THE AXNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



[SIXTH SERIES.] 

 No. 50. FEBRUARY 1892. 



XVII. — The Earthworms of the Vienna Museum. 

 By Frank E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S.E. 



[Plate Vir.J 



Prof. Claus has been so good as to let me examine the 

 collection of earthworms preserved in the Vienna Museum, 

 ^YlHch includes the forms described bj Schmarda in his 

 ' Neuc wirbellose Thiere ' *, as well as a number of unnamed 

 species from various localities. 



Schmarda's species have been so long a mystery to the 

 students of this group of Annelids, that I am very glad to be 

 able to identify them. 



^^ Hyjjogceon heterostichon." 



Schmarda's diagnosis of the species runs as follows : — 

 " Series setarum in dorso octo, binjB in antica parte conver- 



gentes, in postica divergentes." 



Clearly, therefore, it should not be placed in tlie genus 



Ilypogceon as defined by Savigny ; for that genus has nine 



seta3 per segment, the unpaired seta being dorsal in position. 



Such a character is quite sufficient to distinguish a genus, 



though no doubt the existence of this ninth seta requires 



further proof. 



* ' Neue wirbellose Thiere &c.,' Leipsic, 1861, Bd. ii. 



Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 6. Vol. ix. 8 



