﻿[From the American Joubxal op Science and Arts, Vol. VII, Feb., 1874. J 



17. On the Systematic Position of the Brachiopoda ; by E. S. 

 Morse. (From the Proceeding:s of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History, vol. xv, 187;?.) 60 pages, with numerous figures. — In this 

 memoir Professor ]\[orse has presented, at some lengtli, his argu- 

 ments in favor of uniting the Braehiopoils with the Cha^topod 

 Worms. His avowetl ohjeot is " to show that in every point of 

 their structure, the Brachiopoda are true worms, with })ossibly 

 some atiinities to the Crustacea, and that they have no lelations to 

 the MoUusca, save what nuiny other worms may possess in com- 

 mon with them." 



In this and several other valuable papers on the Brachiopods 

 the aiithor has presented many facts of great interest and import- 

 ance concerning their anatomy and embryology, aiul for these he 

 deserves much credit, whether we accept his theories concerning 

 their relations to the worms, or not. A full discussion of his 

 theory and arguments, on this subject, Avill not be attempted at 

 this time ; but as some of his statements are calculated to mislead 

 those not familiar with the subject, a few exceptions to such state- 

 ments may not be out of place. On pages 1 to 10 (319 to 322, in 

 Proc.) a summary is given of the characters in which Worms 

 and MoUusks are supposed to differ; and on pages 58 and 59, the 

 characters of " Vermes" and Brachio})ods are compared in paral- 

 lel colunnis. In both places the terms " worms," " Vermes," 

 " Anmdata," are used so indefinitely that it is not always easy to 

 tell whether certain characters are intended to apply to all worms, 

 or " vermes," or to particular groups, like the Annelids. But 

 considering the immense diversity in the anatomy and embryology 

 of the numerous groups, of at least ordinal value, if not classes, 

 already referred to the " \'ermes," this distinction is of essential 

 importance. Thus it would be easy to show that there are excep- 

 tions (often very numerous) to nearly every character given as 

 characteristic of " Vermes" on pp. 58, 59. It would also be easy 

 to show that part of the characters given as common to Vermes 

 and Brachiopods are common, likewise, to most other classes of 

 Invertebrata, including certainly some Alollusks and Radiates. 



The first character given (p. 7) relates to form : " We have in 

 the Vermes a form, whose length is much greater in proportion to 

 its breadth than in the Mollusks." jMany Annelids, like Aphrodite, 

 Eiiphrosyne, certain leeches, and many of the lower " Vermes," 

 like the Planarians, are notable exceptions, being relatively 

 broader and shorter than the majority of JMollusks. Again, " the 

 worm is perfectly bilaterally symmetrical, depressed, flattened or 

 circular, the dorsal and ventral regions so near alike in many 

 cases as to be distinguished with difficulty, and the body never 

 flattened laterally," the reverse being stated of the ]\Iollusks. 

 But we find mony Annelids that are more or less asymmetrical, 



