PROP. AV. A. HASWELL OX AUSTEALASIAN POLTCLADS. 473 



inner surface : it is produced backwards some distance behind tlie female aperture. Its 

 wall is very thick and nauscular, as is tliat of the antrum, which may be regarded as 

 assnmino; the character of a hiii^sa copulatrix. In front it narrows somewhat ; at its 

 anterior end it bends sharply back as it passes into the narrow receptacular duct or 

 vagina. The right and left uterine ducts run almost transversely inwards from the 

 corresponding uteri, and unite to form a short unpaired duct which enters the vagina 

 just over the male aperture. Behind this junction the backward prolongation of the 

 vagina runs as a narrow tube on the left side of the ootype to open immediately behind 

 the posterior extremity of the latter into a very large sac (receptaculum seminis). The 

 anterior part of the duct is slightly constricted at regular intervals — the constrictions 

 producing a beaded appearance. In some specimens this beaded aj)pearance extends 

 throughout its length. The receptaculum itself is a sac with folded walls lined by a 

 large-celled columnar epithelium. Sometimes it appears collapsed and empty or nearly 

 so : more frequently it contains a great mass of spermatozoa together Avitli granules or 

 droplets of a secretion evidently derived from the columnar cells. In some specimens 

 sperms occur throughout the length of the duct. 



The entire reproductive system of L. austraUs has a very close resemblance to that 

 of i. /fli/aa-, Diesing, as described by Quatrefages (21). The chief differences appear 

 to be that in the latter species the penial stylet is coiled on itself, the vagina is sinuous, 

 and the accessory sac is unsymmetrically developed *. L. alcinoi and L. vltrea, as 

 figured and described by Lang (17), resemble L. austraUs in the pecuUar internal 

 structure of the prostate reservoir, but differ from it in other respects — notably in the 

 relatively slight development of the receptaculum seminis. 



There is a considerable difference between individuals of L. anstmlls, when fixed, as 

 regards the length of the posterior prolongation of the vagina (duct of the receptaculum 

 seminis) and the size of the receptaculum itself. But it seems most probable that this 

 is due to differences in the condition of the parts and the degree of contraction which 

 they have undergone. 



L. austraUs occurs at a comparatively high level between tide-marks, and is to he 

 found by turning over stones. 



In sections of one of the Port Jackson specimens I was interested to find in the 

 phaiyns unmistakable fragments of an Enteropneust. This was the more remarkahle 

 since no Enteropneust has ever been recorded as occurring in Port Jackson. 



In the intestine of a Tasmanian specimen was the lingual ribbon of a Gastropod. 



"What may be a dwarf variety of this species is common in Lyttleton Harbour, X.Z. 

 Preserved specimens are under 1 cm. in length. In the living condition it is 

 transparent, with some brown pigment on the dorsal surface, and is of very delicate 

 consistency, so that it is veiy diHicult to obtain entire specimens. The eyes are much 

 fewer in number than in mature specimens of the ordinary L. austraUs, but in 

 this respect there is a correspondence with immature specimens of that form. In 



* In Quatrefagcs's figure the lateral uterine ducts are represented as opening separately, and, moreover, as 

 opening, not into the vagina, but into the oot5-pe, which is obviously an error. 



SECOND SJEIUES. — ZOOLOGY, VOL. IX. 68 



