Some Curious Tube-builders. 



where there is a mixture of sand and oozy mud. The 

 worm measures about six to eight inches in length, 

 and is of a creamy white colour, except in the region 

 of the stomach, which is generally a darkish green 

 colour. The marine worms are most remarkable in 

 their appearance, many of them to the uninitiated look- 

 ing singularly unwormlike ; but even in this strange 

 assembly the Varied-footed Worm stands out con- 

 spicuously as one of the most grotesque in shape. 

 Indeed, it looks like a sort of nightmare animal, a crea- 

 ture whose front part has a freakish resemblance to 

 the head of a cow, while the rest of the body might do 

 duty for that of a pantomime caterpillar. This weird- 

 looking creature is quite an expert builder in its way, 

 and constructs a tube of parchment-like texture, coated 

 externally with sand and small pebbles, which is of 

 ample proportions and generally about two feet in 

 length. This tube is buried in the oozy mud and sand 

 in the shape of a .capital letter U> both ends projecting 

 above the surface of the sand for about a couple of inches. 

 Sometimes one end of the tube is divided into two or 

 three branches, which appear to have been added later, 

 probably to serve as auxiliary openings, the original 

 opening having become blocked up. This strange worm 

 becomes beautifully phosphorescent at night, so that the 

 entrance to its tube is strangely luminous, as if soft 

 bluish fires lurked within. 



A little marine worm, which is sometimes called 

 the " Golden-head " by the fisher folk (its scientific name 

 is Pectinaria auricoma), and which may be found on 

 sandy shores at extreme low tide, builds a remarkably 

 neat house. This little Mason worm constructs a very 



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