206 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
cingiilata and P. braehycycla should both he placed in the genus Meg el- 
se ole x. Diachseta littoralis, Pericliseta vitiensis from Yiti, and Acanthodrilm 
Schrnardai from Queensland are described as new species. Pending a 
revision of the Cryptodrilidae, Hypogseon orthostichon is placed in the 
genus Megascolides. 
Acanthodriloid Earthworms from New Zealand.* — Dr. W. B. 
Benham gives an account of his observations on two Acanthodriloid 
Earthworms. The first described is the Neodrilus monocystis of Beddard, 
whose description he confirms and extends ; each anatomist had but one 
specimen, and Dr. Benham pertinently remarks, in connection with the 
curious fact that in so many cases only one worm is found which serves 
as the type of a new genus, that some of these may be hybrids or 
abnormalities. The other form is the representative of a new genus and 
species which the author calls Plngiochgeta punctata, and two specimens of 
it were obtained by Mr. Vaughan Jennings, the collector of these worms. 
The generic name refers to the fact that the setae are always seen 
crossing the body, and at a first glance it might be thought that one had 
to do with a Pericliseta. With that worm, indeed, the new form seems 
to have some affinities, but here the setae are arranged in couples, and 
the details of the internal anatomy are very different. Affinity is shown 
to Acanthodrilus in the position of the male pores, the character of the 
prostates, and the presence of sacs containing penial setae. It must 
rank as one of the Acanthodrilidae. 
Aquatic Oligochseta.t — Dr. W. B. Benham commences this set of notes 
with observations on the anatomy and histology of Heterochseta costata, 
a worm briefly diagnosed by Claparede some thirty years ago, and never 
noticed since. It was found by Mr. Shrubsole off Sheerness. The 
worms, when mature, are about 5/8 in. long, and pink in colour ; it 
may be recognized by the fan-shaped bundles of dark palmate setae on 
segments v. to xiii. After a careful description of its anatomy the 
author compares Heterochseta with other Tubificidae ; it stands nearest 
to Psamrnorydes. A useful summary is given of the generic characters 
of English aquatic Oligochaeta. 
Spirosperma ferox Eisen, hitherto found only in Sweden, has been 
found in the Thames and in the Cherwell. It is easily recognized by 
the naked eye, on account of its grey colour, with a bright white cli- 
tellum ; the worm is 6/8 in. long; the chief anatomical point is that 
the setae of the dorsal bundles throughout the body are capilliform, and 
they are, in most cases, accompanied by extremely delicate webbed setae. 
Stylodrilus Vejdovslcyi is a new species, taken just below Goring-on- 
Thames; the description is largely comparative between it and the two 
other known species of the genus. 
Development of Hirudinea4 — Prof. E. S. Bergh remarks that 
Herr Apathy, in his studies on the development of Hirudinea, has not 
noticed in the Gnathobdellidaa the presence of the provisional larval 
muscles nor recognized the larval skin as such, and that he is confused 
in regard - to the teloblasts. 
* Quart Journ. Micr. Sci., xxxiii. (1892) pp. 289-312 (2 pis.), 
f Op. cit., xxxiii. (1891) pp. 187-218 (3 pis.), 
j Zool. Anzeig., xv. (1892) pp. 57-8. 
