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April 13th [Meeting report, 1858]
Mr. Jeanes in the Chair. Fifty-one members present..
A letter was read from Henry Hartshorne, M. D., Recorder of the Biological Department of the Academy, announcing its organization, and the selection of the first and third Mondays of each month as the time of meeting.
Dr. Leidy called the attention of the members to a drawing of a curious worm, which he said was obtained from the Schuylkill river, and was interesting from its being more nearly allied to marine forms than any other known fresh water species. It lives in tubes of mud; and is about a line in length. The body is divided into twelve annuli, including the head, which is cup-shaped, has two eyes, and supports on each side a process provided with seventeen cylindrical ciliated arms. The rings, except the head, are provided with four rows of bristles and two rows of podal hooks. The bristles are from four to six in a bunch; those anteriorly having a falcate extremity, and those posteriorly being whip-like. The anterior hooks are in series of five; and have a long handle with a lancet-like extremity. The posterior hooks are from fifteen to twenty in a series, and have a long handle with the extremity expanded and serrated on one side. It appears to be most nearly allied to the marine genus Fabricia. He proposed for it the name
Manayunkia speciosa, from the Indian name of the river in which it was first discovered.
