The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-02
AN INTERESTING EVOLUTION.
Three-legged Vegetarian CLAIMS Annoy
California Farmers.
From the Fresno (Cal) Erpositor.

O1AAAOi AlA1 ELASIo
From the Fresno (Cdl) Exposftor.
A gentleman who lives near Lemoore,
Tulare county, was IN Fresno yesterday,
and IN conversation with an Erpositor re-
porter he gave the following account of a
most peculiar nuisance that is greatly an
noying farmers in that locality. The gen.
tleman, whose name is D. Ennis, says:
Lake TuIare has fallen about four feet
| since last fall. This means, of course, that
I nearly mile Of low. nearly level land that
borders the lake has been rendered dry and
cultivable. There are large numbers of
sheltish, such as CLAIMS and mussels, in the
lake, and the receding water has left them
high and dry on the land.
Vast quantities of them have been
| ploughed under during the winter, and the
moist. warm ground has preserved them
and maintained life.
but the most remarkable thing is that
| they have undergone a metamorphosis, or
have been evolutionized inssmuch as the
CLAIMS and mussels that were deposited on
| dry land have grown well-dedned legs or
claws from the under part OF the shells. or
rather that part Of the shell which lay
| underneath when the calm was in repose.
my eldest daughter Kate first noticed
this abnormal growth during a ramble
around the place just before Christmas. She
| gathered few of the mussels in her apron
oA4A OASuBAN tbuAAA Op anu oAAb"oh hhOlh w
her mother and to me. We did not inspect
them closely, but saw that three distinct lit
tie protrusious in triangular shape, marked
! the bleached side of the shells. On one of
| them, which seemed larger or further evolu-
tiOnized than the rest, we saw tiny legs OF
feelers wiggling about. As have just said.
| we didn't pay much attention at the time to
the shells Kate brought in.
ION Thursday last, however, 1 had oc-
| casion TO go down over my land, where fall
| what had been sown. 1t is coming up
| nicely, and is from one to three or four
| inches high in the most favorable portions
| of the field. noticed many muSsel shells
| lying around. Some of the shells were split
and broken, while others were intact.
| ION the part OF the land that has been res
| Gently reclaimed | observed that the wheat
! was nibbed off and that little masses of
half-mastioated sprouts were lying around
pretty thickly. | was willing to attribute
the nibbling to the water fowl and jack
rabbits, but was for time at complete
loss to account for the chewedup masses of
| tender shoots that dotted the ground In all
directions,
II stopped and began to think. Soon
noticed that the clam shells were quite
plentiful where l stood. A sudden move-
ment near my feet caused me to stoop and
| investigate. Here l saw the most surprls-
| ing thing that ever came beneath my no.
| tice.
1.-THE moving object was nothing more
nor less than an evolutfonized clam or mus
sci, walking on its three legs, while with the
sharp edges OF its she'll it was biting Off and
chewing the young and tender grain. l
| was simply amazed, but soon recalled the
apron-full OF mussels which my daughter
Kate had gathered.
| II stopped down and tried TO pick up the
clam, but it ran away at a tolerable rate and
was compelled to knock it over with
singletree which l was carrying. l gath
cred 1t up and it snapped vioiously at my
| fingers and tried TO wiggle away.
ION examination l saw that its mouth, or
| rather the mussel portion Of the creature,
was full of young wheat, and that "a green
saliva was present where colorless juices ex-
ist IN the water~living animals.
Now, my theory of this transformation
| is that nature has determined not to let this
| helpless creation starve, and with that end
| in view has endowed the stranded animals
with means of locomotion on land, and
further given them a faculty for existing on
the food that has hitherto been foreign to
their taste.
"As you know, the wheat sprouts are OK
ceedingly tender and full of nourishng
juices. The clam with its three legs walks
about and nibbles mouthful of sprouts
then he begins to masticate II. When the
juices are extracted he retains the fluid and
expels the fbrous portion of the plant, and
by virtue or his reorRaniZed nature he Ia
nourished and grows fat in his new line of
living.
"Of course l am greatly interested IN the
| evolutionized clam or mussel as he exists
on the reclaimed lands of Lake Tulare, but
| am out nearly nine acres Of as promising
grain as ever grew by reason OF their deI re-
dations We farmers don't have much time
to study science, and | don't know what
may exist IN other parts of the world, but |
must say that nothing similar to this dis
covery has ever been mentioned in any
books or papers | have read.
THE clans seem to have lost all desire
for water, and | don't know what they will
do when the grain grows a little higher and
the juices begin to dry up in the stalks
| Perhaps they will then migrate 10 the lake,
| or perhaps they will die of starvation.
Anyhow, am preparing to guard against
future entertainments, and will hire enough
men to chase them OFF the place, after which
l will build a chain-proof fence around my
ranch or else sell out cheap to some one who
boots at this statement of what ia gospel
truth, and can be proved by dozen Of my
neighbors. who have lost more or less wheat
and alfalfa in the same way"
| Mr.. Ennis returned to Tulere on the
south bound train yesterday evening. He
will be up again tho latter part OF this
week or the first OF next as witaess in a
| lawsuit, and he has promised to bring with
him several specimens Of the CLAIMS for
exhibition.