IN FEATHERS AND FUR. 323 
curious body out of his door, and getting his food from the sea 
water which washes over him. And he not only lives in peace, but 
here he dies, and the house he has made for himself with so much 
trouble is also his grave 
As you can see in the picture, the PJwlas has a very curiously 
shaped body. It is much like a club with the small end up, and 
is of a white fleshy substance. In the end that sticks up, you can 
see two holes, and by means of w T hich the Pholas breathes. He 
breathes air, but he has to get it out of the sea water, and this is 
the way he does it. He draws the water in to one of the holes, 
and after breathing the air which is in it, he throws it out at the 
other. 
But the sea water, you know, is full of little atoms which might 
hurt the delicate organs inside this droll little body, and to prevent 
such a catastrophe there is a wonderful and beautiful arrangement 
by which everything hurtful is strained out of the water. This is 
done by a quantity of delicate thread-like filaments, which line the 
tube through which the water comes and which spread out in the 
shape of tiny trees. These delicate threads meet in the center, 
and form a complete strainer. 
Another singular thing about this little borer is the fact that 
he can give out light in the dark. I have told you of other sea 
creatures which had that peculiarity, but one would hardly expect 
to find it in a modest little fellow who never goes aw r ay from home. 
The Pholas is eaten by many people, and is said to be very 
nice. His foot — which looks as if cut from clear ice — is often 
used for bait by fishermen 
Small and insignificant as the Pholas Dactylics seems to us, it 
is thought by naturalists to be a very important agent in making 
the changes that are perpetually going on in our sea coasts. He 
and his brother borers gradually undermine the rocks and the con- 
stant wash of the waves does the rest, till some day a great mass 
of rock falls into the sea. Then the industrious little fellows 
attack a new place in the rock, and so it goes on year after year. 
While I am telling you about borers, I must not forget another 
of the family — Teredo, or Ship Worm. This creature, who prefers 
to make his home in wood, is a great nuisance to ship owners, and 
every one who has an interest in any wood which is constantly 
covered with water. He bores long tunnels into the wood, and so 
weakens it that the thickest piles are broken off like pipe stems by 
