ARTICULATA. 105 



shaped, and irregular in the various genera, in some presenting the appear- 

 ance of a mal-formed worm, and indeed, some authors have placed them 

 among the worms, and others among the zoophytes. Dr. George Johnston 

 remarks, that " of all the curious creatures which the naturalist meets with 

 in his researches, there are none more paradoxical than the Lernsese ; none 

 which are more at variance with our notions of animal conformation, and 

 which exhibit less of that decent proportion between a body and its members 

 which constitutes what we choose to call symmetry or beauty. Of its 

 paradoxicalness, no better proof can be given, than the difficulty which the 

 most experienced systematists have found in determining the proper place 

 and rank of the family among organized beings." Kroyer, as quoted by Baird, 

 says that " the exterior of these animals is often so highly fantastical, 

 that we are disposed to admire the freaks of nature in bringing forth 

 such forms. But it is evident, that when continued observations and 

 investigations have put us in possession of the condition of these forms, 

 we shall see here, as everywhere else, that singularity resolves itself into 

 regularity." 



Suriray threw a light upon the affinities of these animals by discovering 

 that the appendages at the extremity of the body {Lernciia^ pi. 78, jig. 30, 

 inverted) are egg pouches, as in the admitted Crustacea like Cyclops {jyl. 

 78, fig. 27). Audouin and Milne Edwards announced the opinion in 1826, 

 that these animals are Crustacea which become monstrous after they have 

 become permanently affixed as parasites. The organization was first satis- 

 factorily ascertained by Nordman ; and the knowledge respecting them, 

 although far from complete, has now arrived at such a point, that their 

 station among the Crustacea may be considered to be well ascertained. 

 These results are due chiefly to the labors of Burmeister, Kathke, Kroyer, 

 and Kollar. 



Aristotle and Pliny mention several fish which are infested by these 

 parasites, and Conrad Gesner gave an extended history and figure of a 

 species in 1558, Kondeletius having figured it four years previously. These 

 authors state that it infests the tunny and swordfish, in the flesh of wliich 

 the anterior extremity is buried, and so firmly fixed that it is difficult to 

 remove without breaking it. Some are found sticking in a similar manner 

 in the eyes of fish, and others to their gills, mouth, or under their fins, 

 where they are less firmly attached. 



For a long time the female alone of these animals was known, and it was 

 a subject of wonder how they became transferred from one fish to another, 

 being perfectly stationary and incapable of locomotion ; and when carefully 

 removed from their position, but few of them show any signs of life, 

 although some move the head and jaws for a short time. The mode of 

 reproduction was also an obscure point in their history. The ovarian sacs, 

 of course, indicated the female sex, unless all the individuals were supposed 

 to be monoicous. But some individuals were at length found without sacs, 

 and these were naturally taken for males, until Kroyer discovered them to 

 be females after the eggs had been cast and the sacs had disappeared. 

 Nordman at length found adhering to some of the females, certain small 



309 



