Regenerntio}! m Liinihr/ciilus 553 



as this may result in a splitting off at the point of injury. But even 

 in such a case the splitting is by no means a direct result to the 

 irritation since the pinching in two is very slow, and requires 

 sometimes hours for its completion. 



I tried to imitate the attack of an enemy by grasping either end of 

 the worm, and letting the other end hang down. The suspension 

 of the worms in such a position for several minutes gave absolutely 

 no results. 



Neither could I verify Miiller's statement that a breaking off of 

 portions of the worm's body is effected by the addition of alcohol 

 to the water. According to my observations alcohol as well as 

 some other substance effects a breaking through of the body-wall 

 at various points, and a consequent loss of blood through the broken 

 blood vessels, but these ruptures of the body are never deep 

 enough at the start to bring about the separation of portions of the 

 worm, and if the worms be brought back into pure water, do not 

 proceed any further. As a matter of fact some worms may recu- 

 perate perfectly from this treatment. The same thing will happen 

 if the worms be subjected to drying. The body-wall will actually 

 burst open in many places, but if put back into water in due time, 

 the worms may remain intact and continue to live. 



These results, I think, show pretty conclusively that the break- 

 ing off of parts of the worms is in some way or another connected 

 with an injury to or distortion of the body-wall and is by no means 

 the expression of a reflex action. 



This difference in behavior of the European and American 

 Lumbriculus may appear to be due to a difference in species, were 

 it not that v. Wagner, a careful student of Lumbriculus, throws 

 some doubt upon the remarkable behavior ascribed to the Euro- 

 pean species. "Ich habe schon 1893 mitgetheilt, dass es mir, 

 trotzdem ich seit jahren Lumbrikeln hake, nicht gelang, den 

 spontanen Zerfall derselben beobachten zu konnen; ich mochte 

 die Thiere noch so unsanft behandeln, niemals reagirten dieselben 



durch plotzliches Zerbrechen Seither ('00) habe ich mich, 



wenn auch mit wiederholten Unterbrechungen, doch weitere 

 Jahre mit der Haltung und Beobachtung von Lumbrikeln befasst, 



