304 WILLIAM A. HASWELL. 



d'equilibre sur une raontagne de boulets moustres qu'il 

 s'everfcne a escalader, posant un pied (en foi'me de ventouso) 

 sur nn boulet, I'autre pied sur un autre boulet, balau^ant le 

 corps ou le roidissant, se tordant sur lai-meme ou se cour- 

 bant comme uue chenille avpenteuse, et on n'aura encore 

 qu'une idee tres-imparfaite de toufces les attitudes qu'il prend 

 au bout de quelques secondes.'^ 



For the "immense balls" (eggs of the lobster) in the above 

 description substitute "filaments of the brauchite," and it 

 would apply equally well to Stratiodrilus, except that the 

 bending movements of the latter are not so free, being re- 

 stricted by a certain stiffness of the body, due apparently 

 to the firmer cuticle. When moving over the bottom of a 

 glass vessel the mode of locomotion is very grotesque. The 

 posterior legs are advanced alternately like the legs of a man 

 in walking, the anterior portion of the body, and particularly 

 the head, being" strongly swayed from side to side. The 

 anterior legs are also used, though not invariably, and sup- 

 port the weight of the head and front part of the body. It 

 is from this entirely unique style of locomotion that I have 

 derived the name I have given to the genus. 



By means of the viscid secretion of the glands of the 

 posterior legs the animal is able to adhere so firmly to the 

 smoothest surface that it is difficult to detach it. 



On oue occasion I found four specimens, out of a number 

 that had been placed in a glass dish, collected together, and 

 executing the most remarkable movements. They were in 

 ceaseless motion, creeping over and under one another, 

 touching one another all over with their tentacles, and occa- 

 sionally inflicting a bite sharp enough to cause the bitten 

 individual to start back with a sudden movement. This 

 went on for an hour or more without intermission. 



Integument and Muscular System. 



The integument consists, as in Histriobdella, of a cuticle 

 and an epidermis. The former, though not very thick even 



