| Show I NATURES NATURE'S TUNNEL AND TUBE MAKERS When hen rhen a few years ears ago London's tup penny tube was opened to the public We wo were not a little Impressed by bv the engineering skill which had had bored long tunnels far below bolow the tho surface surface sur sur- face of or the ground lined them with steel tubing to resist tho the earth pressure pressure pressure pres pres- sure and made It possible for all sorts and conditions of men to pass through I Ithem them in safety to and from their various various va va- vaI I rious occupations Undoubtedly It was a great achievement But BuL In this I as In n man many other feats eats of skill man I was forestalled by br the lower animals I IThe The necessity of obtaining protection from rein their enemies or finding a sufficiency sufficiency suf suf- of pf suitable food has turned man many creatures Into expert tunnel and tube tubo makers We will take our first dust example the shellfish well known to longshoremen by the name Immo of Its scientific name Is but Jut Its two shell has been oven ven ln the pretty prellY popular lar lat name of angers angels wings the reason reason rea rea- son on being perfectly obvious after atter a glance Now the mollusk which re resides resides resides re- re sides In this gaping shell Is very much like an oyster or 01 a clam so far fal as Its bod bodily II aspect Is concerned concerted It seems to be cr very flabby and el very lacking in what we term brain power power Yet this tithe tenant of or tho the ang angels wings s Is capable of burrowing into hard rock sinking downwards gradually as its shell grows 10 Just as though It were merely working Itself into sand A great reat many kinds of burrow Into sand and this tills habit renders them safe tc from many enemies Certain fishes lishes plow up the sand and crack and eat all nil the mollusks they can cnn dl discover cover And It Is IJ probable that tr tito persecution of or these fishes lishes or rrt of their ancestors brought about the rock lock tunneling tunneling- habits of tho pl Sand burrows were un unsafe afe so the began to burrow Into rocks and stones C Commencing in youth thc they pass the whole of or their lives in working way Into these hard grained substances and are thus able ablo to set their would-be would enemies at defiance As It works its way Into the rock tho the becomes a lifelong lifelong life life- long prisoner In Its own tunnel As AsIt AsIt AsU It U Increases es in size and works its way deeper the hole holo gradually becomes lar larger er But as aM the tho lower lowel part of or tho shell is much greater in circumference circumference cir clr- than the upper as the creature creaturo Is constantly growing tho the entrance of its tunnel Is soon too small to admit of or its egress cc This however howe docs does not matter to the whose whoso solo concern Is 18 LoI to Lo I lade hide It takes all UK its food rood In solution In other othel word words It sucks In sea water through ono one tube and discharges it through h another relying for lor its sustenance sus sUs- upon the minute scraps oC or foodstuff that chance chanco to be bo In the tho wat water wa war warto t ter to r around it lt Thus the tho Is quite happy happ and content In its self self- made dungeon Another marine tun- tun neler nearly related to tho the Is the or shipworm This creature creature creature crea crea- ture works Its way into wood not rotten rot- rot ton ten wood hut but good solid oak or teak In 11 past lt years it was a menace menaco to the tho shipping of tho the whole world but tho the advent nt of or the steel ship put a limit Y to its depredations in this respect Still Mill however It menaces submerged s timber of or all aU kinds If If unprotected and andIn andin In Holland It is regarded almost as us a a. national danger Like the tho 1 ock the shipworm makes its tunnels wholly for protection for tor it ft does not j I Continued on tut Page Six Su NATURES NATURE'S TUNNEL AND ANDS S TUBE MAKERS c lr Page C One Omit r cd upon the wood which It 11 la rasps iS away aw No one not even e men nen of science clence can tell toil exactly how the oc and auth the shipworm accomplish their helm wonderful won iIi iIi- cc boring feats eats Some have havo thought that that- the work was done ilone by means of oC constant rasping produced by the time t of or the shell others that hint the fleshy muscular foot Coot of oC the animal represented l the tue chief tool while still others othel's have held that time the constant action of the water pumped as It were cre through the bod body of the mollusk k against the tIme sides of oC Us its It crypt effected the gradual enlargement nt necessary as the lie creature Increased ed In Ize f As a n matter mattei of oC fact It Is highly probable that a combination of oC all nil these means mean render thc the shipworm vorn and the the tho expert which wo 0 see sec them to be One point about the tunnels Is of oC especial interest They fhe arc are lined d with a layer o of hard shelly material in exactly the same a way vay the human engineers line Hue their borings with stone or brickwork or 01 with a tube of oC steel This shelly lining prevents pre plC Vf vents time the wood from rom swelling and bulging inward and anti Insures tho the free passage of oC water along the time tunnel This Is ver very nece necessary sary as we have seen en the ship relies relics upon a constant constant con con- stant shunt supply of ot sell sea water In order older to feed fed As ts its tunnels are arc often orten of or great length II th It must make male sure limit no stoppage shall occur or else run rumi the risk o of being starved stal to death A much thicker shelly shell lining Is constructed con con- b by a cou cousin of the known as ns tho the cyphus It makes long Jong tunnels tunnel In the sand of the sea bottom Thus If Jf It did dill not miot construct ct a reliable casing with It Its burrows 1 It would very soon he bo cut off hy by a fall Call of oC sand be behind he- he hind it II anti and perish like a miner Imprisoned Im in- b by a n sudden subsidence of rock or coal In fact the limo shipworm or cyphus shore up ump tho time sides of or their tunnel in exactly the time manner which m l modern engineers agree to be ho betho tho tue best namely by constructing a tube lube within the lie boring a ai as the lit work worl progresses These shelly tubes are sometimes lug dUI out of the tho sand by the South Sea Islanders in sections vary vary- li rg- rg g front four COUI to six feet Ceel lon long bug and arc valued hl highly by tho time finders a ay aJ charms They are arc placed above the time doorposts of tho time huts hub just t as we sometimes some sommie- times nail up a h shafts shaHs are arc sunk summIt b by certain mollusks t termed and these toome too mire are lined with shelly helly material The tops arc tire are roofed over In iii a n very vcr pretty wa way the lie edge e heln being frilled trilled anti and time the covering studded with holes like the he rr irso Q of oC a n. watering pot In this way undesirable Intruders are arc kept out while a free Ice Jas passage c for fot or water Is pre Ie IeH St H served red i One other example of oC natures nature's tun tun- makers nel-makers are arc the tho l e long lollS horn bee bee- Representatives of the these e In Insects aio 10 found In iii aJ all 1 o of the tIme world They Thoy are arc of all nil sizes from flom great Sleat id- id several Inches long to little chansI chaps chans less I g in size than flies files The rIme grubs rubs do Immense damage In man many mammy parts palls of oC tho thit civilized globe At t tho time same time It Is a fact that in III tropical forests these e beetles do good service in pro pro- ir iri in i ving what I Is called the tIme balance of rime They rhey nature They arc are scavengers clear 1 01 away the vast amount of or fallen fallentimber fallentimber fallentimber timber which accumulates each year |
