ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
633 
presence in the latter of blood-vessels on the nephridia. He thinks 
Kerria , Ocnerodrilus , Gordiodrilus , and Pygmseodrilus form one large 
group, though they should not all be placed in one family. 
Earthworms of the Neighbourhood of Berlin.* — Herr A. Collin 
reports that, of the eighteen species of Lumbricids known from North 
Germany, thirteen have been found in Berlin ; one, Criodrilus , has no 
other known German locality than Breslau. 
Anatomy of Sipunculus.j' — Mr. A. E. Shipley, in some notes on the 
anatomy of this Gephyrean, describes, inter alia, the projections in the 
brain. They are solid, and consist of a number of connective-tissue cells. 
They are rather richly supplied with nerve-fibres. Beyond this last fact 
there is nothing in their structure to suggest that they are sensory 
organs, and the author is quite unable to surmise what their function 
may be. Mr. Shipley had been wont to consider that the rectal diverti- 
cula of Sipunculus were homologous with the anal caeca of Bonellia. 
Close study, however, reveals a number of differences ; they do not open 
into the coelom ; they have no ciliated funnels at their free ends ; nor 
do they open into the lumen of the intestine, but into a well-developed 
system of lacunar spaces in the wall of the rectum. It is possible that 
these glands have somewhat the same functions as the lymphatics and 
the numerous glands which in all classes of animals exercise some 
influence on the constituents of the circulating medium. 
B- Nemathelminthes. 
Bradynema rigidum.f— Dr. 0. zur Strassen has made a detailed 
study of this Nematode, which is parasitic in the body-cavity of Aphodius 
fimetarius, one of the Scarabaeidte. Yon Siebold, who discovered it, 
called it Filaria rigida, and Moniez erroneously referred it to the nearly 
related genus Allantonema. It requires, however, a new genus Brady- 
nema . The parasite lives freely within its host ; from two or three to 
twenty may occur together; they apparently do little injury. The 
adult female is at once recognizable as a Nematode ; the body measures 
3-5^ mm. in length by • 15- *27 mm. in breadth ; there is no mouth nor 
anus nor excretory pore, but a conical elevation bearing the vulva marks 
the posterior end. In its movements Bradynema is exceedingly sluggish, 
and the musculature is extremely reduced. Most of the interior is 
occupied by the broad tubular uterus, parallel to which lie the ovary 
and the oviduct. There is a clear receptaculum seminis where the 
oviduct enters the uterus. The body- wall has a meshed structure which 
encroaches at both ends on the body-cavity. 
In the development, which is described at great length, the follow- 
ing points may be noted. The prostoma persists and is always recog- 
nizable at least internally. In the same region a porus excretorius is 
formed. The ectoderm is a simple, never thickened sheath. A mouth- 
cavity is represented by a shallow depression at the anterior end. The 
mesoderm forms two lateral and one ventral longitudinal band, which 
unite anteriorly and posteriorly. Stomodaeum and proctodaeum are 
formed from mesodermic tissue. The rudiment of the gonad consists of 
* SB. Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin, 1892, pp. 115 and 6. 
t Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1893, pp. 326-33 (3 pis). 
X Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zool., liv. (1892) pp. 655-747 (5 pis.). 
