26 SIR J. E. TENNENT ON MEGASCOLEX C&RULEUS. [Feb. 11, 
“Board of Trade, Feb. 10th, 1862. 
“ My pear 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. 
*T made some efforts to obtain specimens, but, owing to the apathy 
of the Singhalese and their indifference to anything illustrative of 
animated nature, I could not succeed. One reason why I was my- 
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 l’on en a rap- © 
porté des parties chaudes de l’Amérique qui n’ont pas mois d’un 
métre de longueur*. Il en existe de semblables dans I’ Inde; et il a 
été trouvé dans Vile de Ceylan une grande espéce de Ver de terre 
dont on a proposé de faire un genre sous le nom de Megascolex.’— 
D Orbigny, Dict. Univ. d Hist. Nat. vol. vii. p. 431. 
** Faithfully yours, 
“J. EMERSON TENNENT. 
“ Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., Se. 
“TI expect another and, I hope, a larger specimen from another 
district of Ceylon, which I shall be happy to submit to you on its 
arrival.” 
* A metre is 39,33, inches. 
