A NEW BRITISH EARTHWORM. 
17 
the outer surface of the shell consist entirely of it. Where 
the two valves meet is likewise composed solely of the sub¬ 
stance thus ensuring a much more perfect closure.” 
H. Durrant. 
(To be concluded.) 
A NEW BRITISH EARTHWORM. 
We are constantly finding the old saying confirmed, that in 
natural history the largest number of species occur in the 
district which is most carefully worked. This is true of 
earthworms. One by one the mysteries surrounding this 
greatly-neglected group of animals are being penetrated, the 
veil is being lifted, and we are getting more accurate ideas 
respecting the specific differences, the distribution, and the 
uses of worms. I have recently been fortunate enough to 
find more than one species new to Britain, but for the 
present I shall be content to describe the one which I have 
most carefully studied. So little is known about many of the 
worms imperfectly described by the earlier authors, that I 
shall not now discuss the synonymy of this species, but give 
it the name applied to it by the author, who alone has fully 
and accurately described it (Allolobophova pvofuga, Rosa). To 
no one are we more deeply indebted than to Dr. D. Rosa, 
of Turin, for our present knowledge of the European Lumbrici. 
His lucid descriptions, shrewd discernment of points of value, 
generous recognition of the work of others, and indefatigable 
industry, are models which we could wish every helmintho¬ 
logist would imitate. In 1884 this veteran worm-hunter 
published a booklet entitled I Lumbvicidi del Piemonte , in which 
he described four species of Lumbvicus, and a dozen species of 
Allolobophova. Among them we find the worm which forms 
the subject of this paper. Dr. Rosa is the only writer whose 
works I have studied who notices the differences in point of 
size, length, and number of segments between worms col¬ 
lected in the South of Europe and those found in more 
northerly latitudes. I had already noted the fact that in 
some instances worms become smaller as we go southwards 
—a fact which will account for the differences between 
certain species of English worms and their Italian represen¬ 
tatives. With us the Rover, as I propose to name this 
worm, is 60 or 70 mm. when of medium size, but sometimes 
reaches fully twice that length, and is then about 80 mm. in 
alcohol, with a diameter of 5 to 8 mm. The number of 
segments is about 120-150. The worm is cylindrical, having 
