, 1888-12-20
Tlte As'erkIp Ar9ns.
The Timber Destroying TeIedo.

n SllhN OF the history ana AHa-l~
OF this singular worm VIII Ice found
neither uninter"~tIug uur uupntiIu /
BILE. Its habitat was originally ju
III the tTopIc seas. hat being carried
the tlmbcrS Of vessels into North
American and European waters. 3. f.
has become the terror and dread oI
wharfmea and captains OF UnsucatH /
ed sailing crafts along the Atiaut.'
and Pacific coasts. and IN the harbnr-
of numbers OF Mediterranean Cltla=
According to the classification uf /
LinnHus, this bivalve belongs u III, .
family OF Pholadidm and genus tere
do. so called from their habits of de /
stroying ships or other timber The (
shell is equally waived, and in form .
II is short, thick and round and wide I
ly open in front and rear. This I
shell Is situated at the inner end oi .
q tube, somewhat cylindrical in form I.
and either strait or crooked, as tnc I
case may be; this tube being open 7
at each end in the full grown sFrci- .
mems, and lined or coated with
white, chalky paste or substance.
which seems to be It's digestive APP
paratus. The weapons of the teredo
are not its teeth, as might be suppos.
ed. This singular animal has still
another peculiarly, independent.
however, upon the one last mentions
ed, for since its instrument Is its
foot, so it feeds itself not from the
mouth, but from the foot itself The
valves above noted are simply ap-
pendages of the foot La fact, if
teredo should have its foot amputat
ed he would in most vital sense
''lOse his grip" In the center of the
opening of the valves the foot Is pros
truded, like the blade concealed in a
spring cane, and the entire arrange
ment constitutes a boxing machine
of power inconceiyable in SO small
an object. But the strength of this
machine becomes apparent when,
upon closer examination, one notes
the strong, rubber-like ridges of the
valves, which can contract with great
force, and the comparatively great
size of the great abductor muscle
which enables the teredo to use his
sharp foot with the ease of an aucer
passing through the softest pine.
This worm attains often a great
length, but it is usually from one
foot to yard in length, its size de
pending on the length of time it has
been IN the wood, and frequently on
the size of the wood itself 1t is pro-
vided with two respiratory tubes,
each of which has a syphon attached
to a calcareous, 1lattened triangular
plate on the outside of the body. 1t
has two heads, If such they can be
affanhn1 To hn 3
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 tubes at about a foot or six
inches from where the head Is in the
teredo and where the tail would be
Ia snake. This worm Is oviparious,
and when the young are born with
smooth shell) they swim around by
means of Yibratile ella; sometimes
creeping with the foot until old
enough to begin work on a piece OF
wood. A good, nice, new pile hav-
ing been selected, they fasten them
selves to the wood by means OF the
suction apparatus in their heads,
strike in with their foot aud bore in
wardly until only their heads remain
outside Then they fasten them
selves to the very edge just as a
clerk will fasten sheets of paper to-
gether, turning over the sides of
brass clamp, and, henceforward,
their sole ann, 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 FEAST
ing a month or two on rich pine
log that a camel could go through
the eye of a needle.
On the coast of California, am
credibly informed the teredo some-
times attains diameter of two inch
es and length of Is feet. And, so
far as any one knows, their only food
seems TO be the dust which they Gre
ate rapping their way through the
logs. This dust is deposited by the
foot in the tube lined with the chalky
membrance, and instead OF crawling
inward and onward as their burre "
ings lengthen they simply grow in
due proportion, their head remaining
in its place. But there they get
their punishment, for their size thus
increased and their log once con-
sumed and broken off, they fall out
into the water, and their career ends
IN the NAV of the next hungry fish
that chance their way. Once their
one log is destroyed they can never
begin life again, SO the wise toredo
is careful to select a good big one to
begin with.
Another trait of this worm is that
M
Bnt woe to the ship riding at anchor
If her timbers are not protected by
metal sheetings. Many noble ves-
sci has been lost with all on board in
mid ocean, owing to the insidious
ravages made by the worm as she lay
quietly in port taking on cargo and
passengers. But as it rarely hap
pens that there is not sonae visible
compensation in natures works and
creatures, so even the toredo proves
needful by boring into disintegrating
the sunken wrecks, timbers and Other
distractions which would else render
navigation in some harbors danger
Gus. 1t is astonishing how rapidly a
wreck Will disappear in some chan
nels, particularly infested by the te-
redo.
How to prevent them from running
4 pile almost as soon as it was put
down was long a vexed question witt
men in maritime towns; but expert
ments and inventions have solved
this matter as they have given the
solution OF many others. The logs
are now kyanized or creosoted 4
log properly treated will have lifa
of at least 50 years, and may bid de
fance to every teredo that ever bored
hole or who would wish to bore
one.-Atlanta Constitution.
A Boston special says it is under