596 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Earthworms of Berlin Museum.* — Dr. W. Michaelsen devotes the 
first of a series of articles descriptive of the Terricolae of the Berlin 
zoological collection to those from the African region. Kynotus mada- 
gascariensis g. et sp. n. is remarkable for the want of congruence between 
the internal and external segmentation. In a layer of the anterior part 
of the body an internal segment is exactly twice the size of an external ; 
it is clear, however, that the internal arrangement is secondary, for the 
various systems of organs are only to a certain extent adapted to it. 
Bichogaster mimus sp. n. is doubtfully assigned to this systematic 
position, and only a single specimen was available for examination ; in a 
comparative table the points of difference and similarity between it, 
D. Damonis , and Benhamia rosea are exhibited. Eudrilus pallidus is 
another new species also founded on a single example, and the same is 
the case with Preussia (?) lundaensis, Paradrilus ruber , P. purpureus , 
Benhamia intermedia , and Perichseta madagascariensis ; a new species of 
Allolobophora is described from Madeira. The Lumbricus Kerguelarum 
of Gruber is removed to the genus Aeanthodrilus. 
New Form of Excretory Organ in an Oligochsetous Annelid.| — 
Mr. F. E. Beddard observed in a new genus of Eudrilids that nephridia 
appeared to be absent in the genital region. But sections through the 
body-wall showed that the longitudinal and transverse muscular layers 
were traversed by a system of peculiar canals not at all like nephridia 
in appearance. They are arranged in a longitudinal and a transverse 
series, with numerous branches and interconnections ; there are four 
principal longitudinal trunks which run through several segments without 
a break ; they are connected with a metamerically repeated system of 
transverse vessels, which appear to run right round the body. They 
give off numerous branches and form a finer mesh work of tubules ; those 
that run towards the epidermis open there by small orifices. 
This arrangement may shortly be defined thus : — The nephridial 
system of the genital segments of this Eudrilid consists almost entirely 
of a complex system of tubes, which ramify in the thickness of the body- 
wall, open by numerous pores on to the exterior, and are connected by a 
few short tubes with the body-cavity. 
This system is perhaps comparable to the nephridial network of Flat 
Worms, but its presence in the body-wall suggests a comparison with 
the Bound Worms. 
Naidiform Oligochseta.J — Prof. A. G. Bourne describes some new 
species of the genera Pristina and P ter ostylar ides , and offers some remarks 
on cephalization and gemmation as generic and specific characters among 
the naidiform Oligochseta. The author takes the opportunity of pointing 
out that a monograph of the British species of this group is still a 
desideratum. 
A certain amount of cephalization is almost always, if not always, 
exhibited by the Oligocbteta ; that is, there is in the anterior region a 
segment or a number of segments which differ in their organization 
* Arch. f. Naturg., lvii. (1891) pp. 205-28 (1 pi.), 
t Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond., xlix. (1891) pp. 308-10. 
j Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxxii. (1891) pp. 335-56 (2 pis.). 
