1.62 BENEWAL OF MUTILATED ORGANS. 



As the c case' of this animal is flexible, and as its 

 owner will only thrive in an upright position, the 

 reader will easily conceive that to afford the Annelid 

 suitable accommodation in the aquarium is not a very 

 easy task. What other naturalists do I cannot tell; 

 but the following is the plan I adopt for the crea- 

 ture's comfort and my own gratification: 



Having procured a small cylinder of glass (or 

 gutta-percha), close up one end, and drop in the 

 Am phi trite, taking care to first tie the lower portion 

 of its sheath with a piece of thread or silk. It is 

 very pretty to see the plume of the Annelid spreading 

 completely over and covering the extremity of the 

 tube, giving the idea in the one instance that the 

 animal was mysteriously gifted with the power of 

 exuding gutta-percha instead of its usual mucus. 



The Annelid may be made to recline against the 

 sides of the vase, or be propped up on any chosen 

 spot by aid of a small cairn of pebbles, and thus form 

 a very curious feature in the aquarium. 



To test a fact, relative to the power which the 

 Amphitrite is said to possess, in common with other 

 tubiculous Annelids, of renewing certain portions of 

 its body after sustaining injury, I snipped off the 

 principal portions of its branchiae, and found that, 

 after the lapse of a few months, my specimen re- 

 newed its mutilated organs. 



