Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-08-26
WRECKS ON THE SHORE.
The Many Wonderful Things Packed In
Ono Little llO1.


The Many Wonderful Things Packed In
One Little box.
Most Of the curious things you pick
up on the scashorc are really wrecks
deserted houses, cast-Of clothes, or
outgrown cradles and retreats Of some
of the many strange and wonderful
creatures that live in the sea. II we
could read the tales they might tell we
should have more fascinating and
marvellous story book than was ever
printed. Some of them we can read,
thanks to close watching and long
study, aud want to tell you few Of
the queer things We have found out.
One of the prettiest objects to be
found OH the shore is lovely box as
white as snow, and more fragile than
the tlinncst china. It is covered with
pattern Of tiny knobs and holes. that
look like delicate carving, and it Is
round in shape, ila,tened on top cx-
actly like common white turnip.
These boxes are found of many sizes,
from little ones, the size of pea, up
to grcat-grandmothcrs rs big rs the
top Of tumble, and in some parts OF
the world rs big as dining plate.
In this elegant house lived once =
very strange fellow called n sea urchin.
lis mouth opened on the under side OF
his body, where the larger hole is in
the shell, and at that point he had five
big teeth. quite able to cut and dispose
of any thing he wished to eat His
house, this pretty box. was covered
with long, sharp spines like thorns,
that made him an unpleasant fellow to
take up. A spine stood up on every
one of the tiny knobs OH the shell. and
could move about on 1t, exactly - you
can move your arm on the shoulder.
His feet were perhaps the oldest
part of him, though every thing about
him was strange. To begin with, he
had dozens of them; one coming out
| of each of tho little holes on the shell.
Then they could be stretched out rs
long as hc wished, and the legs Gou
may call thcm) wcyc, of course. not
larger than threads. The foot itself,
| ut the end Of each thrcad-liko leg, was
round Hat, like n boys leather
A
"sucker," and they worked in the
same way; that is, when the urchin
wanted to walk he thrust ont his feet
on one side till they touched some
thing, where they stuck, held there, II
is said, by drawing out the air under
them; then he pulled himself along.
Ii you find one alive, rs you easily
can in the pools among the rocks on
our rocky coasts (as in MaiHc). and
put him in a soup plate of sea water.
YOU will soon sec how he walks. lie
will push out dozens Of silvcry threads.
faslen the little round feet at the ends
to the side of the plate, and travel
quite rapidly around it, to find tho way
out. Try to lift him then. and you will
find yon can not do it except by tear
ing away some Of his feet
One Of the most interesting things is
the way he grows. The baby sea
urchin is about US big rs the dot over
one of the is on this page; one can
just see it moving slowly about in the
water; but with a microscope he proves
to be an elegant little fellow, of the
oldest shape, perhaps more like a
painters easel than any thing else. II
is made of clear, glassy.looking rods,
with rosc-colored lips on some OF the
upper ones, and covered with little
spccks that reflect light and make il
very brilliant. 1t moves about by wav-
ing in the water fringes of delicate
hairs-cilia the books call them-and
1t is so very small that the waving OF
hairs will move 1t about.
Now, what Is oldest about this queer
object is really sort of living cradle,
for after awhile the real baby forms on
one side, and rs 1t grows and becomes
able to take care OF itself, tho beautiful
CLASSY cradle wastes away, till, wher
the young urchin can use its feet. and
drag about its cradle (or nurse. rs II
has been called), it wholly disappears,
and the infant has nothing to do bui
How do you suppose this delicate
shell house gets biggcr3 for the urchir
never has but one, and when he was
the size of q pin.head 1t was not toe
big for him, and when he Is rs large a'
teacup 1t still fits him. Let me tel
YOU. When tho owner lived in 1t th'
box was made Of several hundred
pieces, and covered by the thin skin o'
the living urchin. One work OF this
skin was to enlarge tho house as fast
rs he grew. and 1t was done by CON
slant adding of building material to
the edges OF each piece; thus each one
became bigger, and yet they always
fitted together. So you may say thai
the box grew us well us the urchin thai
lived in II.
Surely more wonders were neve'
packed in one little box; and haven''
told you all of them. either. 1t would
take the whole paper TO give the com