LONG- WORM. 135 



taken for a very long thong of black leather, or rather a 

 narrow strip of Indian-rubber, twisted and tied together, 

 and coiled in all possible contortions. If you take hold 

 of it, you find it not so easy to secure it as you expected, 

 for it is excessively lubricous and soft, and withal so ex- 

 tensile and so tough, that you may pull one of the coils to 

 almost any length without lifting the rest of the crea- 

 ture. However, you at last contrive to raise the slip - 

 pery subject, and commit it safe to your tank at home, 

 in which it will live an indefinite while ; often invisible 

 for weeks at a time, lying concealed under some of the 

 stones, then seen perhaps in every corner of your aqua- 

 rium at once, stretching from one stone to another, and 

 coiling around every groin and -projection, folded back 

 upon itself, until in the multitude of convolutions you 

 despair of finding head, tail, or any end at all to the 

 uncouth vermin. You may soon discover the signs of 

 its presence, however, in another way, for its voracity is 

 great, and it is a ferocious foe to the tube- dwelling 

 worms ; such as the lovely Sdbellce and Serpulce, thrust- 

 ing its serpent-Like head into their tubes, and dragging 

 out the hapless tenant to be quickly swallowed. 



The animal is named Nemertes Borlasii, or sometimes 

 Borlasia longissima, in allusion to Dr. Borlase, the his- 

 torian of Cornwall. It is also occasionally termed the 

 Long-worm, par excellence, a name whose appropriate- 



