NEW BRITISH ANNELIDS.
By Rev. Hilderic Friend.
The following records serve to show that as yet we are far from having gained a complete knowledge of the Annelid fauna of our own country. Nearly every time I go out to collect, some species new to Britain or to science is discovered; and, as each species has its place in the economy of nature, it is clear that we have much yet to learn respecting the part which the lesser worms play as friends or foes of the farmer and the gardener. My present records will be limited to one family, the Enchytræids. For the rest, suffice it to place on record the fact that Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, Claperède, was found by me at Easter near the lake in Sutton Park, Birmingham—this being, so far as I know, the first record for this country.
1. Fridericia magna, n.s.
During Easter week, while on a visit to the Lake District, I went one day to the meeting of the waters where the Cocker joins the Derwent under the shadow of the Castle, and in view of Wordsworth House at Cockermouth. Among my other gleanings I here took two specimens of a worm which I at once found to be new to me, and, as it proved, new to science also. Its large size at first threw me off the track, and it was some time before I could bring myself to believe that it was a veritable Enchytræid, and a Fridericia, despite its well-marked characteristics. It was the largest species of the genus I have ever found, as it somewhat exceeded in size the seaside worm known as Enchytræus humicultor, which I once found on the banks of the Solway.
Fridericia magna is 35-40 mm. in length, and consists of about ninety segments. There are two setæ in each bundle behind the girdle, and three usually in each bundle on all the preclitellian
