212 FOOTE AND STROBELL. 



again only one full, while the contents of the other three varied 

 in amount. We were unable to discover any constancy in these 



relations. 



SPERMATOPHORES. 



Having often observed the deposition of cocoons by copulating 

 worms, one of us 1 was led to conclude that the spermatophores 

 in the double slime-tube represented the first step in the forma- 

 tion of the two cocoons. If this were true, we should find sper- 

 matozoa in immature cocoons at the earliest stages. The albu- 

 men from the immature cocoons found around the clitellum of 

 single worms was dried on slides, stained with iron hsematoxylin 

 and examined under a Zeiss 4-mm. and a 2-mm. immersion 

 lens, with the aid of a mechanical stage. This albumen resem- 

 bled that found in freshly deposited cocoons, but did not contain 

 spermatozoa. It is evident from the above, that the sperma- 

 tozoa are put into the cocoon at a later period, possibly when the 

 cocoon passes over the spermathecal openings as it is deposited. 

 The fact, however, that the slime-tube shown in Fig. I extends 

 to the posterior spermathecal openings suggests that in its normal 

 position the tube may extend to enclose all four spermathecal 

 openings, and the spermatozoa like the eggs be conveyed through 

 the tube to the cocoon, before deposition. But the albumen of 

 three cocoons apparently just ready for deposition failed to show 

 any spermatozoa. These cocoons tightly encircled the clitellum 

 and were equal in size to a freshly deposited cocoon ; one con- 

 tained eleven eggs, two normal ; one contained twelve eggs, six 

 normal ; and one contained twenty-eight eggs, five normal. The 

 white covering of one cocoon after one hour ; of one after twenty 

 minutes ; and of one after ten minutes, in water, became tough 

 and yellow like the fresh cocoon a few minutes after deposition. 

 That spermatozoa are not found in nearly mature cocoons, and 

 that spermatophores arc found in the slime-tube of copulating 

 worms before the covering of a cocoon is formed, proves beyond 

 question that the spermatophore is not a device for conveying sper- 

 matozoa into the cocoon. It would seem rather to be a device 

 for filling the spermathecae, and it is not formed after the sperma- 

 tozoa leave the spermathecse, as conjectured in an earlier paper. 2 



1 Loc. cit. 



2 Loc. cit., p. 498. 



