•yjG ANNELIDES. 



Ophelina, Sav. 



Body ratlier thick and short, the rings ill-defined, bristles scarcely visible, and lon^ cirrhi serving 

 for gills uiion two tliirds of its length ; the mouth containing a dentelated crest at the palate, lips sur- 

 rounded with tentacles, of which the two uppermost are larger than the rest. 



Hereabouts sliould probably be placed the Nereis j^risniaf tea and bifrons of Fabrlcius. 



CiRRUATULA, Lam. 

 A vi.Tv lung fdament serving for gills, and two little bundles of bristles at each articulation of the 

 body, wdiicii are very numerous and much serrated, together with a collar of long fdamenls around the 

 neck. Head ill-defined, T\ith neither tentacles nor jaws. 



Lumbricii.s cirrhn/it-^, ()Uo, from which the Terebella (en/ic/dala, MontagUj and the Cirrhinereis jUiger, BlainviUe, 

 do not appear to me tu differ senerically. 



Palmyre, Sav. 

 Distinguished by their upper bundle composed of large flattened bristles disposed like a fan, and 

 l)rilliaat as the most polished gold ; the inferior bundles small ; their cirrhi and gills not very distinct. 

 Tiiey have a lengthened body, and two long and three very small tentacles. 

 One only is known, tVoni the Isle of France, two inches in lenj^'-th, the /-*. uurifcra, Savif;;ny. 



ApnRODiTA, Linn. 



Easily known from the rest of this order by two longitudinal ranges of broad membranous scales, 

 covering the back, to which the name elytra has been given without much reason, and under whitdi 

 the gills lie concealed in form of little fleshy crests. The body is generally flattened, and shorter and 

 broader than in other Annclides. A very thick and rauscular oesophagus is observable on dissection, 

 which is capable of being reversed into a trunk externally ; the intestine is unequal, and furnished on 

 each side with a great number of branched cceca, tlie extremities of which are ti\ed between the bases 

 of the packets of silky l.iristles which serve for feet. 



M. Savigny dislinguiihcs among them the 



IIalithea, — 

 Wiierein are three leaflets, between two of which is a very small crest, and which also has no jaws. 



There is one upon our coasts, which is among- the most beautifully coloured of 2iXi\rf\-^\'S,(Aphrodiia aculeafa, 

 Linn.) Its form is oval, six or eight inches long, and two or three broad. The scales of its back are covered 

 and concealed by a substance resembling tow, which orig-inates at its sides : tlie latter have also groups of stout 

 spines, which partly pierce the tongue, together with bundles of flexible bristles, as brilliant as gold, and change- 

 able to every hue of the rainbow. The colours they present are surpassed in beauty neither by the scale-like 

 feathers of the Humming-bird, nor by the most IjriUiant gems. Below them is a tubercle bearing three groups 

 of spines, of tliree ditTerent thicknesses ; and tinally, a fleshy cover. There ai'e forty of these tubercles on each 

 side, and between the two first are two little fleshy tentacles ; besides which tliere are lifteeu pairs of broad scales, 

 which are sometimes bul:;ed upon the back; and fifteen small branchial crests on each side. 



[The animals of this group, which greatly resemble, in form, the Enphroslne Initreata, tigured in a preceding 

 page, are well known under the name of Sea Mice, and are often thiown upon the beach after a gale of wind, lu 

 some species Ihe lateral seta^ exhibit a beautiful structure, admirably fitting them for weapons of defence, being 

 barbed on each side at the tip ; but, in order to prevent the injury which might occur to the animals, in consequence 

 of the power it possesses of retracting these seta?, each is inclosed in a smooth, horny sheath, composed of tuo 

 bla.Irs.] 



Some species have no tow-liUesubstance on the back, which are the Jlarithiis hcruiionr.-iof M. Savigny, and form 

 the genus IlentiioNc of M. de Blainville. There is one in our seas, the Apfir. /n/.->-iJhv, Savigny. 



Another division of Aphrodita is the 



PoLYNOE, Sav. (Enmolpo, Oken), — 

 Having no scales on the back, and live tentacles, together witli strong corneous jaws, within the pro- 

 boscis. 

 Several small species inhabit our coasts. 



SiGALiov, And. and Edw., — 

 Presents a more elongated form than other Aphrodites, with cirrhi upon all the feet. 



ACOETES, Id., — 

 Have cirrhi which alternate with the elytra for a considerable space, and stronger and better dentelated 

 jaws. 



