114 SEA FABLES EXPLAINED. 



inhabit these shells belong to a sub-class and order of the 

 Crustacea, called the Cirrhopoda, because their feet (poda), 

 which in the crab and lobster terminate in claws, are 

 modified into tufts of curled hairs {cirri), or feathers. When 

 the animal is alive and active under water, a crater may be 

 seen to open on the summit of the little shelly mountain, 

 and, as if from the mouth of a miniature volcano, there issue 

 from this aperture, from between two inner shells, the 

 cirri in the form of a feathery hand, which clutches at the 

 water within its reach, and is then quickly retracted within 

 the shell. During this movement the hair-fringed fingers 

 have filtered from the water and conveyed towards the 

 mouth within the shell, for their owner's nutriment, some 

 minute solid particles or animalcules, and this action of the 

 casting-net alternately shot forth and retracted continues 

 for hours incessantly, as the water flows over its resting- 

 place. The animal can live for a long time out of water, 

 and in some situations thus passes half its life. Under such 

 circumstances, the shells, containing a reserve of moisture, 

 remain firmly closed until the return of the tide brings a fresh 

 supply of water and food. These are the " acorn-barnacles," 

 the balani, commonly known in some localities as " chitters." 

 Barnacles of another kind are those furnished with a long 

 stem, or peduncle, which Sir Robert Moray described as 

 " round, hollow, and creased, and not unlike the wind-pipe 

 of a chicken." The stem has, in fact, the ringed formation 

 of the annelids, or worms. The shelly valves are thin, flat, 

 and in shape somewhat like a mitre. They are composed 

 of five pieces, two on each side, and one, a kind of rounded 

 keel along the back of the valves, by which these are united. 

 The shells are delicately tinted with lavender or pale blue 

 varied with white, and the edges are frequently of a bright 

 chrome yellow or orange colour. 



