Kew : On the Pairing of Limax maximus. 



observation was resumed, the animals were suspended by a 

 thick irregular cord 9 inches long - . Their bodies were inter- 

 twined, not very closely and regularly, but more so than in 

 Figs. 3 and 4. The copulatory organs — hanging below the 

 heads of the animals — were exhibiting great activity and were 

 intertwining ; and, as they became more closely associated, they 

 displayed the remarkable wavy processes and curious continued 

 movements described by authors. The tail of the larger slug 

 now became detached from the cord, and the two slipped down, 

 the cord lengthening to 12 inches or more, and allowing the 

 united organs to touch the ground. Soon afterwards (about 

 11 p.m.) the organs separated, and were rather quickly with- 

 drawn. 



According to Adams, the cord is sometimes eaten by the 

 slugs ; often, however, as he states, it is left untouched, and 

 may be seen for days on w r alls, tree-trunks, etc. Dried cords 

 in such situations, always associated with circular patches of 

 iridescent mucus, have several times been noticed by the writer. 

 In July 1893, to give one instance, the trunk of an oak was 

 observed to be conspicuously smeared with trails and patches of 

 slime, and running from the largest of the patches was a thick 

 cord, about 4 inches long, partly adherent and partly free. On 

 visiting the spot with a lantern at night I found the tree to be 

 inhabited by Li?nax maximus. The cords are composed of a 

 stiff, clouded, more or less yellow mucus, which dries rapidly 

 and becomes brittle ; they are, moreover, of considerable thick- 

 ness ; and thus they differ greatly from the ordinary mucus- 

 threads by which single slugs descend through the air, the latter 

 threads being extremely fine, and silky when dry. As in the 

 •case of ordinary threads, however, the mucus proceeds along the 

 foot-sole, the cord leaving the bodies at the tail ; and it has been 

 suggested to me, both by Mr. Ashford and Mr. Standen, that 

 the difference merely results from the greater discharge of mucus 

 at the time of copulation. I am doubtful, however, on this point ; 

 and it may be remarked that the function of the cord is to hold 

 the animals suspended, while the ordinary thread is produced 

 during progression. It will probably be found that Adams is 

 mistaken in supposing the mucus of the cord to come from (i.e., 

 out of) the mouths of the slugs, the idea that its formation is 

 dependent upon the eating of slime during courtship being almost 

 certainly erroneous. 



The suspension of the paired animals heads downwards by 

 the cord of mucus is certainly a remarkable circumstance ; no 



Naturalist, 



