The Nephridia of Lanice conchilega

Abstract

SINCE my paper on the nephridia of Lanice conchilega, Malmgren, appeared in NATURE (June 16, p. 162), I have learned that the chief peculiarity to which I called attention in my description of the nephridial system had been observed and mentioned before. In the monograph on the Polyeladen by Dr. Arnold Lang, published in 1884, and forming one of the series “Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel,” p. 677, occurs the sentence: “Bei Lanice conchilega, Pallas, hat neuerdings Ed. Meyer bei erwachsenen Thieren jederseits einen Längscanal aufgefunden, welcher alle Segmentalorgane mit einander verbindet, und nur an einer Stelle durch ein Dissepiment unterbrochen ist.” Dr. Ed. Meyer has called my attention to this passage, and informed me that Dr. Lang received permission from him to make use of this and other observations which he (Dr. Meyer) had made in the course of his studies on Chætopoda. The sentence quoted has been also cited by Dr. R. S. Bergh in an article on “Die Excretionsorgane der Würmer,” in Kosmos, 1885, Bd. ii. p. 115. That sentence is the only account yet published concerning Dr. Meyer's observations on the nephridia of the species in question. When my paper was printed I was unaware of the existence of the sentence in Dr. Lang's monograph, or of the reference to it made by Dr. Bergh. Unfortunately I had not had time to read the monograph through, and had not suspected that there was in it a mention of a novel fact concerning the anatomy of Chætopoda. My examination of Lanice conchilega was made in entire ignorance that Dr. Meyer had already investigated its anatomy; otherwise I should of course have mentioned his name in the summary I gave of previous work on the subject.