PPLETONS HOME READING BOOKS : THE | HALLOF SHELLS ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY ‘ornell University Libra The hall of shells; Acs Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002813859 Lppletons’ Thome Reading Books EDITED BY WILLIAM T. HARRIS, A.M., LL. D. UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION DIVISION | NATURAL HISTORY (zr ABALONES, 1, 3, 4, Cerianthus membranicus—different varieties. 2, Shell and liv ing Haliotis tubereulata. 5,10, Actinia equina. 6, Actinia cari. Haliotis rufescens. 8, Haliactis bellis. 9, Eloactis mazelii. v 10 animal, 7, Empty shell of APPLETONS’ HOME READING BOOKS THE HALL OF SHELLS BY MRS. A. S. HARDY AUTHOR OF THREE SINGERS NEW YORK . D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1897 Copynrieat, 1897, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. INTRODUCTION TO THE HOME READING BOOK SERIES BY THE EDITOR. THE new education takes two important direc- tions—one of these is toward original observation, requiring the pupil to test and verify what is taught him at school by his own experiments. The infor- mation that he learns from books or hears from his teacher’s lips must be assimilated by incorporating it with his own experience. The other direction pointed out by the new edu- cation is systematic home reading. It forms a part of school extension of all kinds. The so-called “ Univer- sity Extension” that originated at Cambridge and Ox- ford has as its chief feature the aid of home reading by lectures and round-table discussions, led or conducted by experts who also lay out the course of reading. The Chautauquan movement in this country prescribes a series of excellent books and furnishes for a goodly number of its readers annual courses of lectures. The teachers’ reading circles that exist in many States pre- scribe the books to be read, and publish some analysis, commentary, or catechism to aid the members. Home reading, it seems, furnishes the essential basis of this great movement to extend education v vi THE HALL OF SHELLS. beyond the school and to make self-culture a habit of life. Looking more carefully at the difference between the two directions of the new education we can see what each accomplishes. There is first an effort to train the original powers of the individual and make him self-active, quick at observation, and free in his thinking. Next, the new education endeavors, by the reading of books and the study of the wisdom of the race, to make the child or youth a participator in the results of experience of all mankind. These two movements may be made antagonistic by poor teaching. The book knowledge, containing as it does the precious lesson of human experience, may be so taught as to bring with it only dead rules of conduct, only dead scraps of information, and no stimulant to original thinking. Its contents may be memorized without being understood. On the other hand, the self-activity of the child may be stimulated at the expense of his social well-being—his originality may be cultivated at the expense of his rationality. If he is taught persistently to have his own way, to trust only his own senses, to cling to his own opinions heedless of the experience of his fellows, he is pre- paring for an unsuccessful, misanthropic career, and is likely enough to end his life in a madhouse. It is admitted that a too exclusive study of the knowledge found in books, the knowledge which is aggregated from the experience and thought of other people, may result in loading the mind of the pupil with material which he can not use to advantage. EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. vil Some minds are so full of lumber that there is no space left to set up a workshop. The necessity of uniting both of these directions of intellectual activity in the schools is therefore obvious, but we must not, in this place, fall into the error of supposing that it is the oral instruction in school and the personal influ- ence of the teacher alone that excites the pupil to ac- tivity. Book instruction is not always dry and theo- retical. The very persons who declaim against the book, and praise in such strong terms the self-activity of the pupil and original research, are mostly persons who have received their practical impulse from read- ing the writings of educational reformers. Very few persons have received an impulse from personal con- tact with inspiring teachers compared with the num- ber that have received an impulse from such books as Herbert Spencer’s Treatise on Education, Rousseau’s Emile, Pestalozzi’s Leonard and Gertrude, Francis W. Parker’s Talks about Teaching, G. Stanley Hall’s Pedagogical Seminary. Think in this connec- tion, too, of the impulse to observation in natural sci- ence produced by such books as those of Hugh Miller, Faraday, Tyndall, Huxley, Agassiz, and Darwin. The new scientific book is different from the old. The old style book of science gave dead results where the new one gives not only the results, but a minute account of the method employed in reaching those re- sults. An insight into the method employed in dis- covery trains the reader into a naturalist, an historian, a sociologist. The books of the writers above named have done more to stimulate original research on the vill THE HALL OF SHELLS. part of their readers than all other influences com- bined. It is therefore much more a matter of importance to get the right kind of book than to get a living teacher. The book which teaches results, and at the same time gives in an intelligible manner the steps of discovery and the methods employed, is a book which will stimulate the student to repeat the ex- periments described and get beyond these into fields of original research himself. Every one remem- bers the published lectures of Faraday on chemistry, which exercised a wide influence in changing the style of books on natural science, causing them to deal with method more than results, and thus to train the reader’s power of conducting original research. Robinson Crusoe for nearly two hundred years has stimulated adventure and prompted young men to resort to the border lands of civilization. A library of home reading should contain books that stimulate to self-activity and arouse the spirit of inquiry. The books should treat of methods of discovery and evo- lution. All nature is unified by the discovery of the law of evolution. Each and every being in the world is now explained by the process of development to which it belongs. Every fact now throws light on all the others by illustrating the process of growth in which each has its end and aim. The Home Reading Books are to be classed as follows: First Diwision, Natural history, including popular scientific treatises on plants and animals, and also de- EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. ix scriptions of geographical localities. The branch of study in the district school course which corresponds to this is geography. Travels and sojourns in distant lands; special writings which treat of this or that animal or plant, or family of animals or plants; any- thing that relates to organic nature or to meteorol- ogy, or descriptive astronomy may be placed in this class. Second Division. Whatever relates to physics or natural philosophy, to the statics or dynamics of air or water or light or electricity, or to the properties of matter; whatever relates to chemistry, either organic or inorganic—books on these subjects belong to the class that relates to what is inorganic. Even the so- called organic chemistry relates to the analysis of organic bodies into their inorganic compounds. Third Division. History and biography and eth- nology. Books relating to the lives of individuals, and especially to the social life of the nation, and to the collisions of nations in war, as well as to the aid that one gives to another through commerce in times of peace; books on ethnology relating to the manners and customs of savage or civilized peoples; books on the primitive manners and customs which belong to the earliest human beings—books on these subjects be- long to the third class, relating particularly to the hu- man will, not merely the individual will but the social will, the will of the tribe or nation; and to this third class belong also books on ethics and morals, and on forms of government and laws, and what is included under the term civics or the duties of citizenship. x THE HALL OF SHELLS. Fourth Division. The fourth class of books in- cludes more especially literature and works that make known the beautiful in such departments as sculpture, painting, architecture and music. Literature and art show human nature in the form of feelings, emotions, and aspirations, and they show how these feelings lead over to deeds and to clear thoughts. This de- partment of books is perhaps more important than any other in our home reading, inasmuch as it teaches a knowledge of human nature and enables us to un- derstand the motives that lead our fellow-men to action. To each book is added an analysis in order to aid the reader in separating the essential points from the unessential, and give each its proper share of atten- tion, W. T. Harris. Wasuneron, D. C., November 16, 1896. PREFACE. Tue changing greens of the ocean, the wim. ple of its waters when at peace, abide among the pleasantest memories of my early childhood. Glimpses into the sea, as pictured by Fouqué, still have fascinations surpassing fact or fiction of these later days. This little book is published with the hope that it may lead to a fuller study of some of the most interesting and most beautiful crea- tions in Nature. Books upon marine shells, either not too expensive or too learned for com- mon use, are few; hence it is hoped that this little volume may help to awaken an interest in the sea and its treasures, which can but grow with the years and afford an ever-widening and deepening source of delight and of profit. Pearls let slip from their broken string, led —in the story—to the hidden casket. So may x1 xii THE HALL OF SHELLS. these simple studies be like bits of pearly wampum, leading to a thesaurus wherein is a treasure trove. Mrs. A. S. Harpy. UNIONVILLE, OHIO, July, 1897. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I.—FourR PEOPLE AND THE HALL OF SHELLS : : 3 JJ.—THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE . i ‘ ‘ a: [als Ill.—Purpuras.—MvReExEs ; 27 IV.—MiIcroscopic SHELLS . ; ‘ 33 V.—IANTHINA.—TRITONIA ‘ ‘ : ‘ i. out VI.—SEA SECRETS. F : : . 48 VIL—A PorTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR.—THE MEDUS& FAM- ILY ‘ : 5 ‘ ‘ 51 VIIT.—PrEaris.—MorHER-OF-PEARL ‘ ‘ 61 I[X.—FLOWERS OF THE SEA.—STORY OF THE MERMAID’S LACE. ‘ : ; é ji 73 X.—TuHe Arconaut.—THE NAUTILUS 83 XI.—RockeD IN THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP . 93 XII—Gay, SAD SCHEVENINGEN . i 2 99 XIII.—AN ANCIENT FAMILY . ‘ 109 XIV.—BaRNACLES x ‘ ‘ “ pa ig XV.—A SEA FAN AND A SEA PARABLE. Y . 128 XVI—A _ stTorm.—Razor FISHES.—Byssus SPINNERS.— STONE EATERS,—LIGHTED TOMBS. : 185 XVII.—OLIvEs : ‘ : i 145 XVIII.—GrowTH OF SHELLS . : ‘ 155 X1X.—“ THINGS UNRECKE’D OF” ‘ ; 163 XX.—TROUBLE . ‘ ‘4 : F A 3 f . 169 xiii LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. FACING PAGE Abalones . 3 3 : ‘ : Frontispiece Listening to the smooth-lipped shell; Triton variegatus . 19 Pilgrim wearing his badge of knighthood. ‘ : . 22 The legend of the Tyrian dye. : ' : : ‘ . 28 The comb of pearl . ; ; ‘ ‘ ’ . 29 “One-seated shallops whose etuien have departed” . . Ol Hydroids and jelly-fish . : : A ‘ , : . 56 Pearl-producing shells . F : ‘ 64° The mermaid’s lace . 3 . The argonaut . : 5 ’ , ; . 84 Scheveningen shell-gatherer . ‘ : : ; . 106 A sea lily. : F ‘ : < o AY Fishing for sea cucumbers in the Philippine Islands; Holo- thuride . : : ‘ : ; : ‘ . 115 Barnacles . ; ; : : ‘ é : ‘ ; . 119 A fan gorgon; Hermit crab . ‘ ; : , ; . 131 Janthina communis, or violet snail, with float supporting eggs; Patella vulgata; Empty shell of Ianthina; Ensis ensis, or razor shell . 3 ; , . 1389 Conus textile; Conus imperialis ; Oliva opens Oliva por- phyrea; Phasianella ventricosa; Murex princeps . . 151 XV ANALYSIS -OF HALL OF SHELLS, WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY. Tue following paragraphs are intended more as helps to those who may wish to continue studies here begun than as any perfect analysis of chapters. The books which have been especially helpful in preparing these studies are here indicated, and their helpfulness acknowledged. As will be seen, authorities are sometimes referred to and studies suggested which do not relate to shells at all, but from the nature of this little volume have seemed to belong here. CHAPTER I.—Introduction of our friends the Bremelys to the new minister, and the ocean whose name is Peace. Interest in the starfish and the Haliotis begun ; the mouth and stomach of the former indicated, and the nervous sys- tem of the latter. For further understanding of these con- sult zodlogies and encyclopedias. For runes of the North- men read the Sagas, Scandinavian mythology, and Odin, by Carlyle. The works of Fouqué, whom Richter chris- tened ‘The Valiant,” furnish weird and graceful tales of the sea. Read the classics, in original or translations. CHAPTER II.—The Pecten and Patella have been used as plates and drinking vessels at different times and by various nations ; the former served as a badge of knight- hood. The beauty and wonderful construction of the 2 xvii Xvili THE HALL OF SHELLS. mollusks tenanting these shells surpass the marvelously contrived houses in which they live. The power of adhe- sion possessed by the Patella and its ability to sustain great weights should be tested by those who have access to seacoasts. Read Mollusca, their Shells, Tongues, Eyes, and Ears, by Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.8. Hxamine com- mon garden snails, comparing their eyes with those of the Pecten upon the seacoast. CHAPTER III.—The extensive use of Purpuras and Murexes in the ancient dying of purples is shown by the little mountains of shells still lying in vicinities where this industry was plied. The coloring matter—-but a drop —contained in a veinlike sac. The Purpura the crest of the city of Tyre. Study Tyre, and learn of the caldron- like cavities in the rocks where these shells were crushed. Compare the shells of this family, noting how the whorls of some of these shells are thickened by varices or nodes, indicating rest periods in growth; also the immense de- velopment of the last whirl in some; the elongated spines in others. CHAPTER IV.—Observe with a strong microscope the beauty of coil and polish in the most minute shells, Where living specimens can be examined the tenants of these diminutive shells will be found to possess as compli- cated and delicate organisms as those of larger growth. Study sand from any sea beach. Shake the sand and atoms from sponges on sale, then count and examine the treasures you will find. CHAPTER V.—Undine finds a “sea horn” among her shells. It is the shell Neptune’s trumpeter is fabled to have used to still the tumult of the sea. Tritonia tritonis used as a teakettle, the operculum its cover. Ianthina fra- gilis, preserved through the beating of waves and the grinding of sand, bears its egg capsules beneath a float, and buoyed up upon the tossing seas the delicate creatures’ are born to the purple. . The horny operculum of land snails maybe seen, and ANALYSIS OF HALL OF SHELLS. xix its connection by strong muscle with the animal tested. Look up in an encyclopzedia how the cartilaginous air vesi- cles composing the egg float of the sea snail are secreted and how attached. CuapteR VI.—The dip net brings up marvels un- dreamed of before ; the brine and mud become full of les- sons; hydroids, scalaria, stomapod, and Sapphirina give up their secrets. The sea bottom is shown by science to be more than a fairyland. A dip net may be used in study in either salt or fresh water. Read The Bottom of the Sea, by T. Sourel. CHAPTER VII.—The Physalia or Portuguese man-of- war is sometimes driven up from the tropic seas and stranded. It is one of the most interesting of the I/edusce family ; armed with poison-filled tentacles which are its weapons of defense, and by them its food is obtained. The study of the Medusce, either in books or actual life, watch- ing development, will fill many days with delightful em- ployment. In fresh water, common Hydra may be found under leaves of aquatic plants. Cut them in pieces and see their power of reproduction from the severed pieces. Turn them inside out and see the result. CHapter VIIl.—Origin of pearls was formerly ac- counted for by drops of dew becoming solidified. Pearls are formed over hard, offensive matter within the folds of the mantle, also secreted and used as nacre by the animal in mending points of irritation. Pearls most highly esteemed by all nations and at all times. Pearls are of various colors and each color has its peculiar votaries. The pearl Cleopatra drank questioned by science. The rainbow shells of the Haliotide called Awabi in Japan, abalone in California. The iridescence of their nacreous lining due to the laminations of nacre secreted by the animal and irregularly overlapping in delicate films. Read Precious Stones, by Harry Emanuel. Cuaprer IX.—Term Alge now includes much less than formerly, many specimens once held as vegetable XX THE HALL OF SHELLS. now consigned to animal kingdom. Have been variously classified, and the old classifications abandoned or giving place to those relating more particularly to structure and development. ; Alge draw their sustenance from the water, loving best the quiet seas of temperate zones, and depending upon light for their coloring. Find authority for the story in studies upon the ancient art of Venetian point lace. To secure and preserve the most delicate varieties of ‘seaweed, slip a paper under them while floating in the sea ora dish of water, raise carefully, arranging any imper- fect points with fine camel’s-hair brush or the point of a pin. Kelp must be pressed between oiled paper or pieces of muslin on account of the glue it contains. A gatherer of seaweeds when questioned regarding many varieties replied, “Oh, nobody knows!” Here, then, is a realm waiting and luring investigation. CHAPTER X.—Argonaut and nautilus—both cephalo- pods—are quite unlike in many points, yet their names have been indiscriminately used. There is a similarity in the form of their shells; that of the argonaut is, however, thin and [brittle, while the shell of the nautilus is thick and strong. This latter is divided into chambers, hence called the chambered nautilus. It is interesting to study the fossil species of these shells. CHAPTER XI.—The family Veneride contains many beauties long ago dedicated to Venus. Varieties of these shells are numerous, but all more or less beautifully sculp- tured and pictured. The value the aborigines attached to the round clam of the Atlantic coast has been preserved in its name Venus mercenaria. Clams may be studied in salt and fresh waters, the number and character of the teeth in their hinges observed. ‘The nervous system can be, with care and patience, worked out in the clam or fresh water mussél,” The family Chitonide are curiously constructed, en- ANALYSIS OF HALL OF SHELLS. Xxi abling the animal to accommodate itself to rounded sur- faces. Its shell consists of eight pieces. CHAPTER XII.—Scheveningen, Holland’s famous and fashionable resort, has its two villages and its two lives. The character of its people seems invigorated by their hard- ships. Its sand dunes, its sand beach, and its novel bath- ing arrangements are well given in Holland and its Peo- ple, by De Amicis. Cuaprer XIII.—The Echidermata is a spiny family as well as a family of distinction and beauty, all adhering more or less closely to the examplé and characteristics of their ancient ancestry. If possible, study living starfish, the fossils of this family, and compare the plan of the leath- ery exterior of Holothiurians with the delicate plates of the Eehinus miliaris, and examine the spines of the latter and their wonderful adjustment. CHAPTER XIV.—In external appearance barnacles re- semble mollusks, in organism they are crustaceans. The changes accomplished in their various stages are explained in works upon zodlogy. CHAPTER XV.—The Gordonide, which were long be- lieved to be singular and gorgeous sea plants, are now known as the home and work of polypi. Some grow in long branch- like extensions, others look like network of jewels. Their relatives are the polypi—creators of the corals. The soft bodies of these builders are uniform in structure and close- ly adhere to their enlarged type—the sea anemone. Ex- amine and compare structure of different corals. CHAPTER XVI.—Storms destroy many shells while oth- ers equally fragile are lifted to places of safety upon the crest of the waves. Some burrow in the sand, as the Si- phonida, and are discovered by the jets of water they spout out when disturbed. Others are moored by cables of their own spinning : these are the byssus spinners, and notches may be observed in shells of this kind allowing of the passage of the byssus, which the animal attaches at will. Borers also excavate retreats in wood or rock, even some- xxii THE HALL OF SHELLS. times completely burying themselves in sepulchers of their own making. See tke work of pholades in the columns of the ancient temple of Serapis, at Pozzuolis. CHAPTER X VII.—Among the most beautiful of shells . are those of Olivide. The markings of some suggest delicate cuneiform and picture writing. The external sur- face of these is pictured entirely different from the deco- rations on layers just below. These mollusks have the ability to dissolve away earlier formed volutions. Study olives and cone shells in Structural and Systematic Con- chology, by George W. Tryon. CHAPTER X VIII.—Shells were once parts of the mantle or delicate films secreted by and thrown off from it: these harden, and unite with other tissues previously thrown off, Observe these layers joined to each other as shown in the more solid shell—the Cassides, for example. The color of shells also the secreting work of the man- tle ; tints dependent upon light. Still, how is a mystery. Observe under valves of shells where light has not reached, CHaprer XIX.—See Land Shells, published by Ameri- ean Tract Society, for lessons upon the eyes of snails, and apparent affection among them. Sounds are produced by some varieties of sea slugs. Auditorial nerves are dis- covered in some shellfishes. Their whole surface ex- tremely sensitive. CHAPTER XX.—In the family Cypreide we find the beautiful porcelain shells which change their exquisite markings with different stages of growth. In this family members of the genus Ovulum are beautifully enameled, but lack the coloring of the Cyprea. FOUR PEOPLE AND THE HALL OF SHELLS. O ever-solitary sea, Of which we all have found Somewhat to dream or say—the type Of things without a bound— Love, long as life, and strong as death ; Faith, humble as sublime; Eternity, whose large depths hold The wrecks of this small Time. Miss MULocK. And Nature, the old nurse, took The child upon her knee, Saying, “ Here is a story book Thy Father has written for thee.” LONGFELLOW. 2 FE, FOUR PEOPLE AND THE HALL OF SHELLS. “Oxrp Neptune’s napping!” said Tom, as he watched the waves that played as lightly as a baby’s fingers with the sands upon the shore. Far out, the sea was blue as bluest ame- thyst; slowly circling toward the land the waves grew green and opaline; their jewels flashed a moment in the sun and were drawn back again into the sea. Miss Bremely, to whom Tom had spoken, seemed under the same spell as the ocean; her eyes held in their blue depths a dreamy look of peace; the sunshine touched her hair to gold, gave a glint of richness to brow and cheek, and fell in light caress upon her folded hands. She answered Tom with a smile, then rous- ing from her reverie, she said, “Our ocean is” for the nonce living up to Magellan's good opinions and to the name the old navigator . ” gave it so long ago. ; 4 THE HALL OF SHELLS. Almost before her sentence was finished, Tom, who spied a stranger working a dip net down the beach, with true boyish instinct had sped away to the scene of interest. Still Miss Bremely mused in the hazy sun- shine, the water lapping lightly against the rock upon which she sat. Bending over its ledge she gathered tangles of sea kelp the waves laid at her feet. “Thank you, dear old Sea,” she said; “you are gentle and sing like a siren to-day; to-mor- row you may roar like an army of Titans. Ah, well, your calms and silvery tides are all the dearer to us because of your depths we can not fathom, your,storms we can not quell.” Kneeling upon the sand she bent her head until the incoming waves touched her forehead with their crystal chrism, then rising she took her hamper of shells and started along an as- cending pathway to a cottage not far distant among acacia trees. The cottage was her home. Turning from its main entrance she chose a winding flight of steps leading to a small balcony. There she paused before an open door and a childish voice greeted her with, “O Cousin Ellen, you look like a mer- maid !” FOUR PEOPLE AND THE HALL OF SHELLS. 5 Miss Bremely’s hands were filled with treasures from the beach and her cheeks flushed to the delicate tint of sea shells, while the kelp she had wound about her hat, trailing down, had caught in the loose wefts of her hair and fell in tangles of color over the gray folds of her gown. But far better than the charm of a mermaid was the gentle grace of a loving spirit which brought sunshine into the room and joy to the child face that lay among the pillows. Following Miss Bremely came Tom. Tom was preciously human. There was no hint of mermen about him. His trousers were rolled to the knees and gave evidence of having been touched by the waves. He carried his hat piled with limpets, spirals, and shining aba- lones, while his many bulging pockets sug- gested scores of hidden treasures. | Undine, the child among the pillows, was Tom’s little sister—though Undine was not her name at all. She was christened Gertrude. It had been her mother’s name, and seemed - to _ belong to the little girl whose cheerful spirit and. gentle grace made her so like the swéet mother who had been borne away over the mystical seas by the same bark that brought the little girl to earth. Her father’s niece, Miss Bremely, was as mother and companion 6 THE HALL OF SHELLS. to the child, and, seeing her love for the sea, it was she who had called her Undine; and Un- dine she had become to every one saving her father. To him she was always Gertrude, and the name fell from his lips with a caressing tenderness as if he spoke to the sweet mother in heaven as well as to the child upon earth. , Tom’s little sister was as frail as he was sturdy, and to alleviate the child’s weariness when constrained to lie for months among her pulows, Miss Bremely wove her tales of the sea. At one time it was arune of the North. men, terrible with dragon ships, jétuns, and stormy seas, but beautiful with love and valor. At another it was a bit of classic lore made so simple and charming that Undine forgot her pain and longed for the time when she could read such wonderful stories herself. But even more fascinating than these were the descrip- tions of coral groves through which the Undine of Fouqué’s charming stories walked, and the gardens, fathoms down, where gay-tinted flow- ers of the sea unfolded their delicate frondlike branches, independent alike of sunshine and shower. She had wondered why such gardens grew far from any mortal sight, and Miss Bremely answered : FOUR PEOPLE AND THE HALL OF SHELLS. 7% “There may be eyes that read these gospels Other than the eyes of men.” — When the child was busy, one day, sorting her shells, Miss Bremely told her of Ossian’s lordly cave with its “hall of shells where kings and warriors feasted,” and Undine had asked that, because of her love for the sea and be- cause her name was that of a sea maiden, her room might be a hall of shells. Her cousin consented upon the conditions that Undine learn the names and what she could of the haunts and habits of her treasures. So Un- dine’s room, opening toward the ocean, became a little hall of shells, and those who loved her brought their treasures into it, until it was growing to look like an ocean cave or a mer- maid’s throne room. It was here that Miss Bremely and Tom came after their walk upon the strand. Miss Bremely placed her basket of shells upon a table by the bed, while Tom, with more devo- tion than discretion, dumped his dripping treas- ures upon the coverlet before his sister. Miss Bremely’s smothered “O Tom!” was unheard as Tom, with hands deep in his bulging pockets, exclaimed : “Old Pacific must have been thinking about you, Undine; our cove was full of 8 THE HALL OF SHELLS. shells. Guess I’ve found you some new ac- quaintances. Just look at that beauty—pink ‘as a flower! The new minister was down on the beach. He said that shell was a great trav- eler and had come from the tropic seas. “Undine, that minister knew me! Said he saw me at church. I didn’t s’pose ministers ever saw boys. Our other minister never did. I wouldn’t wonder if Dr. McLean—that’s the new minister’s name—knew ’most as much as Cousin Ellen does about the ocean and its in- habitants. He showed me where to look to find the mouth and stomach of a starfish; they are right handy together, I tell you! He says starfish are very fond of oysters. You wouldn’t s’pose they could open an oyster shell, would you? But they can; they just put that queer mouth of theirs close to the closed edge of the oyster shell and inject a bitter liquid into the shell; Mr. Oyster don’t like the dose and opens his valves, in walks the starfish and eats ‘oys- ter on the half shell’ without as much as a thank you! Dr. McLean says these starfish have a cousin that grows on a long stem like a flower. “See all these rainbow colors,” he con- tinued, displaying a brilliant Haliot’s. “Dr. McLean says the animal that lived in this shell FOUR PEOPLE AND THE HALL OF SHELLS. 9 had a heart and a digestive and nervous sys- tem. He told me what these little ‘portholes’ along the top are for, and showed me where to look to find a limpet’s eyes. “T never knew before that ministers cared about shells. I didn’t s’pose they could talk about much, ’cept ’Gyptians, Hebrews, and orig- inal sin!” After a moment’s pause, he added con- vincingly, “ Dr. McLean’s very interesting for a minister.” By this time Tom’s pockets were emptied, and Undine’s eyes sparkling over her treasures ; the strands of kelp, too, were untangled from Miss Bremely’s hat and hair. They proved to be very fine specimens, and were placed in a press to dry, with strips of muslin on either side to prevent their adhering to the paper of the press. THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE. Shells are at once the attraction of the untutored say- age, the delight of the refined artist, the wonder of the philosophic zoédlogist, and most valued treasure of the geologist. They adorn the sands of the sea-girt isles and continents now; and they form the earliest “ footprints on the sands of time” in the history of our globe-—Car- PENTER. ... Thave seen A curious child applying to her ear The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell, To which, in silence hushed, her very soul Listened intently and her countenance soon Brightened with joy ; for murmuring from within Were heard sonorous cadences, whereby, To her belief, the monitor expressed Mysterious union with its native sea. ‘WORDSWORTH. 12 II. THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE. Nature reveals most wonderful secrets to those who love her. Undine, bending over her treasures with glowing face, uttered many an exclamation of surprise and delight as she discovered new friends, or had charming se- erets revealed to her from the lips of old. She amused herself by arranging upon her tray a score or more of shells, delicately tinted, fair and shining as the rarest china, and not very dissimilar in shape to many of the dainty dishes of the day. “Come, Cousin Ellen,” she exclaimed, “and see my mermaid’s tea service !” “Others than the Nereids have eaten and drank from beautiful vessels like these,” said her cousin. “This,” she continued taking a shell from the tray, “is a Pecten, or scallop. One variety of Pecten served as a drinking cup in early times, and when the ancient chief- tain, Ossian, with his lory guests, ‘struck his 14 THE HALL OF SHELLS. sounding shells,’ and when in his hall the ‘shell of kings was heard, it was probably such scallop cups the warriors clashed. “ Another Pecten was called the pilgrim’s shell, and was used by the early Crusaders as both plate and goblet. This shell was some- times from four to five inches broad, and found in abundance on the coast of Palestine. It was also worn upon the front of the hat as a badge of knighthood by those who had performed the sacred pilgrimages or visited a shrine of St. James. This latter gave it the additional name of St. James’s shell, its proper name being Pecten Jacobeus. “The name Pecten means comb, and has been given these shells because of the appear- ance of ribs ornamenting the surface of many varieties. “But beautiful as are these shells, the mol- lusks living in such houses as these are even more beautiful and instructive. “By quick opening and shutting of its valves the little animal moves through the water. When ‘at home’ the pretty creature lies upon one side, its two valves open far enough to admit of our peering in; there we see delicate white fringes waving this way and that, withdrawn and again floating over the THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE. 15 edge of the shell. These are called tentacles, and among them can be discerned tiny and brilliant points which are shown by the lens to shine like diamonds, each rimmed in a setting of red. These are the eyes of the scallop, and Divine thought has protected them by the over- hanging shell rim as kindly and carefully as human eyes are shielded. “ We sometimes find the bright yellow eggs of this little animal, looking not unlike the roe of some fishes, but carefully deposited among the ruffles of the interior. “The dainty dishes of your tea service are not all Pectens, however; here are limpets tinted and polished above the most famous china. Patelle, or limpets, are found in many varie- ties ; one upon the western coast of South Amer- ica is a foot in diameter, and often serves as a dish. Indeed the name Patella signifies a dish. “One is called the ‘cup-and-saucer limpet’ because of the cuplike formation in the inte- rior of the saucerlike shell. Another here upon your tray is called the ‘keyhole limpet’ on account of the tiny aperture you see in the apex of the shell. “Shells of this family have long been used as ornaments as well as dishes. Necklaces 16 THE HALL OF SHELLS. have been strung of them, and such are found in some of the most ancient sepulchers. “When you are well enough to go down to the beach. you will wonder at the power of adhesion possessed by these little limpets, for it is impossible to remove them from the rocks without breaking their shells unless they are surprised by sudden seizure. “Some authorities say this is owing to the large round foot of the Patella, which is very muscular and possessed of a viscous secretion which aids it as a sucker. The perfectly even edge of the shell keeps it tight against the rock, while ‘the power of treating a vacuum’ —a problem too old for your young head— is said also to enter into the operation. Others attribute the adhesion to no muscular action, but chiefly to the ‘invisible glue which exudes from the granulated base of the sole of its foot,’ as the expansion upon which the ani- mal moves is called. We find upon removing one of these little creatures from the rocks that a sticky secretion is left where the limpet clung. This gluelike substance is soon dis- solved by the action of the sea water. “A weight of from twenty-eight to thirty pounds has been suspended from the shell of a limpet attached to a stone; the weight was THE MERMAID'S TEA SERVICE. 17 sustained by the plucky little animal for some seconds, Whatever theory may be correct in accounting for the strength with which these little creatures cling to their rocky home, we can wholly agree with Wordsworth who wrote: “ Should the strongest arm endeavor » The limpet from its rock to sever, Tis seen its loved support to clasp With such tenacity of grasp, We wonder that such strength should dwell In such a small and simple shell! “When the water covers his weather-worn dome, the limpet does a-walking go; but always returns to the same spot upon the rock and re- mains fixed while the tides are out, as its gills were never made for breathing air. When the rocks are soft, the little limpet wears away not only his ‘door stone,’ but its circular little dome reposes in a cavity which its muscular foot scoops out, and which the shell exactly fits. “ Who would guess this silent little creature possessor of a tongue-twice as long as its shell? Stranger still, this ribbonlike tongue is fur. nished with rows of teeth. The Patella vulgaris of the British Isles has one hundred and sixty rows of teeth upon its tongue, and twelve teeth in a row, making its entire ‘set’ to consist of Missing Page Missing Page LISTENING TO THE SMOOTH-LIPPED SHELL. TRITON VARIEGATUS., THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE. 19 sea shouts and laughs and beckons to me, even my shells are full of sea songs;” and she held a chambered shell to her ear, talking of its plaintive murmur, so like the breaking of waves upon a far-off coast. A few minutes later she was asleep, the shell still held to her ear, and a smile upon her lips—a sign of the pleasantness of her voyage over sleep’s mysterious sea. This is what she saw: A quaint little crea- ture came up out of.the waves and stood upon the sand. It looked like a bit of a crumpled veil, a weird little wraith made up of frills and ruffles, but with a foot so large as to sug- gest a mistake had been made in the adjust- ment. Undine, with her love for all manner of sea tenants, smiled a welcome, then waited curiously, uncertain what might be the next propriety in view of her guest being incognito. Presently a voice, finer than the vibration of a spider's silken string, came to Undine between the noise of the waves, and the little visitor announced : “J built that pearly palace you are holding in your hand; Z painted its walls and tinted the ceiling of _ chambers. It was my home for years, how many you can tell by counting the 20 THE HALL OF SHELLS. thickened varices upon its surface, each of which marks a year of my life and the season of rest that came to me after my toils. I pride myself no one could have fashioned a fairer dwelling, and when at length I was torn from it I left its halls filled with memories. Those smallest coils echo with the songs of life’s morning; its joys as well as its sorrows are all repeated there. Upon one side you may see a pearly scar. It was there that a borer pierced my walls while the shell was yet tender. The thrills of horror of that moment still haunt those small chambers. Rescue came and I lived to mend the broken wall, but you will see the scar remains. “Later the walls of my citadel were again pierced and the horrible borer once more sought my life; but again I was delivered. This time I had grown too large for these small chambers, and if you will carefully ex- amine the interior of my house you will see a partition is built shutting off the broken and outgrown chambers. Those are painful memo- ries, and mingled with the merrier music in the coils you may hear cries that are wild and plaintive. “Upon the island sands where I was cast I once heard a wise man say, ‘Sorrow gives some THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE. a1 of the sweetest strains to life’s music.’ I do not know. You may listen and learn for yourself, “The next room is filled with the singing of sirens and laughter of sea nymphs as they leap from crag to crag under the sea. If you listen well you may catch, too, the sigh of a sailor boy as he fell asleep. “The outer whirls and the vestibule re- tain the pleasant murmur of winds through palms and spice trees of a sea-girt island, the pleasant lapping of waves upon the sand, and the laughter of bathers in the surf. Through all and above all is heard the ceaseless roar of the ocean. “T can not explain to you the mysterious union between myself and my native sea, whereby sighs and sobbings as from a heart oppressed become forever my heritage. “But the gray old sea has a secret, a mys- terious and terrible sorrow. By the thought of it he is transformed, and white with rage he breaks rocks to atoms and tears continents ir his fury. Again he falls to sobbing so piteous- ly that we all sob with him. The secret of his sorrow is a long, sad tale; but I will tell it to you, and why he moans and raves, why he sobs and sighs. Listen!” 22 THE HALL OF SHELLS. At this up sped a white wave from the sea. It caught the little ruffled and frilled wraith of the shell, and with a single sweep drew her into its darkest depths, out of sight forever. A limpet, Patella vulgata, with its dome- like house, is shown in our engraving, in which are also the sea snails and the razor-shell. The illustration of the Palmer or Pilgrim shows the manner in which scallop shells were worn as badges of a holy knighthood. An empty St. James’s shell—Pecten Jacobeus— lies in the left foreground of the picture, while in the right is a shell with its living inmate, displaying the delicate fringelike tentacles as seen playing lightly in the water when the valves of the shell are slightly opened. Between these lies a Husus or spindle shell, well named—long, slender, thin-lipped, and without varices. Upon each side are arranged several species of Serpula, which look like little stone ser- pents with their plumed and crimson crests. Annelids they are, their shelly, twisted tubes twining round and fastening themselves upon shells, stones, and other submarine objects, sometimes completely covering them. The dwellers in these calcareous, contorted tubes PILGRIM WEARING HIS BADGE OF KNIGHTHOOD. THE MERMAID’S TEA SERVICE. 93 are themselves gay with color; indeed, the sea folk in general delight in rich and delicate hues, if we may judge from their beautifully painted bodies and dwellings. The tubelike homes which these gay sea worms inhabit, are of their own construction from lime and cement which their bodies se- erete, and each is furnished with a curious door which the owner of the fortress is able to close upon the slightest alarm with lightning rapidity. The different varieties of Serpula are inter- esting and attractive embellishments to our aquariums, and the marvelous arrangement of delicate membranes and muscular fibers of these extremely sensitive organisms well repay our study. The beggar wears thy purple as his own. Miss MULOCK. Who would be A mermaid fair, Singing alone, Combing her hair Under the sea, In a golden curl With a comb of pearl ? TENNYSON. 26 III. PURPURAS.—MUREXES. Looxine over the shells upon the table, Miss Bremely found a pretty tuberculated shell of the Muricide family. She told Undine its name— Purpura emarginata. “Tt has a pretty relative,” said Miss Breme- ly, “which is used by the South Sea Islanders as a drinking cup, and both belong to that famous family which yielded the royal purple dye anciently so highly prized by those who wore ‘soft raiment’ and dwelt in ‘kings’ houses.’ “'The dye was a colorless fluid which became purple upon exposure to the sun; it was but a drop, and secreted in a veinlike sac near the head of the little Mwrex. No wonder that purple stuffs were costly, being valued, we are told, as high as two hundred dollars a pound. “To-day, beside the ruined city which gave its name to these purples, lie other ruins—piles 4 27 28 THE HALL OF SHELLS. of shattered homes of the Murex trunculus or Tyrian rock shell. “The centuries have preserved a pretty story celebrating the origin of this industry— the coloring of purple. It has an idyllic charm, and brings the people of that old city, whose crest was a Purpura shell, near enough to be our kin.