SIPUNCULUS BERNHARDUS. 253 



he has exhausted the whole bundle. After a little 

 time he returns, and, having previously removed the 

 sand to a proper depth, gently draws forth the rod, to 

 which by this time the animal nas attached itself by 

 swallowing the button. The Sipunculi are thus pro- 

 cured in considerable quantities, and are cooked in 

 various ways, " either with garlic, or with garo sooy" 

 condiments which, to most of our readers, will pro- 

 bably be scarcely more appetizing than the worms 

 themselves. 



The food of the Sipunculi seems to consist entirely 

 of such debris of animal or vegetable substances as 

 chance brings within reach of their proboscis. As in 

 the other Echinoderms, their alimentary canal is 

 always found filled with sand and broken fragments 

 of shell. 



Whilst the generality of the Sipunculi bury them- 

 selves in sand, or hide in the crevices of rocks, there 

 is one remarkable species (Sipunculus Bernhardus, 

 Forbes) found on most parts of the British coast, 

 which, after the example of the Hermit Crab, adopts 

 for its abode the shells of univalve testacea, in one or 

 other of which it constantly resides. This Sipunculus, 

 however, would appear to be of a less changeable 

 disposition than its crustacean analogue, for, when 

 once securely housed in a shell, it makes that its per- 

 manent residence*. Whether the egg is originally 

 deposited in the future habitation of the animal in 

 obedience to some wonderful instinct, or is only deve- 

 loped when lodged by the water in such a locality, or 

 whether the parent Sipunculus bequeathes the chosen 

 * Forbes, British Star-fishes. 



