412 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON 



eftectually prevents any hernia-like outpushing of the abdominal 

 cavity backwards. There is thus an important diflerence between 

 the species with which I am now concerned and that which 

 foi'med the subject of my earlier paper. 



With reference to the lattei- species, I am able, through the 

 kindness of Mr. R. H. Burne, to submit a drawing of a dissection 

 made by that anatomist on a specimen of the toad which 

 I presented to the Royal College of Surgeons. Having also seen 

 the actu.al dissection, I am obliged to admit that Mr. Bvu^ne has 

 proved that my former account of this region of the body was not 

 correct in every detail. Mr. Burne has ascertained and has 

 demonstrated to me that the structvire which I termed a " lymph 

 heart " is a divei'ticulum of the body-cavity, lying, however, on the 

 leg, as is clearly shown in the accompanying drawing (text- 

 fig. 133, p. 411). This connection was so wide that the bladder 

 had floated into the diverticulum. 



I feel convinced, however, that the communication was not so 

 wide in the larger female example dissected and figured by myself. 

 For the diverticulum was easily detached from the surrounding 

 structures, a fact which argues some independence, as it would 

 seem at least to show that the orifice into the general thoraco- 

 abdominal cavity ca,n contract. Furthermore, the arrangement 

 of the oblique muscles in the region is rather different from what 

 may be seen anteriorly. Thus we have, certainly in this species, 

 a specialized portion of the thoraco-abdominal cavity (which is 

 recognisable, but much less prominent, in Breviceps gibbosus) 

 extending over the dorsal surface of the thigh. It is not, 

 however, I now admit, possible, in the present state of our know- 

 ledge, to speak of this as a " lymph heart." I propose, however, to 

 defer any further consideration of this subject until more facts 

 have been accumulated. 



21. On the Spermatophores in Earthworms of the Genus 

 Pheretima {= Ferichata). By Frank E. Beddaed, 

 M.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S., Prosector to the Society. 



[Received December 28, 1910 : Read March 7, 1911.J 



(Text-figures 134-136.) 



I believe that there is no account of the spermatophores in 

 this genus of Earthworms; a,nd at least there has not been, to my 

 knowledge, anything more than the briefest reference to their 

 occurrence. It might be expected from analogy that this genus, 

 like so many others, possessed this means of impregnation ; but 

 I can recall no figures of such structures. Even supposing that 

 I have involuntarily ignored such an account, it is worth while 

 to add something more to the subject, which cannot be well 

 known. 



