new African Earthworm. 457 



The following is an attempt to summarize, in the form of 

 a brief diagnosis, the chief characteristics of the species : — 



Dichogaster jaculatrix, sp. n. 



Length (in spirit) 18-34 cm. ; thickness 10 mm. ; number of 

 segments about 180. Colour iridescent greenish blue, with a 

 purplish transverse band on each segment dorsally. Pro- 

 stomium enters slightly into peristomium. Clitellum xiii.—xxii. 

 (xxiii.). Genital area hourglass-shaped, xvii.—xix. Penial 

 setce smooth, straight, tip narrower and slightly hooked, with- 

 out ornamentation. Seminal gutters convex inwardly. No 

 genital papillie. Dorsal pores begin at v./vi. Poises (x./xi.), 

 xi.Jxii., (xii./xiii.) missing. Septa vi./vii.-viii jix. absent. 

 Nephridia in the form of a double series of lobes in each seg- 

 ment, supported by a transverse mesentery. Funnels present 

 only in posterior segments. Spermathecte with 1-3 stunt/ 

 sessile diverticula risible externally. Spermatophores of 

 characteristic form usually present in spermallteca;. 



Hab. Ituri Forest, Belgian Congo; in wet forest districts, 

 among; dead leaves. 



Note on the Spermathecte and Spei'matophores. 



The spermathecre and their contents in this worm are of 

 peculiar interest, and give rise to questions of a very puzzling 

 nature. 



In some other species of Dichogaster certain objects have 

 been seen in the spermathecse by the describers, which have 

 been regarded by them as spermatophores. Our present 

 knowledge of them is mainly due to the researches of Beddard, 

 who has mentioned them in his descriptions of D. (Benhaiuia ) 

 moorei* and D. austenif, and has also devoted a special 

 paper + to the discussion of those seen in the latter species. 

 Michaelsen had also, previously to Beddard's memoir, made 

 a brief reference to structures of a similar kind in D. {Ben- 

 hamia) moniicola and D. itoliensis §. 



Of these various instances, the structures described by 

 Beddard for D. austeni arc certainly the most similar to 

 those which I have observed in the present species. 



Besides those of Dichogaster, the spermatophores of some 

 other genera of earthworms are also of a more or less similar 



* P. Z. S. 1901, ii. p. 107. 



1 T. c. p. 1209. t T. c. p. 704. 



§ 'f Die Regenwiirmer Ost-Afrilias," in ' Deutscn-Ost-Afrika/ pp. 27 



vV 28. 



