The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-06-13
SOME CLAIM LIFE MYSTERY.
FACTS NOT COMMONLY RECORD
ED ABOUT FAMILIAR MOLLUSk.
Its Neck is Highly TeIcscopic-Has a
Foot to Dig in the Sand-How Con-
necton Is Maintained With it's
Source Of Food Supply.

The common soft-she eli clam has II
its neck two parallel tubes whose
openings are side by side at the neck's
end. Through cne Of these tubes
the clam takes in, along with the wa
ter in which it is contained, the food
upon which it subsists; by the other
tube it expels the waste water after
the food has been taken from it.
At the other end from its neck the
soft clam has a member called a foot
with which it is enabled to dig in the
sand or mud in which it buries itself
The soft clam may go down some dis
tance and yet keep connection with
the bottom of the water, at the sur
face OF the mud or sand; for the
clans neck is highly telescope.
The soft-shell clans seen in market,
while few Of them might have their
monty have it drawn completely with
in their SHE'LL but the soft clam can
put out it's neck to three or four times
the length of it's own shell. So clam
three or four inches long that had
buried itself foot down in the mud
might still be able to keep actual con-
nection with its source of food supply
in the water at the mud's surface.
Plenty of people walking at low
tide along shore under which many
clans have buried themselves have
seen the tiny jets of water that the
clans squirt up-water which the clam
had taken in and from which it was
extracting food, which 1t now dis
charges as it suddenly contracts its
neck on being disturbed
Softshell clans kept in an aquarium
tanks provide themselves there with
food as they would in nature, or they
can there be fed. If fed, there may
be given to them tiny scraps or shreds
OF cut-up clam. If such food is drop
ped in the water an inch or two away
from it, the clam will nevertheless
draw it to itself; for the clam has
quite power of suction in it's intake
tube, and can draw to itself, with
whatever food supplies in the shape
Of minute forms of animal life it may
contain, the water from quite little
radius about. Things too big to be
taken in through it's intake tube. which
it may have drawn to the end of it's
neck, to the opening in its intake
tube, it will then reject by blowing
them away from the Immediately ad-
jacent end of it's outflow pipe; send
ing against the food thus rejected,
through the outflow pipe. little col
umn of water that blows it away like a
pellet blown from a popgun.
Incidental to the little temporary |
currents Sc, up in tank in which soft |
clans are, some other curious things |
may happen. If there are in the tank
sea anemones, which may be lying, |
their tentacles drawn in, flattened out |
on the rock to which they
are attached, these. struck by one of |
those currents Which the clans set 60
Ing, may be walked up and led to un-
fold their tentacles, mistaking the
current thus set up for the first flow
Of the rising tide.
Sea anemOne hunters know that
for sea anemones at low
,ide they might miss them entirely, so
nearly invisible may they then be,
)lastered fat on the rocks; but with
he turn of the tide the sea anemones
lnfold and raise their tentacles, ready
o grasp the food that nature brings
n to them on the rising waters.
Such soft-shell clans as are put in
aquarium tanks are likely to be put in
mailer tanks, where there would not
'e on the bottom sufficient depth Of
and to permit them to bury them
elves deeply. Here the clam will
tretch it's neck out at a great rate,
urving around. conforming to the
hape on the side of circular tank or
ar, or it may be rearing it's head in
he water searching ont in this manner
arts of the body of water which it
as not yet exhausted of its food sup
lies.
In this way, and what with their
over of suction, clans get at the
hole volume of water in tank; and
lams are sometimes put into small
quarium tanks so that they shall
ear the water. If, for example, two
lrs we're filled with water that was
little cloudy, or filled with sedi-
ent, and into one of these four or /
We clans were placed, while none a
as placed in the other, the jar with '
1t the clans would remain the next {
~ more or less clouded, while the wa c
r in the jar with the clans in would S
} bright and clear; it would all have a
zen taken in, and put out again minus S
e sediment; practically the clans a
ould have filtered it. S
While clans brought thus into SER a
ce are commonly SO used in small j
nks only. these being balanced tanks, p
which the water is kept sweet not a
; the constant inflow and outflow OF e
ater, but by balancing plant life
,ainst animal life, they have been a
It to such use in much larger tanks. d
4 one occasion into 150-gallon bal G.
ced tank that had been filled with :
ater slightly clouded there was put Il
night peck Of soft clans. The "