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ANNELID FAUNA OF CUMBERLAND. 
Rev. HILDERIC FRIEND, 
Swadlincote. 
I COMMENCED my study of Annelids in the year 1890, in the 
city of Carlisle. In May of that year I wrote to ‘ Nature’ on 
the subject. My letter was handed by the editor to Prof. 
Lankester, who in turn passed it on to Dr. Benham. On May 
28th, I received a request from Benham to send him any 
interesting forms which might be observed, and this led to 
the interchange of letters on the Annelids of Cumberland, 
which laid the foundations for my first List of Earthworms 
of the North of England (see ‘The Naturalist,’ Jan., 1891, p. 13). 
The species identified for me by Dr. Benham included 
Lumbricus terrestris, L.;  Allolobophora longa, Ude; Apor- 
vectodea chlorotica, Savigny ; Allo. turgida, Eisen; L. rubellus, 
Hoffmeister ; L. castaneus, Eisen ; Allurus tetraedrus, Savigny, 
and three other worms of exceptional interest. One of these, 
found in the stump of a tree, Dr. Benham mistook for Limmb- 
vicus castaneus, Sav. Tree worms were then unknown in 
England, and this was probably the first time that Dendvo- 
baena arborea, Eisen, was ever found in this country. The 
next was Dendrobaena mammalts, Savigny (= Allo. celtica, Rosa, 
of former lists), and the third Bimastus Eiseni, Levinsen, both 
then new to Britain. 
Since that period I have from time to time added to the 
Cumberland list during my residence at Cockermouth, or on 
the occasion of more recent visits. Thus in 1899 I recorded 
Dendrobaena subrubicunda, Eisen. It occurred high up on 
Skiddaw and near the top of Catbells.  Octolaston lacteum, 
(Erley (= Allo. profuga Rosa) was found near the Art School 
and Station, Keswick, and in gardens at Cockermouth. 
Aided by a Government Grant for these researches, I have 
recently paid two visits to Carlisle and the Lake District, and 
have been able to extend our knowledge of the larger forms, 
and undertake some new researches into the distribution of the 
enchytraeids and waterworms. It has long been held that no 
worms are to be found in bogs. There is a certain amount of 
truth in the statement, but it is apt to mislead. I think it would 
be useless to examine the peat itself for worms, 77 situ; but 
when the peat has been dug and stored, worms will gather 
around the heaps, and if there are bushes or brushwood about, 
whose foliage falls and decays in the bog, one may expect to find 
a rich annelid fauna among the vegetable debris. I visited 
Newton Moss, near Penrith, specially to study the question, 
and found myself amply rewarded. 
I may also draw attention to the fact that wherever I 
examined old, decaying tree trunks, the true tree-worm, Dendyo- 
baena arborea Eisen, was to be found, together with its small 
1911 May 1. 
