Note 1 — Chapter II
Reading edition
“Barˈna-cles.” A kind of shell fish, now recognized as belonging to the Articulata. They are provided with a long, flexible footstalk, by means of which they adhere either to fixed or floating objects. At the summit of this stalk are shelly valves, five in number, which enclose the principal organs of the animal. This shell opens and closes to admit of its spreading out and retracting a net-like organ, by means of which the animal catches its food, which consists of small crustacea. On emerging from the eggs, young barnacles are free, and are furnished with organs of locomotion, and with large eyes, but in a short time a change occurs in them. They assume the form of their parents, and attach themselves to some place of residence. In warm climates they are exceedingly abundant, and often fasten themselves in such numbers to the bottom of a vessel as to retard its progress.