Terebella figulus.
(THE POTTER.)
'Whether progressing on the solid surface, or moving through the water, or
tunneling the sand, advancing or retreating in its tube, the Annelid performs
muscular feats distinguished at once for their complexity and harmony. In
grace of form the little worm excels the serpent. In regularity of march, the
thousand-footed Nereid outrivals the Centipede. The leaf-armed Phyllodoce swims
with greater beauty of mechanism than the fish; and the vulgar earthworm shames
the mole in the exactitude and skill of its subterranean operations. Why, then,
should the "humble worm" have remained so long without a historian? Is the
care, the wisdom, the love, the paternal solicitude of the Almighty not legible
in the surpassing organism, the ingenious architectures, the individual and
social habits, the adaptation of structure to the physical conditions of
existence of these "degraded beings?" Do not their habitations display His
care, their instincts His wisdom, their merriment His love, their vast
specific diversities His solicitous and inscrutable Providence.'—Dr. Williams.
1 THE POTTER (Terebella figulus)
2 Terebella littoralis