172 ANECDOTE. 



As my principal object was to become acquainted 

 with the mode of formation of the beard, I did 

 not feel satisfied with merely watching the move- 

 ments of the animal from above. After a brief 

 interval another thread was spun. I bore in mind 

 the words of Reaumur, who says, ' The Mussel never 

 spins more than four or five threads in the twenty- 

 four hours/ Aware that no time must be lost, 

 though still afraid to disturb the mollusc lest it 

 might suspend its labours, I instantly detached my 

 specimen, and again turned its shell round so as to 

 bring the opening of the valves against the face of 

 the glass. The creature did not seem at all offended 

 at his handiwork having been destroyed, but still 

 obstinately refused to let me see the working of its 

 foot. Again was the shell rolled over, and again did 

 I replace it in its former position. This time, in 

 order to keep it from being shifted, a stone was de- 

 posited upon the valve. Nothing daunted, the 

 animal gradually separated the valves of its shell, 

 and at the same time advanced and elevated its foot 

 to the exact position that I had so long desired. 



The spinner, when at its full length, was pressed 

 firmly upon the flat surface of the glass, and there 

 allowed to remain for a while. Suddenly, at nearly 

 half an inch distance from its extreme end (or 

 point), a little mouth was seen to form, about the 

 size of a large pin's head, from which there issued a 

 milk- wl lite fluid, that gradually hardened and became 



