210 MULTIVALVES. 



8. What is the generic character of the Lepas ? 



9. Describe the two families into which the 

 Lepas is divided. 



10. Describe the animal which inhabits the 

 L epas. 



USES OF SHELLS AND THEIR 

 INHABITANTS. 



Testaceous bodies are not only to be admired 

 for their beauty, but valued for their usefulness. 

 Several of their animals afford a very nutritious 

 diet. The oyster supplies the table of the rich 

 with a wholesome delicacy ; in many maritime 

 situations the poor population are almost entirely 

 supported by various shell fish, as muscles, 

 cockles, pectens, solens, &c. The medicinal 

 qualities of the snail have rendered it a suitable 

 sustenance for the invalid. Mollusks not only 

 contribute to supply the wants of man, but they 

 form the subsistence of other animals ; they are 

 the prey of various fishes, and are a favourite food 

 of seafowl, who exert much ingenuity in getting 

 at them : when they find their beaks insufficient 

 to pierce a shell, they will ascend with it to 

 some neighbouring eminence, from whence they 

 drop it, that it may be crushed against the 

 rocks. The monkey also regales himself with 

 shellfish ; at the reflux of the tide, when the 



