Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-04-25
SLOW TO DIE.
Experiences Of q Fisherman with
Creatures That Hold Fast to Life.

Experiences Of q Fisherman with
Creatures That Hold Fast to Life.
New York SUM-
"You will hardly credit it, said a
Staten Island fisherman, whom a re-
porter talked with the Other day, "bat
the head of O turtle will retain a very
marked interest in existence long after
its body has been served up in soup
and steaks. l believe it is a we'll,
known fact, but l only discovered it
six months ago. l found a friend en-.
gagged in Smelling o small turtle. Now
he said, putting the head on the dresser,
that will be alive and active tomorrow
morning. OF course laughed at him,
but l agreed to call next day and test
his prophecy. Nextmorning 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 sixteen hours, the
eyes were wide open and bright. fake
care,' exclaimed my friend, as l put my
finger near its mouth.
His warning came not n second too
soon. The head of that turtle abso-
lutely jumped ct me. Where it's mo-
tive pc yer came from I cannot ex.
plain, but it moved two inches toward
me, and snapped at my finger with a
viciousness that could not hare been
surpassed by a cornered rat. l think
it had been holding back its life, as
men with strong will power for tixei
purposes have been known to do, until
an opportunity offered to avenge the
destruction 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 recognil-
ing the extraordinary length of time
through which an eel clings to its being
under the most ~unfavorable circum-
stances people, I think, overlook the
most unfavorable condition of all-the
removal of it from the water, a state of
affairs sufficient in itself to produce
death.
II 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
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have lived but little longer. OF course
if you put him in sections on the fry
ing-pan You place upon him a burden
greater than he can bear, and he dies
quickly; but the lesser injuries. affect
ing only the tail, head or skin, seem to
me to make but little impression. The
fact is, an eel can live an extraordinarily
long time out of water. They habitu-
ally 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 | cannot
say. This I can vouch for: When an
eel has been skinned and beheaded, and
seems to be quite deal, u 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 min
utes after his head is crushed with a
stick. The eye Of q wild bird remains
bright for some time after you have shot
it, and is likely to cause q tender
hearted sportsman on his first cunning
expedition q good deal Of s~elf-reproach.
Il don't know whether clans have at
any time a very self-assertive existence.
but that in captivity the clam is able at
times to make himself excessively dis.
agreeable I have had occasion to know.
Not long ago l brought home o basket
of CLANS. I placed them in a dish-pail
and left them in the kitchen. In the
middle OF the night my wife aroused
me, saying there were robbers in the
house. With a pistol in my hand ]
wandered from room to room l could
hear o most extraordinary noise, like
the combination of saving, filing,
grooming and granting, with an occa,
sional watery gasp, but, for the life Of
me, I could not imagine where it came
from.
"At last I went into the kitchen, and
the mystery was solved. Each clam,
with his shell wide open, was making
almost as much noise rs q bullfrog in
full vigor. I filled the pan with fresh
water, which brought either content
ment or death-that is to say, it
Quoted them"
Our Woods and Roads.
ILos Angeles Call Herald
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