Presuming that your tank already contains a number of Barnacles attached to various objects, and that such have been in the same vessel for some weeks; syringe the water for a few minutes, and you will find floating about, or rising to the surface, many specimens of the desired object. They will, in all probability, be visible to the naked eye. To attempt to lift one out of the water, however, by means of your finger and thumb would be utterly useless. Such a procedure, even were it successful, would inevitably mar the delicate beauty of this 'inessential' object, which, spirit like, casts no shadow upon weed or water. The best plan is to insert a tube of glass into the aquarium, in such a way that the exuvium may ascend the interior. Then place your finger on the top, and draw the tube out of the water, and you will be able to deposit the skin of the Barnacle upon a slip of glass by merely lifting off your finger. The specimen can then be leisurely arranged, and spread out by aid of a hand lens and fine pointed needles. Walking by the sea-shore one fine summer afternoon, I met a fisher boy running along with some curious objects spread out in the palm of his left hand, while in his right, suspended from finger and thumb, appeared a still more desirable prize. At first glance I detected the objects to be specimens of the _Lepas anatifera_. They had, so the boy stated in answer to my inquiries, been plucked from the base of a ship newly arrived from a long voyage. When I offered him sixpence for the 'lot,' the embryo plougher of the deep looked up in my face with a singularly mistrustful expression, and said, 'D'ye mean it, sir?' I gave speedy assurance of my sincerity, and on receiving the purchase money, after handing over the Barnacles to my custody, the young urchin started off as fast as his legs, encased in huge wading boots, would allow him. His alarm was quite unnecessary, for although in a few days after I would not have given a penny for a thousand, I would willingly, on the above occasion, have paid five shillings for a single specimen, rather than have missed the opportunity of possessing such an interesting object as the Ship Barnacle. On placing them in water one only of the creatures showed any signs of life, and by next morning they made the scentral organ of my face so highly indignant that, in order to allay its irritability, I was obliged to remove the defunct animals to the outside of the window. There they remained for several months, and were eventually transferred to the privacy of a card-board box. Although twelve months have elapsed since the last-mentioned removal took place, these creatures even now, when the lid of the case is lifted, give out a smell, so 'antient and fish-like,' that I believe not a few of 'the sweet perfumes of Arabia' would be needed in order to subdue its power.