. A catalogue of the British non-parasitical worms in the collection of the British Museum. Worms. ANNELIDES. 93 No. XVI. desirable to have atiy addition to man's weapons fit for war, it might furnish the model of a new kind as for- midable as any we yet possess. The bayonet part of the bristle is, in fact, also a sheath, which encloses another weapon that is only ex- posed when the scabbard has been lost. When we separate the bayonet from the shaft, we, at the same time, force from its interior a horny stylette (fig. 26 h),—the true termination of the bristle,—so that the place where the bayo
. A catalogue of the British non-parasitical worms in the collection of the British Museum. Worms. ANNELIDES. 93 No. XVI. desirable to have atiy addition to man's weapons fit for war, it might furnish the model of a new kind as for- midable as any we yet possess. The bayonet part of the bristle is, in fact, also a sheath, which encloses another weapon that is only ex- posed when the scabbard has been lost. When we separate the bayonet from the shaft, we, at the same time, force from its interior a horny stylette (fig. 26 h),—the true termination of the bristle,—so that the place where the bayonet is attached is not obtuse or inflated, as it seems to be, but is, on the contrary, tipped with a needle- like point, ready to become a good defensive instrument when the enclosing appendage has been lost or expended. The Aphrodita hystrix has, in the dorsal branch of its feet, bristles of a very different composition, and which may be described as lances*. It is easy enough to form a notion of their form by recalling to ourselves the figure of a lance, or of a long pike barbed on the edges near the apex (No. XVII. fig. 28) ; and let it be remembered that>the lances of the Annelid are so small that a considerable magnifier is re- quired to discover their workmanship, which excels in finish the finest instrument manufac- tured by the skill and patience of the most expert artificer ; for, unlike man's productions, this tiny lance " not only bears the microscopic glance, but the more minutely it is examined, the more fully its exquisite organization is ; A great number of these bristles garnish the extre- mity of each foot, and as they are stiff and serried, they form a hedge of spears round the body of the worm, placing it, as it were, within a square of pointed pikes threatening at all points;]!. Associated with the lance-bristles, there are found, in the same Aphrodite, numerous others terminating in a sort of knob (fig. 29). When this knob is ope
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectworms, bookyear1865
