CHINESE EAKTH WORMS — GATES 501 



The account above (normal forms) differs somewhat from that of 

 Chen, especially with respect to the copulatory chambers, testis sacs, 

 and male deferent ducts. The everted copulatory chambers of the 

 Hamburg specimens are club-shaped but with the narrowed portion 

 of the everted body nearest the parietes, a reversal of the condition 

 figured by Chen. The testis sacs of x and xi of the Hamburg speci- 

 mens are U-shaped. Chen's description of the testis sacs is, however, 

 not clear, so that an adequate basis for comparison is not available. 

 In the Hamburg specimens the two male deferent ducts of a side come 

 into contact in segment xii, whereas in Chen's specunens the vasa 

 deferentia of a side pass posteriorly into xviii independently of each 

 other. The differences just mentioned appear to be rather unimpor- 

 tant and insufficient justification for the erection of a new species,, 

 especially in view of the similarities of the copulatory and sperma- 

 thecal chambers. The Hamburg specimens have accordingly beeri 

 referred to P. vulgaris. 



One of the specimens of ^'"pingi'^ is abnormal but probably referable 

 to vulgaris. The spermathecal pores are transverse, wide slits with 

 slightly elevated and minutely lobulated anterior and posterior mar- 

 gins. The pores do not open into deep pits but into shallow depres- 

 sions. One of these depressions is deeper than the others and con- 

 tains a single circular genital marking. The minute prunary sper- 

 mathecal pores are not visible and could not be found by tracing the 

 spermathecal duct through the parietes. The external spermathecal 

 apertures are like those of vulgaris except that they do not open into 

 deeply invaginatea spermathecal chambers. The development of the 

 chambers appears to have been suddenly stopped before the invagina- 

 tion extended through the body wall, or in the case of some of the 

 pores before the invagination had penetrated to the level of the 

 longitudinal muscle layer. 



The male porophores are conspicuously protuberant and slenderly 

 columnar bodies. There are one or two genital markings at the ven- 

 tral end of a porophore, but the markings are very vaguely outlined 

 and do not appear to be normal. The male pores were not found. 

 There are several setae on the median face of each porophore. 



The testis sacs of x and xi are unpaired and ventral, seminal ves- 

 icles of xi excluded. The left anterior vesicle is much firmer than 

 the other vesicle and projects conspicuously into the gizzard seg- 

 ments through an oval aperture in 10/11 at the level of the dorsal 

 blood vessel. 



The spermathecal duct is rather slender, of about the same length 

 as the ampulla, pinkish but rather soft. The diverticular stalk is 

 about as long as the spermathecal duct or slightly shorter. 



The single preclitellar stalked gland passes through the parietes 

 to the genital marking previously mentioned. Tlie glands in the 

 prostatic region are rudimentary. 



82345—39 7 



