152 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Beddard calls them, spermidueal glands. These glands are, in Sparganophilus, situ- 

 ated much further from the male or spermidueal pores than in any other genus, 

 apparently quite independent of the pores. They are also subject to considerable 

 variation, in some species being three, in others four; in one species none. Of the 

 same nature I consider the forward parietal pair of glands in somite iii of Spargano- 

 philus Ekeni, and it seems not unlikely that originally this genus possessed many 

 more pairs of spermidueal glands, perhaps one in every somite. This location of the 

 spermidueal glands favors greatly Beddard's view that these glands were originally 

 independent of the spermduct, and according to this view these glands are in 

 Sparganophilus the most primitive of any. There is also much difference as to the 

 development of these glands in the various species. Thus in Sp. Benhami the gland 

 consists of two distinct parts and is both glandular and muscular, while in Sp. Sinithi 

 the muscular part is degenerate or undeveloped, the whole gland being very dimin- 

 utive. Another point showing the primitive arrangement of the spermidueal glands 

 is the absence of any copulatory sette, the common setse in their vicinity being 

 unmodified. 



There is no doubt that a large number of species of this genus will soon be 

 found on the American continent, especially as specimens appear numerous and widely 

 distributed. In Guatemala T found them everywhere in springs and lakes, and a 

 hasty examination of live specimens satisfied me that there were among them about 

 three species, characterized by the position of the hearts, whether in viii-xi, ix-xi, or 

 x-xiii. Unfortunately my Guatemala collection was destroyed and only few speci- 

 mens in poor condition remain. 



In this connection I will also call attention to another species of Sparganophilus 

 not described below, but found by me several years ago in the stpall lake known as 

 Laguna Puerca, situated near the ocean at San Francisco, California, or in the same 

 lake as I now find Sparganophilus Smithi. This species which I have since been 

 unable to re-collect, although I have made repeated excursions to the place and dug at 

 the identical spot, offered much of interest and was undoubtedly a different form 

 from any now described below. It was much shorter and thicker, about 5 cm. long 

 by 4 mm. thick, or about half as long and twice as thick as our smallest species now 

 known. The hearts were, according to a fieldnote, situated in vii, viii, ix, x. The 

 longitudinal lateral vessels began in xiv, but most interesting of all, the species 

 possessed five distinct and large eye spots on the first somite and prostomium, an 

 occurrence not recorded in any other of the higher earthworms. 



The specimens were very rare — I could only find two or three in an hour; they 

 occurred in the clay soil near the shore at shallow depth. 



In connection with this it is most interesting to note that at that time I found 

 no trace of SjMrgnnophil as Smithi, which now occurs in the same lake in countless 

 numbers, a worm many times longer and much thinner. It is impossible that I could 

 be mistaken in regard to my former observations. My explanation is this: Formerly 

 the Laguna Puerca was much lower, the bottom soil near the surface was clayey, while 

 now the lake is several feet higher, the bottom soil near the surface is sandy. A 



