390 ANNELIDES. 



to the anterior portion of the body. Nearly all of them inhaliit tubes, and we term 

 them Tuhicolcc. 



Others have upon the middle portion of their body, or all along- their sides, branchi;^ 

 in form of arbusciiles, crests, lamina:, or tuljerclcs, in which vessels ramify. The 

 greater number live in mud, or swim freely in the water; only a very few inhabiting 

 tubes. These \vc denominate Dsrsibranchiata. 



Finally, others have no apparent branchia;, and respire either over tlie surface of the 

 skin, or, as is believed in some cases, Ijv their internal cavities. The greater number 

 live freely in water, or in mud ; some, however, in humid earth ; and \^■e designate 

 these Ahranchiatu. 



The genera of the two first orders have all silky bristles, of a metallic colour, upon 

 the sides, either simi)le or in liundles, and which supply the place of feet ; Imt in tlie 

 third order, there are some genera devoid ol all such support * 



The partieul ir study which INI. Savigny has made of these feet or locomotive organs, 

 has led him to distinguish, firstly, the foot or tubercle which bears the bristles, of 

 which there is either one only upon each ring, or two, one above the other, wliich he 

 respectively terms a simple or double oar ; secondly, the bristles which compose a 

 bundle upon each oar, varying much in consistence, and which either constitute true 

 sj)ines, or fine and ti.;-\ible filaments, that are often dentelated, barbed, or irregularly 

 so, &c.; and thirdly, the clrrhi, or flesliy filaments, adhering either to the inside or 

 outside of the feet. 



With respect to their organs of sense, the two first orders of Annelides have gene- 

 rally tentacles to the head, or filaments, which, notwithstanding their fleshy consis- 

 tence, some moderns have desi^-nated antennrc ; and several genera of the second and 

 third orders have black and shining points, which have been regarded as eyes. I'he 

 organization of the mouth varies exceedingly. 



[Tlie Annelides C(jnstitute one of the many small, but singular and liii;hly interesting, 

 tribes of animals, which, from being upon the cimtiues of the peculiar class or sulj- 

 kingdom to which they in effect beluug, exhil)it, in a remarkable deeree, the modifi- 

 cations of other higher groups : thus. h\ an ordinary observer, these creatures weiuld 

 be at once classed as Worms ; and the common E;irth-worm, one ot them, would Ije 

 regarded as the type of the grand class of Linmcan ^'ermes, tlie great majority of wliich, 

 however, do not even belong to this great subkingdom, but to that of the Zoophytes, 

 from which these articulated animals are at once distinguished by the ])ossession of red 

 Ijlood circulating in a well-defined system, and a fn- more ]ierfect developement of the 

 nervous system ; still, in their vermiform appearance, and in the elongated filaments 

 with which many of them are furnished, they resemble certain Zoophytes, — on the 

 other hand, they appro.ximate to the most imperfect Fishes, such as the Lampreys and 

 others, in which the spine has disapjieared. Their annulo^e character, and nervous 

 system, however, biing them nearer to the true Annulusa, especially tlie iMyriapioda ; 

 this will at once be evident by comparing the figures of GcophJhis longiconiis, given in 

 p. 48C, with that of St/llls monUaris here figured. f Mr. Mac Leay accordingly eon- 



* M. Savi^Miy 1,:..^ proposed ii div^i f (lie- .Armulidcs acconiiiii.' to 



their pos,scs^inu^ locomotive sitliy 6ristks, or not ho; rctiLieiii|,' tlie 

 latter to the Leeches. M. tic RlrtinviUe, nho has adopted tiiis idea, 

 rniiges the bristled Aniietidca as a eUas. termed EiitrtmnxO'tivri Chc- 

 li'podft, and the others as one desijjiiateil EiilonKizuiiires Aiioiles ; but 



hi. mititiles with the Jp<.:l.-s iiouie iiitesiinal Wo 

 Snei^niy does not ndinit. 



+ Mr. Mac Leay considers that ihey t<.riii tiie intin 

 between such Vertcbruta as ,\ni|-ld.ivijs ao.l .Mv-ine 



the se.ves liislioct. [.Jim. Nat. Uist., Feb. I.S4U,) 



