128 Mr Thompson on (he Teredo tmvalis 



more tenacious of life than here represented ; as on examination 

 of a piece of wood received on the 10th of January, and then 

 placed immediately on its end in a dry room, I found many of 

 the Limnorite alive and active on the 18th and 20th, and one 

 even on the 25th of that month, proving that it can at least 

 subsist with very little moisture. The wood in which they were 

 had been taken from the sea a week before it was sent me, but 

 was occasionally during that time moistened with salt water. 

 These animals were generally of the size assigned to them by 

 Dr Leach, of from one to two lines in length, but a few exceeded 

 his maximum by nearly a line. When touched, they contracted 

 themselves nearly into a ball, as described by this author. 



Dr Leach remarks, that " when interrupted in their progress 

 by a knot on the wood, they pass round it," which they certainly 

 do in the first instance ; but it is evident, on the inspection of a 

 piece of wood in my possession, that when the softer parts fail 

 them, thev return to the knot, and consume it also. On re- 

 moving shells of the Teredo, I have observed that ihe Limnoria 

 continue their operations until they come in contact with them. 



After mentioning the belief of the inhabitants of Bridlington, 

 that the Liranoria was left there a few years since by an Ame- 

 rican vessel, it is observed in the Introduction to Entomology, 

 " that it is an imported insect, and, like the Teredo navalis, not 

 orio-inally an European animal, seems very probable from the 

 fact, that I can find no description of any. species of Oniscus, at 

 all resembling it, prior t6 that of Dr Leach, who seems first to 

 haveoiven it a name; and it appears highly improbable, that if it 

 had been an European species, it should not long since have at- 

 tracted attention, and been described." It is truly singular that 

 this animal should have become known to naturalists within so 

 short a period ; but respecting its foreign origin, T may observe, 

 that the concluding remarks on the Teredo, relative to that 

 species being indigenous, apply equally well to the Limnoriae. 

 I believe there is not yet evidence that the latter is found in fo- 

 reif^n countries, and as to geographical distribution, it is recorded 

 as occurring only on the eastern coast of Britain, in any work 

 that I have consulted on the subject. In addition to the lamen- 

 table proof already given of the Limnoria's existence on the op- 

 posite coast of the island, I can vouch for its occurrence still 



