SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
29 
maintained as a sound fact, but the absurd delusion has 
long ceased to obtain credence in the minds of intelligent 
men. 
THE BARNACLE. 
The Barnacle is an easily-distinguished shellfish, being 
pedunculated or suspended on the tip of a brown leathery- 
like stalk measuring from one inch to in some cases nearly 
a foot in length. The valves, the upper portion of which 
are firmly but neatly bedded in the stalk, are of rather an 
BARNACLE AND PEDUNCLE. 
elegant appearance, somewhat heart-shaped, and in colour 
of a milky whiteness, sometimes tinged with a light cobalt 
blue or a delicate roseate hue. As seen in the accompany- 
ing drawing, a curious incision, however, mars the 
symmetry of the shell, which takes the form of a notch 
running in a diagonal line close upon the tip across the 
whole breadth, just as if it had received the impression in 
a soft state from the pressure of a square blunt tool. On 
pressing the tip with the finger, we find that it is hinged 
at the junction of the incision with the main body of the 
C 
