82 NORTH AMERICAN 



rections, the reflexed ovaries passing about two-thirds the way back to 

 the vulva. Two or three eggs may occur in each uterus at one time. 

 These are somewhat ellipsoidal and thin shelled, being about two-thirds 

 as long as the body is wide and about two-thirds as wide as long. The 

 eggs appear to indicate at least the early stages of segmentation before 

 being deposited. The walls of the vagina present the peculiarity of being 

 very thick, and composed of concentric layers to the number of six or 

 seven, so that the organ is considerably broader than it is deep. Its in- 

 ternal wall presents the peculiarity of staining strongly with carmine. 

 1.3 8.3 137 -M- 92. ^ ^ 



2. 2.6 3.2 3.8 2.7 



The tail of the male is very much like that of the female in form 

 and size. Supplementary organs are found in front of the anus only. 

 These are six in number, of which three are very prominent. The an- 

 terior member of this group of three is about twice as far in front of 

 the anus as the spinneret is behind it. The members of this group are 

 equidistant, the distance between consecutive members being about twice 

 as great as the diameter of the organs themselves. All three occupy 

 a distance about twice as great as the corresponding body diameter. 

 Each of these organs consists of an internal and an external portion, the 

 internal portion being a flattish, hemispherical mass of tissue of very 

 fine, or at least uniform texture. These have a diameter about two- 

 fifths as great as that of the body at the same part. The external 

 portion of these organs consists of a ring slightly raised, from which 

 projects a mammiform papilla which bears a minute median seta or 

 nerve-ending. When this mammiform portion is traced inward it passes 

 through the ring on the surface of the body and then bends forward 

 and ends rather indefinitely in the anterior contour of the internal por- 

 tion of the organ. These organs possess the peculiarity of staining 

 strongly with carmine. In addition to the organs already described 

 there are three others of smaller size, two very minute, one near the 

 anus and the other opposite the proximal portions of the spicula. The 

 third, which has a size intermediate between those just described and 

 those first described, is located about half way between the anus and 

 the posterior member of the larger group. These smaller organs are 

 comparatively close counterparts of the larger, differing merely in size. 

 In addition it may be noted that the cuticle on the ventral surface of 

 the male throughout this region of the body, that is, as far forward as 

 the most anterior of these organs, bears about twenty exceedingly 

 minute structures on the ventral line, which appear to be innervated 

 papillae. These also stain strongly with carmine, although they are so 

 minute as to be difficult to observe. There are no papillae on the tail, 

 but there are several short hairs, more particularly near the ventrally 

 submedian lines. There is no bursa. The ejaculatory duct is coexten- 

 sive with the supplementary organs. It is on the average nearly half 



