FYI, or a reminder that:
"Royal Society Publishing is pleased to announce that, as from 18 February 2009, our online journal content will be hosted on the new HighWire H2O platform, where all articles - from 1665 to present - will be completely FREE to access until 31 March 2009."
http://royalsocietypublishing.org
Heh. A remarkable resource. If you search for worm titles from way back in 1665 - there _are_ actually some there ....
Observations about Shining Worms in Oysters. Phil. Trans. 1665 1:203-206.
An Extract of a Letter, Written from Holland, about Preserving of Ships from Being Worm-Eaten. Phil. Trans. 1665 1:190-191.
A Relation of a Kind of Worms, That Eat Out Stones. Phil. Trans. 1665 1:321-323.
Or from 30 years later you can see one of the first descriptions of an aphroditid, including observation of the interference colours of the chaetae, which are "... of a most delicate changeable Red and Green Colour and of so sparkling a vivid Lustre, that nothing of this kind could
shew more Beautiful." The worm was found in a fish gut, rather than a dredge.
Molyneux, T. (1695). Account of a Not Yet Described Scolopendra Marina. Philosophical Transactions 19(215-235): 405-412.
Or if you prefer current times you can read about worm appendage Fibonacci patterns, about a pyritized polychaete from the Devonian, and about Osedax bone worms. Etc.
Please share if you turn up other historical worm gems.
Geoff
--
Geoff Read <g.read from niwa.co.nz>
http://www.annelida.net/http://www.niwascience.co.nz/ncabb/
About NIWA http://www.niwa.co.nz/about
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