tctumarji of 



379 



orange, a white band, a double series of 

 black spots, and a few white dots. The 

 body is dusky bluck above, white beneath ; 

 antenna black above, tawny beneath and at 



the tip. Caterpillar green, with the head 

 and legs reddish : it feeds on the various 

 species of honeysuckle : the chrysalis is 

 green spotted with gold, forked in front. 

 The Honeysuckle Butterfly appears to de- 

 light in settling on the blossoms of the 

 bramble. 



LIMOSA. A genus of Wading Birds, fre- 

 quenting marshes and the sea-shore. They 

 are characterized by a long straight beak, 

 slightly bent at the extremity ; and by the 

 external toes, which are long and slender, 

 being palmated at the base. [See GOD- 

 WIT.] 



LIMPET. (Patella.') A genus of marine 

 Molluscous animals ; the distinguishing 

 characters of which are : that the shell is 

 univalve, of a gibbous shape, almost conical, 

 always fixed to a rock or some hard body ; 

 and having its apex sometimes sharp-pointed, 

 at others obtuse : straight, or crooked ; 

 whole, or perforated : these variations oc- 

 casioning so many specific distinctions. 

 The means by which the l/impet affixes 



itself to a rock were first clearly explained 

 by Reaumur. The shell approaches to a 

 conic figure ; the base of which is occupied 

 by a large muscle, which alone contains 

 nearly as much flesh as the whole body of 

 the fish : this muscle is not confined within 

 the shell, but assists the creature in its pro- 

 gressive motion, or in fixing itself at plea- 

 sure. When in a quiescent state, which is 

 commonly the case, it applies this muscle 

 every way round to the surface of some 

 stone, and so firmly attaches itself to it that 

 it is not easily separated even with the as- 

 sistance of a knife. It is said that crows 



and other birds which endeavour to detach 

 them for food, are sometimes caught by the 

 points of their bills, and are held there until 

 drowned by the advancing tide. 



The Common Limpet (P. vulgaris), which 

 is very numerous on the British coasts, has 

 rough prominent striae, with edges sharply 

 crenated ; and the vertex is near the centre. 

 Another species, frequent on the Cornish 

 coast, is called the Transparent Limpet ; it 

 has a pellucid shell, longitudinally marked 

 with rows of rich blue spots ; and the vertex ia 

 placed near one of the edges. But the most 

 beautiful varieties are found on the shores of 

 the Oriental seas and the coasts of the Me- 

 diterranean. Limpets are herbivorous, feed- 

 ing upon sea-weeds, which they reduce with 

 their long riband-shaped tongues. 



Many and very opposite opinions have 

 been given to account for the extraordinary 

 tenacity with which this animal adheres to 

 the rock : that which to us appears the most 

 feasible, ascribes the true cause to a viscous 

 juice emitted from the muscle of which we 

 have spoken, which, though imperceptible 

 to the eye, is nevertheless capable of pro- 

 ducing these surprising effects. This, it ia 

 observed, may be perceived by the touch ; 

 for if the finger be applied to the place im- 

 mediately after the removal of the Limpet 

 from a stone, the tenacity of this juice will 

 be extremely strong j but if any wet touches 

 the stone after the removal of the fish, no 

 viscosity will be perceptible, the whole sub- 

 stance of the glue being instantly dissolved, 

 and its effects totally lost. Water, therefore, 

 is a sufficient solvent for this glue ; but the 

 close adhesion of the outer rim of the great 

 circular muscle prevents the external water 

 from acting on it, otherwise it must always 

 be destroyed as soon as discharged. How- 

 ever, the under surface of the body of the 

 animal is entirely covered with small tuber- 

 cles, containing water, which the creature 

 discharges whenever inclined to liberate 

 itself, and the whole cement immediately 

 dissolves before it. 



LIMULUS, or KING-CRAB. A genus 

 of large Crustacea, belonging to the group 

 Xyphosuraor SiKOrd- tails, sometimes attain- 

 ing the length of two feet. The Limuli are of 

 a very singular form and structure : their 

 bodies are divided into two parts ; of which 

 the anterior, covered by a large semicircular 

 shield, bears the eyes, the antennae, and six 

 pairs of legs, which surround the mouth, and 

 are used both for walking and for mastica- 

 tion ; whilst another shield of a somewhat 

 triangular shape covers the posterior portion 

 of the body, which supports five pairs of 

 swimming legs, and terminates in a long 

 pointed process. The Limuli are confined 

 to the shores of tropical Asia, the Asiatic 

 Archipelago, and tropical America. The 

 best known species comes from the Molucca 

 islands : hence they are sometimes termed 

 Molucca crabs. Their habits do not appear 

 to be very well understood : it seems, how- 

 ever, that they prefer the neighbourhood of 

 sandy shores ; and it is said that, in order 

 to avoid the violent heat of the sun, which 

 becomes fatal to their existence, they bury 



