NOTES ON A GREGARINE OF THE EARTHWORM. 431 
gregarines of the earthworm, and I would propose for it the , 
name Monocystis herculea, on account of its large size and 
its occurring in Lumbricus herculeus. 
As to the exact stage of development represented in fig. 20 
I am still in doubt. Small round or oval bodies with one or 
more nuclei such as are there depicted occurred in a small 
number of cysts which were embedded, generally filling the 
whole cyst, though in the case figured they formed a sort of 
chain lying across it, apparently contained in a special mem- 
brane. It seems most probable that they are the sporoblasto- 
meres of the smaller variety of spores, as from their containing 
more than one nucleus they can hardly be the final sporo- 
blasts, and they are considerably smaller than the sporoblasts 
shown in fig. 14. On the other hand, they rather closely 
resemble the contents of the spores (fig. 16) where the nucleus 
is dividing, but they have no trace of any coat. 
I may perhaps note in conclusion that whereas in the round 
gregarine described in this paper at the time of conjugation 
two spherical individuals become pressed and flattened against 
one another, in the specimens which I have seen of Mono- 
cystis magna the two gregarines lie side by side at length 
(fig. 21), and do not become circular as I understand Wolters 
to state. 
It remains only for me to offer my most sincere thanks to 
Mr. Minchin for his continual kindness and assistance through- 
out the time during which I have been working at this subject. 
To him are entirely due any merits which this paper may 
possess. I mustalso thank Professor Ray Lankester for kindly 
allowing me the use of his laboratory, and Dr. Benham for 
many hints and suggestions from time to time. 
