POLYGYRA ALBOLABRIS AND LIMAX MAXIMUS 249 



engaged in devouring the eggs; but I attributed this to' the fact 

 that many of the specimens, procured by me at the St Lawrence 

 river, owing to the exceedingly dry season, had been without food 

 for several weeks. I very much doubt that they are ever car- 

 nivorous when furnished with an abundance of vegetable food. 

 The immunity of the eggs and young in a box with more than a 

 hundred adult specimens would seem to prove this. 



Since the above observations were made two years have 

 elapsed, and during that time I have raised many species, both of 

 P o 1 y g y r a and L i m a x , from the egg to maturity and have 

 noticed no carnivorous habits, though some of the smaller forms 

 of L i m a X and P o 1 y g y r a have been raised in the same box 

 as the large Limax maximus, and some of the latter had 

 a length of 4 inches. In the same manner the smaller species of 

 Polygyra have been safely raised with P. albolabris. 

 The newly hatched young fed principally on the softer parts of 

 the dead leaves in the box, skeletonizing them. 



I do not know the exact time elapsing between the laying and 

 the hatching of the egg, but it is certainly less than three weeks. 

 When on a visit to the St Lawrence river in August, I collected 

 several specimens and placed them in a box with moist earth 

 covered by dead leaves. When, three weeks afterward, I took 

 the specimens from the box, I found several groups of eggs, in 

 two of which the young were just emerging from the shell. 



There seems to be no uniform time for the laying of the eggs. 

 I have had a large number of specimens in captivity for three 

 years, and at almost any time eggs and newly hatched young 

 could be found in the box. In some specimens collected in the 

 winter, while hibernating, well developed eggs were found in the 

 uterine canal. 



Digestive system 



The mouth is situated in the anterior part of the foot, and is 

 bounded by thick, fleshy lips (pi. 5, fig. 1). These lips are divided 

 into the upper, lower and lateral. The upper lip is composed of 

 five lobes or divisions situated side by side. The \owvv lip has 



