APHRODITA. 103 



small, laid over the head, the anal pair oval. Feet thirty-nine pairs *, 

 largest and most developed near the middle of the belly, very small 

 and approximate at the anus, biramous, the branches wide asunder ; 

 the superior carries, in a sort of crest-like fashion, the long, flexible, 

 brilliant coloured bristles which form the silky fringe on each side of 

 the body, and above them some still more delicate hairs, which, by 

 their intertexture, constitute the membrane covering the scales, and 

 with which the strong spiniform bristles are intermixed, placed in a 

 sort of cross series : the inferior branch is armed with three rows of 

 stout short bristles ; in the upper row only two or three which are 

 longer and stouter than those of the next row in which there are 

 five or six ; and which again are stouter, but less numerous than 

 those in the lowest row. Spine golden-yellow, conical, smooth : 

 superior cirrus long, subulate, bulged at the base ; the inferior short 

 and conical. Anus large, with a dorsal aspect, encircled with several 

 tentacular cirri. 



The very vivid iridescent hues which the hairs of this remarkable 

 worm reflect, render it an object of wonder and surprise to the most 

 incurious : they are not equalled by the colours of the most gaudy 

 butterfly, and rival the splendour of the diamond beetle f. It creeps 

 at a slow pace, and in its progress a current of water is projected at 

 short intervals, and with considerable force, from the anus. "When 

 placed in fresh water, the creature gives immediate signs of its painful 

 situation, and soon dies, first ejecting a white milky fluid, and, in the 

 agony of death, a large quantity of a blackish-green turbid liquor. 

 The size and strength of the proboscis is remarkable, and not less so 

 the structure of the filaments which garnish the orifice |. The 

 oesophagus is short ; the stomach and intestine seem to be alike and 

 inseparable ; — together they form a straight intestine, sometimes 

 with a wide dilatation in some part of its canal, with a velvety inner 

 surface folded into longitudinal plaits near the termination at the 

 anus. Although planted round with offensive arms of apparently 

 considerable strength, the worm is said to be a favourite prey of the 

 cod-fish, in whose stomach specimens, in a perfect condition, may be 



* Pallas says, " constanter 40-41. Horutu 2 primi minuti, compress! submu- 

 tici, ex oris quasi palato antrorsum producti, villo barbati, at setis et cirrho desti- 

 tuti." 



t " Eh aculeata Aphrodita ! " (Linn. Mus. Fred, xv.) " The Aphrodita aculeata 

 reflecting the sun-beams from the depths of the sea, exhibits as vivid colours as 

 the peacock itself spreading its jewelled train." (Linnaeus in Smith's ' Tracts re- 

 lating to Natural History,' p. 32.) " L'or, I'azur, le pourpre, le vert, se nuancent 

 a leur surface de mille manieres, et ces couleurs, souvent irisees, se trouvent dans 

 une harmonic parfaite avec les reflets chatoyans et successifs des anneaux de leur 

 corps. L'aile du papillon n'a pas rcfu une plus brillante parure que ces vers 

 caches au fond des eaux, et enfonces quelquefois dans un limon noir et boueux." 

 (Audouin and Milne-Edwards.) '* Cuinam bono isthsec sint animantia me latet : 

 serviunt tamen summis Dei miraculis demonstrandis, quae loquitur, quidquid vel 

 mare, vel terram incolit." (Seba, Thesaur. i. 142.) 



X Pallas says that the Aphrodites, perhaps, receive their nourishment from 

 fuci (Misc. Zool. p, 77). The structure of the proboscis seems unfavourable to 

 this opinion ; and as the habitat of Aphroditaj is the coralline region, animal food, 

 would be more within reach. 



