og her en Mængde temmelig tætstaaende Tverfolder, i hvis 
Bindevæv iagttages stærke Karforgreninger, som paa sine 
Steder danne smukke Net. Disse Karnet svare visselig til 
dem. Semper har paavist at være tilstede i mange Holo- 
thuriders Tarmfolder, og som han antager staa 1 Respira- 
tionens Tjeneste, idet Søvandet skulde trænge op 1 Tarm- 
kanalen og saaledes komme i Berørelse med det paa Tarm- 
folderne udbredte Karnet. 
Tarmen hos vort Dyr er fuldt udfyldt af den fine 
eraaligbrune Ler, som i Regelen danner Bunden paa de 
Steder, hvor det lever. I dette Ler findes en Mengde 
Foraminiferer (Globigeriner) og Diatomeer, som vistnok er 
Dyrets vigtigste Føde. Dersom Søvandet trængte op igjen- 
nem denne Lermasse, hvoraf Tarmen er fuldproppet, vilde 
upaatvivleligt dette Vand, naar det igjen udstødes, vise sig 
at være mere eller mindre grumset, men saa er ingenlunde 
Tilfældet. Vandet holdt sig klart, og nogen Ind- og Ud- 
strømmen gjennem den nederste Aabning (Analaabning) var 
ikke at iagttage, hvorimod Excrementproppe stundom ud- 
fyldte ganske den nævnte Aabning, og kunde lenge forblive 
staaende deri. 
Vi kunne ikke ifølge vore Observationer antage. at 
der i Tarmen hos Trochostoma foregaar noget, der kan 
sammenlignes med Aandedrættet hos enkelte Insekter. Kar- 
nettet paa Tarmfolderne tjene snarere som et Lymphesy- 
stem, der optager de i Tarmen præparerede Næringssatter 
(Chymus) for at fore dem over i Blodet. Imedens Tarmen 
altid var propfuld af den nævnte Ler, var Npiserøret saa- 
godtsom tomt, og i Maven var der vel endel af lignende 
- Lermasse, men den var langtfra udfyldt deraf. Det synes, 
som om Fødemidlerne ikke opholde sig ret lenge 1 Svælg 
og Mave, men jages snart ned i Tarmen, hvor den egent- 
lige Fordøielse nok foregaar. 
Noget Kjertelapparat i Tarmens, Mayens eller Svæl- 
gets Vægge have vi ikke fundet, og det tør vel være tvivl- 
somt, om noget saadant existerer hos vort Dyr, dersom 
man ikke vil antage de tidligere omtalte isolerede klare 
Celler, som findes i det indre hyaline Bindeveey, for spe- 
cielle Afsondringsorganer. for Lever; men derom kan der 
vel neppe være Tale. Sikkert er det, at de brunlige kjer- 
telformige Organer, der ifølge Sars skulde findes 1 Svælg 
og Mave, og som han formener muligens kunde tjene som 
Lever, ikke existere. De brunlige Legemer have vi ogsaa 
seet; men de ere hverken enkelte eller sammensatte Celler, 
der kunne optræde som Kjertler, de ere Klumper, der 
dannes af det brunrøde Blodplasma. som findes næsten: 
overalt i Legemet, og som meget let koagulerer. 
Foruden det ovenomtalte Tarmindhold, fandt vi ogsaa 
en Nematoide i temmelig stor Mengde. Det er sandsynlig, 
at den lever som Parasit hos dette Dyr, da vi fandt et 
Udviklingsstadium af den, i hvilket den spiralformig ligger 
indkapslet i Tarmvæggen. 
Den norske Nordhavsexpedition. 
Danielssen og Koren: Holothurider, 
49 
intestine. On the inner surface of the two first convolu- 
tions, more especially that inclining downwards, are seen 
every here and there numbers of rather closely arranged trans- 
verse folds, through the connective tissue of which extend 
well-defined vascular ramifications, having in places a grace- 
ful, reticulate form. These vascular assemblages correspond 
unquestionably to those Semper has shown to occur in the 
intestinal folds of many Holothurians, and which, in his 
opinion, perform the office of respiratory organs, the sea- 
water being forced up into the intestinal canal, and thus 
brought in contact with the vascular net investing it. 
The intestine in the specimen here described was full 
of the greyish-brown clay which generally covers the bottom 
in localities where this animal oceurs. Such clay contains 
an immense number. of Foraminifera (Globigerinæ) and 
Diatoms, which unquestionably constitute the chief food of 
the animal. Now, assuming the sea-water to be forced up 
through the clay with which the intestine is distended, it 
would, when ejected, have a more or less turbid appea- 
rance; but such is not the case. The water continued per- 
fectly clear, nor could we detect any flux and reflux through 
the lower opening (anal aperture); nay, fecal pellets some- 
times stopped up the opening, and were not evacuated till 
after a comparatively long interval. 
Our observations do not lead us to infer, that the in- 
testine in Trochostoma is the seat of a functional process 
corresponding to that of respiration in certain insects. The 
vascular network on the intestinal folds would seem to serve 
rather as a system of lymphatic vessels for the reception of 
the alimentary juices (the chyme), to be afterwards con- 
veyed to-the blood. 
repletion with the clay, whereas the æsophagus was almost 
empty; some of this clay. too, was found in the stomach, 
by no means however suffieient to distend it. The food 
would appear to remain but a short’ time in the æsophagus 
and stomach, being speedily forced down into the intestine, 
where no doubt digestion chiefly takes place. 
No glands could be seen in the intestine, the sto- 
mach, or the walls of the æsophagus, and it is very doubt- 
ful whether any such exist, unless indeed the bright isolated 
cells, previously mentioned, in the inner hyaline layer of 
The intestine was invariably filled to 
connective tissue be regarded as special secretory organs — 
as a liver; but this is surely out of the question. It 
is quite certain that brownish organs of a glandular form, 
which, according to Sars, occur in the cesophagus and stomach, 
and which he regards as possibly performing the office of 
a liver, do not exist. Brownish corpuscles, we. too, have 
observed, but these are neither simple nor complex cells 
that might serve the purpose of a liver, but mere lumpy 
fragments of the brownish-red sanguineous plasma occurring 
almost everywhere throughout the body, and which readily 
coagulate. 
Exclusive of the clay which. as mentioned above, con- 
stitutes the chief contents of the intestine, we found a 
Nematoid in considerable numbers. It probably exists in 
this animal as a parasite, some of the individuals having 
represented a particular stage of development, during which 
it lies spirally incapsulated in the walls of the intestine. ° 
= 
i 
