Structure of the Radii.

Radius.—This term, as we have seen, is applied to that side of the compartment, the growth of which is modified, by abutting against and overlapping the adjoining compartment. Hence the structure of the radius is essentially the same with that of the parietal portion of the compartment. When best developed, as in Balanus tintinnabulum, the radius consists of an outer and inner lamina, separated by denticulated septa, extending in horizontal lines parallel to the basis, and is consequently perforated by minute tubes or pores. The tubes become filled up solidly much more commonly than do the parietal tubes; and the inner lamina, in such cases, is hardly distinct from the outer lamina. The denticuli often fail, or are present only on the lower sides of the septa; and very frequently the edge of the radius can only be said to be crenated. Notwithstanding these frequent anomalies, if a series of species and genera be taken, it is certain that there is, as might have been expected, a close relationship in internal structure, between the radii and the parietes. The edge of the radius is received in a slight furrow (generally marked like a seal, with the impression of the denticulated septa) in the opposed compartment: sometimes the outer edge or lid of the recipient furrow, is so broad as to give the false appearance of a radius having been developed, at least in the lower part of the shell, on both sides of the suture. A crest of corium runs into each suture between the edge of the radius and the furrow in the opposed compartment; and when the radius is permeated by pores (as in woodcut 10), threads of corium branch off this crest, and enter the pores. In the lower part of the shell, these crests of corium project from the corium forming and surrounding the sack; but in the upper part of the shell, above the opercular membrane, and therefore above the sack, the corium is produced up each line of suture as a separate ribbon. In proportion as these ribbons extend more or less near to the summit of the shell, so do the edges of the radii continue to be added to, to a greater or less height from the basis; and consequently their summits become less or more oblique.

Peculiarities in the Structure of the Radii.—In some of the species of Tetraclita, in which genus the walls consist of several rows of tubes, the radii are likewise perforated by several rows; and in some of the other species (Pl. 10, fig. 1 h), the edge, or disarticulated surface of the radius, is marked by irregularly branching ridges; and these evidently correspond with the branching septa or ridges of the wall. In Chelonobia, the outer lamina of the radius, as well as of its recipient furrow, is of extraordinary thickness; and this lamina, in C. testudinaria (Pl. 14, fig. 1 a, 5, b, and Pl. 15, fig. 1, f), is modelled into sharp transverse ridges and valleys. In the Chthamalinæ, the radii, like the parietes, are simply solid; and apparently in consequence, for the sake of strengthening the sutures, the edges of the radii, and of the recipient furrow in Octomeris (Pl. 20, fig. 3 a) and in Chthamalus dentatus and Hembeli (Pl. 18, fig. 3 b, 5 a), are neatly dentated. In some other species of Chthamalus (Pl. 19, fig. 1 a), the radii present a slight modification of this structure, the sutures being formed by oblique interfolding laminæ. In the radii of Coronula and Tubicinella, there is a peculiarity, in apparent connection with the fact, that in these genera the parietal tubes are not crossed by transverse calcareous septa, namely, that the pores by which the radii are permeated keep unclosed throughout their length, and open into a special longitudinal tube (Pl. 16, fig. 7, d′), which runs along that margin of the wall, whence the radius arises. In Coronula the wall is of extreme thinness, and in conformity so is the true radius, but that the shell might not thus be rendered very weak, complementary or pseudo-radii are developed on their inner sides (Pl. 16, fig. 7, adjoining the true radii A d, C d, and shaded by distant convex lines). Even in the allied genus Xenobalanus, in which the whole shell tends to become rudimentary, traces of these pseudo-radii (Pl. 17, fig. 4 b, d) can be detected. In Coronula, though the radii (Pl. 16, fig. 7, A d, C d) are, by the above special means, rendered thick, and though the alæ also are thick (C a′, D a′), yet together they do not equal in thickness the folded walls; and consequently, there is left between the radii and alæ square chambers (v), occupied by the branching ovarian tubes.

Structure of the Alæ.

These project, generally abruptly, from the sides of the upper part of the compartments; they appear from the first growth of the shell; they are overlapped by the radius and by part of the wall of the adjoining compartment; they are thinner, and have, owing apparently to being overlapped, a very different aspect from the parietal portion; but they do not differ from it in essential nature. They are solid, that is, they are never permeated by pores; but their edges are generally crenated, and there is, in some cases, as in Chelonobia, sufficient evidence that these crenations answer to the horizontal septa on the edges of the radii (also often reduced to mere crenations), and consequently, likewise, to the longitudinal septa of the parietes. In Coronula the edge of each ala consists of a medial ridge, sending off denticulated septa on both sides, and is therefore anomalous as compared with the alæ in other genera, but corresponds in structure with the similarly anomalous radius of Coronula. In order to allow of the growth of the edge of the ala, a fine thread of corium runs up the narrow furrow in which the edge is lodged, proceeding from the corium of the sack. In proportion as this thread runs up higher or lower, so are the summits of the alæ rendered, during growth, less or more oblique.

Structure of the Sheath.

As the compartments overlap each other, the edges of the alæ would have projected, and the inner surface of the orifice of the shell would not have been smooth and rounded, had not that part of each wall, which does not overlie an ala, been thickened so as to allow of the formation of a shoulder or indentation, against which the edge of the ala fits and abuts. The thickened portions, and the alæ themselves, together form the sheath, of which the use seems to be to strengthen, like a broad internal hoop, the upper part of the shell round the orifice, where naturally it is weak. The sheath is composed of successive, fine, shelly layers, which extend, as the shell is added to at the basal margin, lower and lower down on the inner surface of the walls. The lower edge of the sheath either simply projects a little inwards, or more commonly is formed into a sharp depending ridge, as represented in fig. 1, K′, Pl. 25. In some species of Pyrgoma (Pl. 13, fig. 2 b), the sheath reaches nearly to the bases of the compartments; and in Chelonobia (Pl. 14, fig. 4 e c e), the inner layer of shell surrounding the sack, which seems to correspond more nearly to the sheath than to the inner lamina of the walls, actually rests on the basal membrane. The opercular membrane is generally, but not invariably, attached only a little way above the lower edge of the sheath: at each exuviation, a new opercular membrane is formed, and is attached to the next lower zone of the sheath; the old membrane being cast off, but a circular slip of it is left, investing the last zone. Hence the whole upper part of the sheath above the opercular membrane, comes to be thus invested; and is marked by circular lines, one above the other, caused by the successive exuviations. This investing membrane often supports rows of minute bristles, directed upwards. Generally, a film of shell is deposited, at the period of the formation of each new opercular membrane, on that part of the sheath which lies immediately beneath. This innermost film or thin layer of shell, on the lines of suture between the compartments, breaks joint, at least in some cases, with the underlying shelly layers,—that is, the suture in this last-formed film does not lie exactly over the suture in the subjacent layers of the sheath. In Tubicinella, the sheath extends down close to the basis; and what is unique in this one genus, the opercular membrane, gradually thinning out downwards, closely adheres to the whole inner surface of the shell. In Tubicinella and in Xenobalanus (Pl. 17, fig. 4 b), the sheath separates easily into separate successive rims of shell; and this structure evidently is for the sake of facilitating the breakage of the upper end of the shell, which, as we shall presently see, is necessary to allow of the increase in size of its orifice.

Structure of the Basis.

This, in several genera and species, is composed of simple membrane, and consists of successive, concentric, circular slips, added round the outside, at each period of growth. In some species of Tetraclita and Balanus the basis is calcareous, but diaphanous, very thin, smooth, or somewhat granulated. In other cases it consists of a single calcareous lamina, either smooth, or with ridges radiating from its centre; it is formed of two laminæ, (as is most usual in Balanus,) separated by radiating septa. These septa, as well as the radiating ridges in the case of the single lamina, are homologous with the longitudinal septa of the parietes. The denticulated ends of the latter enter the mouths of the tubes formed by the radiating septa of the basis: threads of corium pass between the denticuli of the parietal septa, and thus enter the basal tubes. The ends of these threads of corium generally deposit transverse calcareous septa, exactly as within the parietal tubes. When the basis is thick the septa themselves (ccc) between the proper basal tubes, become porose, (or rather cancellated,) and they sometimes expand into a very thick, cancellated layer, separating the outer lamina (a) of the basis from the proper basal tubes, which always lie close under the inner lamina (b). This structure differs only slightly from that seen in the parietes of Tetraclita, in which the branching of the longitudinal parietal septa, produces thick walls, formed of several rows of tubes or pores. With respect to peculiarities in structure of the basis, Balanus lævis offers the most remarkable case; for here, in specimens which have grown crowded together, the whole interior appears sometimes to have become too much elongated or too deep for the animal’s body, and consequently the lower part of the deeply-concave basis has been filled up (Pl. 4, fig. 2 a) by thin, irregular, calcareous diaphragms. In elongated specimens, also, of Balanus balanoides, the shell sometimes appears to have grown too long for the animal’s body; but in this case the membranous basis becomes extremely convex inwards; it still reaches the basal edges of the parietes all round, but in the middle it is raised high above the surface of attachment; yet sometimes threads of the cementing tissue depend from the middle part to the surface of attachment. In Balanus terebratus (Pl. 8, fig. 2 a, 2 b), and in some species of Acasta, the basis is riddled, as previously stated, by numerous, minute, membrane-covered orifices. In B. declivis the membranous basis is always extremely oblique, owing to the rostral end of the shell being twice as high as the carinal and opposite end.

Regarding the very remarkable means by which the basis of sessile Cirripedes is cemented to the surface of attachment, it will be convenient to defer for a little the description, on account of its necessary length.

Structure of the Opercular Valves (Scuta and Terga).

These are situated on each side of the slit or orifice leading into the sack; from their shape, their powers of movement, their separation by flexible membrane from the shell, to which they serve as a lid, they appear at first as if they constituted an element very distinct from the shell itself, but this is not the case. They are, together with the opercular membrane, as essentially as the whole of what is externally visible, a part of the modified carapace, of which they occupy the upper or posterior extremity: from tracing the metamorphoses, or even by comparison of a Balanus with Pollicipes, there can be no doubt of the truth of this conclusion. The opercular valves are four in number,—a pair of scuta and a pair of terga; but the latter in Coronula diadema and reginæ, are either aborted or represented by a mere rudiment; and in Xenobalanus both scuta and terga are quite absent. In several cases, more especially in the genus Pyrgoma (Pl. 13, fig. 1 b), the scutum and tergum on each side are calcified together, so that sometimes not even a trace of the line of junction can be discovered. In most cases the scutum is firmly united, being articulated in a manner presently to be described, to the tergum; but in Coronula, Tubicinella (Pl. 17, fig. 3 c), and Platylepas, the ends of these valves are simply approximated.

Scuta.—These valves are important, inasmuch as the animal’s body is attached to them; in Pl. 25, fig. 1, the broken line, surrounding a, b, shows where the body has been cut, in removing the scutum on the near side, the other scutum, S, being left articulated to the tergum, T. In shape the scuta are generally sub-triangular; but in some species of Pyrgoma and in Chelonobia, &c. they are much elongated. The lines of growth are usually prominent; and along the occludent margins the alternate, or sometimes every third or fourth line, is developed into a knob, which produces a serrated edge, serving to lock the two opposed valves together; there is, however, no trace of this structure in Coronula and Tubicinella. In some species of Pyrgoma, a ledge of considerable breadth (Pl. 13, fig. 3 e, &c.) is developed along the occludent margins of the two scuta, as well as of the two terga, giving them an anomalous structure. The Terga differ considerably in outline in the different genera and species: their shape approaches more nearly to a triangle than to any other regular form; but there is generally a projection or spur on the basal margin, on the side towards the scutum. In some species of Pyrgoma, the tergum is of so irregular a shape as to defy description. In most cases, a longitudinal depression or furrow runs down the valve, from the apex to the extremity of the spur; and it not rarely happens that the sides of this furrow become folded inwards and almost closed. The spur probably answers to the basal point of the usually sub-rhomboidal tergum in Pollicipes and Scalpellum.[22] The tips of the terga in some species of Balanus, &c., are specially modified into sharp points or beaks (Pl. 2, fig. 3 b, 3 d), bowed a little inwards, and projecting considerably above the tips of the scuta; this is effected by the medial, uppermost part of the valve being internally thickened and hardened, and then, by the disintegration of the two margins and the external surface, the internal modified portion becomes exposed. The whole valve, also, at least in such cases as in Balanus psittacus, appears to be forced slowly upwards in the articular furrow of the scutum. I am assured, by a competent observer, that the beaks of the terga in B. porcatus can give an object placed within the orifice of the shell a sharp tap.

The scutum and tergum, with the few exceptions above stated, are articulated together at a large or open angle. The articulation (see Pl. 11, fig. 5 b, c, d, and fig. 6 b, c) is effected by the margin of the tergum being a little inflected, and lodged in a furrow in the margin of the scutum. This furrow in the scutum has its further border generally prominent and often reflexed or curved over; I have called it the articular ridge; it, also, is lodged in a furrow in the upper part of the tergum, which again is bordered by a ridge, viz., the articular tergal ridge. So that in both scutum and tergum there is an articular furrow, bordered in each case, on one side by the margin of the valve, and on the other side by the so-called articular ridge. In Chelonobia (Pl. 14, fig. 1 b) the articular ridge of the scutum is horny. When, as often happens, the scuta and terga have been much worn, the manner of their articulation (Pl. 18, fig. 1 a) is pretty well shown even from the outside; in this case their external appearance is very different from what it is in those individuals (fig. 1 c) of the same species, which have not suffered disintegration. This articulation of the scuta and terga is prefigured amongst the Lepadidæ, in Pollicipes mitella, and in Lithotrya.

The scuta are brought together by a short, strong, straight, adductor muscle (Pl. 25, fig. 1, a); its attachment leaves (with very few exceptions, as in Tubicinella) a rounded impression, or even pit, on the under side of the valve in its upper part. This pit is frequently bounded, on its lower side, by a sharp ridge, which, though not in actual connexion with the adductor muscle, I have, for convenience sake, called the adductor ridge; it serves apparently to give support to the animal’s body; in some few cases (as in B. psittacus, Pl. 2, fig. 3 c) it is confluent at its upper end with the articular ridge, and converts the whole basi-tergal corner of the valve into a deep cavity. In some of the species of Pyrgoma (Pl. 12, fig. 5 c, 7 b), and in some varieties of Creusia, this adductor ridge is enormously developed, so as to depend far beneath the true basal margin, or that to which the opercular membrane is attached. At the basi-tergal corner of the valve, there is generally a small pit or impression, and sometimes distinct crests, for the attachment of the lateral depressor muscle. At the rostral end there is, also, a small cavity formed by the overfolding of the occludent margin (rarely furnished with crests) for the attachment of the rostral depressor muscle. In the Terga, at the basi-carinal corner, there are usually crests, though sometimes feebly developed, for the attachment of the tergal depressor muscle. But in Chelonobia, Coronula, Tubicinella, Platylepas, and in some other cases, there are no crests. The crests, when well developed, are furnished with rectangular sub-crests or denticuli on both sides; in fact they resemble, and are probably homologous with, the denticulated ribs or septa in the parietes, radii, and basis. Altogether the scuta and terga are attached, as far as muscles are concerned, to the shell and sack, by three longitudinal pairs.

Growth of the Whole Shell, and Its Microscopical Structure.

The opercular valves are added to along their basal margins alone;[23] the animal’s body, together with the several muscles, becoming attached at each period of growth lower and lower down to the valves; this no doubt is effected by the absorption of the upper surfaces of the muscles, and the formation of new fasciæ on their lower surfaces. The opercular membrane, which, though thin and flexible, forms part of the general outer surface of the animal as much as does any portion of the rigid shell, with which indeed it is strictly homologous, is periodically moulted, together with the integuments of the whole included animal. The new opercular membrane is of course each time formed a little larger than the old one. In Coronula and Tubicinella, however, several successive opercular membranes are preserved one over the other, and the outside membrane gradually disintegrates; in these cases the undermost opercular membrane is formed wrinkled and considerably too large, so as to allow of being stretched, before it is finally cast off. In Tubicinella, the opercular membrane runs down, adhering to the inner surface of the shell, to nearly the basis, and hence during the diametric growth of the shell, it is longitudinally split, and is repaired by slips of new membrane, which resemble the radii in form and in direction of the lines of growth.

The basis is added to only round the circumference, and hence increases in diameter, and, when concave, in depth. The compartments grow at their basal margins, where they are in contact with the basis; hence the shell is added to in height, and, owing to the outward inclination of the compartments, also, in basal diameter; but the compartments likewise, in most cases, grow along both lateral margins, that is, on the edges of the radii and alæ; and hence the upper part of the shell, also, increases in diameter. The orifice of the shell, moreover, thus becomes enlarged. In some cases the shell is destitute of radii, only sutures being present, that is, the compartments do not grow laterally; and sometimes, as in the whole genus Pyrgoma, there are not even sutures, the compartments having been fused together: in both these cases, the shell can increase in diameter only at the base; and the orifice, it might have been thought, would necessarily have remained, to the destruction of the animal, of the same minute size, as when first formed after the metamorphosis: this certainly would have been the case had not the upper ends of the compartments, surrounding and forming the orifice, been nicely adapted always to yield, in a certain limited degree, to the disintegrating influences to which every shell is exposed, but which most Cirripedes can resist; and the disintegration of the narrow end of a conical tube, of course increases the diameter of its orifice. In Tubicinella, in which the shell is furnished with narrow radii, and does increase in diameter from top to bottom, the increase is not sufficient in proportion to the continued elongation of the shell; to compensate for this, the orifice is enlarged at short intervals by the breakage of the upper end of the shell, for which purpose (as explained under the genus) it is evidently constructed. Hence we see that, in certain Cirripedes, decay or disintegration, and breakage, are necessary elements in their growth! It is a remarkable fact, which I cannot explain, that in some species in which the orifice of the shell is usually increased by disintegration, if individuals are so situated that they are not exposed to sufficiently energetic disintegrating influences, as may be inferred from the well-preserved condition of the whole surface of the shell, then the radii become developed, and the orifice is increased in size by the diametric growth of the upper part of the shell: I have seen instances of this in Tetraclita porosa, and purpurascens, and in Balanus perforatus: it appeared, but of course erroneously, as if the lateral growth of the compartments had been subjected to the will of the animal.

Considering the strength of the shell of sessile Cirripedes, the separation of their compartments one from another and from the basis, during growth, has justly been thought a surprising circumstance. In most Chthamalinæ and in some species of Balanus, however, if the shell be boiled in caustic potash, the compartments fall apart with a touch; this shows that their union is due to animal and probably to organised matter, and the growth of such matter between the opposed edges of the compartments, and their consequent gradual separation, offers no particular difficulty. But in many Balani, boiling in potash for hours does not seem even to weaken, in the least degree, the sutures, which are wonderfully strong—the shell often breaking rather than yield on these lines; if, however, the shell be dissolved in acid, the animalised tissue which is left easily separates on the lines of suture, and if this tissue be boiled in potash, the remnants of the compartments fall quite separate. These facts seem to me to show, that the compartments in such cases are joined along the lines of suture by tissue, which must be in a calcified state, but which, nevertheless, continues to grow by intersusception; in other words, I believe that the tips of the complicated ridges and points interlocking on the lines of suture, are not separated from each other by films of corium or simple animal matter, but are actually united by corium in a calcified, yet still growing condition.

In ordinary Crustaceans, the growth is periodical and sudden; a new and larger carapace, for instance, is formed under the old one, and after the exuviation of the latter, the new one soon hardens, and does not subsequently increase in size; so it is in the case of Cirripedes, with the membranes of the body, and even with certain parts, as the opercular membrane, of the external covering. But a Cirripede cannot, like a crab, crawl into some crevice and remain protected till its shell becomes hardened; hence, probably, it is that the shell is never[24] wholly moulted. Even if the margins of the opposed compartments and of the basis were to grow rapidly, the shell would necessarily be much weakened on the lines of suture, and unable to withstand the heavy breakers, to which so many species of sessile Cirripedes are exposed. On the other hand, although the margins are thus compelled to grow slowly, they do not grow continuously, as may be seen in the zones of increment on all the valves, corresponding, I believe, with the periods of exuviation of the membranes of the body. A layer of shell, often very thin, seems to be generally deposited over the whole internal surface of the several valves, at the same time that the marginal zones are added; so that the only essential difference in the growth of the external covering, in Cirripedes as compared with ordinary Crustaceans, is that the old shell is not cast off, but adheres to the outside of the new shell, and that the margins are added to (in certain definite directions) slowly yet not continuously, instead of the whole being formed at a single period.

If, now, a section of one of the shelly zones of growth be carefully examined, it can in some cases be distinctly seen to be formed of successive, excessively fine laminæ; but the animalised tissue (which differs much in amount in different Cirripedes) left after the shell has been dissolved in acid, exhibits, in most cases, neither laminæ nor any other structure whatever. The shell seems to be the actual pulpy corium, or true skin, in a calcified condition, but generally with its cellular structure modified and much reduced: I have taken a bit of recently-formed shell of Tetraclita and of Coronula, with the corium still adherent to its under surface, and after dissolution in acid, I could not distinguish the part, which had just before existed as shell, from the corium itself. In the case of Coronula, immediately prior to the period of moulting and growth, I found the unaltered corium so charged, as to effervesce, with carbonate of lime, either in a state of dissolution, or in granules too minute to be visible under the highest powers.

The sutures between the several compartments and the basis are covered by thin membrane, which is continually splitting during the growth of the opposed edges of the underlying shell; but previously to each splitting, a new slip of membrane is, I believe, already formed under the old one; so that the corium is not even momentarily exposed. Owing to this manner of growth, the slips of membrane consist of successive rims united together; in most cases, these soon become abraded from the older parts of the shell, but are sometimes preserved. The last-formed slip of membrane over a suture is homologous with the opercular membrane; and both are strictly analogous with the ring of flexible membrane, forming the joint of the leg of a crab. In the latter case, the flexible membrane and hardened crust are both moulted together: in the opercular membrane, there is a double line of splitting, one close round the opercular valves, and the other at the basal edge of the sheath, and the intermediate portion is moulted, but with a zone of membrane left adherent to the non-moulted valves and sheath: lastly, in the slips of membrane covering the sutures, there is only a single line of splitting, and no portion, I believe, is moulted; the rims of membrane on each side remaining adherent on the compartments and basis, until worn away.

The opercular membrane, when closely examined, exhibits no structure, except that it can sometimes be plainly seen to be composed of successive, numerous, excessively thin laminæ. Occasionally, however, it presents the false appearance of being permeated by parallel and anastomosing vessels: this appearance is clue to one or more of the component laminæ having been wrinkled before a succeeding lamina was thrown down and attached to its under side. If a small piece of an opercular valve of Tubicinella, with the opercular membrane adhering to it, and with the corium under both, be dissolved in acid, it may be clearly made out that the corium under the valve has gone on being converted into shell, whereas under the opercular membrane it has been converted and condensed into fine constituent laminæ of chitine. Inasmuch as the successive layers of shell, during each period of growth, go on encroaching on those of the membrane, the line of junction between the shell and chitine becomes oblique or bevelled. The membrane on this bevelled line of junction assumes a slightly different aspect to what it has elsewhere; it becomes yellowish or brown, thicker and very much tougher. In many genera it is also furnished with a row of small bristles. At the period of exuviation the opercular membrane separates just outside this modified portion, leaving the latter adherent, as a rim or slip, on the valves. If, however, the opercular membrane be rudely torn off before its proper period of exuviation, it carries with it the as yet continuous, but already modified, slip. A slightly indented line may sometimes be traced before the period of exuviation, showing where the separation will take place: what produces this line I know not. The coloured, thickened, and modified slips of opercular membrane, which are thus retained adhering to the valves, and which together form an investing membrane, have been considered by most authors as the epidermis; but they have no more right to be thus called than has any other part of the opercular membrane. Exactly similar slips of membrane are left investing the sheath. So, again, the membrane which, when well preserved, invests the walls of the shell, is made up, as already stated, of successively adherent slips, which originally covered the lines of suture.[25]

The little bristles above alluded to, which arise from the slips of membrane left adherent on the opercular valves, sheath, and walls, stand in rows; a row corresponding to each period of exuviation of the opercular membrane. The bristles are generally largest on the opercular valves and sheath; in Balanus tintinnabulum, they are from 1 to 2/1000ths of an inch in length, but they are longer in some other species. I may here mention, as showing the connexion of these bristles with the opercular membrane, that similar bristles occur in B. perforatus, scattered over the surface of that membrane, and are necessarily moulted with it. In the imbedded genera Coronula and Tubicinella, none of these bristles exist. When a portion of valve or shell, furnished with bristles, is dissolved in acid, tough, sinuous, and apparently hollow, threads are seen to run from their bulb-like bases, into and up the corresponding layer, which, before dissolution, existed as shell; and they terminate internally in very fine points, which I believe are united to the underlying corium. These threads, or tubuli,[26] as I have called them in my volume on the Lepadidæ, are, in Tetraclita porosa, about 1/5000ths of an inch in diameter, but only half that size in B. tintinnabulum. On parts of the shell where there are no bristles, similar tubuli penetrate the shelly layers, and come to the surface. The tubuli running to the lowest and last-formed row of bristles, just after a period of exuviation, are so delicate as hardly, or not at all, to be distinguished; in the row above, they are plain and longer, and for the next two or three upper rows they are, in some cases, as in Tetraclita porosa, longer and longer, having been added to during each successive thickening of the valve. These tubuli consist of chitine, and no doubt first existed as threads of corium; they are so tough that they must serve to strengthen the successive layers of shell, but I imagine their chief function is to keep up the vitality of the newly-formed layers of shell. May we not, also, venture to suppose that by their means, some degree of sensibility is given to the bristles? I need only further remark, that in some species of Balanus and of Chthamalus, the under side of the shell is penetrated by irregular pores, large enough to be visible to the naked eye, into which threads of corium penetrate; but these can hardly be said to appertain to the microscopical structure; and are more nearly related to those pores and furrows, formed by the greater or less development of the longitudinal septa, and in which the threads of corium deposit, or rather become changed into, transverse septa, or solid shelly matter, as previously described.