TUBE OF PANTHALIS. 181 



ingly fine capillary chaetae, lying compactly side by side, 

 readily separable with a dissecting needle. The extensions 

 from these coils can easily be traced to the cleft between 

 the upper and lower lobes of the parapodia, from which 

 points I have, more than once, seen the white, tube- 

 forming threads to issue. Whether these threads are 

 themselves prolongations of Chaetae, or are fabricated by 

 gland secretions, forced through the chaetae, which are 

 shewn as tubes by Eisig, is a point to which I hope to 

 give further attention. 



It may be noted that the dorsal lobes of the parapodia 

 endowed with spinning- glands, are much wider than those 

 of the preceding limbs. 



On the remaining point, viz., how the threads are 

 passed forward to the " weaving feet," I fortunately gained 

 a clue from this living specimen. Kinberg in his des- 

 cription of Panthalis oerstedi (" Fregatten Eugenies 

 Resa " Zool. Annulater) specifies the setae as of three 

 kinds " subulato- serrulate, bipennato-penicillate, and 

 aristate," and states that the first-named occupy the 

 lowest position as regards the parapodium ; the aristate 

 setae, the medium, and the bipennato-penicillate the 

 superior or dorsal ; the action of the medium and superior 

 setae is described as perpendicular, and that of the inferior 

 setae, as horizontal. These setae, as well as the animal 

 itself, are figured in the work above referred to, but those 

 observed in my specimens appear to be a combination of 

 the setae given both for Panthalis and Eupompe grubei, 

 and correspond most closely with the latter. (Possibly 

 Kinberg got his figures mixed.) None of these figures, 

 however, give quite the correct impression of the "bipen- 

 nato-penicillate" setae of Kinberg. When in action, it is 

 really that of a minute brush, in which the bristles have 

 flexible attachments round the tip of a long central shaft, 



