Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/286

Rh genus. It is a worm closely allied to the Sabellæ and Serpulæ, but having the head adorned with a great number of long thread-like tentacles, in place of the beautiful fans and other apparatus that distinguish those genera. In general the Terebella inhabits a tube, not formed of solid shell like that of the Serpula, nor of mud like that of the Sabella; but one most ingeniously fabricated by its own tentacles, built up of minute particles of sand or small fragments of shells, which it lays with elegance and neatness in a cement of its own construction. From the creation of the world this little worm has been practising the ancient and honorable craft of masonry, forming his vaulted tunnels of unhewn stones (for what are atoms of sand but stones?) and bedding them with Roman cement, that "sets" under water. And hence I would respectfully suggest to the worthy brotherhood of Free and Accepted Masons, whether they do not injustice to themselves in tracing their origin no farther than Father Adam, since assuredly the Terebellæ were not only brethren but masters of the craft, before he began existence,—by half a day at least.

If any of my readers should wish to see specimens of this ancient mason's art, nothing is easier than to gratify the desire. Go and turn over the loose stones that lie on the sandy shore along the line of low-water, and you will find in sufficient abundance sandy tubes of the size of a goose-quill, and several inches in length, so brittle as hardly to endure removal, imbedded in the earth. These are the habitations of T. chrysodon, most commonly empty and deserted; but not infrequently the long slender tentacles of this