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Show 168 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON A LARGE EARTHWORM. [Mar. 16, and new localities1. I am inclined to think that such information will support Dr. Giinther's supposition that the worm has become acclimatized in this country; Mr. Dyer tells m e that it is still to be found in the K e w hothouses, where it has now lived since at any rate the beginning of 1878. Prof. Moseley was able to observe in Ceylon that Bipalium suspends itself by the tough slime which it secretes. M y specimen had no opportunity of showing if it could so support itself; but I noticed that minute offending objects could be got rid of by being entangled in the slime which it secreted, and which, being gradually secreted from a point, say, one inch behind the head forwards, was as a continuous sheet of mucus thrown off from the anterior end. A small earthworm which was placed near it, but which was not attacked, had the same mucous sheet thrown over it, to its obvious embarrassment. There can be no doubt as to the sensitiveness of Bipalium to light. The specimen now under notice was sent by Mr. Salvin on February 7th, lived and was more or less active till February 26th; for this interval of time the town was either enveloped in fog, or surrounded by a darkness which needed not to be called back to our recollection. But on the 26th of February the sun shone, and though the room in which the Planarian had been placed was not illuminated by its rays, yet the exposure to diffuse light, which on other and earlier days had been harmless, was on this day fatal; the worm broke transversely into three pieces, and on being touched fell into four. Had it been kept in darkness it is possible it might have lived longer. The temperature of the room varied from about 50° to 64° F. DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XVIII. Illustrating the various forms assumed by Bipalium kewense. A. Extended and moving freely. B, C. In various states of contraction. D-G. Some of the various forms taken by the head. H. Head and anterior end after contraction in spirit. I. The worm coiled and at rest. All the figures are of the natural size. 4. Note on the Structure of a large Species of Earthworm from New Caledonia. By FRANK E. BEDDARD, M.A., F.R.S.E., Prosector to the Society. [Eeceived March 15, 1886.] (Plate XIX.) Among a number of Earthworms forwarded to m e from New Caledonia, through the kindness of M r . E. L. Layard, F.Z.S., H.B.M. Consul at Noumea, were six specimens of a large worm several of which measured some 28 inches in length. All these specimens are referable to the same species, which belongs to the genus Acantho- 1 Specimens have been found in the Zoological Society's Gardens, which have, and in gardens at Liverpool which have not had direct relations with Kew. |
