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PRISONERS UNDER THE SEA.
BY PROF. Cc. F. HOLDER.
Many of the readers of GOLDEN Days
have seen, and perhaps possess, speci-
mens of the beautiful sponge Kuplectetla,
or Venus flower-basket, shown in the
accompanying illustration, They are
the skeletons of acurioussilicious sponge
found growing in the waters about the
Philippine Islands.
Atthe Island of Zebu, especially, are
they very common. The natives use a
light framework formed of split bamboo
for a dredge, and by dragging it along
the bottom, work up the sponges, which
they bleach and sell to the sailors at two
shillings a dozen. .
A few years ago, they brought from
fifty to sixty dollars apiece in this coun-
try. Some are nearly afoot long, and
of amost delicate and fuiry-like struc-
ture, perfectly white, with a network of
square orifices, so that you can see com-
etely through therm, each square form-
ng a window, as it were.
Now, out of some of these windows,
we shall see the claw of a crab extended,
as if imploring aid, and as we find no
place where he could have gotten in, it
is very evident that he is or has been a
prisoner for life, as is the case.
When the skeleton is growing, and
sponge is being formed, some of the holes
or windows are left open, perhaps, and a
strong current is formed in the interior
of the basket. Now; a baby-crab comes
along; it is in what is called the zola
stage—in fact, does not look like a crab
at all, and has, perhaps, a spine upon its
back.
It crawls or swims near the window
that leads into the sponge’s skeleton, and
in a second is drawn in, finding itself in
the sponge and very comfortable quar-
ters, with currents of water running in
and out, also bringing in food.
The sponge grows, and the window
closes up, and the crab assumes its com-
mon grown-up shape.
Finally, the sponge dies, the animal
matter is gradually washed away—it may
be eaten off by worms and _ fishes—until
at last nothing but the white skeleton
remains, and now is our crab plainly
seen through the bars, a prisoner for
life.
In many of these sponges are prisoners
found, who are, perhaps, paying dearly
for their curiosity in crawling into some-
body else’s open window in their younger
jays.
‘One of the most singular cases of im-
prisonment among animals is that of
the shell magilus, that is captured by
coral polyps, and their continued efforts
to escape or prevent actual entombment,
can be seen by any one who is fortunate
in possessing one of these shells. When
young, the shell is about as large as the
tip of one’s little finger, and perfectly
white.
Being a delicate little fellow, it looks
about for shelter, and finds a nook or
corner in a head of the Coral Madrepore,
where it remains in one spot, living on
whatever is brought to it by the water.
But all this time the myriads of polyps
that live in the coral are growing and
secreting lime, and in a short time the
have built up a wall about the shell.
Higher and higher it gets, each coral
lyp evidently doing its best to cover
up the shell or imprison it.
The magilus, however, seems to find
out that something must be done, and
so, aS fast as the polyps deposit lime
about it, it throws out a coating of the
same material, with which it makes its
shell.
The coral grows, and the shell covers
it up, keeping an opening at the surface,
until, after two or three years or more,
we shall find the shell entirely out of
sight, but still having a door to take in
food, having built out a tunnel as fast as
the coral grew. .
As you may suppose, the occupant has
given up living in the whirled or spiral
part of the shell, and now lives near the
entrance, having, however, the Jong
tunnel to retreat to in case of necessity.
In the accompanying cut the seeming
attempts of the coral to cover up the
shell, and the efforts of the latter to
rovide against imprisonment, are
shown.
In some the tube is eight inches long,
depending, of course, upon the age of
the coral. .
In the same piece of coral with the
magilus that tries so hard to escape, you
<tosiGOLDEN DAYS+eos>
will find another curious shell—a_ bi-
valve—that is endeavoring to get in, act-
ually imprisoning itself by boring in a
miraculous way into coral, wood and the
hardest substances.
The pholas, in fact, is a miner shell,
and, strange to say, like other miners,
carries a light with it, having the pecu-
liar property of being luminous, whether
alive or dead,
If any of our readers can obtain one of
these borers, curious experiments can
be made. A single one placed in seven
ounces of milk will render it soluminous
in a dark room that faces can be distin-
guished, and if the shell and animal are
placed in honey, the light will remain
VENUS FLOWER-BASKET,
for a year or more. So you can bottle
up the light, which is a rich, blueish
tint.
Even Pliny was aware of this pecu-
liarity, and speaks of their illuminating
the mouths of those that ate them, so
that they appeared as if eating fire.
The pillars of the Temple of Serapis,
Italy, are bored with numbers of these
little creatures, showing that at one
time the adjacent sea had encroached
upon the land and remained long enough
for the shells to encase themselves in the
inarble, where they now can be seen fif-
teen or twenty feet above high water.
Quite similar to the pholas is the bor-
ing toredo, that works its way into
woodwork, lining its tunnel with a
early substance as it goes, and often
completely imprisoning itself and
causing the greatest destruction.
Great piles often present a perfect ap-
pearance; .but, when touched, fall to
pieces, being mere shells imprisoning
the curious borers.
remember a wharf built on one of
the islands in the Straits of Florida that
was considered perfectly safe, but when
a large gun was placed upon it, it crum-
bled away like chaff.
On the reef near the same key, in
1859, was a large part of a wreck that we
often visited, and fished from the deck.
Five years later it had almost disap-
peared, and now nothing is left to tell
the story. The w was completely
honeycombed, and, though apparently
solid from the outside, a finger could be
pushed into the planks asif they were
te
me n Holland these self-imprisoned
worms caused a panicin the year 1731.
The piles which supported the banks of
Zealand were found to be eaten by them,
and the entire country of Friesland was
threatened with delug:
Os
Mr. Brunel, the celebrated engineer,
told Sir David Brewster that his plan for
tunneling the River Thames was sug-
gested by watching the workings of one
of these Tittie borers.
Some of the clam-like shells that have
long spines frequently become impris-
oned by encasing themselves in the
coral or'in the cavity-of a rock, and are
gradually grown over by corallines. 1
have seen a hermit-crab whose shell was
so completely covered bya delicate coral
that there was only just room enough for
its claws to come out, and probably ina
few months the unfortunate fellow was
entirely entombed by the growing
vps.
PO are all familiar with the little crabs
found in oysters, that seem to be kept
prisoners by the lazy mollusks, as ser-
vants to help clean out their shell.
These prisoner crabs are known under
the general name of Pinnotheres, and are
found in various kinds of shells, and are
not only scavengers, but often help to
feed their captors. The shells are open-
ed, and the little, spider-like crab, who
has lived in the oyster so long that it
knows no other home, rushes out and
seizes some small creature, which it
drags into the shell to be devoured by
both captor and prisoner.
The large-shell Modiola Papana,
found in the darkest recesses of the sea,
always has two crabs in attendance, each
as large as a hazel-nut. So universal is
this that if you should open fifty differ-
ent shells, picked up at random, hardly
one would be found without its prison-
ers.
In the beautiful pearl oyster, Avicula
Margentifera,.is found a little crab that
is probably the cause of the appearance
of many pearls. In dragging food into
the shell, a bit of sand finds its way in
and lodges in the soft parts of the deli-
cate animal, that, to protect itself, throws
out a curious pearly, nacrous secretion,
that surrounds the bit of sand, and
rounds off its sharp edges. As long as
there is an irregularity on the bit, the
“pearly matter is added, until finally, in
several years, the sand that the prisoner
crab dragged in has become a beautiful
pearl.
‘In the great shell, Tridacna, that
serves as a vessel for holy water in some
churches in Europe, and weighs often
five -hundred Pounds, several quoer
crabs are found, that evidently could
not live out of their home. -
ome . star-tishes inclose crabs, and
even fishes, but some of the strangest
cases of imprisonment are found among
the large, predatory crabs. A number of
them take upon their backs sea-ane-
mones, either as ornaments or decoys,
and when they change their shells, they
are very particular to make their prison-
ers move also.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Wortley
kept the hermit-crab (Pagurus Pri-
deauzii), with its attendant sea-ane-
mone (Adamsia), in confinement, and
its tender care of the captive that rode
about upon its back was very amusing.
This animal, after he has fished, never
fails to offer the best morsels to his
neighbor, and often, during the day, as-
certains if itis not hungry. But more
especially when he is about to change
his dwelling does he redouble his care
and attention. Le manceuvres, with all
the delicacy of which he is capable, to
make the anemone change its shell. He
assists it in detaching itself, and if, by
chance, the new dwelling is not to its
taste, it seeks another, until the Adamsia
is perfectly satistied.
The eminent naturalist, Doctor Mobius,
found acrab named Polydectes that car-
ried its sea-anemone about on one of its
claws, the teeth of the movable joint be-
ing buried in the soft animal, and thus
retaining it. So attached are the«crabs
to their prisoners, that if deprived of
them they make a great to-do.
Some of these crabs were taken by
Doctor Mobius, and the actinias removed
from their claws, but left with them in
the aquarium, and though he tried the
experiment repeatedly, the crabs imme-
diately seized the anemones, and re-
placed them on their claws,
In all classes of life, we find similar
instances of animals imprisonea from
various causes. On land especially,
there are many curious instances, The
young birds of the hornbill are impris-
oned in trunks of trees, and fed through
ahole. Ants make other ants prisoners,
and capture other insects for the sweet
secretion they exude. And all through
the lives of the*lower animals we shall
find, with alittle careful investigation
habits and customs very similar to our
own,
November 18, 1882.
ON
Killing, Setting, and Preserving Insects,
Part I1I—Continued,
The best mode of poisoning specimens
of natural history was first made public
—if, indeed, it were not discovered—by
the late Charles Waterton, Improve-
ments on his original plan have been
made, some by himself and some by
others, but the present mode of poison-
ing insects is conducted on exactly the
same principle’ as was employed by
Waterton more than fifty years ago.
How effectual it is may be judged
from the fact that his specimens are now
as bright, fresh, and free from mite,
moth or beetle as when he first prepared
ot
>
m.
Ask any qualified medical man to give
you an order to procure corrosive sub-
imate. Bi-chloride of mercury is the
scientific term. Ask for it in the form of
er.
Pounding corrosive sublimate is a dan-
gerous process, for itis one of the dead-
liest of poisons, and, like arsenic, causes
alingering and agonising death. Still,
if properly handled, it is perfectly harm-
Jess, even when dissolved in spirit.
Great care must be taken that the
fingers be not dipped in it, and should
they be even splashed they should be at
once rinsed and dried. .
There is always a likelihood that the
fingers might be inadvertently brought
tothe mouth or eyes, and in the latter
case the pain inflicted would be quite as
Severe as if caused by cayenne pepper,
and still more enduring.
Another reason why the fingers
should be kept out of the poisoned spirit
is because it stains the nails, which in a
day or two will become deep brown.
e stain is indelible; no chemical
will remove it, and the nails must be al-
lowed to grow until a new nail replaces
the discolored one. -
I bought my. knowledge of this fact by
experience, and for months was oppress-
ed with the unsightly brown nails.»
* Now get some spirits of wine, and:dis-
solve the corrosive sublimate in it. You
inust be very careful abont the propor-
tions, as, if it be too weak, it will be in-
effectual, and if too strong, it will leave
a white deposit on the surface and spoil
the color, ~
About six grains of corrosive sub-
limate to an ounce of spirit will gener-
ally answer, but Waterton's plan dis-
penses with exact measurement, and is
very simple.
Dissolve the sublimate, end then dipa
black feather in it, Dry it by waving it
in the air, and see if a white powdery de-
sit be on it. If not, add more sub-
imate. You have now an over-strong
solution, Putin more spirit, and again
test it with the feather, and go on doing
this until no deposit is visible.
Now for the mode of applying it.
It is best that the insects be thorough. *
isoned. Pour
\v dried before they are
th e the insect by
© poison into a dish, tal
the pin, and
the spirit. Let it be submerged for a
few inoments, and then take it out and
hold it edgewise against the edge of the
dish, so as to allow the superfluous
moisture to drain off. .
The effect at first will be appalling.
Eyery color will vanish, and a Red ‘Ade
miral or a Fritillary will alike look as if
made of dirty brown leather. Never
mind, but Jet the soaking be completed.
wo or three seconds will be found quite
enough for this purpose.
tick it crosswise on a settin -board,
and place the board on a window-sill,
the sash being raised about a couple of
inches. Lay the board so that the heads
of the insects will be directed into the
m. ‘The door should likewise be
opened, so that a thorough draught may
be created,
This precaution is needed, because the
long, downy hairs of the body will be-
come matted as they dry, unless they
are continually raised by a current of
Ir.
”
Somo of the very long-downed moths
will need the employment of a bellows,
and, indeed, all will be the better for it.
The bellows hastens the rapidity of dry-
ing; and perhaps the additional trouble
is worth taking. .
Every now and then the tips of the
wings must be touched with blotting-
paper. The spirit is sure to accumulate
plunge it completely into °