1892.] SPECIES OP EA.RTHWORMS. 699 



of their affinity ; Gordiodrilus is clearly a rather degenerate form, 

 with no marked affinities to any other genera except to Ocnero- 

 drilus and Pygmceodrilus—?in affinity which may be merely due to 

 the fact that they are all degenerate forms, and thus not a real 

 affinity In any case it is remarkable that this curious form ot 

 glandular tissue should be limited to the calciferous glands ot the 

 two genera Eudriloides and Gordiodrilus. 



As regards the rest of the ahmentary canal, there are not many 

 points wliich require notice ; there is a gizzard in the fifth segment, 

 well developed and by no means rudimentary. 



The first septum lies just in front of the gizzard and thus separates 

 segments iv./v. ; the four septa which follow the gizzard are thicker 

 than the rest. The nephridia are of course paired, and the first 

 pair appear to belong to the fourth segment. 



There is only a single pair of testes, which lie in the xith segment, 

 attached to the front wall of that segment; opposite to them are 

 the funnels of the sperm-ducts, these are very large and much folded. 

 The sperm-duct has no swelling at its origin from the funnel ; it is 

 a narrow tube, much narrower than the oviduct ; it opens into the 

 atrium a little way before the opening of the latter into the terminal 

 copulatory apparatus. The atria are two closely applied tubes 

 contained within one sheath, so that on a dissection the atrium 

 would no doubt appear to be single. Whether the division of the 

 atrium is an indication of its being the result of the fusion ot two 

 separate atria is not obvious ; at first sight it does appear to be 

 obvious, but it will be remembered that in Eudrilus each atoum 

 is similarly divided into two completely separated tubes within a 

 common sheath. This atrium consists entirely of a layer of gland- 

 ular cells ensheathed in a very thin peritoneal layer ; the terminal 

 apparatus is a muscular diverticulum of the body-wall, with which 

 are also connected a pair of sacs each containing a smgle penial seta, 

 whose shape I am unable to describe. 



The spermatotheca is unpaired, it opens on to the exterior in 

 secernent xiii. ; the aperture leads into a thick-walled sac from which 

 ar?«es a thinner-walled sac extending backwards into the next 

 segment ; this latter is lined by cells which appear to be similar to 

 those found in the corresponding organ of other Eudrihdte, and 

 su<^gest that in this species as in others the spermatothecse are 

 developed from the ccelom, and are therefore not homologous with 

 the spermatothecee of other Earthworms. The terminal sac of the 

 spermatotheca is lined by an epithelium which has preserved the 

 characters of the epidermis whence it is derived ; the cells are ot 

 two kinds, the usual glandular and the interstitial cells. 



To the spermatotheca on each side is attached a receptaculum 

 ovorum ; these sacs, although attached to the spermatotheca, are not 

 really connected with it, that is to say they do not open on to the 

 spermatotheca; the egg-sacs are not in any way unusual in their 

 structure, their cavity is divided up into numerous compartments by 

 trabeculse. In the compartments are lodged the ova: the ova in 

 the egg-sacs are not accompanied by masses of developing ova or by 



