MARINE WORMS. 49 
Marine Worms.—A common form on the sea-shore 
is Vereis (Fig. 52) ; the body is composed of from one to 
two hundred joints, each of which bears a pair of paddles ; 
upon the head are four eyes, while the mouth is armed 
with a powerful proboscis and two large cimeter-like teeth. 
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Ho a 
Fic. 52.—Sea-worm (WVere7s). 
They live in holes in the sand, lined with a fluid secretion. 
They multiply by eggs. The Czrratulus also lives in a tube. 
In the South some of these forms arrange a leaf of sea- 
weed in the structure so that it falls over the mouth, form- 
ing a door, and giving the entire tube the appearance of 
sea-weed. The Serpule (Fig. 53), that build stony houses, 
have radiating coronets, dashed with rich coloring, for 
breathing organs. The Pectinaria bears upon its head 
a pair of combs of burnished gold, while with very few 
exceptions all the worms are luminous—green, blue, 
white, and yellow lights marking their movements under 
the sea. 
been estimated that they average about 100,000 to the acre. In 
New Zealand 348,480 have been found in an acre of rich ground ; so 
it will be seen that the upper crust is continually being eaten and 
ejected by them, their myriads of holes conveying water to the interior 
as well as air. The worms also drag vast masses of leaves under 
ground, that enrich the soil. They cover up seeds, undermine rocks, 
burying them up, and to their work is due the preservation of many 
ruins and ancient works of art. Some of their casts found in India are 
over a foot in length. In England, numbers of ancient Roman villas 
have been discovered beneath the ground, their entombment, accord- 
ing to Darwin, undoubtedly caused by the worms that undermined 
them and deposited their casts upon the floors, until finally, aided by 
other causes, they disappeared from sight. 
