28 ON LANDPLANARIANS. 



NOTE VI. 



ON SOME LANDPLANARIANS OP THE 



GENUS BIPALIUM FROM THE LEYDEN MUSEUM 



OP NATURAL HISTORY 



Dr. J. C. C. LOMAN. 



(With two figures). 



Landplanarians are known from almost all parts of the 

 world which have a hot but at the same time a damp 

 climate. So they are met with in Brazil , in South-Africa , 

 in South-Asia, in Australia and in New-Zealand, where- 

 as in the colder regions of the globe merely few species exist. 



They avoid direct sunlight and are only found in sha- 

 dowed places, under stones, under the bark of trees, 

 under rotten wood a. s. o. , feeding on small snails and 

 earthworms. 



As to the anatomy and systematical position of the 

 Landplanarians still much is to be done, most of them 

 being unsatisfactorily described. The anatomy of but very 

 few forms has been worked out, and of the greater part 

 the inner structure is totally unknown. At the present time, 

 considering the Landplanarians as a Family, perhaps about 

 ten Genera are to be discerned, but still very little can 

 be said of their mutual relation. Among these genera are 

 three , viz. Geoplana , Rhynchodemus and Bipalium with 

 many species , most of which are only described as to their 

 lengths, the number of their eyes, the form and colouring 

 of their bodies and the stripes which mark their backsides. 



Notes from the Leyden IMuseum, Vol. XVII. 



