186 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE AQUARIUM. 



It is a curious circumstance that two such animals as this 

 Annelid and the Actinoid described in the same communi- 

 cation^ and since named " Edwardsia," should have been 

 discovered in the ^Egean at the same time, and also subse- 

 quently have made their appearance contemporaneously as 

 British species ; the one obtained in numbers at Ilfracombe, 

 by Mr. Lloyd, the other springing up spontaneously among 

 gravel in the Eegent^s Park tanks. Both present anomalous 

 characteristics, distinguishing them from the rest of their 

 class ; both form new links in the chain of beings ; — the 

 one a free Actinoid and the other a free Worm, both in- 

 vesting themselves with a leathery sheath of their own 

 secretion. 



The ^gean example of our AmpliUrite (?) is described 

 as living in sand where the sea is three or four feet deep ; 

 its position being indicated by funnel-shaped cavities, when 

 the gills are not expanded. The flower formed by this circle 

 of gills we have described above; if touched, it suddenly 

 contracts and shrinks into the sand. Its body is a ringed 

 worm which moves freely up and down in the case. The 

 case is gelatinous and smooth, slightly constricted in cor- 

 respondence with the rings of the body. It tapers to a 

 point at the posterior end_, where it is made solid by filling 



