The Van Buren press., 1895-03-02
HOW THE BARNAcLEoETsFoo
Provided With a Wonderful Net Which II
Uaes MS n Net.

Inc ufSU blIne u Iuau SeoS u udTHhclc
feed he is pretty likely to think it the
most wonderful thing he ever saw, and
the oftener he sees it the more Won
derful 1t is apt to appear to him. The
ordinary barnacle, as is generally
known, grows on ships bottoms, on
piles and on rocks and stones along
the shore. There are various kinds OF
barnac1es, and they attain various
sizes. The common barnacle is slight-
1y oval in general outlines at the base,
its shell is about ive-eighths OF an
inch in length, half an inch in width
and half an inch high; it tapers from
the base up, and is Jagged around the
top, where it is open. Inside the outer
shell is another, which is divided in
halves vertically, the two parts being
held together by muscles. The outer
shell is whole and fixed; the inner
shell is movable. When the barnacle
is quiet the inside shell is drawn to-
gether at the top and closed, and usu-
ally it is below the top of the outer
shell.
When preparing to feed, the barna-
Gle raises the divided shell until the
top Of it is above the jagged top of the
outer she'll; sometimes 1t opens the
inner shell before 1t is above the outer
one; more often 1t does not. When
the barnacle OPENS its inner shell it
puts out from it it's feeder, which, as it
comes up into view, is in general con-
tour not unlike human hand as it
would appear with the fingers and
thumb joined at the tips. When this
hand is open it is seen to have many
| fingers, which are SO delicate as to be
almost threadlike in fineness, but
which, fine as they are, have upon
them tiny feathery lateral projections.
As the barnacle raises its hand it
opens its fingers and throws its hand
backward as one would throw his hand
back upon his wrist. Then the barn
acle sweeps 1t forward through the
water, nearly to horizontal position
in front. It is spread to its greatest
dimensions when in q vertical posi-
tion. 1t is then in appearance some
| thing like tiny fan, concave on the
side to the front. 1t is reduced in size
as it approaches the horizontal, where
it is closed, and III outline as it appear
ed at first with the finger-tips togeth-
er, and in that form it is drawn into
the shell with whatever food it may
have caught in the sweep. The water
passes freely between these slender,
feather-lined fingers, which, however,
retain the most minute animalculae-
the food that the barnacle lives upon.
Quickly the feeder reappears in the
first position and the sweeping through
the water is repeated, and this is con-
tinued until apparently the barnacles s
appetite is satisfied, the feeding lasting
altogether perhaps one or two minutes.
The barnacle might not again seek
food for hours; and it is irregular in its
hours of feeding. Larger barnacles
are slower in motion when feeding.
smaller ones quicker. The little bar
nacle here referred to throws its feeder
very quickly. Every sweep, from the
start, through the spread, contraction
and drawing in of the hand, is made
with the trueness, smoothness and pre-
cision of machinery.
Sometimes the barnacle sheds this
feeder, or rather, it sheds the outer
covering of it, as though it were a
glove. In open water this would float
away with the tide or current. At the
aquarium it has sometimes been found
lying alongside the shell of the bar
nacle; it is SO light that when moved il
floats in the water almost rs little
fragment of thistledown floats in the
air. The barnacle is not discommoded
by the shedding of this glove from it.
delicate, feathery hand; it makes nc
brock in its feeding. When the bar
nacle dies the inner shell comes loose
from the outer shell.-N. Y. Sun.