406 Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. 



upon the same side of the somite, and their external 

 pores are in the mid-ventral line (PL XXXVI., Fig. 10), 

 one behind the other. This unusual state of things ex- 

 ists in both specimens. 



M. asymmetricus has several important features allying 

 it closely to E. frigidus, and, in my opinion, should be 

 included with it in the subfamily of Lumbriculidse pro- 

 posed by Eisen ('95, p. 84) for the latter species. The 

 points of resemblance are the character of the aliment- 

 ary tract and the absence of pharyngeal and septal 

 glands, some features of the circulatory system, the 

 structure and extent of the sperm-duct, the extent of the 

 sperm-sac, and, finally, the position of testes, male pore, 

 and ovaries. The median position of the pores of the 

 spermathecae and sperm-duct and the numerical asym- 

 metry of these organs are unique and difficult to account 

 for. 



FLORIDA SPECIES. 



Through the kindness of Mr, Adolph Hempel, of the 

 Biological Station staff, I received in March of the pres- 

 ent year a large number of living Oligochgeta from Flor- 

 ida. Among them Avere sexually active specimens of four 

 different species; viz., Diplooardia eiseni Michaelsen, ('94, 

 Michaelsen, p. 184), AllolohopJwra giesleri Ude, ('95, Ude, 

 p. 127), Sparganophilus eiseni ^xmth, ('95, Smith, p. 142), 

 and a species of Microscolex, apparently undescribed. 

 Among the specimens of Diplocardia eiseni are a few 

 quite young individuals not so heavily pigmented upon 

 the anterior end as are the adults, and in these the 

 double character of the dorsal vessel in the first fifteen 

 somites, first noticed by Ude ('95, p. 136), is quite 

 obvious. It is not visible in the mature living worms. 

 The specimens of Sparganophilus are much smaller than 

 those found in Illinois, being but half as long and very 

 slender. I have not as yet been able to discover any 

 anatomical characters that distinguish them from S. 

 eiseni. 



