VERMES. 85 



That neither specks nor eyes, nor the position of the mouth, can be dis- 

 covered in the living specimens ; that the student of animated nature 

 cannot destroy his subject, and if perishing in his possession, it often goes 

 so speedily to decay, that it is impossible, were he even a skilful ana- 

 tomist, to avail himself of dissection. 



Thus, until enabled to ascertain the structure and habits of the living 

 products of the creation, we are compelled, for convenience, to assign 

 them an equivocal position in the Systema, destined, we hope, to be rec- 

 tified by time, experience, and the united labour of naturalists. 



GORDIUS ANGUIS. T/ic Snake- Worm. Plate XIII. 



The subject of this paragraph is one of the most remarkable among 

 the tenants of the deep. It is a genuine snake in miniature, of delicate 

 form and proportions, decked in lively colours. 



The length of the snake-worm is thirty inches or more, its diameter 

 little exceeding that of a crow-quill, or under the eighth part of an inch. 

 It forms itself into various graceful folds, and can fabricate a silken case 

 for its own reception, which is always shorter than the body. 



When dislodged from the sheath, the body is seen to be round, taper- 

 ing towards an obtuse lower extremity ; the head obtuse, originating from 

 the rudiments of a frill on the neck, where there are four notches. The 

 mouth is in the extremity of the anterior part, as appeared from several 

 specimens. 



I have not observed any dark specks or eyes as in many of the other 

 worms, nor have I seen any specimen implicated in a knot, notwithstand- 

 ing its apparent inconvenient extent ; nevertheless, if several be in the 

 same vessel, they are intertwined, and seem entangled among themselves, 

 though each can free itself speedily. 



The colour of the animal is usually red and white, finely contrasted. 

 Plate X. fig. 7. The red, for the most part, scarlet or vermilion. 

 But the creature must be subjected to occular inspection, and in more 

 than one specimen, for enabling the observer to discover how the colours 

 are disposed. 



