182 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



the group of Annelids, the body of the Polyoph- 

 thalmians is formed of a series of rings, joined toge- 

 ther piece by piece, and presenting very great resem- 

 blance to one another. In the largest Annelids one 

 may easily convince oneself of the slightness of the 

 connection which exists between these rings. A 

 certain number of them may even be killed or 

 affected by gangrene, while the others, and more es- 

 pecially those which precede them, do not appear to 

 suffer in any way. Each of them is to a certain 

 extent a complete animal, having as it were its own 

 life, while the entire body may be considered as a 

 kind of colony, of which the head would be the chief, 

 or rather the guide. This is the portion which 

 usually possesses organs of the senses. On cutting 

 it off, the body can undoubtedly no longer see, and 

 it also becomes deprived of organs of touch, but as 

 far as we can judge, it still experiences tolerably 

 precise sensations, and manifests a will. Thus, for 

 instance, severed portions of the Eunice evidently 

 avoid the light and bury themselves in the mud by a 

 succession of movements which exhibit no appear- 

 ance of confusion. 



What, then, can be wanting to these severed seg- 

 ments, to these isolated rings, to render them 

 so many complete animals? Assuredly, they can 

 only need organs of sensation generally, and more 

 particularly organs of sight. Now we find that both 

 the Amphicorge and the Polyophthalmia are Anne- 

 lids, in which each ring, by receiving these organs, 

 and consequently by presenting so much the greater 

 resemblance to the head, most completely realises one 



