PATELLA. 231 



^ A€L7rvo(TO(j)LaTaV of Athenseus^Icesius says that it is even 

 more appetizing than the oyster^ although not so diges- 

 tible ; Diphilus does not hold it in such esteem. The 

 tenacity with which it adheres to the rock was well 

 known to ancient writers. This is compared by Aristo- 

 phanes with the attachment of an old woman to a youth ; 

 and ^lian remarks that, when touched, it is as difficult 

 to remove as a pomegranate was from the fist of Milo. 

 In one of the odes of Alcseus it is apostrophized as the 

 child of the rock and hoary sea ; and Cicero refers to it 

 (although not by name) as an example of the sedentary 

 nature of some marine animals, " partim ad saxa nativis 

 testis inhserentium.''^ With his usual power of observa- 

 tion, exceeding that of many subsequent naturalists, 

 Aristotle described the habits of the limpet, and showed 

 that it leaves its place on the rock and goes out to feed. 

 This was confirmed by Reaumur, although Borelli and 

 others asserted that the limpet remained all its life 

 fixed to the same spot. It uses its foot like a snail, but 

 travels more slowly. Bouchard- Chanter eaux says that he 

 had often seen limpets crawling, especially just after the 

 tide had gone out. The young limpet moves freely about, 

 and shifts its quarters ; but after attaining a growth of 

 probably a few days, it affixes itself to a particular spot, 

 which it only quits, when covered by the sea, on the 

 return of each tide. If it settles on a hard and rugged 

 rock, the circumference of the shell is moulded to fit 

 the irregular surface of its abode ; the base of attach- 

 ment is then bleached. Should the rock be soft, it 

 scoops out by degrees with its muscular foot a cavity of 

 a greater or less depth. Mr. Anderson of Wick (the 

 highly intelligent editor of the *^ John O'' Groat Journal ') 

 gave me some pieces of Old Red sandstone from that 

 coast, in which the pits made and inhabited by P. vul- 



