SEA- WORMS. 115 



The Lug does not produce a very favourable impression 

 when you have turned him out of his burrow, for his very dark 

 greenish hue looks black at a little distance, and his branchial 

 tufts give him a ragged appearance. The fore part of his body 

 is much swollen, but runs off to a point where the proboscis is 

 situated. The branchiae are attached to about a dozen of the 

 middle rings only, in branching tufts that change from green 

 to crimson. It is a rapid burrower, opening a way through the 

 sand with its proboscis, widening it with the thicker part of its 

 length just beyond, and exuding a mucous cement that agglu- 

 tinates the grains of sand and leaves the passage open for 

 further use. Its body is cylindrical throughout. 



In similar situations we shall find a vertical shaft of sand 

 protruding from the shore, with a kind of halo of fine branch- 

 ing sandy tubes around the mouth. The whole structure will 

 consist either of grains of sand or fragments of shell cemented 

 together on a silky lining. Its mouth is about an incn aoove 

 the level of the sands, but the tube, if carefully dug out, will 

 be found to extend to a foot or more. This is the home of the 

 Sand Mason or Shell-binder (Terebella littoralis) ; and now 

 that the tide is out the master of the house will probably be 

 lying, like Truth, at the bottom of his well-like structure, and 

 ready to bolt still deeper in the sand if necessary. He is 

 about four inches long, and the most distinguishing feature is 

 a regular mop of pink tentacles around his I had almost said 

 head, but he has no head, so we will substitute the more 

 correct expression " anterior segment." The gills are much 

 branched, and there is a bright red stripe along the under 

 surface. There are several allied species ; one known as the 

 Potter (T. figuhis) from its choice of mud or clay as the 

 material for its tube. 



There is a remarkable worm called Cirratulus that lives in 

 stones. Some say he bores the stone, but of that I am very 

 doubtful ; but there is no question that he lives in the perfora- 

 tion. Gosse says " under stones," and I have no doubt Gosse 



