Year: 1874

| 1cdtS. IL lTeQueiltS Gne HaC Teel


and the sandy bottom of shallow


lagoons. The black beche-de-mel


lives only on sandy bottoms at q


depth from knee-deep at low water


down to ten fathoms. 1t grows large


sometimes as long as 80 inches, and


as thick as mans leg. On the back


and sides it is jet black, smooth and


bright, like enamelled leather, the


under side is slate grey. When very


old it becomes encrusted with small


shells. The red kind is the smallest,


and of the least value; it seldom at


tains more than a foot in length,


usually less. 1t lives upon the coral


reef; in the greatest profusion tow


ards the outer edge where the surf


breaks continuously. In this respect


it differs essentially from the black


kind, which delights in quiet waters


and smooth sand, and will not live


either in noisy waves or on rough


rock. The leopard kind grows as


large as the largest of the black, it is


of an olive-green color variegated


with green spots, surrounded by an


orange-colored rim, hence its name


1t has another peculiarity-all beche-


demer are harmless when laid hold


of but this one. On those occasions


he spues out of himself quantity of


slender filaments resembling white


cotton lamp-wick; he can produce


several hanks of it,. it is glutinous,


and whatsoever it touches it attaches


itself to in the most tenacious man.


ner. This would not signify if it


were merely satisfied with sticking


fast, but it is not so; wheresoever it
clings it burns like blister, and upon


any part of the human skin produces


immediate and painful Inflammation.
An American whaleman who was


walking with me on one occasion
upon coral reef trod upon one of
these creatures with his barefoot and
got blistered in consequence. "Won-
derful," said he, ''is the works of ma
ture. 1 had used to believe that
Providence made all things for some
good purpose, but what good use can
be in this burned reptile, it surpasses
my means to imagine" "Never you
mind, sonny" said l, providence
knows better than we, and that ugly
slug is worth 500 dollars ton in
Shanghai if we could only get
enough of it there"


1t was said by King James 1 that
che was brave man who first under
took to swallow live OYSTER" but he
who first with his bare hand took hold
of live beche-de -mer deserved at
least an equal amount of credit see
ing that it is an essentially hideous
and venomous-looking thing; the
which last supposition is not alto
gether without foundation, forasmuch
as it possesses some very poisonous
properties. Thus it's intestines are
always full of water, which one might
suppose, from the way in which it
lives, to be common harmless salt
water, but it is not so. When taken
hold of, it squirts out the water which
it contains sometimes in a spiteful
manner, and with evident malicious
intent If a drop of this liquid en-
ters the human eye it produces a SEN
sation like that of contact with a red
hot coal, resulting in violent and dan
gerous inflammation; if inOculated
into any abrasion of the skin the
are still more serious. |
/ have known men to come very near
losing their eyesight, and to suffer
weeks of great misery and pain from
the causes. 1t has been generally |
II believe by men of sci
ence) that this mollusc is of slow
growth. This is not so. They will |
increase from an inch in length to the
size of a mans hand within three
They have other peculiari-
ties, for which it is not easy to ac-
count; for instance, they are not
found everywhere upon a coral reef
or lagoon bottom, but in great
patches, which proves them to be
and of sociable disposi-
ton. They possess also a certain de-
gree Of intelligence, which is evident
from existing facts, but which does
not seem easy to explain, as thus:
these creatures (which have no ap-
parent eyes) have some means of
communicating with one another, and
a very certain knowledge of each
others proximity, thus: frequently
after having discovered in any one
place a greater multitude of these
slugs than it was possible, from our
means of transport, to have carried
home to the curing houses, it was our
practice to lay them down on coral
rock, with the intent to call for them
again on the morrow; but it was
usual, afterwards, to find them in con-
geries, whereas we had left them the
previous day, one here and one there,
far apart from one another. Again,
if man should strip all the beche-
de-mer from any part of coral reef,
and that Immediately afterwards the
wind change and come on to blow
heavily, after the subsistence of the
gale that place would be found as
thickly crowded with these mollucs
as it had been previously, which leads
one to infer that they had been lodg-
ed in the cavities of the coral, and
had shifted their quarters during the
bad weather, for some reasons known
to themselves, but to us not by any
means apparent.


That an animal so suspicious in its
aspect and gifted with certain pois-
onous properties should be in de-
mand as an article of human food
land moreover, regarded as a deli
cacy } seems beyond measure extraor-
dinary; but it is a fact that the
classes of the celestial flow
cry land exhibit SO remarkable
fondness for the flesh (if it can be so