| OCR Text |
Show 1888.] STRUCTURE OF CLITELLIO. 491 therefore that I should have the pleasure of recording for the first time the presence of oviducts in the Tubificidoe, and finally exploding the very improbable hypothesis that in these worms the penis-sheath is the homologue of an oviduct. I find, however, that Dr. Stole has already i demonstrated these organs in Llgodrilus and Psammoryctes ; Fig. B. 4 Genital segments of Clitellio arenarius. The atrium of the right side and the left spermatheca bfcve been removed, t, testes; /, vas deferens funnel; d, male genital orifice ; a, ovary; oc, oviduct; cf, spermatheca, containing spermatophores; o, ripe ova in egg-Bacs. m y own discovery of the oviducts occupying an identical position in Clitellio and in Hemitubifex ater ( = Clitellio ater, see below p. 494) lends further support to Dr. Stoic's contention that these organs will be found to be invariably present in the Tubificidae. The ovaries are situated in the 11th segment on the anterior mesentery, close to where this is perforated by the vas deferens. 1 Zool. Anzeig. Bd. viii. D. 660. |
