liRiriSIi AN'XICI.IDS. 1 87 



The colour is retldish hiown, wilh lighter girdle and undcr-surface. 

 Hitherto I have found it only in the north, and I believe it would 

 occur plentifully in the pine forests of Scotland. It is without 

 known varieties, and forms an admirable type. 



2. Eisens Worm (Lumbricus eiseni, Levinsen), is the 

 first Essex representative of this group which I had the pleasure to 

 examine. It is not a true Lioiibricus, although it has some affinities 

 with that genuSj especially if we examine the terrestrial form. The 

 dendrobxnic type closely resembles Bceck's worm in colour. The 

 setae, however, are arranged in four couples which are wider apart 

 than in the true earthworms. The lip and peristomium form a 

 perfect mortise and tenon, as in Lumbricus. There are seven to ten 

 girdle segments, but usually the clitellum covers the 24th to the 31st. 

 It specially delights in old decaying tree stumps. I have received 

 from Essex, however, not only the typical dendrobsene, but also a 

 terrestrial variety, which differs so widely from the type that I have 

 named it var. gracilis, on account of its very slender appearance. It 

 is usually about an inch in length, or at most one and a half inches, 

 and is composed of some ninety to 100 segments. The tail is some- 

 wOiat flattened and spatulate, as in the true Lumbrici, when the 

 worm lives in the soil ; but angular when found in trees. The variety 

 also has a beautiful iridescent play upon the back which the type has 

 not. There are no papillae on the girdle {i.e., Iiibercula pubciiaiis), 

 and those which carry the male pores on segment 15 are but 

 slightly developed. The variety differs from the type in colour, 

 shape, and habitat, but not in the position of the different organs. 

 My Essex specimens of var. gracilis are from the side of a ditch, 

 Becton Road, Plaistow Marsh, collected by Mr. W. Allen. The 

 type came from an old tree stump in Epping Forest. 



3. The Celtic Worm {AUolobophora celtica, Rosa), like the 

 preceding, has both a terrestrial and a dendrobasnic form. They 

 differ so widely in appearance that I was for a good while unable to 

 decide whether or not to regard them as distinct species. The form 

 described by Rosa under this name is found in the soil. The tree- 

 dvveller (var. rosea, Friend) ought to be the type as representing the 

 genus DendrobcBtia. The prostomium or lip does not cut backwards 

 into the first ring, as is the case with the foregoing. The setre are in 

 eight rows. The ground form is of a violaceous colour on the back, 

 whereas var. rosea is a warm rosy brown. The male pores in Rosa's 

 species are on papillx which affect the two adjoining segments by 



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