, 1890-05-25

AlftAV T. NllE y "a ktuAN Va hftIuh-
lous, te>t1ceous moilusks that bore and
penetrate the bottoms Of ships and other
submersed wood. The ship worm be.
longs to a family OF c0uchiierous or la
NELL branchiattS They are not, strictly
speaking. worms at all, a. they have the
true mOliuscan organization and the clOn-
cation OF the body is simply due TO the
excessive pr0trlction backward of the
siphonal tubes. which thus give us a long
wasted mOllusk. v~ulgar,y called a worm.
If 1 do Dot make myself perfectly clear
or If | use words which bother or confuse
the scientist, | hope he will not be at all
backward about coming TO me for an ex
PLANTATION.
The abdominal or she'll covered portion
of the animal Is comparatively small,
and, according to Theodore Gill, il al
most subglobullr. The siphonal portion
is. in proportion. extremely long aud
wormlike.
The description Of this bird increases 10
interest as we proceed. and a word or two
further regarding thus little %accphalous,
testaceous mollusk. which patiently goes
to work 10 sink a great ship, may not be
entirely out OF place at this time, for | am
not radically opposed to facts in the alb
- - july ~ auuRl AAAAls UluAl q
ted and chronic use OF facts that | de
preciate and deplorc.
The family of Teredinidp, to which
the ship worm belongs, have siphons that
are united for the greater part OF their
length, but free towards their ends, and
these are armed with two peculiar elon
gated shelly APPENDICES called styles or
siphonal Dallcttes.
Tho tnraln ln,a not ,ar, Co., ynn;ol
recognition, but dcyotes its life TO this
great task. With no appetite for club
life, yet Ignoring its marital relations and
negligent Of domestic responsibilities. the
teredo gives up its whole existence to
mistaken and i'll advised efforts to dam
age the commerce of the world.
In this family the mantle is we'll de-
veloped. its lobes united except at the
pedal opening, rejecting behind over the
valves OF the she'll aud developed above
into lobe like expansions. which are re.
fected over the hinges of the shell aud
serve to keep tbs valves in place. The
gIlls are large and extend FAR into the 81
phonal portion. The mouth is provided
with palpi, aud it has a sweet breath like
that of a clover fed COW. The foot is
subcylindrical and suckerlikc, with a folia.
ceous margin. moderately protractive and
well supplied with nerves The shell is
composed of two equal valves of peculiar
form.
The family includes the Teredo. the
Nausitpra, the Kuphess. the Calobltes.
the Nylotrya. the Upcrotus and the
Lyrodus. all of whom are highly con.
nected. On en'erinG the navy the
Teredo's family motto is Ever onward
and upward. aud though at times he is
a bore, the reredo retains his hold on 50.
ciety like a retired p]ucilist who has mar
ried we'll.
The Teredo Nava'is. as we call him in
scientific circles. doe his boring and de.
structivO work BY means OF the armature
OF the valves already described, and yet
Professor L. Percival Wright very truth
fully says that the ship worm is no arma.
ture At this business.
The sexes of the Teredo family are un
equally divided. there being about twenty
males to one female. The latter lays lis
eggs in the months Of June and July, in
large quantities. Sea sickness never in
%terferes with her plans.
To remove ship worms battle the bot.
tom OF the ship every morning in hot
boraE water. rinse thoroughly in tepid,
distilled water, wipe dry with a coarse
crash towel, and then smear thoroughly
with cIeOsJte oil This should be kept up
for at least a fortnight, after which it will
he found that the worms are So stupefied
that they may be readily removed from
their holes by means of a nut pick.
10 preparing the above interesting de-
scription Of the Teredo, 1 am indebted for
valuable suggestions to the Natural His
tory Of the Terede, by f. Percival
Wright, vol XIV; Monograph of the
Family Tere1e. by G.. Tyron, and a little
brochure by f. II. Baumhauer. entitled
Sur le Taret ct les Moyeus de preseiver
effect.
Seattle cut 100. 900, 900 feet of lumber
last year and had to import a lot more fol
IT'S own use, and yet 1t costs si00 an acre
TO clear OIL and destroy the beautiful tim.
Der that now stands on what are the lots
and additions TO the city. | saw a pine
tree growing IN the park that was forty.
feet in circumference six feet from tho
ground. Many others near 1t were about
as large.
Most every stranger thinks the snow
must have been very deep in Washington
In winter, because the stumps are SO high,
some OF them being cut off eight and ten
teet above the ground, but that is not so.
1 learned very early that this pine is ex-
tremeiy pitchy at the base or quit so
much as to be practically WORTHLESS. Sd
the lumbermen cut n notch above this oh
~lectionable point and inserting a snrins
board with iron OF steel points tn Il n.
mounts this little scaffold and cuts Oh III
tree at a point which would have bee
two or three feet above his head il he ha
stood on the ground.
To test the courtesy of the woodsme
Mr.. Dearborn and l one afternoon viii
driving through the forest ssnmed m