THE LIMA'S NEST 
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which they are unaccustomed ; almost any material will do ; 
and it is said that Mrs. Robertson induced an individual to 
construct a beautiful nest of glass beads.* 
The writer has not seen any complete account of the manner 
m which the building is carried on. Lacaze-Duthiers (who did 
not see the animal at work) alludes to the detachment of threads 
from the foot of a mussel (when travelling) as probably giving 
a clue to the methods of Lima ; and notwithstanding the opinion 
of V. Martens that the circumstance referred to “ has scarcely 
any bearing on the question how Lima procures separate pieces 
of thread to tie together a quantity of loose objects, ”t it 
certainly seems to the writer that the suggestion is of value. 
The idea is that the Lima, having attached its thread, for 
instance, to a fragment of alga, to a stone, and to a shell, then 
detaches the thread from its foot, as the mussel detaches its 
temporary byssus. By a repetition of the process, the objects 
thus united would in turn be attached to others united in a 
similar way, and thus the nest would be built up, the lining of 
threads being subsequently fixed and detached from the foot 
in the same manner.^; Gilchrist states that the animal may 
occasionally be observed “ to apply the tip of the foot for a short 
time to some object lying near, and when it is drawn off a 
fine thread will be observed to have become attached, and there- 
after spun out to be fixed somewhere else in the burrow ; ” and, 
by constant repetition of this process, “ the burrow is at last 
lined with a sort of feltwork, and the parts are bound so closely 
together as to require some force to pull them apart.” When 
the nest is closely examined, according to this author, some kind 
of assorting is evident in the disposition of the twisted and 
branched nullipore of which it is commonly formed ; and it is 
supposed that the tentacles of the mantle may play a part in this 
work, helping the foot in the arrangement of the materials. § 
The animal’s activity when released from its nest raises the 
question whether, in the ordinary course of nature, the creature 
is permanently immured, or whether it comes out from time 
to time for a swim in the open sea. The latter condition, as 
we have seen, is contemplated by more than one writer. 
Landsborough speaks of a “concealed door” by which, if so 
inclined, the animal can issue out. Lacaze-Duthiers says that 
the orifice, though often small, is perhaps sufficient for the 
egress of the animal ; he evidentl}' thinks it improbable, however, 
that it is thus used ; and the present writer gathers that in all 
probability the Lima’s residence in its nest is, generally speaking, 
of a permanent nature. When pressed by an enemy, by which 
the nest may or may not be torn, the Lima no doubt attempts 
• Gilchrist, Proc. and Trans. Nat. His. Soc., Glasgow (n. s.), iv. (1897), 
pp. 218-25. 
t V. Marten.s, “Zoological Record,” 1865, p. 296. 
X Lacaze-Duthiers, 1. c. § Gilchrist, /. c. 
