158 



MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON A 



[Feb. 15, 



distinguislied the clitellar from the ordinary setse ; moreover I have 

 frequently found even in mature examples that the clitellar setae of 

 both dorsal and ventral pairs only showed slight traces of ornamen- 

 tation at their free extremity ; such setfe alternated in the most 

 irregular fashion with seta3 like that displayed in the drawing (fig. 3) ; 

 they are, however, of equal size. 



Dorsal i^ores appear to be entirely absent. 



The only ajjertures besides the mouth and anus recognizable on 

 the exterior of the body are those of the nephridia, which are placed 

 in front of the dorsal pair of settc close to the anterior margin of 

 the segment (fig. 2) ; these apertures were especially plain upon the 

 clitellum. 



Vascular System.— In none of my specimens was the vascular 

 system very well preserved. The dorsal vessel (fig. 4, d) runs close 

 to the surface of the gizzard, and near to the hinder end of that 

 organ gives off two pairs of slender trunks (A) to the ventral vessel (v). 

 After this the dorsal vessel runs some way above the surface of the 

 oesophagus, and is not directly connected with the ventral vessel ; 

 segments 10, 11, and 12 contain each a pair of lateral "hearts" {h), 



Chief Trunks of Vascular System. 



e?, the dorsal vesse] ; r, Tentral vessel ; .«, supvaiiitestinal ; ^, anterior " hearts " 

 connecting dorsal and ventral vessel; h', posterior hearts connecting 

 supraintestinal and ventral vessel. 



of which the two anterior pairs are considerably stouter than the pos- 

 terior pair ; these are given off from the supraintestinal trunk (s), 

 which is of some thickness in these segments. I could not detect 

 anv additional communication with the dorsal vessel, and am inclined 

 to think that there is none. 



Alimentary CanaJ. — The mouth-apertvre, as already stated, is 

 terminal, and in all my specimens was excessively minute ; the buccal 

 cavity is thick-walled and very narrow, with an almost imperceptible 

 lumen. The pharynx is large, and is followed by a wide thin-walled 

 a'sophagus. The oesophagus is remarkable for the fact that it does 

 not pass straight to the gizzard, but is bent upon itself, forming a 

 loop : it might be readily imagined that this condition is simply due 

 to the contraction produced by the preservative reagent ; but I 

 found the same condition of the oesophagus in all the specimens that 

 I dissected, and in all of these the gizzard was apparently retracted 



