388 On some supposed new Species of Earthworms. 



afjain asked t!ie authorities of the Biitish Museum to allow 

 me ilie piivilej^e ot examining tlie types wliicli Prof. Rao 

 iiMtl Je})osite(i there ; these were sent to me, and 1 owe the 

 authorities o£ the Museum my best thanks for so kiiuUy 

 accedino- to my request. 



Prof. Rao begins his paper by givintj; a list of Indian 

 Glossoscolecida? ; this list is erroneous — it includes Criodrilas 

 bathyhateSy Steph., which is not an Indian species (it is 

 recorded only from Japan), and omits Glyphidrilus papiilatns 

 (Rosa) (Lncknow and Burma). This omission vitiates the 

 diagnostic table on p. 53. 



The ovisacs of all four species are stated to be in the same 

 segment as the ovaries; in (t. rams the egg-sac is said to be 

 attached to the posterior surface of septum 12/13 along with 

 the ovary. The ovisacs are normally one segment behind 

 the ovaries, and a situation such as that described would be, 

 practically speaking, impossible. 



Tiie testes and male funnels of G. jiuviatilis are also made 

 to occupy an impossible position, and the same is the case 

 with G. safronensis ; moreover, in placing these organs 

 where he does, the author contradicts his own generic dia- 

 gnosis on p. 52. lie states that the testes in G. Jiuviatilis 

 are " mostly free," whatever that may mean ; testes are either 

 enclosed in testis-sacs or they are not — in the latter case they 

 are " free.'' By " testicular sacs '' Prof. Rao means seminal 

 vesicles ; there are no testicular sacs in the genus. By 

 "canals" on pp. 54 and ^2 the author presumably means 

 grooves. 



One of Prof. Rao's species is called in his paper G. elegans ; 

 the type is said to be in the British Museum. No worm so 

 named was found amongst the specimens received from the 

 Museum; there were, however, two specimens, one labelled 

 " type," of a worm called G. splendens, which is not described 

 in the paper. These correspond pretty well to the description 

 of G. elegans, and, as the localities also agree. Prof. Rao 

 seems to have given two names to the same specimens. 



I can be brief in the account of my own examination of 

 the worms. 



1 found none of the abnormal conditions of the genital 

 organs described by Prof. R;io. 



Glyphidrilus jiuviatilis and G. elegans or splendens are 

 identical with G. annandalei, Mich. ; I have myself described 

 the dorsal shifting of the fourth and fifth lateral papillae in a 

 paper (" Oligochajta from Mauipur, the Laccadive Islands, 

 Mysore, and other Parts of India") which is appearing in the 



