HARDIVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



123 



from Robertsbridge to Hurstmonceux and Pevensey 

 on the west. 



Geologically speaking the conditions did not seem 

 hopeful. Clayey soil abounds, and the little 

 streamlets are red with iron held in solution, but no 

 longer worked as of yore at Ashbumham Forge. I 

 had examined portions of the same district on a 

 former occasion with only moderate success, but a 

 wider experience in the art of collecting had borne 

 fruit, and suggested pastures new even for this branch 

 of science. I commenced operations immediately on • 

 alighting from the train at Robertsbridge ; and though 

 I did not leave the high-road, I bagged several 

 fine specimens belonging to the most interesting 

 species indigenous to this country. The little 

 square-tail (Allurus tetmdrus) was soon discovered 

 in a ditch, well developed under its covering of 

 damp, decaying leaves. This curious species is semi- 

 aquatic, and must always be sought in damp places, 

 such as the banks of streams, the edges of gutters or 

 the margins of ponds. It frequently lies buried in 

 the soft mud at a considerable depth, and uses its 

 utmost endeavour to elude the collector's grasp by 

 hurrying away tail first to a safe retreat. It is so 

 earthy in its colour that it needs a practised eye to 

 detect it in many cases. I found the same species in 

 every part of the county visited, for it is quite a 

 ubiquitous little creature. It is widely distributed on 

 the Continent and elsewhere, as well as in Britain. 



Other species found on the way to Dallington 

 included the red worm (Lumbricus rubellus), the 

 purple (L. purpureas), and the green (Alio, chlorotica). 

 My next explorations were carried on in the pastures 

 and woodlands at Dallington, a quiet little village 

 half-a-dozen miles from Battle, and three miles north 

 of the Earl of Ashburnham's picturesque domain. 

 Here my labours were abundantly rewarded. I 

 found the common earth-worm (Z. terrestris), which, 

 by the way, is not nearly as common as we generally 

 suppose. What we have usually taken for this 

 species is an aggregate group including two or three 

 species, which have only recently been put through 

 their facings and made to tell their story. One of 

 these is the long worm (Alio, longd), with a dark 

 sienna-brown body, sometimes approaching black, on 

 which account the anglers have named it the black- 

 head. This is far more frequently found in the 

 different counties of England than the true earth- 

 worm, and Sussex proved no exception to the rule. 

 A good deal still remains to be done, however, in 

 working out the species found in rich soil, especially 

 such as is under high cultivation, and I solicit the 

 favour of consignments of worms from my readers 

 in order that I may determine the species and 

 distribution of worms as yet unidentified as British. 



Under the shelter of a pine forest I was able, 

 though a keen wind prevailed, to startle some worms 

 from their resting-place by shaking the soil with my 

 fork, and to my surprise and joy among the rest I 



found specimens of the new worm (Z. rubescens) 

 which I have recently added to our lists. This 

 worm being new to science, proved of special interest, 

 both because I was able to form a better idea of its 

 distribution, and also because it bore upon its ventral 

 surface a number of spermatophores, which I had not 

 formerly found on any true Lumbricus. March and 

 April are months of special value for the worm 

 collector because of the condition of the essential and 

 accessory organs of the animals"; and I was able on 

 this account to make several notes of importance on 

 various species in relation to this branch of natural 

 history. I have now taken the ruddy-worm 

 (Z. rubescens) in Yorkshire (Idle, near Bradford) 

 Middlesex (Hornsey), Kent (Tunbridge Wells), and 

 Sussex (Dallington). It is about the size of the red 

 worm (Z. rubellus), but has the girdle on segments 

 34-39, whereas in the latter that organ covers 27-32. 

 Turning from the pasture-land to tl e adjoining 

 wood, I hunted carefully for a dead tree lying on the 

 ground. At last I found just what I wanted. In 

 such habitats several very beautiful little worms 

 abound which have hitherto been entirely unknown 

 in England, though all the species at present found 

 in this country are already on record for sundry 

 continental districts. I have found that they really 

 form a subgenus midway between Lumbricus and 

 Allolobophora, and propose to revive the very 

 accurate term Dendrobsena, introduced by Eisen 

 twenty years ago, but allowed to fall into disuse, 

 owing to the subject being insufficiently understood. 

 To enter fully into a discussion of all the points of 

 interest involved would here be impossible, and is 

 the less necessary seeing that I have placed the whole 

 subject before the Linnean Society. One new fact, 

 however, has just come to light. In 1873 Eisen 

 named a tree-haunting species Allolobophora arborea, 

 failing to recognise that the worm truly belonged to 

 his new genus Dendrobsena. This species is plentiful 

 in the north of England, where I have taken it in 

 very typical form. Hitherto it has, however, passed 

 unobserved in Italy and other countries, so far as I 

 can find ; but another closely related species (Alio, 

 coustiicta, Rosa), takes its place. Now in the South 

 of England these two species meet and overlap. To 

 what extent this occurs can only be proved by re- 

 peated investigation, but I am glad to be able now to 

 place Rosa's worm on record for the first time as a 

 British species. The distribution of some of these 

 species is very instructive. The so-called Lumbricus 

 Eiseni, Levinsen, is a case in point. It is one of the 

 dendrobsenic species with certain lumbricoid affinities, 

 and has been found in Copenhagen, Carlisle, Gloster- 

 shire, Sussex, and Italy. The true Dendrobcena 

 Boeckii, Eisen has been repeatedly confused with the 

 gilt-tail (Alio, subrubicunda, Eisen), and so a wide 

 distribution has been assigned it. But while the 

 gilt-tail is ubiquitous in Europe apparently, the other- 

 species is rare. I have found it only oncej and , 



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