''JUMPING johnnies:' 97 



appendages, a head, eyes, horns or feelers, and, in general, ^ 

 a large proboscis, armed with a pair of jaws, curved, hooked, 

 and strong, with teeth on the inner margin. The Fearly 

 Nereis, which is one of the finest and commonest of the kind, 

 is thus described : " The upper surface is of a warm fawn 

 brown, but the beautiful flashes of rainbow blue that play 

 on it in the changing light, and the exquisite pearly opales- 

 cence of the delicate pink beneath, are so conspicuous as to 

 have secured for it the title of 'pearly^ par excellences^ 



Another species of the group of the Nereids, the '' White- 

 Bag Worm,^^ a common inhabitant of the shores of Great 

 Britain, var3dng from six to ten inches in length, is of a beau- 

 tiful pearly lustre, exactly similar to that of mother-of-pearl. 

 The foot, when magnified, resembles a horse'a hoof, and is a 

 very marvelous piece of Nature's mechanism. The animal 

 swims rapidly in the sea. Another species is of a rich green- 

 ish color, varied with bluish shades, reflecting a metallic lus- 

 tre, and varying like the hues of the rainbow. 



With the tribe of sea-worms may be also mentioned the 

 Sea-Leach or Skate-sucker, so named because the worm lives 

 on fish, and attaches itself chiefly to the skate, from which 

 it is scarcely ever found free. The mouth of this animal is 

 not provided with jaws, so it sucks up the juices of the body 

 of its host by a kind of pumping process. 



The Leaping- Worms, found on the coasts of Borneo, are 

 curious creatures. Each step in advance to take them 

 causes them to jump in a rapid manner, and in a series of 

 leaps they reach the margin of the water, when it is impos- 

 sible to capture them. When lying at rest, they are scarce- 

 ly distinguishable from the mud in which they lie. They are 

 wedge-shape in form, about three or four inches long, with 

 flat pointed tails, and broad heads and prominent eyes. The 

 sailors have nicknamed them " Jumping Johnnies." 



