Abstract
SYDNEY Linnean Society of New South Wales, June 30.—Prof. W. J. Stephens, F.G.S., President, in the chair.—The following papers were read:—Note on Ctenodax wilkinsoni, by William Macleay, F.L.S. It is here explained that the fish described by Mr. Macleay under the above name has been a certained by Dr. Ramsay, of the Australian Museum, to be closely allied to Tetragonurus cuvieri, of Risso. Some remarks are also made on the habits and affinities of the fish.—Notes on the recent eruptions in the Taupo Zone, New Zealand, by Prof. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S. In this note the author gives particulars of the late volcanic disturbances, and such information as to the geographical and geological features of the district, as may perhaps enable those living at a distance to understand more clearly the accounts of the recent outbreak which have already appeared in the newspapers.—Notes on Australian earthworms, Part I., by J. J. Fletcher, M.A., B.Sc. Up to the present time but three Australian earthworms have been described, Lumbricus novæ-hollandiæ, Kinberg, and Digaster lumbricoides, Perrier, from N.S.W., and Megascolides australis, McCoy, from Victoria. In this paper a fuller account is given of Kinberg's species, and descriptions are given of six new or undescribed worms from the rich volcanic soil of Burrawang and of Mt. Wilson. Of these, two species (P. coxii and P. australis) are referred to Schmarda's genus Perichæta; two others (N. camdmensis and N. grandis, are included in a new intra-clitellian genus Notoscolex; a fifth (Didymogaster silvaticus) also is intraclitellian, but differs from Notoscolex; and the sixth (Cryplodrilns) is postditellian, with eight rows of setæ, but is different from Digaster. Three of these, as far as is known at present, occur only at Burrawang, one at Mt. Wilson only, one is common to both localities as well as Sydney, and one occurs at Burrawang, Springwood, and Jervis Bay. Mr. Fletcher has heard of the occurrence of worms, some of them very large, in the Hunter and Mannirg River districts, and probably these, as well as Illawarra, the Richmond and Clarence districts, and other parts of the colony will yield, when systematically searched, a good harvest of earthworms. He therefore appeals to the members of the Society resident in these or other localities, either for information or for specimens put alive into good methylated spirit, or sent alive packed in a tin box or large bottle, with a little earth and plenty of damp m^ss. Information as to the existence or otherwise of earthworms ia the plains of the interior would also be very valuable.—Note, on the distribution of Ceratella fusca, Gray, from the coast of New South Wales, by John Brazier, C.M.Z.S. A number of instances are given of the occurrence of this Hydrozoon near the Heads of Port Jackson. Mr. Brazier also mentions that a specimen sent from the British Museum to the Australian Museum as Ceratella fusea, Gray, is really Dehitella atrorubens, Gray, from Algoa Bay.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Societies and Academies . Nature 34, 379–380 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/034379a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/034379a0