN href="#Page_112">112</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Holothurian, <SPAN href="#Page_72">72</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Honey ant, <SPAN href="#Page_227">227</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Horseshoe crab, <SPAN href="#Page_155">155</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Howard, Dr., <SPAN href="#Page_207">207</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hymenoptera, <SPAN href="#Page_222">222</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">I<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</SPAN></span></li>
<li class="indx">Ianthina, <SPAN href="#Page_116">116</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Insects, <SPAN href="#Page_159">159</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_190">190</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Anatomy of, <SPAN href="#Page_159">159</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Larvæ of, <SPAN href="#Page_159">159</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Music of, <SPAN href="#Page_190">190</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Parts of, <SPAN href="#Page_159">159</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Spiracles of, <SPAN href="#Page_159">159</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">J</li>
<li class="indx">Jægar, <SPAN href="#Page_192">192</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">On locusts, <SPAN href="#Page_192">192</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Japanese crab, <SPAN href="#Page_152">152</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Jellyfishes, <SPAN href="#Page_26">26-35</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Beauties of, <SPAN href="#Page_27">27</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Development of, <SPAN href="#Page_29">29</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Young of, <SPAN href="#Page_29">29</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">June bugs, <SPAN href="#Page_197">197</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">K</li>
<li class="indx">Kallima, <SPAN href="#Page_215">215</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">L</li>
<li class="indx">Labium, <SPAN href="#Page_206">206</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Labrum, <SPAN href="#Page_208">208</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lake Mono, <SPAN href="#Page_207">207</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lamp shell, <SPAN href="#Page_80">80</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Land crab, <SPAN href="#Page_149">149</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_150">150</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Larva, <SPAN href="#Page_163">163</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lasso, <SPAN href="#Page_28">28</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Leaf hopper, <SPAN href="#Page_201">201</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Leech, <SPAN href="#Page_82">82</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lepidoptera, <SPAN href="#Page_217">217</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lernæans, <SPAN href="#Page_136">136</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Limax, <SPAN href="#Page_115">115</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lime, <SPAN href="#Page_50">50</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Limnoria, <SPAN href="#Page_138">138</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Limpet, <SPAN href="#Page_105">105</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_108">108</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lingula, <SPAN href="#Page_80">80</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lobster, <SPAN href="#Page_132">132</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_140">140</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Locust, <SPAN href="#Page_190">190</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lucernaria, <SPAN href="#Page_30">30</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Luminous crab, <SPAN href="#Page_157">157</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">M</li>
<li class="indx">Macrocheira, <SPAN href="#Page_152">152</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mactra, <SPAN href="#Page_101">101</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Malay, <SPAN href="#Page_72">72</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mammoth Cave, <SPAN href="#Page_143">143</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mantis, <SPAN href="#Page_186">186</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">May fly, <SPAN href="#Page_178">178</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Melicerta, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Metridia, <SPAN href="#Page_156">156</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mimicry, <SPAN href="#Page_186">186</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mimicry of insects, <SPAN href="#Page_187">187</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mite, <SPAN href="#Page_166">166</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mole cricket, <SPAN href="#Page_201">201</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Moseley, Dr., <SPAN href="#Page_147">147</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mosquito, <SPAN href="#Page_208">208</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Development of, <SPAN href="#Page_209">209</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Moth, <SPAN href="#Page_221">221</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mushroom coral, <SPAN href="#Page_46">46</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mussel, <SPAN href="#Page_97">97</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mygale, <SPAN href="#Page_176">176</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">N</li>
<li class="indx">Nassa, <SPAN href="#Page_107">107</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Natica, <SPAN href="#Page_106">106</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">National Museum, <SPAN href="#Page_122">122</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Nemesia, <SPAN href="#Page_174">174</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Nereis, <SPAN href="#Page_86">86</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Noctiluca, <SPAN href="#Page_16">16</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Noctiluca, phosphorescence, <SPAN href="#Page_16">16</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Norway lobster, <SPAN href="#Page_129">129</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Nummulites, <SPAN href="#Page_13">13</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">O</li>
<li class="indx">Ocean, <SPAN href="#Page_15">15</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Lime in, <SPAN href="#Page_15">15</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Octopus, <SPAN href="#Page_122">122</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Onchidium, <SPAN href="#Page_155">155</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="isub1">Eyes of, <SPAN href="#Page_155">155</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ophiocoma, <SPAN href="#Page_62">62</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Oyster crab, <SPAN href="#Page_152">152</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">P</li>
<li class="indx">Paper nautilus, <SPAN href="#Page_125">125</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Paramœcium, <SPAN href="#Page_12">12</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pearl, <SPAN href="#Page_94">94</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pelagia, <SPAN href="#Page_35">35</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pentacrinus, <SPAN href="#Page_56">56</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pentacta, <SPAN href="#Page_71">71</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Peripatus, <SPAN href="#Page_164">164</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Philippines, <SPAN href="#Page_113">113</SPAN>.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</SPAN></span></li>
<li class="indx">Phorus, <SPAN href="#Page_103">103</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Phosphorescence, <SPAN href="#Page_7">7</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_84">84</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_156">156</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Phyllium, <SPAN href="#Page_189">189</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Physalia, <SPAN href="#Page_33">33</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Physophora, <SPAN href="#Page_36">36</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Planarian, <SPAN href="#Page_73">73</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pleurobranchia, <SPAN href="#Page_53">53</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Polycirrus, <SPAN href="#Page_86">86</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Polyp, <SPAN href="#Page_46">46</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Polyzoan, <SPAN href="#Page_77">77</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pompilius, <SPAN href="#Page_223">223</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Porpita, <SPAN href="#Page_37">37</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Potato bug, <SPAN href="#Page_198">198</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Prawns, <SPAN href="#Page_142">142</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Praya, <SPAN href="#Page_36">36</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pteropod, <SPAN href="#Page_115">115</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">R</li>
<li class="indx">Radiolarian, <SPAN href="#Page_14">14</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Razor clam, <SPAN href="#Page_99">99</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Reef, <SPAN href="#Page_53">53</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rhizostoma, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rotifer, <SPAN href="#Page_76">76</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">S</li>
<li class="indx">San Clemente, <SPAN href="#Page_112">112</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sand collar, <SPAN href="#Page_106">106</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sand dollar, <SPAN href="#Page_67">67</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sand flea, <SPAN href="#Page_138">138</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Santa Catalina, <SPAN href="#Page_32">32</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_50">50</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_109">109</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sapphirina, <SPAN href="#Page_167">167</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Scale insects, <SPAN href="#Page_203">203</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Scorpion, <SPAN href="#Page_160">160</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sea anemone, <SPAN href="#Page_38">38</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_43">43</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sea cucumber, <SPAN href="#Page_70">70</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_71">71</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sea pen, <SPAN href="#Page_54">54</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sea slug, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Semper, Dr., <SPAN href="#Page_82">82</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sepia, <SPAN href="#Page_118">118</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Serpulæ, <SPAN href="#Page_88">88</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Shrimps, <SPAN href="#Page_131">131</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sierra Madre, <SPAN href="#Page_172">172</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Silk worm, <SPAN href="#Page_219">219</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Siphon, <SPAN href="#Page_92">92</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Snail, <SPAN href="#Page_90">90</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Soft-shelled crab, <SPAN href="#Page_147">147</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Southern California, <SPAN href="#Page_7">7</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Spicules, <SPAN href="#Page_21">21</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_72">72</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Spider, <SPAN href="#Page_168">168</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Spider crab, <SPAN href="#Page_151">151</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Spirit crab, <SPAN href="#Page_128">128</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sponges, <SPAN href="#Page_18">18</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Squash bug, <SPAN href="#Page_199">199</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Squid, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_120">120</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_121">121</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Squilla, <SPAN href="#Page_139">139</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Starfish, <SPAN href="#Page_60">60</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_64">64</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stings, <SPAN href="#Page_229">229</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_233">233</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stone lilies, <SPAN href="#Page_56">56</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">St. Paul's Rocks, <SPAN href="#Page_147">147</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sucker, <SPAN href="#Page_122">122</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Syllis, <SPAN href="#Page_86">86</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Synapta, <SPAN href="#Page_72">72</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">T</li>
<li class="indx">Taltritus, <SPAN href="#Page_138">138</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Tarantula, <SPAN href="#Page_174">174</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Terebratula, <SPAN href="#Page_80">80</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Teredo, <SPAN href="#Page_100">100</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Tiger beetle, <SPAN href="#Page_196">196</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Timos, <SPAN href="#Page_175">175</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Trichina, <SPAN href="#Page_75">75</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_76">76</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Tritonia, <SPAN href="#Page_114">114</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Trochus, <SPAN href="#Page_103">103</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Turritella, <SPAN href="#Page_103">103</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">U</li>
<li class="indx">Univalve, <SPAN href="#Page_104">104</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Urchin, <SPAN href="#Page_65">65</SPAN>, <SPAN href="#Page_69">69</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">V</li>
<li class="indx">Velella, <SPAN href="#Page_35">35</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">W</li>
<li class="indx">Walking stick, <SPAN href="#Page_188">188</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Wasp, <SPAN href="#Page_167">167</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Water boatman, <SPAN href="#Page_200">200</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Water flea, <SPAN href="#Page_136">136</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">Web, <SPAN href="#Page_169">169</SPAN>.</li>
<li class="indx">White ant, <SPAN href="#Page_184">184</SPAN>.</li>
</ul>
<hr class="chap" />
<h3>ELEMENTARY NATURE STUDY</h3></div>
<p class="bold">
Abbott's A Boy on a Farm 45 cents</p>
<p>Two stories by Jacob Abbott, revised, and in new and attractive form.
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<p class="bold">
Bartlett's Animals at Home 45 cents</p>
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<p class="bold">
Holder's Stories of Animal Life 60 cents</p>
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<p class="bold">
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<p>This book furnishes children with entertaining and instructive reading in
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<p class="ph3">AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<h3>Burnet's Zoölogy</h3></div>
<p class="center">FOR</p>
<p class="ph3">HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES</p>
<p class="center">BY</p>
<p class="ph4">MARGARETTA BURNET<br/>
<span class="smaller">Teacher of Zoölogy, Woodward High School, Cincinnati, O.</span></p>
<p class="center">Cloth, 12mo, 216 pages. Illustrated. Price, 75 cents</p>
<hr class="tb" />
<p>This new text-book on Zoölogy is intended for classes
in High Schools, Academies, and other Secondary Schools.
While sufficiently elementary for beginners in the study it is
full and comprehensive enough for students pursuing a
regular course in the Natural Sciences. It has been prepared
by a practical teacher, and is the direct result of school-room
experience, field observation and laboratory practice.</p>
<p>The design of the book is to give a good general knowledge
of the subject of Zoölogy, to cultivate an interest in
nature study, and to encourage the pupil to observe and to
compare for himself and then to arrange and classify his
knowledge. Only typical or principal forms are described,
and in their description only such technical terms are used
as are necessary, and these are carefully defined.</p>
<p>Each subject is fully illustrated, the illustrations being
selected and arranged to aid the pupil in understanding the
structure of each form.</p>
<hr class="tb" />
<p class="center"><em>Copies of Burnet's School Zoölogy will be sent prepaid to any address,
on receipt of the price, by the Publishers</em>:</p>
<p class="ph3">American Book Company</p>
<p class="ph4">
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<hr class="chap" />
<h3>Birds of the United States</h3></div>
<p class="ph3">A Manual for the Identification of Species East of the
Rocky Mountains</p>
<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">Austin C. Apgar</span></p>
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<p class="center">Cloth, 12mo, 415 pages, with numerous illustrations. Price, $2.00</p>
<p>The object of this book is to encourage the study of
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while thoroughly scientific and accurate, is interesting
and popular in form and attractive to the reader or
student. It covers the following divisions and subjects:</p>
<div class="blockquot">
<p><span class="smcap">Part I.</span> A general description of Birds and an explanation
of the technical terms used by ornithologists.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Part II.</span> Classification and description of each species
with Key.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Part III.</span> The study of Birds in the field, with Key for
their identification.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Part IV.</span> Preparation of Bird specimens.</p>
</div>
<p>The descriptions of the several species have been prepared
with great care and present several advantages over
those in other books. They are short and so expressed
that they may be recalled readily while looking at the
bird. They are thus especially adapted for field use. The
illustrations were drawn especially for this work. Their
number, scientific accuracy, and careful execution add much
to the value and interest of the book. The general Key to
Land and Water Birds and a very full index make the
book convenient and serviceable both for the study and
for field work.</p>
<hr class="tb" />
<p class="center"><em>Apgar's Birds of the United States will be sent, prepaid, to any address
on receipt of the price by the Publishers</em>:</p>
<p class="ph3">American Book Company</p>
<p class="ph4">
NEW YORK ◆ CINCINNATI ◆ CHICAGO</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<h3>Baldwin's School Readers</h3></div>
<p class="ph4">By <span class="smcap">James Baldwin</span></p>
<p class="center">Editor of "Harper's Readers," Author of "Old Greek Stories," "Old
Stories of the East," etc.</p>
<p>In method and in subject matter, as well as in artistic
and mechanical execution, these new readers establish an
ideal standard, equally well adapted for city and country
schools. They possess many original and meritorious
features which are in accord with the most approved
methods of instruction, and which will commend them to
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<p class="blockquot">
First Year, 128 pp. 25 cents<br/>
Second Year, 160 pp. 35 cents<br/>
Third Year, 208 pp. 40 cents<br/>
Fourth Year, 208 pp. 40 cents<br/>
Fifth Year, 208 pp. 40 cents<br/>
Sixth Year, 240 pp. 45 cents<br/>
Seventh Year, 240 pp. 45 cents<br/>
Eighth Year, 240 pp. 45 cents</p>
<p>For the convenience of ungraded schools, and for all
who may prefer them in such combined form, an edition
corresponding to the ordinary five book series of school
readers will be furnished as follows:</p>
<p>BALDWIN'S SCHOOL READERS—FIVE BOOK EDITION</p>
<p class="blockquot">
First Year, 128 pages 25 cents<br/>
Second Year, 160 pages 35 cents<br/>
Third Year, 208 pages 40 cents<br/>
Combined Fourth and Fifth Years. 416 pages 60 cents<br/>
Combined Sixth and Seventh Years. 480 pages 65 cents</p>
<hr class="tb" />
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on receipt of the price.</em></p>
<p class="ph3">American Book Company</p>
<p class="ph4">
New York ◆ Cincinnati ◆ Chicago</p>
<div class='transnote'>
<h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3>
<p>Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired.</p>
<p>Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained.</p>
<p>In index: Corrected page number for "Web" to <SPAN href="#Page_169">169</SPAN></p>
<p>In index: Corrected page for "Honey Ant" to <SPAN href="#Page_227">227</SPAN></p>
</div>
<SPAN name="endofbook"></SPAN>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />