26 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



action of the trophi until it is sufficiently reduced to pass easily 

 into the oesophagus. With regard to the structure of the fleshy 

 portion of the niastax the loops of the manubria each contain 

 a nucleated cell (Fig. 10, nu.m.), as Vallentin found in M. 

 ringens} In Fig. 10 there are dotted appearances (fib.) sugges- 

 tive of fibrous muscles cut across. This, Vallentin was unable 

 to discover in the species he studied."^ The oesophagus is long 

 and narrow and opens into the upper portion of the stomach 

 (Fig. 5, 08. St.) where the walls are formed of thick nucleated 

 cells. The gastric glands lie on either side of the oesophagus, 

 resting upon the cells of the wall of the stomach, but I was 

 unable to find any ducts connecting them with the stomach. 

 The walls of the stomach are thinner at its posterior portion 

 and it there opens into the intestine (Fig. 5, int.) by a narrow 

 passage. The intestine is thin walled and ends in a rectum 

 directed upwards. The whole of the alimentary tract is ciliated, 

 except the separating membrane of the food cavity of the mastax. 

 That ciliation of the mastax occurs does not appear to have been 

 noticed in other species investigated. •'' 



Excretory System. — The lateral canals extend from the rectum 

 to the trochal disc. Four or five pairs of vibratile tags are 

 present. Four tags are well seen in the living animal close 

 under the cuticle of the trochal disc (Fig. 2, v.t.). I was not 

 able to find the " renal commissure " uniting the canals at the 

 anterior, but succeeding in tracing in sections the termination of 

 the canals to a point near the rectum, which they appeared to 

 join. A contractile vacuole was not noticed, and if present 

 must be small. The vibratile tags (Figs. 12 and 13) presented 

 appearances entirely consistent with the views expressed pre- 

 viously by myself.^ They are long and narrow in the form of 

 a flattened cylinder ; the walls are more coarsely striated than 

 in other species, and the cap is deep. Tags were readily found 

 in sections lying on edge, but only one doubtful view of the fl.it 

 aspect was seen. It is to be expected that the flat aspect will 

 be difficult to find in sections, as when viewed in this way in a 



1 Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. viii., ser. 6, p. 47, fig. 4. 



2 Vallentin, Majj:. Nat. Hist., vol. viii., ser. 6, p. 43. 

 8 Cam. Nat. Hist., vol. ii., p. -ili. 



4 Shephard, I'ro. Roy. See. Vict., vol. xi., p. 130. 



