Excerpt from Contributions to the Life Histories of Gordius Robustus Leidy and Paragordius Varius (Leidy)

Von Siebold and following him Meissner (1855) placed Gordius and Mermis together to form the order Gordiacea. Meissner's work on the anatomy and physiology of Gordius and Mermis is in many respects an excellent production and it is inconceivable how, after such observations, he could still regard the two groups as closely related. The work of Gren acher (1868) on the anatomy of Gordius was a step in the right direction. He emphasized again the difference between Gordius and Mermis and stated that the two could not possibly belong to the same family.

Villot was the first to take up the study of museum specimens and living material in larger quantities. His investigations were carried on for a long series of years and with an earnest desire to solve the problems of taxonomy, physiology and life history, but unfortunately did not con tribute much to a clearer knowledge of the group. The problem was too great for the methods he employed.

In England Baird described several species and in Germany von Lin stow added a large number of names without giving descriptions adequate for identification.

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