NEW CtENEBA and SPECIES OF EARTHWORMS. 267 



they ceased to exist very soon. I could find no connection 

 with the paired nephridia of the segment, and the apertures of 

 these paired nephridia were visible quite close to the point of 

 origin of the penis. 



The nephridia lie at a lower level than the sperm-duct ; they 

 cannot, therefore, be confused with it ; besides, their calibre is 

 considerably less, as can be seen by an inspection of fig. 19. I 

 could not discover any cilia in the nephridia ; cilia were ex- 

 tremely conspicuous in the sperm-duct. The nephridia appear 

 to form a network; it was common to see the tube showing 

 indications of branching, such as are exhibited in fig. 19 ; here 

 and there the tubes communicated with the exterior. I looked 

 very carefully for any connection between the nephridia and 

 the sperm-ducts ; no such communication could be found, and 

 as a matter of fact the position occupied by the nephridia is 

 difi'erent from that occupied by the sperm-ducts. I did not 

 make any attempt to count the number of pores in the penis, 

 but there are undoubtedly a considerable number. The 

 occurrence of excretory tubules in this organ is a remarkable 

 fact. I have already mentioned that the penial processes do 

 not appear to contain any prolongation of the coelom ; they are 

 simply processes of the body-wall, solid processes without any 

 continuation of the body-cavity. There is furthermore, as has 

 also been mentioned, no connection between the nephridia of 

 the penes and the nephridia of the segment whence they arise; 

 it is difficult, therefore, when we consider all these facts, to 

 believe that the nephridia " are coelom." Before taking leave 

 of these organs I ought to mention that the funnels, if present, 

 entirely escaped my notice. As there is no body-cavity in 

 the penes the absence of internal apertures is not to be 

 wondered at. 



If the penes are ever broken off from the body, and can lead 

 an independent existence for a short time, it would be quite 

 excusable to put them down as aberrant and probably parasitic 

 Annelids, connecting the Oligochaeta with the Hirudinea ; the 

 ciliated vas deferens passing along the middle line would be 

 the alimentary canal, and the existence of independent excre- 



