" WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN." 



299 



(Pentelasmis anatifera) has a fabulous history sufficient- 

 ly amusing, indicated by the specific name, anatifera. 

 Our ancestors believed that Barnacle geese were the 

 offspring of these marine creatures : and worthy Master 

 Gerard gives a circumstantial account of the whole 

 process, and moreover prefaces it with a voucher, that 

 tellers of marvellous tales 

 are apt freely to offer, 

 " What our eyes have seen, 

 and hands have touched, 

 we shall declare." Nor 

 is this all, for he favours 

 us with a figure repre- 

 senting the metamorpho- 

 sis going on. The Bar- 

 nacle belongs to a very 

 curious class of animals, 

 called CirrJiipoda, which 

 combine the characters of 

 Crustacea and Mollusca 

 in a remarkable man- 

 ner, and, though usually 

 placed with the latter, are, 

 perhaps, nearer akin to 



the former. The Barnacle FENTZIASMIS ANATIFERA. 



is lodged within a white 



shell, flattened at the sides, opening by a slit down one 

 edge, and fixed on a soft, flexible, fleshy stalk. The 

 shell is composed of five pieces, joined together by mem- 

 branes. Within this coat of mail lies the soft body of 

 the Barnacle, with its head towards the lower end of the 



