354 



CIRRHOPODA. 



Cirrhopod, and discern the following particulars. The lower por- 

 tion of the body, which encloses the principal viscera (6, Z>), is soft 

 and much dilated, especi- Fig. 167. 



ally towards the dorsal re- 

 gion ; this part of the ani- 

 mal is covered with a de- 

 licate membrane, beneath 

 which is a layer of whitish 

 granular substance. The 

 mouth (g) is seen upon the 

 ventral aspect, situated 

 immediately at the inferior 

 extremity of that longi- 

 tudinal fissure in the man- 

 tle through which the 

 arms are protruded : the 

 oral aperture appears to be 

 raised upon a prominent 

 tubercle, and, when atten- 

 tively examined, is found 

 to be provided with a ru- 

 dimentary apparatus of 

 jaws, presenting a distinct 

 lip furnished with minute 

 palpi, and three pairs of 



mandibles, of which the two external are horny and serrated, while 

 the third remains permanently soft and membranous. Immediately 

 behind the mouth we find on each side certain pyramidal fleshy 

 appendages (d, d, d), resembling, as Hunter expressed it, a minute 

 star-fish, which no doubt constitute the branchial or respiratory 

 organs. Commencing above the mouth, we further notice on each 

 side six pairs of articulated and flexible arms, or cirrhi (Jig. 167, 

 c, c), each being composed of a series of semi-corneous pieces, and 

 exhibiting at each joint long and stiff hairs. Every pair of cirrhi 

 arises from a single prominent stem ; and those most distant from 

 the mouth being the longest and most extensile, the whole appara- 

 tus, consisting of twenty-four cirrhi, forms, when protruded from 

 the body, a kind of net of exquisite contrivance, in which passing 

 particles of nourishment are easily entangled, and thus conveyed to 

 the mouth. Lastly, on separating the cirrhiferous pedicles, we find, 

 terminating the body, and forming, as it were, a kind of tail, a long, 

 soft, and flexible organ (Jig. 169, &), the extremity of which is 



