6 Br. M. Schultze on the Teirestrial Planarise. 



2-3 or even more than 4 inches, scarcely attains a thickness of 

 Jths of a line, gives it exactly the appearance of a Nemertina. 

 When the intestine is full, its contents, shining through the 

 skin, give the milk-white colour a more or less vivid tinge of 

 flesh-colour or rosy-red. The buccal orifice is removed un- 

 usually far backwards ; the genital orifice is situated quite in the 

 vicinity of the posterior extremity ; the proboscis is bell- shaped ; 

 the intestine of the ordinary form, with its lateral branches 

 simple or forked, placed close together. 



" The animal lives especially in loose and sandy, but also in 

 heavy and tenacious clay soils, in company with Lumbricus core- 

 thrurus^. It may seem strange that so soft an animal, which 

 scarcely bears to be gently touched, should be able to exist and 

 make its way through this medium. This difficulty is got over 

 by the Earth-worms, which burrow through the soil in such a 

 way, that it is penetrated in all directions, like a sponge, by 

 smooth passages of various widths. As a reward for this, the 

 Earth-worms are devoured, or rather sucked, by the Flat-worm. 

 That this was the mode of nourishment, was easy to see, from 

 the colour of the contents of the intestine. But I have also 

 met with GeoplarKE which were holding a young Lumbricits with 

 their protruded proboscis, and whose intestines were beginning 

 to be filled with fresh blood. 



" For the microscopic investigation of the internal structure, 

 this species would be better adapted than any other, not only 

 on account of its transparency, but also because, with a little 

 patience, it may be dug out of the ground in any quantity. All 

 the other Geoplance occur but rarely, as is certainly the case 

 with the European Planaria terrestris of O. F. Miiller.^^ 



So far the communications of my friend Fritz Miiller. 



I may be allowed to add to these specific descriptions, those 

 which have been made known by others, which occur scattered in 

 various Journals, and have never yet been brought together. As 

 regards the generic name Geoplana, this appears to be so well 

 chosen, that zoologists will certainly acquiesce in it. The neces- 

 sity of the generic separation of the terrestrial Planaria from 

 the others was felt even by Darwin, who says : " The terrestrial 

 Planaria belong to the genus Planaria, Duges, PolyceliSj^hrhg.; 

 they may, however, form a distinct section of this genus, charac- 

 terized by their more roundish narrow body, and the usual pre- 

 sence of longitudinal stripes of very brilliant colours.^^ Never- 

 theless Darwin established no new name for them. Besides the 

 English traveller, Blanchard and Leidy have described terres- 



* The descrii)tion of this new species of Earth-worm will follow this 

 paper. 



