Illustrative Anecdotes of the Animal Kingdom Part 21

THE GOLDEN CARP.

This beautiful fish was first introduced into England about the year 1691. It is a native of China, where they are very common in ponds.

They are, however, very delicate, and unable to stand the powerful rays of the sun; on which account, in each of the ponds where they are kept, earthenware basins, with holes in them, are placed upside down, so that the fishes may retire under them for shade. In China these fish are taught to rise to the surface of the water, to be fed, at the sound of a bell. In very cold weather, they are frequently taken into the house, to prevent them from being frozen.

There are several varieties of this beautiful fish,--some of them appearing all speckled over with golden dust; others are pure silvery white; some are spotted with red and white; and a fourth variety is black and white, spotted.

Many of these, of a large size, may be seen in the ponds at the royal gardens of the Tuileries, at Paris. They are perfectly tame, and follow individuals round the ponds in hopes of being fed.

THE SALMON.

Some years ago, a herdsman, on a very sultry day in July, while looking for a missing sheep, observed an eagle posted on a bank that overhung a pool. Presently the bird stooped and seized a salmon, and a violent struggle ensued: when the herdsman reached the spot, he found the eagle pulled under water by the strength of the fish; and the calmness of the day, joined to his drenched plumage, rendered him unable to extricate himself. With a stone, the peasant broke the eagle's pinion, and separated the spoiler from his victim, which was dying in his grasp.

THE HERRING.

About fifty years ago, the shoals of herrings came into Loch Urn, Scotland, in such amazing quant.i.ties, that, from the narrows to the head, about two miles, it was quite full. So many of them were forced ash.o.r.e by the pressure, that the beach, for four miles round the head, was covered with them from six to eighteen inches deep; and the ground under water, as far as could be seen, was in the same condition.

Indeed, so dense and forcible was the shoal, as to carry before it every other kind of fish; even ground-fish, skate, flounders, and plaice, were driven on sh.o.r.e with the force of the herrings, and perished there.

It is a curious fact, that herrings die the moment they are taken out of the water; whence originated the adage, which is much used, _as dead as a herring_.

THE SHARK.

This formidable animal is the dread of mankind in the seas where it is found. There is no safety in bathing where this monster abounds.

The late Sir Brooke Watson was at one time swimming at a little distance from a s.h.i.+p, when he observed a shark approaching towards him.

Struck with terror at its appearance, he immediately cried out for a.s.sistance. A rope was instantly thrown out for him; and even while the men were in the act of pulling him up the s.h.i.+p's side, the shark darted after him, and at a single snap derived him of one leg.

In the West Indies, the negroes have frequently the hardihood to engage the shark in single combat, by diving beneath him, and, in ascending, stab him before he sees where they are. In these combats they frequently conquer this formidable creature; and thus, through courage and tactics, overcome his great strength and ferocity.

INVERTEBRATA.

We come now to the second grand division of the animal kingdom--the Invertebrata Animals--those which, instead of an internal skeleton, have, for the most part, an external sh.e.l.l, or framework, by means of which the fleshy parts are sustained.

CLa.s.s I. MOLLUSCA ... SOFT ANIMALS.

THE SQUID.

There is a singular genus of animals, called _Sepia_, of which the cuttle-fish is a familiar example. Some of them are of great size, having arms nearly thirty feet in length. We are told of a Sardinian captain, who, while bathing, felt one of his feet in the grasp of a squid; he instantly tried to disengage himself with his other foot, but this limb was immediately seized by another of the monster's arms. He then with his hands endeavored to free himself, but these also, in succession, were firmly grasped by the creature, and the poor man was shortly after found drowned, with all his limbs strongly bound together by the arms and legs of the fish; and it is extraordinary that, where this happened, the water was scarcely four feet deep.

Mr. Beale gives us the following narrative: "While upon the Bonni Islands, searching for sh.e.l.ls, I one day saw, towards the surf, a most extraordinary-looking animal, crawling upon the beach. It was creeping on eight soft and flexible legs, and, on seeing me, made every effort to escape. To prevent this, I pressed one of its legs with my foot; but it quickly liberated the member. I then laid hold of it with my hand, and gave it a powerful jerk, which it resisted by clinging with its suckers to the rock; but the moment after, the apparently enraged animal let go its hold, and sprang upon my arm, which I had previously bared to the shoulder, and clinging to it with great force, endeavored to get its beak between its arms in a position to bite.

"A sensation of horror pervaded my whole frame. Its cold, slimy grasp was extremely sickening, and I immediately called to the captain, who accompanied me, and who was at a little distance, to come and release me from my disgusting a.s.sailant. He came and set me free, by cutting my tormentor apart with his boat-knife. It must have measured four feet across its extended arms, while its body was not larger than a clinched hand. This was of that species called by whalers 'rock squid.'"

THE NAUTILUS.

In some places, where the sea is not agitated by winds, great numbers of these singular creatures may occasionally be seen sailing and sporting about. Le Vaillant observed several of them on the sea near the Cape of Good Hope; and, as he was desirous of obtaining perfect specimens of the sh.e.l.ls, he sent some of his people into the water to catch them; but when the men had got their hands within a certain distance, they always instantly sank, and, with all the art that could be employed, they were not able to lay hold of a single one. The instinct of the animal showed itself superior to all their subtlety; and when their disappointed master called them away from their attempts, they expressed themselves not a little chagrined at being outwitted by a sh.e.l.l-fish.

THE SNAIL.

M. de Martens states that the annual export of snails from Ulm, by the Danube, for the purpose of being used as food in the season of Lent by the convents of Austria, amounted formerly to ten millions of these animals. They were fattened in the gardens in the neighborhood.

Mr. Rowe gives us the following account: "I was at Mr. Haddock's," says he, "in Kent, and was making a little sh.e.l.l-work tower, to stand on a cabinet in a long gallery. Sea-sh.e.l.ls running short before I had finished, I recollected having seen some pretty large snails on the chalk hills, and we all went out one evening to pick up some. On our return, I procured a large China basin, and putting a handful or two of them into it, filled it up with boiling water. I poured off the first water, and filled the bowl again. I then carried it into a summer-house in the garden. Next morning, how great was my surprise, on entering the summer-house, to find the poor snails crawling about, some on the edge of the basin, some tumbling over, some on the table, and one or two actually eating paste that was to stick them on! I picked up every snail carefully, and carried them into a field, where I make no doubt that they perfectly recovered from their scalding."

THE OYSTER.

A gentleman who lived at Salisbury, England, used to keep a pet oyster, of the largest and finest breed. He fed it on oatmeal, for which it regularly opened its sh.e.l.l. It also proved itself an excellent mouser, having killed five mice, by crus.h.i.+ng the heads of such as, tempted by the meal, had the audacity to intrude their noses within its bivalvular clutches.

A great number of large creeks and rivers wander through the marshes on the seaboard of Georgia. Whenever the tide bends forcibly against the land, the effects are counteracted by the walls of living oysters which grow upon each other from the beds of the rivers to the very verge of the banks. They are in such abundance, that a vessel of a hundred tons might load herself in three times her length. Bunches of them sufficient to fill a bushel are found matted as it were together, and the neighboring inhabitants and laborers light fires upon the marsh gra.s.s, roll a bunch of oysters upon it, and then eat them.

THE SCALLOP.

The GREAT SCALLOP has the power of progressive motion upon the land, and likewise of swimming on the surface of the water. When it happens to be deserted by the tide, it opens its sh.e.l.l to the full extent, then shuts it with a sudden jerk, often rising five or six inches from the ground. In this manner, it tumbles forward until it regains the water.

When the sea is calm, troops of little fleets of scallops, it is said, are sometimes to be observed swimming on the waves. They elevate one valve above the top of the water, which is used as a kind of sail, while they float on the other, which remains on the surface.

CLa.s.s II. ARTICULATA ... JOINTED ANIMALS.

These animals have not an internal skeleton, like the vertebrata; nor are they wholly dest.i.tute of a skeleton, as are the mollusca. The hard parts are external, and the muscles are internal. The cla.s.s includes red-blooded worms, the _crustacea_, spiders, and insects.

THE LEECH.

If you ever pa.s.s through La Brienne, in France, you will see a man pale, and straight-haired, with a woollen cap on his head, and his legs and arms naked. He walks along the borders of a marsh, among the spots left dry by the surrounding waters, but particularly wherever the vegetation seems to present the subjacent soil undisturbed. This man is a leech-fisher. To see him at a distance,--his hollow aspect, livid lips, and singular gestures,--you would take him for a patient who had left his sick bed in a fit of delirium. If you observe him every now and then raising his legs, and examining them one after another, you might suppose him a fool; but he is an intelligent leech-fisher. The leeches attach themselves to his legs and feet, and as he moves along their haunts, he feels them bite, and gathers them as they cl.u.s.ter round the roots of the bulrushes and sea-weeds.

THE CRAB.

The following incident is from a late English journal: "In the year 1812, a sailor, in company with several persons, at Sunderland, perceived a crab which had wandered to the distance of about three yards from the water-side. An old rat, on the look-out for food, sprang from his lurking-place, and seized the crab, who, in return, raised his forcep-claws, and laid fast hold of the a.s.sailant's nose, who hastily retired, squeaking a doleful chant, and much surprised, no doubt, at the reception he had met with.

"The crab retreated as fast as he could towards his own element; but after a short s.p.a.ce, the rat renewed the contest, and experienced a second rude embrace from his antagonist. The rat again retreated, but returned again to the attack. After the contest had lasted half an hour, the crab, though much exhausted, had nearly reached the sea, when the rat made a sudden spring, and capsized his antagonist; then, taking advantage of this manoeuvre, like a successful general, seized the crab by his hind leg. The crab, however, again made his escape in a most mutilated condition; the rat, however, closely pursuing him, soon dragged him back to his den, where he doubtless regaled his wife and family with his hard-earned prey.

"In the year 1833, as a lady in England was in the act of dressing a crab, she found in its stomach a half guinea, of the reign of George III., worn very thin; but some of the letters were so entire as to enable the reign to be traced."