378 KARM NARAYAN BAHL 
(c) The Blood-vessels of the Gut in the 
first Fourteen Segments. 
In segments ten to fourteen there are in the oesophageal 
wall a series of very definite and striking transverse vessels, 
about twelve pairs per segment, joining the supra-intestinal 
above and the lateral oesophageals below; the breadth of 
these vessels is at least equal to the intervals between them. 
They are not united by longitudinal connexions and are con- 
tinuous across the mid-ventral line. These ring-vessels (fig. 6) 
are very characteristic of the oesophagus behind the gizzard, 
and are situated inside the muscular coats of the oesophagus. 
In this region both the lateral oesophageals and the supra- 
intestinals are intimately attached to the oesophagus, and the 
blood flows from the former into the latter through these 
transverse ring-vessels, the latter receiving no aUpRYy. at all 
from the ventral vessel. 
In the eighth and ninth segments the gizzard receives its 
supply of blood from the ‘hearts’ of the eighth segment, 
the branches of which divide and run along the outer wall of 
the gizzard in about fourteen parallel longitudinal capillaries. 
There is a second set of parallel capillaries which collect blood 
from the gizzard and join the supra-intestinal vessel. 
In front of the gizzard, i.e. in the first seven segments, 
the pharynx and the oesophagus get their supply of blood from 
the ‘ hearts’ of the dorsal vessel, and branches of the lateral 
oesophageals collect blood and take it to the latter from this 
part of the gut. 
4, COMPARISON WITH THE BLOOD-SYSTEM OF THE 
LUMBRICIDAE. 
In main outline the arrangement of blood-vessels in Phere - 
tima resembles that of Lumbricus and Allolobophora, 
the latter more than the former. The main longitudinal 
trunks—the dorsal, the ventral, and the subneural—are the 
same in the three genera, but in Lumbricus there are also 
in addition the two lateral neurals which are absent in the 
