r 
4 
2 
he 
; 
/ 
; 
J 
of the Fingered Nais (Proto digitata) in England. 395 
represented in the annexed figures only when the worm is 
stationary: if it be withdrawn from its habitation, and put 
into a vessel of clean water, the fingers will close ; and then the 
only difference between the appearance of the posterior and 
anterior extremity consists in the former being the more obtuse. 
4 
Tyas 
Fe a = 
Fig. 1. Proto digitata (the Fingered Nais), about the natural size. 
Fig. 2. The same, magnified. 
[After Miller. ] 
What is the exact position of this Annelid in the animal king- 
dom? Miiller draws attention to the fact that in the general 
form of the body, which is furnished with lateral setze, it resem- 
bles the Nats ; but in the possession of a digitiform tail, in its 
manner of living, and in its having red blood, it is unlike mem- 
bers of that genus. Grube has noticed the link which this spe- 
cies forms between the Nats and the Serpula. I regret I am 
unable to contribute anything of value in the notice of this 
curious Annelid beyond the bare fact of establishing for it an 
undoubted right to claim a place in the British fauna. But this 
short notice of its occurrence in England may be the means of 
drawing the attention of British naturalists to a very interesting 
form of Annelid life. 
I subjoin Miiller’s description of this worm :— 
“ Oculorum defectu, capite in limo condito, corpore et cauda digi- 
tata exsertis, venaque rubra a congeneribus differt. Cauda apice 
in sex lacinias subzequales, digitiformes, non granulatas dividitur. 
26* 
