Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-23
OCEAN MINERS.
Tiny Creatures That Sink Deep Shafts
I'm Solid Rock.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
Some remarkable miners are found in the
ocean deving into the hardest rock. Some
of them work in limestone coral; others
penetrate the muddy bottom and incase the
shaft in which they work with lime.
So far as it's resemblance to miner Of
the land is concerned the shell known
pholas is the most remarkable, as it is not
only a wonderful miner but also carries
light, bright and vivid, that seems to serve
as a miners lamp, and that has some In
teresting properties. one of which is that
it shows in the water and in a vacuum,
and, while clear and distinct, emits not the
slightest heat.
The pholas is richly chased shell about
two inches in length, and has the power of
boring holes in the hardest rock as well
as in clay, but, unlike other miners, the
pholas never comes out Of the mine. BY
some means, possibly by its rasping foot
possibly by some secretion that observes
the stone, 1t gradually wears the stone
away and slowly and imperceptibly enters,
not in a straight line but in an undulating
course, for "a few inches. Having reached
place of safety, the miner begins to enlarge
its lead or tube This continues as the shell
grows, until finally, if the pholas was capa-
BILE of approaching its surroundings, II
would realize that it was a prisoner for
lift; that 1t had bored into the rock and
there
which it entered The object of this miner
is not to obtain riches, but to find protec-
ton and security in its granite cell. and
with its light cleaning at night, no better
imitation of a human miner can be mag
ined.
Almost as remarkable is the mygellus.
The pholas is incased in shell almost
flint, but the mygellus is very delicate and
| in all probability forms Its tunnel with the
aid of some dissolving secretion. 1t pene-
pcly Obi xxyhi fsh
and gradually throws out tiny tube.
which Is merely an extension OF the shell.
In some instances this tube is a foot in
length and a marvellous example of the
t,be maker's art. 1t Is said that a distin-
guished engineer obtained his idea of tun-
mel from this she'll
These shell miners are not especially de-
strl1ctiye They bore very slowly and
usually attack stone; but there are other
miners which are inveterate enemies OF
man in their efforts to destroy wharves
piers and vessels, chief among WHICH Is lit
tie crablike creature, Limnoria, that aHects
piers and bores into the hardest lumber,
| penetrating it in every direction, until il
presents the appearance of honeycomb
So persistent are these miners on the Cali
| fornia coast that it IS necessary to repair
| docks and piers once or twice year.
In tropical waters an equally destructive
ocean miner is found IN the teredo, thai
| penetrates the bulls of vessels and wood
| work of all kinds. AS it proceeds it in
| cases it's tube with limelike secretion
and In some INSTANCES the entire frame
work is eaten away and replaced by the
| pearly deposit of this miner, that con.
structs tube as carefully devised as the
| arch of the human miner. A wreck stranded
| on coral reef, SO high and dry that one
| could walk around 1t at low tide. showed
| the beams and planks intact in many in
| stances, but the hand could be thrust
| through the apparently solid planking ii
| any direction, the structure crushing in like
| pasteboard. The interior wood had beer
| eaten away and replaced by the lime-liks
| tubes of this remarkable miner.
| Among the worms are many singular
| miners that construct elaborate tubes ter
| or fifteen feet in length, and have lights
upon their bodies with which to iliumint
| the tunnel. Nearly all the crabs are miners
| and of a very skillful class, especially the
| spirit crabs. which mine in soft sand, and
| by their careful manipulation prove theil
! wonderful skill in mining.