1901.] OF THE GENUS BENHAMIA. 209 



its commencemeut. I may add that each seta-sac contained only 

 one seta, as in the other East-African species. 



The sjoermatliecxe of this species lie in segments viii. and ix. 

 Each consists of a tliin-walled sac and of a dact. Into the com- 

 mencement of the latter opens a single diverticulnm. The thin- 

 balled sac is divided by a constriction into two nnequally sized 

 chambers, of which the upper is the larger. Its diameter exceeds 

 that of the duct. The smaller division is of about the same 

 diameter as the duct, and without a microscopical examination 

 might therefore be confounded with the duct. The great thick- 

 ness of the muscular walls of the latter serve to distinguish it 

 easily. Also the character of the lining epithelium. The duct of 

 the spermatheca is of about the same length as the pouch ; its 

 walls are, as already said, very muscular, which gives to them a 

 nacreous appearance. The muscles are disposed in two layers of 

 which the thicker and internal layer consists of circular fibres. 

 The outer thinner layer is made up of longitudinally running fibres. 

 The diverticulum is an oval, almost spherical, pouch, which is 

 appended to the spermatheca by a short and slender duct. This 

 opens into the spermatheca just at the junction of the thin-walled 

 pouch with the thick-walled duct. It might appear from my 

 figure of the spermatheca oi Benhamia moorei (text- fig. 13, p. 197), 

 that this species differs from BenTiamia austeni by the fact that the 

 diverticula open into the muscular duct itself, and at some little 

 distance from the union of the duct with the pouch ; this is, how- 

 ever, not the case, as I have assured myself by microscopic sections 

 of the spermatheca of B. moorei. In that Avorm the diverticula 

 are certainly appended to the muscular duct itself ; but the tubes 

 which put them into coBimunication with the interior of the 

 spermatheca run upwards {i. e. away from the external pore) and 

 open into the commencement of the thin-walled portion of the 

 spermatheca, which, however, in this species is rather thicker- 

 walled (in correspondence with its larger size) than the corres- 

 ponding portion of the spermatheca of Benhamla austeni. 



I may extract from the foregoing the following definition of 



Benhamia austeni, n. sp. 



Length about 150 mm., diameter 5 mm. Dorsal pores commence 

 v.jvi. Glitellum ociii.-xx. Male pores on a deep depression con- 

 nected hy a straight seminal gutter. No genital papillce. Gizzards 

 in v., vi., ; calciferous glands in xv.-xvii. Septa x.jxiv. thickened. 

 Dorsal vessel single ; last hearts in xii. Two pairs of sperm-duct 

 funnels, Sptermiducal glands large and coiled. Denial setce tvith 

 tivo rows of spinelets, one to each sac. Spermathecce ivith long 

 muscular duct and a single stalked spherical to oval diverticidum. 

 Spermatophores ^ present. 



Hah. Near Blantyre, East Africa. 



1 I intend to describe these structures, which differ from those of Benhamia 

 moorei, later. 



Proo. Zooj.. Soc— 1901, Vol. II. No. XIV. 14 



