If the reader has been struck at what has been said in regard to the exuviation of crabs, &c., he will probably be more surprised when I state that precisely the same phenomena take place in the simple Acorn Barnacle, that studs in countless numbers almost every rock and shell situated between tide marks. No one can visit the sea-shore, at certain localities, without noticing the white spots which constitute the shells of the cirripeds in question, although he may not be acquainted with the marvellous beauty of the animal contained within each.

Its loveliness, it is true, is in no wise apparent when parched and dry; but let the welcome waves advance and playfully dash their spray against the dwelling of the little crustacean, and quickly its valves will open, displaying a delicate feathery plume, thrust forth and hastily withdrawn again.

As it is not convenient to watch the movements of this animal in a rock-pool, let me request the reader kindly to take a peep into my aquarium. Here is a Trochus shell, for example, inhabited, as you perceive, by a Soldier-Crab, the surface of which is thickly covered with shelly cones, of small dimensions. These are the Barnacles (Balani). The Trochus most fortunately being near the side of the glass, is capitally situated for our purpose. Take the hand lens, adjust its focus, and watch carefully for the opening of the cones. Tush! The hermit never will rest contented in any position for two consecutive minutes; but see! as he walks away the fairy hands are being rapidly thrown out and made to sweep the water in graceful curves, thereby suggesting some resemblance to a bevy of school children at Christmas time, bidding adieux to their friends, while seated on the roof of an old stage coach.

Carefully I lift the Pagurus bodily out of the tank, and transfer him to a wine glass filled with clean water. After a few minutes have elapsed, the hands again commence their fishing operations. Observe, now, that these organs fan the fluid in such a manner as to catch any animalculÆ that may be near, and draw them towards the aperture caused by the opening of the valves of the Barnacle. A close inspection will, I am sure, prove to your satisfaction that there is also distinctly apparent a second and smaller cluster of feathery fingers, whose duty it is to catch the food, brought near by the larger and corresponding organs, and finally convey it into the mouth of the little cirriped. There may be, in the wide range of Nature's lower scale of life, prettier sights to gladden the eye of the student than that above described,—but if so, I must confess my inability to indicate where such are to be found. The fishing apparatus here mentioned consists of a number of slender cirri, thickly coated with microscopic filaments (cilia), and is, at certain periods, thrown off complete and entire by the process of exuviation, just as we have seen it occur in the higher crustacea.

Would you, my young friend, like to procure an exuvium of the Barnacle for examination? Yes. Then follow the directions I am now about to give, and your wish will be speedily gratified.

Presuming that your tank already contains a number of Barnacles attached to various objects, and that such have been in the same vessel for some weeks; syringe the water for a few minutes, and you will find floating about, or rising to the surface, many specimens of the desired object. They will, in all probability, be visible to the naked eye. To attempt to lift one out of the water, however, by means of your finger and thumb would be utterly useless. Such a procedure, even were it successful, would inevitably mar the delicate beauty of this 'inessential' object, which, spirit like, casts no shadow upon weed or water. The best plan is to insert a tube of glass into the aquarium, in such a way that the exuvium may ascend the interior. Then place your finger on the top, and draw the tube out of the water, and you will be able to deposit the skin of the Barnacle upon a slip of glass by merely lifting off your finger. The specimen can then be leisurely arranged, and spread out by aid of a hand lens and fine pointed needles.

Walking by the sea-shore one fine summer afternoon, I met a fisher boy running along with some curious objects spread out in the palm of his left hand, while in his right, suspended from finger and thumb, appeared a still more desirable prize.

At first glance I detected the objects to be specimens of the Lepas anatifera. They had, so the boy stated in answer to my inquiries, been plucked from the base of a ship newly arrived from a long voyage. When I offered him sixpence for the 'lot,' the embryo plougher of the deep looked up in my face with a singularly mistrustful expression, and said, 'D'ye mean it, sir?' I gave speedy assurance of my sincerity, and on receiving the purchase money, after handing over the Barnacles to my custody, the young urchin started off as fast as his legs, encased in huge wading boots, would allow him. His alarm was quite unnecessary, for although in a few days after I would not have given a penny for a thousand, I would willingly, on the above occasion, have paid five shillings for a single specimen, rather than have missed the opportunity of possessing such an interesting object as the Ship Barnacle.

On placing them in water one only of the creatures showed any signs of life, and by next morning they made the scentral organ of my face so highly indignant that, in order to allay its irritability, I was obliged to remove the defunct animals to the outside of the window. There they remained for several months, and were eventually transferred to the privacy of a card-board box. Although twelve months have elapsed since the last-mentioned removal took place, these creatures even now, when the lid of the case is lifted, give out a smell, so 'antient and fish-like,' that I believe not a few of 'the sweet perfumes of Arabia' would be needed in order to subdue its power.

One cluster contained thirty Lepades, and the other eighteen. The average length of each Barnacle is about three or four inches. One, however, measured nearly ten inches. The fleshy stalk is of a purplish-grey colour, semi-transparent, and perfectly smooth. The shell, which consists of five pieces, is bluish-white, while that portion from whence the cirri protrude appears of a brilliant orange, the cirri themselves being exquisitely tinted with violet, shaded off to a deep purple.

I may here mention that the above animal was by our ancestors most unaccountably supposed to be the young of the solan goose!—a bird that haunts in vast numbers the Bass Rock and Ailsa Craig. Indeed, a common belief in different parts of Scotland, and over the west of England was, that the shells grew upon certain trees, and in process of time opened of themselves; whereupon a certain animated substance contained within the shell dropped down, and according to the place where it fell perished or fructified. By falling into the water it grew to be a fowl; but by falling upon land the vital principle became extinct. The fowls which resulted from the more fortunate contingency were called Barnacle Geese in Scotland, and Brant, or Tree Geese in England. This delusion appears to have arisen from the fact of Barnacles having been found in great abundance on trunks and even branches of trees long submerged in the sea.[8] Bishop Hall thus alludes to the popular notion in his Satires:—