The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-04

! everything that moves in the vast abyss
| of ocean space, and the beauty of the or
| ganisn surpasses the widest imagination.
| The glilterlng particles Of animated mat
ter are in reality, floating shells belonging
| to the "wng-footed' group of the mol
lusca; they are distributed chiefly in mid
| ocean. and are, consequently, little known
| in the regions of the sea coasts.
| They occur, in varying form, in every
| cline Nansen. when imprisoned In the
! Arctic seas, cut holes in the ice in order TO
| obtain a series Of the northerly species.
| such a clio Borealis, and the writer has
| collected many kinds in every latitude
from Kerguelan in the SOUTH to the region
| OF the Western Isles IN the northern hem
| isphere. The Indian ocean, perhaps, has
| The maximum development of the Ptero-
| poda, or wing footed molluscs; and there
| they swim in countless millions at the fan
| of eventide. The strange thing is that a
! regular succession of different species rise
| In the water with unfailing exactness, fol-
lowing each other in orderly sequence
from sunset far into the darkness of a
tropical night Thus, at o'clock, a shell
known to psychologists as Cavellina Iris
pinosa appears at the surface, followed
an hour later by Cleodora Tridentata
We have only TO improyse the bag of a
tra@l in order to capture hundreds of these
vlvacious little creatures for a closer ex-
dfnindltOu on DOdIu tIt snip. a BlthNL Vi
sea water forms a handy receptacle, In
which attractive little animals pursue their
interrupted eVolutions once again. sim
gle specimen of the Cavellina, Il placed in
a glass trough such as is used for living
objects on the miCI Oscopic stand presents
a singularly beautiful organism as il
swims to and fro. The seml-opaque valves
of the shell are joined together into one
test, with Sits for the head, feelers, and
Iaf al stvyfp in nrnupletcn
Each shell resembles a miniature rounded
purse, coored with milky white, tortoise
shell hues and rim of deep crimson. The
characteristic sharp spines project before
and behind. AS the fleshy part of the
mollusc appears through the terminal slit,
the tongue can be seen elected at intervals
in search Of particles of food. In the mean
time the propellers at either side wave
vigorously with incessant action.
The shapes and sizes of the floating
shells vary considerably. Another genus
has a tubular case, sharply pointed as a
needle so transparent that the Internal
organs of a delicate rose color are clearly
visible The head and wings protrude
from circular orifice, revealing a form
and color of most wondrous beauty: IN
deed the whole anatomy is seen with the
aid of a low magnifying power. The free
swimming larval animal is also found in
the sea water II resembles a small cone
of glass, with the rose-colored embryo
inside At this ge the immatu shell
Is propelled by ella constantly at work.
Off the Cape of Good Hope, within the
influence Of the Agulhas current, one of
the needle shaped pteropods occurred by
Millions with green and yellow bodies
contained in the CLASSY sheath.
One of the finest shells that floats in the
ocean is the splendid purple sea-snail,
creature that braves the sun and floats
by day. The intense violet of the shell
is not easily portrayed, and the tints fade
sadly in the preserved specimens When
the creature is alarmed, or injured, ii
elects a quantity of deep purple fluid, from
which, 1t Is said, the Tyrian dye of an
cient days was obtained. 1t also possesses
a remarkable float, whereby the organism
may sink or swim at will 1t projects
from the mouth of the shell. and is divid-
ed into numberless water-tight compart-
ments which, when requisite, can be in
fiated with air The contrivance has the
appearance of froth exuded from the shell,
and 1t also serves as raft for the sup
port of rows of ova. In rough weather
the purple sea-snail Is able to sink for
several feet beneath the surface and thus
protects itself against the dangers of ship
wreck Another peculiara shell which
floats in these ATTITUDES Is commonly call
ed by the sailors the rams horn" on
account of It's convoluted shape. trans
verse section shows the structure inside to
be chambered like the pearIy nautilus,
thus affording a key to the correct classi-
fication. 1t is not, in fact, an external
shell at all, but really the internal shell
belonging to a cutie fish, The CASTOR
specimens found afloat at sea are highly
ornamental. somewhat fragile, and pearly
white In texture. They are found occa-
sionally infested with parasitic colonies of
immature barnacles in the full Vigor of
Ine-very interesting creatures for exam
ination, and priced by conchologists.
One of the great treasures floating off
the African coasts Is the extremely brit
tie shell of the paper Argonaut. which is
the habitation of the female of another
kind of cuttlefsh. The beautifully ribbed
white shell is familiar in almost every
collection. To Aristotle is due the fiction
that the animal literally hoists a sail
above the shell in order to take advantage
| of the breeze, and the same authority be-
slowed a name on the mollusc in allusion
| to the voyage of Jason. The only pc
| lagic animal which has a triangular sail
| set above water is the Velella, one of
the extensive jelly fish class. Some of the
| floating shells, even in their full devel-
opment, are microscopic in size. Among
these we must reckon a gorgeous purple
| gastropod named Atlantis peronil
| Through the she'll of crystal clearness
| the mollusc is seen stretching forth a
trumpet-shaped mouth, masticating the
| PARTICLES of food, or circulating the water
| internally.
The fact is well known that many of the
| mollusca carry the shell inside the body,
! that is, a fieshy mantle envelopes every
thing, and the vestige, or rudiment, of a
! shell, as the case may be, is embedded be-
| meath the tunic. The ordinary slug of our
! gardens is an example of the group. At
| sea numbers of gally colored genera
abound classified together on account of
| the clustered arrangement of external gill
| on the back and sides of the slug-like
| body. Every imaginable hue is represent
| ed in these brilliant objects, from red.
| yellow, orange and gold to cerulean blue.
black, white and brown shades. Green
alone seems absent. A wonderful floating
T specimen recurs to mind, with the bright
yellow body shading to amber brown.
and the magnificent dorsal fringes of
orange tipped with red. all cut and feath-
! cred like the branches of some graceful