204 MB. K. B. BEDDARD ON EARTHWORMS [June 4, 



of the other species for the reason that, although I believe it to 

 be a distinct form, it is not easy to define by marked characters 

 as can be made use of in such a table, and indeed it comes very 

 near to B.johnstoni. 



It is, however, a smaller and more slender species than is the 

 last named. My example measured some 205 mm. in length by a 

 diameter of about 7 mm. There is the same curious absence of 

 two dorsal pores from the preclitellar series that is so noticeable in 

 B. moorei and B.johnstoni. 



The genital area is a deep excavation ; and the integument in 

 this region is tesselated in appearance, being divided up into 

 numerous small areas by grooves. The seminal gutters are nearly 

 straight, only slightly bulging inwards. The single penial seta, as 

 in the other species, projects from the apertures on segments xvii. 

 and xix. The clitellum is a little less extensive, and seems to 

 occupy only segments xiv.-xxii. I am sure that the ventral setae of 

 segment xviii. are wanting, and this adds probability to their appa- 

 rent absence in the other two species of which the present memoir 

 treats. As in B. johnstoni, the middle pair of calrifero'AS glands are 

 the smallest of the three pairs. The glands are somewhat flattened 

 from side to side, more so than in B. johnstoni, and much more so 

 than in B. moorei. The intestine begins in segment xix. The two 

 gizzards are certainly in vii.and viii. ; the same segments apparently 

 are occupied by the gizzards in B. johnstoni. The last heart is in 

 xii. The sperm-sacs in this species were more in evidence than in 

 the other two species of Benhamia dealt with here. They lie in 

 segments xi., xii., and are somewhat elongated transversely, curving 

 up in a somewhat horn-like fashion. The penial seta- of B. mollis 

 are recognizable as different from those of the other two species. The 

 setae of all three species are figured in the accompanying drawing 

 (text-fig. 10, p. 205). It will be noticed that their structure is inter- 

 mediate between that of the penial setae of B. moorei and B.john- 

 stoni. As in the former, the distal end of the seta is not very strongly 

 curved ; as in the latter, the shaft of the seta is swollen before the 

 terminal hook. But the swelling is not so marked a feature of 

 the setae of the present species. Nor is the difference in diameter 

 between the hook and the rest of the seta so suddenly changed. 

 Moreover, the markings upon the end of the seta which appear to 

 be of the nature of pits are much more pronounced in B. mollis 

 than in its allies. No one, after inspecting the figures referred to, 

 can doubt the difference of the penial seta? in the three species. 

 The spermiducal glands are, as in B.johnstoni, contained each in 

 two segments, one half or thereabouts of the gland lying in each 

 segment. The junction between the two is a single tube, i.e. the 

 gland only perforates the intersegmental septum once. The sper- 

 maiheccB are most like those of B.johnstoni. The muscular duct 

 of the spermatheca is humped on one side, where a series of five 

 or six inconspicuous diverticula debouch into the duct. The 

 diverticula are less separated from the tube into which they open 

 than thev are in B. moon i. 



