LECTURE XL 
184 . 
The remaining genus oi Multimhe shells is of 
a more singular nature than any of the rest : it is 
called Lepas or Barnacle : the shell consists of se- 
veral unequal valves or pieces, and is affixed at the 
base, in some species, to a long, wrinkled, leather- 
like tube ; and in others immediately to the sub- 
stance to which it is attached, without the inter- 
vention of the leathery tube. The inhabiting anim^,! 
is of a very singular structure, and is a kind of 7/7- 
ton^ perfectly resembling the Linnaean genus Tri- 
ton among the naked Molliisca : the body is oval, 
of a soft consistence, furnished with a long tubular 
trunk, surrounded by several pair of long, curved, 
jointed arms or tentacula, which taken all together 
have a kind of feather-shaped aspect. 
Among those species of Lepas in which the 
shell is seated on a tubular process, one of the most 
common is the Lepas anatifera, or Barnacle Shell. 
It is frequently found adhering to the bottoms of 
ships, to rocks, and other marine substances, whe- 
ther fixed or floating, and is sometimes seen single, 
and sometimes in groiipes : the leathery tube is 
from one to two inches in length, and the shell it- 
self somewhat more than an inch long : its colour 
is white, slightly clouded with blueish brown, and 
