274 '^^^^ Irish Naturalist. 



that the girdle is composed of seven segments ending with the 28th. 

 The worm is small and fragile, and frequents the neighbourhood of 

 stagnant waters, whence it crawls forth during the night. The second 

 species, he remarks, has a girdle of only six segments, which however 

 ends as before on the 28th. The habitat is the same, but the w^orm 

 differs from its predecessor, not only in the number of girdle segments, 

 but in its smaller size, the prismatic and crenelated form of the tail, and 

 in the semi-lunar shape of the lip. The colour of the one is a dull brown, 

 while that of the other is violet, with a tendency to iridescence. 



These important differences appear to have been ignored by all later 

 writers until the time of Rosa, whose painstaking accuracy cannot be 

 too highly commended, Rosa has not observed the species described by 

 Duges, but he has the following discriminating observation on the 

 subject. 1 



" II Lwnbricus amphisbana Duges, che ha pure orifizi maschili al 13° 

 segmento fu messo come sinonimo del L. teiraedrus dall' Hofifmeister 

 considrando come annonale I'allungamento del suo lobo cefalio che 

 taglia interamente il primo segmento. Cio tuttavia non si puo ammet- 

 tere, avendo il Duges osservato molti esemplari e conservata la sua 

 asserzione in lavori pubblicati a molli anni di distanza. lo lo considero 

 come una specie distinta di Alhirtis pesche malgrata che it carattere del 

 suo lobo cefalico siasi fin qui riscontrato solo nei. Lwnbrictis ladesinzione 

 che ne da il Duges non permette di ravoicinarlo a questogenere ; il suo 

 clitello occupa i segmenti, 22-27 (= 6), la coda contratae prismatic quad- 

 rata, il colore violacco mollo iridescente." 



In 1870 Eisen pointed out that the Square-tailed Worm, which he then 

 spoke of as Ltwibricus tetraedrus (Savigny) was liable to considerable vari- 

 ations of colour, and he gave names to two of these varieties which are 

 deserving of attention. I believe we have not only the two well-marked 

 varieties luteus and obscurtts, but that some very important facts yet remain 

 to be discovered respecting the causes of variation. Beddard and other 

 investigators have given special attention to the internal anatomy of 

 Alhirus, and Vejdovsky has described a continental species under the 

 name of Ltimbrictis submontaniis, which brings the number of species up to 

 three. I have now to add two others. 



A couple of years ago I discovered, on the banks of the Eden, a rich 

 golden-yellow worm in considerable numbers. This worm possessed 

 nearly all the usual characteristics of Allurus, but differed somewhat 

 from the type internally. I have only taken it once since, having found 

 a solitary specimen in a little beck at Calverley, near Leeds. This 

 species I have named Allurus flavtis. 



A consignment of earthworms which I recently received from the 

 neighbourhood of Bangor, in North Wales, contained, in addition to more 

 than one species new to the Principality, one which is new to Britain, 

 and probably also to science. I have named it provisionally Allurtis 

 ietragomirus, the reason for which may at once be assigned. In 1874, 



^ " I Lumbricidi del Piemonte," p. 52-53. See also "Rev. d, lyumb." 



