Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/123

Rh quick as a rat-trap, and the poor bird instantly became a prisoner to die (or possibly get drowned as the tide rose) in his prison.

"A story is told of a nigger in America who was caught in a somewhat similar manner. The nigger put his tongue between the shells



of a half-opened oyster to suck out the juice, and the oyster caught him tightly by the tongue. Sambo, when released, was chaffed about it. 'Why, the oyster could not have hurt you,' said his friend; 'he has no teeth.' 'No,' said Sambo, 'he 'ave no teeth, but by Gorry he have dam hard gums!’"

In the late report on "The Sea-Fisheries" Mr. Buckland published a large mass of information in regard to mussels. In the course of this he says:

"Mussels have a great number of enemies, the chief of which are