74 GORDIUS. HJIR-WORM. Class VI. 



4. Mari- Montagu in Lin. Tr. vii. 72. Lineus longissimus. Sow. Br, 



nus. g ea long- worm. Borlase Com- misc. t. yiij. 



wall. 255. t. 26. /. 13. Mem. Wern. Soc. 557- 



[G. of a filiform shape, but rather decreasing 

 towards the extremity; skin smooth, slimy; 

 mouth small, placed beneath longitudinally; 

 color dusky brown, with a tinge of green, 

 marked by five longitudinal lines of a paler 

 hue ; grows at lest to the length of thirty feet, 

 but possesses a singular power of expanding 

 and contracting itself; one about eight feet in 

 length, put by Mr. Montagu in spirits, con- 

 tracted to one foot, but at the same time in- 

 creased in bulk. 



This curious worm is not uncommon on the 

 southern coast of Devonshire ;■* the largest are 

 taken by dredging in old bivalve shells. Ed. 



* It has also been found on the coast of Anglesey, under 

 stones, in deserted hollows formed there by crabs for their 

 retirement. H. D. 



