The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-10-12
THE MUSSEL.
An Ancient Spinner Which Comes
Of Good Family.

ventl0n OF the SplnhlnS-J Jenny anu bho
sfeam-engine, when workingmen were
slaves. and the rich had not the luXur-
les they have now, spinning was the
work of the mistress of the house.
Many good stories begin with an &C
count of fair maiden at a spinning
wheel, and very ancient rhyme refers
to the DAYS s'when Adam delyed and
Eve span" When a young lady was
growing of marridgeable age, in the
days of the spinningwheel. she made
preparation for her nuptials by spin
ming the material for sheets, table
cloths, napkins, and all manner of
household necessaries, hence she was
called a ''spinster."
Words change in their meanings
with the changing fashions of change
ful world. There is one class of spin
ners, however. to which the whir of
the loom and the steam-engine has
made but little difference. "Men may
come, and men may 90, but they go on
forever" All the changes of our CON-
pick civilization make but little differ
ence to these little spinnerS. They
live in their dark little houses; spin
their threads; live their lives; die in
peace, or else get eaten up, and pass
off the scene, making no fuss, seeking
no honor. Some people call them
mussels; scientific natufalists call them
Mytilus eduIts. They deserve good
name, for they are an ancient and hon
Orable family, that have fought good
fight in the fierce battle of life, and
have endured through long ages, while
many others have persisted.
Every one who has visited the sea-
shore must have noticed at times lit
tie mussel forming the center of tan
gled mass of threads, shells. stones
and all sorts of fragments. These are
bound together by the labor of the
black-shelled spinster. Instead Of an
choring to a rock, as a well-behaved
little mussel ought 10 have done, this
one has gone far off and anchored to
all sorts of rubbish, and been driven
and tossed by the waves of the sea in
all directions, until it has formed the
center of the tangled mass we find on
the beach. In the natural way, mus
sci settles between high and low water
marx. When covered by the tide, he
"Opens his doors, and angles for living
with his wonderful fishing apparatus,
for the spinsters of the sea are all born
fishermen. When the tide is going out
the little angler closes the valves of
: his house as tight as steel safe. and
: keeps his mouth shut, with lot OF
water inside, until the tide covers him
again.
:. How the FTenchmen have learned
the habits of this well-known little
spinner, and cultivated him, aud made
of him a cheap and nutritious article
of diet for the French nation. is well
known. How the little fellow builds
his house and weaves his ropes, is not
quite so well known. The house itself,
with its black outside. and the beauti-
81 full sky-blue, -pearlY inside, is a work
of the greatest skill, while the mechan-
!. ism by:which it is opened and closed
forms chapter in the world wonder
3ore The little spinner lives in soft,
feshy mantle, inside of his stony
house. On the edge of this mantle are
tiny fingers fcilsa) and little pigment
cells with which he builds. The mate
riaI-carbonate of lime-is extracted
from the clear sea-water by. simple
process In the life of the animal. just
as our food goes to form blood and
bone. muscle and sinew, so does the
food of the little spinner go to form his
delicate tissues and his hard shelly
house. The mussel-lOuse lis as much
q part of the musselfs life IS our homes
= are part of our lives, and the .processe:
= of building are. not so very different
: either; both are simple, both are mys
! teriouS. ,t5Zs - - 80
To watch this little, spinner make
: his thread is very Interesting. From
one side of his house protrudes q veri
pointed sort of tab. This is called
his ''foot," though it might Just as wei
r have been called his hand He touehe'
the rocks or whatever he desires to, at
taeh himself to, with his foot. theI
with draws it. leaving a tiny thread
Yhiehhe has made by :. some. mys
tic process, in his own body. Jus
as q spider makes her sike,
. cord. sa. The foot COMES out agail
and again, always fleayiagSa thread
until q strong rope issJ woven
which binds him securely TO his chosel
homesS1fR Ieafi skorseR. or lengther
this cable bya simple contraetile mo
= ton, which allows him little play
but heAnfav be said to be fixed for life
once he settles down. After a sever
: storm, some of them VIII generally b
- found On the shore. driven from thei
mooffhgs, helpless and homelesston til
: strand; but they. can, stand the storr
: .1-as well, as the ships of more skilfu
:. people. and their disasters at sea ar
:. probably less nunlerops in proportio
!. than ours are. ,as. -. .1ss,-s.- -
/. / had one little; fellow in san aqual
: JPN who had beea gathered from