318 THE SEAS 



most abundant of British Crustaceans (Plate 117). It is 

 found round the coasts where the bottom is sandy — unlike 

 the prawns which prefer rocks — and is very difficult to see 

 on account of its greyish -brown colour and habit of burying 

 itself in the sand. The catching of shrimps in large nets 

 attached to long handles which are pushed over the surface 

 of the sand in shallow water forms an industry of some 

 importance in many parts of the country. In some 

 regions a large type of shrimp-trawl is drawn through the 

 water behind a horse and cart. 



Few of the lower types of Crustacea are eaten, but the 

 Barnacles form an exception. One of the sessile barnacles 

 (Balanus psittacus) which is found on the Chilean coast, 

 where it attains a length of about nine inches and a breadth 

 of three inches, was reported by Darwin to be " universally 

 esteemed as a delicious article of food," and another large 

 barnacle is eaten on the coasts of British Columbia, while 

 a stalked species (Pollicipes cornucopia) is eaten by the 

 maritime population of Brittany and Spain. Another use 

 for them has been found in Japan, where a species of sessile 

 barnacle is collected on bunches of bamboo (in very much 

 the same manner as oyster spat), which after some three 

 months are removed and the barnacles beaten off and sold 

 as manure. 



