238 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



association of the Acanthodrilidiie, Perichaetidte, and Perrier's 

 genera Digastcr and Pontodrihts. 



Impressed by these facts, I ventured^ to contrast the 

 Anteclitellians on the one hand with the Intra- and Post- 

 clitellians on the other. Our increased knowledge of the 

 group does not, as it appears to nie, favour such an arrange- 

 ment. 



Professor Glaus' classification,- being essentially that of 

 Perrier, needs no special mention. 



M. L. Vaillant^ places all earthworms in one family — 

 Lumbricidse — which includes, besides various rather doubtful 

 genera, Phreoryctes. Although this genus has undoubted 

 affinities to earthworms, I do not think it permissible to unite 

 it in the same group with them.* 



The various genera of Lumbricidse which Vaillant admits, 

 include a number that are very doubtful, such as Helodrilus, 

 Hoffm., IIypogcco7i, Sav., Pontoscolex, Schm. As to any 

 further grouping of these genera, he says (p. 60), " La 

 division du groupe ne me parait pas devoir comporter 

 I'etablissement de families, malgre I'opinion contraire de 

 M. Vejdovsky, lequel y ajoute celles des Pleurochsetidae, 

 Plutellid^, Criodrilidse, Pontodrilidse, les caracteres sur 

 lesquels elles sont etablies ne peuvent etre regardes comme 

 ayant une valeur suffisante, car ils ne conduisent pas a des 

 rapprochements qu'on puisse reellement regarder comme 

 naturels. Aussi, tout on les employant dans I'enumeration 

 synoptique ci-contre, je ne crois pas qu'ils puissent encore 

 servir a autre chose, qu'a etablir un systeme pour arriver a la 

 determination des genres." 



Vejdovsky ^ introduced a considerable number of improve- 

 ments into the current schemes, although, as will be pointed 

 out directly, his scheme is not thoroughly in accord with our 

 present knowledge. His classification is as follows : — 



^ Descriptions of some new or little known Earthworms— P. Z. S.. 1886, 

 p. 312. 



2 Grundziige der Zoologie, 2d ed. Marburg, 1880. 



3 Histoire Naturelle des Anneles, marins et d'eau douce. Paris, 1889. 



^ Beddard, The Anatomy, Histology, and Aliinities of P/i/TO/'J/dcs— Trans. 

 Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xxxv. 



^ System und Morphologic der Oligochajten. Prag, 1884, p. 63. 



