SUPPLEMENT 
ON THE 
CLASS OF THE ANNELIDA. 
It is of the utmost importance to the student of natural his- 
tory, thoroughly to understand the application of the names, 
and the strict limits of its various divisions : to do this, be- 
comes of still greater consequence, and we regret to say of 
infinitely more difficulty, as we descend in our researches to 
those beings which rank lower and lower in the great scale of 
animality. This arises from the multitude, the variety, the 
habits, and the localities of such beings, often presenting great 
impediments to observation and examination ; but still more 
from the confusion and mutation of names and divisions, by 
careless investigation, or scientific vanity. This has been 
strikingly exemplified with respect to the animals to which 
our attention is now directed ; and a few preliminary remarks 
in reference to their classification will not only be useful but 
indispensable. 
In the infancy of the study of natural history, the name of 
Vermes, or Worms, was bestowed on all animals with long 
and soft bodies, from a comparison of them to the eartli-w r orms, 
or lumbrici , to which this term had been specifically devoted. 
Consequently, the larvm of insects were considered as worms, 
and are still considered as such, by the great majority of man- 
kind. 
