574 
MR. A. MAYFIELD ON NORFOLK EARTHWORMS. 
VII. 
NOTES ON NORFOLK EARTHWORMS. 
Ly Arthur Mayfield. 
Read 80th January, 1804. 
Few members of the animal kingdom have been more neglected by 
the British student of Natural History than the Earthworms, and 
their allies, the aquatic Worms and Leeches. The proof of this lies 
in the fact that more than half of the British species have been 
discovered within the last five or six years. One explanation of 
this neglect may be the absence of a suitable English handbook, to 
guide those who might be inclined to take up the subject; another 
may be that Earthworms are difficult to preserve, and present an 
unattractive appearance in a cabinet. 
The case has been different on the Continent, for of the twenty- 
live species now recognised as inhabitants of the British Isles, 
eighteen were collected and described by Continental naturalists. 
Darwin, it is true, has left us an interesting treatise upon the 
subject of Earthworms, but that work seems to deal almost entirely 
with their habits and uses, and gives us no idea of the variation 
and distribution of species. Lately, however, the study of Earth- 
worms has been taken up by the Rev. Ililderie Friend, F.L.S., to 
whom our present knowledge of ^their distribution is mainly 
due, and we may look forward to the advent of a Handbook of 
British Earthworms from his pen, which will smooth the way of 
any future student. It was in answer to a public invitation in 
‘ (Science Cossip,’ from Mr. Friend, that 1 commenced in the 
summer of 1892, a search for worms in Norfolk, and it was through 
his kindness that I was enabled to identify the specimens found. 
In this paper 1 shall, beside enumerating the Norfolk species, 
give a short description of them, so that they may be recognised by 
any one who may have a desire to continue the search. 
The principal features of Earthworms, by means of which they 
