246 The Philippine Journal of Science 1913 



smaller in diameter. The course of the intestine is rather com- 

 plex, but seems to be nearly constant in the specimens I have 

 examined. From the gizzard it runs posteriorly on the left side 

 almost to the rectum. Then it turns to the right, and extends 

 forward to a point about even with the posterior surface of the 

 crop. Here it turns ventrad, and passing under the other parts 

 runs posteriorly until it reaches the left side of the rectum again. 

 Turning to the right it forms an S-shaped loop and enters the 

 rectum from the right. The rectum is less than a centimeter 

 long ; its diameter is only a little greater than that of the intestine. 

 In addition to the intestine, it receives the anal trees, and bears 

 a small spherical rectal diverticulum. 



The oesophagus is attached to the body wall for the first 5 

 mm. of its length by means of 2 sheets of muscular filaments 

 which run laterally to the wall just back of the mouth. The 

 remainder of the canal is held in place by means of thick mus- 

 cular bands which extend latero-ventrad from its ventral sur- 

 face to the body wall. These bands are very numerous along the 

 upper part of the intestine, but decrease in number toward 

 the posterior end. The rectum has a radial mesentery, and 

 the diverticulum is attached by filaments to the sheath of the 

 nerve cord. 



In one specimen dissected a very remarkable variaton of the 

 crop was noted (Plate I, fig. 1). In place of the simple loop, 

 the walls of the tube had grown together in such a way as to 

 form a heart-shaped sac which was partially divided into 2 

 chambers by the fusion of the adjoining walls of the tube. The 

 oesophagus was slightly constricted where it entered the sac, 

 and the gizzard was somewhat shorter than usual. 



The vascular system of Thalassema sorbillans agrees very 

 closely with that of other species of the genus which have been 

 described in detail. The dorsal blood vessel enters the body 

 cavity from the proboscis. It runs backward on top of the 

 oesophagus until it reaches the posterior part where it is en- 

 larged to form a sac-like "heart." Out of the posterior end of 

 this "heart" run 2 vessels which pass around the oesophagus 

 on opposite sides and join the ventral vessel. This vessel runs 

 forward, and divides into 2 branches which enter the proboscis 

 as the lateral vessels of that organ. The body cavity is filled 

 with a clear fluid containing brownish red corpuscles. In the 

 coelomic fluid of all the specimens which were examined there 

 were also great quantities of the "corpuscular bodies" which have 

 been described by Ikeda(20). 



The nervous system consists of a long ventral cord which 



