Wichita eagle., 1888-08-21
THE PILE WORMS HABITS.
It's Remarkable Ravages in Kidding Tim
ber--An Importation.


ber--An Importation
just at high water mark and extend
ing foot below it, I saw, the stanchest
timbers wasted away until 1 could have
SPAWNED their circumference with nv
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, l 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 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 10
outer edge. Now, as thin as is this
sheet upon which I 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 thousand OF them
i'll single pile, but no instance has vet
been found in which one of these PAS
sageways intersected another or trenched
upon another right of way. They may
all be boring at .once-solne up, some
down, some laterally, some obi uely-
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 inviolabilitv of each individuals /
right of way 1t will easily be aprre-
hended, therefore, how quickly q timber /.
thus riddled will be worn away BIZ the
constant attrition Of the tides, until it
finally breaks, and brings with it III its .
fall the beam above, Of which * was the /
support. /
y study Of the history and habits a
this singular worm Will be found neither
uninteresting nor Improbable It's hab-
ltat was originally III the tropic seas, but
being carried i'll the timbers of vessels
into North American and European
waters, it has become the terror and
dread Of wharfmen and captains Of uli-
sheathed sailing craft along the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts aid III the harbors IF
numbers Of Mediterranean cities. Ac-
cording to the classification Of Linnaus,
thus bIvalve belongs 10 the family Of pho
ladidse, 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
she'll 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 st each
End Ill the full grown specimens. and .
lned or coated with n white, ch4lky
taste or substance, which seems TO BE- its
digestive apparatus.
The weapon of the teredo is not teeth, :
IS might be supposed. This singular
4nlmal has still another popularity. de-
'endeDt, however, upon the one last men
ioned, for since its instrument is its foot,
0 1t feeds itself not from the mouth. but
rom the foot itself. The valves above
.oted are simply appendages Of the foot. :
Il fact, II q tereio should have his foot I.
mputated he would In most vital sense
lose his Gnp. IL the center Of the !,
ircular opening Of the valves the foot Is
rotruded, like the blade concealed in a :
Jring cane, and the entire arrangement :,
institutes boring machine q power ;
lconceivable in 50 small Al object. But !,
BE strength Of this machine becomes Cd =
aren't when upon a closer examination :
1e notes the strong rubber Ike ridges Of :
re valves, which can contract with great :.
nee, and the comparatively immense
ze Of the great sbduc5or rIuscie which /
lab.es the tereco TO Use its sharp TO-.
ith the ease Of On augsr passing through .,
Nc softest pirse.
This worm attains often a great length, ;.
II it is usually from one foot z, a ward =
ng, It's eize depending on the length Of r
ne it has beeu In tie wood ard fre- =,
ientiy on the size Of the wood itseif. Il j
proTided with two respiratory tsiiyz, :
Oh Of which has eip.son attached to .
caicareouz. 1attensd, triangular plate =
! tbs outside q the body. Il hes tro =
such they en- te called-eaeh -
--ched 20 the extremity of : tube much :.
aaIler th2n I'd. main trunk, and which
0 each CHE Erla4i tubs aLout si<
ci1es long: ca, in otser words, the ;ls1a
dy spls;s into two small tobes at ah.oz. a
focS or six inches FROM where tie bead a
In a tereS3o, AID whore the tel wouli -
u s-.akr. This VOTE Is oT.- -
rioas, and whea the yong az :,
n with . fnoc.a sheiD they :,
in aroG-d By means az 8 vlb.z- -
P ella ss1ae.irses cyeS-z-S viii tie II