The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-31
THE FRESH WATER HYDRA.
A More Dreadful Creature Than
Mythology Ever Conceived of.

More Dreadful Creature Than
Mythology Ever Conceived of.
There was once, says mythology, a hy-
dra which inhabited the marsh of Lerne
in Greece and spread terror in all the
country around. This frightfuI creature
had seven heads and if some adventurer
tried. with a praseworthy intention, to
cut off one, it Immediately grew again.
Now, there actually exists animals
which, considering their small size, are
more dreadful than the hydra of the
Greeks
1t is simple sack of some few nilli-
metres in length called the fresh water
hydra. Around the orifce of the sack.
an orif1ce which is the mouth of the ami
mai, are found disposed long arms or ten
tacles. armed with poisonous darts.
The hydra, very greedy and always In
quest of prey, ceaselessly agitating its long
arms i'm the water, and if one of them en-
counters any animalcule, it twines itself
round the poor victim, pierces It with it's
darts, paralyzes it, and so carries it 10
the mouth of the hydra which swallows
and ingests il.
There is nothing very extraordinary in.
all that, but here is where the fantastic
begins; cut off one of the arms of the
hydra, and at the end of twenty hours
the arm Will have grown out again: split
the animal lengthwise, in such a way as
TO separate in two halves each part folds
BACK on itself, YIELDS its two edges togeth-
er, and you have two hydra instead Of
one.
Instead of splitting the animal length
wise, cut 1t across in such a way as 10
nave at the top a depth of sack without
tehtacies, at the bottom a kind of ring
or tube provided with arms, but omen al
both ends; you will see the upper half nro.
faal al.
lower part, which already has tentacles
close itself at the top, in such a wav mar
each hah of the original hydra viii he
come a complete hydra.
Cut the hydra in as many pieces as Won
may, ana each piece will become a narfect
hydra' which soon begins to search
lot 1000 without having the air of trou
ping about The operation which gave it
hlrth. One can do better yet: one can ~
1t is done carefully, turn the hydra inside
out as ole turns the finger of a elova 50
mat the stomach Of the animal becomes
Its skin and its skin It's stomach. Tn tbo
hrst moments the hydra seems to exper-
fence certain Inconvenience; fl does nor
seem to be sure Of itself Frankly &C..
such an experience. It would be rtranee
n II did Bat at last. at the end OF a revv
hours, II appears to take its lot phnosoph-
ically and takes food and digests us wien
It's former skin which become its new
stomach.
This IS stil moi an. 1t is said that
wolves VIII not eat each other That h 4
saying evidently false as concerning The
wolves but vigorously true with reaara =,
the hydras. One may take advantage az
the eluttony Of the animal 10 make 4,
swallow one OF its kind. but n viii not
delay IN finding ont the trick PLAYED uron
10 and i Immediately vomits up its com
rade' mus showing % singular example
~ fnterniiy. hut whore the devotion of
the hydra becomes abneyatlon. Is vbor
one prevents the swallowed hydra from oa-
Gaping H piercing both OF Them win ,
hrlsfiei then The exterior hydra ort.r1.
itself in length, while fhe interior hydr,
Fets on. carrying with Do the brlslie uhi.5
trayoreof ii lnd which docs nol Seem Ia,
iunonYcnifnce % very MUCH
20 We see that the fable ~ Nr hvlr,
of l,efne h considerably surpassed by ths
Tealiiy.