232 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



in the middle of the body, which is more or less flattened 

 and narrowed at either end. The upper side is dark grey 

 in colour, the under side whitish. The narrow anterior 

 extremity, which is generally raised from the ground in 

 moving, bears a pair of minute black eyes. The surface 

 of the body is smooth and moist, and a track of slime is 

 left behind as the animal moves. The mouth is on the 

 under side of the body, a little behind the middle of its 

 length, and the minute genital aperture may be discerned 

 some distance further back. 



I found this species in July of this year under mossy 

 stones in a little thicket of alders, on the bank of the river 

 Ardle, near Kirkmichael, Perthshire. A prolonged search 

 only resulted in the discovery of three specimens, the largest 

 not more than half an inch in length when alive. 



RJi. terrestris has been found in many localities in England, 

 as far north as Westmoreland and Cumberland, and it is 

 widely distributed in Ireland. The range of the species 

 appears to include the greater part of Western Europe, from 

 Denmark to the Balearic Islands. 



RJiynchodemus scharffi, v. Graff (?). A species of land- 

 planarian certainly different from the foregoing was collected 

 by Professor D'Arcy W. Thompson, C.B., in September 1901, 

 near Crinan, Argyleshire. The specimen unfortunately went 

 to pieces before it could be preserved, but from the appear- 

 ance of the fragments and from the description of the living 

 animal I am disposed to identify it with this species, with 

 which it agreed in its large size (over an inch in length) and 

 its light yellow colour. Rh. scharffi has hitherto been found 

 only in hot-houses near Dublin, but Professor v. Graff and 

 Dr. Scharff agree in thinking that it is probably indigenous. 



The only other land-planarian known to occur in 

 Britain is Placocephalns (or Bipaliuui) kewensis (Moseley), 

 a cosmopolitan species which has been introduced into hot- 

 houses in several places in England and Ireland. This 

 species, which may be easily recognised by the flattened 

 semicircular expansion at the anterior end of the body, has 

 not, so far as I know, been found in Scotland. The museum 

 of University College possesses, however, a specimen of a large 



