550 DESCRIPTIONS OF EARTHWORMS. 



into the efferent duet of' the spermatheca; according to 

 Perrier this small sac represents the ovary. 



In his paper in the Zoolog. Anzeiger Beddard not only 

 fixed the attention on this remarkable continuity of the 

 ovary and the spermatheca, but he also demonstrated by 

 means of transverse sections of his New-Caledonian speci- 

 mens, that not the globular sac does represent the ovary, 

 as suggested by Perrier, but the oval protuberance at the 

 extremity of the twisting tube, and that therefore in the 

 genus Eudrilus the ovary is continuous with the ovi- 

 duct. Though our specimens were not sufficiently preserved 

 to allow the method of section-cutting , I have been able 

 to confirm Beddard's statements , and I am quite agreeing 

 with him , that Perrier has mistaken the relation of the 

 ovary and the spermatheca. This suggestion is confirmed 

 by some statements in the paper of Perrier himself, for as 

 he says on page 75 »mais cet examen ne peut laisser aucun 

 doute; ce sont la des ovaires etc.", on page 81 he says 

 »c'est la tres probablement I'ovaire ; mais nous n'avons pas 

 d 'observations precises sur ce point", and the eggs of E. 

 peregrinus, figured on pi. IV, fig. 76, have been found in 

 a body, situated extérieurement and au dessous du 

 tube entortille and not in the globular sac, which lies 

 interieurement and en face du tube entortille. From 

 the foregoing considerations we may conclude , that, like 

 our West-Indian specimens , with regard to the female 

 genital bodies, agree with those from New Caledonia, it 

 will also be the case with Perrier's specimens , and I am 

 convinced that our worms belong to one of Perrier's spe- 

 cies; perhaps his three species, differing from each other 

 in very insignificant characters , represent only a single 

 one. Considering that Beddard states of his E. Boyeri 

 » which I cannot differentiate from those, described by 

 Perrier" and »I am inclined myself to suspect, that the 

 New-Caledonian specimens may have been accidently im- 

 ported", and that, as I demonstrated before, there are no 

 differences in respect of the genital organs, between his 



Notes from tlae Ueyden Museum , Vol IX. 



