Oct. 9, 1884] 



NA TURE 



57i 



and figured an earthworm six feet two inches in length, which 

 was obtained from the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth, but 

 since that time there does not appear to have been any further 

 description of the animal. Being anxious to secure a specimen 

 for dissection, I applied to the Rev. G. R. Fisk, who most 

 kindly sent me a living one ; it is the same species as that 

 described by Rapp, but is not quite so large ; it measured between 

 four and five feet in length, and about half an inch in diameter ; 

 these measurements are, however, rather under than over-stated ; 

 it is not easy to get an exact idea of the length of the animal, 

 since it expands and contracts within such very wide limits. 

 The general appearance is much like that of the common British 

 species, the bristles being disposed in four series of pairs to each 

 segment ; this outward resemblance is not borne out by the 

 internal structure, which is very different from that of Lumbricus 

 or any other genus. 



These monstrous worms appear to be fairly abundant in the 

 neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth and other parts of the Cape 

 Colony (see the Cape Times for May 29, 1884), but are only 

 rarely seen ; they do not seem to move about at night like our 

 British worms ; only heavy and prolonged rains drive them to 

 the surface from their underground burrows ; on such occasions, 

 as I am informed by a correspondent at Kleinpoort, which only 

 take place a few times a year, the ground is often covered by 

 hundreds of these creatures slowly crawling about in all direc- 

 tions ; they must present a most remarkable sight ; as a general 

 rule they do not return into the earth after the rain has ceased, 

 but remain above ground, and are shortly killed by the sun. 

 The same gentleman states that the soil in which he has 

 observed them is of a hard clayey nature, and retains a 

 considerable amount of water, which is invariably brackish. 

 This fact has some significance in connection with the geo- 

 graphical distribution of earthworms. It was foimerly believed 

 that earthworms and their eggs were killed by immersion in salt 

 water, and consequently the presence of similar or closely-allied 

 species in two regions now separated by the sea would be a 

 strong indication of a previous land connection, setting aside, of 

 course, tho-e cases evidently due to man's interference {i.e. the 

 importation of earthworms from tropical countries among the 

 roots of plant-). The fact that this earthworm from the Cape, 

 and presuma ly its eggs, are unaffected by brackish water, and 

 still more the occurrence of another genus, Pontodrilus (cf. 

 Perrier, Arch, de Zool. Exp., t. ix.), among decaying seaweed 

 cast up by the sea, shows plainly that the greatest caution must 

 be observed in drawing any such conclusions. 



Zoological Gai dens, N.W. F. E. Beddard 



THE ACTIOX OF AMMONIA UPON SOME 



LEPIDOPTERO US PIGMENTS 

 TWO or three years back, some entomological friends induced 

 ■*■ me to kill all my insects with ammonia, instead of employ- 

 ing potassium cyanide, and I have never regretted the change I 

 then made. Nearly the first species so treated was Melanargia 

 galathca, and on opening the pill-boxes I was much surprised 

 to find every one of them of a beautiful primrose-yellow colour. 

 In a few moments the primrose-yellow had vanished and the 

 insects were of their normal white again. Evidently this pheno- 

 menon was due to the volatile ammonia, so I held a specinv-n 

 over the bottle, and instantly the primrose colour returned, only 

 to disappear again with the departure of the pungent ammoniacal 

 fumes. The reagent employed was a saturated aqueous solution 

 of ammonia, and the black pigment of the wings remained un- 

 changed throughout. Now here was something of great interest 

 and well worth investigation, so I determined to follow it up, 

 and since that time have never lost an opportunity for experi- 

 ment or study. Many of my friends are now familiar with the 

 results obtained, but as they appeared to be previously unknown 

 to all those with whom I have communicated on the subject, I 

 have thought it best to place them on record. They may be 

 well known and authenticated, but to ascertain this a careful 

 search through the vast mass of the chemical and microscopical 

 literature both of this country and the Continent would be re- 

 quired, and for this my spare time is quite inadequate. I must 

 therefore crave the indulgence of those who may be familiar with 

 the facts herein recorded. Naturally, the first species selected 

 for experiment was Melanargia galathea. As before, ammonia 

 gave the primrose coloration. The next reagent employed was 

 a solution of j ota sium hydrate, in which pieces of the wing 



were placed, and they immediately turned yellow. Other 

 alkalis, such as solutions of sodium hydrate and barium hydrate, 

 were tried, and gave similar results, the only difference being 

 that with the fixed alkalis the primrose coloration was 

 permanent, whereas with ammonia it was necessarily fleeting. 



As alkali turned the pigment yellow, acids I thought might 

 prevent this, or even produce another colour. Accordingly the 

 wing, were treated with a great many acids, the chief being 

 sulphuric, nitric, sulphurous, hydrochloric, phosphoric, and 

 acetic. With all these, when used in excess of the alkali, the 

 pigment was restored to its natural white colour. I also found, 

 that whenever the liquid employed was exactly neutral to both 

 red and blue litmus, the pigment remained unchanged, whilst 

 the slightest addition of alkali produced the primrose-yellow, and 

 when acid predominated the normal colour prevailed. Thus, we 

 see, this pigment is a good test for alkalinity. 



To enumerate all the species experimented upon would oc- 

 cupy too much space, so I will only give the most important. 

 As some Continental species are mentioned, I have followed 

 Staudinger's arrangement. Papilio machaon and other Papilios 

 were unchanged, and the same may be said of the genus Thais. 

 Pamassius apollo, P. delius, and P. mnemosyne turned a pale 

 yellow. With such semi-transparent species a deeper colora- 

 tion could not be expected, from the small amount of pigment 

 present. 



None of the species of Aporia, Pieris, or Anthocharis showed 

 any alteration with ammonia, but Leucophasia sinapis and its 

 vats, lalhyri, &c, exhibited a delicate primrose colour. Not a 

 single species in Colia . - Thtcla, or Polyommatus was 



changed ; but the behaviour of the species of Lycana was 

 extremely curious and somewhat unexpected. L. argiades, L. 

 us, minima (= afsus), semiargus (= acis), alum, arion, 

 and euphemus remained unaltered. L. bcetica, argyrotoxus 

 {—agon),argus, opilete, orbitulus, tros, icarus (=alexis), eumedon, 

 amanla, bellargus {— adonis), meleager, jolas, and especially 

 aslrarche (= ageslis), rorydon, and damon were beautifully suf- 

 fused with primrose on the under side and cilia, wherever the 

 white pigment occurs. It is difficult to say why some of the 

 species in this genus are unaffected, whilst others exhibit the 

 most gorgeous colouring ; but in the case of L. argiolus, at least, 

 this may be accounted for. The pale bluish white of the under 

 side 1, not the result of white pigment at all, but is due to 

 reflected light from the almost pigmentless scales, in which a 

 change could not be looked for. All the species which were 

 examined in Nemeobins, Charaxes, Apatura, Limenilis, Van-essa, 

 rid A'gynnis exhibited no change. In the Saiyridte, 

 be 1 i .ilclanargia, (Enis Mia is clearly suffused with primrose 

 beneath. In Satyrus, S. circe and 6'. briseis have the white 

 band, changed, but 5. alcyone and S. senile are not affected. 

 Eribia and Pararge are alike unchanged. Canonympha hero, 

 C. arcania (andvars.), C.pamphilus, and typhon (-davus), have 

 the cilia and under side deeply suffused with yellow. Of the 

 Hesperidae, Spilothyrus alcea, Synch- has alveolus, S. serra'ula, 



, (= alveolus), all have the whites changed to prim- 



rose, but Nisaniades, Hesperia, and CarUrocephalus are not 



With the Heterocera I have obtained but negative results, 

 although the number of species operated upon are to be counted 

 by hundreds. It would be unsafe to generalise with such scanty 

 data to go upon, but a few remarks may be ventured. The white 

 pigmentary deposits of Pieris and Melanargia, although to the 

 eye the same, must have a very different chemical constitution, 

 and at one time I thought the negative ammonia results would 

 be a good character of the Pieridre, in contradistinction to Melan- 

 argia, &c. ; but facts would not support this speculation, for 

 £eucopha ia proved refractory, and the Satyridse gave results by 

 no means uniform. Many more experiments must be performed. 

 Nature must be thoughtfully questioned again and again before 

 we can possess a firm basis for speculation. 



Hitherto changes of colour only have been dealt with, and 

 i ints employed, but by recent experiments on the solu- 



bility of the various pigments in different media, most interesting 

 | facts have been brought to light, which in the future I hope to 

 communicate. What a wonderful and lovely sight is the under 

 side of Vanessa atalanta! It has afleast a dozen shades of 

 colour, most exquisitely mingled. Some day these colours will 

 be analysed and their constitution made known. The results 

 herein recorded may then be of service. 



George Coverdale 



24, f leming Road, Lorrimore Square, S.E., August 16 



