340 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Males of Freshwater Ostracoda.* — M. R. Moniez states that, in 
collections brought from various parts of the world, he has not found the 
males of Cypris or of Herpetocypris to be rare as naturalists acquainted 
only with the European representatives of these genera would have sup- 
posed. He cannot find that the time of the year, climate, or salinity of 
the water are factors in producing males. 
Vermes, 
a. Annelida- 
Classification and Distribution of Earthworms.! — Mr.F. E. Beddard 
commences his essay with a historical recapitulation of what has been 
done for the classification of earthworms by Perrier, Vejdovsky, Rosa, 
and others ; the work of Rosa is critically considered, and the suggestion 
is made that the key to the classification of the group is to be found in 
the modifications of the excretory system. He associates those earth- 
worms which have a nephridial system built upon the Platyhelminth 
type into one group, which is termed that of the Acanthodrilini, and 
which is divisible into the Perichsetidae, Cryptodrilidas, Deinodrilidae, 
and AcanthodrilidaB. The unique characters of the reproductive efferent 
apparatus requires the formation of a separate group for the Eudrilini. 
The family Lumbricidae form the third group of Lumbricini. A com- 
bination of characters distinguishes the group Geoscolecini which con- 
tains the families Urochaetidae, Geoscolecidae, and Rhinodrilidas. 
The relationships of the various divisions of earthworms may be 
indicated by the following table : — 
Lumbricini 
\ . . 
Geoscolecini Eudrilini 
Moniligastres. 
The chief facts brought out by an examination of the distribution are, 
the author tells us — (1) The close resemblance between the Palasarctic 
* Comptes Rendus, cxii. (1891) 669-72. 
t Proc. Roy. Pliys. Soc. Edinb., 1889-90 (1891) pp. 235-90 (2 maps). 
