1885. ] The Clam-Worm. 363 
with a row of small sharp teeth on the curve of the inner side, as 
if two tiny sickles could be converted into saws. The little beast 
` was slashing remorselessly into these translucent delicate sheets 
of emerald gelatine. I said jaws. The whole apparatus has been 
called a proboscis—but such an exceptional one! The annelid 
in repose carries his jaws down his throat just over the cesopha- 
gus, and when he eats the two serrate sickle jaws are everted, that 
is, protruded, pharynx and all. This creature was our clam-worm, 
Nereis limbata. “It moves in graceful ease through the marine 
meadows by means of its two long rows of parapoda, or natural 
oars. It has four eyes, and they see me too, for it disappears 
instantly. Its retreat is a little burrow in the sand, a transverse 
section of which would be nearly oval. The books say that the 
Nereis secretes a viscid fluid with which it lines its burrow. - Its 
progress in this retreat is rapid, and it can move either way with 
equal ease. Its head is now at the entrance, hence it has turned 
in its burrow, and as this is pretty well filled by the worm’s body, 
how does it double on itself? It has such a knowing look with 
its four optics, and four pairs of feelers, as if in its tentacular wis- 
dom it were inspecting every object anent the cabin door. And 
then it has an amiable look, for that proboscis with its formidable 
jaws is concealed down the throat. 
I found two others in the tank. Each was from two and a half 
to three inches long. Twice one of them was so accommodating 
as to make its burrow against the glass side of the tank. I now 
watched the movement in the burrow and saw how easily it 
could advance or recede; but I failed to see the doubling on 
itself And then it was pretty to note that the paddle-like rami 
were never soiled. 
How could I grudge my Nereids their inroads on the lettuce 
beds, as I deemed them vegetarians of the Simon-pure variety ? 
I was feeding the Actiniz with small pellets of raw beef. It oc- 
curred to me to tempt the Nereid from its simple fare with a 
stronger diet; so I dropped a bit of beef at the entrance to the 
burrow. The tentacular wisdom made a snap judgment—“ fresh 
beef is good,” for out popped the proboscis, that is, the pharynx 
and its formidable jaws, and the welcome morsel was hooked with 
a jerk into the burrow. How deceptive are appearances. Vege- 
tarian indeed! My Nereids are rabid carnivores. Thence on I 
fed the Nereids beef whenever I fed the Actiniz. 
