The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-05-20

The sea-cucumbers, or as they are known
in the scientific world, the hoEothxria, are
extraordinary looking creatures, which
vary in size from two or three inches:
length, TO more Ii a yard. They bear
some resemblance to a cucumber, being n
long worm-like cylinder open at one end.
Their exterior is ruflled with little pro-
Jections, which are usually armed with
minute sharp hooks, by which the animal
can hang on TO foreign bodies for a few
seconds.
Many of the species are able to produce
from their external pores a most irritating
fluid, which causes the hand that touches
them 10 itch intolerably. But the creature
possesses n most wonderful power: when
from any cause it fears death, it can eject
all its teeth, its stomach, its digestive APP
paratus, and reduce itself to a simple mem
braneous sac. DIR. Johnston kept one of
these animals in an aquarium; for some
reason or other he neglected TO feed it, and
when after some days he visited it, he
found all its internal apparatus thrown
out on the loor of the vessel, and the holo-
thuria itself was n shrunkcn, d~ilapidated,
and empty tube. Yet it was alive, and in
three months had reproduced all its organs
anew. Another singular property they
possess is that Of being able TO divide them
selvesonto two parts, each part becoming
n separate creature. When his phcnome-
non is in progress, the middle OF the ami
nal begins to contract, and the extremi-
ties to enlarge. This goes OH until the
center is but Il thread at last it snaps, and
forms two distict creatures, which in time
furnish themselves with all the necessary
organs. Our fishermen throw away the sea-
cucumbers, which are sometimes brought
up in their nets, and the South-sea Island
prS cannot even lOOlr InOp thpnn without
loathinS. But this is not universally the
case. The Chinese relish them greatly,
and ~"trepang," as they call the holothuria,
forms n very prominent article in all the
Chinese markets. The great trepang fishers
are the Malays. The experiences with which
they capture these creatures is marvellous.
By long experience they can see a trepang
at n depth of thirty yards. They then
poise a harpoon made of a long bamboo,
and seldom or never miss their aim. To
prepare it the fish is boiled, then beaten
fiat with stones, and finally dried in the
sun. 1t is said that a soup can be made
with it, little if at all inferior TO that made
from the turtle.
The syuGp,a,a peculiar genus OF the holo,
thurias, is n native of the English Channel.
1t is n beautiful creature, a cylinder of
which seems rs if it were made of rose
colorcd crystal, and passing through this
tube appears five narrow ribbons of white
silk, which mingling together form the
head. The tissues are finer than the thin
est game; and yet this creature lives on q
sandy bottom, and it is gorged from one
end to the other with sand; the sharp an
giles OF the grains can be seen with the
naked eye, and yet they do not injure the
fine membranes through which they pass.
The synapta has also a peculiar mode of
meeting famine; just MS n general turns
out of n be~leaguered city all the useless
mouths, so does his creature cut off the
useless parts OF its body. 1t effects this by
first forming n compression or ring, which
gradually tightens until all that part of
the cylinder which is below it drops of.
A synapta has been known to continue this
self-destruction until only the head was
left, and in that head resided the life, which.
us soon as food was supplied to it, began to
reconstruct the body it had so unceremo-
niously rejected.