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THE XEXOBALAXUS. 



skin of the whales belonging to the Southern seas. This pest of the cetaceans is nearly 

 cylindrical in shape, and remarkable for a series of raised rings, which surround it like the 

 hoops upon a barrel. As the creature increases in age, it also increases in length, and adds 

 ring after ring, in proportion to the depth of its imbedinent in the skin. The Burrower- 

 barnacle is found in great numbers, and actually studs the whale's skin with its shells. Not 

 only does the skin suffer from their presence, but the blubber is also infested by them, as they 

 often pass completely through the skin, and sink deeply into the fatty tissues beneath. I 

 have seen several fine examples of these sunken cirripedes, and could not but admire the 

 wonderful adaptation of their structure to their mode of living. 



Barnacles were collected and arranged as multivalve shells formerly. They are subdivided 

 and embraced under several orders, among which the Protolepas, Cryptophialus, and Alcippe 

 are known. 



Members of the family Lepadidce are numerous on our coast. The ConcTioderma virgata 

 is a curious form, often found on floating stuff in our waters. They have fleshy stalks by 

 which they fasten to floating debris. Lepas is a familiar genus. 



Family Balanidce includes more species than others. The Acorn-barnacles are numerous. 

 Species are found attached to sea-turtles and sluggish fishes. Coronulas are found on whales. 



Xenobalanus is found on turtles and the black-fish dolphin. 



