No. 2. LEPAS. 



Acorn Shell. Inhabitant a Triton. 



This genus has been separated into two families, the first (as Lepas anati- 

 fera) containing the balani or barnacle shells ; the second (the Lepas tintin- 

 abulum) or acorn shell. It is the nature of these shells to adhere in clus- 

 ters to rocks, shells, the bottom of ships, or floating pieces of wood, where 

 they are sometimes seen in countless numbers. Colonel Montague relates, 

 that he observed a piece of fir timber about twenty feet long, which was drift- 

 ed on the coast of Devonshire, England, and which, from end to end, was 

 completely covered with them. They appear particularly attached to wood, 

 where they cluster together of all sizes, the smaller adhering by short pedi- 

 cles to the larger ones. 



The animals contained in these shells, as well as in those of the other spe- 

 cies, have an oblong body, each 24 claws or tentacula, all joined in pairs near 

 the bottom, and inserted in one common base ; the twelve longest stand some- 

 what erect and arched, and arise from the back part of the animal. They 

 appear like so many curled feathers, clear, horny, and articulated. Every 

 joint is furnished with two rows of hairs on the concave side : they are of use 

 in catching prey, and the animals are continually employed in extending and 

 contracting them for this purpose. The twelve smallest are placed six on 

 each side : in front of these, they are more pliable, and more thickly set 

 with hairs than the others, and seem to perform the office of hands. The 

 mouth, formed not unlike a contracted purse, is placed in front, between 

 the smaller claws, and within its folds are situated six or eight horny laminae 

 or erect teeth. Under this lie the stomach and intestines, and the tendons 

 by which the animal adheres to the shell. 



Only twelve species are described in the Grewlinnaean system: the genus 

 takes its name from the Greek XsVar, the rock to which the shell adheres. 



The barnacle shells have long been known, in consequence of a fabulous 

 notion formerly prevalent, especially in Great Britain and Scotland, even 

 among those who ought not to have been so deceived, — that from them was bred 

 a species of goose, common on the British coast, called the Barnacle Goose. 



