206 MR. F. E. BEBDARD ON [Juiie 17, 



the mass of sj)ermatozoa and foi-ming the wall of the spermato- 

 phore. I cannot but think that the sac-secretion is responsible 

 for the formation of the lai-ge case in which the sperm-ropes of 

 Polytoreutus kenyaensis are contained. In support of this view, 

 I may further cite the observations of Nasse ^, who found in 

 Tuhifex that the epithelium lining the spei-matheca breaks down 

 into a fluid or semi-fluid matter which may very possibly give 

 rise to the coat of the spermatoj^hore. I may finally point out 

 that the existence of the large spermatophore of P. inontis-kenyce. 

 is on the whole not unlike the spermatophoi-e of Stuhl7)iannia, the 

 only other genus of Eadrilidse in which up to the pi'esent 

 spermatophores have been described. There are differences in 

 detail, biit in both the case is thicker at its open end, which lies 

 next to the orifice of the spermathecal pouch, and the walls show 

 a granular structure, suggesti-\'e of theii- origin from the breaking- 

 down of the cells which constitute the lining membi'ane of the 

 sj)ermathecal sac. 



Note on the Ovaries of Poljiioreutus. 



Although the ovai'ies in this genus have been ali-eady dis- 

 covered by Michaelsen, thei'e i-emain a few points connected with 

 their relation to the efferent apjjaratus which have not yet been 

 cleared up ; at any ivate, the descriptions of Dr. Michaelsen do 

 not quite apply to the species which I have studied. Theobsei'va- 

 tions which I now record were made upon immatiu-e examples of 

 Poly tor eittits montis-kenyce or of P. kenyaensis. In any case, the 

 examples were collected with these two species and pi-eserved in 

 the same bottle with them. The possibility exists that they are 

 the young of another species. I am not aware that this point can 

 be settled. The eai'liest suggestion of the position of the ovary 

 proves to have been wrong. Michaelsen " located it in the end of 

 the diverticulum of the spermathecal sac, where the lattei- com- 

 municates with the oviduct. The next description of this part 

 of the I'epi'oductive system was by myself^, and is, as I now 

 believe, not wholly correct. In P. violaceus some " small rounded 

 cells " were noted in a sac attached to the spermathecal pouch 

 where it comes into contact with the septum dividing segments 

 xiii./xiv. As none of the cells were mature, it was impossible for 

 me to be certain that this heap of cells was really the gonad ; and 

 I did not succeed in observing any connection of the sac involving 

 the ovary with other regions of the egg- conducting apparatus. 

 The small sac, containing what were presumed to be gei'minal 

 cells, was connected with the septum by a strand of fibrous tissue. 

 So far, therefore, the description was in agreement with that of 



1 " Beitrage zur Anat. der Tubificiden." Inang.-Diss., Bonn, 1882. 



2 " Beschreibuno- der von Herm Dr. Fr. Stuhhnann avif Sansibar und dem 

 gegeniiberliegenden Festlande gesammelten Terricolen," JB. Hamb. wiss. Anst. ix. 

 (1) p. 39. 



3 " A Contribution to our Knowledge of the Oligocbfeta of Tropical Eastern 

 Africa," Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci. xxxvi. (n. s.) p. 235. 



