"He is a shepherd in gree, But hath been long ypent, One day he sat upon a hill, As now thou wouldst mee; But I am taught by Algrinds ill, To love the lowe degree. For sitting so, with barred scalpe, An eagle soared hye, _That weening his white head was chalke, A shell-fish down let flye! She weened the shell-fish to have broke, But therewith bruised his brayne_, So now astoined with the stroke, Hee lyes in lingering payne!" It seems remarkable that the 'illustrious French naturalist,' Reaumur, should have been the first, if not to discover, at least to publish, any description of the manner in which the Mussel spins its silken cable. Yet one hour's experience in a tea-cup or tumbler will exhibit most of the features in this interesting process. That Reaumur's narrative, although usually copied by most writers of the present day, is not strictly correct, and, moreover, that the foot of the mussel is _not_ 'useless as an instrument of progression' (as generally asserted), may be easily proved to the satisfaction of the student by adopting some such simple experiment as that which I am now about to describe:-- Being at the sea-side on a fine summer afternoon, I procured three specimens (I might have had as many hundreds if disposed) of the Mytilus. On my return home I placed them in a common tumbler, and waited patiently to see the result. My object was, if possible, to witness the manner in which this animal grows its beard. In less than five minutes an industrious little fellow, whom we will call No. 1, gently opened his shell, and immediately protruded his fleshy foot until it reached a length of nearly two inches. So far as I could determine, the design of the Mussel was to discover, in the first place, what kind of a lodging he occupied; whether or not he had any companions; and also, to know if these or any other objects could be found worthy of his _attachment_. Sometimes the foot would be protruded under the shell, then in a contrary direction. Or by an exertion of the strong muscular power which that organ possesses, the entire shell would be lifted off the ground and urged forward to a considerable distance. Of course he soon come in contact with a neighbour Mussel, whom we may term No. 2, but as the latter was not anchored by any byssus, he was speedily pushed on, and on, until No. 3 was met, and the latter, in his turn, made to take up a new position. Being tired of wandering about, No. 1 then extended his foot along the base of the vase to a certain point, and there let it rest for a few seconds. When again withdrawn, to my great delight, I saw the first thread of a new byssus had been constructed.