No. 3-] ALLOLOBOPHORA FOETIDA. 483 
Vejdovsky (19)! has figured for Lumobricus rubellus a struc- 
ture which unquestionably answers to the slime-tube of A//o- 
lobophora foetida, though he does not suggest any connec- 
tion between this “schleimartiger Fortsatz’’ and the copulating 
worms. He states also that in all the species of the Lumbri- 
cidae studied by him, he finds a like structure in connection 
with the freshly deposited cocoons. 
Both cocoons are formed while the worms are united, and 
when they separate each deposits a cocoon, encased by a 
moiety of the slime-tube. During five summers devoted to 
collecting and preserving this material, I have seen many 
cocoons deposited, and in some cases have found the worms 
copulating so near the surface that by carefully removing a 
little of the earth, I could watch them for hours, and finally 
secure and open both cocoons. The examination, however, has 
necessarily been superficial ; for if enough earth is removed to 
allow an examination with a lens, the worms soon become rest- 
less and slowly move away below the surface. In one case 
they remained undisturbed from g A. M. until 2.52 p. M., and 
I was then able to secure one of the cocoons, though I was not 
quick enough to catch the second worm. The worms separate 
quickly, each drawing back from the other into the hole in 
which the posterior part of its body has remained during copu- 
lation. In some cases they leave the two cocoons attached to 
each other by the slime-tube; but I am convinced that this is 
not the usual process, but is due to the worms being disturbed ; 
for in those few cases where I was able to watch without dis- 
turbing them, only one cocoon was deposited at the spot 
where the worms had copulated, the second being deposited 
at some distance from the first. Each cocoon appears to be 
formed around both worms, encircling the clitellum of one 
worm and three or more of the anterior segments of the other 
worm (Fig. 1). As the worms withdraw backwards out of 
the cocoons, the eight free anterior segments of each must 
be withdrawn first, leaving a cocoon around the clitellum of 
each worm; the worm finally leaving this cocoon at the end 
1 His figure differs from my Fig. 3 mainly in the fact that the ends of his 
cocoon are reversed in relation to the slime-tube. 
