292 



B A L A N O P H O R E /E -- B A L A N U S. 



the shell and pushes itself through the aperture thus 

 made, which, although it appears too small to have 

 admitted of its passage, is easily effected, from the 

 softness and contractile powers of the body, and not 

 by the assistance of claws, as stated in the work above 

 referred to, for the simple reason that the insect 

 in this state is not armed with claws. The maggots 

 then descend into the earth, where they remain all 

 the winter, changing to pupae, according to Rosel, in 

 June, and appearing in the perfect state in August. 

 There are about a dozen British species of the genus, 

 which feed upon various vegetables : the Curculio 

 nucum of Linnaeus, whose proceedings are above 

 described, being the type ; it is about one-third of an 

 inch long, and of a rich brown colour. 



BALANOPHORE^E. A natural family of 

 monocotyledonous plants, containing only a few- 

 genera and species. By some authors the term 

 cynomometE is applied to the order. Its essential 

 characters are : flowers monoecious, collected in 

 dense, roundish heads. Barren flowers, supported on 

 stalks ; calyx deeply three-parted ; stamens one to 

 three, epigynous, with the filaments and anthers 

 united. Fertile flowers, ovary, inferior, one-celled, 

 one-seeded, crowned by the limb of the calyx ; 

 one filiform, tapering style ; stigma simple ; fruit a 

 rounded, one-celled, thick pericarp, closely united to 

 the seed. 



This is a curious order, having little affinity with 

 any other. In some respects it resembles the arum 

 tribe, but differs from it in possessing an inferior 

 ovary. The plants included under the order may be 

 said to be like the mushroom tribe in appearance. 

 They are leafless, parasitic plants, provided with 

 fleshy, horizontal roots, and having their stems either 

 naked or covered with scales. They are found in 

 warm climates, as in the West Indies, South America, 

 and the Cape of Good Hope. Little is known in re- 

 gard to their properties. The Cynamomum coccincum, 

 a plant found in Malta, was formerly much used in 

 medicine under the name of Fungus melitensis. It 

 acts as an astringent, and was employed successfully 

 in dysentery and haemorrhage. 



B ALAN US (Lamarck). Lcpas tintinnabulum 

 (Linnaeus). The arrangement of these mollusks will 

 be seen under the article BALANIDEA, in which the 

 general characteristics of the animal are also given. 



Lamarck, and modern naturalists, have only classed 

 in this genus such shells as appeared univalve by the 

 connection of their valves in a peculiar manner, 



One of the valves of the B. gigas. 



Valve of the Acasta. 



their lower part closed with testaceous matter, and 

 the opcrculum consisting of four pieces. These 

 shells are usually of a conical form, more or less 

 elevated, sometimes narrower at the base, in the form 

 of a tulip, irregularly shaped, from the circumstance 

 of their being crowded together, in large clusters, on 

 the substances to which they are affixed. Their 

 aperture is subtriangular or^lliptical ; the base closed 



by a solid testaceous termination, rtimly fixed to va- 

 rious bodies, the four pieces forming the operciilnm 

 inserted internally near the base, forming a kind of 

 pyramid at the upper opening of the tube. 



B. spocgites. 



B. Gigas- 



Three species now form this 

 genus ; the first is that in which 

 there is no support, or merely a 

 membranous one, as in the linlannx 

 spinosus; the second includes those 

 whose support is rather irregular, 

 but usually very considerable, as in 

 the 13. gigas; and the third is that 

 whose base or support is conical, 

 hollow, nearly regular, patellil'orm, 

 and found inclosed in sponges. 

 From the form of this species, and 

 their not being able to stand upon 

 their own basis when detached 

 from the substance inclosing them, 

 Dr. Leach separated them from 

 the genus Bnlanus, and constituted 

 his genus Acasta of them. De Blainville, however, 

 does not admit of a sufficient reason for separating 

 them, in which opinion many modern naturalists 

 concur. 



These singular shells give rise to much interesting 

 speculation as to the mode of their structure, which 

 differs from all other shells ; their increased growth 

 in height and circumference is easily perceived in 

 each of its stages, the one on the conical part, and 

 the flake, or testaceous separation at the bottom, ex- 

 hibiting the other ; it may therefore be conjectured 

 that the animal, when necessity obliges it to increase 

 the size of its habitation, possesses the faculty of de- 

 tachii'gthe parts forming its exterior, and, after having 

 added a given uniform portion to each, of fastening 

 or soldering them together again, like the sutures of 

 the human and other skulls. 



Balani are named as one of the dishes at the famous 

 gastronomic feast given by Lentulus, on the occasion 

 of his being named " Flamen Martialis," a priest of 

 Mars ; and some species are now eaten by the 

 northern nations. Their flavour nearly resembles 

 that of the common mussel, but the substance is more 

 stringy or tough. The name of this genus is derived 

 from an acorn, balanus, which many species closely 

 resemble in form. 



