The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-12-22

There was a time when everything
seemed to attain gigantic size. There
were sea serpents as long and longer
than the whales of to-day; sharks 100
feet long; crab like creatures as long
as man, as the wonderful pterygot-
us, and more remarkable than all,
the shells that today are, as rule,
small and delicate, and used in the
main as ornaments and curiosities,
! that in some instances attained gigan-
tic proportions.
Such a diver, in walking along at
the sea bottom, would have seen sud-
denly looming up before him in the
distance an object like gigantic
telescope, yet poised in mid-water.
At one end projected long arms that
waved to and fro or resembled the
pliable spokes of wheel without a
tire. Suddenly this cigar-shaped OBJ
ject would shoot ahead with the We
locity of an arrow, cleaving the water
like knife and leaving train of
phosphorescent light behind like the
tail of comet.
This strange creature was possibly
twenty feet or more in length, and,
according to Dr. Newberry, the emil
nent geologist, must have weighed
several tons. 1t was the giant of all
shells, the orthoceras titan-truly a
titanic monster. The orthocerotites
are all extinct, but are represented
today by their cousins, the cuttlefish,
the nautilus and others. Another of
this family, the ammonite, somewhat
resembled the pearly nautilus of the
present, and was divided off by pearly
partitions as was this shell, but the
ancient representative was veritable
monster.
Some years ago some workmen in
the Middle States came upon num-
Der of these shells buried in an an
Gent beach. The discoverers thought
they were cart wheels and local pa
per facetiously announced the dis
covery of fossil chariot wheel, spokes
and all. The great shell was as high
as some of the boys who stood by,
being four feet and half in height
and resembling rude wheel. In an
attempt to discover the nature of the
find it was cut in two with stone
saw, thus exposing the partitions,
which were filled with earth.
The exposed surface was then pol
ished and presented a beautiful APP
pearance. Quartz crystals had formed
in the various chambers, giving the
entire she'll, or it's polished surface,
the appearance of huge carnelian.
One of these stone shells weighed
several hundred pounds, and when
alive must have been singular OBJ
ject. AS inverted, in all probability,
it moved along the bottom, dragged
by its many armed occupant.
In our own time there are gigantic
shells, their presence sometimes be-
ing disagreeably forced upon the
finder. In the South Pacific, where
the ocean is apparently cut up with
small islands or reefs of coral, the
tridacna, or king of the clans, is
found-a gigantic, two-valved shell,
with deep rad.ations or convolutions,
that often weighs 500 pounds.
These monsters are found imbed-
de | in the coral rock, a singular frill
of lightly colored flesh only appear
ing above the surface. This habit has
been the cause of number of acct
dents to natives as well as white men.
The locality where they are found is
frequented by collectors of marine
curiosities, who send the shells, sea
fans and corals to America and Eur
ope, where they are distributed to
the curiosity dealers all over the
world.
In searching for shells the collec-
tors wade a.ong the shallow lagoons
or reefs, followed by fiat bottomed
boat, into which they toss their var
ious finds.
On one occasion an inexperienced
man was hunting for shells without
boat, having merely native net
thrown over his shoulners. Seeing
what he thought was large sea ane-
none of beautiful tints, he struck it
with his foot, and in an instant was
thrown upon his face screaming with
agony. The seeming anemone was a
giant shell that, startled at the sud
den attack, had closed its huge valves
and held the collector a prisoner as
firmly as though he had been clasped
by wise; in fact, the shells cut
through skin and bone.
The unfortunate man was some
| diStanca from haln and no ha boJ