96 On a neio Species o/"Pontoclrilus. 



signs of growth, but I may, perhaps, after examining a larger 

 series of individuals than I have yet done, discover some in- 

 dication of growth in these organs. It appears, therefore, to 

 be likely that new segments in Urochgeta are formed at this 

 point, and if so, the fact is of some interest in relation to the 

 budding of the lower forms of Oligochteta j but I do not yet 

 feel able to express an opinion as to the exact connexion be- 

 tween the two phenomena. 



A neio Species of VontodiXiXvLQ. 



Surgeon-Major Windle, to whom I have been indebted on 

 former occasions for Earthworms from Bermuda, has recently 

 forwarded a large number of specimens oiPontodrilus. These 

 were collected along the sea-shore among dried seaweed and 

 coral debris. The want of a gizzard in the aquatic Oligochaita 

 has been generally put down to the soft nature of their food. 

 Pontodrilus Marionis^ of which I received some years ago a 

 number of living examples from Nice through the kindness of 

 Dr. George Hoggan, has been stated by Perrier (" Organi- 

 sation des Pontodrilus ^^^ Arch. Zool. Exp. et Gen. t. ix. 1881, 

 to possess no gizzard ; I have, however, found that the oeso- 

 phagus is locally thickened, particularly the circular muscular 

 layer. This is certainly the equivalent of the gizzard, though 

 the organ is not recognizable without recourse to section 

 cutting. The new species, Pontodrilus hermudensis^ has appa- 

 rently nothing better in the way of a gizzard ; as the whole 

 alimentary tract of this Annelid was crammed with fragments 

 of coral, sometimes of quite a large size, it seems hardly reason- 

 able to put down the feeble development of the gizzard to the 

 nature of the food. It would be difficult to find any substance 

 that appears more to need a gizzard for its trituration. I take 

 this opportunity of observing that the bodies in segments 

 10 and 11 doubtfully regarded by Perrier as excretory organs 

 are testes. I should not be surprised if it were ultimately 

 proved that Schmarda's genus Pontoscolex (Reise um die 

 Erde, Bd. ii.) were this Pontodrilus. The irregular shape 

 of the body caused by the masses of coral sand in the 

 alimentary tract give the setEe the appearance of being 

 irregularly arranged ; both worms come from the West Indies 

 and have a littoral habit. 



