The Breckenridge news., 1905-08-09

Peculiar Tunicnte FnmiIy-The Bar
nacle AT One Time Was Believed to
Become a Bird-The CuttIehsh.
The commOnest inhabitant of sea or
shore in olden times was invested with
fabulous qualities. The homely barna-
Gle, for instance, because of its feath-
cry breathing apparatus, was said to
be the parent of future bird as Il
proof of which ancient wiseacres point
ed to the rudimentary feathers. Ger
rard, naturalist who flourished at the
close of the sixteenth century, actually
gives credence to the ridiculous legend
in his Herbal" and furnishes a de-
tailed account of the alleged metamor-
phosis.
Even today, Notwithstanding the
elaborate and intricate systems Of sci
entiic classification, there are still
many Of the marine fauna with little
more individuality than can be eX-
pressed in a Latin label. 1t is with a
few of these odd denizens Of the deep
that we are Immediately concerned.
But few will have happened across
the sea fan, one of the zoophytes or
. animal plants. 1t is found on the Dev-
on coast occasionally. 1t consists Of
calcareOus framework or skeleton from
six to twelve inches in height, with
many branches, which are covered
with a flesh colored membrane. The
latter is really composed of innumera-
BILE polyps which, curious to relate, Sc
crete from the salt water the lime nee
essary for the building up of their
common support.
The sea pen is not dissimilar. II Is
only three or four inches long and,
like a quill, Is naked at one end and
"feathered" at the other, the polyps be-
ing on the edge Of the feathers. The
sea pen is phosphorescent and when ir-
ritated, either by being injured or
thrown into fresh water, glows brightly.
A slightly higher but still lowly form
of oceanic life is the tunicata. The
species is 90 called because the body
Is incased in a stout coating or tunic,
consisting of partly cellulose, which, as
we know, is also largely present in the
vegetable world.
One variety OF the tunicate or as
cidian is shaped like a double necked
bottle. All have two openings, one
for the influx and one for the outflow
of water.
The salpa Is a transparent, tubular
81, 20 20 IN
tropical and subtropical seas. 1t ex-
lists in two separate forms, one OF
which lives alone and produces a num-
Der of the others by a sort of budding
process.
A number of these latter unite side
by side so as to make up series or
cluster. Each Of the numerous salpa
in the group lays a single egg, which
in its turn evolves into one of the SOL
itary individuals.
Sea grapes might with greater rea-
son be classed as belonging to the veg
etable world beneath the waves, and
yet these sea fruit are not so innocu-
Gus as they would appear. They are
the eggs of the embryo cuttlehsh, one
of the most repulsive and sinister OF
submarine mOnstrOsities.
The cuttlefish swims by ejecting a
let of water from a tubular opening
near the head. Having an internal
skeleton, 1t is closely allied to the YER
tebrates. With it's eight arms provided
with suckers, its parrotlike beak, its
prominent eyes and its playful habit or
throwing mud in the eyes of its enc
mics by secreting an inky fluid, it Is
queer creature.
Its relative, the octopus, is very
similar, but is minus the two tenta-
cles, or feelers, possessed by the cutie
fish. They are widely distributed In
tropical and subtropical seas and often
grow to large size.
Encounters with them form fruit
full theme for travellers tales. Perhaps
the most imaginative is that fine piece
Of writing descriptive of fight with
one of these devilfish (as they are
sometimes called in Victor Hugo's
"Toilers Of the Sea-"
There are some very peculiar deni-
gems of the seas which wash the Scotch
coasts. One Of these enjoys the eu-
phonious title Of the lumpsueker.
Thick and clumsy In shape, with a
rough and warty skin, Its name Is q
- 49, ts ~ sssAAA