THE FRESH-WATER MUSSEL. 



Ill 



the side of the bowel — the splanchnic nerve goes to the 

 bowel. These give off nerves to the heart, stomach, 

 liver, and kidneys. The mussel seems to be very ner- 

 vous and sensitive, for the least touch or sound disturbs 

 it and makes it close its shell. Now, I fancy you would 

 like to hear about the little anodons, or the babies of 

 this toothless animal. Well, there are plenty of them, 

 for the mussels are very old-fashioned sort of folks, and 

 believe in large families ; some of them have as many 

 as one hundred and twenty thousand little ones in one 

 season. These babies are the funniest little things you 

 ever saw ; you would never imagine they belonged to 

 their parents. They do not resemble at first either 

 father or mother mussel. During the spring-time, if 

 you look at the gill-pockets of the old mussel, you will 



Fig. 104. Fig. 105. 



Hinge. 



Egg of Mussel. Hook - Hook. 



Shell of Young Mussel — open. 



find them perfectly filled with eggs. Each egg looks 

 like a little short-necked bottle (Fig. 104). Here the 

 little mussels are hatched in the pockets of the gills, 



