The Monitor., 1884-06-06
ANIMALS THAT HOLD FAST TO
LIFE

ANIMALS THAT HOLD FAST TO
LIFE.
'' Your will hardly credit it" said Staten
Island fisherman whom reporter talked with
the other day, but the head of 6. turtle will
retain very marked interest in existence
long after its body has been served up in soup
and steaks, l believe it is a well-known fact,
but | only discovered it a few months ago.
found friend engaged in shelling small
turtle Now he said, putting the head on
the dresser, that will be alive and active to-
morrow morning Of course I laughed at
him, but agreed to call next day and test
his prophecy. Next morning my friend
asked me to step into the kitchen. The head
was still on the dresser, and though it had
been separated from the body for at least
fourteen hours, the eyes were wide open and
bright. Take care, exclaimed my friend,
as l put my finger near the mouth. His
warning came not second too soon The
head of the turtle absolutely jumped at me-
Where its motive power came from cannot
| explain, but it moved two inches toward me,
and snapped at my finger with a viciousness
that could not have been surpassed by cor
nered rat. l think it had been holding back
its life as men of strong will power, for fixed
purposes, have been known to do, until an
of its body, for after it had made the effort
its eyes grew fixed and filmy, and in an hour
it was dead. Next to the turtle in obstinate
persistence In living must come the eel. In
recognizing the extraordinary length of time
through which an eel clings to its being un-
der the most unfavorable circumstances, peo-
pie, think, overlook the most unfavorable
condition of al-the removal of it from the
water, state of affairs sufficient in itself to
produce death.
Il do not believe that cutting an cells
head off or serving his tail the same way
shortens his life much He dies because he
is out of his element, and had he been left un-
mutilated he would have lived but little long
er. Of course, if you put him in sections
In the frying pan you place upon him bur-
den greater than he can bear and he dies
quickly; but the lesser injuries affecting
only the tail, head or skin, seem to me to
make but little impression. The fact is, an
of water. They habitually leave it of
their own accord and wander in the
fields that slope down to a creek not
far from here. l have often met
in the early morning eels making their way
down to the creek. They had spent the
night in the meadows in search of worms and
were going back. Whether an eel or any
other fish is capable of feeling acute pain I
cannot say. This l can vouch for: When an
eel has been skinned and beheaded, and seems
to be quite dead, a little salt rubbed on the
surface of the body will be apt to restore life
very quickly. A snake dies quickly under
injuries. The average snake will not live
three minutes after his head is crushed with
a stick. The eye of wild bird remains
bright for some time after you have shot it,
and is likely to cause tender-hearted sports
man on his first cunning expedition good
deal of self-reproach.
81 do not know whether CLANS would have
at any time very self-assertive existence,
but that in captivity, the clam is able at
times to make himself excessively disagree
able I have occasion to know. Not long ago
brought home a big basket of CLAIMS.
placed them in dish pail, and left them in
the kitchen. In the middle of the night my
wife aroused me, saying that there were rob-
bers in the house. With pistol in my hand
l wandered from room to room. Icould hear
most extraordinary noise, like combina-
tion of saving, filing, groaning and grunting
with an occasional watery gasp, but, for the
life of me. | could not imagine where it
came from. At last l went into the kitchen
and the mystery was solved Each clam with
his shell wide open, was making almost as
much noise as bull frog in full vigor. l
filled the pan with fresh water, which brought
either contentment or death that is to say,
it quieted them"