664 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [DeC, 



erse the cutis, aud here aud there detached circularly running 

 fibres, M.S., occur. 



The subepithelial gland cells, or, as Burger terras them, the cutis 

 gland cells, are present throughout the body in the outer longitu- 

 dinal muscle layer. Two, and possibly three, types of glands may 

 be distinguished. 



The first type is a multinucleate structure, fig. 2, Cu.Gl.2, stain- 

 ing with hematoxylin. Such a gland is the probable result of the 

 fusion, phylogenetically, of several simple cells. The proximal 

 portion resembles a bunch of grapes, each grape representing a cell 

 with its nucleus ; the distal part is a long, slender duct, opening to 

 the exterior between the epidermal cells. The length of the blue- 

 staining cells varies in different parts of the body. In the head 

 region, fig. 2, they are very long, extending in from the epithe- 

 lium nearly to the rhynchodajum. In the posterior part of the 

 body, fig. 15, Cu.Gl.2, their length has diminished more than 

 one-half. 



The second type is a cell, staining red with eosin, having the 

 shape of a very slender flask with a long neck, figs. 2, 15, 

 CuGl.i. Only one nucleus is present, at the basal end of the cell, 

 and a delicate cell membrane may be distinguished. 



Two quite distinct appearances have been observed in the red- 

 staining cells. These may be morphologically different cells, or 

 merely phases of the one type. In the one, figs. 2, 15, (Ju.Gl.i, 

 the granules are very fine, close together, and stain a rose red ; in 

 the other, fig. 15, Chi.Gl.n, the granules are large, rounded and a 

 brighter, more metallic red. The facts that no transition stages 

 have been observed, and that the two varieties have a slightly 

 different distribution, may indicate that they are morphologically 

 different. 



The distribution of the cutis gland cells is a point of some in- 

 terest and, so far as I am aware, has not been worked out in any 

 detail among the other Nemerteans. In certain parts of th6 body 

 the gland cells are aggregated into very prominent zones, and it 

 seems probable that these glandular areas have some important 

 physiological function, which is as yet undetermined, aside from 

 the usual one of producing the slime sheath for the body. 



Diagram 1 illustrates the distribution of the cutis gland cells. 



