898 Transactions.—Zoology, 
sets by a fissure on each side; each filament has a short stalk, with a tuft 
of numerous forked papille on its summit; exterior to the orifice of the 
proboscis there are four fleshy tubercles placed atthe angles; scales fifteen 
pairs, roundish, smooth, thin and vesicular, blotched with black stains and 
specks, the first pair small, laid over the head, the anal pair oval; feet 
thirty-nine pairs, largest and most developed near the middle of the belly, 
very small and approximate at the anus, biramous, the branches wide 
asunder ; the superior carries, in a sort of crest-like fashion, the long, 
flexible, brilliant-coloured bristles which form the silky fringe on each side 
of the body, and above them some still more delicate hairs, which, by their 
intertexture, constitute the membrane covering the scales, and with which 
the strong spiniform bristles are intermixed, placed in a sort of cross series ; 
the inferior branch is armed with three rows of stout, short bristles; in 
the upper row only two or three, which are longer and stouter than those 
of the next row, in which there are five or six, and which again are 
stouter but less numerous than those in the lower row; spine golden- 
yellow, conical, smooth ; superior cirrus long, subulate, bulged at the base; 
the inferior short and conical; anus large, with a dorsal aspect, encircled 
with several tentacular cirri. 
* The very vivid iridescent hues, which the hairs of this remarkable 
worm reflect, render it an object of wonder and surprise to the most 
` incurious ; they are not equalled by the colours of the most gaudy butterfly, 
and rival the splendour of the diamond beetle. It creeps at a slow pace, 
and in its progress a current of water is ejected at short intervals, and 
with considerable force, from the anus. When placed in fresh water, the 
creature gives immediate signs of its painful situation, and soon dies, first 
ejecting a white milky fluid, and in the agony of death, a large quantity of 
blackish-green turbid liquor. The size and strength of the proboscis is 
remarkable, and not less so the structure of the filaments which garnish 
the orifice. The esophagus is short; the stomach and intestine seem to 
be alike and inseparable; together they form a straight intestine, some- 
times with a wide dilation in some part of its canal, with a velvety inner 
surface folded into longitudinal plaits near the termination at the anus.” 
(Cat. Worms, B.M., p. 104.) 
I have quoted Dr. Johnston's descriptions and remarks at some length 
in the hope that the attention of local collectors being called to this branch 
of our fauna, we shall soon possess better specimens of this very interesting 
` group than are at present to hand. 
Unfortunately our specimen, which is very young, does not show the 
brilliant iridescent colours mentioned above; it is of a uniform dull brown, 
but after a very carefyl examination and comparison with two specimens 
