W. W. Smith. — On Neic Zealand Earthworms. 161 



turgidus, Eisen, under a rotten wet sack. Doubtless a careful 

 search in the district would reveal other species. The occa- 

 sional flooding of small grassy gullies like the one at Springston 

 is favourable to earthworms. The saturation of the grassy- 

 slopes, and the deposition of fine silt on the surface during 

 every freshet, renders the soil moist and viscous, consequently 

 compelling the worms to eject all their castings on the sur- 

 face. In the hot summer months these small grassy gullies 

 on the plains become dry, excepting, in some of them, an 

 occasional stagnant pool. As the summer advances the worms 

 gradually retreat into the bottoms of the gullies, and live 

 under the fine silt and beds of dead leaves deposited by the 

 water in winter. 



If we study the remarkable work of New Zealand earth- 

 worms in former ages their rapid extinction at the present 

 time in many districts is truly regrettable. The covering of 

 the Canterbury Plains, and the sand-flats and dunes south- 

 west of Banks Peninsula, with rich mould is worthy the 

 attention of all interested in the work of earthworms. No 

 less remarkable is their work on the West Coast plains, on 

 the shingle-slopes and terraces and on the morainic accumu- 

 lations in the valleys and upper parts of the plains on both 

 sides of the Southern Alps. On the slopes of some of the 

 higher alps, and in swampy flats often formed in depressions 

 of the latter, where the alpine flora generally flourishes in 

 luxuriance, the accumulation or layer of vegetable mould is 

 frequently of considerable depth. The greater rainfall in 

 these higher regions, especially during the summer and 

 autumn months, would be favourable to the work of earth- 

 worms at a period of the year when the surface of the moun- 

 tains and upland swamps are free from snow. To what 

 altitude worms exist in the New Zealand Alps I cannot at 

 present say. I have found them under partially-embedded 

 stones on the slopes of the mountains overlooking the Clyde 

 branch glacier of the Rangitata, and at an altitude of about 

 4,000ft. on Mount Peel. They lie beneath the partially- 

 embedded blocks of stone on the mountain-slopes and -spurs. 

 The undersides of these large angular blocks are moist, and 

 afford good shelter for worms at rest. The surface of the soil 

 beneath the stones is frequently marked with a network of 

 worms' tracks. The latter are moistened with their slimy 

 secretions, and smoothened by the worms crawling along them. 

 The soil on the higher slopes is coarse, and generally mixed 

 with sharp stones. It is, however, more often moistened 

 with rain and drizzling mists during summer and autumn 

 than the land on the lowlands. The only worms I have found 

 in these high elevations were some large greenish specimens of 

 Acanthodrilus novcc-zealandice. The larger form, Octochcekts 

 11 



