1. Mouth; 2. salivary sacs; 3. intestine; 4. cloaca; 5. ramified tubes, conveying water for respiration into the interior of the body.
339. Next, in the ascending scale, the external envelop of the body is extended into a distinct additional or supplemental organ, by which the function of the skin is assisted. This additional organ is called branchia or gill. The simplest form of branchia consists of folds or duplicatures of skin, forming ramified tufts (fig. [CXXVII]. 1), which in general have a regular and often a symmetrical disposition on the external surface (fig. [CXXVII]. 1). Sometimes, as in the water breathing annelides, these tufts form a fan-like expansion around the head; but at other times they are disposed in regular series along the whole extent of the body.
Fig. CXXVII.—Lumbricus Marinus.
1. Respiratory tufts. 2. Artery and vein, supplying the respiratory apparatus. 3. Dorsal vessel.
340. Instead of branchiæ in the form of ramified tufts, the ascending series of animals, namely, the higher crustacea, possess branchiæ composed of numerous, delicate, thin laminæ or leaves, divided from each other, yet placed in close proximity, like the teeth of a fine comb, whence this arrangement is termed pectinated. Over the blood-vessels of the system spread out on these delicate, fringed, pectinated leaves, the water is driven in constant streams.
341. Still higher in the scale, as in molluscous animals, an internal sac is formed to which are sometimes attached numerous tufts; but which at other times is itself plaited into beautifully disposed regular folds, crowded with blood-vessels and constantly bathed with fresh currents of water.