FEEDING HABITS OF NEKEIS VIRENS, SARS 441 
ill the earthworm, are purely tactile. Any evidence that the 
so-called 'spiral organs' are chemical receptors is also lacking. 
The localization of the sense of taste in the palps and tentacles 
must be explained by some differentiated specific quality of the 
protoplasm of these appendages. In Nereis there is a beginning 
of the localization of the sense of taste or chemical sense, but 
there have not as yet developed specialized receptors (taste 
buds) for the reception of chemical stimuli. 
CONCLUSIONS 
1. Nereis virens is not a carnivorous worm as stated by Verrill 
and others. 
2. Nereis feeds chiefly upon plant life. 
3. The sense of taste or chemical sense of Nereis plays a small 
part, if any, in locating or selecting food. 
4. Nereis is strongly negatively chemotrophic to acids, hydrox- 
ides, and salts. 
5. Nereis is stimulated much more by potassium chloride 
than by sodium chloride — a reverse of the conditions found in 
the earthworm. This difference is correlated with the high 
percentage of sodium chloride in the sea-water to which Nereis 
is adapted. 
6. The general integument of Nereis is sensitive to chemical 
stimulation, but there is a localization or concentration of the 
chemical sense in the palps and tentacles — a condition correlated 
with the rich innervation of these appendages and the relation 
of their nerves to the brain. 
7. Though there is a tendency for a localization of the chem- 
ical sense, there are no specialized receptors, taste buds, for 
receiving chemical stimuli in Nereis virens. 
