The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-04-23


A sharks stomach to a sailor is mat |
ter of extreme interest. Let's see /
what's inside of him." is Jacks first |
thought when the monster lies dead on
tho deck though Jack is invariably |
disappointed Of finding treasures sill
yer watch for instance, would Eli his
soul with pleasure. The ultimate util-
ization Of the shark In his hands is TO
make a skeleton of the jaws, and
walking-stick of the spinal column.
That sharks viii attack large boats
bodily, is well known. Tampico, on the
coast Of Mexico, is place well known
TO sailors as famous for the most villain
Gus of sharks. A large one on one oc-
casion attacked a ships boat entering
the river, and shook it so as to be felt.
OF course the story was pooh-pOohed,
on being related by the officer In charge
on his return TO the ship; but, shortly az
ter, when the boat was hauled up to the
daYits, sharks teeth were found stuck
fast on each side of her keel. Possibly,
this shark was relation TO the owner
of the skeleton which adorns the Uni
ted States service museum, which is
said to have nearly swallowed boat.
As I write these lines sitting under
the awning on deck, a dead, hot calm
after broiling day, the ship swinging
laziDg to the current of the TampicO
river, hear loud splash. rush. to
the side, and see the sharks swimming
round an empty pcfk-barrel that the
cook had Just hea7ed overheard IN q
few minutes a dozen or so will be fight
ing round it. A story is told that on
one occasion a shark managed to get
himself into an empty casz, and having
done so, that the cask righted, and he
was, so to speak, drowned. However,
I now can see the empty pork-barrel
drifted a good distance away, spinning
rocnd and round and round under the
impetus of shoal of sharks. For the
moment the ship's neighborhood is left
to smaller fry-doghsh, BOndtOs B0TT0-
cOntaS, and jelly-fish of different sorts.
The prettiest of these latter are the
Portuguese men-of-war (PhysGLiG); ir-
ridescent like magnificent soap-bubbles,
they sail with the stream, with appar-
emily as little purpose, and yet they
live and feed themselves with their long
tentacles. One can, however, scarcely
credit them with any endowment be-
yond reflex action. It is curious, how
ever, to watch them as they float slowly
by. opal-like: and curious to behold
their little parasite-for they have a
parasite, too-as he swims IN and out
between the tentacles, keeping close to
the roots. He is a tiny little fish like
minnow, and apparently makes use of
his friend as trap to catch his food.
Among the animal curiosities in warm
| South American countries, are the ants,
| which buTroW and swarm in certain dis
| tricts. It is not pleasant to accidentally
| disturb q nest of black ants but the
white ants are much more formidable.
| Those last mentioned are nearly half an
inch long, and there are. others larger,
and there are also some as small as the
head of an ordinary ant Two varieties
are fond of inhabited houses, and very
useful members OF the community they
/ make, as they consume a quantity of
dead vegetable and animal matter that
IN hot climate would rapidly decom-
pose. The strength of these little ami
mails is amazing; forty or fifty viii seize
dead cockroach and drag it up wall,
and yet, in comparison, they are so
small, that the cOckroach appears to be
conveying himself to his own grave
Naturalists find the ants great pests,
but, like every evil, they can be turned
to good by q little control. There are
no more delicate anatomists, and by
employing the proper workmen, the
most perfect specimens of skeleton
work may be produced. The writer,
/
his cabin-one lived in the tray of a
water color box-for the purpose of pre-
pairing skeletons. A specimen-say a
humming bird-being placed on shelf
in a small box, within an hour a stream
Of ants might be seen wandering about
in its vicinity. The next morning the
body of the bird would be black NOV
ing mass, while regular living road,
formed of ants going and returning,
led from their nest to their prey. The
naturalist must watch these workmen
carefully, for having finished the fsath-
ers and soft parts, they will begin to eat
the bones so that when the skeleton
is nearly clean, it is necessary to employ
more delicate artisans. These are the
very tiny yellow ants, so small as to be
scarcely visible at short distance. The
skeleton must be placed near them In a
box with single minute aperture, and
then they work diligently, consuming
the tendOns, skin, or any other soft par
left by their predecessors they do moi
: touch the bones, which afterwards
, should be vanished and kept in cam
phor, drug detested by all the species
! Walking along the line of the Panams
! railway, one may see any day long
narrow streak, as if of green paint, OF
the rcd earth alongside the rails OF
|, approaching little closer, the streak o.
paint is seen to be alive, and a closer
inspection shows it to be composed Of
! millions of large red ants, each carry
ing a bit of green leaf in its mandibles
{ The negroes tell you they put the leaves
over their heads when q shower comes
ON. eyes, massa, he do he no like
rain, an dat his umbrella" However
; it is more than probable that Sambo'l
imagination is at fault. These paths O.
ants are often over mile in length, ant
are at least two inches wide-abcut fif
teen to twenty individuals take up tn,
square inch-I shall leave the numbel
in a mile to be worked out by the boy
: some evening. 1t is curious fact tina
snakes have q strong personal antipAth1
7 | to these ant-paths, and will not eros
! them without q great necessity.
/ As have mentioned snakes, I may a
2 we'll say what / have TO say of them
| There are a good many venomous snake
' in Central America and the West Indii
r islands. The rattlesnake abounds IL
4 Demerara, and I believe the bush-mas
4 ter. The tigrello in Santa Martha. Thi
q is a venomous little beast that kills in
! couple of hours. I recollect walking
; one evening with shipmate along on
I of the acaeia-shaded lanes outside tn
snakes coiled round his leg. He for
g tunately had a whip in his hand witt
v which he struck and killed it. The rat
tail snake-so called because its tail j
. prolonged and finished like that of tn
e rats vicious animal, the poison be
, ing very active.
i The history of the rat-tsil snake il
e Martinique is rathed peculiar. It flour
d ished there to such an extent that o
a late years every field of cane that wa
G cut was accountable for at least on
b death by snake-bite. It was Originally
|. imported to destroy rats-its favorit
o 9rey-which invested and destroyed tn
q sugar cane. Within the last few year
J. the people of Martinique have adopte,
J, another member of the snake brother
d hood-a nOn-poisonous but very viciou
& species. The carpet-snake is blRcl
= snake with white belly, and he ap
it pears to have conceived the most insati
t able enmity against the rat-tail snake
It a sight OF one throws him into a stat
n of semi-insanity. and If Won find a COZ