Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-08-28
THE PILE WORMS HABITS.
Its Remarkable Ravages In Kidding Tim.
ber-An Importation.

Just at high water mark and extend
ing a foot below il, | saw the stanchest
timbers wasted away until l could have
spanned their circumference with my
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
walls. Now, | could account for the
sinking in of the floor of the dock in
many places. The worm would attack o
pile and, with his numberless comrades,
eat and eat away the wood until ii was
absolutely honeycombed. The waves
would then complete the work. The
point Of attack chosen by these %bivalyular
pests, in a 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 a stout pine trunk, Of a diam
eter Of a foot and n 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 | 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 or trespass upon each others terri
tory. There may be a thousand Of them
in a 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 in~violability of each individuals
right of way. 1t will easily be appre-
hended, therefore, how quickly n 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 he found neither
uninteresting nor improbable. Its 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 un-
| sheathed sailing craft along the Atlantic
| and Pacific coasts and in the harbors of
| numbers Of Mediterranean cities. Ac-
| cording TO the classification Of Linueus,
this bivalve belongs to the family Of pho
ladide, 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 a
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 a white, chalky
paste or substance, which seems to be its
digestive apparatus.
The weapon of the teredo is not teeth.
as mighr 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,
20 it feeds itself not from the mouth, but
from the foot itself. The valves above
noted are simply a%ppendagcs of the foot.
In fact. il a teredo should have his foot
~amputatcd hewould in a most vital sense
close his grip" In the center If the
circular opening Of the valves the foot is
protruded, like the blade concealed in q
spring cane, and the entire arrangement
constitutes q boring machine Of power
inconceivable in so small an object. But
the strength Of this machine becomes ap,
parent when upon a closer examination
one notes the strong rubber like ridges d
the valves, which car contract with great
force, and the comparatively immeusi
size Of the great abduct0r muscle which
enables the teredo to use It's sharp foo
with the ease Of an auger passing through
the softest pine.
This worm attains often a great length
but 10 is usually from one foot to a var,
long. its size depending on the length O
time il has been in the wood and fire.
quently on the size Of the wood itself. Il
is provided with two respiratory tubes
each Of which has a siphon attached {,
a calcareous, flattened, triangular plat,
on the outside Of the body. II has tw,
hea1s-if such they can bc ~callcd-eacl
attached to the extremity o. tube mucl
smaller than the main trunk. n which
are each qhe small tubcs) about ii!
inches long; or, in other words, the mail
body splits into two small tubes at abOu
a foot OF six inches from where the hca,
is in a teredo, and where the tail woul'
be in a snake. This worm is owl
parious, and when the young ar
born with a smooth SHELF the
swim aruund by means O. Il slprl
tile ella; sometimes creeping will. Tia
foot until oil enough 10 begin "o;k en-
piece Of wood. a good nicl, ifew pill
having been selected, they fasten them
selves to the wood by means Of th
suction apparatus in their heads, strik
in with their foot and bors inwardly uf
Ill only the head remains outside. The
they fasten themselves 10 the opening
! flush with It's very edge. just MS a cler
: will fasten sheets Of paper together b
turning over the sides Of q brass clam
) and lnnceforward their sole aim, objeC