PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. 343 
the Australio-Antarctic connection which this seems to 
imply. There is also the fact that in New Zealand we find 
Microscolez and Rhododrilus—two closely-allied genera, while: 
on the West Coast of America, especially in Chili, we find 
Microscolex and Yagansia, also closely allied (these are all 
immediate descendants of Acanthodrilids); but, although 
these facts are of considerable interest, my time will not 
permit me to enlarge on the Paleogeographic conditions 
which they may suggest. Moreover, as I have already re- 
marked, we must bevery cautious in using the distributional 
facts derived from a study of earthworms, except as confir- 
matory of, or supplemental to, such facts derived from groups 
of animals that have the advantage of leaving fossilised re- 
mains. 
I have intentionally avoided any reference to a large body 
of facts accumulated by specialists in other groups of 
animals, in illustration of my remarks, for I have already 
occupied sufficient time in dealing with my own group. 
