LECTURE X. 127 



elegantly formed worm of about half an inch in 

 length, not uncommon in stagnant waters, and call- 

 ed the Nais proboscidea, or long- snouted Nais, since, 

 if accurately inspected, it will appear to be furnish- 

 ed with a very long, transparent proboscis, which 

 continues always stretched out, the animal being 

 incapable of retracting it. This species, like some 

 other of the smaller Vermes, possesses in a high 

 degree the power of reproduction, and if cut or 

 broken, each part will survive, and reproduce its 

 defective organs. 



But, by far the most remarkable of all the Lin- 

 naean genera of the Mollusca nuda or Shell-less Mol- 

 lusca is that of Sepia, in English Cuttle or Ink" 

 Fish. The genus Sepia or Cuttle is distinguished 

 by having a fleshy and somewhat lengthened body, 

 seated or enveloped in a kind of sheath, reaching 

 yearly to the head of the animal. The head is 

 furnished with very large eyes, and a horny, cen- 

 tral beak, consisting of two mandibles, and resem- 

 bling that of a parrot. Round the base of the 

 head arise eight long arms, in a radiated direc- 

 tion, and in some species are two additional 

 arms, of a much greater length than the rest. , All 

 these arms are beset, on their internal surface, 



