1. N. iricolor. SPECIES INQUIRENDE. NEREIS. Nereis iricolor, Montagu, Linn. Trans. vii. 82. Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 94. Turt. Brit. Faun. 135. 2. N. margarita. Nereis margarita, Montagu, Linn. Trans. vii. 82. Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 94. Turt. Brit. Faun. 135. 3. N. lineata. Nereis lineata, Montagu, Linn. Trans. vii. 83. Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 95. Turt. Brit. Faun. 135. 4. N. maculosa. Nereis maculosa, Montagu in Linn. Trans. xi. 21. pl. 3. f. 4. 5. N. rufa. Nereis rufa, Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 47. pl. 25. f. 3, and iv. 96. pl. 27. f. 2, 3. Hogg's Stockton, 29. 6. N. mollis. Nereis mollis, Linn. Syst. 1085. Turt. Gmel. iv. 86. Jameson in Wern. Mem. i. 557. Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 96. Bosc, Vers, i. 168. 7. N. octentaculata. Nereis octentaculata, Montagu in Linn. Trans. vii. 84. Penn. Brit. 8. N. punctata. Nereis punctata, Encyclop. Méth. Vers, tab. 56. f. 19, 20! The Desc. Bodyths long, th broad, linear, nearly equal at both extremities. Back rounded, brown, marked with three rows of lightcoloured circular spots arranged longitudinally, and with eight similarly coloured transverse lines placed at unequal distances. middle series of these spots is the faintest; and besides the three dorsal there is another series on each side placed on the foot-like processes. Head small, quadrangular, corneous, pale, with four black eyes, two on each side, and approximate. Anterior margin of the head furnished with five conical, setaceous, two-jointed tenta cula, two on each side, and one in the centre, which is the shortest and inferior. Mouth terminal, with a large projectile proboscis unarmed with any teeth. Feet forty on each side. Each foot is divided at the apex into two processes; the superior terminated with a very long setaceous filament, and furnished with a retractile brush of fine hairs; the inferior has three short setaceous filaments, and a large brush of equally fine hairs. The filaments are not retractile. Ventral surface brownish. Tail abrupt, terminated with two setæ like the lateral filaments. Anus terminal. This is a beautiful worm, and often glows with a metallic lustre of a light blue reflected from its pale spots. Its motions are very rapid. I have seen only one specimen, and this was many years ago. I had no doubt of its being the Nereis punctata figured in the work referred to, but it is not the Nereis punctata of Müller. The species is not noticed by Audouin and Milne-Edwards; nor am I able to refer it to any defined genus. 9. N. noctiluca. Nereis noctiluca, Linn. Syst. 1085. Turt. Gmel. iv. 86. Penn. Brit. There is mention made of the luminous worm in the oyster in Act. Acad. Nat. Cur. 1670, p. 309. 10. N. pinnigera. Nereis pinnigera, Montagu in Linn. Trans. ix. 111. tab. 6. f. 3. Penn. APHRODITA. 1. A. annulata. Aphrodita annulata, Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 45. pl. 24. f. 28. 2. A. minuta. Aphrodita minuta, Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 45. pl. 24. f. 29. SPIO. 1. S. seticornis. Nereis minima tentaculis longissimis, Bast. Opusc. Subs. ii. 134. tab. 12. f. 2. Spio seticornis, Turt. Gmel. iv. 81. Turt. Brit. Faun. 137. Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 92. Stark, Elem. ii. 138. Dalyell, Pow. Creat. ii. 159. pl. 20. f. 22. Perhaps a species of Leucodore! But see Oersted, Consp. 40. 2. S. crenaticornis. Spio crenaticornis, Montagu in Linn. Trans. xi. 199. tab. 14. f. 6, cop. Spio quadricornis, Lam. Anim.'s Vert. 2nde édit. v. 559. Stark, 3. S. calcarea. Spio calcarea, Templeton in Loud. Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 234. f. 27. Obs. Probably the same as Spio seticornis. BRANCHIARIUS. Branchiarius, Montagu in Linn. Trans. xi. 202. 1. B. quadrangularis. Branchiarius quadrangularis, Montagu in Linn. Trans. xi.202. pl. 14.f.1. DIPLOTIS. Diplotis, Montagu in Linn. Trans. xi. 203. 1. D. hyalina. Diplotis hyalina, Montagu in Linn. Trans. xi. 203. pl. 14. f. 5. DERRIS. Derris, Adams in Linn. Trans. ii. 67. 1. D. sanguinea. Derris sanguinea, Adams in Linn. Trans. ii. 67. tab. 13. f. 1, 2. Turt. "A mighty maze, but not without a plan." "Pereant illi qui ante nos nostra dixerunt." The better rule is the one now adopted, and first followed by Isaac:-" And he called their names after the names by which his father had called them."-Genesis, xxvi. 18. APPENDIX. Containing fuller descriptions and accounts of the habits of the species described in the earlier pages of the work, which were printed before Dr. Johnston's death. Order I. TURBELLARIA, Ehrenberg (page 2). Of this Order M. E. Blanchard, a very competent critic, remarks:"En outre, cette classe est composée d'éléments hétérogènes, comme l'ont reconnu tous les zoologistes. Aussi, M. Siebold, tout en l'adoptant, l'a-t-il réduite aux deux groupes des Rhabdocèles et des Planaires. Les Nemertina, que certains zoologistes considèrent encore comme devant former un groupe dans le voisinage de celui des Planariées, me paraissent, au contraire, s'en éloigner considérablement ; et M. Siebold a même cru devoir plutôt les rattacher aux Annélides, ce qui, du reste, ne saurait être admis; mais cet exemple montre combien jusqu'à présent les caractères de tous ces animaux ont été peu étudiés et mal définis. Les Gordius et les Naïs, que M. Ehrenberg range aussi dans sa classe des Turbellaria, ont été reconnus par tous les zoologistes, je crois, sans exception, comme appartenant les premiers aux Helminthes, et les derniers aux Arnélides.”—Ann. des Sc. nat. vii. 100 (1847). · Convoluta paradoxa (page 16). I had named this species Planaria macrocephala because of the bluntness of its head, for the enlarged end is the anterior one, a fact which the mere examination of the figure would never resolve, since the part is distinguished by none of its usual appendages or organs; it has neither mouth, eyes, nor tentacula. But all unfurnished as it is, there is no species of its genus that I have met with that excels it in activity. Ever-restless, it glides along the surface of the vessel with great celerity, varies its course with ease, and sometimes leaving the bottom, it swims in the bosom of the water, but with a tardier pace. With the obtuse anterior end, which is in constant motion and change, it feels the way, and pushing aside the floating particles that annoy it, it guides itself with as much safety, and appears as careful of obstacles, as if indeed eyes and feelers were sentinels in front. II. TERETULARIA (page 18). Char. Worms individual, free, very rarely tubicolous, with or without eyes: body soft, cavernous, linear, flat or somewhat cylindrical, much longer than broad, (very often) clothed with vibratile cilia, sometimes extraordinarily contractile and then generally separating into several pieces by a transverse division. Sucker none. Head continuous with the body or indistinctly defined, entire or furnished with lobes, raised plaits or fissures (perhaps connected with respiration). Mouth anterior and subterminal, in the form of a slit, for the most part provided with a protrusile long proboscis. Esophagus short: cæcal pouches in a series on each side of the body. Intestine simple (without an anus). System of circulation closed; two hearts. Nervous system distinct. Sexes separate, but alike in external appearance; and the cavity containing the testicles and ovaries are alike, excepting in the contents being in the one spermatozoa, and in the other ovules. Female aperture (often mistaken for the mouth) situated sometimes below the head, sometimes large and sucker-like, sometimes posterior and nearly terminal, when it has been mistaken for an anus. Multiply by ovules, and perhaps by transverse sections. Progress by gliding, and some exude a copious mucus. All are marine*. These worms are of a linear form and very contractile, so that when extended in the act of moving through the water or mud, they exceed their length when at rest by three, four or more measures. They are soft and glutinous, but with more firmness of structure than their appearance indicates; and to the naked eye they are perfectly smooth, exhibiting no trace of articulations or wrinkles, though when contracted and viewed through a magnifier, we find that the margins are minutely crenulate. The anterior extremity is usually marked by several black specks arranged on each side of it, variable *The following is De Quatrefages' classification of this tribe : A. Nervous trunks entirely lateral. * Mouth subterminal, inferior ** Mouth terminal. Body very long and flat Body very long, more or less rounded Body short, proteiform Body short, not variable in form B. Nervous trunks sublateral VALENCINIA. BORLASIA. POLIA. CEREBRATUlus. OERSTEDIA. |