Southern— Monop^aph of the British and Irish Oligochceta. 123 



in the Pyrenees and the Alps, Eisenia veneta is a Mediterranean species, of 

 which several varieties have been described, distinguished chiefly by 

 differences in colour, and in the arrangement of the setfe. K veneta, var. 

 Mhernica, is a well-marked variety which Friend found in Dublin. On the 

 Continent it is found in North Italy and the Island of Crete (vide fig. 1). 

 Another variety from Limerick, recorded in this paper, though very close to 

 the type form, still more resembles the var. zebra, found by Michaelsen in 



Eisenia veneta typica. E. V. var.hortensis. E.V. var hibernica . E.V. var. zebra 



Fig. 1. — Distribution of Eisenia veneta and its varieties. 



Transcaucasia. The type form is found in countries bounding the north and 

 east coasts of the Mediterranean, in the Crimea, and in Transcaucasia. It is 

 probable that the forms from Limerick and Transcaucasia, which are placed 

 in the var. zebra, have arisen as independent and parallel variations from 

 the type form, since they occur at the extreme western and eastern limits of 

 the range of the species. The new species, Helodrilus relictus, described in 



