748 NATURAL SCIENCE. 7^;- 



containing 12 species from Sumatra, Mr. Boulenger found no less than 

 half marked with carmine, while a similar proportion obtained in a 

 collection from Malacca. 



Of the Oligochaete worms, the objects of my expedition, I have 

 little to say. The dry sandy character of the East African soil is not 

 suited for these animals (though it must be remembered that I was 

 there in the dry season), and they only occur round pools, or in 

 similar damp situations, as where water from houses has been con- 

 stantly poured. The earthworms are prevailingly " thin and hun- 

 gerly " in appearance, and of smallish size. I found numbers of a 

 bluish earthworm in a bog on the mainland not far from Mombasa, 

 in mud so wet that the water ran into the hollows made in digging out 

 the worms. Similarly semi-a(}uatic is a mole-cricket [Gvyllotalpa 

 afyicaiia) which burrows, often in quite wet mud, withovit contracting 

 a stain, and swims ashore quickly and composedly when thrown into 

 the water. As our own species is an inhabitant of light and dry soils, 

 this tolerance of wet in the African form is curious, and may help to 

 explain its wide distribution, as it occurs in the Ethiopian, Indian, 

 Australian, and even Palaearctic regions. 



In conclusion, I must express my thanks to the British Museum 

 officials for their kindness in assisting me to identify many of the 

 animals herein mentioned, and to the residents in East Africa for 

 their hospitality and assistance during my stay among them. 



Frank Finn. 



