1 76 THE MUSSEL AND SPIDER. 



terest. I may add that this Mussel taught me 

 another lesson ; it was this : in my early studies 

 regarding the habits of the Mytilus, I had adopted a 

 certain theory of the manner in which the beard was 

 formed ; and having watched so long, and witnessed 

 the process so repeatedly, I thought myself justified 

 in forming certain conclusions. My belief was that 

 the creature could not form more than one thread at 

 a time, without withdrawing its foot into the shell, 

 as I believed, in order to procure a fresh supply of 

 material. That this notion was erroneous, this animal 

 proved to my entire satisfaction. Not only may one, 

 but two, three, four, and even six threads be attached 

 to any selected object, the point of the foot being 

 passed from one position to another, without the 

 organ being withdrawn into the valves until the 

 whole of the threads are formed. How many more 

 the Mussel is capable of producing at one ' stretch/ I 

 have no means of knowing, but six is the largest 

 number that any of my specimens in such case have 

 ever fabricated. 



The general idea seems to be that the Mussel 

 works in the same manner as the spider, who emits 

 a drop of liquid against some foreign substance, 

 which, being allowed to harden somewhat, is then 

 drawn out as the spider recedes. This notion, I 

 may state, is quite erroneous. When the sucker of 

 which we have spoken is formed, the thread is com- 

 pleted. It is true that the foot as it retires into the 



