140 On New Zealand Earthworms. 



But his account of the clitellum as " commencing between 

 the fifteenth and twenty-fifth segment " is evidently due to a 

 comparison between the two worms, as are also the following 

 sentences : — " Male genital openings on the tenth to the 

 fifteenth segments" (i. e. spermathecEe). "Vulvae on the 

 two last segments of the clitellum " may refer either to the 

 male papillae of Octochcetus or to the tubercula of Allolobo- 

 phora. 



(4) " Lumbricus annulatus." — A bottle labelled thus con- 

 tains four worms collected in Dunedin. Only one is mature 

 and possesses a clitellum, but the three others, which are but 

 imperfectly preserved, agree in regard to size and position of 

 the dorsal pore. The worms are, indeed, nothing other than 

 Allolobophora fcetida, as Hutton himself suspected. I must 

 correct his statement that the clitellum is " not tuberculated 

 inferiorly," for the tubercles exist as a curved indistinct ridge 

 on the segments usual in the species, viz. 28, 29, 30, and 

 extend on to 31. 



(5) " Megascolex sylvestris." — A single bottle of worms 

 collected in Dunedin, in rotten wood in the bush, contains 

 two entire individuals and two portions ; all are very poorly 

 preserved, but in sufficiently good condition to show that, as 

 Beddard has surmised ('Monograph,' p. 522), the worm 

 belongs to my genus Plagiochmta. 



It differs from P. punctata in the following points — and 

 possibly in others — though, of course, I was unable to make 

 a thorough examination of the specimens : — (1) It is cylin- 

 drical, not depressed ; this may be due to its soft condition. 

 (2) The dorsal and ventral gaps in the chaetal rings are 

 equal, and measure twice the normal gap between the indi- 

 vidual couples ; whereas in P. punctata the dorsal gap is 

 about four times the normal. (3) The prostomiutn, as 

 Hutton figures, does not cut right through the first segment. 

 (4) There are apparently only three pairs of sperm-sacs, that 

 in the ninth segment not being visible. (5) The chsetge 

 measure 0*19 millim., the ventralmost couple, in my sections, 

 reaching 0*22 millim., while the smallest is 0'165 millim. (in 

 P. punctata they measure 0*36 millim.). 



(6) " Megascolex lineatus." — Collected under dead leaves 

 at Queenstown. The bottle contains one entire individual 

 and three broken ones ; all are so poorly preserved that they 

 scarcely withstood handling. The length of the entire 

 specimen is only 1^ inch. Hutton's drawing of the pro- 



