14 MULTIVALVES. CHITON. 



high built at the stern, and turned upside'down ; and tliis 

 peculiar form is constituted by the attachment of six or 

 seven, but generally of eight moveable valves,* which 

 are connected by a cutaneous or cartilaginous substance, 

 and, when the animal is alive, is capable of sufficient dis- 

 tention and contraction, to admit of considerable action 

 or play on the part of the valves; so much so, that the 

 animal can at pleasure convert.its shell into the form of a 

 ball, and thereby assume the appearance of a little in- 

 sect, well known as an inhabitant of old and decayed 

 wood, and which, when in danger, rolls itself up in its 

 steel-colored armour, and thereby defeats the various as- 

 saults of its enemies. 



The covering and coloring of the valves serve to create 

 distinctions; some being perfectly smooth, others nodul- 

 ous, or knobbed; some beset with spines, prickles, or 

 hairs; and others, again, are striated, dotted, and rayed, 

 as in the Chiton hispidus, squamosus, and marmoratus. 



The color of the exterior is frequently of a dusky-brown, 

 often varying into different shades of olive- green : others 

 partake of a reddish or pinkish tint; whereas some spe- 

 cimens are of an ochreous or yellowish-white complexion; 

 and many have their valves adorned with elegant designs 

 and marblings (not unlike tattooing) in the liveliest co- 

 lors imaginable. 



* An experienced conchologist has never met with a Chiton 

 %vith less than eight valves, without being able to discover 

 an imperfection in the margin; which renders it extremely pro- 

 bable that those with five or six valves owe their variation from, 

 the usual number to the art and ignorance of the dealer, who has 

 cemented the valves together, without attending to the number in 

 the natural state. 



