The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1888-08-31
THE PILE WORMS HABITS.
It's Remarkable Ravages In Kidding Tim
ber-An Importation.

hand. The constant friction OF the waves
alone could not have done this. 1t was
the work of that dread enemy of wharf
owners and ship masters, the teredo ma
wallis. Now, could account for the
sinking in of the floor of the dock in
many places. The worm would attack a
pile and, with his numberless comrades,
eat and eat away the wood until it was
absolutely honeycombed. The waves
would then complete the work. The
point of attack chosen by these bivalvular
pests, in q pile, is from about fifteen
inches below up to high water mark.
This generally breaks the timber at about
midway between the wharf and the sur
face of the earth.
Imagine n stout pine trunk, OF diam
eter of foot and half, completely
filled with long, tortuous channels vary.
ing from one-quarter to three-quarters Of
an inch, and running from outer edge to
outer edge. Now, as thin as is this
sheet upon which 1 write these lines, as
thin as the transparent division against
which the golden honey rests in the
waxen comb, so thin are the walls be-
tween each of the fatal channels which
mark the passage and progress of the
worm through the doomed timber. AS
singular as it may seem, they never
break through, they never disturb each
other OF trespass upon each others terri
tory. There may be q thousand of them
in single pile, but no instance has yet
been found in which one of these pas
sageways intersected another or trenched
upon another's, right of way. They may
all be boring at once-some up, some
down, some laterally, some obliquely-
and they may make their division walls
as thin as it pleases them, but there is
never an infraction of this law, of abso-
lutte inviolability Of each individuals
right of way. 1t will easily be appre-
hended, therefore, how quickly timber
thus riddled will be worn away by the
constant attrition of the tides, until it
finally breaks, and brings with it in its
fall the beam above, of which it was the
support.
A study of the history and habits of
this singular worm will be found neither
uninteresting nor improbable. It's hab-
itat was originally in the tropic seas, but
being carried in the timbers of vessels
into North American and European
waters, it has become the terror and
dread Of wharfmen and captains Of I'M
sheathed sailing craft along the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts and in the harbors of
numbers of Mediterranean cities. Ac-
cording to the classification of Linn@us,
this bivalve belongs to the family of pho
ladid@, and genus teredo so called from
their habit of destroying ship or other
timber. The shell is equal Waived, and
in form it is short, thick and round and
widely open in front and rear. This
shell is situated at the inner end of
tube, somewhat cylindrical in shape, and
either straight or crooked, as the case
may be; this tube being open at each
end in the full grown specimens, and
lined or coated with white, chalky
paste or substance, which seems to be its
digestive apparatus.
The weapon of the teredo is not teeth,
as might be supposed. This singular
animal has still another popularity, de-
pendent, however, upon the one last men,
toned, for since its instrument is its foot,
so it feeds itself not from the mouth, but
noted are simply appendages of the foot.
In fact, if teredo should have his foot
amputated he would in most vital sense
close his grip" In the center of the
circular opening Of the valves the foot is
protruded, like the blade concealed in a
spring cane, and the entire arrangement
constitutes a boring machine of power
inconceivable in so small an object. But
tho strength of this machine becomes APP
parent when upon closer examination
one notes the strong rubber like ridges Of
the valves, which can contract with great
force, and the comparatively immense
size of the great abductor muscle which
enables the teredo to use its sharp foot
with the ease of an auger passing through
the softest pine.
This worm attains often n great length,
but it is usually from one foot to yard
long, its size depending on the length of
time it has been in the wood and fire.
quently on the size of the wood itself. It
is provided with two respiratory tubes,
each of which has a siphon attached to
q calcareous, fattened, triangular plate
on the outside of the body. It has two
heads-if such they can be called--each
attached to the extremity of q tube much
smaller than the main trunk, and which
are each (the small tubes) about six
inches long; or, in other words, the main
body splits into two small tubes at about
foot or six inches from where the head
is in tercdo, and where the tail would
be in snake. This worm is owl
parious, and when the young are
born with smooth SHELF they
swim around by means of vibra-
tile ella; sometimes creeping with the
foot until old enough to begin work on
piece of wood. A good, nice, new pile
having been selected, they fasten them
selves to the wood by means of the
suction apparatus in their heads, strike
in with their foot and bore inwardly un-
til only the head remains outside. Then
they fasten themselves to the opening,
flush with itsvery edge, just as clerk
will fasten sheets of paper together by
turning over the sides of brass clamp,
and henceforward their sole aim, object
and ambition in life is to grow, bore and
make sawdust. Small when they enter,
they could no more creep backward out
of their original hole after feasting
month or two on q rich pine log than
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