Smith. — Notes on New Zealand Earthworms 129 



setae are of a deeper yellow colour than the immature ones. 

 The seminal sacs are two pairs attached to the anterior wall 

 of segments xi. and xii. ; they have the racemose character 

 which is usually seen in this genus. Besides these there are 

 a pair of solid bodies with an oval contour attached to the 

 posterior wall of segments xi. and xii. A microscopic examina- 

 tion of these showed that they are also seminal sacs ; groups 

 of developing seminal cells were contained in the spaces of the 

 meshwork, formed of fibroid tissue ; there were also numerous 

 gregarines, the presence of which is so characteristic of the 

 seminal sacs of earthworms. There are thus four pairs of 

 seminal sacs, of which the anterior two are outgrowths for- 

 ward of the septa separating segments ix.-x. and x.-xi ; the 

 posterior two are backwardly-directed outgrowths of septa 

 x.-xi., xi.-xii. This arrangement agrees with that of the 

 seminal sacs of Allolobophora fcetida ; there appears to be no 

 median unpaired sac developed such as is found in Lumbricus, 

 Microchceta, and even in certain species of Acanthodrilus. It 

 is more usual in this genus to find only two pairs of seminal 

 sacs developed, those of the eleventh and twelfth segments, 

 and these usually differ from the anterior pairs in their race- 

 mose character ; but there are some indications that the real 

 number of these organs is four pairs, possibly in all the species 

 of the genus. The spcrmathecce are two pairs situated in 

 segments viii. and ix. ; each is furnished with a number of 

 small diverticula." 



Genus Perich^ta. 



Perichseta intermedia, Beddard. Quart. Jour. Mic. Sci., 



vol. xxx. 



Like other species of the genus Perichceta, the present one 

 is extreinely active in its habits. It is common in the forest 

 mould on the stony terraces of the Arnold Biver, the outlet of 

 Lake Brunner. The species is readily distinguished from 

 other native forms by its bluish-green colour, its smooth and 

 glossy appearance, and its rapid jerking motions when crawling 

 on the surface of the soil. The cocoons are deposited in the 

 rich mould among the stones and roots of the saplings lying 

 and growing on the terraces. Tbey are dull-yellow in colour, 

 and small for the size of the worm. Following is an abstract 

 of Beddard's paper on the anatomy of this interesting spe- 

 cies : — 



"I have given this worm the specific name of 'intermedia' 

 in order to indicate its intermediate characters, but I am not 

 quite certain as to its distinctness from an Australian form 

 recently described by Mr. Fletcher as Perichceta bakeri, with 

 which it appears to agree in some structural peculiarities. In 

 Mr. Fletcher's paper no special stress is laid upon the more 



