Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-02-21
Mmeester Bully Spp.
Prof. AEassIz on Hair snakes.

Professor Agassiz is writing series of arti.
Giles for the Atlantic Monthly which are richly
worth the price OF publication. From his art
icle in the February number we take the fol.
lowing:
'In the third division of the animal king
dom-the articulates-we have again three
classes the worms, crustacea and insects
The lowest OF these three classes, the worm,
presents the typical structure of that branch
IN the most uniform manner, with little ind
naturalization of parts.
This class includes animals of various de-
grees OF complication of structure, from those
with highly developed organizations to the
lowest worms that float like long threads in
the water and hardly seem to be animals. Yet
even these creatures so low in the scale OF life,
are not devoid of some instincts, however dim.
of feeling and affection. l remember case in
point that excited my own wonder at the time
and may not be unnteresting to my readers.
A gentleman from Detroit had the kindness TO
send me one of those long thread like worms
(9ordiaS) found often in brooks and called
horse hairs by the common people, When l
first received it, it was coiled up 10 close roll
at the bottom of the bottle, filled with fresh
water, that contained it, and looked more like
little tangle of b ack sewing silk than any
thing else Wishing to unwind it, that
might examine its entire length, / placed it in
a large china basin filled with water, and pro-
ceeded gently to disentangle its cois-when
perceived that the animal had twisted itself
around bundle of its eggs, holding them fast
in close embrace. In the process of unwind
ing, the eggs dropped away and foated to
little distance. Having finally stretched it out
to its full leDgth-perIlaps halt yard-I sat
watching to see if this singular being, that
looked like r long black thread in the water,
would show any signs of life. Almost imme-
dlately it moved toward the bundle of eggs
and, having reached it, began to sew itself
through and through the little white mass
passing, enc end of its body thro' it, and then
returning TO make another stitch, as it were
till the eggs were at last completely entangled
again in an intricate net work of coils 1t
seemed to me almost impossible that this care
of offspring could be the resultof any instinct
of affection in creature of SO low an organ.
ization and again separated it from the eggs,
and placed them at greater distance, when
the action was repeated. On trying the ex.
pertinent third time, the bundle of eggs had
become loosened, and few of them dropped
off siDgly into the water. The efforts which
the animal then made to recover the missing
ones, winding itself round and round them,
but failing to bring them into the fold with
the rest, because they were too small, and eva
ded all efforts to secure them, when once part.
Su iAOh TIC uiot lttic SouipdSG HidSSJ COHFtHC-
ed me that there was a definite purpose in its at
tempts, and that even being SO low in the
scale of animal existence has some dim con-
seriousness of a relation to its offspring / af-
forwards unwound also tile mass of eggs,
which, when coiled up as l first saw it, made
roll of white substance about the size OF
coffee bean, and found that it consisted OF a
string of eggs measuring more than twelve
feet in length, the eggs being held to gether by
some geatinous substance that cemented them
and prevented them from falling apart. Gut
ting this string across, and placing small sec
ton under the microscope, counted on one
surface of such cut from seventy to seventy
five eggs, and estimating the entire number of
eggs according to the number counted on such
a surface, | found that there was not less than
eight million OF eggs in the whole string. The
fertility of these lower animals is truly amaz
ing, and is no doubt provision OF nature
against the many chances of destruction to
which these germs so delicate and often mic
roscopicay small, must be exposed. The
higher rise in the animal kingdom, the
more limited do we find the number of pro-
geny, and the care bestowed upon them by
the parents is IN proportion to this dimnu
ton"