498 FRANK E. BEDDARD. 
munication. Mr. W. W. Smith, of Ashburton, New Zealand, 
to whom I am deeply indebted for these and many other 
specimeus, has kindly promised to collect other cocoons for 
me. They travel very well in a living condition. I have 
already had two sets of cocoons belonging to a new genus of 
aquatic Oligocheta (Pelodrilus), the anatomy of which I 
have described in the ‘ Transactions’ of the Edinburgh Royal 
Society ; but unfortunately the tubes in which they were 
packed were broken in transit. As the cocoons of this species 
are common and easy to find I have great hopes of getting 
more. 
During August of last year I received a large quantity of 
cocoons of Acanthodrilus multiporus containing living 
embryos in various stages of development. The cocoons had 
been carefully packed in damp moss in a small tin box, which 
was enclosed in a large biscuit tin, filled with damp moss and 
covered over with several layers of paper, so as to render it 
quite air-tight. 
Besides the living cocoons I received about two dozen ripe 
embryos, which had been extracted from the cocoons by Mr. 
Smith, and preserved with corrosive sublimate. 
I shall presently describe the cocoons themselves, but it will 
be as well to state at once my reason for believing that they 
belong to the species Acanthodrilus multiporus. It is 
necessary to do this, as the cocoons were not deposited by the 
worms in captivity, but were found in the soil upon the margin 
of alake. Hence there might appear to be some little doubt 
as to the species to which the cocoons belong. 
Acanthodrilus multiporus was originally described by 
myself six years ago from material kindly supplied by Pro- 
fessor T. J. Parker, F.R.S. I have since obtained abundant 
additional material from Mr. Smith. 
One of the most prominent features in the structure of this 
species is the complete duplication of the dorsal blood-vessel ; 
this peculiarity is, it is true, to some extent shared by another 
New Zealand Acanthodrilus—A. nove-zelandiz; but 
there are numerous other characters which render it quite im- 
