THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



83 



when the sea-water has saturated it, and rubbing it with 

 the finger for a few minutes is enough to indent it deeply. 



But though the problem may be considered solved so 

 far as regards the Lithophagi, that is to say, the eaters of 

 stone which live in the soft limestone, there seem to be 

 some doubts as to those found in our most compact mar- 

 bles, for it is evident that the movement of the foot would 

 not suffice to pierce so unyielding a body. 



One of these marble-cutters has acquired a great celeb- 

 rity in the annals of geology, from its having attacked the 

 temple of Jupiter Serapis, situated on the border of the 

 INIediterranean, and almost on a level with its waves. 



35. Stone-eating MoiUola, or Modiola Utliopliarja, Lam., which has gnawed the 

 Pillars of the Temple of Jupiter.— From nature. 



It is a Modiolus which has cut numerous excavations 

 in the beautiful columns of this sanctuary, and has even 

 gnawed them in an unsightly manner for the space of a 

 metre (three feet three inches) at a height of six to seven 

 feet above the fore-court. Pliilosoj^hers suppose that at 

 some epoch, of which history makes no mention, this cele- 

 brated temple had sunk in the sea, OAving to one of those 

 movements in the soil so common in volcanic countries, 

 that it was then invaded by the stone-eating molluscs, 

 and that afterwards, being raised by a contrary movement 

 like a scene on the stage, the monument, rising like magic 

 from the bosom of the waves, reappeared in the air, dis- 

 playing to our astonished eyes the destruction effected by 



