262 Mr. F. E. Beddard on 
XX XITI.—WNotes upon certain Species of AXolosoma. 
By Frank HE. Bepparp, M.A., &c. 
§1. The Pigmented Vesicles of Aiolosoma quaternarium. 
Although this species appears to be fairly common in 
England, it is capricious in itsoccurrence. I have lately met 
with it in abundance among some Chara which was sent to 
me by Messrs. Bolton, and have been able to some extent to 
compare its pigment with that of olosoma tenebrarum (Bed- 
dard, ‘On the Green Cells in the Integument of Aolosoma 
tenebrarum,” Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, p. 51, pl. v.) and Aolo- 
soma Headleyi (infra, p. 264). The colour of the pigmented 
spots of this species is an orange-brown ; they appear more red 
when examined under a low power; as the colour of these 
peculiar glandular cells is often so distinctive of the species, 
it is confusing to find the descriptions of them in species, which 
appear to be identical with the present, so different in detail. 
Lankester (“A Contribution to a Knowledge of the Lower 
Annelids,” Trans. Linn. Soe. vol. xxvi. p. 642) speaks of 
them as “‘ blood-red ;” Vejdovsky (‘System und Morphologie 
der Oligocheten,’ Prag,1884, p. 18) deseribes them as orange- 
red, but figures them (/oc. cit. pl. i. fig. 1) as crimson ; Maggi 
(“Intorno al genere olosoma,”’ Mem. Soc. Ital. Sei. Nat. 
vol. i. p. 9) differentiates his ¥olosoma balsamo from other 
species by the colour of these cells :—‘ inoltre le macchie, a 
differenza delle altre, sono di un rosso aranciato;” but I 
must agree with Vejdovsky in refusing to admit the validity of 
this species. Schmarda describes a species—olosoma pictum 
~—which seems hardly to differ from the present, as having 
purple-red (‘‘purpur-roth ”) oil-globules; finally Cragin’s 
Atolosoma Stokest (“ First Contribution to a Knowledge of 
the Lower Invertebrates of Kansas,” Bull. Wash. Coll. Lab. 
1887, no. 8, p. 81), with “ bright salmon-red nuclei,” is, as I 
have already suggested (Proc. Zool. Soc. tom. cit.), devoid of 
any characters by which it can be satisfactorily distinguished 
from Molosoma Ehrenbergti or Afolosoma quaternarium. I 
have observed but little variation in the coloration of the epi- 
dermic oil-globules*, such as thereis, for example, in Aolosoma 
Headleyi ; it is therefore possible that the apparently different 
colour of the species mentioned above implies specific distine- 
tion; but it is on the whole more probable that the variation 
* In one specimen some of the spots were smaller and bad a purplish 
colour. 
