CALIFOHXI.X KUDKILIU.K. 25 



one ill xii. Prostate is at llic top liclix'-likc t'oldod. Poiiial |i:ipilhr proiniiuMit, with 

 two or inoi'c [X'liial seta' in each sac. 



'I'hc worm is very paU', glass}'-, semi-transpareiil with re(l<lish-oraiige clitelhiin. 

 and witii the dorsal vessel showiiii; prominently ihrongh the body-wall. It is very deli- 

 cate, succumbs readily to heat and can only with diflieult}' be kept alive. It is the 

 largest of the species l)clonging to tliis genus as far as known. 



IliibiliU.. Ikltdjiia eh(i(i,nii is so far only found around 8an Francisco, Califor- 

 nia, and at Santa Kosaand Mount Diablo, especially under decaying manure in natural 

 hollows in the (loldeii ( iate Park. It is common immediately north of Strawberry 

 Hill in the sandy hollow where rain water collects and keeps the soil sufficiently moist. 

 The worm is not found in the water, l)ut at the water's edge, the water, however, being 

 only temporary during the rainy season. A few specimens also found in Bei'kelc}'^ 

 along the creek. In the locality in Golden Gate Park the worms congregate in large 

 masses, always in the sandy soil. At Santa Rosa and Mount Diablo I found only few 

 specimens, the season being at my visit in May far advanced and the soil was drying 

 fast. Mature in April and INIay. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTION. 



Erteilnv chriracferi^tlcs. The worm varies considerably in size, but averages 

 about three inches in length, by a wndth of from two to three lines, tapering consid- 

 erably towards the tail. The color is pale flesh, with a bluish cast, and quite trans- 

 parent, glassy, with a yellowish clitellura. Altogether, the exterior appearance of the 

 worm is one of great delicacy, greatly heightened by its semi-transparency. 



The cephalic prostomium is prominent, and divides the peristomium about | 

 of its width (flg. 3). This, the first somite, is wider than any of the following. 

 Somites ii and iii are next in size, and about equal in width. Somites iv to xi are 

 smaller, about equal in width, slightly decreasing backward. Somites xii and xiii are 

 smaller than any of the other anterior somites, and of about the same respective width 

 (fig. 2). No dorsal ])ores. 



The clitellum (figs. 2 and lo) commences with somite xiv, though xiii is gen- 

 erally somewhat thickened. The clitellial somites xiv, xv and xvi are very wide, 

 about as wide as somites ii and iii, and of the same size. Somite xvii is much .smaller. 

 This somite carries the male pores and papilhr (fig. 15). These are situated in the 

 posterior part of the somite, almost on the edge of the inter.segmental groove (fig. 15). 

 The papilhe are slightly raised around the opening of the sac in the penial setic. The 

 papilUe are situate close together very near the median line of the body, a short dis- 

 tance only from the ventral ganglion. The papilla is oblong, sigmoid, with a pore 

 for the settB at inner end. Between it and the intersegmental groove is seen the slit 

 in which ojien the prostate and the spermduct. It is situated- slightly to the outside 

 of the penial ])apilla (fig. 14). 



The oviducal pores are in the anterior part of xiv, generally in a depression 

 anterior to and more ventrally located than the inner couple of seta'. Spermathecal 

 pores are variable, not peree])tible. The nei)hridio-pores are in front of the third seta^, 



