ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 41 



a new genus and species of Enchytraeidae, and from its host and habitat 

 (Catania) has been called Epitelphusa catanensis. 



Siguor Drago describes the main features in the structure of this 

 worm which attained a maximum size of 15 mm. If it is to be admitted 

 among the Enchytraeidae, some of Vejdovsky's characters of the group 

 must be somewhat modified, especially as regards the pair of protractile 

 gustatory lobes, the hard and resisting integument, the presence of a pair 

 of salivary glands, the nature of the lateral vessels and of the clitellum. 

 The genus Epitelphusa may be distinguished from Pachydrilus, Enchy- 

 trseus and Anachseta by the following characters. The epidermis 

 without cuticle. The setaa straight and short. The blood coloured. 

 The dorsal vessel with four lateral vessels. The absence of the so-called 

 gustatory lobes. The septal organs between IV. and V., V. and VI., VI. 

 and VII., segments. The receptacula seminis open between segments 

 IV. and V. The clitellum extends from XL to the anterior portion of 

 XII. The testes in " bouquet " form as in Pachydrilus. 



Anatomy of Polychaeta.* — Mr. J. T. Cunningham takes occasion to 

 point out the general inaccuracy of Cosmovici's essay on the " Glandes 

 genitale et organes segmentaires des Annelides Polyehetes " published in 

 1880. His account of the nephridia and gonads is, however, very correct, 

 but he separates in " an absurd manner " the nephrostomata from the 

 nephridia ; a few corrections are made in his observations. In Cirratulus 

 cirratus both the large anterior pair of nephridia described by Keferstein 

 and Claparede, and the series of pairs in the middle and posterior region 

 mentioned by Cosmovici are present ; the simple nephridia act as 

 efferent ducts for the reproductive elements ; the position of the gonads 

 of this species is still doubtful. Nerine cirratulus, which has not hitherto 

 been recorded as British, is common between tide-marks at Granton ; in 

 it the relations of the nephridia are in some small points exceptional ; 

 the nephridial aperture is extremely dorsal in position, and the 

 efferent duct is long ; in it and N. coniocephala the nephridia serve as 

 the ducts for the gonads. Cosmovici's account of the nephridia of Lanice 

 conchilega is erroneous ; we have already f noticed Mr. Cunningham's 

 discovery of the remarkable coalescence of nephridia seen in this species. 

 The identity of Pectinaria belgica and Amphitrite auricoma, urged by 

 Mr. Harvey Gibson, is disputed ; P. belgica has three pairs of nephridia, 

 of which the first are the largest ; all the organs are of the usual type, 

 but a peculiar glandular organ, of unknown function, lies between the 

 nephridial opening and the root of the branchia. The gonads are, as 

 usual, masses of undifferentiated cells. In Nereis virens the generative 

 products appear to escape by dehiscence. 



The curious organ called the " cardiac body " has been examined in 

 some Chloraeniidae, Terebellidae, and Cirratulidae. 



Mr. Cunningham has examined the neural canals of various Poly- 

 chaeta, and comes to the conclusion that they are supporting struc- 

 tures which serve to prevent the nerve-cords being bent at a sharp 

 angle, and so being injured during the wriggling and burrowing of the 

 worm ; it is noticeable that the canals always reach their highest develop- 

 ment in worms which are extremely long in proportion to their thickness ; 

 their maximum development is seen where the nerve-cord is not separated 



* Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxviii. (1887) pp. 239-78 (3 pis.), 

 t See this Journal, 1887, p. 591. 



