246 Memoirs of the Indian Museum. [Voi,. I 



Remarks, — This is not the first time that IvUmbricids of the common European 

 species (which have become nearly cosmopoHtan, being widely spread by man) have 

 been found in Kashmir. In the Report of the Pamir Boundary Commission we may 

 read as follows : — 



" Three species of earthworms were obtained, one in the Kishenganga Valley at 

 8,100 feet, one in the Gilgit River Valley at over 7,000 feet, and one in the Yasni 

 Valley at 8,000 feet. Specimens of all of these were sent to Mr. F. E. BEDDARD, 

 F.R.S., who writes as follows concerning them :■ — 



' They are entirely European, i.e., Palsearctic species: they belong, in fact, to the 

 usual British forms. This is of interest, as being an approximation to discovering the 

 limits of the Oriental region for worms.' " ^ 



I do not agree with BEDDARD in his interpretation of this occurrence. I am 

 of the opinion that the use of these nearly cosmopolitan European species, which 

 are certainly imported by man into all extra- European localities, for the determination 

 of the geographical distribution of the genera of earthworms cannot on any 

 account be allowed. I do not mean to say by this that Kashmir may not belong 

 to the region of the endemic Lumhricidœ. We know endemic species of this family 

 from the south of Persia (Chusistan and Farsistan at the northern angle of the 

 Persian Gulf) as well as from Turkistan. On the other hand we do not know how 

 far the region of the Indian Terricolae extends to the north. Further, the two regions 

 meeting here may overlap one another. This view seems to be confirmed by the 

 occurrence of a Lumbricid apparently endemic in Calcutta {Helodrilus indicus — see 

 below) . 



IlEI.ODRII.US (BiMASTUS) EISENI (IvEVINS.). 



Hab* — Western Himalayas, Naini Tal in the Kumaon district, 6,400' ; 

 Dr. N. ANNANDAI^E leg., 28-ix-3-x-o6. 



HEI.ODRILUS (BiMASTUS) CONSTRICTUS (RoSA). 



Habi — Western Himalayas, Matiana in the Simla Hills, 8,000', in a culti- 

 vated field ; Dr. N. ANNANDALE leg., 30-iv-o5. 

 South India, Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Hills; Col. D. C. PHIL- 

 LOTT leg. 



HEIvODRII^US (BiMASTUS) INDICUS, MlCHLSN. 



H. (B.) i., MiCHAElySEN, in Mt. Mus. Hamburg, xxiv, p. 188. 



Examined three mature and two young specimens, all very much weakened. 



External Characters. — Dimensions of the mature specimens: lycngth (42 ?) 

 58—75 mm., greatest thickness ca. 6 mm., number of segments (87 ?— ) 107. (One 



^ Report on the Natural History Results of the Pamir Boundary Commission, by A. W. ALCOCK, 

 M.B., Surgeon NaturaUst to the Commission, Calcutta, 1898. 



