lO 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



THE STUDY OF AQUATIC WORMS. 

 Hv rnz ?^v. HiLDERic Friexd. 



'npHEsmdy c: ;v:r ijiii^e-rus fre;:::- 3.:er :r~s 



greatly negfected, 'Sz::'. -.zz ;u;:::a-.:;r. a :e 

 months ago. of Mr. Beddard s jdonograp^ :: ::ir 

 Order OKgochaeta," there was next tc -z-.'zLr.; 

 published in the English language on the ;_: e:: 

 and even now no one has takoi up tht rriur 

 seriously, with a view to the tabnlaidcn :: z'lz 

 indigenous species. Dr. Batham has dene ~:r= 

 than anyone else in this direction, but his sv-iies 

 have been limited largely to profesaonal w : rk as a 

 lecturer on biology. Mr. Beddard has examined a 

 £ew native fiarms, and some few which beAang to 

 other lands, though fonnd at Kew and eisewheie in 

 England. Dr. Bousfield has worked at one or two 

 genera, but the full results of his lesearrhes have 

 never yet been given to the world. Here, for all 

 practical purposes, the vasiter ends ; jet Beddazd's 

 invaluable moncnr shows that many worms which 

 are certain to occur in Ejigland have been mono- 

 graphed on the Continent, andaglanoe at the works 

 of V^dovsky, YaiUant, Rosa, MichaeliSRani, Eisea and 

 others is enongh to convince us that a very wide 

 and fruitful field lies open to anyone who is 

 pci^Kued to take np the systamatic investigation of 

 the subject on English soiL 



Having been for many years engaged in the study 

 of earthworms, during which time I could not fail 

 to accumulate a large amount of material and first- 

 hand imformalion respecting the Oligochzets out- 

 sde the group usually known as earthworms, I 

 have lately done somf^hing in the direction of 

 tabolatms these results. The outcome is exactly 

 as I dii 3." ■.:;:" a:ei. Almost every we^ brings 

 — e s; — r 't ;-r::rs. This may mean either (i) 

 zev, :: Zr'.ai- :r i ze-s" to Science. Since the 

 £-:-" Zr.-isJi 5pe::es ~z- alsc be reckoned on 

 czt s fzitrs :: :-. :t stt" tza: -:t much labour 



■v'-iij: vrdl be amply s.iiz::e-: to justify ibis 

 =-.a:ement. 



The season, however, for naeediigs, papers, and 

 lisnssi'us is for the present at an end, and ere the 

 -rx: :rr~ arrives theie will be full opportunity to 

 ::r-r.r- ari enlarge my results. It will then be 

 sh: - .-a: :'-e recorded species of Marionia, 

 ?■'■.:.:■' .:::. L:'-.-'-.: irilvs, and others can be greatly 

 t :r-iri ari if r^eanwhile, some learned 

 Z-r:;ear. :r Ar:erl:an confrere does not publish a 

 "t V is: ;: aii::i:z5 :; :'::t:5e and other genera, 

 -■ :ii:i: ::i:.\:ie :J::sr "i-iih 7 have discovered, the 

 Briti^ fauna "V ill it ailr :; si.:-, a list of aquatic 

 or Umicoline v, ;r— s "vliiii: v,ill ronipare favour- 

 ably with that :: ;:r.rr lanis. 



In the meaz::— r :rl;. r:;i -a- res;:!: frczi 

 stating what has alreai; :~- i:-r ir. — . zex: 

 article, thareiire i tr:-:se s-rrl-.r? a list of 

 species already im; - :. r::;: ir. Srta: Britain, 

 arranged in the ;rier ::11: ei iy Lir Zeiiarl so 

 that ■we mav ie aile. ir. fuvire. :: si,:''" ''"da: 



ne^ :: 5:len:e £ u: i: .lie ies: results are to be 

 secure;:!, tie '"• ir^ siiiuli ~t: ze lei: :? one col- 

 lector, or :-e :- es::=a::r I: is ii: :i:e -a:ire ;f 

 things liia: ;rly a ie-.v c:ss-ess the necessary 

 appaiatrts l::era:ure azi e:;per.ence to know when 

 aspedes is ne ;r :: :li :: lia: re-us it belongs. 

 It cannc:. :liere:;re ie e:;re::ei :i:at many of 

 your readers 11 :are :: — a^e a systematic study 

 of aquatic wcrms it: e ery tre .n; is interested 

 in the advaEcener.: :: Etter.te tar. it ni'; part 

 by talnng np tite ■ trl; :i t:llet::t.i Vi'e "want 

 notoulytodist ver ne steties it: als; :. record 

 the distributiott tt :lte itrzts "^ititlt ::t'.tr, ".-■■tiether 

 new or old. There Is literally t: 1 1"' • ~. g known of 

 the distribution of attatit vtr— s itt England. 

 The earthworms ha e teen ttlera'tly veil -worked, 



: t: :lte ianilies -^:'::.zz i.zzz tite cottnecting li nk 

 tet'.een tire terrestr.al itrrns tt: ttte one hand and 

 tne nartre t.n :lie ::ner Tnese tantttt fail to be 

 tf stettai interes: ar.i alte fr:m tite biolt^ical 

 statiittm: '•'•'e i;t.f. tita: tnany fresh-water 

 st'et:es tltsel}- attr:atr. :r.e marine forms, and 



:S and is 

 v. vpork, 

 re where 



