BRITISH ANNELIDS. 17I 



when it is very difficult, especially with preserved specimens, to 

 decide whether it is a true Green Worm or not. The male pores are 

 prominent on segment 15, the girdle begins with I he 29th or 30th, 

 and ends on the 36th or 37th segment. I believe that the normal 

 number of segments in this genus is eight, but it varies considerably. 



On the underside of the girdle we observe three pairs of teats or 

 pores, situated on segments 31, ^;i, 35. These are the puberty 

 pores {tiiberaila pnbertatis). At certain seasons there are also to be 

 found between these pores and the male pores some small sacs con- 

 taining life-germs. These are the Spermatophores. If any irritating 

 substance touches the worm, it pours forth from the openings down 

 the back; known as the dorsal pores, the characteristic turbid fluid 

 of which I have already spoken. The dorsal pores commence 

 between the 4th and 5th segments. Internally the prominent feature 

 is the three pairs of spermathecse which stand forth conspicuously 

 among the other essential organs. 



I have received it from Bush Wood and another place on the 

 eastern side of the forest, through the kindness of Mr. George Day, 

 F,R.M.S., while Mr. Allen of Canning Town, my most indefatigable 

 friend and fellow-worker, has sent it from Purfleet, Rainham, 

 Plaistow (with well-marked variety pallescetis, Eisen), Woolwich, and 

 different parts of Epping Forest. 



2. Allolobophora mucosa, Eisen. The Mucous Worm is 

 not so abundant as A. chlorotica, from which it differs in several 

 essential particulars. The girdle does not fall near the centre of the 

 body, but occupies the end of the first third. The tail portion is 

 therefore about twice as long as the head. The worm is delicate, of 

 a flesh-colour, semi-transparent when clean, so that the blood vessels 

 can be well seen, and the course of the hcemal fluid observed. The 

 lip is exceedingly delicate, ramified in every direction with very fine 

 blood-vessels \ the male pores are easily observed, and the girdle is 

 composed of seven or eight segments, usually beginning on the 26th 

 and ending on the 32nd. The pores or band {tubercula pubertatis) 

 cover three consecutive, not alternate, segments, namely 29, 30, 31, 

 and the dorsal pores commence, as in the Green Worm, between the 

 fourth and fifth. There is a total of al)Out 100 segments in the body, 

 the length being, as a rule, three inches or a little more. When irri- 

 tated the Mucous Worm exudes a fluid which contains a considerable 

 quantity of white granular matter, which forms a coat around the 

 body of the worm resembling lime or plaster of-Paris. There is one 



N 2 



