The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1893-11-25

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many ugly hut useful toads havo been
lett IN undlSturbel possession Of ,;ar.
ten bed because TO handle them was
but To cover your hands with warts and
To kill them would force your cows 10
let down bloody milk? What boy would
have crushed cricket. assured as he
WAS that its mato would como ut night
and avengc its death by eating up that
rash boys clothes? What man lives to-
day who, Ns rustic lad, has not held
tho stiltcd daddy-long.lcgs prisoner by
one hairltke shank and informed the
glohuar insect that unless II forthwith
pointed ont the way in which the
lost cows had gone instant dclth
awaited it. and when did daddy-loag-
legs fail to raise one slender leg and in
dicatc, according to boyiSh belief, tho
direction the Straying kline had gone?
And the devils darniny needle that big
eyed thing that lived and prowlcd for
nothing else than TO sew your cars mp,
and the magic eel skin tied round your
leg, or neck or arm. to keep the cramps
away when you went in swimming. aud
the snake that swallowed its Young. and
greatest of ALL that viviiicd hair from
horses tail. wrigSliug and gyrating in
the roadside mud puddle, tho horsehair
snake
But science has stepped in and solemn
ly and seriously said that these are all
myths, II is shattcring of idols. butI
fear that to science must he granted all
it denies about them. except as to snakes
swallowing their young. have been an
oren mouthcd and wido eyed witness of
that interesting trick too often to let
even profound scientists stand up and
declare that 1t iSa't so.
| hold out n little. too. for tho horse
hair snake, for have in my mind Ger.
tain vaSrlnt horsehair that once put in
an oyster Eeg filled with rainwater. and
either that horSehair in the course of
few weeks took on the scmblancc of lifa
and form Of horSehair snake and kent
II mp all season in a bottle TO which
transferred 1t. or else it disappeared. and
the germ of what we supposed was
horsehair snake happened to be in tho
water and developed there. have al.
ways insisted that | made Il horsehair
snake. | have heard many veracioua
persons declare that they have done tho
same thing
But you are all wrong" says Mich
olaS Pike. tie naturalist. The horsolair
snake, or hairworm. is the Gorliug
aquaticus, and it is common in most
fresh water ponds and rivulets. Thouyh
no larger around than Il coarse cotton
thread, they have two mouths. ono OF
each side Of the head. They lay scores
and sometimes thousands of eggs. The
eggs are deposited in strings. like n
chain on the sides of shallow ponds or
creeks, and they are greedily swallowed
by various aquatic insects Then from
the time the egg is hGtched the first part !
Of the worms nutriment is spent cs n
parasite, absorbing uutriment from tho |
body Of its unlrcky host. The large |
water beetles are subject to these para |
sites. They have been found in cric.,:-
ct. They are graceful swimmers. but !
when taken from the water they twist
themselves into such an intricate knot
that it is almost impossible to unlooso I
it, They are called Gordius from this.
the Gordian knot.
Il have no doubt that orc reason why
the idea of the horsehair snake has been
is from ignorant persons
who have had various insects in clear
water watching them for study or curl
osity. Knowing that they put in only
certain live creatures. and some day
inding these live worms. they were as
The chances are that the
worms were developed from Il pet beetle
hat in its native pond made feast on
some ova of the Gordius, to be plid
learly for later when these hatched."
But there was no pet beetle or any
,ther insect in my Ecg Of rainwatcr.
rhe horsehar went away. and the snake
" worm appeared. | don't believe the
lorsehalr ever swallowed any Gordius
wa | can't imagine any reason why
orsehair should turn into snake or
worm when kept in the water. but why
Ot IL horses hair as we'll as cows hair
r Il deers hairE Science had better not
ell any of the few old settlers of north
IN Pennsylvania or any other locality
'here the pioneers were frequently their
wn tanners that cows hair and deer's
air will not turn into worms under GER
iin conditions or science will get q
lack eye In the pioneer days, when a
ettler wanted leather for boots or shoes
was not an uncommon thing for him
D make vat by following ont pine
)g, and using wood ashes instead of lime
1 removing the hair When the hide q
-as taken out of the vat it would be a
laced in creek to soak out the alkaIi. q
have more than once heard the sons r
such pioneers tell of finding curious p
'orlns swimming about these hides ;,
here they were lying in quiet pools. >;
hese worms were about two inches y
'ng, somewhat thicker than a cows
air. and always in various stages of de. "
elopment from the hair as it came off a
le hide, some being for part of their <
myth simply hair, while the rest was d
le living worm, white and semitrans- b
trent. Some would be still fast to the :
de, but wiggling to get loose, when |
icy would swim about with hair for a ID
il. These worms were never seen OK /
pt in the pools with the hides, either "
Nv or deer. The more think of these Is
ell authenticated COW hair worms the
ore am inclined to defy science and