Organic Connection Between Physical and Psychical 255 



glove were it completely inverted into the hand of the 

 glove. This tube is used in the capture of prey, the ani- 

 mals being carnivorous and highly voracious. The mode of 

 employing the apparatus consists essentially in thrusting 

 the tube out with almost the speed of lightning, the object 

 being to bring the organ into contact with the prey at many 

 points. The lash is not used as a lasso for catching or as 

 a spear for piercing the prey, but for paralyzing it, prob- 

 ably by a toxic secretion spread over the whole surface. 

 The more effectually to accomplish this, the lash is shot out 

 at a victim again and again. 



Now for the aspect of the whole operation of food-taking 

 which specially concerns us. Being quite sightless and 

 touchless in the usual sense, the lash must be used as an ex- 

 ploring or finding as well as a paralyzing or killing organ; 

 and since its great length and limberness preclude it from 

 being used as an ordinary tentacle is used, the finding op- 

 eration is accomplished by repeated out-thrustings of the 

 tube. In the instance witnessed the prey was an annelid 

 worm, a creature well provided with locomotor organs, and 

 a good crawler. On this account the victim-to-be was able, 

 in the early stages of the onset, to move out of contact with 

 the nemertean now and then. At such times the prey could 

 be relocated only by darting out the lash at random, except 

 as to general direction. So it resulted that many of the 

 thrusts missed the mark; but they were instantly repeated 

 with a little variation of direction, till the victim was lo- 

 cated again. The whole performance reminded one of the 

 game of blind-man's-buff, a game in which the seeker paws 

 around in the general vicinity, as he believes, where the one 

 sought was last touched. 



The effectiveness of the try, try again method was at- 

 tested in this instance by the fact that the annelid was hit 

 and the paralyzing dose administered times enough to put 

 the annelid into so helpless a state that the nemertean was 



