Mytilus

“ Mr. Lyster Jameson finds that the pearls of the Mytilus are formed around the cercaria or larval form of a fluke which, in its adult stages, resides in the intestine of the scoter (Œdemia nigra) , and was originally described from the eider-duck (Somateria mollissima) in Greenland and named Leucithodendrium somateriæ, after its first known host. ”

“ The fact is that a hole in any part of its shell is fatal to the Mytilus, since the long proboscis of the Purpura, having once made an entrance, can reach from one end of the shell to the other. The branchiae are first attacked, the adductor muscles and edges of the mantle last. Natica and Nassa pierce in a similar way the shells of Mactra, Tellina, Donax, and Venus. Murex fortispina is furnished with a powerful tooth at the lower part of its outer lip. At Nouméa, in New Caledonia, its favourite food is Arca pilosa, which lives half buried in coral refuse. ”

“ Unio, 1-3, has teeth on the hinge, and Anodon, 4, has not: it is a thin shell. The foot of these molluscs is very large, and is used in cutting the animal's way through the mud in which it burrows. Of the marine, or true Mussels, Modiola, 6-9, and Crenella, 12-17, have a portion of the shell reaching beyond the point or apex, which in Mytilus is terminal, 18-21. Dreissina, 5, is shaped like Mytilus, but lives in fresh-water docks. The Mytilidæ attach themselves by means of horny threads spun from the foot, and called a "byssus." ”

“ Fig. 8.—A, The common Mytilus edulis L., a marine genus and species. B, Dreissensia, a fresh-water genus, closely allied to Mytilus.
Fig. 9.—A, Arca navicella Reeve, Philippines, a marine species. B, Arca (Scaphula) pinna Bens., R. Tenasserim, a fresh-water species which lives many miles above the tide-way.
Thus Dreissensia (rivers and canals throughout N. Europe and N. America) and Mytilopsis (rivers of America) are scarcely modified Mytili (Fig. 8) ; Scaphula is a modified Arca, [15] and lives in the Ganges, the Jumna, and the Tenasserim at a distance of 1600 miles from the sea (Fig. 9) . ”

“ Let it be borne in mind that Avicula, Mytilus, Chiton, Natica, Patella, Trochus, Discina, Orbicula, Lingula, Rhynchonella, and Nautilus, all of which are existing genera, are given without a doubt as Silurian in the last edition of "Siluria;" while the highest forms of the highest Cephalopods are represented in the Lias by a genus, Belemnoteuthis, which presents the closest relation to the existing Loligo. ”

“ Under these conditions it forms continuous masses of individuals closely packed together, sometimes extending over many acres of surface and numbering millions. The readiness with which the young Mytilus attaches itself to wicker-work is made the means of artificially cultivating and securing these molluscs for the market both in the Bay of Kiel in North Germany and at the mouth of the Somme and other spots on the coast of France. ”

“ The familiar marine mussels of the family Mytilidæ will some day become of great importance in this country as a food supply, as now they are useful in resisting encroachment by the sea on certain parts of the coast. They exist in vast numbers on both our coasts, and elsewhere in the world, in two genera, Mytilus and Modiolus, which differ a little in form, but not in habits. ”

“ Within this is usually lodged a long cylindrical body known as the hyaline or crystalline stylet. In a well-developed Mytilus edulis it is over an inch in length, and in Mya arenaria between two and three inches. The bladder-like skin of the stylet, as well as its gelatinoid substance, are perfectly transparent. In the Unionidae there is no blind sac, and the stylet, when present, is in the intestine itself. It is said to be present or absent indifferently in certain species. ”

“ All the determined species here, with the exception of Mytilus edule, have, with many others, been found by the Rev. Mr. Cumming in the boulder-clays of the Isle of Man; and all of them are living shells at the present day on our Scottish coasts. It seems scarce possible to fix the age of a deposit so broken in its organisms, on the principle that would first seek to determine its per centage of extinct shells as the data on which to found. ”

“ Genus Saxicava. Pl. VI. Animal. Long, subcylindrical, the mantle closed in all parts, prolonged behind by two long tubes, thick and close together externally, pierced interiorly and in front with a round orifice, for the passage of a very small foot; mouth very large; labial appendages small; branchial laminæ free, the external pair much shorter than the internal.
Lamarck has thought proper to remove this genus from the Mytilus; it possesses the faculty, like the Pholas, of penetrating rocks and substances, and cannot be extracted but by breaking the substance in which it is imbedded. ”

“ Genus Modiola. Pl. VIII. Animal. As above.
Separated by Lamarck from the Mytilus, on account of its being more transverse than longitudinal, the beaks instead of being terminal are placed beneath the apex.
Shell. Smooth, subtransverse, equivalve, regular, subtriangular, posterior side short; summits nearly lateral; hinge toothless, linear and lateral; ligament partly interior, situated in a marginal furrow; one sublateral, elongated muscular impression in each valve. Inhabits the British and American seas. Thirty-two species. ”

“ I will not agree that this use is nearly obsolete, but give him the full value of his quotation from Spenser. But what does he say to the habitat of the Mytilus modiolus, which the Mousehunt goes {478}to the shore to feed upon. I quote from Rees' Cyclopædia, voce "Mytilus:"
"Modiolus. ”

“ Auct. fig. 159. This genus differs from Mytilus principally in the characters of the animal. The shell is characterized by a small septiform plate under the hinge within. Fluviatile, Europe and Africa.
EBURNA. Lam. (Eburneus, ivory.) Fam. Purpurifera, Lam. Entomostomata, Bl.—Descr. Oval, thick, smooth, turrited, umbilicated; spire angulated, acute, nearly as long as the aperture; aperture oval, terminating anteriorly in a canal, posteriorly in a groove; outer lip slightly thickened with an anterior notch, which terminates in a spiral fold surrounding the body whorl ”

“ Heckewelder states that "Before the Europeans came into the country their apparatus for performing this work consisted of a pair of mussel-shells, sharpened on a gritty stone, which answered the purpose very well, being somewhat like pincers." [53]
Fig. 5, Plate XXVII, reproduced from a plate in the Necropolis of Ancon [54] represents two small Mytilus shells pierced at the beak and bound together with a cord. They were found in one of the ancient graves of Peru, and may have been used for a similar purpose. ”

“ Hence there cannot be any doubt that the Macrauchenia, which certainly was entombed in a fresh state, and which must have been alive after the spreading out of the gravel on the 90 feet plain, existed, not only subsequently to the upraised shells on the surface of the 250 feet plain, but also to those on the 350 to 400 feet plain: these shells, eight in number (namely, three species of Mytilus, two of Patella, one Fusus, Voluta, and Balanus) , are undoubtedly recent species, and are the commonest kinds now living on this coast. ”

“ The total number of these shells is immense; they are less numerous, though still far from rare, up a height of 1,000 feet above the sea. On the summit of a hill, measured 557 feet, there was a small horizontal band of comminuted shells, of which many consisted (and likewise from lesser heights) of very young and small specimens of the still living Concholepas, Trochus, Patellæ, Crepidulæ, and of Mytilus Magellanicus (?) : [10] several of these shells were under a quarter of an inch in their greatest diameter. ”

“ The structure of one is exhibited in fig. 20. A single otolith is present as in the veliger embryos of Opisthobranchia. In Filibranchia and many Protobranchia the otocyst (or statocyst) contains numerous particles (otoconia) . The organs are developed as invaginations of the epidermis of the foot, and in the majority of the Protobranchia the orifice of invagination remains open throughout life; this is also the case in Mytilus including the common mussel.
Anodonta has no eyes of any sort, and the tentacles on the mantle edge are limited to its posterior border. ”

“ I went home from this ceremony full of Mussulman associations. About the middle of the day I was invited with the other vice-consuls to attend the funeral of a rich Greek who had died that morning, and had bequeathed one-third of his property to found an hospital for the Mytileniotes. The bequest is supposed to amount to 200,000 piasters, a large sum in Mytilene. Such acts of patriotism, if they should become more frequent, would do much to redeem the Greek character, and raise it to a higher estimation. ”

“ Miltiades falls into Disgrace.—The distinguished services Miltiades had rendered his country, made him the hero of the hour at Athens. Taking advantage of the public feeling in his favor, he persuaded the Athenians to put in his hands a fleet for an enterprise respecting the nature of which no one save himself was to know anything whatever. Of course it was generally supposed that he meditated an attack upon the Persians or their allies, and with full faith in the judgment as well as in the integrity of their favorite, the Athenians gave him the command he asked. ”

“ Miltiades was, according to Herodotus, expelled by Scythian invaders, but was brought back by the Doloncians, and subsequently captured Lemnos and Imbros for Athens from the so-called Pelasgian inhabitants, who were Persian dependents. Having thus (probably) incurred the enmity of Darius, Miltiades fled to Athens on the approach of the Persians under Datis and Artaphernes, leaving his son Metiochus a prisoner in Persian hands, and was at once impeached unsuccessfully on the charge of tyranny in the Chersonese. ”

“ This powerful prince is the ally and son-in-law of Mithridates. Do you think, when he has him in his palaces, as a suppliant, that he will abandon himself, and not make war against us? Hence, in hastening to drive away Mithridates, we shall be in great danger of drawing Tigranes upon our hands, who has long sought pretexts for declaring against us, and who can never find one more specious, legitimate, and honourable, than that of assisting his father-in-law, and a king, reduced to the last extremity. Why, therefore, should we serve Mithridates against ourselves ”

“ The great mass of the Mytileneans regarded their own oligarchical government with suspicion and now threatened that, unless their demands were complied with, they would surrender the city to the Athenians. In this desperate emergency the Mytilenean government perceived that their only chance of safety lay in anticipating the people in this step. They accordingly opened a negotiation with Paches, the Athenian commander, and a capitulation was agreed upon by which the city was to be surrendered and the fate of its inhabitants to be decided by the Athenian Assembly. ”

“ But the Pythian did not allow them, but said, "that Timo was not to blame for this, but that it was fated Miltiades should come to a miserable end, and she had appeared to him as a guide to misfortune." When Miltiades returned from Paros, the Athenians were loud in their complaints against him, especially Xanthippus, son of Ariphron, who brought a capital charge against Miltiades before the people, and prosecuted him for deception. Miltiades, though present in person, made no defence, through inability, as his thigh had begun to mortify. ”

“ During the Byzantine age the island, which now assumes the name of Mytilene, continued to flourish. In 1091 it fell for a while into the hands of the Seljuks, and in the following century was repeatedly occupied by the Venetians. In 1224 it was recovered by the Byzantine emperors, who in 1354 gave it as a dowry to the Genoese family Gattilusio. After prospering under their administration Mytilene passed in 1462 under Turkish control, and has since had an uneventful history. The present population is about 130,000 of whom 13,000 are Turks and Moslems and 117,000 Greeks. ”

“ Besides the Gymnasium, there are also in the town of Mytilene three primary schools,—one for boys and two for girls.
The natives of this island are thought to show a special aptitude for learning, and a large proportion of the bishops in the Greek church are Mytileniotes. They are lively and quick, and have much curiosity on first coming in contact with new phenomena; when they see me copying an inscription, they are curious to know the meaning and the date ”

“ In the time of Miltiades the island and the city of Paros were both very wealthy and very powerful. Miltiades conceived the design of making a descent upon the island, and levying an immense contribution upon the people, in the form of a fine, for what he considered their treason in taking part with the enemies of their [Pg 274] countrymen. In order to prevent the people of Paros from preparing for defense, Miltiades intended to keep the object of his expedition secret for a time. He therefore simply proposed to the Athenians that they should equip a fleet and put it under his command. ”

“ Lucullus after this began to think with himself that no human power and wealth could suffice to sustain such great numbers as Mithridates had, for any long time in the face of an enemy, and commanded one of the captives to be brought before him, and first of all asked him, how many companions had been quartered with him, and how much provision he had left behind him, and when he had answered him, commanded him to stand aside ”