BY J. J. FLETCHER, M.A., B.SC. 549 



of the structure of these glands is postponed for the present, in 

 somite xvii the intestine is still thin-walled and narrow, and in 

 somite xvni it dilates suddenly into a large intestine, which for 

 a short distance in the first and last portions of its course is 

 straight, sacculated, and constricted at the mesenteries, narrowing 

 gradually towards the anus ; the intermediate portion when 

 distended and the worm is contracted appears to be of increased 

 calibre, being closely coiled in a corkscrew fashion. The intestine 

 is unprovided with c?eca in any part of its course, and spirit 

 specimens do not show the yellow so-called hepatic tissue present 

 in Lumbricus. 



Of generative organs there are firstly two pairs of minutely lobu- 

 lated or racemose, solid, white bodies which are in all probability 

 the true testes. One pair is in somite xi the other in xn, of 

 which the posterior pair is the larger. The testes are attached by 

 stalks and by ligaments to the posterior faces of the mesenteries 

 between somites x and xi, and xi and XII, slightly above, and at 

 each side of the intestine. The testis of each pair is separate 

 from its fellow, merely touching, above and below, and arching 

 round the intestine, so that when the worm is opened from 

 above they are seen to overlie it. Secondly there are two vasa 

 deferentia, which bifurcate in somite xin, the four branches 

 commencing anteriorly with complex, " ciliated rosettes," which 

 receive the spermatozoa. The anterior pair of these lie just 

 in front of the mesentery between somites x and xi, and 

 therefore in somite x, while the posterior pair occupy a corres- 

 ponding position in somite xi. That is to say the ciliated anterior 

 dilatations of the vasa deferentia lie in the segments anterior to 

 those containing the testes from which they receive the spermatozoa. 

 A similar peculiar arrangement obtains in certain other earth- 

 worms, of which a case has recently been described by Beddard 

 (1) in a species of Acanthodrilus from New Zealand ; and it, or a 

 variation of it, appears to be quite a common arrangement in 

 Australian worms. Thirdly in somite xvin is a pair of prostates, 

 lobulated, small for the size of the worm, each with a short straight 



(1) P.Z.S., 1885, p. 824. 



