SEEPUL/E. S9n 



fan would have been tinted with the brightest hues of scarlet 

 and white, though no brush could give the wondrous delicacy 

 of the feeling or express its semi-pellucid beauty. This " fan " 

 is composed of the gUls of the Serpula, and the animal is enabled 

 to breathe by its power of projecting them from the orifice of its 

 tube. 



If the reader can procure a group of living Serpulae and a 

 little sea water, he is strongly advised to do so, as he will under- 

 stand their structure far better than can be the case if he merely 

 refer to books. The creatures can be procured at any of the 

 numerous shops in which aquaria are sold, and as they are plen- 

 tiful on our own coast, they can be procured at a very cheap 

 rate. They are terribly apt to die, unless the purity of the 

 water be carefully preserved ; but even in that case they can 

 be dissected, and will afford lovely objects for the microscope. 

 There is always an abundance of Serpulse in the aquarium house 

 at the Zoological Gardens, and the keeper is quite willing to give 

 any advice as to the management of these interesting annelids. 



Supposing, then, that a group of Serpulce has been procured, 

 it should be placed in the aquarium close to the glass, and if 

 possible, the vessel should be one with flat sides, the ordinary 

 fish-globes giving a distorted image. A magnifying- glass should 

 then be fixed so as to command the orifices of the tubes, and all 

 will be ready. It is necessary to fix the glass, because the 

 Serpulae are strangely sensitive beings, and retreat into their 

 tubes at the slightest alarm. If even a hand be moved suddenly, 

 though at some little distance, the Serpulse shoot back into their 

 tubes as if propelled by springs, the feathery tentacles collapsing, 

 and the beautiful operculum closing up the entrance. 



This lightning-like rapidity of movement is caused by a won- 

 derful an-ay of hooks on the front portion of the body. These 

 hooks are placed on the foot-warts which edge that part of the 

 body, and sire wonderfully adapted for catching the membrane 

 that lines the tube. The botanist who looks at such a group as 

 is now before me in the microscope, would be instantly reminded 

 of the seed-vessels of the "wait-a-bit" thorn, with its double array 

 of hooked prickles. Each hook is rendered still more effective by 

 the six or seven teeth into which its inner edge is cut, so that 

 the most formidable an-ay of hooks that the ingenuity of anglers 

 ever devised, and named with appellatives as strange as their 



