78 WILLIAM BLAXLAND BENHAM. 



received some more Earthworms from Professor Lankester 

 which belong to this genus, but differ in several points from the 

 species there described : to the new form I have given the specific 

 name Beddardi, as it was he who gave the name of the 

 genus to a worm described by Rapp^ as Lumbricus micro- 

 chetus. These worms were none of them in a good condition 

 for histological study, so that many gaps will appear in the 

 description of their minute structures. 



Microchaeta Beddardi, nov. sp. 



These worms were sent to Professor Lankester from Natal 

 by Mrs. Saunders. In a preserved condition they are dark 

 coloured, with a slightly greenish tinge and with a brown clitel- 

 lum ; they are rather longer but narrower than a large-sized 

 Lumbricus agricola, being 14 or 15 inches in length, and 

 about J inch in breadth ; the number of somites, 365, is easily 

 counted owing to the soft and extended condition of the worms. 

 They are nearly cylindrical, slightly wider anteriorly than pos- 

 teriorly, with an obtuse aural region. 



The prostomium is represented by a portion separated from 

 somite i by a shallow groove, and with its anterior free edge 

 crenated (figs. 1 and 2). 



In the clitellum the intersegmental grooves are less con- 

 spicuous than elsewhere, while the nephridiopores are much 

 more evident. The extent of the clitellum varies slightly in 

 the six specimens in my possession, but usually occupies somites 

 X to XXII, and in one case somite xxiii is included. (M. Rappi 

 has a clitellum extending through somites xiii to xxv.) 



The somites iii to viii inclusive are biannulated, but the 

 remaining somites of the worm are simple. 



The setse and nephridiopores have the same arrangement 

 as in M. Rappi, Bedd., but the relation between them is more 

 clearly seen than in the previous species, as the setae are extruded 

 from the body, and the nephridiopores are now seen to be in a 

 line with the lower setse of the lateral couples. 



There are no dorsal pores. 



' ' Wurtemb. Naturwi^s. Jaliresb.,' vol. iv, 1848. 



