146 Transactions. — Zoology. 



funnel ; the duct leading to the exterior is very short. The 

 oviduct-funnel opens into the twelfth segment, and the exter- 

 nal pore lies on the boundary-line between this segment and 

 the thirteenth. In the only specimen which I studied by 

 means of sections the oviduct was not ciliated, and the funnel 

 also had evidently not arrived at maturity. It is interesting 

 to note that the female organs of this worm are not fully 

 mature at the same time as the male organs. There 

 appears to be here, as in other hermaphrodite organisms, 

 a dichogamy." 



The generic characters of Phreodrilus are thus briefly stated 

 by Beddard : "A single pair of very elongated and coiled 

 spermathecse, opening on to the exterior in front of dorsal 

 setas of segment xiii. Septal glands present, connected with 

 pharynx. Nephridia wanting in anterior segments. No 

 special sperm-sacs or egg-sacs "(?). 



Note. — Since the foregoing was compiled Sir Walter 

 Buller, F.E.S., has sent me a copy of a recent paper* on the 

 habits of British earthworms. The reverend author devotes a 

 section of the paper to "The Tree-worms of Great Britain," 

 and describes them as " that group of worms whose principal 

 habitat is the old and decaying stumps or trunks of fallen 

 trees, and whose chief service consists in the breaking-up 

 of useless timber, and reducing it to vegetable mould." The 

 habits and specific characters of the six species he enu- 

 merates are clearly defined, and it is interesting to note that 

 they belong to different genera from the species which are 

 frequently found in decaying timber and rotten logs in the 

 New Zealand forests. The latter consist chiefly of Perichata 

 — worms whose active habits and muscular structure fit them 

 for burrowing into decaying wood. I have described the 

 habits of one species in my former paper. 



* " Studies of British Tree- and Earth-worms," by the Rev. H. Friend, 

 F.L.S. " Journal of the Linnean Society," vol. xxiv., p. 292. 



