ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 421 



P. fecunda. Eudrilus dubius has only been obtained from gardens, and it 

 is not certain, therefore, that it is a true Australian form. 



Mr. Fletcher also * gives a preliminary account of six new species 

 of earthworms, four from Victoria, one from Tasmania, one from New 

 South Wales. The Tasmauian form and one of the Victorian forms 

 were very large, and presented favourable opportunities for the study of 

 the reproductive organs, in regard to which fuller details are promised. 

 In the Tasmanian Notoscolex the true testes were very well seen as two 

 pairs of small cellular masses, each made up of an inner solid portion 

 attached at one point to the mesentery, and of an outer portion consist- 

 ing of numerous short radiating filaments. The new species are Noto- 

 scolex gippslandicus (apparently 4 to 6 feet long, said to be able to 

 produce sounds), Notoscolex tasmanianus (peculiarly thick), Notoscolex 

 tuberculatus (very slender), Cryptodrilus mediterreus, Perichseta bdkeri, 

 Perichseta dorsalis. 



Nephridia of Earthworms.f — Mr. F. E. Beddard calls attention 

 to the occurrence of numerous nephridia in the same segment in certain 

 earthworms. In Acanthodrilus multiporus there are more than one pair 

 of nephridiopores in each segment, but no internal orifices could be 

 detected, and the appearances presented can only be explained on the 

 assumption of a network of nephridial tubules. In Perichseta | the 

 nephridial network of one segment is continuous through the septum 

 with that of the next, so that the system differs from that of any other 

 "Annelid," except Pontobdelia, in that it forms a continuous network 

 uninterrupted by the intersegmental septa. There also appears to be a 

 perfect continuity between the nephridial system of the right and left 

 halves of the body, but there is no longitudinal duct on either side, as 

 in Lanice concMlega. No traces of internal apertures could be seen. In 

 Typhseus and Dichogaster numerous nephridiopores in a single segment 

 have likewise been observed. 



In proceeding to consider the relations of the excretory organs of 

 Annelids to those of Platyhelminths, Mr. Beddard indicates the views 

 of preceding writers. The facts here recorded support the view that 

 the annelid excretory system is directly traceable to that of the Platy- 

 helminth, but a rather different account of the course of development 

 than that proposed by Lang is given. Perichseta appears to be the most 

 archaic form; Acanthodrilus multiporus offers the next stage, and with 

 it the Capitellidse present many points of agreement. The gap between 

 Acanthodrilus and Lumbricus is only very partially bridged over by 

 Plutellus, where the irregularity in the position of the nephridiopores is, 

 perhaps, to be regarded as a last trace of the numerous pores of Acantho- 

 drilus and Perichseta. The recent researches on the epiblastic origin 

 of the segmental duct of vertebrates and the longitudinal duct of Lum- 

 bricus must make us hesitate to accept Lang's view of the identity of the 

 longitudinal duct of Lumbricus with the longitudinal canals of Platy- 

 helminths, for the latter are of mesoblastic origin. 



Anatomy of Allurus tetraedrus.§ — Mr. F. E. Beddard finds that 

 Allurus || differs from Lumbricus in having the male reproductive folds on 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, ii. (1887) pp. 601-20. 



t Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxviii. (1888) pp. 397-411 (2 pis.). \ 



t See also Proc. Roy. Soc., xliii. (1888) pp. 309-10. 



§ Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxviii. (1888) pp. 305-71 (1 pi.). 



|| " Allolobophora," on p. 370, is evidently a misprint for " Allurus." 



