DESCRIPTIONS OF GENERA AND SPECIES 625 



Hormogaster, ROSA considered it to form a passage between the ' anteclitellians ' and 

 the ' intraclitellians ; ' a few months later he remarked (20) : ' Sta fra i pre- ed 

 intraclitelliani, ma e piu vicina a questi ultirni. Non e strettamente affine a nessuna 

 forma nota ma si accosterebbe al genere Urobenus (BENHAM) se la posizione assegnata 

 dal BENHAM alle vesicole seminali e ai padiglioni per questo genere potesse considerarsi 

 inesatta.' This position is maintained in the definitive memoir upon the worm (7). 

 I am disposed to agree with ROSA in placing this genus between the Lumbricidae 

 and the Geoscolicidae, but it does not seem to mo that there are strong grounds 

 for naming any one genus of Geoscolicidae as nearer to it than any other. Its 

 habitat would suggest affinity with the Old -World genera; and it may be noted 

 that it agrees with these in the presence of egg-sacs and in the position of the 

 spermathecae ; these organs, it is true, are paired and large, whereas in the Old- 

 World genera which have spermathecae they arc generally small and numerous, and, 

 if paired, are still small. On the whole, the characters of the genus, as compared 

 with those of other Geoscolicidae, are so peculiar that it ought perhaps to be placed 

 in a distinct subfamily Hormogastridae. 



The remaining genera of the family appear to me to be capable of arrangement 

 in two subfamilies, of which one is confined to the Old W T orld, the other nearly 

 confined to the New World ; the division which is adopted here is that of ROSA ; 

 I myself (39), subsequently to ROSA in point of the time of publication, but 

 independently, arrived at a nearly identical view ; but, before entering into this, 

 I may refer to BENHAM'S classification (1), only, however, to reject it. 



BENHAM (1) divided the Geoscolicidae of ROSA into two groups, which were named Geoscolicidae 

 and Rhinodrilidae ; these were defined as follows : 



Family VII. Geoscolicidae, ROSA ( = partly L. intraclitelliens, E. P., ^partly Eudrilidae, GLAUS, 

 VEJDOVSKY= partly Geoscolicidae, ROSA). 



The eight setae have a tendency to separate, or even to be arranged alternately in 



consecutive segments, either throughout the body or only posteriorly. 

 The clitellum commences behind somite xiv usually, and extends over nine or more 



somites, intersegmental grooves not being obliterated. 

 The sperm-sacs are very long ; there is but one pair of testes and rosettes ; the genital 



pores very small, and may be accompanied by glandular swellings. 

 A few of the anterior nephridia are larger than the following, and may even be 



collected into a mass forming a peptonephridium. 

 The typhlosole is a mere dependent fold. 



Family Rhinodrilidae, mihi ( = partly L. intraclitelliens, E. P., partly Eudrilidae, GLAUS, 

 VEJDOVSKY, ROSA). 



The eight setae are in four couples, the individual setae of each couple being close 

 together. 



4 L 



