734 RECORD OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



but in some cases these were connected by a branch, the cilia of 

 which work from the more anterior to the more posteriorly set organ. 

 In the larval and young Capitella the segmental organs extend further 

 forward, but do not extend so far back in the body. The larval organs 

 are strictly segmental, or in other words, there is never more than 

 one pair in each segment, and, as in most Annelids, each organ is 

 placed in two segments, and their connection with the peritoneum is 

 not so intimate as in Notomastus ; the author was not able to observe 

 any definite external orifice. As the permanent segmental organs 

 appear the larval ones undergo degeneration. 



It is impossible to avoid seeing the great importance of these 

 observations, as bearing on the fact that, in the Urodela, Max 

 Fiirbringer has observed, and has insisted on the observation, that the 

 " segmental organs " are not metameric, but " dysmetameric " ; that 

 observation is, as we now see, just as true of adult Capitella as 

 of Salamandra. Let us note some other points of resemblance. 



The Vertebrata were regarded as distinguished by having the 

 segmental organs connected ; this is occasionally true of Capitella ; 

 in some Vertebrates (Selachii, Acipenser) the primary archinephric 

 cord remains connected with the peritoneum — just as in Capitella, 

 while in others (Amphibia, Amniota) the cord becomes separated 

 from the peritoneum as in Notomastus. The more anterior of the 

 segmental organs of the Vertebrata have a tendency to become 

 aborted ; this, too, is true of the Capitellidfe, The larval Coecilife 

 have one segmental organ in each segment, while the adult has a 

 number ; in Salamandra the organs increase in each myocomma as wc 

 proceed backwards ; all this is true of Capitella. 



The author concludes with a few words on the receptaeiila 

 seminis ; the pores observed by Claparede lead into tubes, placed 

 between the seventh and eighth segments, which seem to have the 

 further function of a penis or of a vulva, according to the sex. 



Lateral and other Goblet-shaped Organs of the Capitellidae.* 

 — In continuation of his researches into the anatomy of these Annelids, 

 Dr. Eisig now deals with the somewhat difiicult matter of their 

 sensory organs. The observations of Keferstein and Claparede had 

 led to the knowledge of certain protuberances in the abdominal 

 region, which were said to be provided with narrow orifices (lateral 

 organs of the abdomen), and of thoracic pores (lateral organs of the 

 thorax). The former, which are set along the whole of the abdomen 

 and on each segment between the neuropodia and the notopodia, are 

 provided with stifi" hairs, sensory in function, but they are not pro- 

 vided with pores and do not provide for the coelom of the animal any 

 means of communication with the outer world ; or, in other words, 

 they are not, as Claparede thought, the external orifices of the seg- 

 mental organs. Dealing with the structure of the sensory hairs, 

 Dr. Eisig points out that there are several hundreds of them on each 

 protuberance, from '04 to 'OG mm. long. They are about '001 mm. 

 broad at their base and become infinitesimally small at their tij) ; 



* ' Mittb. Zool. 8tat. Ncapel,' i. (1879) p. 278. 



