10 



tenth or twelfth of an inch in length, united to each 

 other by a substance possessing considerable elasticity, 

 on which depends its power of elongation and contrac- 

 tion. Its body is armed with four rows of small, stiff, 

 sharp-pointed bristles, each annular section being fur- 

 nished with four ; they impart a rough sensation to the 

 fingers in passing them from the tail to the head. These 

 bristles assist to accelerate their motion thro' the earth. 

 About three-fourths of an inch from its mouth are 

 three whitish bodies extending across the belly ; one 

 fourth of an inch from these is another, having a si- 

 milar structure and situation. These some naturalists 

 say, are its genital organs. Three-fourths of an inch 

 from the last mentioned body is a brownish coloured 

 wreath, encircling the whole body. This wreath is 

 perforated with a number of holes, as well as the body 

 generally, all of which discharge a glutinous fluid, 

 very analogous to that mucus which is secreted from 

 the Schneiderian membrane ; this discharge is of great 

 importance in its economy— it lubricates the earth 

 through which it moves and thereby makes its passage 

 easy. 



This wreath must perform an office of more import- 

 ance than merely the secretion and excretion of mucus. 

 The inCammatory appearance which it uniformly exhi- 

 bits when the animal has been suffocated by being con- 

 fined in impure air, induced me first to believe it was 

 its respiratory organ. I endeavoured to determine it 



