Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-05-05

Discovery on some swamp Land which
He Had Reclaimed aud Planted with
wheat-uo Wants To Sell out.
A gentleman, who lives near Lcmoore,
Tularc county, was In Fresno yesterday,
and In conversation with reporter he
gave tho following account Of most
peculiar nuisance that Is greatly annoy
ing farmers In that locality. The gcn'
tleman, whose name Is d. Ennis, says;
"Lako Tulnre has fallen about four
feet. This means, Of course, that nearly
n milo Of low, nearly Lowell land that
borders the lake has been rendered dry
and cultiyablc. There are large numbers
Of shellash, such ~ clans and muasols,
in tho lake, and the receding water left
some Of them high and dry on tho land.
"yast quantities Of thom have boon
plowed under, and tho moist, warm
ground preserved them and maintained
life.
"But the most remarkable thing Is
that they have undergone rneiamor-
phosis, or have been ovolutionizcd, mas
much as tho clans and mussols tina
were deposited ON dry land have grown
well defined legs or claws from the I'M
der part of the shells, or rather that part
of the shell which lay underneath when
the clam was In repOse.
my eldest daughter Kate first noticed
this abnormal growth during o ramblc
around the place. She gathered few
Of the musscls In her apron and brought
them up and showed them 10 her mothc.
md to mo. We did not inspect them
closely, but saw that three distinct little
protrusions, In triangular shape. marked
the bleached side Of the shells. On one
OF them, which seemed larger or further
evolutionizod than the rest, we saw tiny
legs or foolers wiggling about. As !
have just said. we didn't pay much at
tention at That time to tho shells Kate
brought In.
However, had occasion TO go down
over my land, where wheat had been
sown. II was coming up nicely and
was from ono TO three or four inches
high In the most favorable portions OF
the field. noticed many mussol shells
lying around Soma OF tho shells were
split and broken. while others were In.
tact.
ION tho fart Of tho land that had
been reclaimed l observed that the
wheat VIVA nibbled off, and that little
masses OF half maeticatod sprouts were
lying around pretty thickly. was will
ing TO attribute tho nibbling TO the
winter fowl and jack rabbits, but was
for time at complete loss to account
for tho chewed up masses OF tender
shoots that dotted the ground in all di.
rcctions.
~ stopped and began to think. Soon
noticed that tho clam shells were quite
plentiful where l stood. A sudden
movement near my feet caused me to
stoop and investigate. Here | saw the
most surprising thing that ever came to
my notice.
"Thomoving object was nothing more
nor less than an eyolutioniEod clam OF
mussel, walking on its three legs, Will,
with tho sharpedges of It's shell 1t wa
biting off and chewing the young ant
tender grain. l was simply amazed, bu
soon recalled the apronful Of mussel
which my daughter KGto had gathered
~ stopped down and tried to pick NJ
tho clan, but 1t ran away at tolerabl
rate and waa compelled TO knock
over with singletreo which was car
rying. Igathercd It up and 1t snappe
vciously ut my fingers and tried TO wig
gle away.
"on examination I saw that II
mouth, or rather tho mussel portion Q
the creature, was full Of young whoai
and that green saliva was preser
where colorless juicea exist in the wgtc
living animals.
Nov, my theory of this transform
ton 10 that nature has determined NJ
to let this helpless creation staryc, an
with that end in view has endowed ii
stranded animals with means OF loo,
motion on land, and further given thel
faculty for existing ON the food tin
has hitherto boon foreign to their taste
"As you know, the wheat sprouts al
exceedingly tender and full Of nourisI
ing juices. Tho clam with its three LEI
walks about and nibbles a mouthf
of sprouts; then no begins TO mastica
II. When the juices arc extracted
retains tho fluid and oXpels the iibro
portion Of the plant, and by virtue
his recognized nature he is nourish,
and grows fgt In his new line OF living
"Of course am greatly interested
the eyolutioniEed clam or mussel as
exists on tho reclaimed lands OF La
Tulare, but | am out nearly nine Rcr
of as promising grain as ever grew
reason OF their doprodations, We fam
ers don't have much timo to study a
enco, ind | don't know what mny OK
In other parts OF the world, but | mt
say that nothing similar to this disc,
cry has ever been mentioned IN u
books or .paper have read.