Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/303

248 These worms bear a general resemblance to the Centipedes of the land, and some may behold them with aversion on that account; but, prejudice being laid aside, we must confess that their forms are elegant, their motions lithe, easy and full of grace, and their general appearance attractive. They are distinguished by their long, slender, and flattened bodies, composed of very numerous segments, sometimes amounting to several hundred (as in the case of Phyllodoce laminosa, Sav. found on the French side of the Channel, which reaches to two feet in length, and is divided into more than 500 segments ); but they may be more readily recognised by the series of overlapping leaflets which run along each side, one pair to each segment.

It is a very curious spectacle to see these Worms turn the stomach inside out. In common with most other genera of this Class, the head is minute, and what seems to be the mouth, is but the orifice from which the proboscis is protruded. In the genus Phyllodoce, this organ is a great muscular sac, sometimes as much as one-fourth of the whole length of the body. The beholder is astonished to see a chasm in the under side of the head begin to yawn, and the interior rapidly protrude, turning inside-out as it comes forth, like a living stocking, until it assumes the form of an enormous pear-shaped bag, the surface of which is beset with a multitude of secreting warts or glands, like those which stud the tongue in higher animals. In many genera the extremity of this