ANATOMY, HISTOLOGY, AND AFFINITIES OF PHREORYCTES. 631 



in the former paper that the apparent rarity of Phreoryctes Menkeanus is possibly due 

 to its having been confounded with Gordius. 



A paper by G. da Rossi [A 12] I have been unable to see. 



Description of Phreoryctes Smithii, F. E. B. 

 Mode of Life. 



The first specimen of Phreoryctes Smithii which Mr Smith forwarded to me was found 

 in marshy soil coiled into a ball with a number of others. The second lot of specimens 

 were found by that gentleman in a forest pool ; in the bottle which contained these were 

 a quantity of smaller worms, which had much the same appearance as the Phreoryctes. 

 Mr Smith conjectured that they might be young individuals of that species. They turn 

 out to be a species of the genus Limnodrilus, but I have not yet determined whether they 

 constitute a new species of that genus, or whether they are referable to one of the forms 

 already known. 



Phreoryctes Smithii, therefore, like the other species of the genus, can live in water 

 or in moist earth. 



The specimens from the forest pool were very much larger than those which I received 

 at first ; the length of the longest specimen was about eight inches and the thickness 

 one-fifteenth of an inch. They were nearly all sexually mature, and had a well-developed 

 clitellum. 



External Characters. 



The large size of this species, both as regards length and breadth, appear to distinguish 

 it from both Phreoryctes Menkeanus and Phreoryctes filiformis. It is true that the 

 former species has been found to grow longer, but its thickness is inconsiderable. The 

 measurements of Phreoryctes filiformis are given by Vejdovsky [A 11, p. 49], as 10 to 

 14 cm. in length by f to 1 mm. in breadth. My former statement therefore [A 1, p. 

 389], that this species is not so elongated as either of the other two species at present 

 known, is justified by the study of these larger individuals. 



Setce. 



In the other two species of Phreoryctes — viz., Phreoryctes Menkeanus and 

 Phreoryctes filiformis — the setae have been described as showing a very remarkable 

 arrangement ; of both of these species it has been stated that each segment possesses 

 only four setae, disposed in four rows ; when, as very occasionally happens, one of these 

 setae is supplemented by another, the latter is to be looked upon asa" reserve seta " 

 according to Vejdovsky [A 11]. 



Phreoryctes Smithii can at once be distinguished from these two species by the 

 arrangement and number of the setse. ^They commence, as in all Oligochaeta, on the 



