83 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 



scope^ we find it to consist of numerous transparent, long, narrow, 

 slightly bent, elliptical bodies, PI. V. fig. 11, having a double 

 longitudinal faint marking extending from one end nearly to the 

 other ; and globules of various sizes, PI. IV. fig. 6, containing 

 either one nucleus or several small granules in their interior. 

 These are imbedded and adhere to a tenacious, obscurely granular 

 mucus-like matter. The largest elliptical bodies measure in length 

 y y^y pths of an inch, the smallest 20^0^^ °^' ^^ inch. The largest 

 globules have a diameter of ^ jq oth of an inch. 



On placing a papilla recently severed from the living E.papillosa 

 in a compressor, and establishing a slight degree of pressm*e, there 

 were observed to be ejected at intervals from the terminal ori- 

 fice, little transparent ellipsoidal membranous bags, PI. V. fig. 9, 

 containing half a dozen or more of the elongated bodies already 

 spoken of. Immediately after expulsion most of these bags burst, 

 and the contained bodies becoming scattered, each shot forth from 

 the end that first appeared a slender hair-like filament, fig. 10 a a, 

 with astonishing velocity to a length far exceeding the diameter 

 of the field of the microscope. Other bags did not become rup- 

 tured till a second or two after their expulsion ; from these the 

 filaments proceeded very slowly and in a perfectly regular serpen- 

 tine line, so that their advance could be followed by moving the 

 stage of the microscope, and was observed to resemble closely the 

 progression of many small Annelida. These filaments becoming 

 stationary retained a serpentine form, fig. 10 b b ; other filaments 

 were minutely spirally twisted at their junction \\dth the elliptical 

 body, fig. 10 cc. The faint double hne seen in the interior of 

 the elliptical body we suppose to be the part that contains the 

 filament. 



The elliptical bodies pressed out from papillae which had been 

 in spirits were never observed to emit filaments ; we presume 

 therefore that this phsenomenon is a vital manifestation. 



These bodies we find to differ in form in different species : thus 

 in E. coronata, PL V. figs. 2 and 3, they are slightly bent, but 

 shorter and thicker than in E. papillosa, and enlarged at their 

 posterior extremity ; they are provided with a similar filament at 

 one end. 



The bags, fig. 6, contain a considerable number of these, and 

 also numerous other bodies of much larger size, of elliptical form, 

 flattened and transparent, but having in their interior a peculiar 

 marking which is represented in fig. 5. InE. olivacea the bodies 

 with filaments, fig. 4, are rather stouter, but strongly resemble 

 those of E. coronata. 



On several occasions we have witnessed the expulsion of these 

 bodies from the living animal, which at the time was suffering 

 slight pressure, so slight indeed that the animal was able to move 



