Within the memory of many living naturalists, Cirripedes were universally looked on as belonging to the Molluscous kingdom; nor was this surprising, considering the fixed condition of their shells, and the degree of external resemblance between, on the one hand, Lepas and Teredo, and on the other hand, between Balanus and a Mollusc compounded of a patella and chiton. It is remarkable that this external false appearance overbore, even in the mind of Cuvier, his knowledge of their internal structure, namely, their lateral jaws, articulated appendages, and regular ganglionic nervous system, which now strike us as such conclusive evidence of their position in the great Articulate kingdom. Straus[5] was, I believe, the first who, in 1819, maintained that Cirripedes were most closely allied to Crustacea. But this view was disregarded, until J. Vaughan Thompson's[6] capital discovery, in 1830, of their metamorphoses, since which time, Cirripedes have been almost universally admitted amongst the Crustaceans. It is well known, that it is hardly possible to give a definition of this great class, which shall include every member of it; nevertheless, even if the mature Cirripede alone be considered, the following characters, viz. the slight separation of the head and thorax, the latter generally bearing six pairs of appendages, and the being enclosed in a carapace--together with the periodical exuviation of the greater part of the external membranes, would, perhaps, suffice to show that it should be classed amongst Crustacea. [5] Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Nat., tom. v, p. 381. [6] Zoological Researches and Illustrations. But it still remains undecided what rank in this class Cirripedes should hold. Before briefly discussing this point, it is indispensable to indicate their essential characters, which I will immediately attempt. For as long as it remained doubtful which was their anterior extremity, which the ventral or dorsal surface; as long as the peduncle was thought by one naturalist to be the legs, by another the abdomen, in a modified condition, it was hopeless to compare Cirripedes with ordinary Crustaceans, and assign to them their due rank.