Identifier: scientific-american-1876-08-26 (find matches)
Title: Scientific American Volume 35 Number 09 (August 1876)
Year: 1876 (1870s)
Authors:
Subjects: improved scientific patent color iron silver tion consists scientific american breech single copies red color breech block weak solution silver chloride san fernando cash gifts horse power price list
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t from Bermuda.They differ from the others in having less power of expansion to the body, and have fewer tentacles, but make up forthe lack of grace in form by their gorgeous color. Thegeneral scientific name for them is actinia. Just above isshown a bunch of serpula contortuplicata. They belong tothe annelida or worms proper. They breathe through theskin by sacs or gills. In the present genus the respirationis by gills which are elegant in form and brilliant in color,The body of the serpula is short, the hard tube in which itlives in the sand being many times the length of the ani-mal. Projecting from the tube may be seen a fan-like ap-pendage most beautifully tinted with bands of red and white.This fan is the serpulas gills, and aid it in procuring itsfood. If viewed with a magnifying glass, it will be seenthat the exterior of the gill tufts is covered with wonder-fully delicate filaments or cilia which are constantly wavingin regular ripples ; by this movement a current is produced
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A MARINE AftUARIUH, ) 1876 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. 136 Sftitntttlt %mnian. (August 26, 1876. that brings in a multitude of minute animals upon whichthe worm feeds. The serpula is furnished with an arrange-ment for stopping its tube when it wishes to retire ; this isa conical appendage developed from one of the little anten-nas, which hangs from the tube and is called the operculum.One specimen in a tank has two kinds of plants growingfrom its operculum. When first placed in the tank the ser-puhe are very sensitive, and pop into their tubes at the leastjar. Near the serpula is shown the common shrimp.which isregarded as an excellent scavenger of the tank. The shrimpsare so transparent that the food can be seen in the stomach,and we can almost trace the process of digestion. Attached to the lower part of the rock work are more ofthe brown, and some of the beautiful little white, anemones.It is almost impossible to describe their form, as they are sochangeable. At times hanging from th

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