. The illustrated natural history [microform]. Reptiles; Fishes; Mollusks; Natural history; Reptiles; Poissons; Mollusques; Sciences naturelles. te, hardly thicker iiro Kocnis ia !>e. PRICKLY CHITON.—r/i/(oil ucitMhis. SUOHT Sl'IN'EI) ClirrOX.—r;ii7o» hmifplnoms. 'H TUiSK. MARDLED mannoreiu. HANUED CHITON. - Vhituiulliis /oscidliis. -TknU'ilhim inrnafnm We now come to the curious family of molluscs called appropriately Chitonidfe, or Mail-sliolls, because their shells are jointed like the pieces of i)late armour. When separated from each other, the plates bear a str
. The illustrated natural history [microform]. Reptiles; Fishes; Mollusks; Natural history; Reptiles; Poissons; Mollusques; Sciences naturelles. te, hardly thicker iiro Kocnis ia !>e. PRICKLY CHITON.—r/i/(oil ucitMhis. SUOHT Sl'IN'EI) ClirrOX.—r;ii7o» hmifplnoms. 'H TUiSK. MARDLED mannoreiu. HANUED CHITON. - Vhituiulliis /oscidliis. -TknU'ilhim inrnafnm We now come to the curious family of molluscs called appropriately Chitonidfe, or Mail-sliolls, because their shells are jointed like the pieces of i)late armour. When separated from each other, the plates bear a strong- resemblance to the joint of a steel uauiitlet, and overlap each other in a similar fashion, a thick and strong mantle taking the place of the leather. There are eight of these plates, and all of them have a sdinowliat salate is thought by ^Iv. (!ray to be analogous to the shell of the limpet, and the seven otlier plates to be " portions of its anterior slope successively ; At all events, the hinder ])]ate is fixed more firndy to the mantle than any of the others ; and MJiile its eomi)aiiioiis fall olf Avith handling, or give way at a .slight pull, the hinder Ijliile liolds tirmly in its jilaee. The genus Chiton is an extiemcly large one, containing more than two hundred species, which are spread over the whole of the globe, wherever the sea is not absolutely frozen. Tlie greater number of species are fmnul on the rocks about low water, and on our own coasts the may fill his bottle witli specimens, ])rovided he examines the jn-oper spots. Some of them are found at a depth of ten or fifteiMi fathoms, and are obtained by dredging, while a few of the smaller species are found in eighty or a hundred fathoms of water. The Chitons are able to roll themselves up in a partial kind of manner, and present a curious rt!semblance to the M-ell-known armadillo or ]>ill woodlouse. In all these ereaturos the shell is extremely beautiful, on account of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubj, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectmollusks
