Buchanan County bulletin and guardian., 1868-03-20

Inhabitant of the Interior thou livest in
the Paradise of the Unios Net cou,rac>
ton Of the phrase union savers, albeit the
West Is the home Of such, in the best sense.
1t Is Latin word, meaning pearl, and gives
name to genus and family Of fresh>wa.e.
species iu the valley Of the Mississippi, that
the region has long been known among sci
enti6c Europeans as the Paradise Of the
Unios."
Smile not ct the lively imagination in the
title. No less than six hundred species Of
the family, Unionide, already have been
found in North America. The shells are
all solid pearl, and sometimes, especially
the old diseased ones, contain pearls OF walls
ne. There is said 10 be one in the British
crown, and another for which the Duchess
of Ormond refused eighty pounds sterling.
have seen one from Vermont, worth forty
dollars but, in this country, the business Of
hunting them has not been very pro6ta>
BILE.
The outside Of the shells is homely enough.
black, brown or olive, yet is of . beautiful
green tint 10 certain species, with radiating
bands Of other shades. The interior is pure
lustrous nacre, white, yellow, salmon, pink
or purple. Gathered alive and fresh, nicely
cleaned and oiled, the specimens make .
goodly show in a cabinet, with their various
colors and odd shapes. And then they are
home specimens, such as are always most
interesting to stranger, and should be rs
much 30 to US as things brought from afar.
The unios, too. are probably good exchan-
ges still. Whatever your region has that is
peculiar and good of its kind, by means Of
!. you can build up cabinet of anything
minerals, fossils, sea>shells-namely, by ex.
change. Moreover, VIC may end come pearls
of moral lesson in these shells. So smile
not.
But first let 10 take little walk in this
Paradise Of Pearls-this Elysum of the Wa
ter.Nymphs, for this family of bivalves was
called Naiades by Lamarck. Starting from
the lowered villa Of our friend B., on y low
bluff that overlooks the winding Raccoon
River, at the west end Of the city Of Des
Moines, few steps bring US to the water.
At this gravelly ford we shall have poor sue
cess, for mussels love softer bed. Here in
this deep sand bottom, our iron rake brings
up many beautiful shell, Of light olive
color, reddening toward the beaks, with ra-
dating lines Of dark blueish green, ard the
interior pearl exquisitely flushed with pink |;
in shape like " U. occideus.' Here in this
shallow, behold the creaturesa studiag on
their thin edges, With long fassows in the
sand marking their course b. these We can
trace and end them, even If they have bur-
led themselves from sight. Here on this
cape of soft mud, dock of geese have done
much for US in gathering and opening shells,
though they have spoiled scme Of them BY
breaking tho edges. ThAnks to them for
several species, one Of them long, black, with
deep purple interior, much like ~. gibbo>
sus"-hump or crooked>backed. And here
are boys bathing, who are ready 10 get any
quantity Of the mussels for rs, BY feeling af.
Ter them with their toes in deep water. And
now Ne wade across the stream and walk to
yonder steep bank, with its tangled roots,
beneath lofty cotton woods and borrowed
grape. vines, opposite the deepest water and
soflest ooxe. Here the muskrats have had
u.p; 4 feast Of mussels, and leh pilcs Of
shelIs,
Our half,bushel basket i full at last. We
are rich. We have about twenty species
and varieties, gathered in space Of . fe~
rods. This must be Aargaritana rugosa''
Tho wrinklsd pearl and prestily wr;nkled
il 10, with cosn>colored interior. Aud lhis
somewhat round shell, with deep obiique
folds, must be the " y. plicatus" folded, IL
the interior beautifully iridescent at one end
And these still roundsr, knotty fsllows-one
! With transverse ridges-ws will call asper'
rimus" and " Sch0olcraftsnsis." When ~
reach home and compare them With nam
suit Of shells from the Snithsouisn Institu
ton, can be uors certain about some Of oa
treaiure-as certain at isast - Dr., Lea, o
Philadelphia, who is the authority on Unios
but must sometimes bs perplsxed With grs
datioas and varieties, think. He calls on
species " perplexus." :.
Ycuder beautiful house, now being bull
ON the highest bluff above us-costlier tha
auy mansion west Of Chicago, it is said
has no more precious substance aud 6ue 6r
ish than these unios and your charmin
rssidence, friend Savory, on lower platea
Of the bluff al this yery point, has nothis
in i,s treasured msmentos Of Europe MOI
nearly than our basket>full, gathered rigl
, here In the Paradise Of Pearls,
The next step, sher returning q the hous
| i 70 plunge The musssls into Boiling vate
few u,cmeuts, amer which the animal es