120 PLANA^IA GRAMINEA. 



a favourable situation, instead of a proboscis 

 issuing from the belly, a wide mouth was 

 seen to open towards the anterior extremi- 

 ty, which greedily swallowed the food, and 

 the animals acquired a sensible augmenta- 

 tion of size. Unless from the usual green 

 being of the faintest dusky shade, the po,- 

 sition of the mouth, when close, is scarce, 

 if at all to be recognized. Therefore, 

 should the learned Muller by ora Candida, 

 refer to this organ, his planaria helluo is 

 different from the graminea; nor, indeed, is 

 there the smallest speck of white on any 

 part of the whole animal. In the latter, 

 the mouth lies under the most prominent 

 part of the head, which may aptly be deno- 

 minated a snout. The planaria snaps at 

 its prey like a fish, and if unsuccessful, 

 crouches away under evident discomfiture, 

 to await a better opportunity. It does not 

 hesitate thus to attack animals twenty times 

 its own size, and is continually attempting to 

 swallow those infinitely too large for deglu- 

 tition. The site and figure of the mouth 



