Ill 
TAB. LIII. 
APLYSIA hybrida. 
Class 6. Vermes. Order 2. Mollusca. 
Gen. Char. Body creeping, covered with reflected 
membranes, with a membranaceous shield on the 
back covering the lungs. An aperture on the 
right side. Vent above the extremity of the 
back. Feelers 4 resembling ears. 
Spec. Char. Purple all over. 
Syn. Laplysia depilans? Pennant, Brit. Zool . 4. 42 . 
We may consider the representation of this curious crea- 
ture as under sea-water on a rock, as it is always found in 
the sea, and is either dragged from thence or left on the 
rocks at low water. It is said to be not unlrequent about 
the rocks near Penzance, and indeed I was told great 
numbers might be got. This was gathered in the year ] 7 99 
on St. Michael’s Mount. My friend Mr. Turner pointed it 
out, and my son gathered it at about the length of his arm 
under water in the hollow of a rock, and I put it into a 
box. We handled it pretty much, and felt no particular 
sensation; but, looking at my hands after having put it 
by, I found a very copious quantity of purple fluid had 
been deposited by the animal in both o'ur hands. I put 
some of this on a piece of paper, and it remained nearly 
as brilliant for two or three years afterwards. This has 
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