648 THE PARROTS-BEAK BARNACLE. 



invisible, and could not be seen until the heavy masses of Barnacles were lifted up by 

 the hand. 



The old boatman who had picked up the log while fishing, and had ingeniously built 

 a trough to receive the log, a tank of sea water to supply the trough, and a kind of tent 

 composed of sails to hold the trough and the log together, was very full of a discovery 

 that he had made. He was fully persuaded that the ship-worm and the Barnacle were 

 identical, and that when the ship-worm was tired of boring into wood, it came to the 

 surface, and was immediately changed into a Barnacle. He was quite impervious to rea- 

 son, and always went into a passion whenever the facts seemed to contradict his 

 theory. 



If the objects were enumerated to which the Barnacle will cling, a volume would 

 hardly be sufficient for the mere catalogue. It has been found on ships, boats, floating 

 timber, shells, turtles, whales, and marine snakes. A moment is sufficient to give them 

 a firm hold of any object, and when once they have fixed their antennae, the fiercest storm 

 cannot shake them off. Even after death, the force with which they cling is as great as 

 during life, and they seem almost to form part of the substance to which it adheres. 

 The length of the foot-stalk is extremely variable, in some measuring three or four times 

 the length that it does in others. This species is found in nearly all temperate and 

 warm seas. 



A second but smaller group of Stalked Barnacles is seen in the corresponding right- 

 hand corner. This is the FASCINE-BARNACLE, a larger and finer species, which, as may 

 be seen by reference to the illustration, can be distinguished by the number and shape of 

 its shelly valves. These valves, indeed, afford most important indications of the genus 

 to which any species belongs, and in the arrangements of some zoologists they play the 

 principal part in the formation of the system. 



I may here mention that the whole of the figures upon the preceding illustration are 

 drawn from specimens in the splendid collection of H. Cuming, Esq., who kindly lent 

 them for the purpose, as were several of the more curious molluscous shells, such as the 

 Chinese Pearl-mussel, shown on page 428. The same specimens were employed by Mr. 

 Darwin in his elaborate work upon the cirrhipedes. The Fascine-barnacle is found in 

 the Indian Ocean. 



A rather singular form of Barnacle is seen just below the Goose-mussel, resting on 

 short footstalks, and having somewhat triangular valves. This is the MITELLA- BAR- 

 NACLE, which may be known by the stoutly shaped footstalks and the rough, shagreen- 

 like character of their surface. At the base of the shell are seen a number of smaller 

 stand accessory pieces, all pointed and marked with slight transverse lines. This 

 species comes from China, the Philippines, etc. 



Exactly in the centre of the illustration is placed a specimen of the EARED BARNA- 

 CLE, which derives its appropriate name from the curious tubular projections which 

 out boldly from either side, like the ears of a quadruped from the head. This species 

 lives in the warmer seas. 



A group of Eared Barnacles have been found attached to another genus of Barnacle, 

 which lives on, or rather in, the skins of cetacea, and to which we shall presently 

 allude. Indeed, these beings seem to care little about the substance to which they 

 adhere, one species of Stalked Barnacle having actually been taken upon the delicate 

 surface of a living Medusa. 



We now leave the stalked barnacles, and proceed to those species which are placed 

 directly upon the substances to which they adhere. A little to the right of the eared 

 barnacle is seen a small group of upright shells, surrounded by buttress-like and pointed 

 projections. This is the BELL-BARNACLE, found off the coast of Madeira, Africa, 

 and other hot parts of the ocean. It sometimes attains a very considerable size, and 

 is eaten by the Chinese, who think that it resembles the lobster in flavor. 



Other species are also eaten, such as the PARROT-BEAK BARNACLE, a creature deriv- 

 ing its name from a curved projection something like the bill of a parrot. This enor- 

 mous Barnacle is sometimes found measuring between five and six inches in height, and 

 between three and four inches in diameter. It is found in large bunches, sometimes 

 consisting of a hundred individuals, some adhering to the rocks and others to the shell of 



