146 Zoological Society ;— 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



February 1 1, 1862.— Dr. J. E. Gray, V.P., in the Chair. 



Note on the Gigantic Earth-worm (Megascolex c^ru- 

 LEUs) FROM Ceylon. By Sir James Emerson Tennent, 

 K.C.B., V.P.Z.S., etc. 



[In 1853 the British Museum received, through Mr. Hugh Cuming, 

 two specimens of a large Earth-worm from Ceylon, which is evi- 

 dently the Megascolex ctBruleus described by Dr. Templeton in the 



* Proceedings of the Zoological Society' for 1844, p. 89. 



A few days ago Sir James Emerson Tennent kindly procured from 

 Ceylon, and sent to the British Museum, a specimen of the same 

 worm, and, in reply to my inquiries respecting the habits and verna- 

 cular name of the animal, sent to me the following letter, which, 

 with his permission, I lay before the Society. — John Edward 

 Gray. British Museum, Feb. 11, 1862.] 



" Board of Trade, Feb. 10th, 1862. 



" My dear Sir, — The large Annelid which I sent to the Mu- 

 seum a few days ago was recently forwarded to me by the Principal 

 Civil Officer in charge of the North-eastern Province of Ceylon ; it 

 was obtained by him from the vicinity of Trincomalie. 



** My attention had frequently been attracted, during my rides 

 through the forests in the north of Ceylon, by the heaps of earth in 

 the shape of * castings ' thrown up and piled on the surface, often 

 to the height of 12 or 18 inches. These occurred in low and moist 

 ground, and chiefly in the beds of dried-up tanks shortly after they 

 had been deserted by the subsidence of the waters. The natives 

 assured me they were the products of huge earth-worms, which I 

 was told often grew to the length of 2 or 3 feet, with a proportionate 

 thickness. 



*' I made some eff'orts to obtain specimens, but, owing to the apathy 

 of the Singhalese and their indifi^erence to anything illustrative of 

 animated nature, I coidd not succeed. One reason why I was m}'- 

 self less likely to come on these creatures during my rides was that 

 the traces I saw were fresh only at the early dawn, showing that the 

 worm worked chiefly during the night. 



*' Some months ago I wrote to Mr. Morris, the gentleman I allude 

 to, at Trincomalie, and by him I have been supplied with the speci- 

 men which I have sent to the Museum. It is cut into two parts, 

 together about 22 inches long. 



" The vernacular name for them I do not know ; nor is it probable 

 that the Singhalese have given them any specific designation, other 

 than the general term equivalent to vermin, which they apply to the 

 whole tribe of minor reptiles and Annelids. 



*' The existence of these very large earth-worms appears to have 

 been known to some of the French naturalists ; for in D'Orbigny's 



* Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle' I find he has noticed the Ceylon 

 species in the following terms, under the designation of Mega- 

 scolex : — 'On sait qu'il en existe d'assez grandes, et I'on en a rap- 



