244 SEASIDE DIYINITT. 



varieties of this worm. These and some other 

 kinds are found under stones when the tide has 

 retired. 



Instead of being sedentary and attached to 

 one place, they move from place to place with 

 great rapidity along the bottom of the water. 

 The movements of these worms are extreme- 

 ly active and graceful. They are all greedily 

 sought after by all kinds of fishes, to whom their 

 naked bodies furnish an easy repast; but their 

 movements are so rapid that they readily make 

 their escape by hiding beneath the fronds of sea- 

 weed or between the stones. 



Before quitting the numerous family of marine 

 worms, one may be mentioned which is not un- 

 common on the coast of Devonshire, and also in 

 some localities on the west coast of England. It 

 is the largest example of the Grordius or hair- 

 worm. It grows to the extraordinary length of 

 thirty feet, and possesses the singular power of 

 contracting and expanding itself at will, one of 

 eight feet in length being found to contract itself 

 to one-eighth of its extent. The colour of this 

 remarkable annelid is dusky brown with a tinge 

 of green. Those of the largest size are taken by 

 dredging in deep water, and are found inhabiting 

 old bivalve shells. 



Belonging to the tribe we are now referring to is 

 the sea-mouse, or Aphrodite, a creature of which 

 several varieties may be discovered on the shore 

 after the tide has ebbed, and especially after a storm. 

 The largest and most common is the Aphrodita 



