THE NEMEETEANS. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



The Nemerteans are elongated non-bristled worms very plentifully distributed on all our 

 coasts ; yet, if not entirely overlooked, they have been generally regarded with a suspicion or 

 aversion even more profound than that bestowed on the true Annelids ; apparently, on the one 

 hand, from their supposed resemblance to the forms that live parasitically in the bodies of the 

 higher animals ; and, on the other, from the intricacy of their structure, and the obscurity which 

 shrouded their relations with surrounding groups. The appearance of the large species, indeed, 

 has frequently given rise to feelings of superstitious wonder not unmixed with dread in the minds 

 of the public ; and some authors even have been more careful to indulge in the same vein in their 

 narratives, than to increase our knowledge of the structure and economy of these interesting 

 animals. They have especially received slight notice from British zoologists. 



Cuvier first applied the name Nemertes 1 to designate the Lineus marinus of Montagu, and 

 several subsequent writers have with propriety given the title Nemerteans to the Order, in 

 which the name has been so long familiar. It is synonymous with the Teretularia of De 

 Blainville, the Annelosi Polici of Delle Chiaje, the Cestoidina of (Ersted, the Mioccela of De 

 Quatrefages, the Aploccda of Blanchard, and the Turhettaria Rliynclioccela of others. 



They have a soft, more or less elongated body, richly ciliated throughout, and the head is 

 usually distinguished from the rest of the animal. The eye-specks and lateral slits (when pre- 

 sent) are situated in the flattened snout. 



The Nemerteans for the most part frequent the sea, though a few aberrant forms occur in 

 fresh water. The British species, so far as yet observed, are all marine ; one of them, moreover, 

 having the semi-parasitic habit of a dweller in tubes attached to the hairs of the abdominal feet 

 of female Carcini. This peculiarity amongst the Nemerteans was first noticed by Delle Chiaje, 



1 Nemertes, one of the sea-nymphs (Mediterranean as distinguished from the Oceanides)— daughters 

 of Nereus and Doris. 



