NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN LAND-PLANARIANS, WITH 

 DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW SPECIES. Part I. 



By J. J. Fletcher and A. G. Hamilton. 



(Plate v). 



This paper is a preliminary one inasmuch as it does not deal 

 with the anatomical characters of Australian Land-Planarians. 

 This is intentionally the case because to have rendered this part of 

 the subject at all complete would necessarily have delayed its 

 publication, whereas we are anxious to profit by the eminently 

 favourable season for acquiring additional material. Owing to the 

 prolonged damp weather land-planarians are more than usually 

 abundant this year, and by calling the attention of members of 

 this Society living in country districts to this fact, and offering a 

 resume of what is known of this much-neglected group, we hope 

 that some of the more local species which are in danger of exter- 

 mination, may be obtained for examination and description. 



During the voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle' Mr. Darwin collected 

 Land-Planarians at the various places visited, and among them a 

 species from Tasmania. A general account of them is given in 

 *' The Voyage of a Naturalist " (p. 26), and they were subsequently 

 described in the " Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist." (Vol. XIV. 

 1884, p. 244), the Tasmanian species under the name Planaria 

 Tasmaniana. 



Mr. Moseley likewise during the voyage of H.M.S. ' Challenger ' 

 assiduously collected Land-planarians as opportunity offered, three 

 species being obtained from the neighbourhood of Parramatta and 

 Camden, N.S.W. These were afterwards described (Quart. Jour, 

 Micro. Sc. 1877, p. 285), a new genus CcBnojylana being instituted 

 for them. 



