WOODWORTH : THE PALOLO WORM. D 



carried seaward by the retreating tide. This was about one hour before 

 dead low water, and just before sunset on November third, two days 

 before the " Palolo " was expected. Masses of tbe rock were taken 

 back to Falelatai and by means of chisels, forceps, and lamplight, one 

 specimen was obtained complete. The next day, the eve of the ex- 

 pected ' rising ', we again went to Fagaiofu to camp for the night, and 

 at low water obtained more material, including three complete specimens. 

 Owing to the great length of the worm and its intricate association 

 with the reef- rock the operation demands patience and delicate handling. 

 It is in the galleries and cavities of the reef-rock that the Palolo has 

 its abode. They were found everywhere on the reef and could be ex- 

 posed by breaking open the surface, but more easily at the edges of 

 the deeper places. Plate 3 shows, in natural size, a piece of the reef- 

 rock presenting a top view and an end view showing the fractured sur- 

 face. Fagaiofu is not easy of access, and a boat can land only when 

 there is enough water over the reef. The platform can be worked 

 only at extreme low tides which, in the Palolo season, are the neap 

 tides, and occur about sundown and sunrise. This season is also the 

 rainy season. Stair was present at the " Palolo " ' rising ' at Fagaiofu 

 in 1847 and (1897), speaks of it as " one of the famous fishing places." 

 It is strange that I should have been the first to visit the place since 

 his time, and almost by accident, and by only a narrow margin of 

 time,. The place is an ideal one for the study of the Palolo, if one could 

 be there during some weeks covering the time of its swarming. 



I must speak, as briefly as possible, of the petty discussion which 

 appeared between 1898 and 1903 as to whom belongs the credit of first 

 discovering the real head of the " Palolo." In March, 1898, Friedlaender 

 (1898) states that the meaning of the Palolo phenomenon was simul- 

 taneously discovered by Kramer, Thilenius, and himself. 1 In May of 

 the same year, Friedlaender (1898 a ) says that the nature of the Palolo 

 was discovered simultaneously by Thilenius and himself, and later 

 (1904), it reads that he alone, and possibly Thilenius, made the discovery. 

 In this paper he quotes me as saying (1903) that it was through 

 Kramer's investigations that the true history of the Palolo became 

 known. I refer Dr. Friedlaender to the English edition of my prelim- 

 inary paper (19030 which was translated for Kramer's " Die Samoa 

 Inseln," though not published until a few months later, to see that I was 

 not unfair to him, as he charges. The discovery of the origin of the 



1 In his subsequent publications be makes no mention of this paper, but speaks 

 (1904) of his second paper (1898 1 ) as " meine erste Abhandlung. " 



