THE COCOONS AND EGGS OF ALLOLOBOPHORA 
FOETIDA. 
KATHARINE FOOT. 
INVESTIGATORS (I) (3) (11) (20) who have observed the copu- 
lation of earthworms mention a slimy substance secreted by 
the two worms during union, which encircles the pair around 
those segments that are in contact. In March, 1893, while 
examining a pair of worms surrounded by this slime, its form 
led me to suspect that two cocoons are formed during copula- 
tion. Within a few days this surmise was strengthened by 
finding a freshly deposited cocoon (Fig. 3) encased in a slime- 
covering entirely similar to that which surrounds the copulating 
worms. In the following summer I was able to witness the 
deposition of the cocoons and to find many worms with cocoons 
in the early stages of formation. 
Fig. 1 represents about fifty of the anterior segments of 
two copulating worms. The anatomical features have been so 
frequently described that it is necessary here only to call 
attention to the covering of transparent slime that completely 
surrounds the two worms from the 8th to the 33d segments. 
In the figure I have represented the average limits of this sub- 
stance. These limits vary in the 200 or more worms examined ; 
but I am inclined to think the variation is due largely to the 
efforts of the worms to escape during the process of capturing 
and killing them. They were quickly seized and dropped into 
boiling water, the entire process occupying only one or two 
seconds, but that would be sufficient time to allow the worms 
to change the position of several segments in relation to the 
slime surrounding them. 
Fig. 2 represents this slime-covering after the worms have 
been disturbed and allowed to withdraw from it. If placed 
in water, it will regain its original shape and will be found 
to be tube-like, sometimes showing the impress of the seg- 
