ENCHYTR^ID^ 6l 



Spermiducal apparatus . — The accessory glands, which are char- 

 acteristic, open along the base of the penis outside of the bulb. They 

 are long and of trefoil shape, with enormous long narrow ducts. 



It is not impossible that the various glaciers of Alaska contain sev- 

 eral species of black ice worms, and it would be of the greatest inter- 

 est to have these worms carefully collected and fixed so that they could 

 be readily investigated. Most of the specimens in the collection were 

 in a state of decomposition, and it is evident that these worms are 

 extremely sensitive to heat and should be fixed on the spot where 

 collected without first being brought to the laboratory. 



Subfamily ENCHTTR^^INyE. 



This subfamily contains only two genera, both of which are certainly 

 closely related. In this family the penial glandular structures are not 

 confined within a single bulb as in Lumbricillinaj, but are broken up in 

 two or more masses of papillae, often of unequal size. In a cross-sec- 

 tion of the body these papillae may be seen to extend from the median 

 line to the other side of the spermiducal pore, and even in the long 

 diameter of the body the glands have a more or less considerable ex- 

 tension. In some species these glands are situated close to each other, 

 in others again they are separated by the common tissue of the body- 

 wall. 



Genus Enchytraeus Henle. 



Definition. — Setae of equal length and straight. Head-pore be- 

 tween prostomium and somite I, always small. No dorsal pores an- 

 terior to clitellum. Intestine and esophagus gradually merging into each 

 other. Dorsal vessel rises posterior to clitellum from a vascular sinus 

 of the intestine. One pair of sperm-sacs, surrounded by peritoneal 

 membrane, project from the testes forward. No single penial bulb, 

 but one or more isolated glandular papillae situated in the vicinity of 

 the spermiducal pores, generally and principally ventral to the pores. 

 Numerous transverse muscles connect the ventral and lateral jDarietes 

 surrounding the spermiducal pores. Peptonephridia glands present 

 or absent. One kind of lymphocytes. Intestine generally with chylus 

 cells. 



As will be seen from the above definition, I have added some 

 characteristics not mentioned by Michaelsen and Beddard. One of 

 these concerns the presence of sperm-sacs. There can be no doubt 

 about the presence of sperm-sacs, just as perfectly developed, though 

 not as large, as those in Mesenchytrceus . In all the species examined 



