24 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



xix backward aud from segment xiii forward, the distance between the two ventral 

 setaj of each side gradually increases." 



Dii^trlbuilon and luihitat. The species of the genus Deltania described below 

 are undoubtedly natives of the Pacific Coast of North America, and more particularly 

 of California. The species are found not only in the Golden Gate Park of San Fran- 

 cisco, where they might have been introduced, but also in localities distant from 

 gardens, and in which no cultivation has ever taken place. Thus I have species 

 from Berkeley, Santa Rosa, Lake Chabot, Mount Diablo, etc. ]Moreover, since this 

 paper was finished in MS., I have found species of Deltania in localities so far from 

 civilization that there can be no doubt as to the native habitat. I refer to species 

 found in the high mountains of the Cape region (in the vicinity of Cape San Lucas) 

 of Baja California, at an altitude of 4,000 feet, in ahnost inaccessible localities. A 

 species has also been found in a gulch or river-bed at Ensenada, Baja California, 

 thus proving the extensive territory over which the genus extends. The description 

 of these species must be deferred to another paper. 



As regards Deltania dubia {tEudrilus dubius Fletcher) and Deltania PouUoni 

 {Microscole.v Poultnni, Beddard) it may be possible that the former, at least, is an 

 introduction from abroad. The locality where the latter is found shows the genus to 

 possess a wide neotropic extension. 



While it is thus certain that species of Deltania are natives of the new world 

 and the Atlantic islands, and especially of the Pacific Coast of North America and 

 Mexico, the distribution of Microscolex must yet remain undecided. Whether it 

 was imported from the Argentine Republic to the Mediterranean region, or vice 

 versa, must remain an open question, though the finding of two species in the Medi- 

 terranean countries seems to point to the probability of that region being its real 

 habitat. 



S'pecieif. Of the genus Deltania, California now possesses at least three species 

 with the very great probability of a discovery of new sj^tecies, as soon as a wider area may 

 have been explored. All the species apjjcar very sensitive to dryness and heat and 

 disap2:)ear with the first warm and dry weather, hence the difhculty of finding them 

 except at their proper season which ajipears to be limited to February to April in the 

 vicinity of San Francisco. The species in Baja California were found in September 

 and October. 



Deltania elegans. 

 Figs. 1-20, 49-58. 



Deltania elegans Eisen, Zoe, iv, 248, October, 1893. 



Size about 2 to 4 inches by from ,V to ^ inch wide. Septal glands very small, the 

 posterior one the smallest. Spermathecse very pellucid, minute, and irregular in their 

 position both as regards somite and the place in the somite, but generally opening be- 

 tween viii and ix. Sperm-sacs comparatively small, deeply lobed, one pair in xi and 



