| OCR Text |
Show 1887-3 ANATOMY OF EARTHWORMS. 547 examination of the genital region by transverse sections failed to show any trace whatever of the supposed missing vesiculae of segments 10 and 11 ; those of segments 9 and 12 were well developed and exhibit a racemose structure, as is the case in some other Lumbricidae. There are large prostates as in C. rusticus. Spermatheca.-There are four pairs of these organs situated in segments 6, 7, 8, and 9 ; they are somewhat pyriform in shape, with a rapidly narrowing external duct; each is furnished with a single diverticulum which lies to the inside ; the spermathecaB open on to the n, nephridial pores; v.d.f, vas deferens funnel; v.s, vesiculae seminales; cp, spermathecae; t, testes; o, ovary ; od, oviduct; oes, oesophageal glands. The oesophagus has been removed for the greater part; in the 13th segment it has been removed from one side together with the oesophageal gland of that side, to display oviduct. exterior in front of the outermost seta of the ventral pair. In the number and structure of the spermathecae the present species differs from C. rusticus, where there are two pairs of spermathecae each with two or three short diverticula. Another curious fact about the present species is the difference of minute structure between the spermatheca and its diverticulum. The spermatheca itself is lined by a tall columnar epithelium ; the |
