Neiu Species of Earthworm. 303^ 



The type of country is gently undulating, and mostly very rich, 

 clayey soil. The timbered land is isolated now, owing to culti- 

 vatiiow. 



The climate is moderate, with occasional very dry seasons, and 

 generally a long summer with high temperatures. 



These particular earthworms seem to be very peculiar and 

 restricted in their habitat. Quite a large area of scrub land was 

 very carefully searched, and only two small spots were found to 

 shelter the wormis. One was a somewhat low-lying, damp place 

 beside a dam, and the other a more or less elevated spot, less 

 timbered and sunny. In both cases the earth worms were concealed 

 underneath cut timber for fence posts, and during the wet winter 

 of last year were very plentiful. 



Iheir habits were essentially moisture loving, and in the damp' 

 earth, and even in the actual timber distinct, and large holes 

 or burrows were made, down which the worms rapidly disappeared 

 when the post was overturned. A considerable amount of slimy, 

 glassy material was found wherever the worms had passed,^ and the- 

 earth all about their burrows was well worked and divided. In 

 some cases only a furrow was made in the earth, the lower surface- 

 of the post serving to roof it in. 



When the specimens were dropped into spirit, for preservation, 

 they definitely contracted, and, as is usual with earthworms, put 

 out a large quantity of slimy fluid through the dorsal pores all 

 along the body. 



External Anatomy. 



The freshly collected worms are of a pale pink colour, and vary 

 somewhat in size, but as a rule are from ten to twelve inches in 

 length, and between one quarter and a-half an inch in diameter. 



The clitellum is very distinct in the mature animals, and is of 

 a paler shade than the rest of the body. It is situated about an 

 inch from the anterior end, and is not quite regularly cylindrical, 

 being pinched in on the ventral surface. It extends from just 

 after the eleventh segment to the end of the eighteenth. The sur- 

 face of the worm appears to be covered by a translucent and very 

 thin membrane, but in the spirit specimens the glassy appear ance^ 

 is lost to a large extent, and tlie membrane becomes rather more- 

 conspicuous and tougher, but looses its iridescence. 



There is a ring of stetae in the middle of each segment, broken 

 at the mid-dorsal and mid-ventral lines. Ibe most median pair 

 on the ventral surface on each side are somewhat larger than the- 

 rest. 



