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A Coon

CHILDREN WITH THE FISHES

BY
MRS. A. E, ANDERSON-MASKELL

ILLOSTRATED
rn! jy : SHIRG
BOSTON Seen

Pe eorirk OP COMPANY

FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS

©

COPYRIGHT, 1887,
BY

D. Loruror Company.

CHAP FER I.

THE FISHING PARTY.

Frank, like almost all boys, was fond of fishing.
One day he persuaded Grace and his little sisters to
accompany him. The first fish caught was a fine
speckled trout.

“Isn’t he booful!” exclaimed little Rose, dancing
around the tub of water in which the shining crea-
ture had been placed.

YOM ceftanily are fortunate,’ said. Grace.“ 1

THE FISHING PARTY.

didn’t know trout were to be found here; but they
are found in great quantities in the eastern and
western states.”

“Thanks to our fish-commissioners that we do
find them here,” said Frank. ‘“ There are more sun-
fish, cat-fish and perch than anything else.”

Rose was amusing herself by taking up the fish in
her hands and commenting on how easily it slipped
through her fingers. :

“What makes it so slipp’y?” she asked. |

“The slime,” answered Grace.

“But where does the sime come from?” she
asked.

“ Suppose, Frank, you stop fishing for awhile that
we may talk a little. In what way is a fish different
from other animals, Rose? ”.

“’Em haven’t any necks nor hair, and ’em’s dot
lots of scales on ’em. And I tan't see any nose nor |
ears. ’Em’s dust dot two bright eyes without any
winkers, and a dreat bid mouf.’

“Their fins are their legs and arms; and now
write. down upon your papers the names of all the
fins. The two fins at the sides which you might
almost fancy to be ears, are the fectoral fms and

THE FISHING PARTY.

answer the purpose of fore-legs or arms. One fin
under the breast is called the veztra/, the other the
anal. The fins on the back -are called the dorsal
fins, and the tail is the cauda/ fin. It is with the last
named fin that the fish moves through the water, the
office of the other fins being to balance and direct
the body. In watching a fish swim have you not
noticed how gracefully it waves its tail, while the
other fins seem just spread out for aids?”

“T have,” said Frank.

“But where does the slippery stuff come from?”
asked May.

“IT am coming to that directly. Do yon notice
the line down the sides of the fish? All the scales
of this line have tiny holes in them through which
the slime escapes to cover the body of the fish so
that it can move more easily through the water.
There are also tiny mucous holes in the head, sur-
rounding the nostrils, where much more slime es-
capes than from the lines down the body. This
mucous is a sort of defensive secretion which the
water always carries backwards over the whole sur-
face of the fish’s body!”

“ How very strange!” exclaimed May.

THE FISHING PARTY.

“What makes him open and shut his mouf all
the time for?” asked little wide-awake Rose, peering
down into the tub.

“That is the way he breathes. Air is mixed
with the water,and some of it he retains, but the
rest of it passes out of the gills with the water.”

“ Has he really no ears?” asked May.

“None that appear; and most naturalists believe
they only feel sound. Water is a much better con-
ductor of sound than air, so that fish do not require
a development of ears, perhaps. If they had such
ears as we, what a tumultuous world it would seem
to them! There is within the fish, however, an .
internal organ serving the purpose of ears, much
the same as though our ears were entirely covered
over with athick skin. Do you understand ? ”

The children thought they did, and Grace con-
tinued: “Trout belong to the Salmonzde family.”

“Do tell us something about salmon,” said Frank.

“Salmon belong principally to the sea, but enter
the rivers to deposit their spawn. It is then they
are caught in such large quantities for the table.
They are partial to clear, rapid rivers with strong
bottoms. Male and female both ascend the rivers,

THE FISHING PARTY.

and both unite in forming holes a foot or two deep.
After the spawn is placed in these receptacles they
are covered up carefully, and the salmon return to
the sea lean and emaciated. These myriads of little
eggs lie in their holes until the next spring, when
they are hatched. The common, or river trout, like
the one we have here, resembles the salmon in its
habits. September and October are their months
for spawning. They are often found under a stone
@eelog The best bait for trout is ‘flies. Now,
Frank, suppose you try your luck, again. You and
May fish, while Rose and I talk.”

May soon caught a large perch.

“e* caretul,’ called out. Frank, “or 1t will stick
its fins into you.”

“Ts the perch so pugnacious as that?” asked
Grace.

“ Yes, indeed ; see every fin on its back bristling
with rage —”

Here Frank interrupted himself by drawing up
a good-sized sun-fish.

“I wonder what they call this a sun-fish, for?”
he said, as he took it from the hook.

“Tt is not the true sun-fish,” said Grace. “ This

THE. FISHING PARTY.

is only a species of the perch family. The real sun-
fish is found in the Atlantic ocean. It seems all
head, and is supposed to be called sun-fish because
it is shining and round like the sun.”

“Is it a small fish?” asked Frank.

“By no means. Some of them will weigh five
or six hundred pounds.”

“Our little sun-fishes are pretty if a don’t look
like the sun,” said May.

“Them’s dot pitty wed fins,” said Rose.

“So has the perch,” said May.

“Perch are the hungriest fish I ever saw,” said
Frank. “If you once get into a school of them,
and have plenty of bait, you can catch every one if
you are careful.”

“ Are they any hungrier than pike,” asked Grace.

“T didn’t think of them when I spoke; but a
pike daresn’t touch a perch. A perch is always
ready for him.” 7

“Do you ever catch any pike, here?” asked Grace.

“We catch them down in the mill-pond in winter-
time. A hole is cut through the ice and the bait
let down. They are so hungry that great numbers
are caught. The pike is along, slim fish.”

ERE FISHING. PARTY.

“The pike,” said Grace, “is the biggest eater of
all the fish, eating anything it can swallow. Manya
time it has choked to death trying to swallow some-
thing larger than itself. The pike, as well as the
pickerel of the New England states, belongs to the
Essocide family. They have large mouths, sharp
teeth and soft fins.”

“Ts a pickerel as large as a pike?” asked Frank.

“Didn't you know pickerel is the diminutive of
pike? I have heard that pike live to be two or three
hundred years old. I doubt it though.”

l. Murana(Murena helena). 2. Lamerry (Petromyzon Marinus).

THE FISHING PARTY.

“ How I wish we had some way of catching fish
without a hook!” said May. “I think the little sun-
fish would look almost as pretty in an aquarium
as a gold-fish. He would be just as entertaining,
anyway.” |

“© let’s tatch some dold-fish!” exclaimed Rose.

“You would have to go to China to do that,” said
Frank.

“No,” said Grace. “It is true they are natives of
China, but they were introduced into England, and
from there were brought to the United States. A
great number of them are raised in artificial ponds
in both countries, until they have become so cheap
anybody ean afford to keep one or two. When first
hatched the gold-fish is entirely black, afterwards it
becomes white, and again changes to a gold color.
Some of them are a beautiful red, sprinkled with
gold; others are white, like silver, and others white,
spotted with red.

“ Gold-fish will live a long time upon nothing else
than the animalcule they can collect from frequently
changed water. They will, however, eagerly sieze
bread crumbs. They belong to the Cyprinzde@ family.
The roach also belongs to this family —”

441

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THE FISHING PARTY.

A startling cry from May, interrupted.

Her hook had suddenly disappeared from sight,
and fearing the fish would get away she had given
her line a spasmodic jerk, only to feel an eel switch-
ing its cold body about her neck. She was nearly
frantic with fright. Frank sprang to her rescue.

“It is nothing but an eel! Let me get it om the
hook. You'll never do it in the world. Well, I de-
clare, if he hasn’t swallowed the hook clear down!
I'll have to cut his head off to get it.”

“Let the hook go, and the horrid creature, too,”
exclaimed May, in great excitement. “Tl never fish
again as long as I live.”

“ Nonsense!” exclaimed Frank. “Eels are just as
good as cat-fish.”

“It’s a horrid water-snake,” exclaimed May. “The
very meaning of the word ‘eel’ is ‘serpent’.”

“Yes,” smiled Grace, “but this is an eel of the
Anguillide family, a fresh-water fish with pectoral,
anal and dorsal fins. Then if you will examine him
Closely you will find scales imbedded in his thick,
soft skin. He will be a delicious morsel for our sup-
per, ugly as he looks. The ancients were very fond

of eels. They were deified by the Egyptians, and
3 442

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THE FISHING PARTY.

made much account of by the classic Greeks.
There were the Murena and Lamprey that figured
sO. conspicuously on the tables of the Romans.
Miteyeare found in the Mediterranean sea. Whe
Ophiseride family, the snake-eels, are distinguished
by the tail ending in a round fin without a point.”

“Cousin Grace, did you ever see a sea-serpent?”
asked Frank.

“No; but they are a species of the Ophzseride
family,”

“ What, the snake-eels ?” asked Frank, in surprise.

“Yes; why not?”

“Why, I thought a sea-serpent was something
immense — say a hundred feet long.”

“There has often been great agitation in various
parts of the world over an imaginary sea-serpent.
Hundreds testified to having seen these monsters
following in the wake of ships; but when sailors
were bold enough to thoroughly investigate, the sea-
monster was often discovered to be no more than
floating sea-weed. There is a real sea-Serpent,
however, but it belongs to the same family, genus at
least, as the snake-eel. The real sea-serpent is not

thicker than a man’s arm, nor does it measure more
445

THE FISHING PARTY.

than six feet in length. It has a long and pointed
nose, and fins which extend all the way down the
back of the animal, as well as nearly all the way
under it. It breathes by means of gills, like a fish.”

“Cousin Grace, did you ever see a flying-fish ?”
asked May

“Yes,” said Grace.

“Do tell us all about them,” said Frank, hauling
in his line, and flinging himself down on the grass.

“ Of all the fish, [ think a fish with wings must be
the most interesting,” said May.

“ Have’em dotfevvers on their wings?” asked Rose.

“No, their wings are nothing but great long fins.
Their pectoral fins are composed of seven or eight
ribs, connected by a transparent, glutinous mem-
brane. These little fishes can raise and flap their
wings like little birds.”

' “ Are they little?” asked Frank.

“There are many species, ranging from three to
twelve inches in length. Swimming in the water
they have much the appearance of swallows, only
they always swim in straight lines. They have
black backs, white stomachs and long forked tails

like the swallows.”
446

ARGONAUTA, IN THREE POSITIONS.

THE FISHING PARTY.

“ But what do fish have wings for?” asked Rose.

“Because they have so many enemies, I suppose.
They live in large shoals, and the dorado, thunny
and many other fish get into a shoal and devour
large numbers. The little creatures cannot fly fast
enough in the water, so they leap into the air, flying
fifty or sixty yards at a time, scarcely ever more, as
when their fins become dry they drop back into the
water. Sometimes, they plunge beneath, rewet their
fins, then continue their flight. But enemies await
them here. Sea-birds often pounce upon them, too.
The eyes of these fish protrude so that they can
see danger from every quarter. Sometimes when
flying, they become suddenly exhausted, and fall
with such force upon decks of ships as to be killed
in great numbers. One of the most singular of the
flying-fish is the dragon-fish, or Pegasus-draco. It
looks something like a crocodile with fan-like wings
upon each side. It is three or four inches in length,
and belongs to the sea-horse pipe-fish genus. The
males carry the eggs in their coat-tail pockets until
they are hatched,”

“Now, Tousin Grace, you’re jokin’, I just know!

449

THE FISHING PARTY.

’Tause no little fish have toat-tails. They don’t wear
toats, at all,” said Rose.

“Not cloth ones,” laughed Grace, “but shining
scaly coats, so thick on the dragon-fish as to form
asortof armor. Their coat-pockets are pouches on
their tails —a sort of sack.”

“TI should think they might call it an angel-fish
as well as a dragon-fish, or is it so very ugly?”
said May.

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“Not near so ugly as a fish that really bears that

name,” said Grace. :
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THE FISHING PARTY.

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“Then there is really an angel-fish? ” exclaimed
May, delightedly.

“Yes, one of the ugliest of fishes, and it cannot
fly at all.”

“Perhaps it gets its name from its gentle disposi-
tion, suggested May.

“No; it is very fierce, voracious and dangerous.
Nobody likes to approach it. It is longer than a
man and weighs a hundred pounds.”

“OQ dear! Then what do they call it an angel-fish
for?” asked May.

“ Just a satire on its extreme ugliness I suppose;
or it may be called that from its clumsy, awkward-
shaped pectoral fins. It has another name which
may be a little more appropriate, and that is monk-
fish, from the supposed hooded resemblance to a
monk’s head. It is a very singular-looking fish
indeed. It belongs to the Sycralide family, the
same as does the shark and sword-fish.”

“T was reading in the morning paper to-day that
sharks were unusually thick this season along the
Atlantic coast. Some little boys were bathing,
when some fishermen came up in a boat, telling

them that there were sharks a short distance away.
453

THE FISHING PARTY.

The little boys were’so frightened that they couldn’t
get their clothes on fast enough. I'd like to have
seen Pat Ryan scared by such a yarn; and I think
I wouldn’t mind seeing one myself,” said Frank.

“T wouldn't,” said May. “ They're terrible. They
have such great teeth and large mouths that they
can just bite a man in two at one snap of their jaws,
cant they, Cousin Grace 2”

“They are the most dreaded of:all the ashes:
The white shark is the most terrible, reaching some-
times the length of twenty or thirty teen aac
mouth with its six rows of bristling teeth, looks
terrible indeed. He will outstrip the swiftest vessel,
and his perserverance is indefatigable. One will
follow in the wake of a ship for days, to pick up
the refuse thrown overboard.”

“ Don’t sailors ever catch them?” asked Frank.

“O yes. A very large hook 1s, baitediewarmees
chunk of salt pork and let down from the ship’s
side. The shark no sooner sees it, than he swims
up, throws himself over on his side and gobbles it
down, the hook becoming fast in his throat. A har-
poon is plunged in his body, and the animal lifted

from the sea, and speedily finished with handspikes
454

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THEY srISHING? PARTY.

and axes. His thick skin is made into sheaths and
cases, and his liver yields an oil for dressing skins.
Their bodies emit a phosphoric light in the dark.
There are more than thirty species of sharks, but
none so much dreaded as the one we have just been
speaking about. The basking shark, though as
large as the white shark, is perfectly harmless. It
loves to lie on the surface of the water, sometimes
on its stomach and again upon its back, basking,
and will allow itself to be patted and stroked. Then
there is the blue shark, the fox shark and others.
The oddest looking of all the sharks is the hammer-
heads. It resembles the white shark, except in the
curious formation of its head, which is like a sort of
a double-headed hammer, with eyes in each end,
giving to the creature an extended power of sight.”

ictace then examined the papers of her little
class, and found the following facts:

“Fishes are cold-blooded, Vertebrated animals,
have fins.in place of limbs, and breathe by means
of Branchial, or gills.

“Trout belong to the Salmonide family, and
therefore to the same order as the salmon, Wadacop-
terygtous fishes.

457

THE FISHING PARTY.

“ Pike and pickerel belong to the Asoczdz family,
and to the same order as the trout.

“The gold-fish and the roach belong to the
Cyprinide family.

Fels belong to the Axguzlhde family. Sea-
‘serpents and snake-eels to the Ophzscride.

Flying-fish are Walacoptergious fishes, and belong
to the Exocetide family.

Angel-fish and sharks belong to the Syuahde
family, and to the Chondropterygzan order.

458

CHAPTER, (I.

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

A favorite place of resort for the little students of
natural history and their teacher, was a mossy rock
projecting a little way over a clear, sparkling stream
of water; and as it was in the vicinity of Pat’s home,
they often found him there before them.

One day they found him standing ankle deep in
the water, and as Frank flung aside his straw hat to
meet the cool, gentle breeze, he cried out: “ What

are you doing there, Pat?”
459

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

“ Catching lobsters,” said Pat, touching his funny
home-made cap awkwardly in the direction of Grace
and the little girls, who stood in the back-ground,

“ How do you catch them ?” asked Grace.

“ Aisy enough, mum. I jist puts my hand down
inter the wather and they takes hold of my finger,
mum !” :

“Why, Pat, don't they hurt?”

“Hardly a bit, mum. You see I’m always keerful
which one of the nippers they take hold with.”

“Is there a difference in their twolipimeercr =
asked Grace.

“O yis, mum, one of his pincers 1s full omteecs
loike the edge of a saw; the other one has knobs in
place of teeth. When the lobster is eating he uses
the pincers with the knobs to hold on by, while he
cuts up his food with the one that is full of teeth.
['m always keerful, mum, that the lobster shall use
his knobby pincer in taking hold of my fingers. ['ll
show ye, mum,” :

So Pat peered down to find a lobster ai mere
goes one,mum. Wait a minute and I'll have him,”
and the next moment Pat did draw up his hand with

a lobster clinging fast to the nail of his fore-finger.
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CATCHING LOBSTERS.

“TI guess it hurts a little,” laughed Frank, “ the
way you show your teeth.”

“The pesky thing does hold on uncommon tight !”
exclaimed Pat, shaking his hand violently. Not suc-
ceeding in making it loosen its hold, he deliberately
broke off the claw that was attached to his finger,
letting the lobster drop back into the water.

“ How cruel!” exclaimed May.

ee that’s nothin’,” said Pat. “ Itll grow on
again.”

“TI dess you’s a big stowy teller, Pat Wyan,” said
little Rose, indignantly, “for didn’t Willie Brooks
get his finger chopped off—and it never, xever
growed on again!”

“ Pat is right,” said Grace,

“To be sure [am,mum. Why, sometimes they
bite them off themselves— and I kin tell you some-
thing quarer than that, I kin. I’ve been doon here
when it thundered, and when a purty hard clap come
what did the lobsters be afther doing but shooting
up their claws jist as if they were nearly skeered to
death, so skeered that their claws dropped off! I’ve
seen their claws drop clane off many a toime; but

they always grow on again.”
463

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

The children looked questioningly towards their
cousin.

“ T think we shall have to let Pat be teacher for
to-day,” said Grace. “I have read of such things,
but never saw them.”

“Tve laid on this rock and watched them for
hours and hours. Ive skeered ’em, sometimes, and
then, Miss, you ought see ‘em jump back’ard. They
shid their shells, too, mum, ivery year. They seem
to be sick for a while before their old shells come
off. For three or four days afther the old shells
come off they have to hide under rocks and cracks
er else they would git eaten up by fish. Durin’ that
toime they’re growin’, too, and when they gits on
their nice new shells they’re almost as big agin as
when they had on their old shells.”

“This is all very interesting, Pat, said aes
seating herself upon the rock with her little cousins
around her. “Can you tell me what lobsters feed
upon?”

“They ates plants under the wather, and little
fish,” replied Pat.

“Do they nurse their little ones with milk?”

asked Grace.
464

AMERICAN LOBSTER.

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

Pat looked surprised. “Ye must be afther jokin,
Miss. It’s thousands upon thousands of eggs they
be afther stickin’ in the sand to hatch. They carry
them under their tails so quare loike ‘ore they
lay em.”

“7 see, Pat, you are a close student of nature.”

“What's the difference between a lobster anda
seompiom: asked Frank. “I've got a picture,.of a
scorpion in my pocket, and it looks just like a lob-
Steir

“Not quite I guess. A scorpion does not belong
to the crab tribe,” said Grace. “Heis more likea
spider.” |

Frank drew the picture from his pocket, and the
children clustered around him to see it.

“You see the scorpion has a long tail, and in it a
curved sting. In your picture he has caught a
fees and is preparing to sting it. You can. see
that the sting is curved. That little, fleshy protu-
berance near the sting contains the poison. The
scorpion is not near so large as the lobster, except
in very warm countries, and there it would nearly
reach the size of acommon lobster. The sting of

the larger kind is very venomous, often causing
467

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

death. These large ones are sometimes over a foot
indength. The most common. species Gare imme
more than an inch in length. ‘The stings of the
smallest are fatal to small animals and extremely so
to man, and require the most careful dressing to
prevent mortification. Scorpions have claws very
much like lobsters’; but their feet are like spiders’.
In fact they are more like a spider than anything
else, belonging to the~same family. Some of the
scorpions have six eyes and others, eight. Though
it is so ugly and has such a bad name, it is very ten-
der of its young. The scorpion-mother seeks a
retreat where her little ones will be out of all danger
and for several days carries them upon her back. You
see there is scarcely a thing in nature howsoever dis-
agreeable but that has some good trait. But let us
go back to creatures of the water. Do you ever
catch crabs, Pat?”

“Vis, mum, but theres none in fresh wather.
Youll foind them near salt wather, to be sure. I
often go with Farmer Hough down to the salt
marsh and there’s a place they call ‘the drownded
marsh, becase the wathers have overflowed it ; well,

mum, the crabs are thick enough down there.”
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CATCHING "LOBSTERS. A

“ How do you catch them?”

“TI takes a long line and ties a piece of mate or
chicken to the end of it and lets it doon in the
wather when, sure, mum, sometimes, two or three
will take hold at once and then I puts my crab-net
under thim and jist hist thim out aisy loike, mum.”

“ Are they like lobsters?” asked Frank, very much
interested.

“ They have pincers like the lobsters, and are covy-
ered with a shell; but they are round as a spider.
The head is fastened to the brist without any jint
and it has little eyes which look as if they was tryin’
to pop out of its head. The crabs have eight legs
and don’t look as if they had any tail at all, as it is
bent under the body, in a hollow betwixt the legs.”

“Arn’t they any larger than a spider?” asked
ae

“QO yis, they’re as big as my hand, and when all
the legs are broke off and the sheil —the mate is as
white and swate to ate as any flesh you iver saw.
We boil the pincers, too, thin crack them and suck
out the white mate. They shid their shells once
Ivery yare, like the lobster, and seem to be jist

loike the lobster in all their habits. They ate
471

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

all koinds of dead flesh that comes in their way.
Sometimes they foight loike the nation. breaking off
each other’s claws in their fury.”

“Isn’t there a land-crab?” asked Grace.

“OQ yis, mum, there’s the little fiddler—he’s a
land-crab.”

“ Does he fiddle?” asked Rose, opening her eyes
very wide.

“ He makes a noise that sounds something like a
fiddle, ’ve heard him mony a time to be sure. They
look like a wather-crab only they’re not so large,
thin they only hev one pincer. They burrow in the
sand and live in families.”

“But don’t land-crabs breathe like fish, same as
water-crabs do?” asked Frank.

“Yes, they breathe by means of gills, yet are not
aquatic,” said Grace. “It is necessary, however, that
their homes in the sand contain enough moisture to
prevent their gills from becoming too dry. There
are several species of crabs, one of which lives in
hollow trees, clefts in rocks, and in holes which they
dig for themselves in the sides of mountains. But
when it comes time for them to lay their eggs, they

travel by the million down to the sea-coast. This is
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CATCHING LOBSTERS.

during the months of April and May. The whole
ground seems swarming with them, and if they meet
any impediment in their way, so straight do they
march that though it be the walls of a house they
attempt to scale it. They are, sometimes, three
months or more in reaching the shore. Their eggs
resemble the roe of a herring, and are about as large
as ahen’s egg. They leave them near the edge of
the water to be hatched by the heat of the sun.
Not more than one-third reach maturity. After the
old ones have deposited their eggs they are feeble
and stupid —so much so that they are obliged to dig
holes in the ground and remain there for sometime
to recuperate. During this time they shed their
shells, after which they become very fat. Then they
move slowly back to the mountains.”

“ Have crabs fins?” asked Frank.

“Sure, and it’s paddles he has for his hoind legs,”
said Pat.

“They answer the same purpose as fins,” said
iaace-. Whey are flat and green, resembling the
jointed branches of a cactus, without the prickles.
more than anything else Ican liken them to. They

can paddle themselves along nicely with such fins
ATS

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

But of all the crabs, the hermit-crab is the queerest.

It has no shell of its own, so at once takes posses-
sion of a deserted shell of some other animal,
making many ludicrous attempts before it can find
one that will exactly fit. Sometimes, two fight over

the same shell, the strongest one coming off victo-

rious, when he crows over the weaker one by parad-
ing back and forth on the shore right before his
eyes. Sometimes,.a parasite attaches itself to the
shell, the hermit-crab has appropriated to itself.
This parasite is a sort of a sea-sunflower, so-called
because it resembles this flower, though it is more
commonly known as the sea-anxemone, a family of
Polyps. The hermit-crab makes many efforts to
get clear of his burden, but when he finds it impos-
sible he gives up and patiently bears his queer-
looking load. But talking of the hermit-crab and

his parasite, makes me think of the spider-crab.

He is a little sea-animal, looking some like a spider,
but much more like a little crab with eight legs,
pincers and pop eyes. He plants tiny trees on his
own back. He first covers his body with a mucilage
from his own mouth, then sticks sea-weeds and

marine plants on his back where they grow into a
476

Hermit CrRAB AND PARASITE.

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

thick swamp of little trees. Imagine a tiny forest
_ of trees moving along the sea-bed!”

“An’ I niver heard the loikes of that, mum!”
exclaimed Pat, taking off his cap and scratching his
head so funnily that the children burst out laughing.

“Tell us something more about some more queer
fellows,” whispered May in her cousin’s ear, with a
sidelong glance over at Pat.

Grace understood that the children relished Pat’s
quaint expressions, and so went on:

“T will tell you about some of the Cephalopods.
They are a class of molluscous animals, with eight
long crooked legs projecting out from around their
heads. The cuttle-fish is the most remarkable of
all the Cephalofods. Besides their eight legs they
have two feelers much longer than their arms or
legs. All these arms and feelers are set with strong
circular cups or suckers. The eight-armed cuttle-
fish, in hot climates, is, sometimes, twelve feet across
its center, and each one of its arms measuring
between forty and fifty feet. It is then called the
devil-fish.”

“ Well, now!” exclaimed Pat, scratching his head
again.

479

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

“When it seizes its prey it stretches out its long
arms and applies its suckers to the surface of the
body, then, drawing them up in the center, a vaccuum
is formed, and they are fixed fast by the pressure of
external air. Like crabs and lobsters, it 1s more
easy to tear off their arms than to separate them in
any other way; and like the crabs and lobsters
their arms will grow again. Their mouths are so
strong that they can easily break in pieces the shells
of animals on which they feed. The ancients were
fond of the cuttle-fish for food, and the Italians eat
the monsters yet. Sometimes, when the Indians
go out in their canoes, a great devil-fish will come
along, and, spreading out its arms over the boat
will sink it and its crew. The Indian is usually
careful. to take an axe along, so that the arm: on
arms of the fish may be instantly cut off the moment
they appear upon the boat. The most curious
thing, though, is that it is said to have three hearts,
and always carries an immense inkstand under its
throat. When frightened, it throws its ink out all
around it, making the water so black it can easily
escape, unseen. This ink is also so bitter as to

drive off all its water-enemies.”
480

An O 7
Ippo TREE-PLANTER

(

ip
lie

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

“Another foine tale) mum. Sure, and I loikes
to hear such quare things. If Kenny was only
here, I should loike it much.”

“ Another strange Cephalopod, is the paper-nautilus
or argonaut. The shell is as white and delicate-
looking as paper, and though it becomes very brittle
on being exposed to air, it is quite flexible in water,
thus escaping destruction. It has eight arms, two
of which are membranous. The most singular
thing about this little fish is its power for sailing on
the water. When the sea is calm, great numbers
may be seen sailing about like little boats. It is
said these creatures furnished the original idea of
navigation.”

“ But how do they do it?” asked Frank.

“ When they want a sail, all they have to do is to
discharge enough water from their shells to make
them sufficiently light to float, then they raise the
two membranous arms for sails, and throw out the
other six over the sides of their shell for oars. They
are not attached to their shells, and for a long time
it was thought that they took possession of deserted
shells like the hermit-crabs, but since they have the

power of repairing any injury done to their shell
483

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

—_————

it is more than likely that the shell is its own
especial property. When anything disturbs the
little sailors, they draw in all their oars, take down
their sails, fill themselves with water and sink to
the bottom. Large quantities of these animals are
found in the Indian Ocean and in the Mediterra-
mean Sea.”

“Such:a foine tale as that!” exclaimed Patjad-
miringly. “Surely, mum, and it’s the wish of me
life-that I can sometime go to sea. Then I could
see all the craythers for mesilf, But sure, mum, and
I must go now. My mither sint me out to pick up
sticks, and I jist stopped to look at the lobsters and
forgot mesilf,” and, hastily disappearing, Pat was
soon heard breaking up sticks among the brush.

“Now, said Cousin Grace, “what have we been
talking about this morning?”

“TI know,” said little Rose, eagerly.

“Well dear: 7

“About lobsters and a ’tinging-bug and a crab-
spider what plants trees on his back, and a awful
big thing with free hearts and eight, oh! dreat big
arms, as long as a dreat high house, and a little fish

that sails on the water — a paper-fish!”
484

SONS

A Devit FIsuH.

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

“Cousin Grace, you told us of several kinds of
crabs; are there as many of lobsters!” asked
Frank.

“There are prawns, shrimps and craw-fish which
look very much like the American lobster. Prawns
and shrimps are usually found among seaweed, a
little distance from the shore. Shrimps are much
smaller than prawn,and therefore are not so much
prized as an edible. The craw-fish are found in
every river and creek in England. In fact, these
three last mentioned fish belong more particularly to
England, yet species are found in all parts of the
world — even in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.”

“Cousin Grace, is it true that the fish in the
Mammoth Cave have no eyes?” asked May.

“What would be the use of eyes if it is all dark
there?” answered Frank.

oaome Of them, it is true, have no eyes’ at—all
Others have eyes, but are entirely blind. That isa
strange, dark river that flows through the Mammoth
Cave. The little craw-fish in this cave have eyes,
but can not see. Now, what can you tell me about
the animals we have had to-day?”

“They are Articulates, because they are jointed,”
487

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

said Frank, “and they belong to the water-division
of Articulates, because they breathe by means of
their gills, and not through holes in their sides like
insects.”

“ Articulates are divided into how many classes? ”

“ Five: insects, spiders, myriapods, crustaceans and
worms,” answered May. —

“ What are myr’pods?” asked Rose. “ Ive fordot?”

“Don’t you remember the long worms with so
many legs?” asked May.

“ The centipede?” asked Rose.

“Ves, from the word cez¢, a hundred, and eae,
foot — the worm with a hundred feet. Now I wish
to know to which one of these classes lobsters and
crabs belong?”

“To the Crustaceans, of course,” said May. “I
know from crus¢, the first part of the word; for
lobsters and crabs are covered with a hard crust.”

“Write this: “ Crustaceans are divided into Deca-
pods, Tetradecapods, Entomostracans, Cirripeds and
Rotifiers.”

“What jaw-breakers!” exclaimed Frank, shrug-
ging his shoulders.

“ Decapods,’ continued Grace, “have ten feet with
. 488

HAMMER-HEADED SHARK.

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

claws, and are of large size. Tetradecapods, have
fourteen feet, and are not more than one inch in
length. Lvéomostracans, have an irregular number
of legs, and are either large or small. Czrrifeds,
-have shells like mollusks, but have jointed legs as
well as a body. From the opening of the shell, the
animal throws out its legs looking like a delicate
curl, whence the name of the group. Aoézfers, are
animalcules destitute of limbs, and moved by cilia.”

“What are Anzmalcules?” asked May

“Very tiny animals, indeed. So small as to be
scarcely visible to the naked eye. Some of them
however, are as large as a grain of sand.”

mw wat are Czlia 7”

“ Czla, are little hairs which edge the wheels of
Rotifiers; for, you see, these little animals have
two horns which they thrust out when hungry, and
on the edge of each horn is a wheel — but we have
no more time for this at present. We were talking
about crabs and lobsters — large Crustaceans. Now,
to what order of Crustaceans do crabs and lobsters,
belong?”

“To the Decapods, | should think,” said Frank.

“You are right, Now, the Decapods are of four
491

CATCHING LOBSTERS.

species: 1st. Brachyural, the short-tailed, the abdo-
men being small. 2d. Axamoural, with irregular
abdomen ; the hermit-crab belongs to this class, and
the common crab to the first mentioned. 3d. Mac-
voural, the long-tailed species, as the craw-fish and
shrimps. 4th. Axomobranchiate, having the gills
external, or else wanting, as the mantis-crab, which
has a shell only on the fore part of it. The spider-
crab and the cuttlefish are of another tribe. The
body of most of them is cylindrical, and is covered
with a fleshy sheath instead of a hard shell. The
cuttle-fish is a mollusk, the same as oysters. Now

suppose we try our lunch.”

492

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CHAPTER III.

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

One more week at Aunt Jerusha’s before the
summer ended, and one more week with Mr. Dumas
before he left for his tenth voyage on the wide, wide
sea.

Aunt Jerusha was making a clam-pie for dinner
and had sent May and little Rose down cellar to
bring up the clams.

“ Look, May, some of ’em dot their mouths open!”

exclaimed Rose.
498

THE: BOX, OF SHELLS:

May took upa stick and thrust it in a clam’s
mouth and it closed, with a click, so firmly that May
lifted it up by the stick.

“Suppose that had been your finger,” laughed
May.

“T ’dess I’d know better than to ’tick my finger in
anyfing’s mouth. But what did he have his mouth
open for, May?”

“Don't know.” .

“Do you fink he wanted to breave better?”

“Vou'll have to ask Cousin Grace, “Alm i @i@ere saa
dead clam.” |

“How you know it’s dead?” asked Rose.

“Because it has its mouth wide open and won't
shut it again.”

“What made the poor clam die?”

“1 dont know im sure:

“T fink he starved to def? Aunt Jerusha keeps
‘om down here a week most, and never dives ’em a
fing to eat or drink.”

When they went upstairs May related the con-
versation.

“That is not the clam’s mouth,” said Grace.

“That’s his house, and he has to open the folding
: 494 7

—e

THE “BOX. OF SHELLS.

doors to take in his food, water, and fresh air, and
that is what made the clam die. He opened his
door for water, and there was none to flow in.”

Seurewiere 7s his mouf? Aint he dot one? *
asked Rose.

“Yes, he has a mouth, though he has no head.”

“ How queer!” exclaimed May.

“ Now we will separate the valves, or shells, as you
call them. Here is the little animal; near the centre
you see the heart. Here is the mantle with fringed
edges, and here is the mouth just under a queer
looking bonnet, made by the uniting of the two
edges of the mantle near the hinge.”

“What hinge?” interrupted Frank.

“The hinge of the doors to be sure. The halves
of bzvalve shells are united by an elastic ligament
like a hinge. The animal has two powerful muscles
with which he can keep the door of his house closed
when he will. If he becomes weak from thirst or
want of food, the muscles lose their power, and the
doors fly open in spite of himself. Here ata little
distance from the edges of the mantle, are four rows
of gills through which the animal breathes. Clams

live down in holes in the sand. It is said they can
495

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

change position by rapidly opening and closing their
valves, ejecting the water with such force that it
throws them backward. Now the oyster is generally
found firmly attached to stones, and sometimes to
each other, so that they look as if they never
changed position. Yet some naturalists say they
can move by the same motion that is peculiar to the
clam, cockle and escallops. But of all the mollusks
the oyster seems the most stupid, giving no sign of
life, save as it opens and closes its valves to take
in nourishment. Oysters cast their spawn in May,
which fastens upon any hard substance that is near.
At fist the spawn appears like spots of grease, and
often adheres to the adult shells, hence the formation
of oyster banks. I often wondered why poles were
stuck up in rivers, but have since learned they were
set up to show fisherman the locality of oysters.”

“What are dzvalves?” asked Frank.

“Why, shells are divided into three classes, wzz-
valves, brvalves, and multivalves. The first has only
a single valve, and is almost always in a spiral form
like the snails. All the most beautiful shells belong
to this class. Lzvalves are formed of two parts, All

the most edible shell-fish, as well as many others, are
496 |

————

1. TRIDACNA GIGANTZ&. 2. TRIDACNA CUM PORITES.

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

bivalves. Muttivalves are shells with more than two
distinct pieces, or many valves.”

“T have a box of shells which I will bring down
and show you,” said Mr. Dumas.

“ Now for a treat,” said May, delightedly.

“See if you can tell to what class this belongs,”
said Mr. Dumas, first exhibiting the shells of a gi-
gantic clam, or 77zdacna gigante.

“ Bivalves,” they all shouted.

“Ts itaclam?” asked May.

“Yes, and I have seen some larger still, so large
that they would weigh five hundred pounds. The
Catholic churches sometimes make use of them as
vessels for holding holy water. This monster clam
came from the ocean near the tropics.”

_ “There is one thing about mollusks,” said Frank
thoughtfully, “they cannot belong to vertebrates
because they have no back bones.”

“Don’t you remember we were talking about
that, and little Rose said they were mushy?” said
May.

“Instead of having their bones inside like most
other animals, they have them upon the outside,

wearing them as an armor,” said Frank.
499

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

“Are they born with the shells on?” asked May

“In some cases they are not; but as soon as they
crawl from the egg, the calcarous secretion begins,
and soon becomes sufficiently hard to preter the
baby mollusks,” said Grace.

“Is it not strange to think that the same material
used by man in fashioning our most costly edifices
is the very same out of which the mollusks have
constructed their homes?” said Mr. Dumas.

“T don’t understand,” said Frank.

“Why, carbonic acid combines with lime to make

carbonate of lime. Carbonate of lime is building-

stone; it is alabaster and marble. It is also the
armor of the Crustacean, the house of the mollusks.
Here is a mother-of-pearl oyster.”

“O-h-h!” exclaimed the children.

“ How exquisite! How lovely!” exclaimed Grace.

“ This is very rare,” said Mr. Dumas, much pleased
with their admiration. “It is a mother-of-pearl oys-
ter with madrepore attached.”

“And are those real pearls within the shell?”
asked May.

“ Ves, real pearls.”

“But the booful ’ittle tree growing on the top;
500

MaADREPORE, WITH DEEP SOCKETS.

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

what is it, Mr. Dumas?” asked Rose, touching it
ever so daintily with a tiny pink finger.

fe 15 coral.”

“ Oysters, coral, mother-of-pearl, pearls themselves,
seallin one specimen, said Frank. “Weill not get
through with all there is to learn about this in a
hurry.”

“Where does the oyster get his pitty pearls?
Does he swallow them?” asked Rose.

“ The ancients once thought that oysters swallowed
drops of dew and that they hardened into pearls;
but pearls are a disease in oysters. That is, a grain
of sand or some foreign substance, gets between the
mantle of the oyster and the shell, causing such irri-
tation that the animal covers it with a smooth coat
of skin, over which it spreads another covering of
nacre.”

“What is zacre?” asked Frank.

“ Tiny scales with a glimmering pearly lustre.”

“Where does he get the little scales?” asked May.

“Why, they are the lining of the mother-of-pearl
oyster. Can’t you see by looking at this shell? It |
is carbonate of lime in its most beautiful form,” said

Mr. Dumas.
503

THE BOX. OF SHELLS:

“ And the pitty ‘ittle hard tree,” said Rose. “Who
planted it on the oyster? What makes it so
hard 2 |

“It is not a vegetable form, darling,” said Grace.
“Don’t you know Mr. Dumas said it was coral, the
same kind of material as your coral chain with the
gold locket.”

“ My chain is red, this is white,” said Rose.

“ The most common of all the corals is white. But
there are red corals and black ones, too,” said Grace.

“Isn't it strange,’ said Frank. “It looks as ait
belongs to the vegetable kingdom, feels as if it be-
longed to the mineral kingdom, yet belongs to the
animal kingdom.”

“Tt belongs to*the’ x~adzaies too, said’ Mays ise
cause the organs within the animal as well as with-
out, are radiately arranged.”

“Smart little cousins, these of yours,” said Mr.
Dumas, smiling at Grace.

But little Rose was quite impatient to have her
last question answered.

“What was it?” asked Grace.

“Ts this queer lookin’ tree some little animal’s

house, and does he live in those little holes?”
504

THE. BOX OF SHELLS.

feehats what |-used to think,” said Prank:: “4
thought lots of little insects lived in all those little
holes; and Cousin Grace, I certainly read it some-
where, that coral is built by insects, that certain little
insects have built great islands in the middle of the
ocean, and that Florida was built by coral insects.”

“Erroneous. Coral is but the skeleton or bones
of a number of little animals called Polyps. All this
madrepore, this little coral tree on the oyster, was
once covered over with the skin and nerves of the
animals. It is only when the Polyps die and their
flesh decays, that we come upon the coral itself. You
see the coral is entirely inside of the little Polyps,
just the same as our bones are inside of our skin
and muscles. Do you think you understand, puss ? ”
asked Mr. Dumas of Rose. |

=. aint a puss, : she pouted.

“What’s the reason you're not?” laughed Mr.
Dumas.

“*Tause I ain’t dot no tail, nor fur, nor eyes, like a
tat. I belongs to the zghest order of the animal
kingdom ; I’m a ‘ittle dirl,’ she answered gravely.

“JT beg the little dirl’s pardon,” said Mr. Dumas
with mock gravity, taking Rose up in his arms.

000

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

“Show us more shells, please, Mr. Dumas,” said
May eagerly.

“Well, here is a cluster.”

“ Univalves,” said May.

“Right,” said Mr. Dumas, taking up the largest,
and blowing through it.

“Why, it makes music,” said Rose, clapping her
hands.

“It is the Zrdton emobricata, and is found from one
to two feet long. The savages make little holes in
the apex of the spire, then use it for a martial horn.
I made these holes iO See it Le too; couldn't have a
horn not made with hands.”

May took the shell, but instead of putting it to her
lips held it to her ear.

“Tt is singular,” she said, “that we can hear the
sea roar in them.”

“That’s another exploded theory,’ said Mr. Du-
mas. “Such are the strides which science makes.
The sounds which you hear in the shell are only
waves of air which press within.”

“Why, how easily it is explained when one under-
stands it,” said May, admiringly. “I never could

understand how the roar of the sea could be left in
_ 506 ,

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i, TRITON IMBRICATA. 2 NautTiILus Pompiuius. 3, Hetix
OVATA., 4. ARGONAUTA PAPERACA.

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

an empty shell. It always seemed to me something
like the ghost of the animal that once lived in the
shell.”

“ That is, you accepted it as something supernat-
ural?” smiled Grace.

“Yes, I couldn't help it. It was so unnatural,”
said May.

“ The next in size is called the Vautzlus pompztius ;
the next, Arvgonauta papyracea.”

“We had something about that class in our last
lesson,” said Grace, “ and I am glad the children now
have the chance to examine the shells.”

“What's this ‘ittle black shell’s name?” asked
Rose.

“ That is the etx ovata, and belongs to the Hel-
tde, or land-snail family. There are four thousand
living species of land-snails — just think of it!” said
Mr. Dumas. “ They all feed on vegetable substances,
consequently being a great pest to the farmer and
gardener. They are Gasteropodous molluscs. Dur-
ing the winter they remain torpid by closing the
mouth of their shells with a mucous substance which
dries and becomes hard. They like warm, moist

weather, only coming out at night when it is dry.”
509

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

Le!

“O what funny looking shells!” exclaimed a
as three more were exhibited.

“ The largest one is called the Helmet shell be-
cause of its resemblance toa helmet. It is found
on the coast of Madagascar. The animal that lives
in this shell belongs to the genus casszs. Italian
artists sculpture these shells beautifully in imitation
of antique cameos. The next in size is called the
Placuna Sella (or saddle-like), because it looks so
much like a saddle. The other is called the Spzxy
Rock, from the spines protruding in every direc-
tion; its more scientific name being the Murex fen-
puisina. The famous Tyrean purple dye was made
from two little shell-fish, the (/urex and Buccinum,
the first named being found in deep water on the
Pheenician coast, and the latter on the rocks near
the shore. In fact, the meaning of the Latin word
Murex is the purple fish.

“Then, here are some real beauties, the Voluta
imperialis, and the Trochus agglutinans. The
tracery and coloring of the first may be well called
imperial. Solomon in all his glory might have
envied the delicacy of tracery and the beauty of the

coloring.”
510

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1. HeLMeT SHELL. 2. Spiny Rock. 3. Piuacuna SEtta.

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

“Are there ever any pearls found in the wmz-
valve?” asked May.

“Occasionally, in the Stromébus gigas, or the foun-
tain-shell. This is the largest known wzzvalve which
is edible. It has a thick oval shell, and is called
fountain shell, and sometimes is used as a garden
ornament.”

“What have all these shells to do with fins?”
asked Frank.

sel aae iS it, smiled’ Grace. “Mr. Dumas,: per
haps you can tell us whether some of these crea-
tures have fins?

“There are those belonging to the order Péero-
poda, which swim in the sea by means of a pair of
fins extending out from each side of the head. The
Chonide family belonging to this order are so numer-
ous in the northern and southern oceans that the
waters appear swarming with them. They are called
whale’s food, the whales scarcely opening their
mouths without taking them in by thousands.
Then there are the Venus slipper and the Glass
nautilus belonging to the genus Cavznaria. At least
those are the names given to the shells. The little

animals themselves are furnished with a sort of a
513

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

fin which they use for a rudder in propelling them-
selves along. Then there are the /esteropods, an
order of mollusks which have the foot compressed
in the form of a thin, vertical fin. So that you see
we can obtain some fins even out of shells. Now
I have one more group of shells to show you,”
continued Mr. Dumas. ‘“ The first two shells, back
to back, once contained the Hppopus maculatus,
or Bears Paw clam. It is the Pznunza nobiles of
which I wish to speak. Do you see the long
bunch of silk attached? That is’ called tne
byssus. It is composed of many silken fibres, at-
taching the shells to rocks. The dyssus of the
Pinna, or Wing-shell, is famous for its quantity,
beauty and quality. The filaments are very strong
and of an unfading reddish-brown color. In Sicily
these filaments are woven into gloves and a sort of
stuff like silk. These threads belong to bivalves
that have no heads.”

“ How does it get there?” asked May.

“Why, it is merely the fringy prolongation of the
mantle.”

“Well, what is the mantle?” asked May.

“Tt is the outward fold of the skin. Under this
514 7

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1. H1PpPpoPUS MACULATU

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

mantle the animal can withdraw all his organs.
Every mollusk has one. It was shown to you in the
clams that were opened.”

“ What’s the ‘ittle shell’s name?” asked Rose.

“ Thesis longissimus. It is the same genus ofGas-
teropoda that the Zetlanders utilize into lamps. It is
made to hang horizontally by being suspended with
cords. The cavity is filled up with oil and the wick
made to pass through the canal.”

“Tam a thousand times obliged to you, Mr. Du-
_ mas, for so pleasantly as well as instructively enter-
taining us,” said Grace.

“It’s just been the best lesson yet,” said May.

“If Pat had only been here, it would have been
perfect,” said Frank. “How we shall miss you after
you are gone, Mr. Dumas.”

“ And Pat, too, it appears; for I have concluded
to take him along for cabin-boy; so prepare your-
selves for a wonderful treat by the time we return,”
laughed Mr. Dumas.

©. 1 am so glad,’ cried Prank. “ He did-want
to go to sea so bad.”

“Children, what have we been studying this morn-

ing?” asked Grace.
517

THE BOX OF SHELLS.

“Why, about shells and their inhabitants,” said
Frank.

“ Conchology,’ said May.

“ That applies only to shells. You have also been
studying Malacology a treatise on soft-bodied ani-
mals, the mollusks,” said Grace.

518

CHAPTER JV.

ROSE AND THE REPTILES,

‘It’s tho’ hot this mornin’—tan't I dust have a ’ittle
bowl of bread and milk for my breakfas’ and sit out
on the back door-step?” pleaded Rose, of Aunt
Jerusha.

So her aunt furnished her with a bowl of rich
creamy milk, and a great slice of bread, and Rose
sat and enjoyed her breakfast until it was about half
gone; then she became interested in a large toad

which came hopping towards her.
| 519

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“ Toadie, don’t you want some bread and milk?”
she asked, in her sweetest tones; whereupon the
toad turned about, and began hopping in another
direction. Rose, still holding her bowl and spoon,
sprang up and ran after him. :

But the toad hopped the faster until he came toa

large tree, where he quickly disappeared in a small
hollow. Nothing daunted, Rose sat down on one of
the large roots, and patiently waited for his re-appear-

ance. Inashort time, thinking himself no longer
520

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

pursued, the toad ventured out; and no sooner done
than Rose poured out a spoonful of milk before
him, and bade him eat; but the toad seemed to take
no notice, whatever.

“TI dess toads don’t like bread an’ milk!” she said
at last. “I wonder what toads do eat. Ill do and
ask Mr. Dumas.” And setting her bowl and spoon
down on the grass, away she ran.

“TI fordot, Mr. Dumas, but I tome to ask you what
hop-toads like for their breakfas’es? There’s a big
hop-toad under that tree, and he wouldn't eat one bit
of bread and milk.”

“ He likes bugs, and flies, and worms.”

“Fank you; and do you know what family he
belongs to? tause Tousin Grace asks us about the
family, every time.”

“ They are a family of ¢azless Batrachians, called
Bufonide, | believe.”

“T knowed it would have an zd@ to it; they all
do. I dess I'll member that, then won’t I ’stonish
Tousin Grace?” and the little girl laughed glee-
fully. “What was that other hard word you said?” —

“ Batrachian ?”

“ What does it mean? ”
521

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“Frogs. Havn’t you ever seen a frog?”

So Never

“Come with me down to the bottom of the gar-
den, and you will see plenty of them if you don't
make too much noise.”

Rose slipped her hand in his, and they were both
starting off, when Grace, with Frank and May, ap-
peared on the scene.

“© Tousin Grace!” exclaimed the little one, hold-
ing very tightly to her new found friend’s hand, “ Mr.
Dumas is doing to take me to see the frogs. Don't
you want to go along?”

“ Of course we do,” said Grace.

ee And, OTousin Grace, there’s a booful hop-toad
under that tree —no, he’s not so very pitty, but he
belongs to the doofulide,” said Rose.

“ Bufonide,’ you mean,” said Mr. Dumas.

“Suppose I tell you a story of four pet toads
while we are walking along,” said Grace.

Oh do! cried the children: ;

“T became acquainted with my four pet toads in
avery singular manner. One day we were sitting
at dinner under an open shed; that is, there were no

doors, and one side was a lattice, up which clam-
522

}

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

bered honeysuckles and roses in profusion. It was
avery warm day, and while we sat eating,a large
toad hopped upon the step near us and seemed to be
intently regarding us.

“*« Ffe is after flies for his dinner, said my father.

“*T wonder if he would like some bread with his
meat,’ I said, flinging a large crumb with as sure
aim as I could. The toad threw out his tongue as
quick as a flash, and caught the bit of bread. I was
delighted, and flung him one piece after another
until he had all he could eat, and hopped away.

“The next day, at the same hour, the hop-toad
came and brought another with him. I fed them
again, when, to my great surprise, the next day,
while we were at dinner, four great puffy toads de-
liberately hopped upon the step and sat down in a

semicircle, winking and blinking as demurely as

judges upon a bench. To me, matters at that mo-
ment were intensely interesting. I showered crumbs
of bread all around. Again and again they came,
until one day I missed them, and speculated vainly
as to the cause. Dinner was over, and all the
dishes washed. I tied on my sun-bonnet to go, to

school, and was just passing out through the shed,
523

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

when I gave a scream and darted back into the
house, for there, right where my pets were wont to
sit, lay an immense black snake, his head raised up,
looking into the shed. My father went for the hoe
and soon dispatched the reptile.

“« This is the secret of your pets’ non-appearance
to-day, Grace,’ said my father, ‘for snakes feed
largely upon toads, and this one, doubtless, thought
our porch would be a good place to look out for zs
dinner. I hardly think the toads will ever return,’
and they never did, though it is said they live toa
great age, and my pets might have remembered me
the next summer, but I never saw them, to know
them again.”

“May be the naughty snakes ate ’em all up,’ sug-
gested Rose.

“TI do not know.”

“There is something I would like to know about
toads,” said Frank. “I would like to know how it
is they have been found imbedded in solid rocks and
in the hearts of trees. I read one time of a toad
being found ir. solid rock and there it had been
living in its close quarters for a hundred years, and

I don’t see how it could be.”
524

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

”

“It does seem miraculous until we understand it,
said Mr. Dumas. “It takes toads fully four years to
‘get their growth. At first they are small. When
autumn comes, they creep into some hole of a tree,
or a crevice of rock, never thinking that they will be
growing even while they lie in a torpid state, so
when spring comes, many of them find they have
grown too large to ever get out into the daylight
again. They are prisoners for life, unless some out-
side cause brings them to light.”

“But how do they live without anything to eat?”
asked Frank.

“ © there are plenty of little flies and other insects
fond of exploring holes; so they walk and fly in,
but never come out again, for the hungry toad is
ready with his long tongue to grab them up and
swallow them down.”

“Mr. Dumas, does it ever rain hop-toads?” asked
Frank.

“T have seen the ground all covered with them
after a hard shower, just for all the world as if it had
been raining toads,” laughed Grace.

“Do you know how it is?” asked May.

Grace nodded.

025

ROSE AND THE REPTILES:

“Toads come out of their holes in wet weather,
—perhaps because they like the rain, perhaps, be-
cause they are washed out—and they hop forth to
dry themselves — but here we are at the frog-pond.
Here they sit and cry Polly-wog, polly-wog, polly-wog,
all the day and night long, unless they hear some

“ SOMEBODY'S COMING”

one near, then they give a jump and are out of
sight.”
“T should think their throats would ache,” said
May.
526

ROSE, AND? THE: REPTIEES:

“The same ones do not sing all the time, of
course, said Grace. ‘One ceased his song and
others took it up before he was done. Perhaps you
can understand something about how numerous
frogs are, when I tell you that each female frog some
time in the month of March, lays her spawn which
consists of from six hundred to a thousand eggs.”

“ Tell us all about them,” cried the children.

“All the eggs sink to the bottom of the water,
where they remain until the eggs enlarge, at the
same time becoming lighter, when they rise to the
top of the water, and float.

“In about three weeks the eggs open just enough
to let the tad-poles’ tails through, just a little bit at
first, but becoming more distinct every day, until in
about three weeks more there bursts from the eggs
perfect formed tad-poles. The tad-poles each have
a sucker under the lower jaw, with which they are
enabled to cling to substances on which they wish
to feed. Six weeks after the animal has left the egg,
he has his hind legs. Two more, and his fore legs
put in their appearance. Soon after he loses his
tail, and hops out on land a little frog. His appetite

is changed, too. He no longer cares for vegetable
527

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

diet, but darts out his tongue in the same manner as
does the toad, to lap up worms and insects.

As soon as the young frogs have entirely quitted
the tad-pole’ shape, which is about the first of
August, they leave the water and emigrate to the
woods and meadows. ‘They travel by night and rest
by day. When winter comes they retire down under
the moss that.grows beside ponds and swamps, and
there they remain frozen up until spring, to sing as
merrily as ever as soon as the warm sun thaws them
out.”

“Ts the great bull-frog the little frogs’ papa?”
asked May.

“O,no; buta distinct species. They are the most
aquatic of all the frogs, and generally sit in pairs on
the margin of ponds, the male crying out something
like ‘ More rain, more rain!’ somewhat like the bel-
lowing of the bull, hence his name. There are fifty
or more known species in the frog-tribe, divided into
three sections, common frogs, tree-frogs and toads.”

At this point the attention of the whole party was
drawn to the shrill, troubled cries of a bird a short
distance from where they were seated.

“ Something is the matter,” said Mr. Dumas. “A
: 528 |

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ROSE AND THE. REPTILES.

robin has her nest over there and she is in trouble.
I will go and see about it.”

“ Let us go, too,” said Rose, still clinging to his
hand

“Ugh!” exclaimed Frank, “there is a monstrous
black snake coiled around a branch of the tree close
eo the nest.”

“ And mother Birdie is trying to defend her little
ones valiantly,” said Grace.

“ And a sorry time she'd have of it if no one was
to help her, for already the fiery eyes of the snake
are fastened full upon her, and in spite of her terrific
cries she will soon become so beside herself as to fly
right into the snake’s jaws,” Mr. Dumas said, as
he seized a large, heavy stick.

May and Rose fled up the hill and took refuge in
the summer-house, where she could watch the pro-
ceedings through a window, but Grace and Frank
remained until the snake was beaten from the tree,
and dropped, a lifeless mass, upon the ground.

“Dear little birdies,” said Rose, rushing to the
scene as soon as the danger was over. “I dess the
little wobins will love you now, Mr. Dumas. Lift

me up high so I tan see the tunnin’ ‘ittle fings.”
531

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“ There is a skeleton of asnake under the bushes
yonder. I think it must be one the hired man killed
two or three days ago.”

“ He’s all back bone and ribs,” said May.

“ T have found his skin!” exclaimed Frank, lifting
-something up on a stick.”

“ Not this one’s, I guess. But snakes do change
their skins. I have watched them creep right out,
frequently, and it is quite an interesting feat,” said
Mr. Dumas.

“That reminds me I forgot to tell>the elmldren
that the frog tribe change their skins every eight or
ten days during the whole summer, ” said Grace.

“The bite of the black snake is not venomous ? ”
asked Grace.

“ No, the venomous species bear the general name
of wus from the word wvzpares. All the vipers
bring forth their young alive, the eggs being hatched
within them before they are laid. The word wez-
pares comes from wvus, alive, and fario to bring
forth. There are about twenty species of vipers.
Of the snake tribe in general there are nearly two
hundred species. You can tell the venomous ones

by their large, flat heads, sometimes heart-shaped,
532

‘,

Boa-Constrictor anp DEER,

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

and by their short bodies. The harmless kind have
small heads and longer bodies.”

“ Mr. Dumas, have you ever seen a viper swallow
her little ones?” asked Frank.

“T once saw a rattlesnake open her mouth and
take in her half dozen little ones at one swallow,
when she thought they were threatened with dan-
ger; and as soon as it was over she opened her
mouth and discharged them.” |

“ How funny!” laughed May.

“Is the rattlesnake anything like the viper?”
asked Grace.

“Tt is a much larger snake, but there are many
things similar. They both belong to that order of
Ophidians that are venomous, and both are wzuzper-
ous, that is, produce their young alive. The viper
in particular, belongs wholly to the old world, while
the rattlesnake is wholly American. But the most
formidable looking of all the serpents, is the great
boa-constrictor, and yet it is not venomous. I have
seen it let itself down from a tree, coil itself around
and around an unfortunate deer, crushing it to death
almost instantly.

“It is sometimes forty feet long, and as thick in
535

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

proportion, and some travellers affirm that they
have found the body of a-stag in the boa’s gullet, all
but the horns which were sticking out of his mouth
because he was not able to swallow them.”

The little girls shuddered, and crept closer to
Grace.

“You know,” continued Mr. Dumas, “ that ser-
pents have no grinding teeth. They can pierce and
hold with their teeth, but cannot masticate, hence
all the serpents swallow their prey whole.”

“T do not think I understand quite so clearly as
I would like, how the venomous serpents use their
fangs,” said Grace.

“They have two pointed teeth pierced with a
small canal, through which the poison forces itself
from glands situated under the eyes. The fangs are
hidden in a fold of gum when the reptile does not
wish to put them to use. The rattlesnake belongs
to the family Cortalde, genus Cortalus. The vipers
belong to the family Vzpercde, containing several

genuses.”
“Mr. Dumas, have water snakes fins?” asked
May. “I never saw a water snake, but I have read

about them.”
536

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“ No, their tails are flattened sideways, so that it
can answer the purpose of fins.”

“Oh, see that queer thing yonder!” exclaimed
Rose, excitedly. “ A snake wiv a big pie-dis’ turned
over on his back.”

“That is a land tortoise;” and stooping, Mr.
Dumas touched it, when immediately it drew in all
its feet and its long neck within its shell.

PS EES
x

NAS
SAE
> =

A LAND TORTOISE.

Rose opened wide her eyes in the greatest
astonishment. |

“Where have it gone?” she asked, as Mr. Dumas
picked it up and turned it over and over.

“Into his nice, cosy home. Don’t you wish you

could carry your house around with you on your
537

ROSE) AND THE (REPLIERS:

back, so that when dangers threatened, all you
would have to do would be to creep in right quick,
eh, Rosie?” and Mr. Dumas pinched the little girl’s
cheek ; then turning to Grace, he continued:

“This tortoise 1s quite an old fellow. Here are
three or four sets of initials accompanied with dates.
Here is one as far back as 1789.”

“Ts it possible ?” said Grace, examining it closely,
while the children were all astonished to see the
letters and figures on the breast-plate of the tortoise.

“Who cut all those pretty marks on his back?”
asked May.

“I dess Dod did that,’ remarked Rose, soberly.

“Bless the child!” said Grace. “ @Of comme: tie
did. And that is why some people call him the
geometric turtle. Those marks on his back are like
certain symbols in geometry.”

“Aren't turtles good to eat?” asked Frank.

Not this kind. ~The green turtle ise chemoca:
edible one, and it is seldom found on shore except
in the month of April, when it crawls upon land to
deposit its eggs. They dig holes in the sand with
their fore paws, just above high-water mark, about

two feet deep, in which they let fall sometimes as
538

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

many as a hundred eggs. Then they cover them
up with just enough sand to hide them from sight.
and just enough to admit of them being hatched
out in the required time. The eggs are round, each
measuring two or three inches in circumference,
The yolk can be cooked just the same as a hen’s
ege, and makes just as delicious food. At the end
of twenty days or more, the little turtles, just

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hatched, not more than three inches long, creep out
of the sand. In seven or eight days they become
strong enough to seek their natural element, the
water. There they are more secure, and find their
proper food which consists of marine plants, and
occasionally shell-fish. Their legs are very much

like fins.”
539

|

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“ Are the words tortoise and turtle applied to the
same species?” asked Grace.
_ “Tortoises more properly belong to land. The
word turtle is more properly applied to the marine
Chelonian reptiles. The turtles are divided into
families, Chelontorde and Sphargidide. Logger-

FISHING ON THE MADEIRA. —

heads belong to the first named family. Tortoises
belong to the family Zestuazuide. The strangest
looking turtle I ever saw was the matamata. He 1s
found in South America, and has the habit of lying

in the grass with his ugly looking head thrust out,
540

ae eee | SNS etn Se NN ee oe en ee) i tao

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

ready to pounce upon small fish and reptiles as they
pass him. The most valuable of all the turtles are
the zmébricated, valuable because of their thick, semi-
transparent shells, out of which are manufactured
the beautiful tortoise-shell combs, which ladies
prize so highly.

“ They have a strange way of catching turtles on
the Madeira, with a sort of bow and arrow. Not by
shooting them, however. The iron arrow point has
a long string attached to it, which is wound about
the shaft. The thread unrolls when the animai
dives with the arrow sticking in him, and the swim-
ming shaft guides the fishermen to the spot, when
the animal is finished with a harpoon.

Sele there is a lizard,’ exclaimed Grace. “I
never could quite conquer my prejudices against a
lizard, though I know they are perfectly harmless,
being timid and gentle in their habits.” |

“Where do they live?” asked May.

“ They live in holes in sand, and by pairs. They
lay between five and seven eggs which they leave to
be hatched by the warmth of the air. Both the
male and female change their skins about twice a

year. Like other oviperous quadrupeds, the lizard
541

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

can live a long time without food. It belongs to the
order Saura and to the family Lacertedae. There is
a lizard called the Flyzng Dragon because he has
wings, though he cannot fly one mite with them.
Then there is the chameleon noted for the several

shades of its skin, saxon green, deep green, blue
and yellow. Then there is the salamander, noted for
its endurance of heat, the frilled lizard, the newt
and others. Then there are the crocodiles and

alligators.”
542

MoNKEYS AND ALLIGATORS,

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“What's the difference between a crocodile and
an alligator?” asked Frank.

_ “Crocodiles and alligators both belong to the

family Crocodzlidae, the crocodiles being found in the
Nile and Ganges. The alligator belongs to America,
and is sometimes called the American crocodile.
The crocodile is much the largest of all the lizard
tribe. He measures from eighteen to thirty feet,
and is covered with thick scales, impenetrable to pistol
or musket shot. Can’t you tell them something else
about the crocodile, Mr. Dumas? ”

“IT suppose the reason that people naturally shrink
from the lizard is because he looks so much like
the crocodile,” remarked Frank.

pyewil tell the children a story, smiled - Mr.
Dumas. And then he told them of a great number
of crocodiles coming up out of the water to attack
hundreds of monkeys who had come down to the
shore on an exploring tour, and how the monkeys
tumbled pell-mell over each other in their frantic
endeavors to ascend a tree, and that the tree just
groaned under its animal weight, while the alligators
stood around looking hungrily on, the monkeys all

chattering at once in the meantime,”
B45

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

“ Now for a summary of what we have learned _to-
day,” said Grace, as soon as the children’s merriment
had subsided.

Frank and May both began:

“We have been talking about reptiles, a class of
cold-blooded, vertebrated animals, divided into three
orders, Chelonza or turtles; Saurzans, or lizards:
Ophidians, or serpents. They are all ovzperous,
though some few hatch their eggs within, before
being laid. There are two families of turtles, CZeloz-
zoide and Sphargidide. The lizard family is called
Lacertide. Viperide, is a class of venomous ser-
pents. The rattlesnake belongs to the family Croat
zad@ ; black snakes belong to the family Colubride ;
boa constrictors to the Bozde family. Toads and
frogs area class of Batrachians, frogs belonging to
the Rand@, and toads to the Bufonide,”

CHAPTER: V.

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

Where was Rose? Everybody was hunting for
her all over the house, in the garden, in the orchard.
Uncle John even looked over into the pig-pen, to be
sure she hadn’t been devoured alive; Aunt Jerusha
looked down the well; Jane, the kitchen girl,
searched up garret and down cellar, while Grace
and May and Frank ran about shouting, “ Rose!
Rose!”

At last a voice answered:

“Here Iam. What do you want?”
547

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

And running around to the side of the house
from whence the sound came, they beheld little Rose
looking calmly out of an open window in the second
story. |

“What are you doing there?” asked Grace.

“In Mr..Dumas's room lookin’ at his) pretty
fings,” she answered innocently, turning away from
the window.

Mr. Dumas turned red to the roots of his hair,
and fumbled hastily in his pocket; but not succeed-
ing in finding what he wished, he rushed into the
house, and on up stairs, followed by Grace and the
two children.

“Do tomein, Tousin Grace,” said Rose, running
to meet them. Mr. Dumas has dot lots of funny
fings.”

“Tt was very, very naughty in you, indeed, to
go anywhere you were not invited,” said Grace,
reprovingly.

“Who tied your hands?” asked Frank, for there
the little girl was walking about from one object of
interest to another, with her hands tied before her.

“T did,” said Rose, dropping her head. “I fought

I touldn’t touch anyfing if I tied my hands.”
548

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM,

“ Bless the child !” exclaimed Mr. Dumas, snatch-
ing her up in his arms and kissing her. “If I had
known you was such a little lady, you might have
seen into my room long ago.”

“But what made you think of such a thing?”
asked Grace.

“Tause Mr. Dumas dot our chains and buttons
out of his-room, and all his pitty shells, so I fought
he must have some more fings in here. Mr. Dumas
don’t tare a bit,do you?” she asked, coaxingly,
throwing an arm around his neck.

“Not now, since you didn’t get hurt; but if you
had meddled too much with a glass case over yon-
der, you might have been poisoned to death.”

“ Where ?” asked Grace, with white lips. -

“It is only a strange, beautiful plant. I handle it
with buckskin gloves; but don’t be alarmed, Miss
- Montague, I shall destroy it immediately.

“What's dose stuffed fings over yonder? asked
Rose, pointing her finger in the direction.

“One is a narwhal and the other is a seal.”

Went. you tell, “us . about: ‘em? ~ .. pleaded
Rose.

“Yes; you've been such a good girl that you shall
549

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

know all about them. Shall I tell you about the
Seal. first. |

“That dreat brown fing, what ain’t dot no hind
legs hardly, and what’s dot a head like a pussy tat,
only there’s no ears?”

“Ves, that is a seal, and a wonderful animal he is.
Indeed, the seals seem endowed with so much intel-
ligence, and act in some respects so much like
human beings, that the Icelanders entertain a queer
superstition for them. They believe they more
nearly resemble the human species than any other
creature, and think they are the offspring of
Pharaoh and his host, who were turned into seals
while passing through the Red Sea.”

“ How odd!” exclaimed May.

“Perhaps the most intelligent of all the seals is
the Ursine seal. The males are some eight feet
long, but the females are much smaller. Their
bodies are thick up towards the head, but decrease
toward the tail. The fore legs are two feet long,
and with the feet, look like turtles’ fins. The hind
legs are quite short, and the five toes webbed.
Their general color is black when young, but they

become tipped with gray as they grow old. The
650 :

ee er ee Se

Tot SEAL at Rest.

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

color of the female is ash. The Ursine seals live in
large families, each male possessing from ten to
fifty females. The males are very fond of their
offspring, and if a female accidentally drops one, or
injures it in any way, he falls upon her and whips
her terribly, until he leaves her for dead. If one of
the young ones are carried away, or in any way in-

THE SEAL.

jured fatally, the males show every mark of exces-
sive grief, weeping tears of sorrow.”
“Poor, poor seal!” exclaimed Rose, pityingly.

“Sometimes the males fight terribly, and which
558

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

ever one is whipped, loses all his females ; for, seem- ;
ing to have contempt for the weaker one, they all
go over to the male who is victorious. :

“Sometimes the little baby seals fight, and then
the male is always the most pleased with the little
one that whips. He pats him on the head, and
licks him with his tongue, as if he were kissing him,
The Ursine seal seldom has more than one little
one at a time, which it nurses about three months;
but the common seal has two or three, which are
kept in cavities of ice, the male making a hole
through the ice down to the water, which he does
by blowing his breath upon the ice until it melts,
thus forming an opening. When the mamma seals
come up out of the water, they bleat like sheep for
their little ones, and single out their own darlings
from among a hundred of others.

“Seals are taken in large quantities for their
skins and oil; indeed, they constitute the universal
resource for the Greenlanders. The flesh forms
their principal food; the fat furnishes them with oil
to give light through the long, dark nights, to make
their fires, and in which they can cook their food.

The skins of the entrails are manufactured into
5b4

= Ss = —
SS ma
EES CLES VETOED

wr ——— ELL == EINES
== _Z ===
= ~7=z

—_——

THe OTARY.

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

material for their shirts, and curtains for their tents.
They even use this material for their windows.
From the bones they made all their working imple-
ments, until the foreign introduction of iron. The
women sew with the fibres of the sinews, which is
much stronger than thread, and make a delicious
soup from the animals’ blood. The outside skins of
the animals make warm clothing, coverings for beds,
houses, and boats, as well as thongs and straps for
a great many purposes. The seals are found in all
northern latitudes, and some few in the temperate
regions. They are easily tamed, and show the
warmest attachment for their masters.

A gentleman once captured a young seal, and
took it home with him. He kept it but afew days
when he began to fear that it was going to consume
more provision than he felt able to provide for it, so
he determined to take it back to its home and throw
it in the water. For this purpose, two or three men
were engaged, and it was taken out upon the water
in a boat and then cast overboard, but it could swim
much faster than the men could row, and soon over-
took them, clinging to the side of the boat. Noth-

ing could induce the seal to let go his hold until his
557

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

fore feet were actually so hacked that he was obliged
to give up, staining the water with blood, as_he fell.
The owner of the seal felt badly all the night about
it, and next morning, when he heard the poor seal
whining at the kitchen door to get in, he could not
possibly resist any longer, but tenderly took him in
to the fire. The creature showed every manifesta-
tion of delight at his restoration, by licking his mas.
ter’s hand, wagging his tail and regarding him with
the same tender light in his great, brown eyes that
one often notices as so characteristic of the dog.
Then he stretched himself out before the fire per-
fectly contented and happy.”

There were tears in May’s eyes, and Rose said:

“Tf I had a little seal I wouldn't make him do
back into the water. I’d lobe him to death.”

“JT think he’d be as jolly as a dog,” said Frank.

“When they are old, their voice resembles the
barking of a dog, but that of the little ones sounds
more like the mewing of a kitten. There are sev-

eral species of seals. There is one which measures

from fifteen to twenty feet in length, the male being
distinguished from the female in possessing a large
snout, projecting five or six inches beyond the ex-

5d8

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

tremity of the upper jaw. The seal inflates this
snout when he is angry, giving it the appearance of
an arched nose. This species is called the bottle
seal. Then there is the leonine seal, so called be-
cause his neck is covered with long, waving hair,
very much like the mane of the lion. A male of
this species often weighs as much as sixteen hundred
pounds. Seals belong to the family Phoczdae from
the Latin word Phoca, seal.”

“Tt took a large case for that narwhal, didn’t it?”
said Frank, addressing Mr. Dumas.

“Yes; it was rather a troublesome specimen, on
account of its bulk; yet this is quite a young one.
A full grown male will measure from twenty to thirty
feet, without his tusk, and that is from six to ten feet
long.”

“What pretty skin the narwhal has, all spotted
wiv’ black,” said Rose, admiringly.

“Yes; and isn’t his horn pretty? It looks likea
piece of white ivory, plaited,” said May.

“That is all the weapon the poor narwhal has, and ~
he never uses it save in a matter of self-defence. He
is one of the most peaceable inhabitants of the
ocean.”

559

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

—

—=—

“Where did this one come from?” asked Frank.

“From the northern ocean. The Greenlanders
capture them for their flesh, which they eat; for their
oil and teeth as an article of traffic, and for the long
tusk, which, as ivory, is much more valuable than
the tusks of elephants, being much harder and capa-
ble of higher polish.

“ The Greenlander has a funny sort of a boat with

a round hole in the upper part of it. They get into

this hole, leaving only the upper part of their body
exposed, then with a long spear attached to a great
long spool of stout twine, they thrust it forward into
the narwhal. The wounded creature at once dives
down into the depths of the ocean, but returns in a
short time to the surface of the water when it is
soon dispatched with a lance.”

“Why do whales come up to the surface of the
water, when there are so many dangers around?”
asked Frank.

“ Because they have to, for they do not breathe like
fish, but like you and me, through a pair of lungs.
You learned that a little fish breathes through its
gills, that it keeps continually opening and shutting

its mouth, the water it takes in, forcing its way
560 |

THE PERILS oF a FisyHing VOYAGE,

iN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

through the gills. But the whale tribe cannot live
in the water all the time, no more than can you and
I. When these animals are undisturbed they gen-
erally remain on the surface of the water long
enough to breathe eight or nine times, and then go
down under water again for about five or ten min-
utes, or, if feeding, for fifteen or twenty.”

“ Have the whales any teeth?” asked Frank.

“No; they have no teeth in either jaw; the upper
jaw being supplied with a ‘horny amine called

whalebone.”
“Ts that where whalebone, comes from?” asked
May. “I never think when mamma is putting

whalebone in my dresses, that they once served the
great whale for teeth. I don’t see how he can eat
with such teeth.”

“When feeding, he swims with great velocity
down below the surface, with his mouth opened just
as wide as he can get it. A stream of water, filled
with immense quantities of cuttle-fish, sea-blubber
and shrimps, is continually flowing into his great
mouth. The water escapes through his blow-holes,
but the food is entangled, the whalebone teeth form-

ing a sort of strainer or sifter.
563

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

\

“ The whale tribe have but one litle omenaeus
time, and when nursing it, the mother whale throws
herself over on one side on the surface of the water.
She is very careful of this one baby of hers, carry-
ing it with her wherever she goes, and when hardest
pursued, supports it between her fins. Even if
wounded she keeps her hold of it, and takes it with
her to the bottom, though rising with it sooner than
she would, so that it can breathe. While nursing,
the little whales are very fat, and are called by the
sailors ‘short-heads.. At two years old they are
called ‘stunts,’ because they do not thrive very well
for awhile after leaving the mother. After they are
two years old they are called ‘ skull-fish.’ ”

“Won't you tell us more about the whales’ blow-
holes?” asked Frank.

“ There is a tubular opening on the top of his
head. This spiracle contains double outlets, the
same as man’s nostrils. It is through his nose that
the whale spouts water and vapor to the height of
several yards, making a very loud noise indeed; but
this is all the noise he can make, since he has no
voice. The whales are shy and timid animals, and

never think of showing their great strength save
564 ;

are BS =

KOS O/ te

eras 4 N EG

Tur GREENLAND WHALE

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

when their lives are in danger. Then it is the nar-
whal uses his long, white ivory tusk. He plunges
it into the keels and bottom of vessels, where they
have sometimes been found broken short off. Whales
abound in the seas about Spitzbergen and Green-

-AT REST. -

land, though they are found to some extent on the
shores of countries nearer the torrid zone.”
“ Have you ever been whale fishing, Mr. Dumas?”
“Yes; I went some two or three voyages, the last
time as first mate, and that was when I brought back

with me this narwhal. The oil produced from a
567

iN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

single large whale will bring about five thousand
dollars, and the whalebone alone often brings from
one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars, so that
you see whale fishing must be very profitable, a full
ship of about three hundred tons burden, making
from twenty to thirty thousand ‘dollars from one
voyage.”

“Where do they get the blubber which makes the
oil?” asked Frank.

“Tt lies directly under the skin and is from eight
to twelve inches thick, being a beautiful yellow color
when the animal is in health. So oily is this sub-
stace that one hundred barrels of blubber will pro-
duce nearly ninety-six barrels of oil. The fishing
season begins in May, but must end by the last of
August, to avoid the coming ice. Whales belong to
the Balenide family, Balenzde coming from the
word éaleen, which means plates of whalebone.
The order to which they belong is Ce¢acea, from the
latin word cede, a whale.”

“Mr. Dumas, what’s the name of that slippery
looking fish, in that very large aquarium ?”

“That is called the angler, or fishing frog, and

came out of the Mediterranean Sea. It belongs to
568

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

the Lophide family. The peculiar formation of its
fins makes it able to creep a considerable distance
on land. The reason it is called the angler, or fish-
ing frog, is because of the way it has of catching

AMS ISISIHO Ch) PROX Er

fish. It crouches close to the bottom of the sea,
and by digging its pectoral fins down into the sand
and mud attracts the attention of small fishes, who

mistake the two or three long, horny threads on the
569

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

head of the angler for worms, and approach to snap
them up, when suddenly they find themselves
snapped up. It is called a fishing frog, because it is
able to leap up like a frog, when it catches its prey.
It is from three to six feet long, and iaagaen,
large head and mouth, as you can see from this
specimen. Its voracity is remarkable. Large sea
birds, as gulls, are frequently found whole in the
angler’s stomach.”

“ Do tell us about that beautiful red fish with such
a funny tail,” said May.

“ That is a very rare fish, as well as a beautiful
one. It is called the Japanese kingiyo, but I was
unable to learn much more about it, but think it
closely allied to the gold fish.”

“It’s dot on a wed jacket, and a long, white petti-
coat wiv’ fringes all around,” said Rose.

“It looks so in the water, really,” said May, turn-
ing to Grace.

“T think it does, some; and so, Mr. Dumas, you
think this odd-looking kingiyo allied to the gold
fish”

“It 1s mere speculation on my part, simply be-

cause I do not know where else to class him, I sup-
570

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

pose ; but you know when the gold fish was brought
from China to England, about two hundred years
ago, it was looked upon as a great curiosity. Since,
it has been introduced to the United States through
England, and now is found almost everywhere, still

"
ST

r

THE KINGIYO.

a thing of beauty, but rare no longer. I think the
Japanese kingiyo a kind of gold fish, which has not
as yet become generally known.”
“And how is it with this curious looking fellow? ”
asked Grace, pointing out a large glass globe.
“That is another Japanese fish. The natives

571

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

make a great pet of it, and are never tired of wit-
nessing the curious way in which the fish gets his
dinner.”

“ How? how?” inquired the children.

“ Do you not see what a funny mouth he has?”

“ Yes, yes,” assented the children. :

“ Now watch me place a fly on one of these leaves
that projects just above the surface of water in the
globe. The fly is dead, but the little fish will not
know the difference. Now stand back and watch
him shoot.”

“Shoot! Is he a shootin’ fish?” asked Rose, as
she tiptoed to the edge of the table, and peeped
cautiously into the globe.

“You will see,” said Mr. Dumas; and soon they
saw the fish swimming under the water. He had
noticed the fly, and still remaining under water,
though perfectly motionless, he shot a little stream
of water directly upon the fly; but, as it was fas-
tened with a pin, he could not succeed in bringing
it down to the surface of the water.

“ What does he do that for?” asked Rose.

“To wash the little fly down to the surface of the

water, so that he may eat it for his dinner,” laughed
572 :

ROSE AND THE REPTILES.

Sit Dumas. “His snout is very much like a
boy’s blow gun.”

“T never heard of anything so queer as that,” said
Frank.

“There are a great many queer things in this
world of ours. The learned name for this queer
fish is the deaked Chetodon. He belongs to the fam-
ily Chetodine. See the bands crossing and recross-
ing him, while’ his scales are very stout. The
species are very numerous, and are held in high
esteem for food.”

“What are all vose fings in the glass jars?” asked
Rose.

“Tf you will come in again to-morrow, I will tell
you all about them.”

_“ Now let us see what we have learned to-day,”
said Grace.

“T know, I know,” said little Rose, eagerly, rais-
ing her right hand, and shaking it violently ; for she
had visited school once with her sister May, and had
particularly noticed how the little girls strove to
gain the attention of their teacher.

“ Well,” smiled Grace, “let us hear.”

“Whales and seals are vertebrates ‘tause they’ve
573

IN MR. DUMAS’ ROOM.

dot back bones, and they ain't fish if they do live in
the water. They're mammals, ‘tause they nurse
their own babies.”

“Very good, for little Rose. Now, Frank, will
you show any other reasons why whales and seals
are not fish?” said Grace.

“Fish are cold-blooded animals, whales have
warm red blood, and breathe like quadrupeds by
means of real lungs. They have movable eyelids,
and fair bones like quadrupeds. Seals belong, as
Linnzeus has classed them, to the same order as do
cats and dogs, having six front teeth in each jaw,
and one canine tooth in both Jaws on each side.”

“Very good, and now, May, suppose you tell us
in what way whales and seals are like fish, though
they do not belong to that kingdom?” said Mr.
Dumas.

“Why, in having fins, and being inhabitants of
the water,” answered May.

“Do you know how many fins the cetaceans or
whales have?”

“Only two, the pretoral fins, besides their tails.
They have no posterior feet or fins.”

“ How is it with thoca, or the seals ?”
574

IN MR. DUMAS ROOM.

“ They have four complete members, the hind ones
forming with the tail a broad, stout caudal fin. The
fore paws, though encased in skin, have nails like
quadrupeds, enabling seals to crawl or tumble about
— some species being able to travel upon land better
than others.”

“Very good,” said Grace. “Come now, children ;
it is time to go down-stairs.”

“J shall look for you all, to-morrow,” said Mr.
Dumas, bowing them out.

875

CHAPTER] vie

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

The next day found Grace and the children back
in Mr. Dumas’ room, and they noticed that it had
been swept and garnished for the oceasion. The
ereat glass jars at once attracted the children’s
attention.

“QO, see that beautiful little parasol with fringe all
around it,” said May.

“That’s a living animal,” said Mr. Dumas.

“Ts it possible!” exclaimed the children.
£76

i

fi :
AY YS

MrEpus& or JELLY Fisa,

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS,

“Yes, in the center part of the concave side of
this disc, is the stomach. The mouth opens down.
wards, and is surrounded by what looks like a cloud
of lace. It is the MJeduse or jellyfish. In their
stomachs are often found small fishes, crustacea and
mollusks. Their tentacula possesses considerable
muscular power, capable of drawing into its mouth
almost everything that comes in its way. They be-
long to the branch Radiata and to the class Acale-
phe. This class embraces a large number of ani
mals, and if there is anything mysterious in nature
it is this class of creatures. They can move, feel,
take nourishment, sting if troubled, are phosphores-
cent and reproductive ; yet no one understands just
how itis. They are one of the mysteries of crea-
tion. If I were to take this medus@ out of the jar
and set it aside for awhile, though now it weighs
some four or five pounds, I would find that there
was nothing left of it but a filmy skin, a mere cob-
web, while the substance which drained away from
it would appear to be nothing more than sea-water.
Can anything be more wonderful? Here is a crea-
ture full of life and activity, weighing five pounds

yet I take it out of the water and lo! it is not, for
579

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

nothing remains but cob-web and water. The Acad
phe have been divided into four families, the ZuZ
mograda, the Crlograda, the Czrrhigrada and the
Physograda. These families exhibit a great variety
of structure and form. Here is one in this jar that
has the form of hair, or tangled fringe. Agassiz
once came across a jelly-fish in this form, and on
measuring it, found that its hair or tentacles, as they
are called, measured one hundred and twelve feet
long, the body being seven feet in diameter. Up
and down these tentacles are cells, each having a
fine cord coiled up which the animal can spring at
will, and it would not be a very pleasant thing to
get entangled in those thread-like tentacles; yet out
of water it would dry away to nothing but film.
This queer, fringy-looking fish has for its mamma a
little, wee thing called AMydrodd, never more than
half an inch in height.”

“Here’s somefing looks like a fan,” said Rose.

“ That is what is called a sea-urchin. The center
is his body and the open work his tentacles. Upon
four of these tentacles are tiny forks. When there
is any food this creature doesn’t want, he passes it

down a tentacle to one of these forks. The fork
580 ;

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WHAT WAS IN’ THE JARS:

closes upon it as quickly as though it were guided
by fingers, then passes it on to another fork, until
the last one drops it into the water.”

“ Here’s a dreat bid bush in this jar, and it’s dot
dooseberries on it, I dess,” called Rose.

“Tt is a net-fish, and what looks like branches and
berries are the tentacles of the fish, stretching up

and branching out here and there, and coiled up into
little round coils. Sometimes this fish closes up,
and takes the form of a cosy, latticed house. Little
fish and shrimps never guess that it is a net to catch
them, so run right into the nice-looking place with-
out a thought of danger. The net-fish has eighty.
nine hundred and twenty links; just think of

that! ”
583

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

“QO, here’s some of the prettiest little breast-pins
eber was,” cried out Rose.

“They are the most common of all the jelly-fishes,
and are called Lucernarza. ‘This is in the shape of
a star, each point seeming set with brilliants, only all
is not gold that sparkles, so these little glittering

points are not pearls or diamonds, but tentacles and
auricles to eat with, and to take hold by. They are
generally found fast to sea-weeds along shore, and
strange as it may appear, this beautiful star has the
power of contracting itself up until it looks just
like a half-blown morning-glory.”

“QO, here’s somefing looks like a scarf,” cried out
584 :

A JELLY FIsa,

WEES Te OWAS INe TES. -—fARS.

Rose, again, “see how shiny it ts, and all the woolen
stuff at the edges looks lovely, don’t it, May ?”
“Tt is a big medusa, and that woolen stuff, as
Rose calls it, is its ezdza by which it rows itself along
in the water. It is called the ‘ Girdle of Venus.’ ”

(\'

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TTTIM\I\\

“ And this feathery-looking leaf —what is this?”
asked May.

“It’s all bue,” said Rose.
“ Another jelly-fish. The little fronds on each
side of the broad stem are alive, in each of them a

cell inhabited by a polypus.”
587

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

“ What is a polypus?” asked May.

“T dess it’s somefing like a polly parrot,” said Rose
eravely.

“Poly means many, the word meaning with many
feet or roots. This feathery leaf lives with its stem
down in the sea-mud. Like many other of the jelly
fishes, it was long thought a vegetable. It is called
the ‘sea-pen.’ I suppose because it resembles a quill-
pen and is found in the sea.”

“Here’s somefing has dot two long fevers for a
tail, but there ain’t no head or foots,” said Rose.

“That is a Plererobrachia,a genus of Acaleplus
belonging to the order of Ctexophore or Beroid,
jelly-jishes. They always have a round body, and
the feather-edges are the creature’s tentacles with
which he gathers up his food and with which he pro-
pels himself along in the water. This, in the next
Jar, belongs to the same order, but is of the genus
fdywa. It looks like an inverted pouch. It is all
stomach, and as soon as a fish enters this up-side
down pouch, the mouth contracts, and there the fish
is fast.”

“ Here’s a boota,” said Rose.

“In a bouquet holder,” added May.
588

WHAT WAS. IN THE JARS.

“The holder is a Hodocodon hydrord, and is the
mother of the little flowers which she holds. The
flowers are young meduse. They stay there until
strong enough to leave the hydroid, then detach
themselves and float off upon the sea to‘ paddle
their own canoes.’ There are some very strange

facts about these hydroids. Portions of them may
be broken off, as, sometimes, the hydroid splits of
its own accord, when each portion or division be-
comes an independent animal, growing to the same
size as the original. Fora long time these hydroids
were called animal plants.”

“What is this queer-looking bunch?” asked
Frank.

“That's. another hydra. A floating hydroid.
589

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

There are lots of little baby jelly-fish there, fastened
to their mother. Soon they will become able to
take care of themselves, and will drop off into the
sea.”

“I should like to make drawings of these jelly-
fish, to take home and show mamma,’ said
Frank.

“So you can, if you wish,’ said Mr. Dumas.
“I know that she will be much interested. Still

another class of radiata are the ZAchznodermata,

yp Sp

Pino
:

fh Lise =

A BOUQUET.

or Echinoderms. They are the strongest and the
most perfectly formed of all the radiata. They do
not swim so easily and gracefully as the medusa, but

creep along the sand, or are found sticking fast to
590

WHAT WAS EN” THE JARS:

rocks by means of their many tentacles. One of
the most curious of this class is the sea-hedgehog,
or the sea-chestnut, called the first because it can
contract itself in a round, prickly ball, like the
hedgehog, and the last because in this condition it

THE SEA-HEDGEHOG,

looks very much like the prickly burr of a chestnut.
The round body is clad in a solid cuirass, out of
which project numbers of stiff, brittle spines. There

are also little holes all over the cuirass, through
591

WHAT. WAS IN’ THE: JARS:

which the animal can stick his many sensitive little
feet at his pleasure. By observing closely, you will
see that one of the openings is larger than the
others. This is the creature’s mouth, and among the
species that are carniverous, you will observe five
tiny teeth. These animals are often found snugly
encased in holes in the rocks; and another one of
the mysteries is, how do they get there? |

“Some naturalists presume that these little creat-
ures carve out their own homes in the rocks by
means of their sharp, prickly spines; but if they are
as brittle as it is said, I do not see how this can be
tie ase.

“ What's this queer lookin’ fing in ‘is jar?” asked
Rose. “ There are two of ’em; one is a tunnin’
long fish, but I don’t know what the other is.”

abiatir why, that’s a cucumber,’ smiled Mr.
Dumas.

Rose looked at it steadily for a few seconds, and
then said:

“It’s the tweerest lookin’ tucumber I eber saw.”

“ A sea-cucumber, Mr. Dumas means,” said Grace.
“It isa live lttle Holothuria ananas, and the fish

is its parasite.”
592

ND ITS PARASITICAL

FISH,

A

URIA ANANAS

HoLotTHu

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

“What’s it dot all its tongues out for?” asked
Rose. |

“Those are its tentacles, and it can draw them
entirely out of sight when it pleases.”

- Phe Malays catch them in great numbers for
the Chinese, who are fond of them in their soups,’
said Mr. Dumas.

“It must be tedious work catching such tiny
things,” said Grace.

“Tt is. The Malays go out in boats, and at the
distance of over a hundred feet down in the sea,
they behold the olothura clinging to the rocks,
and strike it with a sort of harpoon.

“ Here are a cluster of sea-stars, belonging to the
Echinoderms, which I collected and dried. I could
not keep them alive in the glass jars. It is animal
life in a strange form, isn’t it? They are covered
with a sort of a crust in order to protect them from
their small sea enemies. They have five or more
rays branching out from the center, in which their
mouth may be found. All these rays are provided
with numbers of tentacles, being in their case short,
soft, fleshy tubes. With these they take their food,
cling to the rocks with such force as to withstand

595

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

the force of the waves, though they are often swept
high and dry upon shore. If the animal is thrown
upon its back, it frequently pushes out and draws
in again its hundreds of tentacles. So intense is its
vitality, that every ray but one may be crushed and
lost erftirely, yet the animal lives, and possesses the
power of reproducing all his lost rays. They are
very voracious, and prey upon dead or living animal
substances. Some naturalists believe these star-fish
possess the organ of sight.”

“ Oh, here are some tweer lookin’ fowers stickin
out of little clam-shells. They are all stickin’ fast
to a piece of old board,” cried Rose.

“ These are little animals called Czrripedes, from
cirrus, a curl, and pedis, a foot. They are the curly-
footed animals,” said Mr. Dumas.

“T neber heard of anyfing wearing their curls on
their foots,” laughed Rose.

“ These curls are also their dvanchza through which
they breathe. All of the species possess twenty-four
claws apiece, the twelve longest arising from the
back part of the animal. The twelve smaller ones
arranged six on a side, are more pliable and fuller of

hairs, answering the purpose of hands. The Czrrz-
596

|. ASTERIS PAPOSA. 2. CIDARITES IMPERIALIS. 3. COMATULA
MEDITERRANEA,

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

pedes have no eyes, but possess a mouth, jaws and

teeth. They have a heart, stomach, intestines, a

nervous system and tendons by which they adhere to

their shells. Another funny name they have is the
Goose-bearing barnacle,”

“Why, do they bear little gooses?” laughed Rose.

BARNACLES.

“There was a ridiculous story in the dark ages
that the barnacle goose was produced in the shells
of these animals,” said Mr. Dumas.

“ Why they have more than two shells!” exclaimed
May, after giving the strange creatures a very close

examination. ‘“ They must be mzltcvalves.”
599

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

ee a ee

* Certainiy they are, othe genus anatifa now is
composed of five shells drawn together in the form
of tulips. The Czrripedes are divided into two fam-
ies, the Azatzfa and Balana. Balanus means an
acorn. This last family is contained in a short con-
ical shell in the shape of an acorn, and is attached

without a stem to its support. They sometimes
cover a vessel’s sides to such an extent that she can
scarcely move. Their tentacles they thrust out and
quiver so violently that numbers of animalcules are

drawn into the vortex and greedily devoured by
600

WEAT WAS EN OOEE . TARS.

ed

them for food. If any danger is apparent they shut
themselves up quickly in their mantle under their
valves.

“These sea-acorns were very much relished by the
ancient Greeks at their tables; and the Chinese con-
sider them a great delicacy served up with salt and
vinegar. Both families may be found on old rotten
timber that is submerged, as well as on the sides of
ships.”

“ How do they get there?” asked Frank.

“At the commencement of their life they are at-
tached to nothing, but on becoming adults cling to
some foreign substance on which they can end their
days; and to this home they must always stick,
whether for better or for worse.”

“Mr. Dumas, why do they call jelly-fishes
medusa?” asked Frank.

“ There was a fabled Gorgan medusa whose head
was adorned with snakes instead of tresses, and
whose glaring eyes turned into stone everything
which looked upon her. Some of the umbrella-
shaped jelly-fishes- with their pendant tentacles
might have had a fancied resemblance to this fabu-

lous creature; and, it may be, because their phos-
601

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

phorescent light almost transfixed the unenlightened
spectator into stone.”

““Phosphorescent?” repeated Prank: ales
more about it, won't you?”

“ Their beautiful tints shine with gorgeous splen-
dor at night, sometimes with such brilliancy as to
make the ocean look like a bed of flames. Sailors
were very much frightened with this phenomena
until after it was explained.”

“T have read that the phosphareeeee at sea was
caused by the xzght-shining nerets, an animal also
known under the name of the marine scolopendre or
centipede,” said Grace.

“The nxightshining nerets is, undoubtedly, one of
the causes. The sea is full of these tiny creatures,
which are found on all kinds of marine plants; but
when they leave these plants to swim on the surface
of the water they are particularly luminous, so small
are they that thousands and myriads may be taken
up in a little cup of sea water. They get in under
the scales of fishes and cause them, too, to exhibit a
phosphoresent light.”

“ Haven't any of the animals fins, we have been
talking about today?” asked May.

608

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS.

“Not unless you make the numerous cilia and
tentacles answer the purpose of fins, for it is by them
that the meduse swim and move.”

“ Have you anything more for us to see?” asked
Frank. |

“ A few more specimens if you'll come to-morrow,
I have an engagement for this afternoon.”

6O3

CHATTER Vil

QUEER FISH.

“ Now,” said Mr. Dumas, “I am going to show
you some queer fish. They are accorded the very
lowest place in animated nature. Fora long time
they were considered vegetables, but have since been
proved to be animals, True, the only symptom
of vitality it shows, is a visible trembling or contrac-
tion on being touched, yet it has a fishy smell, and
on being burned has an odor like scorched wool or

horn, proving that it is a specimen of animated
604 7

PONGE,

S

QUEER FISH.

nature. When living, the skeleton is covered with
a sticky gelatine. Now, according to chemistry,
gelatine can be obtained from animal tissues only ;
and chemists have even abstracted a fatty matter
_ from the animal in question which they have ana-
lyzed and found it to contain (quoting from another)
‘carbon, hydrogen, azate, iodine, sulphur, phosphorus,
and somewhat larger quantities of phosphate, car-
bonate, and sulphate of lime, marine salt, silicia,
magnesia, alumina and sulphate of iron.’ When
you children enter into the study of chemistry you
will understand all these terms.”

And producing something from his coat pocket,
Mr. Dumas held it up, saying:

“ Now, Rose, what have I here?”

“A round ball of sponge with little trees drowin’
in it,” she answered.

“Yes; it is the sfongia cyma.”

“ What does cyma mean?” asked May.

“Sprout. This is sponge with vegetable sprouts.
Now is this animal dead or alive?”

“ Dead,” they all answered.

“Yes,” said Mr. Dumas, “his skin and flesh are

all gone, and if I touch him he doesn’t tremble the
607

QUEER FISH.

least. If you will notice, you will see that some of
the holes through the sponge are larger than others.
When sponges are alive, and in a healthy condition,
a constant stream of water may be seen issuing from
the larger holes, while all the small ones seem as
equally intent upon drinking, the water finding its
way through all the canals before it is expelled.
Now this circulation of fluid answers the purpose of
nutrition, for without it the sponge could not live or
grow. This water which flows through the pores
also carries with it the eggs of the animal. These
eggs, or corpuscules, are covered with hairs, by which
they move through the water with great ease, until
they attach themselves to some object after which
they do not stir. It is found on submarine rocks in
great abundance, and in a great variety of form and
size. Here is another sponge I have, in the form of
a vase.”

“ Are they found very deep down in the water?”
asked Frank.

“Generally. The finer the specimens, the deeper
they; ates,

“ Then they must be obtained by diving?”

“Yes, of course.”
608

QUEER FISH.

“Won't you please tell us something about the
divers?”

“ There are men to dive for sponges, as well as for
pearls and corals. The sponge fishery is now carried
on more in the Grecian Archipelago than anywhere
else, and on the Syrian shore. The fishery opens in
June, and ends in October. The commonest of the
sponges are caught with three-toothed harpoons, but
the finer species would be injured by such a process,
besides they are much deeper down in the water, so
divers go down to the bottom of the sea and cut it
off with strong, sharp knives. After obtaining the
sponges they must be buried in the sand for some
days, and then taken up, thoroughly soaked and
- washed, otherwise they would putrify and perish.

Sponges belong to the family SJoxgzade and to the
fifth, or lowest branch of the animal kingdom, which
is Protozoa.”

“T don’t think I quite understand some things
about sponges, yet,” said Grace. “Sponges are pro-
duced by minute animals called polypi are they not?”

ves.

“Then why do they call the sponge an animal,

instead of animals?”
609

QUEER FISH.

“ Because it is a compound animal composed of
all these little polypi. The greater part of these
tiny things adhere together and form compound
animals. The sponge forms the lowest race of the
polypi.

“Now going up one step higher in the animal
kingdom we shall take up the order of Zoantharia ;
for marine polypi are divided into three orders, the
most interesting of which is the order just mentioned.

“The Zoantharia comprise two large families,
the stony, or madreporic Zoantharia and the fleshy
Zoantharia. That was madreporic Zoantharia we
found in the box of shells growing upon the oyster.
I have some more corals in a different form which I
will show you.” And this time Mr. Dumas exhib-
ited a glass case of corals.

“O, how beautiful!” exclaimed Grace.

“They are just like old snarly trees in winter-

)

time,’ said May.

“Don’t they have leaves on ’em in summer?”
asked Rose.

“No, because they are like the little madrepore
you saw attached to the oyster shell; they are the

stony skeletons of numerous little polypids. Sup-
610 3

CuRALS.

QUEER FISH.

pose I break off a piece that I may better explain.
The calcarious substance you will see is arranged in
layers. Now the outside layer is called the bark,
and is of a greyish color. You see that it is all full
of little knobs, and in the very tip ends of the knobs.
are eight tiny holes. Now what do you suppose
those holes are for?”

The children didn’t know.

“ Why, for the polypi to stick their eight tentacles
through to be sure; for, as in the sponges, they are
compound animals being one step higher in possess-
ing tentacles. From the eggs of the little polypi in
the corals, are formed bulbs, from which a stem
shoots upward, on which branches grow. There is
also a root which serves as a means of attachment.
They take in their food by means of their long ten-
tacula. I will now peel off the outside layer.”

“What a b’ooful, bright red!” exclaimed Rose.

“Yes, just like the material out of which your
coral chain is made. Divers for coral are furnished
with a great cross, from the arms of which hang
solid nets. This cross is lowered to the bottom of
the sea with a stout rope. The diver then goes

down and remains a half minute, moving the arms
613

QUEER FISH.

of the cross rapidly around, so that they will scrape

the rocks to which the coral sticks, thus entangling

them in the nets. Then men on board of a boat
pull at the rope bringing up the diver and his treas-
ures to the surface.

SEA ANEMONES.

“ Now we will pass on to the fleshy Zoantharia
called actfinzas or sea-anemones. Here is the avrbor-

escent or tree-like actina.
614

QUEER FISH.

“ The body is a kind of sack, the bottom of it
adhering to the sea-bed, while the mouth of the
sack is open, through which several rows of tenta-
cula shoot up like the branches of atree. These
animal flowers are flesh-eating, and in order to keep
them in my aquarium ina healthy condition, I am
obliged to feed them with meat and fish and worms.”

“O, Mr. Dumas, won't you let us see you! I'd
like so much to see a flower eat!” exclaimed May.

Some worms were procured, and the children were
delighted, as well as astonished, to see the avidity
with which the strange animal-flowers seized them
from off the ends of the long reeds that were pre-
sented to them.

“Some of the actzuzas remain buried in the sand
only thrusting out their tentacles, others are fastened
to rocks which are almost on a level with the surface
of the water. Unlike the sponges and corals, these
animals can change their position when they choose.
I have frequently seen them passing from one stone
to another, and creeping along the sides of the aqua:
rlum. Sometimes they come up to the surface and
seem to be enjoying the air. In this globe is the

actina Pumosa of St. Helena.”
615

QUEER FISH.

“It looks just like a booful toilet tushion!” ex-
claimed Rose.

“ The opening at the top is the creature’s mouth.
and the circle of fringe its several tentacula. The
mouth is furnished with crooked teeth. This kind
feeds principally upon shell-fish, which it draws into
its mouth by means of its arms or tentacles. They
cast out the shells and other hard substances through
the same opening. If a shell is swallowed by mis-
take, it forces itself through the body, coming out
near the base, and causing a wound. The whole in-
side of the body is one stomach.

“When they want to walk they let go their hold
of the rock, turn themselves over, and use their ten-
tacula or arms for legs.”

“O, how funny!” cried the children.

“When their tentacles are fully expanded they
have the appearance of full-blawn flowers, many of
them of very brilliant colors. When contracted,
they have the form of a rounded cone. There are
purple actinias, red, rose, blue, yellow, violet, in fact
they may be found in almost any color. They be-
long to the family Actnade and to the order

Helianthorda.
616

QUEER FISH.

“Don’t you find a difficulty in keeping them?”
asited Grace.

“ They are not so difficult to keep as some other
things. If kept in a jar of salt water, frequently
changed, they will live and flourish nicely. If, how-
ever, from neglect, they become unhealthy, their in-
testines protrude from their mouth, and they turn
inside out. If the water is renewed soon enough,
they will turn back again, and assume their natural
shape.”

“T never heard so many queer things in all my
life,” said May.

“These animals have no eyes, yet the light
affects them. If a light be held over the glasses in
which they are kept, even though at such a distance
as to communicate no heat, they close up and will
not expand again until the light is taken away.

“A Frenchman once made several experiments
on the rose-colored actinia. He cut off its tentacles,
all of them, and they grew on again in less than a
monta. hen be cut the entire upper part, off, but
the animal entirely recovered its right proportions.
He also cut one of them in two and offered a piece

of a muscle to the detached part, and the limbs
617

QUEER FISH.

eagerly seized it. They took it into the mouth and
the animal swallowed it, it coming out at the oppo-
site end. If the base of any of these flowers was
cut, then the wound proved mortal.

“ Here is another beautiful actinia I have to show
you. This actinia has a cylindrical body, and its

ACTINIA.

tentacles look like those of the arborescent actinia,
only they are shorter and more spread out.

“ All the actinias are viviperous.

“In collecting actinias it is best to separate them

from the rocks, by carefully introducing a board be-
618 i

QUEER FISH.

neath, so that they may not be injured. They will
flourish in glass vessels of sea-water, if the water is
changed once a week.”

“Ts there no vegetable life at all in the ocean?
Are all the flowers half plants, half stones; half
plants, half animals?” asked Frank.

“ There is the immense a/ge¢ and fucz classed in
the vegetable kingdom, yet some naturalists believe
that they, too, are animal matter built by the polyp1
the same as are sponges and coral. In fact, there is
so little difference between sea-weed and sponges
and corals that naturalists themselves are puzzled.
But the bed of the sea isa garden of beauty even
though all its wonders are full of life. Itis like
enchanted land—it is the fairy’s world. Life in
almost every form and color is there found.”

“Tt would almost be worth any one’s while to be
a diver, if they could but catch glimpses of so many
hidden splendors,” said Frank.

“ A half minute’s glimpse would be only enough to
provoke, instead of satisfy,” said May.

“But Mr. Dumas, is not there a diving bell in
which a man can go down to the bottom of the sea

and remain for whole hours, breathing with full
61y

QUEER FISH.

lungs and walking about as if perfectly at home?”
asked Frank.

“O how splendid!” exclaimed Rose, clapping her
hands.

“ Life can be sustained for several minutes under
the diving bell; but the best armor is a reservoir of
compressed air which the diver may buckle on his
back, then with a system of nicely-arranged rakes
and a double tube of India-rubber fitted over his
mouth makes respiration easy, even down into the
depths of the sea. The apparatus may also be fas-
tened to a supply pump. A strong man may thus
remain under the sea for an hour or two.”

620

CHAPTER. VIN:

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE.

Pat came running up to the house the next day,
followed by the children.

Well, Pat, what have you in your tin cup? asked
Mr. Dumas, who was sitting with Grace upon the
front piazza. )

“Sure, sir, and that’s just what I was wantin to
know. They must be some kind of fish, yer honor,

becase I found them in the wather.”
621

SS SSO

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE.

“ Everything is not fish that lives in the water.”

“Sure, and I brought the craythers up to Miss
Grace. She kin tell me, I know.”

“QO Tousin Grace, they’re tunnin’ little fish with
shells, ticks and little bits of ’tones all ober ’em!”
exclaimed Rose.

“Frank says he don’t believe that they are fish at
all,” said May.

dis
¢) Ni
Hd

wy)
ie

ih
valk

—————

“Then what are they?” said Grace, taking the
cup, and carefully examining the subjects.

“They look more like some kind of a worm,’
said Frank.

“You are right, for they are Cadazs worms. They
are the larvze of the Caddtce fly.”

“Were they hatched with those shells and sticks

on their backs?” asked May.
622

Foraminirera (Lossil Shells)

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE,

“ No, they made those cases for themselves. They
are the houses which the little worms live in.”

“How did they stick them together?” asked
May.

“ By silken threads secreted in their own bodies.
The insect, in a perfect state, is a fly with four
hairy membranous wings and long anxtenne. They
frequent marshy places, being very active in their
movements, though awkward in their flight. They
belong to the family Phryganzdz and to the order
Neuraptera.”

“Tf you will wait until I go to my room,” said
Mr. Dumas, “I will bring down a microscope that
we may examine these little cases more minutely.
One case is composed entirely of shells, another of
bark, and this one of sticks and seeds,” added Mr.
Dumas, handing over the microscope to Grace.

~Then the children took their turns at the glass,
_ and were much entertained. —

“Isn't there something else that we can look at
through the microscope?” asked Frank.

“Why, yes, you can spend all day with it if you
like. Here is a box of sand I would like to put

under the instrument. It came from the sea-shore.”
625

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE;

“Why,” exclaimed Grace, “it is half shells; and
to think that all these tiny shells once held a living
occupant

“They are foraminifera,’ said Mr. Dumas. “A
name given to a group of tiny organisms having
calcarious shells. They were, until recently, called
microscopic Cephalopods, but are now regarded as
Protozoa, the pores in the shells being for the tiny
occupants to thrust out their delicate filaments in
order to take in their food or to aid “themmam
locomotion. Recent foraminifera are beautiful
subjects for the microscope, but they are found
more plentifully in the fossil state. In the fossil
state, these tiny shells may be found in rocks of all
formations. The grandest city in the world is said
to be built of them, since they constitue the stones
of which the city is built. Even the pyramids of
Egypt aresaid to be composed of these Foraminzfera,
massed together into the stone work, and there are
“mountains largely composed of just such tiny shells.”

“Now, children, when you see the world is full
of creatures that you cannot see at all without a
glass,” said Grace, “don’t you think your lifetimes

too short for the study of natural history?”
626

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE,

“The world is teeming with animal life even
beyond the power of the most powerful microscope,”
said Mr. Dumas.

May took a pin,and tried to touch one of the
little shells, which only appeared to be a grain of sand.

Rose watched her intently, then puckering up
her forehead, said:

“ How Zax God make such &¢d/e fings?’

“A mystery that has puzzled greater philosophers
than we,’ said Mr. Dumas.

“T was about to show you,” added Mr. Dumas,
“what moves in water unseen, or unnoticed, since
we have been talking so much about water-creatures
in the few days past. Who will bring me a drop
of stagnant water upon a leaf?

The children all ran to a little pool, but Pat was
foremost with a cup full.

Mr. Dumas placed a drop on a single leaf, and
placed it under the microscope.

“What do you see, Rose?” asked Frank, impa-
tiently, as the little baby-student kept them waiting
a long time for their turns.

“QO, eber so many fings! There are fishes and

worms, and little snakes and lots of jumpin’ fings!”
627

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE.

“ Well, let somebody else see these wonders,” said
Frank.

“What is that thing with a feather on) tne end
of its tail?” asked May, when she got the glass.
“It looks something like .a wee bit of a lobster.”

“Well, so itis. It is called Cyclops Quadricoruts.
Ouadricornis, because it has four horns or axtenne,
and Cyclops, because it has one eye. It belongs to

a genus of minute Crustaceans, and to the order
Entomostraca. They may be found in clear or
stagnant water, and are some of the animals which
help to make the sea luminous. Now, let us cut
off the tail of this little lobster, and place it under
a reflecting microscope, for you see I have one glass
just for very small objects. The feathers at the end

of the two-pronged tail, are the Cyclops’ fins or
628

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE,

Czlia with which he swims. Now, do each one of
you notice those two little purses on each side of
the! mother Cyclops’ eggs, and if you will observe
closely, you will see the Cyclops’ young in several
stages. They look like little crabby bugs. The
smallest one has just been hatched. Another, a
little larger is eight days old; another, fifteen, and
another more thana month old. You see the largest
one is beginning to take the form of its mother.

Each one of the mother’s bags contains as many as
forty eggs. All of the Lxtomostraca are covered
with hard, horny shells. Here is a Cyprcs which
seems to be a tiny bivalve, for it has its body en-
closed in a shell of two horny pieces. They have
feathered legs and anéenne which serve them for
fins and Czla. They are a very common species,

and swim with great rapidity. Remove its shell
629

REVELATIONS OF THE. MICROSCOPE.

and you have an animal like this. Do you see that
beautiful red object? That isa Daphuza, and it is a
genus of mollusks belonging to the order Brachzo-
podo. ‘This is always a favorite microscopic object.”

“ Please, Mr. Dumas, are such little creatures as
these anv good?” asked May.

“ Certainly they are; for nothing God has wrought
is for naught. . They are very useful in cleansing

stagnant water from decomposing matter. Nothing
but mites, yet a mission to fill.”

‘“Paith, sir, and I’d loike to ask what koind of
craythers they are with the little wheels spinnin’
around. They are the purtiest and the oddest of
‘em all to be sure,’ said: Pat.

“They are wheel-animalculz or Rodzfiers. There
are a great many species. They belong io @ime
branch Pyrofozoa, and were placed by Ehrenberg

ees»)
among the /zfusorza.
630

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE,

A ——————_————— aan

“What are Jzfusoria?” asked May.

“They are the animalcules which tinge stagnant
water with green.”

“And is it animals which makes the wather
green? Sure, and I’ve wondered mony a toime
where the green scum come from,” said Pat.

“So have I,” said May.

“Their nutriment consists of decayed vegetable
and animal matter, hence why we find them in

stagnant pools of water. Their various motions
are exercised merely for the purpose of obtaining
their prey. The rotation of their wheels causes an
eddy in the water, which attracts into its vortex
animalcules which are swimming near. Then 1t
contracts its tentacula, and has them fast. These
Rotifiers may be kept for months out of water,
appearing like a little round grain of sand, yet
coming to life and motion on being replaced in

water, These wheel-bearers frequently change their
631

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. ~

shapes. They can withdraw their wheels at pleasure
and become a globule. I have seen an animalcule
called the Protean V2bri0, which first had the ap-
pearance of a tiny graceful swan. It changed its
form many times. Sometimes it would draw its
head and long neck entirely out of sight, and take
the form of a cone, then it would throw out a

wheel and appear to be a Rotejer.”

“Does it belong to the same species as the
wheel-bearers ?” |

“Tt belongs to the branch Pvofozoa, the same;
and are ranked among the A&zzapoda, which move
by minute tentacular filaments.”

“T see some little green balls moving about in
the water. What are they?” asked Frank.

“ Volrox Globators. They roll over like a ball,
632

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE.

spin like a top, or glide along. They seem to be
studded with a great many green spots which are
surrounded with tiny hairs or Czf@a. These spots
are globulets which contain their young. When
they are properly matured, the exterior membrane
bursts, and the little ones begin an existence of
their own.”

“Mr. Dumas, what are these things on this leaf?”
asked Frank.

“Those are ydre or Polyps. They have a long
tubular body fixed at the base, and their mouths are
surrounded by arms or tentacles. They are cer-

tainly one of the most wonderful productions of
nature. The long-armed and green Polyp will
speak for the whole class. They affix themselves
to the under parts of leaves and to the stems of
vegetable matter that grow immersed in water, and
feed upon small worms for the most part, and swal-
lows them leisurely, though they may be three times

larger than themselves. Sometimes two Polyés com-
633

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE.

mence swallowing the same worm, one commencing
on each end until their mouths meet, then the
largest Polyf gapes, and swallows his foe and all;
but, instead of suffering any by the process, he
remains in his brother Po/yf’s stomach for an hour,
when, strange to say, he comes out unhurt, and very
often with the prey which he was contending for.”

“Tf I iver heard the loikes of that, sure, in all my
born days!” exclaimed Pat, throwing himself down

and rolling over and over with laughter, which he
was joined in by the others until the tears rolled
down their cheeks.

“Sure, now!” said Pat, again.

“Another very astonishing thing about these
little creatures is, that if they are all cut to pieces,
not only the parent-stock will remain uninjured, but
every piece, though there are hundreds, will become

a distinct animal. The head of one species may be
634 7

REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE.

engrafted on the body of another, forming one
creature. Both tails may be cut off, and the two
head portions of the animal be engrafted together
and they will form one animal with two heads.
These creatures are very active for most of the year,
but when it becomes very cold all action is sus-
pended, and they remain torpid until warmer weather
comes,” 3

“Were the Aydre we were talking about as
_being the mothers of some of the little baby jelly-
fish the Hydrze you have been telling us about
to-day,” asked May.

“Those were marine H/ydvz. These are fresh
water ones,’ said Mr. Dumas.

“Tet me see if I can name over everything we
635

REVELATIONS: OF THE: MICKOSCOERE:

have talked of and seen to-day,’ said Frank. “ First,
there was the Cadadzs worm, then the Foramuzfera,
Cyclops quadricornes belonging to the order Exzéo-
mostraca, and then the little baby Cyclops, the Cypris
the Rotifers, the Volrox Globators and the flydre
or Polyps.”

“That will do,’ said Mr. Dumas. ‘“ Now bound
away to your play.”

The children did not need a second invitation
and Mr. Dumas and Grace were left alone.

“O, Mr. Dumas, how can I ever? thankeeven
enough, for the interest you have taken in the
children?” said Grace, earnestly. “I am sure our
lessons will grow dull when we take them up at
home alone.”

“It has, indeed, been a happy summer,” said Mr.
Dumas, “and I am glad if I have in any way helped
make it so.”

636

Astge 4

ay

x
Py,

ici