Huntsville gazette., 1886-09-04
THE MUSSEI1.
An Ancient Spinner Which Comes
Of Good Family.

In the "good old days. before the in
vention of the spinning-jenny and the
steam-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 ac-
count Of fair maiden at a aespinning g
wheel and a very ancient rhyme refers
to The days ''when Adam delved and
Eve span" When young lady was
growing of a marriageable age, in the
days of the spinning-wheel.. 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 a change
full world. EThereis 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 60, but they go on
forever, y .Allthe chan ges of our COM
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 naturalists call them
Mytilass edulis. They deserve good
name, for they are an ancient and hon
orable family, that have fought a good
fight in the fierce battle Of life, and
have endured through long ages, while
many others have perished.
Every one who has visited the sea-
shore must have noticed at times lit
tie mussel forming the center of tam
gled mass of threads, shells, stones
and all sorts of fragments. These are
bound together by the lSbor of the
black-shelled spinster. Instead of an
choring to a rock, as a wellbehaved
littlemussel ought to 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
mark ANhen covered by the tide, he
opens his doors, and angles for a 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 a steel safe, and
keeps his mouth shut, with q lot of
water. inside, until the tide covers him
again.s f.tf
How the Frenchmen have learned
the habits of this well-known little
spinner, and cultivated him, and made
of HIM 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-
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 worlds wonder
lore.g Fhe little spinner lives. in a soft,
tieshy ..mantle, g inside Of his stony
house. On the edge of this mantle are
tiny fingers (citia) and little pigment
cells with which he builds; The mate
rial-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 psiriew, so does the
food of the little spinner go to form his
delicate tissues land his hard shelly
house. The mussel-house is as much
a part of the mussel's life as our homes
are part of our lives, and the processes
of building are not so very different
either; both are simple, both are mys-
terious. s-,.r sEF
To watch. this little spinner make
his thread is very interesting. From
one side of his house protrudes very
curious little pad of flesh, a quaint,
pointed sort of tab. This is called
his .s,foot, 7 though. it might just as well
have been calledh his hand. He touches
the rock, or whatever he desires to at
tach himself to, with his foot, then
with draws it, leaving a tiny thread,
whichhe has made by some nlys.
tic process, in his own body, just
as a spider makes her silken
cord. The foot comes out again
until unit a1sstroke rope Is woven,
which binds him securely to his chosen
home. He can shorten or lengther
this cable by simple contractile mo-
ton, which alloys him alittle7piay
but he may be ssih .1obe fixed for life
once he settles down. After a severe
storm, some of them will generally be
found onthe shore, driven from theil
mooringsS helpless and homeless onStht
strand ! bat they can stand the storm
as well as the ships of more skilfu
people, and their disasters at, sea are
probably Bless numerous in proportion
than ours are. ,-t,.
had one little fellow in an aquar
jun, who had been gathered from
spot where the tide left him for Ions
,,ay.;od every dav He did not care Il