262 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



purpose of deciding this question, I believe I had the good 

 fortune to be the first to observe and record the actual process. 

 If the different books which have been written on the subject of 

 Annelids be examined, it will be found that they either pass over 

 this question in silence, or give a very vague and unsatisfactory 

 account of the process.* Some time ago, however, a pleasant 

 surprise was granted me. I was trimming up my flower-beds 

 ready for Christmas. The soil was inhabited by a large number 

 of Earthworms of various species. When I first began the study 

 of these creatures only about ten British species were known. I 

 have now raised the number to a quarter of a hundred. As I 

 was examining the different species on the day in question, I 

 presently detected a happy pair in the very act of manufacturing 

 their cocoon. It was the first time in all my experience as 

 a naturalist that such a treat had fallen to my lot, but I have 

 since repeated the observation more than once on other species 

 of Annelids. The process is as follows : — 



When two worms are about to form an egg-case it is necessary 

 that they should work in unison. One worm cannot do the work 

 alone, though each worm is at the same time both male and 

 female or hermaphrodite. A pair therefore approach each other 

 from opposite directions, each having its head towards the other's 

 tail. Near the middle of each adult worm is a swollen portion 

 called the girdle or clitellum. This peculiar organ yields the 

 horny substance of which the egg-case is formed, but it is at 

 first soft and pliable, hardening after exposure to the air and 

 cold. When the worms are ready for the process of oviposition 

 the chitine is formed into a girdle around their two bodies, so 

 that for the time being they are tied together. When the case 

 is complete the necessary contents are poured into it from the two 

 animals, after which they withdraw from each other backwards, 

 and so allow the capsule or egg-case and its precious freight to 

 slip over their heads and fall to the ground ; the ends are then 

 drawn together, and the cocoon left to its fate. 



* Since this article was forwarded to the printer I have received from 

 Dr. Ed. de Kibaucourt an extract from the ' Bulletin Scientifique,' vol. xxx. 

 pp. 168-176, containing a " Notice Physiologique sur les Lumbricides 

 d'Europe," in which reference is made to the act of copulation, but no 

 allusion to the construction of the egg-case. 



