REPOUT ON THE ANNELIDA. 
259 
observed in a very small space. The second day they appear at the same time, and in a 
similar manner, but in such countless myriads that the surface of the ocean is covered 
with them for a considerable extent. Each day, after sporting for an hour or two, they 
disappear until the next season, and none are observed in the interval. Mr. Stair was 
of opinion that they came from the coral-reefs, and added that the natives caught them 
in small baskets, beautifully made, tied them up in leaves, and baked them. Great 
quantities, moreover, were eaten undressed. They are esteemed a great delicacy by the 
natives, and the moment the fishing parties reach the shore messengers are despatched 
with them to those parts of the island unvisited by the Palolo. 
Dr. J. D. Macdonald was the next author who reported on the Palolo,^ while survey- 
ing in H.M.S. “Herald” in the South-western Pacific. He examined considerable 
numbers in the Fiji group and at Samoa, and fortunately found a head, though at first he 
experienced the same difficulty as Dr. Gray. He points out that the Fijian name for the 
animal is “Mbalolo,” and that the great antiquity of the latter is evident from the 
fact that the parts of the year nearly corresponding mth October and November are 
respectively termed “ Mbalolo lailai” (little) and “ Mbalolo levu” (large). The latter is 
distinguished by the appearance of multitudes of the Palolo, which is often forwarded by 
certain chiefs to others whose small dominions do not happen to be visited by the 
A TUI el id. Dr. Macdonald thought that the frequent rupture of the body was connected 
with the reproduction of the species. 
One of the most important points in the interesting paper of this author is the 
description (and figure) of the head, which shows a bilobed snout somewhat as in 
Lysidice, a median longer and two adjoining shorter lateral tentacles. On each side is a 
comparatively large eye. The armature of the buccal region is also carefully described 
and figured, and still more clearly demonstrates its relationship with the Eunicidse, not 
with the Nereidse as Dr. Macdonald supposed. Fair representations of the hooks and 
bristles as well as the structure of the feet are given, and also the condition of the 
posterior end. 
In the Catalogue of the Fauna of St. Andrews (early in 1875) I mentioned under the 
general remarks on the Annelida ^ that if the Palolo has similar habits to the Lysidice of 
our southern coasts (that is, dwells in fissures and crevices of the rocks at and near low 
water), it probably leaves its retreats for the purpose of depositing ova. 
The Rev. S. J. Whitmee of Samoa had previously forwarded specimens of the Palolo 
to Dr. Sclater along with a number of very interesting observations with regard to its 
habits and dates of appearance.® He found a specimen in a dead coral block removed 
from the sea, near a spot frequented by the Palolo ; and he observed vast numliers at the 
1 Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., vol. xxii. p. 237, pi. xli., 1858. 
^ Page 102 (and previously in the Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist, for August 1874), 
^ Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1875, p. 496. 
