Life Beneath the Waves. 65 



joined at the bottom to a sort of band 

 which goes quite round the animal. If a 

 Chiton is removed from its resting-place 

 and held in the hand, it generally rolls it- 

 self up into a ball, after the manner of a 

 woodlouse ; indeed, in some respects the 

 outward appearance of a small Chiton re- 

 sembles that of the insect just mentioned. 

 Mail-shells move slowly along by means 

 of a foot attached to their stomachs, and of 

 the same length as the creatures themselves. 

 British Chitons are much smaller than 

 foreign ones ; I have seen engravings of 

 the latter measuring three or four inches in 

 length, and two in breadth, whilst the 

 Chiton marmoreus, the largest British 

 species, is only an inch and a half long, and 

 about seven-eighths of an inch broad. This 

 kind is, I believe, never found on our 

 southern coasts, but belongs especially to 

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