256 DR. W. B, BENHAM ON [NoV. 15, 



possibly premature. No such mountain occurs on orclinaiy maps 

 of iN'ew Zealand as " Mt. Wellington," and I tliei-efore consulted 

 Prof. H. B. Kirk, who has an extensive first-hand knowledge 

 of the geography of the North Island : in response to my query, 

 he informs me that " Mt. Wellington is one of the small volcanic 

 cones just out of Auckland. It is, now, undei' grass, and is in 

 a fully cultivated district." 



The geogi-aphical doubt is thus set at i-est; for Schmarda 

 visited Auckland, and at that period (1860, about) it is probable 

 that little or no cultivation had then been carried on on this 

 small mountain ; and, in light of these new observations of mine, 

 it seems that we must now admit into oui- fauna Schmarda's 

 species. 



Our knowledge of its internal anatomy is due to Beddard ('92),. 

 who recognised tha.t it belonged to the genus Megascolides, as he 

 understood it, but by Michaelsen it is placed in Fletcher's genus 

 JVotoscolex ; but as we did not know the condition of the nephridia 

 in tlie posterior end of the body, it is impossible to be sure of the 

 correctness of the genus. (See later.) 



K. orthostichon appears — from the necessarily brief account 

 given by Beddard — to difier from the sjiecies of Tokea only in the 

 size of the prostate, which that zoologist states is " short and 

 tubular." He says nothing as to whether it is confined to one 

 segment or extends beyond it ; but presumably it does not exhibit 

 the characteristic disposition found in ToJcea, though, as we see, 

 in T. hvMoni this gland is "short" as compared with its length 

 in the other species, as it only traverses three segments. 



It is remarkable, however, that it differs from all the other 

 species of Xotoscolex, in which the clitellum covers fewer than ten 

 segments, and in which the arrangement of the chfetfe is unchanged 

 at the postei'ior end of the body (Michaelsen, '00), in that the 

 chsetse are equidistant {i.e. the formula is ab = bc = cd), as is the 

 case with several of my species ; and if we suppose that it does 

 belong to the same genus as do the seven new species herein 

 described, it might be suggested that one or other of the latter is 

 identical with iY. orthostichon, especially as I have obtained two 

 species from Auckland. 



Let us, then, examine such charactei'S which appear to be 

 specific as Beddard mentions. Firstly, it has two pairs of 

 spermathec^e, in which it agrees with T. kirki and T. onaorica — 

 the latter of which came from the Auckland district. The other 

 Auckland species, T. suteri, is out of court, as it possesses three 

 pairs of spermatheca?. The two species to which it presents this 

 resemblance have very difi'erent forms of sperm athecse. Un- 

 fortunately, Beddard's description is too meagre to allow us 

 to judge whether in JV. orthostichon the organ resembles either 

 of them ; for, he says, " each [spermatheca] has a small diverti- 

 culum, pyriform in shape like the main pouch." Such a, general 

 description applies to several of the above species. 



Now, in T. maorica the duct of the spermatheca is very wide ; 



