At the lowest ebb of spring-tide may often be seen protruding above the surface of the beach an object that at a little distance might be mistaken for the twig of a tree, or a decayed and blackened reed. A close examination discloses it to be a smooth, tough tube, apparently composed of dark leather or old gutta-percha, affixed at its lower extremity to some rock or other solid substance.

The pretty Annelid occupying this dark cylinder is the Fan-Amphitrite (A. ventilabrum). Unlike the Terrebella, this animal may really be captured without much difficulty. The first time I made the experiment it was successful. By carefully digging down with chisel, or digits, to the base of the tube, which may be reached in the course of a few minutes, the entire structure, with its living occupant, may be transferred to your extemporaneous tank.

I have an Amphitrite in my aquarium at the present time displaying its richly-tinted tentacula to the sun, which lights them up with unusual beauty.

As the 'case' of this animal is flexible, and as its owner will only thrive in an upright position, the reader will easily conceive that to afford the Annelid suitable accommodation in the aquarium is not a very easy task. What other naturalists do I cannot tell; but the following is the plan I adopt for the creature's comfort and my own gratification:—

Having procured a small cylinder of glass (or gutta-percha), close up one end, and drop in the Amphitrite, taking care to first tie the lower portion of its sheath with a piece of thread or silk. It is very pretty to see the plume of the Annelid spreading completely over and covering the extremity of the tube, giving the idea in the one instance that the animal was mysteriously gifted with the power of exuding gutta-percha instead of its usual mucus.

The Annelid may be made to recline against the sides of the vase, or be propped up on any chosen spot by aid of a small cairn of pebbles, and thus form a very curious feature in the aquarium.

To test a fact, relative to the power which the Amphitrite is said to possess, in common with other tubiculous Annelids, of renewing certain portions of its body after sustaining injury, I snipped off the principal portions of its branchiÆ, and found that, after the lapse of a few months, my specimen renewed its mutilated organs.

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