The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1892-08-17
SUBMARINE SILKWORMS.
Monusks Which Weave Wonder
full Threads Of Silk.
Al Interesting Chapter on the Habits and
Uses of Strange Submarine Crea-
lures - Queer Methods Of
Propagatlng Mussels.

very much as the spider does An i'm
portant part of it's anatomy is a
slender and very muscular foot OF
triangular shape, under and be.
hind which is a gland that secretes a
viscid and half-liquid fluid This fluid
runs into groove in the foot, where il
quickly sets and becomes a firm thread.
The thread is pulled out by the with
drawing of the foot, another thread is
formed, and so on until the musse has
tied itself securely by ever so MANY
strong cords.
| 1t is very interesting to see how the
mussel manages to climb up the perpen-
dlcular sides of rocks or piles by means
OF these threads, which are stretched
out and attached by the foot, one after
another, in the direction in which the
animal wishes to climb, each one being
fastened little higher up than the last
Thus the heavy shell is drawn up grad
ually in much the same manner as that
employed by some spiders when sus-
pending an unusually large victim. You
would hardly imagine that so small a
creature could be helpful servant to
man, and yet the spinning and weaving
of this humble mollusk have been
turned to most valuable account. At
the town of Bideford, in Devonshire. is
long bridge of twenty-four arches,
crossing the Torridge river. The tides
flow with such swiftness at this bridge
that no mortar will hold the masonry
OF the arches. But the corporation of
the town keeps boats for the purpose of
bringing mussels from a distance, which
are applied to every interstice of the
stone work. The masonry is entirely
supported and held together by the
strong threads these bivalves spin. and
the law makes it crime, p lnishabIe
by transportation, to remove any of
them.
Having spent the first few DAYS of
their existence as free-swimming ami
mails, after being hatched from the
eggs, mussels usually fasten themselves
together and to common object, so as
10 form large clusters. Thus, by means
OF a multiplied system of ropes, thev
secure SO firm an anchorage as to be
able to resist the most violent stormsl
However, they can let go when thev
want to, and creep about until they find
a better resting place Their closely
knitted colonies do much to prevent
wear and tear by the waves on certain
portions of the sea coast Like ovsters
they entertain small parasitic crabs,
which make their homes in the shells of
the living mollusks. These little crusta-
cean boarders are of different species
from the oyster crabs. Young seals de-
pend largely for food upon the big arc
TIC mussels, which are plentiful as far
north as Point Barrow, in the Arctic
ocean. On the coast of Alaska and as
Tar south as Puget sound mussels con-
'titute the only molluscan supply, there
oelng no oysters and very few clans in
nat region, and the native women and
'hlldren are constantly gathering them.
The Alaskan method of cooking
is to boil them. A bunch of
en- twenty, or perhaps forty pounds
weight is put into pot and when the
hells cape the water is poured off, the
people gathering around and picking
'ut the meat with their fingers. Some
lmes the bivalves are roasted also.
they are very little priced as an article
I diet on the Atlantic coast, partly be-
ause such wealth of oysters and
lams is at hand, but the aboriginal In
lans were very fond of them and con-
1med them in great quantities, as is
roved by the mounds of shells compos-
lg the debris OF ancient feasts. which
smain 20 this day The Delawares. and
other tribes, employed mussel
lells' the edges of which were sharp
ned on the gritty rock, for pincers to
ull out their boards with
"Mussels are much used abroad as
1od They are bred in France in in
losures OF sea water, frames and hang I
lg ropes being submerged for them to
.tach themselves TO, At intervals G
lese ropes or frames are hauled up and s
ade TO yield their crop For the same C
irpose parks, as they are called, are a
anted in the shadows of the North l.
a. Trees, from which all but the
rger branches have been cut, are s
uck into the bottom at such a distance I
ON shore that the upper portions Of v
em shall be laid bare at lower water
Iter four or five years they are raised, p
ripped and replaced with others. In a
e bay of Keil, Germany, one thousand .
MS OF mussels are raised in similar K
shion yearly. Mussels are propagated n
the Adriatic on ropes extended be- c
'een poles rammed into the ground. y
he ropes are stripped once in eight
lnths The mpssel beds of Great n
ltain are worth hundreds Of thou n
nds of dollars annually o
Inc mollusk, which has been poetic u
l..
y called the 'sillSworm OF the sea, is
nussel of the Mediterranean, known
science as the pima. It spins kind
thread so beautiful and fine that in no
lly the material is woven into gloves DO
stockings These articles are very a,
'tiy' and have not been thought un, M
rthy presents for pope" A,
Nj