50 THE LEECHES OE MINNESOTA 



through the anterior two thirds of the body. The ducts from these 

 cells form two bundles, situated dorsally, inside the longitudinal 

 muscles, at either side of the median line. These bundles of ducts 

 enter the proboscis near its base and continue forward among the 

 muscle bands, finally emerging near its tip. 



Although I have hunted through all of the available literature, 

 I have been unable to find any description of glands similar to what 

 I have above called oesophageal glands. The only reference I can 

 find to such glands are in Whitman, '91, for Clepsine plana and 

 Siegel, '03, for Placobdella catenigra M. T. Whitman's Fig. 5, PI. 

 XIV, in the Journal of Morphology, Vol. IV, shows two obscure 

 bodies in a position which are designated as "oeg." The explana- 

 tion of this figure gives "oeg.=oesophageal pair of glands." I 

 have looked through his description carefully and find no other 

 reference to them. Siegel figures similar glands for Placobdella 

 catenigra and makes them the temporary abiding place of the 

 sporocites of Haemogregerina stcpanovi, from which they are trans- 

 ferred to the turtle. No details of structure are shown in his figures 

 and no description of the glands is given in the text. Castle, '00, 

 neither figures nor describes them for Placobdella parasitica al- 

 though sections of this species in my collection show similar glands 

 to be present. 



Posterior Sucker Glands. 



Beginning with about somite XX and throughout the remain- 

 ing posterior portion are to be found numerous posterior sucker 

 glands which, in general, bear a close resemblance to the salivary 

 glands but stain much more deeply with Ehrlich-Biondi stain. The 

 ducts from these glands are very small, and form several bundles 

 among the tissues, finally opening upon the posterior sucker. 



Nephridia. 



The nephridia are fifteen in number and are found in all the 

 somites from VIII to XXIII with the exception of somite XII in 

 which the generative ducts are large and the nephridia are lacking. 

 The nephridopores are latero-ventral and are to be found a little 

 anterior to the center of the sensory annulus. The nephridial 

 funnels open into the coelomic cavity latero-dorsally (n. f. Fig. 7. 

 PI. C). The funnel, (Fig. 8, PI. C), consists of three ciliated crown 



