198 General Notes. [ February, 
was killed on Coal river, but think they did not remain in the 
State later than about 1805. A few elks lingered longer, perhaps 
as late as 1820. I think you might obtain, perhaps, the most 
accurate information in reach from Col. Benj. H. Smith (P. O. 
Charleston, Kanawha county, W. Va.), who is an intelligent old 
gentleman, and has practiced law in all the counties where the 
buffalo was seen last, he, I think, would likely remember the 
hunters’ account of his departure from the State. 
N. B. FRENCH. 
Anteus and Titanus Perrier, inhabit South America. The genus 
Acanthodrilus, from Western Africa, has two species which attain 
a length of three feet. An earthworm two to three feet long oc- 
curs in the interior of New Zealand, and a similar one in South 
Australia. But the largest known species is from South Africa. 
Forty years ago Rapp figured an earthworm six feet two inches 
long, obtained near Port Elizabeth, and recently Mr. Beddard 
procured a living example of the same species between four and 
five feet long and half an inch thick, from the same locality. It 
expands and contracts within wide limits, and may even be longer 
' when fully expanded. Externally it resembles Lumbricus, in 
having four series of pairs of bristles on each segment, but its 
internal structure is quite distinct. This worm seems to be abun- 
dant, but is rarely seen, as it is only driven from its underground. 
burrows by heavy and prolonged rains; on such occasions, which 
only occur a few times a year, the ground is covered by hundreds 
_ of these creatures, slowly crawling around until killed by the sun. 
A curious fact in connection with these worms is that the hard 
_ clayey soil in which they reside contains brackish water, thus 
proving that the presence of salt does not necessarily kill earth- 
worms and their eggs, as has been supposed. The genus Ponto- 
drilus Perrier lives among decaying seaweed cast up by the sea. 
Earthworms would appear to be exceedingly abundant in 
some parts of New Zealand, if we may judge from Mr. Urquhart’s 
paper, in the transactions of the New Zealand Institute. The 
writer calculates that there are in one acre of pasture land near 
Auckland, 348,480 worms, with a weight of 612 pounds 9 oz. 
_ Crustaceans.—In describing the head of Palinurus lalandii, Pro- 
fessor T. Jeffrey Parker divides the genus Palinurus into three 
sub-genera. Species in which the stridulating organis absent, and 
the procephalic processes present are named Jasus; those with the 
stridulating organ and without the procephalic processes, Palin- 
pote se ee, Fata C1 cious 
rc Mah (cei ea eee eee 2 Pa S11 
SS Se 
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