ANNELID BIONOMICS. 
Rev. HILDERIC FRIEND, F.L.S., F.R.M.S., 
Swadlincote. 
In spite of the interest aroused by Darwin’s book on Vegetable 
Mould, and all that has been done to increase our knowledge 
of earthworms, little is at present known on the subject which 
I have named as my theme. Some observations which have 
been made are of little value because too little attention was 
given to the species. Notes have been made about the common 
earthworm, as if we had only one, and not forty British species. 
What is true of Lumbricus may be inapplicable to Allolobo- 
phora, and observations anent the Brandling may be placed 
to the credit of a totally different worm. 
I spent my brief holiday this year in visiting different 
localities, with a view to careful observations on annelids, and 
although the intense heat and drought made records respecting 
the Lumbricide to a great extent impossible, I was able to do 
a large amount of work upon the Oligochaets in general. My 
notes cover a wide field, and will follow in the form of 
separate memoranda. 
OCTOLASIUM GRACILE Oerley. 
This interesting worm, first described by Oerley, a most 
careful Hungarian authority, has been the subject of much 
unhappy handling on the part of the Continental writers. 
Michaelsen does not allow it separate existence, but gives the 
name as a synonym of O. lacteum Oerley. This is a mistake, 
for in England the two species are quite distinct. The British 
records are being tabulated by me in a series of articles on the 
Distribution of Annelids, which is appearing in the Zoologist. 
Hitherto I have always found it very sparingly as at Bridlington, 
Easter 1910; Carlisle, February, 1911; and elsewhere. This. 
year, however, I had a curious experience. Arriving on August 
14th at Sutton Broad Laboratory, kindly placed at my disposal 
by Sir Eustace and Mr. Robert Gurney, I went down to the 
landing stage, where the soil was moist, to try and obtain some 
earthworms for some experimental work in which my son, Dr. 
Newton Friend, F.C.S., is engaged. I soon found a dozen 
specimens of Lumbricus rubellus Hoffm. and a dozen of another 
species which I sent off without examination as Allolobophora 
caliginosa Sav. Next day when I began my studies, what was 
my surprise to find that I had been utterly mistaken, and that 
the dominant worm of the locality was O. gracile. Although 
I found a few other species of earthworm during my stay at 
Sutton, no other was so abundant as this; and the fact is so 
striking that it merits special record for the guidance of future 
observers, 
Naturalist, 
