COMMON OBJECTS OF THE SHORE. 313 



winding all over them, or occasionally lying as a 

 single tube upon them. This, like all the others, has 

 beautiful fan-shaped plumes for breathing organs. 

 They are, in this species, 

 of deep blue, and among 

 them is placed the mouth, 

 surmounted by a stalked 

 funnel. Our figure re- 

 presents another species, 

 the Contorted serpula 

 (Serpula contortuplicatd) , 

 sometimes found on our 

 shores, and often placed 

 in cabinets. In this spe- 

 cies the fan-like bunches 

 of plumes are exquisitely 

 delicate, and gorgeously 

 coloured with red, varied 

 with orange and violet. 



A common annelid, the I 

 Spirorbis, was slightly I 

 mentioned on an earlier 

 page. This little animal, 

 which is represented in 

 our engraving of the 

 Serrated Fucus, and of which also a magnified 

 figure is there given, is a small shell resembling 

 in shape that of some of our land snails, seldom 

 much larger than the head of a pin. The Nau- 

 tilus-shaped Spirorbis (Spirorbis nautioides], found 

 on our sea-weeds, is a white and wrinkled shelL 

 It is more common on the Serrated Fucus and 

 Podded Halidrys than any others, but is not con- 

 fined to them; and is so plentiful, that we may 

 walk down to the rocks where the olive sea- weeds 



