4i P»\Mxedinffs of the Bo^l Society of Victoria. 



In meariy eveiy species 1 saw the row of pits deariy ; always 

 situate in a li^t line on each side of the reut^ asjvect of 

 the head, beneath the line of eyes. GeneruUy the pits have 

 the form of well-defined though minute peifonvtious, as in 

 G. veiittr»ihii^tta. In some ot the species, however, and 

 notaJ>ly in G. -^penceri ^Fig- S) the light line v= mai-gin of 

 horsse-shoe^aped witerior extremity) tends to become 

 grooved or fiirrowed tmnsversely : the pits in this case 

 lie in the transverse grooves, very much as tiguned by 

 Moseley for Bipidmni. In 6r- spenc'eri the transverse 

 fiirrows are well marked in large specimens and may be 

 connected by a longitudinal furrow as shown in Fig. & 

 iSach furrows might easily be mistaken for artificial 

 wrinkling due to the action of the spirit, and, had it not 

 been for comparison with other specimens. I should not have 

 suspected the presence of ciliated pits in 6^. spenceri 



At this stage in the investigation I received fixim Mr. 

 H. Grayson living specimens ot 'r. cioerulea fblue-tipped 

 variety), G. <alba and G. ivntmlime'ita. captui-ed in 

 Runnings Nursery Garvien at St. Eilda. Microscopic 

 esuauuination of these soon showed the true nature of the 

 pits seen in spirit^preserved specimens. In making such an 

 examination of living material I find it best to proceed as 

 follows : — Cut off the anterior end of the Planarian with a 

 sharp scalpel ; lay it in a drop of water on a glass slip with 

 the ventral surface uppermost : put a oover glass over it and 

 then, with a lew sharp raps on the cjver glass with a pencil 

 or other blunt instrument, flatten out and crush the specimen 

 until it becomes suffidently transparent. On examining 

 such a preparation of the blue-tipped viuiety of G. caruleti 

 with a low power of the microscope (Zeiss A, oc. 2 1, and by 

 transmitted light, I saw the appearance represent*»d in 

 Eig- 1. The eyes (e.) were arranged in single series all 

 round the anterior extremity. Inside the line of eyes and 

 separated from it by a narrow interval was visible the light 

 line {L f.) corresponding to the maigiu of the horse-shoe- 

 shaped anterior extremity of the living auimai In this liu- 

 was visible the single row of cUiated pits («*. /».\ apparently 

 not continuous round the front, though on this point I am 

 donbtfioLL Of these pits there seemed to be about thiity on 

 each side. A much higher power, such as Zeiss D or F, i> 

 necessary in order to make out the structui-e of the pitis. 

 which measure only about 0O17 mm. in outside transverse 

 diameter. 



