SUPPLEMENT 



CLASS OF TLIE ANNELIDA. 



It is of the utmost importance to the student of natural his- 

 tory, thoroughly to understand the application of the names, 

 and the strict limits of its various divisions : to do this, be- 

 comes of still greater consequence, and we regret to say of 

 infinitely more difficulty, as we descend in our researches to 

 those beings which rank lower and lower in the great scale of 

 animality. This arises from the multitude, the variety, the 

 habits, and the localities of such beings, often presenting great 

 impediments to observation and examination ; but still more 

 from the confusion and mutation of names and divisions, by 

 careless investigation, or scientific vanity. This has been 

 strikingly exemplified with respect to the animals to which 

 our attention is now directed ; and a few preliminary remarks 

 in reference to their classification will not only be useful but 

 indispensable. 



In the infancy of the study of natural history, the name of 

 Vermes, or Worms, was bestowed on all animals with long 

 and soft bodies, from a comparison of them to the earth-worms, 

 or lumbrici, to which this term had been specifically devoted. 

 Consequently, the larva of insects were considered as worms, 

 and are still considered as such, by the great majority of man- 

 kind. 



