r.RlTISII ANNELIDS. I93 



London Clay and Bagshot Sand, have I been able to discover any 

 trace of marine remains, excepting fossils derived from older forma- 

 tions ; nor have I seen any reason to believe that the sea has flowed 

 over this part of Essex either during or since the great Ice Age. 



AVTE.—Ur. W. H. Dalton, F.G.S., finds fault with my state- 

 ment that the "Glacial Drift of Essex consists mainly of local 

 material" (compare Essex Nat., vol. v., pp. 109, 133); and I 

 therefore take this opportunity of pointing out that of the above 

 classes of materials, No. i may well have come from the Eocene 

 beds, or Pre-glacial gravels of the immediate neighbourhood ; Nos. 

 2 and 3 from the chalk or older gravels of North Essex ; and Nos. 4 

 and 7 from the Pre-glacial pebble gravel (Westleton shingle) of North 

 Essex, leaving only classes 5 and 6, which have, no doubt, come from 

 a distance. — H. W. M., 4 November, i8gi. 



BRITISH ANNELIDS. 



WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE EARTHWORMS OF ESSEX. 

 By REV. HILDERIC FRIEND, F.L.S. 



TN these days of detailed research, when every department of 

 natural history is being carefully explored, and every secret process 

 in the development of life investigated, it is curious that so little 

 attention has been paid to our indigenous annulosa, and especially 

 the ubiquitous, easily obtained, and readily studied earthworms. 

 Many naturalists seem to be still under the impression that we have 

 but one species of Earthworm in the British Isles, the life-history of 

 which is so thoroughly well known that nothing more remains to be 

 done in the matter of its study. No delusion could be greater. If 

 we limit ourselves entirely to genuine earthworms, or Lumbrici, we 

 shall find at least a dozen well-worked species ; and it is perhaps not 

 too much to prophesy that the number will shortly be raised to a 

 score or more. As yet, some of the most interesting portions of 

 the island (not to say the British Isles) have not been examined 

 even in the most casual way, while even those counties whose worm- 

 fauna has been examined, may yet yield numerous other species 

 or varieties when our researches have been more thorough and 

 extensive. 



