2IO 



FOOTE AND STROBELL. 



on single worms, was to dump daily several pots, each contain- 

 ing one hundred worms and carefully to examine the clitellum of 

 each worm. The presence of a slime-tube, with or without a 

 cocoon, can be detected, by constrictions at each end of the cli- 

 tellum. These constrictions are very marked when the worm is 

 contracted and difficult to see when the worm stretches out. 

 When the worm succeeds in partially escaping from the slime- 

 tube, one or both constrictions can be seen on, or near, the cli- 

 tellum. These constrictions are produced by the slime-tube and 



FIG. 3. A freshly deposited cocoon. Wnen on the worm the shorter end of the 

 slime-tube is posterior to the clitellum and the impress of 5 segments on the tube 

 shows that, in this case, the posterior end of the slime-tube extented to the 39th seg- 

 ment of the worm. This figure was reduced one fourth from Fig. 3 of an earlier paper. 

 The original figure was magnified seven diameters. 



not by the cocoon, for we have found worms showing marked 

 constrictions, when careful examination of the slime-tube after 

 removal, failed to show any trace of a cocoon. This indicates 

 that the formation of the slime-tube is the first step in the process 

 of forming a cocoon. 



Having established the fact that cocoons are formed by these 

 worms, during copulation or separately, the opposing opinions 

 on this point are harmonized. The question now remains, which 

 method predominates ? 



We find eggs in the cocoon while it still encircles the cli- 

 tellum, proving that they must be conveyed through the slime- 

 tube, from the oviducts on the I4th segment, to the cocoon ; and 

 that they are not deposited in the cocoon when it finally passes 

 over these segments, as suggested by several investigators. 



We have found from one to twenty-eight eggs generally near 

 the anterior end of the cocoon. In some cases these cocoons 



