Plcurocystid ciKuoti, Ilessf. 2(51 



aloiip t!ie aiiiinni, or nnterior to thnt poHitioii (specific clia- 

 lacter), not iit tlie extreme anterior einl as in Monocifsiis (tijiliHj 

 is enclosed in a woll-niarkod nuclear niembranu, and contains 

 munerous nucleoli (generic an^l sp'citic character). 



The posterior extremity (jf \\ cxiiihits, under u high magnifi- 

 cation, in the inner portion of tiio ectoplasm, a layer oi coii- 

 tractiL' filirilhi; which have been cailol myocytes, whicli I 

 interpret to mean " nuHcle-cells." As the organis.n is 

 unicellular, I propose that they he called cijloinyoines^ wiiicli 

 I interpret as " cell-muscles." 



As this species is a permanently fixed pirasitc upon the 

 seminal tunnels, one mi^ht reasiinably expect to find some 

 organ of attachment. As to whether one exists there jippcirs 

 to be some liitTi-rence of opinion, none being mentioned by 

 most of the earlier autliors cited fur Nematocysiia (^Mono- 

 cj/i>tis) magna. I am of the detinite opinion, however, that 

 the cuticle of the anterior end is prolonged into a blunt 

 petal-like jjiojecti^n (the equivalent of the epim rite of other 

 Gregarines), which stains wit!i picro-carmine like the 

 remainder of the cuticle, is un[»rovided with hooks, and to 

 which the colls of the seminal funnels of the earthworm are 

 in several cases still adhering. This accords with a passago 

 which He^se quotes from Butschli (1882), and not with his 

 own observations, for while he appears to me to d. -scribe some 

 organ of attachment, yet he denies that it is in any way an 

 epimerite. I agree with llosse that it comes in conUiet, by 

 b)iing, with many host-colls, and is not attached to one only 

 as he states is t'le case in Seinatocij^Us. 



No spermatozoa of the worm were found in the seminal 

 vesicles, or lound the seminal tunnels, or attached to any of 

 the diploitls, such as other observers have figuiel, nor wcro 

 any ''tails" to be discovered. 'J'his m ly l)e because the 

 worm had roce.tly shed all its spermatoz >a in the regular 

 breeding-season, which obtains ab>ut this date, since the 

 seminal vesicles were very snrdl, or i)ecausc the large numlx-r 

 of parasites present had disintegr.il' d and digested them all. 



In specinit-ns stained with llanvier's picro-carmine 25 min. 

 only the cuticle absorbed the cumine, wiiile all the cell- 

 contents became yellow from the action of ihe [)ieric acil. 

 In specimens stained with Meyei's hceaialum 5 min. botii 

 cuticle, cytoplasu), and nucleus became purple, as also the 

 seminal funnel-cells of the host. 



The partners of a diploid appear to adhere to one an )ther 

 by a mucilaginous cxtra-cuticular secretion of " ccnunt "- 

 substance an dogous with that which binds the in JiviJu.d 



Ann. it May. N. IJisi. S.r. \K \'vl. iii. IS 



