234: CIRRIPEDIA. 



setting in of the annual rains, the swamps, pools, 

 water-courses, and even the majestic rivers them- 

 selves, are well near dried up. The surface of the 

 soil is parched into a layer of impalpable dust, and 

 the remnants of all the minute tribes of plants are 

 carried to and fro by the slightest winds, amongst the 

 dusty particles to which they themselves largely 

 contribute. In them vitality is maintained under 

 the minimum of the conditions essential to its con- 

 tinuance, and without the interposition of this phase 

 of their existence, these organisms would soon be- 

 come extinct. For upwards of two months the rains 

 continue to fall incessantly. The whole country is 

 flooded, and the rivers expand to the proportions of 

 inland seas. But no sooner have the rains and in- 

 undations subsided, than the mud-laden pools clear 

 down, the magic influences of light and heat are 

 permitted to operate, and in an inconceivably brief 

 period, the surface, the bottom, and the body of the 

 waters absolutely teem with the crowded masses of 

 animal and of vegetable life, amidst which the 

 wheel-animalcules revel in all the luxury of abun- 

 dance. 



TENTH ORDER OF CRUSTACEANS. 

 CIRRIPEDIA* (Barnacles). 



Every visitor to the sea-shore has doubtless ob- 

 served the rocks and stones, the timbers of the 

 jetties, or any objects that have been long immersed 

 in the sea, thickly encrusted with shells of remark- 

 able construction, usually known by the name of 

 Barnacles or Acorn-shells. On placing a stone or 

 shell thus encrusted (taken fresh from the sea, so 

 that the animals may be in full life and vigour) 

 in a glass of clear sea-water, and watching them 

 attentively, the acorn-shells upon its surface will be 

 seen to open, and presently a beautiful feather- 



* Cirrus, a lock of hair ; pes, a fool. 



