240 CIRRATULIDjE. 



notion that these organs, which have remarkable vitality, and which have the function 

 of organs of prehension, locomotion, and of respiration, also nnder favourable conditions 

 might reproduce the species, or perform the functions of buds. Of this, however, he had 

 no actual proof. No corroboration of such a view has been forthcoming. This author 

 based his genera on the arrangement of the branchiae, which in those where they occur 

 throughout the segments may be lateral (on the feet) or dorsal, both kinds being present 

 in Girratulus, whereas in Audouinia the branchiae of the feet precede the dorsal branchiae, 

 and in Oirrhinereis they are only on the feet. In the others the branchiae are confined to 

 the anterior region, taking the place of tentacular cirri (Dodecaceria) , or the tentacular 

 cirri being a pair in Heterocirrus or three pairs in Narganseta. 



The classification adopted by De Quatrefages, however, was lax, the same species 

 being occasionally included under two genera. Moreover, he does not mention Ghxtozone. 



Claparede (1868) describes various structural features in his Neapolitan forms, 

 especially in connection with the respiratory and vascular systems, and gives the shape of 

 the corpuscles of the blood. In his structural work on the sedentary annelids (1873) he 

 mentions that anteriorly the superior lateral muscles in the body-wall go between two sets 

 of bristles and he considered the dorsum to be divided into two moieties ; yet in Audouinia, 

 on the contrary, the number of these muscles diminishes. Jn certain Cirratulids the dorsal 

 vessel is dilated and has a heart-body, which the author thought similar to chloragogenous 

 tissue — it may be from infolding of the wall. The cerebral ganglia are large in certain 

 forms. 



Grube 1 (in 1872) gave a careful synopsis of the family, grouping the species under 

 three genera, viz. Glrratulus, without tentacular cirri, Heterocirrus and Acrocirrus with these 

 organs, and dwelling in limestone and shells. He used the arrangement and position of 

 the branchial filaments to subdivide Girratulus, the structure of the bristles being rarely 

 taken into consideration, and then only as aciculae or capillary bristles. Those with 

 tentacular cirri included Heterocirrus, under which Dodecaceria would also apparently fall, 

 and a new genus, Acrocirrus, characterised by the trapezoidal shape of the cephalic lobe, 

 the insertion of the tentacular cirri, and the distinct setigerous tubercles. Moreover, 

 Marenzeller describes the bristles as compound. 



Ray Lankester 2 (1873) found that the few corpuscles and the fluid in the blood-vessels 

 contain haemoglobin. He also obtained Grregarinae in the intestine. 



In Girratulus filiformis the segmental organs occur in most of the segments, according 

 to Cosmovici (1880), attached to the anterior faces of the diaphragms. He quotes 

 Keferstein as stating that these organs occur in the anterior segments following the 

 buccal, whereas he found them in the middle and posterior regions of C. filiformis. 



Levinsen 3 (1883) made the Cirratulidae the third family of his Syllidiformia Spionina, 

 following the Chaetopteridae and succeeded by the Ariciidae, a classification which does not 

 improve on that of Malmgren. . He ranged the genera thus : Dodecaceria,, Ghsetozone, 

 Girratulus. 



Cams (1885) made the Cirratulida the first family of the Limivora, 



1 l Sitzb. Schles. Gesell./ nat. hist, sect., p. 27 ; vide also ( Arch, f . Naturges./ Bd. xxxix, p. 458. 



2 < Proc. Roy. Soc./ No. 142. 



3 Of. cit., p. 180, 



