119 
Fam. PATELLID^. 
PJTELLA.—LIMVET, 
Patella vulgata^ Linnseus. Limpet . — Shell oval 
and conical in shape ; apex central, or nearly so, strong, 
sometimes with ribs diverging from the apex to the 
margin, and sometimes quite smooth. Colours various, 
pale greyish-yellow or greenish-brown, inside generally 
showing the same colour through, and the markings of 
the ribs distinctly towards the margin ; the inside of the 
apex an opaque bluish-white, and the whole slightly po- 
lished. 
The common limpet is found distributed all round 
our coasts, where it is greatly valued as bait by fisher- 
men, and Dr. Johnson calculates that in Berwick alone, 
there is an annual consumption of no fewer than 
11,880,000 limpets for that purpose.* At low tide, lim- 
pets may be collected in great numbers from the rocks 
and boulders. Some are seen safely ensconced in holes 
or depressions made by means of the muscular action of 
their foot or disk, which is the width of the shell; 
others are seen creeping about in search of fresh rest- 
ing-places, or food, with their tentacles slightly pro- 
truding beyond the shell, till alarmed by some touch or 
otherwise; and they adhere with wonderful strength to 
the rocks. Wordsworth says 
“ And should the strongest arm endeavour 
The limpet from its rock to sever, 
’Tis seen its loved support to clasp, 
With such tenacity of grasp, 
We wonder that such strength should dwell 
In such a small and simple shell.” 
On the Devonshire coast I have found them very 
* Forbes and Hanley, Brit. Mollusca, vol. ii. p. 425. 
