The royal natural history . eans the young hair-worms are set free in theintestines of the fish, where they undergo theirmetamorphosis, and after five or six months passinto the water in the mature form. Nearly alliedis the family Mermithidce, containing the genusMermis. Like the hair-worms, they occur bothsingly or coiled up and entwined with each eggs are curiously constructed, having theform of lenticular capsules, with a pair of tassel-shaped appendages projecting from their flat sur-faces. Eggs of M. albicans laid in the summer donot hatch until the spring. After remaining a sho
The royal natural history . eans the young hair-worms are set free in theintestines of the fish, where they undergo theirmetamorphosis, and after five or six months passinto the water in the mature form. Nearly alliedis the family Mermithidce, containing the genusMermis. Like the hair-worms, they occur bothsingly or coiled up and entwined with each eggs are curiously constructed, having theform of lenticular capsules, with a pair of tassel-shaped appendages projecting from their flat sur-faces. Eggs of M. albicans laid in the summer donot hatch until the spring. After remaining a short time in the earth, the young search for insects and larvae, bore a way intotheir bodies, where they gradually grow to maturity, and ultimately pass out tolead a free life, when they pair and lay their eggs. They may be found in cater-pillars, grasshoppers, and more rarely spiders. larvae OF Gordius—«, showing proboscis, and b, circlets of hooks on thebead ; c, two examples lodged in the foot of a larva of the eggs and larva OF Mermis (enlarged). Arrow-Worms,—Order ChvETOGnatha. The small group of worms included under this heading are of doubtful are glass-like, transparent creatures living in the sea, near the surface ofwhich they swim in numbers. They are most active and vigorous swimmers, as NEMERTINE WORMS. 457 might be expected from their slender build, and .the presence of a large horizontalfin at the sides of the hinder half of the body, projecting beyond the tail. Theshape of the body and the presence of the large tail-fin suggested the name head is bluntly rounded and furnished with a pair of eyes, a pair of feelers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectzoology
