26 SIR J. E. TENNENT ON MEGASCOLEX CJiRULEUS. [Feb. 11, 



" Board of Trade, Feb. 10th, 1862. 



" My dear 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. 



" I made some eiforts 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 terra 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 : — *0n sait qu'il en existe d'assez grandes, et Ton en a rap- 

 porte des parties chaudes de I'Amerique qui n'ont pas moins d'un 

 metre de longueur*. II en existe de semblables dans I'lnde ; et il a 

 ete trouve dans I'ile de Ceylan une grande espece de Fe?' de terre 

 dont on a propose de faire un genre sous le nom de Megascolex.'' — 

 jyOrhigny, Diet. Univ. d' Hist. Nat. vol. vii. p. 431. 



" Faithfully yours, 



"J. Emerson Tennent. 



" Dr. J. E. Gray, F.B.S., ^c. 



" I 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^^ inches. 



