276 The hish Naturalist. 



adduce the testimony of Mr. Beddard. He remarks — " It is well known 

 that many of the Oligochseta, which are usually found in ponds and 

 rivers, can also live in damp soil. The Enchytrceidc-e, for example, ap- 

 pear to contain quite as many terrestrial as aquatic forms ; and even the 

 same species may occur in either habitat. But there are not many 

 instances known of earthworms which lead a partially or entirel}^ aquatic 

 life ; indeed the fact that these annelids have been generally supposed 

 to be entirely terrestrial, has been to some extent the cause of their hav- 

 ing been distinguished as a separate group of the Oligochaeta — Oligochceta 

 Terricolce. So far as I am aware there is only one species closely allied to 

 Lumbricus terrestris, which has been proved to occur in rivers, as well as in 

 the soil. In a recent number of Nature, Mr. Benham noted the occurrence 

 of AlUiriis tetraedrus in England, and stated that his specimens had been 

 collected in a stream. During August of last year (1888), I discovered 

 this worm to be very abundant in the river at Bickleigh, near Plymouth. 

 The river was not at all flooded, and as the worms were tolerably abun- 

 dant, it seems to me to be fairly certain that they were not accidentally 

 present. Professor Vejdovsky has also recorded the fact that Alhirus is 

 found in streams in Bohemia, so there can be but little doubt that it is 

 partially aquatic in its habit ; it can certainly live equally well in the soil, 

 as I have had the opportunity of examining some examples which Mr. B. 

 B. Poulton was good enough to collect for me in the island of Teneriffe."' 

 As we have already noted, Duges found them near stagnant water in 

 France, and I have found the A. amphisbcena among the water- weeds 

 which grow in the very centre of the " dykes " of the Sussex marshes. 



(TO BE CONTINUED.) 



NOTES 



BOTANY. 



PHANEROGAMS. 



Elcocharis acicularis, Sm, — On a recent ramble with Dr. ScharfF 

 between Monasterevan and Portarlington, on the borders of Queen's Co. 

 and Kildare, I noticed Elcocharis acicularis growing in several spots in the 

 Grand Canal. The plant occurs in both counties, and is apparently an 

 addition to the floras of both districts 3 and 5 of " Cybele Hibernica." 

 The form which occurs is not the type, but a curious submerged state, of 

 which I send a notice to the current number of the Journal of Botany. 

 The form in question grows completely submerged in 2 to 4 feet of water 

 on the bottom of lakes and canals, which it covers with a short green 

 growth like young grass ; I have observed it in Derry, Antrim, and 

 Armagh, as well as in the counties above-mentioned ; this aquatic form 

 appears to be invariably barren, and sends up tufts of very slender trans- 

 lucent stems two to four inches in length, I should be glad to know if 

 any of our Irish botanists have noticed this form, of which no mention is 

 made in the text-books.— R. L1.0YD Praeger. 



1 Proc. Royal Physical Society, Edin. vol. x. p. 208. 



