Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/877

Rh is somewhat translucent. The colour closely approximates to that of the sand on which the animal is found. After boiling the cuticle assumes its well-known brown colour. Several other species of Cnnujon are known on the British shores, but none of them are as abundant as 0. vulgaris, and they are not captured as food. C. vulgaris is common on the east coast of North America from North Carolina to Labrador ; in the neighbourhood of New York it is used as food. The species also occurs on the west coast of America from San Diego to Alaska, and is commonly eaten at San Francisco, as also is another species, Crangon franciscorum, Stimpson. The genus Pandalus, first defined by Leach in his Malacologia Britannica, is chiefly distinguished by the great length of the second pair of antennae, which are longer than the whole body, the presence of a long spiny rostrum curved upwards, the total absence of pincers on the first pair of ambulatory limbs, and the great length of the second of these limbs on the left side. The ambulatory limbs are all long and slender, and the first pair are not thicker than the rest. The second pair are provided with a very small pincer ap- paratus. The third somite of the abdomen is large and projects upwards, so that the body has a hump-backed appearance. The serrated upper edge of the rostrum extends backwards along the median line of the carapace, half way to its posterior border. The specific characters of the species Annulicornis are that the rostrum is equal in length to the carapace, and that its anterior half is destitute of teeth above, with the exception of one small tooth near the apex. This species is not so abundant as C. vulgaris and is an inhabit- ant of deeper water. It is taken usually for the market on the east and south coasts of Britain, but is widely distributed, occurring in Scotland, Ireland, Shetland, and Iceland. In colour it is when alive of a reddish grey with spots of deeper red ; when boiled it is of a uniform deep red. This species is sometimes con- founded with the common prawn ; but it never reaches the size of the prawn, its adult length being 2 to 2^ inches. P. annulicornis is the only species of the genus occurring in Great Britain. The common prawn when adult is above 4 inches in length. It belongs to the species Palxmon serratus. In Palsemon the second pair of antenna* are long, as in Pandalus, but the first pair are much larger in the former than in the latter. In Palsemon both of the first two pairs of ambulatory limbs are didactyle or pincer-formed ; the second pair are stronger than the first, and the left not longer than the right. Some of the smaller species of Pal&mon are used as food and sometimes called shrimps. At Poole in Dorsetshire, according to Prof. Bell's British Crustacea, Palxmon squilla, Fabr., P. varians, Leach, and P. leachii, Bell, are all taken, and sold as cup-shrimps.

SHROPSHIRE, or SALOP, an inland county of England, on the borders of Wales, lies between 52 20' and 53 4' N. lat. and 2 17' and 3 14' W. long., and is bounded N. by Cheshire and an interpolated portion of Flint, E. by Stafford, S.E. by Worcester, S. by Hereford, S.W. by Radnor, W. by Montgomery, and N.W. by Denbigh. The total area in 1880 was 844,565 acres, or about 1319 square miles. Towards the west Shropshire partakes of the hilly scenery of the neighbouring Wales, from which several ranges are continued into it. South of the Severn on the borders of Montgomery the Breidden Hills of Lower Silurian formation rise abruptly in three peaks, of which Cefn-y- Castell, about 1300 feet high, is in Shropshire; and in the south-west there is a broad range of rough rounded hills known as Clun Forest, extending from Radnor. South and west of the Severn there are four other principal chains of hills extending from south-west to north-east the Long Mynd (1674 feet), to the west of Church Stretton, of Cam- brian formation ; the Caradoc Hills, a little to the north, which cross the Severn, terminating in the isolated sugar- loaf peak of the Wrekin (1320 feet); the Wenlock Edge, to the east of Church Stretton, a sharp ridge extend- ing for 20 miles, and in some places rising above 1000 feet; and the Glee Hills, near the south-eastern border (Brown Clee Hill, 1805 feet; Titterstone Clee Hill, 1750 feet). The remainder of the county is for the most part pleasantly undulating, finely cultivated, and watered by numerous rivulets and streams. It may be said to lie in the basin of the Severn, which enters the county near its centre from Montgomery, and flows eastwards to Shrews- bury, after which it turns south-eastwards to Ironbridge, and then continues in a more southerly direction past Bridgnorth, entering Worcester near Bewdley. It is navi- gable to Shrewsbury and has connexion with the Doning- ton, the Shropshire Union, the Shrewsbury, the Birming- ham and Liverpool, and the Chester and Ellesmere Canals. Its principal tributaries within the county are from the right the Meol (which receives the Rea), the Cound, the Mor, and theBorle, and from the left the Vyrnwy (dividing Shropshire from Montgomery), the Perry, the Tern (which receives the Roden), the Bell, and the Worf. The Dee touches the north-western boundary of the county with Denbigh. In the south the Teme, which receives the Clun, the Onny, and the Corve, flows near the borders of Here- ford, which it occasionally touches and intersects. Of the numerous lakes and pools the largest is Ellesmere (116 acres) near the borders of Denbigh. The Severn forms the boundary between the Old and the New Red Sandstone formations, which constitute the principal strata of the county. The Old Red Sandstone rocks lying to the south and west of the river are bounded and deeply interpene- trated by Cambrian and Silurian strata. There are five separate coal-fields within the county, the Forest of Wyre, Coalbrookdale, Shrewsbury, Clee Hills, and Oswestry. The Forest of Wyre field on the borders of Worcester rests directly on the Devonian rocks, and has a great thickness of measures, but comparatively few workable seams. The Coalbrookdale embraces an area of 28 square miles, and is triangular in form, with its base resting on the Severn and its northern apex at Newport. On its western side it is bounded partly by a great fault, which brings in the New Red Sandstone, and partly by the Silurian strata ; on its eastern side it passes beneath the Permian strata ; and it is supposed that the productive measures are con- tinued towards South Staffordshire. Its general dip is eastwards, and the strata have a vertical thickness of over 1000 feet. The organic remains include fishes, crustaceans, and molluscs. Mingled with the coal strata are several valuable courses of ironstone. The original quantity of coal in the field is estimated to have been about 43 million tons, of which there are about 12 millions now remain- ing. Neither the Shrewsbury nor the Clee Hills fields are of much value. The Oswestry field is small, but has some workable seams adjoining the extensive field of Denbigh. In 1884 850,000 tons of coal, valued at 286,000, were raised in Shropshire from fifty-five collieries, while 198,700 tons of iron were obtained valued at 109,285. Iron- casting forms one of the most important industries of the county. Lead mining is carried on with some success on the Stiperstones, 3788 tons of lead ore being raised in 1884. The other principal minerals are iron pyrites (500 tons in 1884, valued at 250), barytes (4939 tons, worth 7395), and fire-clay (56,000 tons, worth 8475). There are also a large number of stone and lime quarries. Manufactures. With the exception of iron, the manufactures of the county are comparatively unimportant. Bricks and tiles, earthen and china ware, and tobacco pipes are largely made in various districts. At Shrewsbury there are linen, yarn, and thread mills, and in several districts small paper-mills. Agriculture. There is much fertile land suitable for all kinds of culture, the richest soil being that in the vicinity of the Severn, including the Vale of Shrewsbury. Much of the hilly ground, including Wenlock Edge and the Clee Hills, admits of tillage ; but a portion of the western mountainous region is of comparatively small value even for the pasturage of sheep. Out of a total area of 844,565 acres there were 716,599 in 1885 under culture, of which 150,085 were under corn crops, 61,101 under green crops, 426,859 under permanent pasture, 71,470 under rotation grasses, and 6978 fallow. The area under woods in 188l'was 45,641 acres, and in 1885 the area under orchards was 4015. Of corn crops the areas under wheat and barley were in 1885 nearly equal, 53,161 and 53,300 acres respectively, while that under oats amounted to 34,445 acres, rye to 848, beans 4648, and pease 3683. Nearly five-sixths of the area under green crops were occupied by turnips and swedes, which covered 47,119 acres, the area under potatoes being 6874, and that under mangold wurzel 4355. Horses in 1885 numbered 32,323, of which 19,377 were used solely for purposes of agriculture ; cattle

