2l8 



THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTURIS2 



Bunch : 4 inches long- by 3^ broad, 

 shouldered and very compact. 



Berry : Medium, round, black, with thick 

 blue bloom, adheres well ; pulp tender, 

 juicy, sweet and agreeable ; seeds, two. 



Season : August 25th, (1899.) 

 Quality : Very good for dessert. 

 Value : Good for home market ; also very 

 good for making claret wine. 



Fig. 1823. Drawing of Living Worm, about natural size, showing the unusual shape 

 OF the head, and the streaks running lengthwise. 



A PECULIAR GREENHOUSE WORM. 



'HE florist of the College greenhouses, 

 and two or three of the students, 

 have occasionally come across, 

 ^pJ among the broken tiles of flower- 

 pots, a peculiar flatworm, which they sub- 

 mitted to me for identification. Through 

 lack of time for a thorough study of this 

 worm I delayed investigation until a few 

 days ago, when a careful search was made 

 in the forcing house for good live speci- 

 mens. I procured six large worms without 

 much difficulty from the under surface of a 

 few old boards which were lying on the 

 moist, warm ground. 



When at rest these wofms have the ap- 

 pearance of dead, partly CijBapsed creatures 

 which have already entered the early stages 

 of decomposition, but a change comes over 

 the scene when they are disturbed from 

 their rest. The body becomes filled out, 

 and begins to move. A copious supply of 

 slime is exuded from all parts of the surface 

 of the body, and wherever it travels it leaves 

 a streak of slime behind it to mark its path. 

 (Fig. 1823.) 



The largest of these worms which I have 

 seen measured about nine inches in length 

 when fully distended, while smaller ones 

 scarcely exceeded five to eight inches. 



A peculiar feature of this worm's struc- 

 ture is the sucker at its anterior end. This 

 organ is semi-circular, or crescentic, in out- 

 line, and probably functions both as a sucker 

 and as a sense apparatus. By means of the 

 sucker the hind portions of the body are 

 brought forward by the contraction of the 

 muscles, and with the aid of the eye-spots 

 and olfactory pits on the margin of the 

 sucker the worm secures the information so 

 desirable in traversing an unknown region. 



The shape of the sucker varies considera- 

 bly while locomotion is taking place. Oc- 

 casionally the front edge is serrated, and at 

 other times it is notched. Fig. 1824, e.f. 

 g.h.) The upper surface of the body is 

 marked by three dark colored lines running 

 lengthwise from sucker to tail, the middle 

 line being darker and thinner than the two 

 laterals. On each side is other dark lines 

 similar to the middle one on the upper sur- 



