Smith. — Notes on New Zealand Earthivorms. 



121 



of the dorsal blood-vessel in a special ccelomic sac suggests, 

 of course, the pericardium of higher types, and in any case it 

 may be compared with the condition of the coelom in the 

 Hirudinea, where the principal blood-vessels as well as other 

 organs are often included in separate ccelomic spaces. Among 

 the Chcetopoda also a commencement of a secondary subdivi- 

 sion of the coelom is to be seen. In the Ga/pitellidce a series 

 of longitudinal chambers enclose the nephridia and other 

 organs, but I am not aware that hitherto anything of the 

 hind has been described in the Oligochceta. 



"Reproductive Organs. — The rcsiculce seminalcs occupy 

 segments xi. and xii. ; they are racemose organs like those of 

 Acanthodrilus. The testes I have not seen. The rasa deferen- 

 tia open by funnels in segments x. and xi. ; the funnels of 

 segment xi. are quite independent of the vesicula. I could not 

 trace the course of the vasa deferentia, but in all probability 

 they open, as in Acanthodrilus, upon the eighteenth segment. 

 The atria are in segments xvii. and xix. The external aper- 

 tures of these organs have been already mentioned. The atria 

 themselves are so exactly like those of Acanthodrilus that no 

 further description is necessary. The ovaries are situated on 

 the anterior wall of segment xiii. ; they are digitate bodies like 

 those of Acanthodrilus. The oviducts open by funnels, which 

 are placed near to each other, and on either side of the nerve- 

 cord, on the posterior wall of segment xiii. The external pores 

 are upon the fourteenth segment. The spcrmatheca has a 

 very characteristic form. . . . The spermatheca is a 

 somewhat oval pouch, which suddenly narrows into a slender 

 duct, opening close to the anterior margin of the segment. At 

 the junction of the pouch with the duct are three diverticula, 

 two on one side and one on the other. The diverticula are 

 very much smaller than the pouch, and of a regular oval form. 



" The following table indicates the principal points in 



