Gatty Marine Laboratory^ St. Andrews. 177 



De St. Joseph, however, could not corroborate the fore- 

 going observations. Gravier, on the otiier hand, considers 

 that hermophroditism and viviparity may exceptionally exist 

 in this form, and in the ' Cambridge Natural History ■* it is 

 stated that viviparity is characteristic of it. 



The annelid is very common on many parts of the British 

 shores, burrowing in clay, sand, mud, peat, and similar media, 

 and at St. Andrews it abounds at the upper end of the 

 harbour amidst muddy clay on the sides of the Kinness Burn 

 which enters there. During last winter especially careful 

 observation of the species was carried out to test the condition 

 as regards reproduction ; yet tliough both liermaphroditisra 

 and viviparity have been discountenanced, it has not been 

 possible to tind the worm either discharging from its tunnel 

 in the mud its eggs and sperms or becoming pelagic at 

 maturity and thus dispersing the sexual elements. iSo far 

 as can be observed, the former, perhaps, seems to be the more 

 likely, though no certainty exists on this head. 



In the middle of October tlie majority of the examples — 

 both large and small — were females with fairly developed 

 ova, which were almost visible to the naked eye and easily 

 under a lens. In these the vascularity of the feet had slightly 

 increased, but no change in the lobes of the feet or in the 

 bristles had occurred. Amongst the ova in the coelomic space 

 were numerous pale granular cells, apparently moditied 

 perivisceral corpuscles. Very few males were obtained at 

 this time, and these for the most part were undeveloped. 



In November comparatively few ova were attached to the 

 ventral plexuses, most being free in the perivisceral space. 

 On the other hand, the vascular plexuses in the region of the 

 ciliated organ were laden with dense groups of rather coarsely 

 granular ctlls — sometimes in lobular masses, and it was con- 

 sidered that these pale cells were associated with the growth 

 and maturation of the ova in the coelomic space. The ova 

 had considerably increased in size towards the end of the 

 month. 



Jn transverse section * the body of the annelid at this 

 time ditfered little from the type except in the presence of 

 ova, which appear most abundantly, in the sections, at the 

 bases of the teet and extending into their lobes. The number 

 in the coelom was not large, many, in all probability, having 

 fallen out. The dorsal and ventral longitudinal muscles 

 showed little change, the pennate fold of the latter being well 



* I am indebted to Dr. Tosh for valued aid in making these sections 

 and in other respects. 



