The Van Buren press., 1898-04-09
SEA CUCUMBERS.
An Ocean Curiosity That Possesses
More Lives Than Cat.

The sea cucumbers, or, as they are
known in the scientific world, the hoio-
thuria. are extraordinary-looking erea-
lures, which vary in size from TWO OF
three inches in length to more than
yard. They bear some resemblance 10
a cucumber, being long, wormllke cyl
inder omen at one end. Their exterior
is ruffled with little projections, whleh
are usually armed with minute, sharp
hooks. bv which the animal can hang
on to foreign bodies for few seconds
Many of the species are able to pro-
duee from their external pores most
irritating fluid, which causes the hand
that touches them to itch intolerably.
But the creature possesses a most won
derful power; when, from any cause,
il fears DEATH it can eject all its teeth,
its stomach, its digestive apparatus and
reduce itself into a simple membrane
Gus sac. DR.. Johnson kept one of these
animals in an aquarium; for some rea-
son or other he neglected to feed 1t,
and when, after some days, he visited 1t,
he found all its internal apparatus out
on the floor of the vessel, and the holo-
thuria itself was a shrunken, dilapi-
dated and empty tube. Yet was alive,
and in three months had reproduced
all its organs anew.
Another singular property they pos
sess is that of being able to divide them
selves into two parts, each part becoh-
70 IIhaTf this
phenomenon is in progress the middle
of the animal begins to contract and
the extremities enlarge. This goes on
until the center is but thread; at
last it snaps and forms two distinct
creatures, which in time furnish them
selves with all the necessary organs.
Our fishermen throw away the sea
cncumbers, which are sometimes
brought up in their nets, but the Chi
nese relish them greatly, and the tire
pang,' as they call the holothuria,
forms a very prominent article in all
the Chinese markets. The great ire
pang fishers are the Malays. The ex-
pertness with which they can capture
the creatures is remarkable. BY long
experience they can see trepang at
depth of 80 yards. They then poise
harpoon made of long bamboo and
seldom or never miss their aim.
To prepare it the fish is boiled, then
beaten fat with stones, and finally
dried in the sun. 1t is said that soup
can be made with it little inferior to
that made from the turtIe
The synapta, peculiar genus of the
holothurias, is a native of the English
channel. 1t is beautiful creature, a
cylinder, which seems as if it were
made of rose-colored crystals, and pass
ing through this tube appear five mar
row ribbons of white silk, which, ming
ling together form the head. The it's
sues are finer than the thinnest gauze,
and yet this creature lives on sandy
bottom, and it is gorged from one end
to the other with sand. The sharp
angles of the grains can be seen with
the naked eye, and yet they do not in
jure the fine membranes through which
they pass.
The synapta has also a peculiar mode
of meeting famine. Just as a general
turns out of beleagured city all the
useless mouths, so does this creature
cut off the useless parts of it's body,
1t effects this by first forming a COM
preston or ring, which gradually tight
ems until all the parts of the cylinder
which is below it drops off.
A synapta has been known to con-
tinue this self-destruction until only
the head was left, and in that head re-
sided the life which, as soon as food
was supplied it, began to reconstruct
the body it had so unceremoniously re-
jected.-Cincinnati Commercial Trib-
une.