American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1881-09-10

stuuy, Salu nc 1elU sure ne COulu save
the bridge from being swept away. So
he took men and boats and brought
hundreds of thousands of nusseis-yes,
Insignificant little mussels--and placed
them among the stones of the arches.
The result roved the wisdom OF the
man who had watched their industry.
They went to work and spun their
threads all over the stones. and bound
them together so firmly that the tide
and waves had no more power to wash
them away.
To this day the town of Bideford
keeps men and boats at work to replace
the little spinners as they die, or are
torn away by heavy freshets; and so
valuable does it deem these humble
guardians of the bridge that it has
passed law by which any person who
tears loose the mussels from the arches
shall be nsported-which, as you
know, is a terrible punishment.
1t is not only at Blddeford, either, that
our little spit1ners of the sea have served
mankind in the same way, for in France
the Cherbourg Breakwater is made Sc
cure by the strong threads spun over
them by the tons upon tons of mussels
that wise Government caused to be
placed among them.
You can Judge something of the man.
ner in which these threads hold by put
ting a mussel in an aquarium. Very
soon you will find it fast anchored to
the sides of the glass or stones, and
then you will have to break the strong
threads, as the only way of Ioosening
the spinner from his hold.
There is a kind of mussel in the
Mediterranean Sea which manufactures
d silky thread in such large quantities
that the people of Sicily used to make
it into gloves and stockings, which
brought extremely high prices, not
only because of their beauty, but on
account of their strange origin. So
highly were they valued, in fact, that.
in the year 1854, Pope Benedict the
Fifteenth was presented with pair of
stockings made of the silk threads spun
by these humble workmen of the sea,
and the gift was thought one worthy
of the exalted station Of the receiver.
But, in their actual toll. or handi-
work, as it were, our little spinners
have not exhausted all their usefulness.
In. the cool winter weather (but not in
the warmer months) the sea-mussels
form wholesome, palatable food, and
in some places they are brought from
the parts of the coast and placed
mouths of rivers emptying into the sea
so that the cities near by maybe sup
piled with an abundance of fine, fresh
musSels. -,
There is yet another manufacture in
which the humble mussel exce!s. which,
il Of less zeal utility, is far more beautiful
than the threads they spin.
Even as far back as the times Of the
ancient Romans, the rivers of Brita n
were famous. for the beautiful pearls
found in the mussels that dwelt in
them. and we are told that the desire
to possess these gems was one of the
chief motives of Casar's expedition to
Britain.
Along the River Earn. branch of
the Tay, the gathering OF pearl-mussels
is a great industry. and many are the
families who are supported by their
sale.
Among the great jewels of the Brit
ish crown is a magnificent pearl. which
was manufactured by n mussel in the
River Conway, during the reign of King
Charles the Second. =
Then, too. thou IN the outer side, or
epidermis of the mussel is brown and
homely. If it is stripped of. it is found
to be so beautiful in its tnts as to be
used for mo. her-of pearl, and valuable
ornaments are made of it.
Is it not wonderful how much there
is to tell. even about poor little mus
sell that we carelessly tear loose from
its home and cut up for fish bait, or
trample beneath our feet?
And is it not strange how often we
see things with our eyes, and yet do
not see them at all with our under
standings?
There is so much to learn in this
marvellous world OF ours, that we hard
ly know where to begin to study it all!
expect YOU thought you knew all
about the little brown mussel. but-did
youa-Heten Harconrt. in Golden Days.