. Ocean wonders: a companion for the seaside. upwithout signs of life, lookinglike a mere incrustation uponthe rock; but when the tide re-turns they very promptly re-gain their energy, and soon fromevery tiny shell a graceful feath-ery hand is stretched forth like alittle fishing-net, elegantly wav-ing in the right direction to pro-pel animalcula to their digestiveapparatus. Almost every kind of marinecreature has its own peculiarmode of foraging. Some throwout fishing-lines like some formsof medusae ; some rush after their prey and seize it by sud-den violence ; others lie in ambush^ and try
. Ocean wonders: a companion for the seaside. upwithout signs of life, lookinglike a mere incrustation uponthe rock; but when the tide re-turns they very promptly re-gain their energy, and soon fromevery tiny shell a graceful feath-ery hand is stretched forth like alittle fishing-net, elegantly wav-ing in the right direction to pro-pel animalcula to their digestiveapparatus. Almost every kind of marinecreature has its own peculiarmode of foraging. Some throwout fishing-lines like some formsof medusae ; some rush after their prey and seize it by sud-den violence ; others lie in ambush^ and try to conceal theirpresence, like the octopus; and thus the barnacle throws outits casting-net, drawing it in and contracting it at net is formed of a group of fine, delicate tendrils, calledthe cirri, each double at the extremity; they are jointed soas to make an exquisitely-shaped curve, and at each joint arelong, stiff hairs. As these cirri are quite numerous, and thehairs upon them stand out firmly when in action in a trans-. Goose-Barnacles attached to a BOTLLE. BARNACLES. 131 verse position to the cirri, the whole apparatus forms a com-plete network, so fine that the most diminutive animalculawould be held within its toils. The cirri themselves are ofa hornj nature, though rendered thoroughly flexible byample jointing. I have kept barnacles for many years. During their cap-tivity they do not seem to have suffered from any cause, asthe fact of their growth proves, some of them having in-creased to double their original size. I do not know thelimitations of their growth, but certainly it is quite rapideven in confinement. Some shells in my possession, whichI use for flower-vases, stand fully four and a half inches inheight; and my enthusiastic aquarian friend, Mr. Roberts,assures me that he has seen them used very commonly atWoods Hole, Massachusetts, for inkstands. I have alwaysnoticed, however, that the small ones are the most active, thelarger ones remaining
Size: 1304px × 1917px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectmarineanimals, bookye
