219 
ECONOMIC SECTION. 
Arenicola, the ‘‘Lugworm,” is of considerable 
importance to the fisherman, being largely used as a bait 
for flat-fish, codling, haddock, &c.* 
The worms are obitamed, at low tide, by digging in 
the sand below the funnel-shaped opening and the coiled 
casting which mark the head and tail ends of the animal's 
burrow. Specimens obtained from near low-water mark 
are larger than those found higher up the beach, and the 
largest specimens are found in those parts of the beach 
which are exposed only at low spring tides. Where there 
is an abundance of organic matter in the sand the worms 
are plentiful and usually of good size, so that fishermen 
find it worth while to walk a moderate distance to such 
sands, where they can more readily obtain a supply of 
bait. Larger specimens usually bear exposure to the air 
better than small young ones and the former may be kept 
longer before use. At best however lugworms can only 
be kept for a limited period, and should be used as soon as 
possible after they are dug from the sand. In cold 
weather they may be kept for a day or two without serious 
detriment, but in hot weather they must be used within a 
few hours. They are best kept in a cool place in a quan- 
tity of moist sand sufficient to separate them from one 
another. If they are allowed to lie together in a heap 
they soon become soft and almost useless as bait. The 
presence of a few burst or broken specimens expedites this 
change, the ruptured worms lose their coelomic fluid and 
usually some blood, which fluids seem to affect rapidly the 
* In addition to the acknowledgments made in the footnotes on 
three of the following pages, I wish to thank Mr. J. Johnstone, B.Sce., 
of Liverpool, Mr. H. C. Chadwick, of Port Erin, and Mr. Cyril 
Crossland, B.A., of St. Andrews, for kindly sending to me information 
on this subject. 
