2 WALTER K. FISHER, 



material with a gelatine mass colored by a Berlin blue solution *). 

 This is more successful than carmine. Injections were made into the 

 buccal sinus, and the large vein of the mantle. Ordinary ink with al- 

 coholic specimens is often serviceable. 



Material for the nervous system should be killed in fresh water 

 to prevent contraction, and placed in a 5 to 10 "/o solution of nitric 

 acid, until thoroughly hardened or until the shell comes off easily. 

 Then it is transferred permanently into fresh 5"/o, and left in a well 

 lighted place to macerate. If specimens are to be kept for a con- 

 siderable time they may be placed in a 2 or 3 ^/^ solution and laid 

 away in a cool dark situation. In following out any of the finer 

 nerves it is absolutely necessary to dissect in bright sunlight. By 

 this method one can detect many minute nerves which in ordinary 

 light are wholly invisible. 



Habits. Lottia gigantea is common on the coast about Point 

 Pinos, Monterey Bay, and to the southward. Most limpets are slug- 

 gish creatures which love rough rocks and dashing air-laden waves. 

 They are consequently found only above the level of moderately low 

 tide, that they may be uncovered each day by the receding waters. 

 Lottia^ especially, shuns the sheltered coves, where the sea is still, 

 and seeks rocky points where even during calm weather there is more 

 or less surf from swells. It is noticeable that this species thrives 

 best, and attains its greatest size south of Monterey Bay, where the 

 coast is open, and exposed to the surge of the Pacific, and where on 

 ordinary days the water, foamy and white, rushes and seethes among 

 the rocks. Thus even at high tide the creatures are left by each 

 receding wave, and then again engulfed by water supercharged with 

 air. If one covers them with still water, in an aquarium, they usually 

 attempt to crawl out, preferring the air. 



It is a well known fact that limpets remain on (or at least return 

 to) the same spot for a long time. They do, however, move about 

 to some extent, as I was able to demonstrate with individuals near 

 Hopkins Seaside Laboratory. About one third of those observed 

 either merely turned around or wandered a foot or two, while the 

 others were each day, for nearly a week, found at low tide in the 

 same spot and position. The young of Acmaea spectrum (and of other 

 species) are often found on the shell of Lottia, where they form 



1) Mayeu, in: Mitth. zool. Stat. Neapel, V. 7, p. 310. 



