qurrr ways of warring. 
49 ; 
it ready prepared would have no need to roam about. It is 
a fact that the oyster settles down while still very young 
and never stirs from home again, but the clam finds it worth 
his while to move about, even though his steps are slow 
and his journeys short. The clam’s natural position is on 
edge, about half buried in the sand with the hinge of its shell 
uppermost, with its fringes protruding slightly behind, 
and with the two shells parted a little beneath. Between 
these the clam puts out its foot and works it into the sand 
below. This foot is soft and seemingly shapeless, but ca¬ 
pable of expansion and contraction to a remarkable degree, 
and very strong. It is stronger, relatively, than the pro¬ 
peller of a steamship, for while the propeller drives the vcSt 
sel through water, this soft, shapeless mass, called a foot, is 
able to push the clam’s body through the compact sand 
at the bottom of the stream or pond. 
If some of these fresh water clams, or mussels, are taken' 
home and placed in a pan filled with sand and water, they 
will, after awhile, work themselves upright, put out their 
fringes behind and their foot below, and begin to move 
very slowly along. But with the slightest jar, as from a 
touch of the table or of the pan, or perhaps from stepping 
on the floor, they will shut up again. Clams cannot see, 
or taste, or smell, and they cannot hear as we hear, for they 
have no ears, but they can feel, and thier sense of touch is 
so good that they can detect very slight vibrations in the 
water. This way of getting ideas from the world around 
them takes the place of the sense of hearing, and serves 
a clam’s purpose very well. It has some advantages. He 
never has earache, and when he is bored he has only to 
shut his shell. Some day, as they grow older, the boys 
and girls will enjoy learning how this sense of touch, of 
vibration in the clam, combined with the faculty of know¬ 
ing when it is right or wrong side up, has developed, 
