NATURAL HISTORY. 27 
makes it the greater pity that it is not more agree- 
able to handle, the fact being that there is no 
bait more disgusting. It is not necessary to be 
fastidious in order to recoil from this pulpy worm, 
with its inside of yellow seeds and the deep red 
blood that leaves a lasting stain on everything with 
which it comes in contact. The lug is a swift 
burrower, diving head-first in the wet sand between 
high and low water mark with amazing rapidity, 
so that some practice is requisite before one can 
dig it out with a fork, particularly as the water at 
once rushes into the gap and hides all that is going 
forward. Even when the disappearing yellow tail 
of the worm is in full view, great care must be 
exercised in seizing it gently but firmly, between 
the second and first finger of the right hand, and 
above the tail, which is full of sand, and easily 
breaks away. Both this and the ruptured body 
are useless as bait. Viewed anatomically, this 
shore worm, with its gill-tufts and the curious 
digging proboscis, is rather an interesting creature. 
Mr. R. B. Marston recently showed me some dried 
salted Iugworms which he had received from a 
Yarmouth sea-angler, and they were agreeably 
tough and free from smell of any kind.1 
One of the most sporting of fish for its size, one 
of the best for the table when grilled fresh, ibackexei 
and one of the most deadly of baits for 
other fish, both large and small, this familiar species 
is as important as any with which we have to deal. 
The worst feature about it is the rapidity with 
which it loses its freshness, a fault of all the fast 
1 Watson and Hancock of Holborn sell jars of preserved lug. 
When fresh bait is unobtainable, these preserved worms take a few 
fish. 
