S 100

h-^l

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OP NATURAL HISTORY,

INCLUDING

ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, and GEOLOGY.

(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ' ANNALS ' COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND
CHARLESWORTh's 'MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.')

CONDUCTED BY

P. J. SELBY, Esq., F.L.S., GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D.,

CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., E.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.,

J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh,

AND

RICHARD TAYLQB^.L.S., F.G.S

VOL. XIL— SEUOND series

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS.

SOLD BY LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS; S. HIGHLEY j SIMPKIN,

MARSHALL, AND CO.; PIPER AND CO.; W. WOOD, TAVISTOCK STREET ;

BAILLlfeRE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS! LIZARS, AND

MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH; CURRY,

DUBLIN : AND ASHER, BERLIN.

1853.

" Oinnes res creatae sunt divinae sapientiae et potentiae testes, divitia; felicitatis
humanae : — ex haruni usu bunitas Creatoris ; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini ;
ex oeconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet.
Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper aestimata ; k ver^ eruditis
et sapientibus semper exculta; male doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit." —

LiNNiiEUS.

" Quelque soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu'ouvrir les yeux pour voir
qu'elle est le chef-d'oeuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rapportent
toutes ses operations." — Bruckner, Theorie du Systems Animal, Leyden, 1767.

The sylvan powers

Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells

The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild

And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs

That press with nimble step the mountain thyme

And purple heath -flower come not empty-handed,

But scatter round ten thousand forms minute

Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock

Or rifted oak or cavern deep : the Naiads too

Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face

They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush

That drinks the rippling tide : the frozen poles.

Where peril waits the bold adventurer's tread.

The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne,

All, all to us unlock their secret stores

And pay their cheerful tribute.

J. Taylor, Norwich, 1818.

ALEBE t\

KI.AMMAM.

CONTENTS OF VOL. XIL

[SECOND SERIES.]

NUMBER LXVII.

rage

I. Remarks on some Algae belonging to the genus Caulerpa. By

R. K. Greville, LL.D. &e. (With two Plates.) 1

II. Ou the Genus Truncatella. By William Clark, Esq 4

III. On the Operculum of the Genus Diplommafina. By Dr. J.

E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c 9

IV. Description of a new species of Rhododendron from Bootau,

in India. By Thomas Nuttall, Esq 10

V. On Relative Position ; including a new Arrangement of Phanero-
gamous Plants : — Part IV. On Dorsal Plaeentation. By B. Clarke,
F.L.S. &c. (With a Plate.) 11

VI. On the Phosphorescence of some Marine Invertebrata. By

M. A. De Quatrefages 15

VII. On the Structure of the Leaves of Palms. By M. A. Trecul. 27

Proceedings of the Linnseau Society ; Zoological Society ; Botanical

Society of Edinburgh 31 — 64

On the Fecimdation of the Fucaceae, by M. Gustave Thuret ; Time of
Spawning of British Crustacea, by William Thompson ; Experi-
mental Researches on Vegetation, by M. Georges Ville ; On the
Priority of the Discovery of the Mode of Action of the Pholades
in the Perforation of Stones, by M. Vrolik; On Sun Columns
observed at Sandwick Manse, Orkney, by the Rev. C. Cloustouj
Meteorological Observations and Table 64 — 72

NUMBER LXVIII.

VIII. On the Genus Cercyon, with a short Monographical Synopsis
of the British Spharidiidee. By Andrew Murray, W.S. Edinbm-gh.
(With a Plate.) 73

IV CONTENTS.

I'age

IX. Characters of new Land Shells, collected by Edgar L. Layard,
Esq., in Ceylon. ByW. H. Benson, Esq 90

X. Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, collected during an eight
years' residence in the Island. By Edgar Leopold Layard, CCS. 97

XL On the Rissoa rubra. By William Clark, Esq 107

XII. Description of several new species of British Crustacea. By
William Thompson, Esq. (With a Plate.) 110

XIII. On two new species of Calanidce, with Observations on the
Spermatic Tubes of Pontella, Diaptornus, &c. By John Lubbock,
Esq., F.Z.S. (With a Plate.) 116

XIV. Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals. By
P.H.GossE, A.L.S 124

XV. On the Teeth of the Genus Mitra, Lamarck. By J. E. Gray,
Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &e. 129

New Books : — Systeme Silurien du Centre de la Boheme. l^'^ partie,
Recherches Paleontologiques. Trdobites, par J. Barrande. —
Popular Physical Geology, by J. B. Juke.s F.R.S 130—135

Proceedings of the Royal Institution ; Zoological Society 136 — 148

Observations on the Breeding of the Nightingale in Captivity, by
' H. Hanley ; Eucratea chelata, by WiUiam F. Templer; On a new
species of Bulimus, by Lovell Reeve, F.L.S. ; Johnstonella Catha-
rina, Gosse, by J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; On a new genus oi Ano-
miadce, by J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; Meteorological Obsen'ations
and Table 148—152

NUMBER LXIX.

XVI. Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals. (No. 2.)

By P. H. GossE, A.L.S. (With a Plate.) 153

XVII. On two new species of Calanida, with Observations on the
Spermatic Tubes of Pontella, Diaptornus, &c. By John Lubbock,
Esq., F.Z.S. (With a Plate.) 159

XVIII. Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, collected during an
eight years' residence in the Island. By Edgar Leopold Layard,
CCS 165

XIX. On the Head of the Genus Conns, Linn. By J. E. Gray,
Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c 176

XX. On the Animal of Rotella, Lamk. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D.,
F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c 179

CONTENTS. V

Page

XXI. On the Phosphorescence of some Marine Invertebrata. By

M. A. De Quatrefages. (With a Plate.) 180

XXII. On some new Carboniferous I-imestone Fossils. By Fre-
derick M'CoY, F.G.S., Hon. F.C.P.S., Professor of Mineralogy and
Geology in the Queen's University of Ireland 188

New Books .—A NaturaUst's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast, by

P. H. Gosse, A.L.S. &c 1^7

Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Botanical Society of Edin-
burgh

On the Movements of the Blood in the Pulmonaiy Arachnida, by
E. Blanchard ; The Tibetan Badger of Hodgson, by J. E. Gray ;
Note on the Germination of the Spores of the Uredines, by L.
R. Tulasne; Meteorological Observations and Table 219—224

NUMBER LXX.

XXIII. On some nev? species of Trigonia from the Inferior Oolite
of the Cotteswolds, with prehminary Remarks upon that Genus. By
John Lycett, Esq. (With a Plate.) 225

XXIV. Note on the Artesian Well at Colchester; and Remarks on
some of the Microscopic Fossils from the Colchester Chalk. By John
Brown, Esq., F.G.S. (With two Plates.) 240

XXV. On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the Struc-
tm-e of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals. By Thomas
Williams, M.D. Lond. (With a Plate.) 24d

XXVI Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, collected durmg an
eight years' residence in the Island. By Edgar Leopold Layard,
CCS ^^^

XXVII. Remarks on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham, and
POTton near Sharpness; with an Account of some new Foraminifera
discovered there ; and on certain Pleistocene Deposits in the Vale of
Gloucester. By the Rev. P. B.Brodie, M.A., F.G.S 272

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Royal Society 278—290

On the Monstrosity of a Rose, by J. T. Arlidge, A.B. ; On the Change
of Colourin a Chamseleon ( Chammleo vulgaris), by H. N. Turner,
jun. ; Notes on a new species of Artamus, from India, by Dr.
Nicholson ; Meteorological Observations and Table 2f)0— 29fi

Vi CONTENTS.

Page

NUMBER LXXI.

XXVIII. On the " Nucleus " of the Characeas. By Al. Braun ... 297

XXIX. On the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. By William
Clark, Esq 303

XXX. On Preserving the Balance between the Animal and Vege-
table Organisms in Sea Water. By Robert Warington 319

XXXI. On the Cornbrash of the neighbourhood of Cirencester.
By James Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology Royal
Agricultural College 324

XXXII. On the Teeth of the Pneumonobranchiate Mollusca. By

J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c 329

XXXIII. On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the
Structure of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals. By
Thomas Williams, M.D. Lond. (With a Plate.) 333

Proceedings of the Zoological Society 348

Spadix purpurea, by W. P. Cocks ; Note on the Parasitism of Coman-
dra umbellata, by Asa Gray ; Rare Irish Mollusca, by William
White Walpole ; Natica sordida, by William White Walpole ;
Meteorological Observations and Table 365 — 368

NUMBER LXXII.

XXXIV. On the British Tritons. By John Higginbottom,
F.R.S. (With two Plates.) 369

XXXV. Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals.
(No. 3.) By P. H. GossE, A.L.S 384

XXXVI. Descriptions of some undescribed species of Reptiles col-
lected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East
Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S.,
V.P.Z.S., P.B.S. &c 386

XXXVII. On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the
Stmctm-e of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals. By
Thomas Williams, M.D. Lond. (With a Plate.) 393

XXXVIII. On Blood Rain {Palmella prodigiosa, Mont.). By
H. O. Stephens, Esq., Vice-President of the Bristol Microscopical
Society. (With a Plate.) 409

XXXIX. Descriptions of two new genera {Pfeifferia and Janella) of
Land Mollusca. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S 412

XL. Notes on the Habits of Bivalve Shell-fish. By S. P. Wood-

XTARD 415

CONTENTS. VU

Page
XLI. Centuries of North American Fungi. By the Rev. M. J.
Berkeley, M.A., F.L.S., and the Rev. M. A. Curtis, D.D 417

XLII. Note on the Transverse Processes of the Two-toothed Dol-
phin {Hyperoodon bidens). By Prof. Owen, F.R.S. &c 435

XLIII. Remarks on Libellula Brodiei (Buckman), a Fossil Insect
from the Upper Lias of Dumhleton, Gloucestershire. By Professor
Buckman, F.G.S., F.L.S 436

XLIV. On Gallionella ferruginea (Ehrenb.). By J. W. Griffith,
M.D., F.L.S 438

New Books : — The Botany of the Eastern Borders, with the populai*
names and uses of the Plants, and of the customs and behefs
which have been associated with them, by G. Johnston, M.D. &c.
— The Handbook of British Ferns, comprising scientific and
popular Descriptions with Engravings of all the Indigenous Spe-
cies and Varieties, with Instructions for their Cultivation, by
T. Moore, F.L.S. &c. — Beitr'age zur Mycologie, von G. Frese-
nius, M.D. — A Monograph of the Subclass Cirrijyedia, with
figiu-es of all the species. The Lepadidw or Pedunculated Cirri-
pedes, by Charles Darwin, F.R.S., F.G.S 439—448

Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Linnaean Society 448 — 476

On the Mode of Reproduction and Development in various groups of
Zoophytes and MoUusca, by M. Gegenbaur ; On the Teeth of Tes-
tacellus and Glandina, by J. E. Gray, Ph.D. &c.; On the Struc-
ture of the Retina in Man, by Profs. Kolliker and H. Miiller;
Discovery in the Human Body of a Substance giving the same
Chemical Reactions as Cellulose, by M. Virchow ; Meteorolo-
gical Observations and Table 476^-483

Index 484

PLATES IN VOL. XIL

Pi ATE I 1

jj y New species of Caulerpa.

III. Structure of Phanerogamous Plants.

IV. British Sphseridiidae.

V. New species of Calanidse.
VI. New British Crustacea. — Noctiluca miliaris.
VII. New species of Calanidae.

j-j^' l- Microscopic Fossils from the Chalk.

X. Scolanthus callimorphus.
XI. New species of Trigonia.

XII. •)

XIII. > Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration in Invertebrate Animals.

XIV. J

XV 1
vYj f The British species of Triton.

XVII. Palmella prodigiosa.

^n/L.i: Mag ■ Wat. Hist . S. 2 . Vol 12 . PIJ .

Caxderpa aspleri z oid^s

M.X.Grevtn^ d^i

JDt- C Sotrerhy

Ann «. McLg. Nat. Ehst. S. ^ . Yol .12 . Tl R

Cnjilrijiu t'issrrl fiiliir I

M.E.fir^idlt d,i

J.Di C.Sor,erke

^^^^STmUj

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]

" perlitora spargite museum,

Naiades, et circClm vitreos considite foiites :

Pollice virgineo teneros h'lc carpite flores :

Floribus et pictum, divic, replete canistrum.

At vos, o Nymphae Craterides, ite sub undas ;

Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco

Vcl'lite muscosis e rupibus, et niihi conchas _

Ferte Dek pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo. .. r- i i

No. 67. JULY 1853.

I. Remarks on some Algce belonging to the Genus Caulerpa.

By R. K. Greville, LL.D. &c.*

[With two Plates.]

Among the Algge collected by Dr. Wight on the shores of the
Peninsula of India are various Caulerpce. Of described species
the following may be enumerated: Caulerpa Lessoni, Bory;
2^lumaris, Ag. ; scalpelliformis, Ag. ; sedoides, Ag. ; Chemnitzia,
Lamour., and Freycinetii, Ag. , • v t

There are also two or three other species upon which 1 pro-
pose to offer some remarks. The first of these is the plant de-
scribed by Agardh as var. ^. crassi/olia of his Caulerpa taxifoha ;
at least there can be no doubt that it is the form quoted by him,
and figured by Turner in ' Historia Fucorum/ tab. 53, as Fucus
pinnatus of Linn£Eus. I am, however, very sceptical of its having
any specific relation to C. taxifolia, typical specimens of which I
possess from Agardh and Horneniann. The frond of the latter
is pinnated in a definite, symmetrical and uninterrupted manner,
answering well, in fact, to Agardh's description : " pinnis sequa-
libus simplicibus fere horizontalibus, parallehs .... basi apice-

* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, April 14, 1853.
Ann. 6)- Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 1

2 Dr. R. K. Gveville on some new species of Caulerpa,

que attenuatis, oppositis, appvoximatis." The Indian plant, on
the contrary, is remarkably straggling and irregular in its habit ;
the pinnse remote, often interrupted, unequal in length, and in-
stead of being nearly horizontal are given off at a considerable
angle, with a decurrent base. Turner has well remarked of this
plant, that "young specimens are entirely destitute of pinnae,
and resemble in their naked filiform branches, as well as in
their colour, texture and substance, battered plants of Chara
flexilis. Judging from some of Dr. Wight's specimens, it is not
improbable that even older individuals may retain this form when
vegetating in situations unfavourable to their perfect develop-
ment. It may be added, that, as far as I am aware, the true
C. taxifulia is a native of the West Indies, while the Alga under
consideration has only been found in the Red Sea and in the
East Indies.

Presuming then that Turner and Agardh are correct in regard-
ing our plant as the Fucus pinnatus of Linnaeus, I venture to sug-
gest that it take its place in the genus as Caulerpa pinnata. A
figure representing the frond in a somewhat younger state than
in Turner's work will be found in one of the plates which ac-
company this paper (PL I.).

Before I proceed to describe the remaining Caulerpa referred
to in Dr. Wight's collection, there is another Alga of which it is
desirable to take some notice in connexion with the preceding
species. This is a very beautiful plant which was communicated
to me by Professor Mertens, many years ago, as collected at the
island of St. Thomas in the West Indies, and likewise named
Fucus jnnnatus of Linnaeus. It is, nevertheless, as far removed
from Caulerpa jnnnata above mentioned as from C. taxiformis.
It is closely and regularly pinnate, the pinnae oblong-obovate and
more or less falcate as in C. scalpelliformisy but (unlike those of
the latter) given off horizontally ; and the frond is besides truly
pinnate, not pinuatifid. For this plant I propose the following
character : —

Caulerpa asplenioides (nobis) ; frondibus pinnatis, pinnis oppositis,
subhorizoiitalibus, obovato-oblongis, falcatis, obtusis, abrupte api-
culatis.

Caulerpa taxifolia, var. crassifolia, Ag.

Fucus pinnatus, L. Mertens in litt.

Although my friend Agardh has in his description of C. taxi-
folia quoted Turner's figure of Fucus pinnatus as a representation
of his variety crassifolia, I cannot help assuming that he included
our present plant also, for under Caulerpa scalpelliformis he re-
marks, " Simillima Caulerpae taxifoliae, var. crassifoliae, sed di-
stincta fronde magis conflucnte, potiusque pinnatifida quam pin-

Dr. R. K. Greville on some neiv species of Caulerpa. 3

nata, plnnis obtusis, crassis." I may add in conclusion that the
stems and branches of C. asplenioides are comparatively tough a,nd
opake, and bear no resemblance to those of C. pinnata, which
Turner has so graphically compared to battered plants of Chara
flexilis.

In order to assist in confirming my views regarding these spe-
cies, I refer to the illustrations on Plate I., viz. —

Caulerpa taxifolia. Fig. 1 . A portion of the frond, natural size. Fig. 2. A

portion magnified.
Caulerpa asplenioides. Fig. 1. A portion of the frond, natural size.

Fig. 2. A pair of the pinnae magnified.

Caulerpa laxa (nob.) ; frondibus simplicibus, ramentis lineari-clavatis

apice rotundatis undique laxe imbricatis.
Hob. in mari Peninsulse Indise Orieutalis ; Wight.

This species is allied to Caulerpa clavifera, but is altogether a
more slender plant. It has, indeed, a moss-like habit, at least
after having been dried, quite unlike C. clavifera, with authentic
specimens of which I have compared it ; and still more unlike
Fucus Lamourouxii and Fucus uvifer of Turner, which are consi-
dered as varieties of that species by Agardh. The ramuli vary
considerably in different individuals with regard to their length
and in the degree in which they are thickened upwards ; but
they are always gradually clavate and rounded at the extremity ;
a double character which at once separates it from Caulerpa Se-
lago and its allies, including a beautiful new species {C.furci-
folia, Harv.) collected in New Zealand by Dr. Sinclair, and pre-
sented to me by my friend Mr. WiUiam Gourlie.
Plate II. fig. 1. Caulerpa lam, natural size. Fig. 2. Ramuli magnified.

Caulerpa fissidentoides (nob.); frondibus compacte pinnato-pecti-
natis; pinnis adscendentibus, linearibus, obtusis, apiculatis, op-
positis.

Hab. in mari Peninsulee Indise Orieutalis ; Wight.

It is with very considerable hesitation that I venture to sepa-
rate this plant from Caulerpa plumaris. and I confess that I am
unable to define it satisfactorily. At the same time the habit is
very different, closely resembling that of a gigantic Fissidens. It
is more rigid and less slender in all its parts than C. plumaris,
the pinnse shorter and much less capillary, and although given
off horizontally as in that plant, they immediately assume a more
upward direction. The rachis too (if I maybe allowed the term
for convenience sake) is relatively broader, so that the pinnae
are often not more than equal to twice or thrice the width of
that part. I am not disposed, however, to lay much stress upon
the length of the pinnae, because this character is extremely va-

1*

4 Mr. W. Clark on the Genus Tnincatella.

viable. In specimens of C. plumaris from the West Indies com-
municated by Agardh and Mertens, the piunse are very nearly
twice as long as in other specimens from the East Indies and the
Cape of Good Hope ; and we must not forget that their extreme
length (nearly 1 inch) forms the only specific difference of Cau-
lerpa longifolia, an Australian species. With regard to the pinnae
of these perplexing forms I may further add, that, in not being
attenuated at the base, they are completely separated from Cau-
lerpa taxifulia.

Plate II. fig. I. C.fissidentoides, natural size. Fig. 2. A portion of the
frond magnified.

II. — On the Genus Truncatella. By William Clark, Esq.
To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Gentlemen, Exmouth, June 8, 1853.

Mr. Wm. Thompson of Weymouth has this day favoured me
with some lively examples of the rare Truncatella Montagui in
its adult and young states, that is, before and after the truncature
of the apex, and also others of the still rarer Rissoa littorea of
authors ; these, though sent by post in moistened weed, which
however was quite dry when received, on being put into sea water
immediately deployed the organs. The first has been described
by the Rev. R. T. Lowe, many years ago, in the 5th volume of
the ' Zoological Journal,' p. 303 ; and the R. littorea by the
learned authors of the 'British Mollusca' in the Appendix,
vol. iv. p. 265 ; still, as my account contains many new particulars,
and notes a difference of opinion in respect of the generic posi-
tion of R. littorea, I have thought it would be agreeable to some
of your readers to have an accessorial description of these rare
creatures from a fresh though inferior hand, especially as the
present notes exhibit a comparative view of both animals, which
were examined for two days in the same vase under very favour-
able circumstances. It is singular that these species, both un-
doubted Pectinibranchiata, should inhabit at high water level,
in company with Conovulus denticulatus and C. bidejitatus, both
Pulmonifera, and are, as Mr. Thompson has informed me, " deci-
dedly amphibious," being often found far above that limit ; but
I apprehend not more so than many of the minuter Littorince,
particularly L. nerituidcs, which are attached to rocks for long
periods, perhaps during their whole existence, above the highest
tides and even beyond the reach of the spray, living apparently on
the tloatiug saline moisture. It would aj)pe;ir then that the two

Mr. W, Clark on the Genus Truncatella. 5

respiratory systems are in respect of these animals on the limits
of their respective boundaries^ and form the transitions from one
to the other. Both the Pectinibranchiates escaped from the water
as quickly or quicker than the Pulmonifera, but all the former,
whether littoral or from deep water, have the same propensity ;
therefore this fact is of little value ; yet, when strictly confined,
the Truncatellce continued lively for two days, whilst the Cono-
vuli became torpid in twelve hours : perhaps we may conclude
that these littoral Pectinibranchiata and the suh-littoral Pulmo-
nifera are to a certain extent amphibious. All these species were
taken mixed together in an estuary at Portland by Mr. Thomp-
son, who states that they are very rare and local.

Truncatella Montagui, Lowe.
Ti'uncatella Montagui, Brit. Moll.

Animal, when adult, occupying a yellow or whitish subcylin-
drical shell of four flattish volutions deeply divided, and fur-
nished with close- set somewhat irregular costellse; when young,
before the apex is truncated, of 6-8 smoother and more taper
gyrations ; the peristome in the completed shell is entire, having
the outer lip blunt and a little reflexed ; with respect to colour,
it is of the palest yellowish white, aspersed with very minute
flake-white points, particularly the foot, with a patch of pink on
the neck caused by the colour of the buccal corneous plates
showing through the pellucidity of the tissue. The mantle is
plain and even with the shell, but rather tumid at the margin : I
did not observe much approach to the mantellar collar of the
Helices. The I'ostrum is ridged or annulated, long, very broad,
flat, emarginate at the end, forming on each side a curved com-
pressed auricle, and cloven underneath vertically and slightly
crosially ; buccal apparatus reddish pink ; the tongue at its deeply
seated terminus displays a pair of white jaws ; it can be seen
through the oesophagus, and is accompanied on each side by a
linear streamer floating loose posteally. I am not certain whether
these narrow tape-like additions proceed from the buccal mem-
brane or tongue, — I think the latter, — or they may possibly be
salivai-y glands.

The branchial plume is single, of an elongated kidney-shaped
figure, and has the usual constriction or sinus at the end nearest
to the heart ; it can be detected with high powers in sunlight,
through the body volution of pale, clear, thin shells ; all the rest
of the organs, including the single pale brown ganglion on each
side the oesophageal collar on its upper sin:face, may be easily
seen through the hyaline tissue of the neck and head. The neck
and rostrum from its corrugations can be protruded to an extra-

6 Mr. W. Clark on the Genus Truncatella.

ordinary extent beyond the aperture ; the head far exceeds the
tentacula m length ; these are short, flat, broad, subtriangular,
and diverge greatly, scarcely forming an angle of 25° ; the eyes
are large and black, and have white prominent pupils, which
visibly dilate and contract. I have never observed such in any
moUusk, though similar ones may have escaped notice ; they
are placed a little nearer to the base than the middle of their
lower half, not on pedicles, but quite flat on the centre of
subsemicircular expansions of the outer sides of the tentacula,
with an external tendency. Foot thick, steep, oval, very little ex-
tended, and on the march maintaining posteally and anteally the
oval contour, with a vermicular motion, like an advance of one
half to the other ; this action gives an apparent crease simulating
an incised transverse line, but on the step being completed the
foot becomes entire ; it carries very posteally on a plain upper
lobe, without an appendage of any sort, a narrow, irregularly
oval, light yellow corneous operculum, rounded at the outer mar-
gin and basally, straighter next the columellar side, and con-
tracted at the upper angle ; the nucleus of the spire is at the
base, with a single turn, which, though indistinct, is in certain
lights, with good glasses, quite visible ; its surface is coarse and
corrugated, and marked with rough, somewhat oblique, not
equidistant striae or ridges. The rostrum is medially longitu-
dinally finely grooved, which character extends through the
neck as far as can be seen, probably as a guide channel to the
branchial leaf. The neck, with this exception, is plain. The
animal is not shy, but does not creep with much rapidity ; its
progression is a modification of the littorinidan vermicular cha-
racter. That Truncatella is a littorinidan genus admits of no
doubt ; the very paucispiral operculum, pair of jaws, and single
branchial plume sufficiently attest this determination; its posi-
tion is of course closely connected with Rissoa.

Truncatella littorea, Delia Chiaje.

Truncatella littorina, Philippi, Moll. Sicilise.
Rissoa et Assiminia littorea, nonnuU.

Animal inhabiting a minute pale yellow shell, not y^th of an
inch high, or in transverse measure, of four rather tumid volu-
tions, the first three of small areas, the body being more than
|ths of the bulk of the whole ; under powerful lenses in some
specimens the rudiments of the longitudinal costellse or striae of
Truncatella Montagui are visible, an important corroborative cha-
racter ; the peristome is complete, but sharp-edged. The animal
is of the jmlcst yellowish white, sprinkled with excessively mi-
nute flake-white points, particularly on the sole of the foot, with

Mr. W. Clark on the Genus Truncatella. 7

the slightest tinge of brown on the neck, the effect of that colour
in the buccal plates declaring itself through the membranes.
Mantle plain and thickened at the margin. Eostrum annulated,
but not so long in proportion as in its congener, broad, flat,
emarginate at the extremity, forming on the right and left a
flattish arcuated lobe ; beneath, vertically and slightly crosially
cloven, having the usual corneous buccal plates, tongue, and pair
of white jaws. Tentacula very short, broad, flat, rounded at the
end, divergent, both in quietude and on the march to almost
right angles, with large eyes and dilatable white pupils as in the
preceding species, placed not positively at their terminations,
but on the centre of the membrane, at some distance from the
extreme points : this was particularly remarked ; but the very
powerful lens used would give them that appearance, which of
course would not be so apparent when viewed by a common
glass ; though, nearer the extremity of the tentacula, the cha^
racters are precisely those of T. Montagui, and a similar white
pupil is a singular coincidence. The neck, as in its congener,
has the same longitudinal groove or canaliferous lines running
medially through the rostrum and neck to the branchial leaf, and
is doubtless an aqueduct. The neck and rostrum in quietude
appear short ; they are so in T. Montagui, but can in like man-
ner be greatly extended, though not proportionately so much ;
for these reasons the branchial streamlets and nervous ganglions
were not seen : but I distinctly observed, through the tenuity of
the shell, the kidney-shaped respiratory apparatus with the con-
striction at the end nearest to the heart, and cleai-ly detected
the fine blood-vessels of the reniform loop ranged in transverse
order. The only difference observable in the two species is, that
in this, the leaf appears of a shorter or more oval contour, more
compact, and with a less deep constriction ; the neck and rostrum
have no additions beyond the groove and annulations. Foot
thick, having a more elongated oval shape than in its congener,
and, as in it, on the march is rounded in front and behind ;
it simulates the same transverse crease or line on the sole,
and has a like character of progression. There is a simple,
almost terminal, but decided operculigerous lobe that bears a
light corneous suboval operculum, which in all points, except
being of lighter colour and broader oval, is identical with that
organ in the preceding species to which I refer ; indeed so great
is the similarity of the two animals, that I might by a reference
have condensed the greater part of this account ; but as these
notes are decidedly comparative of two particular creatures, I
have, for impression, given them in extenso. The animal is free,
but deliberate on the march, and carries its shell very upright,
at near an angle of 75"-80° from the horizon.

8 Mr. W. Clark on the Genus Truucatella.

It will be seen that this account is essentially the same as the
one in the ' British MoUusca/ except that the learned authors
have proposed to deposit it in Assiminia. I think its generic
position is with Truncatella. A comparison of the two species will
show that they are not only identical in the principal characters,
but almost all the minutise are congruous. Indeed I may say,
that these gentlemen differ little more from me than in the name,
* Assiminia,' which I would gladly accept for Truncatella for the
reasons below, if such a change in nomenclature were not for-
bidden by strict conventional laws. As far as I can learn, not
having seen the animal of A. Graijana, the genus Assiminia
scarcely varies, if at all, from Truncatella ; at least the generic
characters given in the ' British Mollusca ' are absolutely those
of that genus, except some difference in the position of the eyes,
which I shall not be surprised to find turns out greater in terms
than in reality.

I wish some naturalist would send me here some live examples
of A. Grayana ; they inhabit the Greenwich and other eastern
marshes about London : if sent by post the same evening when
taken, in a small, strong, wooden, turnedhon. of the size of half-a-
crown, with a little weed or dry moss only slightly moistened in
the water of their habitat, they would probably arrive sufficiently
lively for examination. Even the shells, if with the opercula,
would enable me to give a qualified opinion on their position.

The generic title of Truncatella is objectionable, as being in
this case too distinctive, and therefore only strictly applicable to
Truncatella Montayui, whilst two, if not three, of our indigena,
T. littorea, T. Grayana ?, and T. nifidissima ?, are never truncate
at the apex ; still, this appellation has been so long established,
that it is better to continue it than add new names to science : —
the latter reaiarks are M. Philippi's sentiments. We have here
a striking illustration of the value of conchological made genera,
as, in consequence, three species of one genus have received as
many generic titles, from their shells exhibiting a subcylindrical,
a conical, and a discoid form (if the Skenea? nitidissima of authors
is the T. atomies'? of Philippi, as is probably the case).

I see no reason to doubt M. Philippi's Truncatella littorina
(Moll. Sicil. vol. ii. p. 133. tab, 24. fig. 2) being our present spe-
cies ; the description and figure entirely accord.

It is stated by me in a former paper in the ' Annals ' that this
is an apocryphal British species ; — the refutation is now suffi-
ciently complete.

I am. Gentlemen,

Your most obedient servant,

AViLLiAM Clark.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Operculum of the Genus Diplommatina. 9

III. — On the Operculum of the Genus Diplommatina.
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Gentlemen,

If Mr. Benson, before writing his observations on this genus
which appeared in the preceding Number of the ' Annals '
(vol. xi. p. 433), had taken the trouble to come and examine the
specimens of Diplommatina in the British Museum on which Dr.
Pfeiffer and I had founded our observations, he would have
found that there was not the slightest ground for any of the
arguments which he has used to induce naturalists to believe
that the opercula described as belonging to the genus could have
been accidentally placed in the shell, and thus excuse the imper-
fection which occurs in his and Capt. Button's description of the
animal ; and further, he could never have made the extraordinary
suggestion that the opercula belonging to Diplommatina " were
adventitious," and might be " assignable to the young Alycceus
strangulatus," for the opercula of the two genera are most un-
like in structure and colour, and that of the latter genus is at
least five times as large as the largest species of the former.

The opercula of the three species of Diplommatina costulata
in the Museum are each attached to the dry remains of the ani-
mal ; two of the animals are still in the shell, and the third was
extracted from the shell for the purpose of more accurate exa-
mination.

It is easy to understand, when we consider the minuteness of
the operculum, its small size compared with that of the mouth
of the shell, and its transparency, how it may be overlooked,
especially when it is sought for in the curious manner mentioned
by Capt. Hutton. I have a strong suspicion that if Mr. Benson's
specimens were more carefully examined, the operculum would be
discovered, unless the animal has been eaten out of the shell
by insects.

The operculum of Acme fusca, so common in many parts of
England, which is of about the same size but darker, was over-
looked by many malacologists, and has been denied after it was
described by others, as is the case with that of Diplommatina.

I may observe, merely to try to clear away certain theoi'ies
which continue to cling about malacology, that I cannot consider
" the existence of the tooth-like plait on the columella " of any
force as " militating against the theory of an operculum " in this
genus, for we now well know that Pyramidella, Odostomia and

10 Mr. T. Nuttall on a nevi species of Rhododendron.

Act(Bon, and sundry other genera which have tooth-like plaits on
the columella, have opercula.

Secondly, Mr. Benson must excuse me if I suspect he has
mistaken some adventitious membrane for an epiphragm, for I
have never seen a true epiphragm which extended " even over
the reflected portion on the pai-ietes " of the mouth ; indeed such
an extension is inconsistent with the manner in which the part
is deposited.

June 1, 1853.

IV. — Description of a neio species of Rhododendron from Bootan,
in India. By Thomas Nuttall, Esq.

Rhododendron Kendrickii.

Frutex ramosus ; foliis oblongo-lanceolatis, acuminatis, glabris, con-
coloribiis, margine leviter midulatis, junioribus pubescentibus ; co-
rymbis multifloris ; laciniis calycinis niinutis, acuminatis ; (stami-
nibus 1 ?) filamentis glabris ; capsulis arcuatis, glabris, 6-lociila-
ribus ; semiiiibus lanceolatis, utrinque acutis.

Hab. Mouutaius of Bootan (Mr. Booth). About 7000 feet eleva-
tion, accompauying R. Edgworthii, and found lower down than
R. Hookeri and R. FaJconeri, but above R. serotitmm.

This fine species, having some affinity with jR. arboreum, forms
lofty thickets (after the manner of R. ponticum), through which
the traveller finds dark and difficult paths. The stem attains
the diameter of 7 or 8 inches, with a smooth pale bark. The
leaves, 4 to 6 inches long, are scarcely more than an inch wide,
elegantly waved on the margin in small plaits, so as to appear
almost crenate, disposed partly in whorls, equally green and
smooth on both surfaces when adult, the petiole less than half
an inch in length ; the young leaves and stems, in young plants,
more or less clothed with reddish glutinous hairs; beneath,
shining, with the pubescence chiefly confined to the midrib.
Flower-cone oval, the scales smooth, rounded and obtuse ; inner-
most scales or bracts silky. Corymb 10- to 12-flowered. Flowers
large, deep red. Stamens 10 ? smooth. Stigma 5-lobed. Calyx
small, as in R. arboreum, the segments bi'oad, ovate, acuminate.
Capsule 1 to 1:^ inch long, incurved, 6-celled, smooth and dark
brown. Seeds small, darkish brown, lanceolate, oblique, acute
at both extremities.

It grows promiscuously with the very hardy Pintis excelsa, and
with several kinds of undescribed oaks. Found to be hardy in
the climate of England. Fresh flowers have not yet been seen,

Jiin..i- J/ac/JutJ/i.^/ S '' Vol 1? /'////

On a new Arrangement of Phanerogamous Plants. 1 1

but from the appearance of dried fragments they seem to be of a
deep red.

According to the herbarium of my friend Sir William Hooker,
it appears that this species was observed in Bootan by the late
Mr. Griffith. The specimens referred to are branches without
flowers or fruit.

Dedicated to the memory of my much-revered friend and
botanist, the late Dr. Kendrick of Warrington.

V. — On Relative Position ; including a new Arrangement of
Phanerogamous Plants. By B. Clarke, F.L.S. &c.

[With a Plate.]

Part IV.

On Dorsal Placentation.

The instances in which this variation from usual placentation
takes place deserve particular attention as having a direct bearing
on affinities, the structure of the ovary, and the position of the
carpel when single ; but this involves a question relating to
the structure of the ovary of Nelumbium which requires to be
first more particularly noticed. The discovery that in this
genus the raphe of the anatropal ovule is turned away from the
adherent funiculus, has been the occasion of an extended in-
quiry into the structure of its remarkable ovaiy, and repeated
examinations in different stages of its development have led to
the conclusion that the carpels always stand with the ventral
suture outwards, that is, turned towards the stamens.

The cause of this singular departure from ordinary structure
is however difficult to explain, but seems owing to one of the
following circumstances : — 1. Either the real ovary is rudi-
mentary, consisting only of the disk in which the carpels are
immersed, and the carpels themselves belong each to a separate
flower (each rudimentary carpel producing from its base one
female consisting of a single carpel) ; or, 2. the ovary is apo-
carpous as generally understood and the carpels are turned out-
wards.

Tn support of the first hypothesis, it may be observed that the
disk in which the carpels of Nelumbium are immersed differs fi-om
such structures in other families in being continuous with the
stem, in consisting internally of irregular cavities separated by
thin walls, and in containing an abundance of spiral vessels. But
supposing that this were its structure^ it might be expected that
as each carpel belonged to a separate flower there would be some

12 Mr. B. Clarke on Relative Position;

variations in its position ; but this is not the case, as the carpels
have regularly the ventral suture turned outwards ; and this sug-
gests the idea that carpels (like leaves rcvolute in vernation) may
be formed by the margins of the carpellary leaves being turned,
and meeting outwards instead of inwards. May not stamens
also, being turned outwards or inwards, be analogous in some
cases to the vernation of leaves ? In Tormentilla officinalis I have
observed carpels among the stamens (stamens metamorphosed ?)
having the ventral suture appai'ently outwards, the tendency of
the anthers being also to open outwards. But as in Cerato-
phyllum and Pijjeromia the carpels are all posterior, the uni-
formity of the position of the carpel in Nelumbium forms only a
partial objection, and the former is probably the true solution of
the question.

A further argument in support of the hypothesis that in Ne-
lumbium the ovary has the ventral suture turned outwards, is de-
rived from the fact that in the Nymphal Alliance the plaeentation
is, as Mr. Brown has remarked, dorsal, variations even when
they do take place being only partial ; for supposing the carpel
to be so placed, Nelumbium agrees in this character also in the
adherent funiculus being always at the inner angle of the carpel
(PI. III. figs. 1, 2, 3 & 4). The occurrence of dorsal plaeentation
in other families allied more or less nearly also makes it probable
that this is the true structure of Nelumbium, and on this account
an especial notice of them may be the more interesting, passing
over those in which the ovules are numerous, viz. Orobanchaceaa
(in some genera only), Nymphfeacese, Butomacese, and possibly
Hydrocharidese.

1. Hydi-opeltis purpurea. Ovules two, pendulous, anatropal,
having the raphe turned away from the placenta, and attached
one above the other to the dorsum of the carpel*. (PI. III. fig. 6.)

2. Cabomba aquaticu. Ovules three, pendulous, anatropal,
having the raphe turned away from the placenta (occasionally
lateral ?), one attached to the ventral suture near the apex of the
carpel, and the two others to its sides midway between the dor-
sal and ventral sutures. These two ovules are attached to two
cord-like ribs which originate in the base of the cell, and are
continued upwards to the attachment of the third ovule. (PI. III.
fig. 7.)

3. Cei-atophj/llum demersum. Ovule single, pendulous from
the apex of the cell in consequence of the funiculus to the apex
of which it is attached being firmly adherent to the dorsum of
the carpel. This funiculus originates in the base of the carpel

* That the ovule is aiiatiopal is further shown by the embryo being nc.\t
the hihim.

inclvding a new Arrangement of Phanerogamous Plants. 13

as in Nelumbium, and is always more or less distinctly visible in
the early stages of the flower* (PI. III. fig. 5). From this cha-
racter the nearest affinity of Cei-atophyllum may be, as first sug-
gested by Dr. Asa Gray, with Nelumbium rather than with Pipe-
racese, which, from the position of its carpel, I formerly supposed
might be its true station. Its habit however is more that of
Cabomba, with which it agrees in the stamens being turned out-
wards instead of inwards, as in Hydropeltis ; it may also be re-
garded as having some analogy with Hydrocharidese in its ortho-
tropal ovule, exalbuminous seed and unisexual flowers, and pos-
sibly with Cryptocoryne in its many-leaved plumule, and it
further agrees with Hydropeltidese in its cellular leaves.

4. Chloranthus. The ovary of this genus agrees with that of
Ceratophijllum in always having the appearance of a funiculus
arising from its base which is constantly attached to the posterior
side. That the posterior is the dorsal side of the ovary is the most
probable, as the stigmatic tissue always descends on its anterior
side, having first obliquely crossed its thickened summit ; and
that this is the true structure of Chloranthus is placed almost
beyond doubt by the carpel in Piperomia and in Houttuynia
when single being always posterior. (See the figure of Chlo-
ranthus accompanying Part III.)

5. Arum maculatum. Ovules five or six ascending, always
attached to the posterior side of the carpel (its lower half) ;
stigma having its anterior surface only stigmatic as in Piperaceae,
the posterior being not unfrequently almost vertical and rounded
(PL III. fig. 8). Although it may not be considered as fully
demonstrated that in Arum the carpel is posterior, yet it is ob-
vious that it must be either always anterior or always posterior,
and as it is variable and more frequently posterior in Typhacese,
it is very improbable that it is always anterior in 9irum, and a
comparison also with Cryptocoryne may perhaps be adduced as a
further argument. In genera nearly allied to Arum the placen-
tation is however not dorsal, but the ovules being partly sutural
in Cabomba and entirely dorsal in Hydropeltis, shows that this
difference of placentation may take place in genera very nearly
allied, if not in the same genus, as in Mesembryanthemum.

Cryptocoryne. From Mr. Griffith's figures of C. ciliata

* The following circumstance seems also to show the placentation of Ce-
ratophyllum to be the same as that of Nelumbium. Having three immature
fruits of Ceratophyllum demersum, I allowed them to remain growing on
the plant to produce seeds. But some time afterwards having observed an
altered appearance in one of them, I found on examination that the ovary-
had entirely decayed away, leaving the ovule suspended fi-om the apex of a
fihform perfectly entire funiculus which was posterior, and both funiculus
and o\mle remained attached to the torus quite free from decay for two or
three davs afterwaids.

14 On a neiv Arrangement of Phanerogamous Plants.

(PI. III. fig. 10) it may be expected that this genus is another
instance among Aracete in which the placentation is dorsal, as
the fissure of the stigma is in two instances represented as
taking place toward the axis (Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xx. tab. 10).
Fissures occurring in the stigmas of single carpels are generally,
if not without exception, dorsal, and in Sparganium ramosum such
fissured stigmas are not unfrequent, the fissure being always
dorsal (PI. III. fig. 9), which is so far a reason for regarding the
5-7-celled ovary of Cryptocoryne as produced by the carpels of
as many separate flowers. As thus luiderstood all the carpels
are posterior having their placentation dorsal, and become ad-
herent, so as to form in appearance one polycarpous ovary ; and
although this may appear problematical, it would be difficult to
account for the structure of Cryptocoryne on the ordinary rules
of carpology, as Mr. Griffith alludes to other species in which
the carpels are more numerous, and adds that he should not be
surprised if species be found to exist with ovaria disposed in two
or more series, which then would nearly appi'oach Arum.

The ovaries of difierent flowers becoming confluent so as to
form a syncarpous mass is not without parallel, as in the mon-
strous ovaries of Matthiola incana it is a very common irregu-
larity that two ovaries, and also three standing in a row, form
only one cavity ; the confluence taking place at the dorsal suture,
or so near it as to be in each case intermediate between the two
placentre, from which it seems possible that this may take place
as a regular structure. And in Opercularia also adhesions take
place between the capsules constituting the small whorls of fruits
which remain permanent after complete dehiscence has taken
place.

While however dorsal placentation forms an important devia-
tion in the ^-ucture of ovaries, its value as a character in sepa-
rating near allies is but weak, Monodora among Anonacese being
a remarkable example of ovules deriving their attachment from
the whole of the inner surface of an ovary consisting of a single
carpel, and that in an Alliance which has otherwise ordinary
modes of placentation. But, on the contrary, those families
in which it occms may on that account prove to have a direct
affinity to each other ; and it most probably is, in common with
the posterior position of the carpel, and the raphe averse in pen-
dulous anatropal ovules, an Endogenous character, and shows an
approach (where it occurs) on the part of Exogens to Endogens.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IIL

Fig. \. The external appearance of a carpel of Nelumbium speciosum, show-
ing the ventral tuberosity which is always turned towards the
stamens.

Fig. 2. The same as seen laterally.

Fig. .S. A longitudinal section of it : a, the ventral tuberosity. The funi-

On the Phosphorescence of some Marine Invertehrata. 15

cuius is seen adherent to the opposite side, and the axis of the
style is seen inclining to the ventral tuberosity.
Fie, 4. The same more magnified, shovring the cellular somewhat circuitous
•'' canal which extends from a, the ventral tuberosity, to the cavity of

the ovarv ; the external and internal openings bemg closed only by
a thin layer of cellular tissue : the axis of the short style, together
with its tennination in the cavity of the carpel external to the
funiculus, and also the fibres of the funiculus, are here distinctly

Fid 5 An^ovkry of Ceratophyllum demersum in longitudinal section.
m 6. A carpel of Hydropeltis purpurea in longitudinal section : a, tne
^ ventral side which is turned towai-ds the axis of the polycarpous

Fia 7 A°cSl of Cabomba aquatica, the dorsum having been removed.
Two ovules are seen attached to the lateral fibres, which are con-
tinued upwards and meeting at the ventral suture become con-
tinuous; at this part the third ovule is seen attached.

Fig. 8. An ovary of Arum maculatum in longitudinal section : a, the ante-

Fia 9 An°ovarv "of Sparganium ramosum in which the dorsal portion of
^' ■ the stigma had become fissured; when dicarpous, which fre-
quently happens, the stigmatic surfaces of the two carpels are
turned towards each other.

Fig. 10. Cryptocoryne ciliata : a, the fissured stigma. (Oriffltn.;

Yl.— On the Phosphorescence of some Marine Invertehrata.
By M. A. De Quateefages*.

I. Historical review of the Subject.

1 Causes of phosphorescence.— It is well known that the
waters of the sea, in some latitudes and under certain cu-cum-
stances, are phosphorescent, producing a light more or less bril-
liant This remarkable phsenomenon has always attracted the
attention of travellers, and various have been the explanations
they have offered. Without going here into useless detail, we
will first mention those hypotheses which are now completely set
aside, before dwelling on better-founded opinions.

Ancient navigators seem to have indicated a resemblance be-
tween the hght produced on the surface of the water and that
which is due to atmospheric phsenomena, by designating the
former " meteors of the sea." Something of this idea is evident
even in the vrritings of learned men, who endeavoured to explain
this phosphorescence solely by physical or chemical causes. Ihus
Nollet could see in it only a simple modification of electrical
phjenomena. Bajon, in his memoirs on the History ot Cayenne,
regards this Hght as due to the electricity of the waves, deve-

* From the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, vol. liv. 3rd series, as in-
serted in Silliman's American Journal of Science for Mai-ch, Ibbd.

16 i\I. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

loped by the force of opposing currents or by the prows of ves-
sels. Other authors have attributed it to phosphoric fires, to
the burning of bubbles of hydrogen which rise to the surface to
explode, &c. The opinion published by Tingry is of a similar
nature. This philosopher regards the phosphorescence of the
sea as analogous to that which certain bodies, the diamond in
particular, present, after having been awhile exposed to the sun.
Without entirely setting aside the agency of animals, he attri-
butes the greater part of the phsenomenon to a sort of previous
imbibition of the sun's rays, which are thrown out again during
the night. He thus explains entirely by physical causes the
remarkable intensity of this phosphorescence in tropical seas*.

A more rational if not a more correct explanation, at least for
many cases, is that which attributes the phosphorescence of the
sea to the decomposition of fishes and other marine animals.
This opinion was adopted by Commerson in his manuscripts
which are deposited in the library of the Museum.

A passage very much to the point is quoted by Lesson from
one of his manuscripts t : " Phosphorescence is owing to a ge-
neral cause, that of the decomposition of animal substances, espe-
cially of whales and seals, which abound in oily matters." Bory
de St. Vincent, Oken, and others have adopted the same view.
There is certainly great appearance of probability in this expla-
nation; it is sustained by well-known facts, and sufficiently ac-
counts for certain circumstances of the phsenomenon. Still, in
many cases it is scarcely better founded than the preceding.
The same appears to have been the opinion of Newland, and of
those who like him have attributed phosphorescence to the
spawn of fishes.

But, since the beginning of the last century, careful observa-
tions have been made ; and various observers have found that a
great number of sea animals have the property of dii-ectly emit-
ting this light. Since 1805, Viviani, professor of natural history
at Genoa, has discovered in the neighbourhood of that city, and
described in a work on the subject, fourteen species of phospho-
rescent animals J.

]\Iany travellers have noticed the phosphorescent properties of
the Medusae. Spallanzani, by diiFusing in milk the mucus from
their bodies, rendered the liquid luminous §. Vianelli attributed

* De la phosphorescence des corps, et particulierement de celle des eaux
de la mer (Journal de Physique, t. xlvii.).

t Diet, des Sc. Nat., article Phosi)horescence.

X Phosphorescentia maris quatuordecim luceseentium animalculorum
novis spcciebus illustrata. Genua;, 1807.

§ Voyage en Sicilc.

some Marine Invertebrata. 17

the phosphorescence of the sea to a Nereis ; Shaw, to certain
flexible zoophytes, &c.

French naturalists have not been behind in this movement.
In 1764, Rigaut discovered and described in an unmistakeable
manner the Noctiluca of Suriray ; it is to them that he attributes
the phosphorescence of the British Channel and Atlantic Ocean.
The Abbe Dicqneniare, by researches in the harbour of Havre,
confirmed the first results, which, forgotten for a time, were again
corroborated by the labours of Suriray at the same locality. The
learned hydrographical engineer, M. de Tessan, rediscovered the
Noctilucre, or animals very similar, in the seas of the Cape of
Good Hope, at False Bay*. M. Rang mentions their presence
on the coast of Algiersf- More recently M. Verhaeghe has been
led by his investigations at OstendJ to the same conclusions as
Dicquemare and Suriray.

The assertion of Rigaut was manifestly exaggerated ; the Noc-
tilucre are not alone in producing this phBenomenon. The lumi-
nous properties of various Medusse have been established beyond
doubt by the testimony of Peron, Macartney, Tilesius, Banks,
Forskal, Humboldt, Ehrenberg, Rathke, &c. Peron and Le-
sueur, Humboldt, and others after them, have described with en-
thusiasm the magnificent spectacle presented by shoals of Pyro-
somaSj which in the dark look like streams of fused metal. Hen-
derson ascribed the light of the Gulf of Guinea principally to the
Scyllari and to Salpas§. Certain Acalephs, MoUusca, Crustacea,
Annelids, Rotatoria, Lumbrici, Turbellarise, Echinoderms, Zoo-
phytes and Infusoria have been successively pointed out as ca-
pable of phosphorescence ; and if we do not here go into more
detail on this point, it is because the subject has been so fully
treated by Ehrenberg. In the work which the illustrious Secre-
tary of the Berlin Academy has devoted to the phosphorescence
of the sea, he has enumerated 450 authors who have treated
more or less fully of the production of light by organized beings ;
and to this memoir we refer those readers who are curious to
understand thoroughly the history of the question ||. We annex
a table, cited almost entire from M. Van Beneden, in which are

* Comptes Rendus de 1' Academic des ScienceSj 1840. Rapport fait par
M. Arago.

t Cited from Gervais, by M. Vau Beneden.

X Report of M. Van Beneden on the memoir of Dr. Verliaeghe, entitled
" Recherches sur la cause de la phosphorescence de la mer dans les parages
d'Ostendc" (Bulletin de I'Academie Royale de Belgique, t. xiii. par. 2. p. 3.
1846).

§ Cited by M. Van Beneden.

II Das Leuchten des Meeres (Abhandl. der Konigl. Akademie der Wiss,
zu Berlin, 1834).

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. T'bZ. xii. 2

18 j\l. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

enumerated the various species of invertebrate animals whose
phosphorescence has been cstabUshed.

Insects.

Lampyris. — L. noctiUica, L. splendidula, L. itahca, L. ignita,
L. phosphorea, L. nitidula, L. hicida, L. hcmiptera, L. japonica.

Elater. — E. noctihicns, E. ignitus, E. phosphoreus, E. 1am-
padion, E. retrospiciens, E. lucidulus, E. lucernula^ E. speculator,
E. janus, E. pyrophauus, E. luminosus, E. lucens, E. extinctus,
E. cucujus, E. lucifer.

BuPHESTis. — B. ocellata.

Chiroscelis. — C. bifenestrata.

ScARAB.EUs. — S. phosphoricus.

Pausus. — P. sphserocerus.

FuLGOR. — F. laternaria, F. serrata, F. pyrrhorhynohus, F. can-
delaria.

Pyralis. — P. minor.

AcHiTA. — A. gryllotalpa ?

Myriapoda.
ScoLOPENDRA. — S. clcctrica, S. phosphorea, S. morsitans.

JULUS.

Crustacea.

Carcinium. — C. opalinum.
Erythrocephalits. — E. macrophthalmus.
ScYLLARUs. — Species not determined.
Gammarus. — G. pulcx.
Cyclops. — C. brcvicornis.
Oniscus. — O. fulgens.

Annelida.

Nereis. — N. mucronata, N. noctiluca, N. phpsphorans.

Syllis. — S. fulgurans.

PnoTOCHARis. — P. cirrhigera.

PoLYNOE. — p. fulgurans.

Cii^topterus. — C. pergamentaeeus.

LuMBRicus. — L. phosphorcus.

Planaria. — P. retusa.

MOLLUSCA.

Helix. — H. noctiluca.

Pholas. — P. dactylus.

Pyrosoma. — P. atlanticum, P. giganteum.

Phallusia. — P. intcstinalis.

Salpa. — S. zonaria, S. Tilesii.

some Marine Invertebrata. 19

ECHINODERMATA.
ASTERIAS ?

Ophiura.~0. telactes, 0. phosphorea.

ACALEPHA.

Pelagia.— P. phosphorea, P. uoctiluca. . , .

Oceania.— 0. Blumenbachii, 0. pileata, 0. hemisphaenca
(Thaumantias), 0. lenticula, 0. microscopica, O. scuitillans.
Beroe.— B. fulgens, B. rufescens.
Cydippe. — C. pileus.
Mnemia. — M. norvegica.

Polypi.
Pennatula.— P. phosphorea, P. grisea, P. rubra, P. argentea.
Veretillum ?
gorgonia ?
Sertularia ?
Alcyonia?

Infusoria.

Ceratium.— C. tripos, C. fusas.

Peridinium.— P. Michaehs, P. acmiimatum, P. turca.

Prorocentrum. — p. micans.

Stentor ?

Synch^ta. — S. baltica.

NocTiLtJCA. — N. miharis.

We beheve that the above Ust is far from complete, at least aa
rea-ards marine animals. Om- own observations enable us to add
at least two species of Pohj7ioe, one species of Sylhs, some spe-
cies of allied genera, and one or two of Ojihiura^.

* In the above list of phosphorescent Crustacea, Oniscus fulcjens is a
Sa««/«ri«a; and the Carcinium probably belongs to the same genus ^see
Silliman's Journ. [2] ix. 133). Regulus, Euphausia, and Cypridina ^e
oheTphosphoreseent genera, as observed by the ^vnter; and also I^.c//6r
according to Thompson (Zool. Researches, p. 58), and Thysanopoda,m^'.
Cypridh^ is evidently the genus of the species referred to by Revi le as
obLrved to be phosphorescent on a voyage to India Mem. de 1 Acad, des
Sci Savans Etrangers, iii. 267, and Thompson's Zool. Res. p. 41).

Scyllarus must be incorrectly added to the hst, as thei-e are no oceanic
snecies of the genus. The error is moreover evident from the fact that the
reference of the phosphorescent Crustacea to this genus was made before
the species were well understood. Captain Tuckey who states the facts, in
his Voyage to the Congo, has the words, " with litt^^. Crustaceous anima s
onhe^Scyllaras genus%ttached to them [S«?/,«]),"-evidently mconsist-
ent with the genus Scyllarus, which includes large species of vei-y different
habHs The term was probably meant for Sqmlla aui rtie species may
have been Schizopods of the family Euphausida-.— J. D. Uana.

20 M. de Quatvefages on the Phosphorescence of

II. On the mode of producing light by Marine Invertebrata.

Almost all researches undertakeu to discover the manner of
producmg light in animals, have been made on insects, especially
the Lampyri and Elaters. Spallanzani, Burmeister, but above
all, Macaire*, have published results apparently decisive. These
experiments undertaken and varied by Matteuccit, with all the
precautions furnished by experimental science at the present day,
leave, we think, no room for doubt. In the insect which he ex-
amined, the light was produced by an actual slow combustion
analogous to that of phosphorus exposed to the air. This light
is extinguished in a vacuum and in the irrespirable gases ; it re-
appears by contact with atmospheric air; it is sensibly brightened
in p>u'e oxygen ; it continues in animals after they are dead, or
even cut to pieces. The particular siibstance from which it ema-
nates may be isolated, and may leave upon the fingers or the
dissecting instrument a luminous streak whicli disappears only
on drying; a little dampness even, in certain cases, is sufficient
to restore the phosphorescence ; finally, the production of this
light is accompanied in the living animal, as well as in its dead
carcass, by the escape of carbonic acid. Everything concurs then
to show that the phosphorescence of insects, and probably of all
aerial animals, is owing to a peculiar secretion, whose substance
combining slowly with oxygen produces light.

But can this explanation of phosphorescence be applied to in-
vertebrated animals living in water ? Such questions imme-
diately arise, but yet have been overlooked by most naturalists.
The greater part of the observers from whose works wc have
cited have been satisfied with knowing that animals produced
the phosphorescence of the sea ; some have gone a little farther
and have attributed this ph?enomenon to the secretion of a lumi-
nous liquid. This opinion appears generally adopted, and traces
of it may be seen even in the writings of some naturalists who
have not formally stated it. The experiments of Spallanzani
and the observations of many travellers seem fully to confirm
this view, which is evidently correct in some eases. Duges, for
instance, has decidedly adopted it, and has implied a resemblance
between the phosphorescence of the Medus?e and Annelids, &c.,
and that of the Elaters and LampyridesJ.

A veiy different opinion has been set forth by M. Gilbert, an
officer of the corps of naval engineers, who, without being aware
of the investigations of others on this subject, had seen the Noc-
tilucce, and describes them rather coarsely, but in a manner easily

* Journal de Physique, t. xciii.

t Le?on sur les phenotn^nes ph3'siques des corps vivants, 8^ lecon.

X Traite de Physiologie comparee, t. ii. Montpellier, 1838.

some Marine Invertebrata. 21

recognised. He explains the production of light in these animals
by the development of electricity from the surface of their bodies,
a development brought out by the action of the waves*. This
explanation is evidently untenable even in a merely physical
point of view.

Lesson appears to us one of the first, if not the first, who has
seen in phosphorescence a phsenomenon distinct from the physico-
chemical actions which take place in our laboratories, but with-
out explaining himself very fully on this subject. This naturalist
regards phosphorescence as due to Crustacea belonging to dif-
ferent genera ; he allows that the seat of this light, emitted on
irritation or at the time of procreation, resides in glands placed
in a variable number on the sides of the thorax. He adds : —
" This light should be regarded as a fact established by investi-
gation, as a modification of the laws of life, and as different from
the simple sparkling light resulting from the decomposition of
animal substancesf."

Carus, losing sight of the philosophy which prevails in his
works, adopts the opinion that this phfenoraenon is a property of
primary animal matter, which is nothing else than the nervous
substance, and which representing the solar element in the ani-
mal, necessarily appears luminous to the planetary element J.
He, then, as well as Oken, from whom he cites the passage,
"regards the jelly of Zoophytes, Medusas, &c., as the nervous
substance in its lowest stage, from which the other substances
embraced within it have not been isolated."

M. Berard, cited by Duges§, regards the phosphorescence of
animals as due to a kind of luminous imbibition, or purely vital
effect, analogous to those which result in different bodies from
the action of heat, electricity, light, &c.

Dr. Coldstream published in Todd's ' Encyclopsedia^ a very
interesting article on phosphorescence ||. After having examined
the natvu'e of animal light, the natural or artificial circumstances
which influence its appearance or intensity, the points of body in
different animals from which it is produced, he sums up all that
we have learned from different authors of the phosphorescent
organs, and the different theories proposed to explain these phse-
uomena. We quote from this English author some passages
from this part of his work.

According to Beccaria, Meyen, &c., the phosphorescence of

* Annales maritimes, 1817.

t Diet, des Sc. Natur., 1826, article Phosphorescence.
X Traite elementaire d'Anatomie eomparee, traduit par Jourdan, t. i.
§ Traite de Physiologic eomparee, t. ii.

II The Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology, Part xxii. article Animal
Luminousness. 1841.

23 M. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

animals is owing to what they absorb from the rays of the sun,
which they throw out again in the dark.

Spallanzani regards phosphorescence as a kind of combustion
sustained by tlie oxygen of the air.

According to BrugnatelH, the light is taken in with the food,
and disengaged by particular organs.

Macaire considers the phosphorescent matter as composed of
pliosphorus and albumen. The variations of intensity apparent
in the light arise more or less from the coagulation of the albu-
men, a coagulation whicli is increased or diminished at the will
of the animal, and permits a more or less rapid combustion.

Tiedemann, Darwin, H. Davy, Heinrich, Treviranus, Bur-
meister, &c., believe in the secretion of a liquid containing phos-
phorus, and in the combustion owing to the air introduced by
respiration.

Macartney and Todd regard phosphorescence as due to the
nervous fluid concentrated and modified by certain organs, so as
to appear under the form of light.

The author next proposes his own theory founded on a sort of
fusion bctAveen the two preceding. With Macartney, he admits
that phosphorescence is due to an imponderable agent, and com-
pares it to the production of electricity by certain fishes. But
considering the well-known fact of the luminous traces that cer-
tain animals leave behind them, he supposes that phosphorus
or an analogous substance may very well enter into the compo-
sition of tlie organs which produce the light.

It is plain that Dr. Coldstream, in common with all the authors
whom we have cited, believed that phosphorescence should be
attributed to but one cause.

This error M. Becqucrel* has avoided. After having shown
that in the Lampyris and other insects phosphorescence is the re-
sult of a chemical action at the control of the animal, IM. Becquerel
relates the obsevvaticns of Ehreuberg, and admits with him that
in certain inferior animals the production of light is owing to
a disengagement of electricity. IMoreover, he recalls the ob-
servations of MM. Quoy and Gaimai'd, who had seen under the
equator, near the island of Rawak, small zoophytes, which while
swimming rapidly, drew after them luminous trains. Finally,
M. Becquerel, resting on this fact, and on his own observations
made in company with M. Breschet, at Venice, in the waters of
the Brcnta, allows that the phos])horescence of the sea may be
owing to an organic substance intimately combined or mingled
with tlie water, analogous to that which covers the herring and
other fish when they are phosphorescent.

"^ Traitc de Physique comparee, dans ses rapports avec la Chimie et les
Sciences naturelles, t. ii., 1844.

some Marine Invertebrata. 33

Dr. Coldstream seems not to have known of two memoirs
which appeared in Germany, about the same time, and which we
have reserved for the close of this history, on account of their
peculiar interest.

The first of these works is that of M. Ehrenberg*, and it is in-
contestably the most complete which has been published on this
subject. To all the facts made known by his predecessors, the
author adds the result of his own'^ investigations in many seas.
At Alexandria he established beyond doubt the fact that the
Spongodium vermiculare, as also other Algae regarded as phos-
phorescent, owe this appearance only to the luminous animal-
cules adhering to their surface. He describes a new species of
Polynoe (P. fulgurans) found by him in the Baltic, that appa-
rently plays an important part in the phosphorescence of that
sea, which also owes its luminous properties to different infu-
soria. At Christiana and at Heligoland, Ehrenberg observed this
phEenomenou in many species of Meduste; at the last locality
he met with the Noctiluca miliaris, which he calls Mammmia.
Ehrenberg describes also the very remarkable mode of phospho-
rescence which appeared in a Nereid, the Photocharis cirrhigera.
In that Annelid, the light proceeds from two thick and fleshy
cirri belonging to the dorsal branch of the feet. The author
observed sparks, at first isolated, invade the cirri by degrees,
until they became luminous in their whole extent ; then the
phosphorescence spread through the whole back, until the animal
looked like a thread of burning sulphur. The mucus secreted
by the Photocharis left on the fingers a luminous trace. In the
Polynoe fulgurans, Ehrenberg regards two large rough bodies,
resembling ovaries, as charged with producing the light. In the
Cydippe pileus and in the Oceania pileata, he found that the
light starts from the centre, that is, in the neighbourhood of the
reproducing organs. In the Oceania hemispihcerica, a species
whose diameter is more than an inch, Ehrenberg saw the sparks
from a chaplet around the border ; these correspond to the large
cirri or to the organs alternating with them.

Ehrenberg sums up in the following manner the important
results of his labours : —

1st. The phosphorescence of the sea appears to be owing
solely to organized beings.

3nd. A very great number of organic and inorganic bodies
shine in the water and out of the water in different ways.

3rd. There is also a light from organized bodies, which is
probably owing to vital action.

4th. The active organic light shows itself frequently under
the form of a simple flash, repeated from time to time, sponta-
* hoc. cit.

34 M. cle Quatvefages on the Phosphorescence of

neous or provoked. Often also it appears under tlie form of
repeated sparks, following each other in quick succession, under
the influence of the will, and very similar to electric sparks.
Often, but not always, there is formed by this jjvoduction of
sparks, a mucilaginous humour, gelatinous or aqueous, which is
diffused around in great abundance, and is evidently placed in a
secondary or passive state of phosphorescence, which continues
a long time without requiring any new influence from the organic
being, and even lasts after that has been divided or destroyed.

A light which to the naked eye appears uniform and tranquil,
shows itself scintillating under the microscope.

5th. The viscous humour which envelopes and penetrates the
ovaries seems to be especially susceptible of acquiring this com-
municated light, which is constantly reinforced by friction, and
reappears even when it seems to have ceased.

May not the light emitted by living flshes, by Actinias, and
by many other animals covered with mucosity, be sometimes
merely communicated ?

6th. The relations which exist between the production of light
and the sexual functions are evident in the Coleoptera, although
the connexion of the small luminous sacs with the reproductive
organs may remain concealed. With n)any marine hermajihro-
dite animals, phosphorescence appears to be a means of defence
and protection, analogous to those of another kind which exist
in the Brachinus crepitans, the cuttle-fish, the frog, or to the
discharges of the torpedo. Whatever it may be, the air and the
sea have their phosphorescence.

7th. As yet it is only among the xlnnelids, and of them only
in the Photocharis, that a peculiar phos])horescent organ has
been discovered ; it is external, tufted, frequently giving out
light, similar to a thick cirrus, showing a largely cellular struc-
ture, and formed within of a mucilaginous substance. The ex-
panded base of the marginal cirri in the Thaumantias (Acalephs)
may be regarded as phosphorescent organs, of an unusual kind.
The ovaries are more probably luminous, passively and in a
secondary manner, although their minuteness and transparency
have prevented our ascertaining whether the organs of phospho-
rescence are placed near them, as for instance in the Polynoe
and Pyrosoma.

8th. The production of light is evidently a vital act very simi-
lar to the development of electricity, an act which being com-
pletely individual, becomes more feeble and ceas?s on too fre-
quent repetition, which reappears after a shoit interval of repose,
to the production of which absolute integrity of the organism is
not necessary, but which sometimes manifests direct connexions
only with the nervous system.

scnne Marine Inverfebrata, 25

The memoir of Meyeii is less extended, but it contains some
important facts*. The author admits three kinds of phospho-
rescence : — 1 . The phsenomenon is owing to a mucosity diffused
in water. In that case the water seen in the day has a imiform
tint of bluish white. It is often observed in tropical ports, but
rarely out on the open sea. This mode of phosphorescence may-
be produced artificially by washing or by crushing certain Mol-
hisks and Acalephs either in sea-water or in fresh. 3. Phospho-
rescence results from the presence of certain living animals, en-
dowed with a luminous mucus. This continues even after the
death of the animal ; it arises from a superficial oxidation of the
mucous coating, and it can be reproduced after it seems extinct
by passing the finger over the animal. The animals which owe
their luminous property to a secretion are, according to the
author, Infusoria, Rotifera; Biphorse, Medusae, Asterias, Cuttle-
fish, Sertularite, Fennatulse, Planarise, Crustacea and Annelids.
3. The third cause of phosphorescence is in some animals from
the presence of one or more special organs. Of this number are
the Pyrosoma, and especially P. Atlantica, whose light, of a
greenish blue, is very brilliant. Each individual carries behind
its mouth a soft opake substance, of a reddish brown colour.
This body is slightly conical, and under the microscope thirty or
forty red points may be seen ; it is this substance which pro-
duces the light.

III. Observations.

It is apparent from the foregoing statements, that the great
majority of naturalists, whatever explanation they have given of
the phosphorescent phsenomena, have applied that explanation
indiscriminately to all cases. Meyen himself, while admitting
three kinds of phosphorescence, nowhere expresses the idea that
the production of light arises from causes essentially difierent.

It is in this point, I believe, that the writings of these learned
men are deficient. In a note published in 1843 f, I endeavoured to
establish a difi"erent opinion, and to show, that under the general
name of phosphorescence, phsenomena essentially distinct have
been confounded, and which have really nothing in common but
the production of light. We have already shown that such is also
the opinion of IM. Becquerel. After having reviewed all that my
predecessors have written on the subject, after having made new
experiments and new observations, I am more than ever per-
suaded that it is really so. Without speaking of the phos-

* Beitrage zur Zoologie, von F. J. F. Meyen, fiinfte Abhandlung.
Ucber das Leuehten des Meeres (Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. t. xvi. Suppl. 1834).

t Note sur un nouveau mode de Phosphorescence observe chez quelques
Annehdes et Ophiures (Ann. des Sc. Nat., 2e serie, t. xix. p. 18.3).

26 On the Phosphorescence of some Marine Invertehrata.

phorescence arising from animal decomposition, nor of that
which results from mucus in a state of solution, I believe that
light is produced in living animals in two ways : —

1st. By the secretion of a peculiar substance exuding either
from the entire body or from a special organ. It is probable
that in this first mode of phosphorescence the light always arises
from a slow combustion. The fact is proved as regards insects ;
but direct experiments are necessary before the same certainty
can exist as to marine Invcrtebrat a, Annelids, !Mollusks orRadiata.

2nd. By a A-ital action, whence results the production of a pure
light independent of all material secretion. I had arrived at this
result at the time of the publication of my first note. My ob-
servations accord entirely with those that Ehreuberg made before
me ; yet doubts have been thrown out on the legitimacy of con-
clusions which we had both considered warranted by facts fur-
nished by observation alone. I hope that the experiments which
form the subject of the latter part of this memoir will reply to
all these objections.

When I published my first note, I was informed of Ehren-
berg's results only through a conversation with Humboldt. I
have since consulted his memoir, and find that on some jjoints
we agree entirely, while we differ on others.

With Ehrenberg I had learned to see in the phosphorescence
of the Annelids and Ophim'a which I have examined an action
essentially \'ital ; but I cannot regard this action as strictly con-
fined either to the organs or the functions of generation, as the
learned naturalist of Berlin considers it. I tind, it is true, in
renewing my notes, that one of the Pohjno'e which best exhi-
bited the phosphorescence was filled with zoospcrms in full
maturity, but many other Annelids among those which I have
studied were not in that state. Even in admitting that the light
uiaj^ be most brilliant at the period of gestation, I should regai'd
that fact as merely a coincidence arising from the increase of
vital energy which is thus very plainly manifested by all these
animals. Besides, in the Ophiura, the independence of the light
and the generative organs is very evident, since the sparks are
seen only along the arms, and the reproductive organs are en-
closed in the body, whose walls are very thick.

M. Ehrenberg first made known the fact, that the phospho-
rescence of Annelids, &c., always results from a combination of
microscopic sparks. Here my observations accord entirely with
his. We have compared these httle flashes to those which are
px'oduced from a ' tableau fulminant ' which has been charged
from an electrical machine.

But ]M. Ehrenberg has described in the Polynoe a special organ
for producing this hght. Here we differ. In the Pohjno'e, as

M. Trecul on the Structure of the Leaves of Palms. 27

in the Syllse and the other little Nereids which have been the
subject of my investigations, I have never perceived any peculiar
organ from which the light appeared to emanate. The muscles
alone, and particularly the muscles of the feet, have appeared to
me to present this phsenomenon. I have seen, moreover, some
SyllfB for instance shine through the whole extent of their bodies ;
and in this case the comparison to a thread of burning sulphur
is striking and just. This is the appearance to the naked eye ;
but under the magnifying glass this thread is divided into a
double range of luminous points corresponding to the feet.

I am far from denying that certain animals may have organs
charged with secreting light, as certain fishes possess those for
secreting electricity ; but up to this time I have never seen that
sparkling light show itself except in the muscles and at the
moment of contraction. There may undoubtedly exist on this
point reasonable uncertainty with regard to those Annelids
whose foot-muscles are lodged in the abdomen ; but this cannot
be true with resjjcct to the Ophiura, and nothing is easier than
to prove this even to the iruaided vision, as in the latter the
phosphorescence appears along the arm, and only during move-
ment. Moreover, the details which will be given beyond of the
phosphorescence of the Noctilucce will show plainljr^ I believe,
that these animals have no special organ for producing the light.

Finalljf, the Photocharis observed by Ehrenberg secreted a
liquid which left luminous traces on the objects which came in
contact mth it. This peculiarity I have also met with in one of
my Annelids ; but generally in the latter, and especially also in
the Ophiura, the light was owing entirely to the scintillations,
and disappeared with them. It is, however, easy to believe that
the modes of phosphorescence which we have admitted may co-
exist in the same animal.

[To be continued.]

VII. — On the Structure of the Leaves of Palms.
By M. A. Trecul*.

NoTWiTHSTANDixa the important investigations of Von Mohl
and Mirbel, there still remains considerable uncertainty upon
the structure of the leaf in the Palms. For instance, what is the
ligula of the flabelliform leaves of many of these plants ? Are
their lobes the natural divisions of the leaf, or only accidental
vents of its substances ? Both these opinions are advanced.
How is the plaited limb of these leaves formed ? Are the pin-

* From the Comptes Rendus, May 16, 1853, p. 857.

28 M. Trecul on the Structure of the Leaves of Palms.

uules of tlie pinnate leaves formed like those of dicotyledonous
plants ? I do not hesitate to say at once, that the phaeuomenou
is very different, and that the origin of the ligula is by no means
that which has been supposed by very celebrated anatomists.

In examining palms with pinnate leaves, one of the leaves of
which is just expanding, it will be seen that the old leaves have
the pinnules distant from each other on the rachis and free at
their extremities, whilst that which is just emerging from its
enclosing sheath presents a very singular appearance. The elon-
gation of the rachis removes the pinnules from one another, but
tliey are all joined together at the apex ; sometimes they are
united in this manner by a cellulo-fibrous thread which even
contains vessels (I have seen spiral and streaked vessels in the
threads of Phoenix sylvestris), and which extends from the base
of the limb to its apex. The sheath of this leaf encloses another,
all the leaflets of which are frequently so compressed together,
that they ap])ear to form a single piece without any parts distin-
guishable by the naked eye ; in other cases in which the com-
pression is less, all the partes of the leaf are apparent.

What is the mode of formation of these leaflets, so singularly
attached to one another ?

In examining a Chamcedorea Martiuna we find that in this leaf
in which all the parts are pressed together, the upper leaflets are
much longer than the lower ones. In a leaf of 16 centimetres
(about 6i inches) in length, the upper pinnules were 13 centi-
metres (about 5^ inches) long, whilst the lower were only 3 mil-
limetres (about ^ inch), and this disproportion may increase
when the apex of the leaf becomes extended. In this leaf there
were thirteen pinnules on each side of a rachis of 2 centimetres
(about ^ inch) in length, and the two rows being placed on the
inner surface, the back of the rachis only could be seen.

A iew millimetres below the lower leaflets is the opening of
the sheath. If this be removed, a \ery remarkable conical body
is exposed. Extracted from a leaf of 16 centimetres in length, it
measured 3^ millimetres. This is also a leaf, which when viewed
from behind presents an entire surface, but in front is divided
into two portions ; the lower poi'tion is cylindrical and notched
at the apex at the opening of the sheath ; the upper portion,
which is conical, is divided longitudinally on the inner surface
into two rolls, which diverge towards the base and become atte-
nuated towards the apex. These are the two rows of leaflets in
course of formation. Each roll is transversely striated on the
sides, and the strise or furrows of one side of the roll alternating
with those of the other side of the same render the longitudinal
ridges sinuous.

By opening the sheath of this leaf I obtained another which

M. Trecul on the Structure of the Leaves of Palms. 29

was about 1^^ millimetre in length. Its two rolls (or series of
leaflets), a little less advanced than those of the preceding leaf,
were comparatively more divergent at the base. From the sheath
of this leaf issued the apex of a still younger one not more than
f millimetre in length. Its lateral rolls were only marked with
faint strise or transverse depressions towards the middle, and its
sheath also gave exit to the tip of another leaf. This latter was
not moi'e than \ millimetre in length ; its sheath, which was
short and thick, had a broad rounded opening about the middle
of the leaf, through which the naked apex of the stalk could be
seen. This sheath was surmounted by the nascent rachis, but
this presented no trace of leaflets. It was broad and depressed
in its median portion ; and thei'e was on each side a longitudinal
swelling of so little prominence that it required considerable at-
tention to perceive it at all. ■ These swellings are the origin of
the two rows of leaflets.

Thus a leaf of Chamcedorea Martiana commences with a simple
circular cushion at the apex of the stalk. This cushion or rudi-
mentary sheath is produced obliquely into a prominence, which
is depressed on its inner surface. This becoming elongated into
a cone produces a longitudinal roll on each of its margins. These
two rolls or cushions, which are more inflated near the sheath,
where however they terminate in a short point, become more and
more contracted towards the apex of the rachis. Originally they
are smooth, but during their growth scarcely sensible undula-
tions are produced on each side of them (first on the inner side) ;
of these the first appear a little way from the base of each roll,
and they afterwards increase in number and attain the base and
apex of the rachis.

Whilst all the parts of the leaf continue groM'ing, these un-
dulations, increasing in depth, become furrows which penetrate
by degrees into the interior of the roll, at length arriving at the
opposite side on the outer surface so as to produce a rupture;
but the furrows which penetrate from the outer surface towards
the inner cease advancing before reaching the latter, so that
scission takes place only at the sides of the outer surface. In
this manner are produced as many leaflets plaited in the direc-
tion of their median nervure as thei'e were ribs on the inner sur-
face ; but the separation of the leaflets is not completed in this
manner through their entii'e length; it stops near the apex,
which remains united to the side of the leaflet placed above it.
When the leaf emerges from its sheath and the leaflet expands,
this point of attachment becomes broken and the apices of the
leaflets are set free. The union of the leaflets is not the same
throughout the palms ; in Phcenix sylvestris, Acrocomia sclero-
carpa, &c., the points of the pinnules are attached to a cellulo-

30 M.Tt€cVi\ on the Structure of the Leaves of Palms.

fibrous thread which runs along the whole length of the leaf, and
retains the leaflets in union for some time after their expansion.
This filament and the brown pellicles which cover the leaves at
this period have a similar origin. They arise from an envelope,
within which the leaflets are organized, and which becomes dried
up and falls in small brown flakes. The existence of this enve-
lope may be recognized in the very young leaves, even at the
period when the furrows (as in the Chamadored) begin to make
their appearance. The leaflets then appear to be formed in a
substance of a gelatinous appearance, Avhich is the origin of this
pellicle.

The leaflets of all palms are not plaited in the same direction ;
some, as Chamadorea Martiana, Ceroxylon andicola, Areca rubra,
Arenya saccharifera, &c., have them folded on the lower surface ;
others, in which the scission is carried to the ridges of the inner
surface and not to those of the outer, have the leaflets folded on
the inner surface, as Phoenix dactylifera, sylvestris, Fulchiron se-
negalensis, kc. There are other palms of which the leaflets are
broader and contain several folds of the primary lamina. It ap-
pears to me that very good characters may be derived from the
plication of the leaflets.

The limb of the simple leaf of Geonoma baculum is somewhat
differently developed ; the rachis emits a lanceolate limb, widest
at the base ; this becomes plaited first at this basal portion, the
folds extend in proportion to the growth of the leaf, and the
upper extremity becomes cleft to form the two terminal lobes.

In Chamcerops humilis, as in Chamcedorea and plants with
sheathing leaves, all the leaves are enclosed by their sheaths.
In a leaf of 1 millimetre the sheath was equal to the half of the
length of the leaf ; it was opposite to an inflated portion covered
with hairs, which is only the rudimentary lim-\ I removed all
these hairs and with them a pellicle which clothed this part of
the leaf. In this manner I arrived at a rounded surface, di\dded
longitudinally into parallel ribs on the anterior and posterior
surfaces of the limb. The surface being convex, the ribs are
shorter on the sides than towards the middle. They are inserted
on a nearly horizontal plane and rise parallel in gromng. Each
rib of the outer surface corresponds to the median nervure of a
lobe of the leaf.

As long as the leaf remains enclosed in the sheath, all its parts
consist of a very delicate tissue, but as soon as its apex reaches
the air and light it becomes green, grows rapidlj', and acquires
consistence ; the limb is often hard and coriaceous and contains
much woody matter, whilst the base of the petiole, which is en-
closed in the sheath, is still of extreme fragility. It is also this
lower portion which continues growing longest. Thus the limb

Linnaan Society. 81

of the leaf of Chamcerops humilis is found under a pellicle clotbed
witli hairs, which is torn at the junction of the petiole by the
growth of the limb ; and it is the base of the pellicle which gives
rise to the organ which has been called the liffula of the flabel-
liform leaves of certain palms, and to the cicatrix which is ob-
served round the extremity of the petiole.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

LINNAAN SOCIETY.

June 1, 1852. — R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a memoir " On Acradenia, a new genus of Diosmea." By
Richard Kippist, Esq., Libr. L.S.

The new genus described was one of a highly interesting collection
formed in the neighbourhood of Macquarrie Harbour, Van Diemen's
Land, by Mr. Joseph Milligan, and by him, through the late lamented
Mr. Bicheno, presented to the Society. It belongs to the natural
order Diosmea, tribe Boroniece, and in habit most nearly approaches
Zieria, to the larger-leaved species of which it bears at first sight
considerable resemblance. From this genus, however, as well as
from Melicope, Boronia, and Cyanothamnus, from Eriostemon, Crowea,
and Philotheca, and from Geleznoioia, Turcz., it differs in various
characters which are more particularly indicated ; and it is distin-
guished from them all by the structure of its ovaries, which adhere
closely together and are everywhere clothed with a dense tomentose
covering ; except that each bears, at its upper external angle, a
naked sessile tubercle or gland, large enough to be readily observed
with the naked eye, a character which Air. Kippist has been unable
to discover in any closely allied genus, and which has suggested the
generic name. He is unable to speak positively as to the precise
nature of these glandular bodies, or to say whether any exudation
proceeds from them : when examined under the microscope they
appear to be perforated by a tube, widening below, and communi-
cating with the internal cavity of the carpel ; and from their exact
correspondence in position, they are probably analogous to the cor-
nute appendages which crown the ovaries of some species of Pheba-
lium, in which genus they are occasionally developed into subulate
or nearly cylindrical horns.

Acradenia, Kipp.

Calyx 5-pavtitus. Pe.fala 5, hypogyna, calyce mult6 longiora, aestivatione
imbvicata, ovato-elliptica, unclique velutina. Stamina, 10., liypogyna,
petalis sublongiora, altevna paullo breviora ; fdamenia libera, subulata,
glabra ; antherce intiorstfi, glabrae, biloculares, rinia longitudinali de-
liiscentes, apice inappendiculatse. Ovaria 5, gynoplioi-o discifonni
margine sinuato insidentia, 1-locularia, villosissima ; singula apice glan-
dulil majusculsi sessili instructa. Ovula in loculis gemina, suturae
ventrali collateraliter inserla, pendula. Styliin unicum glabruni coaliti.

32 Linn^an Society.

Stigma subcapitellatiim. Capsula 5- (vel aboitu 1-3-) cocca ; cocci basi
subcohaerentes, sepalis persisteiitibus ))lui-ies longiores, subquadrati,
paiilo compressi, basi rotundati, apice abrupte tnincati et aiigulo ex-
tei'iio breve cornuti, coriacei vel snblignosi, dorso carinati, transversim
rugosi, extiis glabriiisculi, intiis sulcati, glabri, endorarpio baud sece-
dente. Semina ....i — Fnitex Tasmaniciis, ramosiss'nntis ; foliis oppo-
silis, exstiptdalh, j)etiolatis, 3-fo/ialis, foUolis coriacei/:, lanceulatis, ser-
ratis, supra tiibo-culatis ; podiinculis terminalibus, trirhotoml cijmosis,
mullijlori.i ; floribus albis.

ACRADENIA FkANKLINI«, Ktfp.

Zieria Frankliniw, Millic/an, jMSS.

Hab. ad margines sylvre daoste props Portiini "Macqnarie" dictum Insulae

" Van Diemeii," ubi floribus expaiisis legit Doni. Jos. MilUgan mense

Decembri 1816, et iteriim Martii 1817.

The close resemblance to Zieria in habit had originally suggested
to Mr. Kippist tlie sjjecific name of " Zierioides," but Mr. Brown
having kindly communicated to him a specimen gathered by Mr.
Milligan on the Franklin River in April 1842, with a ticket attached,
from which it appears that Mr. Milligan had proposed to name the
■p\a.nt " Zieria Frcinklinia" (after Lady Franklin), he has adopted
with much pleasure that specific name. On tlie same ticket M\
Milligan describes the plant as handsome and fragrant ; but this, as
he at that time saw no flowers, Mr. Kip^'st presumes can only be
intended to apply to the leaves, wliich, as in the majority of the
Diosmece, are copiously furnished with pellucid dots, reservoirs of
essential oil, and exhaling probably the peculiar odour which charac-
terizes the family.

The plant having recently flowered at Kew, he was enabled by
the kindness of Sir Wm. Hooker to examine the flowers in a living
state, but he regrets to hear that it is not likely at jiresent to ripen
its fruit at Kew, where Mr. Smith states that it was first introduced
in 1845 in a case sent by Dr. M'William from Norfolk Island; a
locality, however, in which it :s scarcely possible that it should be
indigenous.

The same collection from which the Acradenia was obtained, in-
cluded a number of highly interesting plants, quite new to the
Society's herbarium. Among the most striking were several alpine
Umhelli/erce, principally from Mt. Sorrel, of very singular habit,
one or two of which have been recently figured by Sir Wm. Hooker
in his ' Icones,' from specimens forwarded by Mr. Milligan or his
fellow-labourer Mr. Gunn : others appear to be still undescribed.
Dr. Meisner found among them a few new Proteacea, and a most
remarkable dichotomous Pimelea, with densely silky imbricated
leaves, which he proposes to call after its discoverer. It contained,
moreover, a -.number of fine Epacridece ; among them a splendid
species of Dracophi/llum {D. Milligani, Hook.), remarkable as being
the first instance of the occurrence of that genus in Van Diemen's
Land, and a new genus of Hamadoracea , with large handsome
flowers and equitant leaves, recently described by Sir Wm. Hooker
under the name of Hewardia tasmanica.

LinncEan Society. itB^

Read further " Descriptions of two new Swan River Papilionttcete."
By Thomas Moore, Esq., F.L.S.

The characters of these species, which have recently flowered for
the first time in English gardens, are as follows : —

Gastroloeium pkkamidale, ramulis foliis stipulis pedunculis bracteis
calycibusque dense tomentosis, stipulis loiigis setaceis recurvis, foliis
, petiolatis 3-nis ovali obtusis v rotundatis mucronatis supra demuin
glabris, racemis axillaribus dense capitatis, pedunculis foliis paullo
brevioribus, bracteis trifidis : superioribus obovatis mucronatis, calyce
campanulato ; dentibus superioribus lateralibusque obliquis, pedicellis
calyce brevioribus, ovavio subsessili villoso.

Hab. ad fl. Cyguorutn N. HoUandiae, Drummond, ser. 5. no. 54.

Chorozema nervosum, ramulis pubescentibus, foliis late cordatis rigide
cuspidatis crasse marginatis integris utrinque conspicue venosis glabris
undulatis subcarinatis, racemis paucifloris axillaribus terminalibusve,
pedicellis supra medium bibracteolatis calyce brevioribus.

Hab. ad fl. Cygnoruni N. Hollandiee, Drummond, ser. 5. no. 23.

Both plants were obtained by Mr, Moore from the Nursery of
Messrs. Henderson in the Edgware-road, where they had been
raised from Mr. Drummond's seeds.

November 16, 185-2. — N. Wallich, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in
the Chair.

Read Mr. Henfrey's memoir " On the Development of Ferns from
their Spores."

The author commences his paper by referring to the remarkable
discoveries published by Count Leszczyi-Suminski in 1848. and the
observations to which they have subsequently led on the part of
others ; which appear to necessitate important changes in our gene-
ral views of the reproduction of plants. He finds, however, that the
results of some of these later observations differ in many respects
not only from those of Suminski, but also among themselves ; and
that opinions are divided both as to the actuality of the most im-
portant fact of all, viz. the process of impregnation, and as to the
period and circumstances of its occurrence. Under these circum-
stances he has thought he would be performing a useful task in sub-
jecting the question to minute investigation, in the course of which
he has carefully traced the development entirely through its course
from the spore to the young leafy plant, applying every available
means to clear up the anatomical conditions in each stage of the
" progress. The drawings which accompany the memoir were nearly
all made by means of the camera lucida eye-piece, so that they repre-
sent preparations actually seen.

The subject is treated of under three heads ; the first section con-
taining the author's own observations ; the second, a critical exami-
nation of those of preceding authors ; and the third, a few remarks
on the general bearing of the results upon vegetable physiology.

Under the first head, Mr. Henfrey describes first the prothallium,
and its mode of growth, enlargement and decay ; secondly, the
antheridia, with their sperm-cells and spermatozoids ; thirdly, the

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 3

34 Linncean Society.

archegonia, with their papillae and embryo-sacs ; and fourthly, he
gives his own view of the development of the embryo. On all these
points he enters into much detail, tracing the several stages of the
process with great minuteness. In bis criticism of previous obser-
vations, he passes in review the facts and opinions stated by Nageli,
Suminski, Wigand, Thuret, Hofmeister, Schacht, Mettenius, Von
Mercklin, and Hofmeister again ; and indicates the points in which
they severally differ from each other, and also those in which he
himself either coincides with or differs from each of them. The
memoir is so completely one of detail, that under these two principal
divisions it would be difficult to give a sufficiently clear abstract
without running to too great a length ; and this is the less necessary
as the memoir itself will immediately appear in full in the Society's
' Transactions.'

Under the head of " Development of the embryo " the author
gives the following statement of his opinion on the question of
impregnation, and the mode in which it is effected : — " My opinion
with regard to the fertilization is, that the operation is effected
by the contact of one or more spermatozoids with the mucilaginous
filament contained in or hanging from the mouth of the canal of
the archegoniuvi. I have seen the spermatozoids swimming iu num-
bers around the mouths of archegonia, but never detected one inside,
and I do not see any good reason for supposing such a process
necessary. The pollen-tube of flowering plants only comes in con-
tact with the outside of the embryo-sac, and the influence is some-
times communicated through a long suspensor ; and there does not
seem to be any suflicient objection to the supposition, that the
contact of the spermatozoid with the filament of mucilage which lies
in the canal of the archegonium, suffices to convey the necessary sti-
mulus. I imagine this stimulus resides.in the mucilaginous fluid in
which the spermatozoid is bathed in the sperm-cell, and which, ad-
hering to this, is conveyed to the mucilage (protoplasm) of the ger-
minal vesicle, just as the contents of the pollen-grain become com-
bined with the protoplasm of the germinal vesicle in flowering
plants. The nature of the process is clearly a problem beyond the
reach of science, but it seems to me a necessary induction from the
facts in the Phanerogamia, that the phsenomena result there from the
material union of two fluids, and I hence conclude that this is the
case here. The comparatively few cases of successful impregnation
among these prothallia, so many of which prove sterile, may perhaps
be accounted for by the peculiar conjunction of circumstances re-
quired to bring a sufficient amount of the fertilizing fluid, by means
of the spermatozoids, to the germinal vesicle, at the precise epoch
required."

His general " conclusions " are as follows : — " In summing up
all these statements it becomes evident that the balance of evi-
dence is in favour of the existence of sexual organs, and of a process
of impregnation, giving rise to a new individual, as asserted by
Suminski, although under conditions somewhat different from those
described by that author. Only two of the observers who have re-

■Limicean Society. SS

peated his investigations throw doubt upon these points, namely
Wigand and Schacht ; the statements of the former as to matters of
fact are far from sufficient to bear out the mass of argument he has
built upon them against the existence of sexes ; in fact, his obser-
vations were so imperfect that he described the two parts of the
archegonium, the papilla and the enlarged embryo-sac, as distinct
structures ; while he never traced the origin of the new plant at all.
His ob?ervations may therefore be safely passed over. Schacht's
are more complete, but he again only argues against the probability
of a sexual conjunction, with the preconceived notion that this must
be analogous to what he erroneously believes to be the conditions in
the Phanerogamia ; while his observations furnish facts which greatly
support the probability of an impregnation by the spermatozoids ;
the difficulties he suggests being of little weight in comparison with
those of accounting for the existence of all the peculiar structures
by any other hypothesis. The opinions of all the rest are in favour
of the impregnation (Thuret does not treat of the archegonia), and
the differences between them, except in the case of Suminski, are
unimportant in a physiological point of view, merely presenting
questions of anatomical and morphological interest. And since
Suminski's description of the mode of origin of the embryo would be
altogether at variance with what exists, not only in other plants, but
also in animals, and is opposed to the observations of all the rest
of us (except the doubtful support given by Von Mercklin), I cannot
but repeat my belief that he was led from the facts by his imagi-
nation being preoccupied by Schleiden's doctrine of the impregna-
tion of the Phanerogamia."

January 18, 1853 R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chdr.

Read a paper " On the Habits and Structure of the Great Bustard
(Otis tarda, L.)." By William Yarrell, Esq.. V.P. and Treas. L.S.

The particulars relating to the habits of the Bustard are derived
from the communications of several friends, who have had oppor-
tunities of observing it both in England and elsewhere. The first
notice is from C. A. Nicholson, Esq., of Balrath Kells, in the county
of Meath, and furnishes remarks on the habits of the bird as ob-
served by him in the neighbourhood of Seville, where it appears to be
extremely abundant, the males beginning to arrive in the cultivated
country at the beginning of February in flocks varying (according to
Mr. Nicholson's observations) from seven to fifty-three ; the old
birds always associating together, and those of a year old, which are
much smaller, never mixing with them : the young birds have neither
beard nor pouch. The females do not arrive till the beginning of
April, and come singly or at most in pairs ; the flocks of males then
break up and are met with in parties of three or four, or even singly,
spreading their tails on a fine day like Turkey-cocks, drooping their
wings and expanding their pouches. The sexes appear to live quite
separate. In May the cocks entirely disappear from the cultivated
lands, retiring to the extensive grass marshes on the banks of the

3*

36 Linmean Suciely,

Guadalquivir, and leaving the hens behind them. The young are
hatched in the corn-plains about Seville, and are able to take care of
themselves when the com is cut in July, after which the young birds
and hens follow the cocks to the marshes. The birds are very diffi-
cult to shoot : the heaviest shot by Mr. Nicholson weighed 28 pounds;
and the largest measured 7 feet 3 inches from tip to tip of wing.
Those of a year old weigh from 8 to 10 pounds, and are much the
best eating. Their stomachs were found crammed with barley,
both leaves and ears, with the leaves of a large-leaved green weed
and with a kind of beetle. When flushed they generally fly for two
or more miles, and sometimes at least 100 yards high. They never
try to run, and Mr. Nicholson cannot imagine greyhounds being
able to catch bustards, as they are reported to have done.

Mr. John Wolley, jun., states that he had never seen the Great
Bustard, or received its eggs, from the neighbourhood of Tangier.
While ascending the Guadalquivir, about the month of September,
he saw several flocks of four or five birds each on the level plains
which extend along the banks of that river, walking apparently in
file, some with their heads down. They did not appear to be timid,
or very cautious ; but once, as the boat came suddenly round a
corner, several of them rose together, springing hastily to the height
of 40 or 50 feet, and then turning suddenly and somewhat clumsily,
after a few more rapid strokes, sailed along with the arched form of
wings so general in game birds.

Mr. Yarrell's next notice is derived from a letter in the possession
of John Britton, Esq., giving an account of two bustards seen on
Salisbury Plain in the summer of 1801, within a fortnight of each
other, both of which attacked mounted horsemen, and one of which
was captured and kept for some time by Mr. J. Bartley of Tilstead,
by whom it was eventually sold to Lord Temple. The letter gives
numerous details of the habits of this bird from the information of
Mr. Bartley.

J. H. Gurney, Esq., of Norwich, states in a letter to Mr. Yarrell
that, as far as he can learn, the last bustard killed in Norfolk was a
female, which was shot at Lexham, near Swaflfham, towards the end
of the year 1838. The small flock of which this was one had for
several years consisted of females only, the eggs of which were fre-
quently picked up, having been dropped about at random in conse-
quence of the absence of male birds, the latter having become extinct
at an earlier date. Fredk. J. Nash, Esq., of Bishop's Stortford, has
several times informed Mr. Yarrell that, when taking the field as a
young sportsman, he once saw nine flights of bustards in one day
not far from Thetford in Norfolk. And Gilbert White of Selborne
mentions in his Diary, under date of November 17th, 1782, that
being at a lone farm-house between Whorwell and Winchester, the
carter told him that about twelve years before, he had seen a flock
of eighteen bustards at one time on that farm. Three instances only
of the appearance of the bustard in England have been noticed by
Mr. Yarrell since the publication of the second edition of his ' Hi-
story of British Birds ;' one, a female, recorded by G. R. Waterhouse,

Linruean Society. 37*

Esq., of the British Museum, as occurring to him in August 1849 on
Salisbury Plain ; a second, also a female, shot at Lydd in Romney
Marsh in January 1850, and now in the possession of Dr. Plomley,
F.L.S. ; and the third shot on the 31st of December, 1851, in Devon-
shire, and now in the possession of J. G. Newton, Esq., of Millaton
Bridestow.

Mr, Yarrell proceeds to state that he had long wished to have an
opportunity of examining the body of a male bustard for the purpose
of inspecting the gular pouch described by Daines Barrington in his
' Miscellanies,' 1781, and by Edwards in his ' Gleanings of Natural
History,' 1811, and thence copied both by Bewick and himself; but
no opportunity for so doing occurred until recently. About four
years ago the Zoological Society obtained from Germany six or
seven young bustards, and one of these (a male) died within a year.
The body was examined by Mr. Mitchell and himself, and no gular
pouch was found, but this was then attributed to the youth of the
bird. In December last another male of this flock, believed to be
four years old, died at the Zoological Gardens, and was also exa-
mined by Mr. Yarrell. The neck was carefully dissected ; but there
was no opening under the tongue, and he entirely failed in various
attempts to distend any part of the membranes either by fluid or by
air. Thus disappointed in his expectation of finding what had been
so minutely described, Mr. Yarrell turned to the translation of the
anatomical descriptions of the animals dissected by the Royal Aca-
demy of Sciences at Paris at the end of the seventeenth century, and
found the results of the dissection of six male bustards there given
to correspond entirely with his own observations. He found also
that Cuvier in his ' Lemons d'Anatomie Comparee,' refers to no pe-
culiarity in the neck of the male bustard. Professor Owen also en-
tirely confirmed the fact of the absence of any gular pouch by his
own dissection of a full-grown bustard made with the view of ob-
taining a preparation of that supposed structure for the Museum of
the College of Surgeons. Mr. Yarrell is therefore disposed to con-
sider that there must have been some mistake on the part of the
writers quoted as to the species of bird in which that pouch was
observed.

February 1, 1853. — R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a paper " On Venation as a generic character in Ferns ;
with Observations on the genera Hewardia, J. Smith, and Cionidium,
Moore." By Thomas Moore, Esq., F.L.S. , Curator of the Botanic
Garden, Chelsea.

The object proposed by the author is to inquire — 1st, into the
general importance of modifications of the vascular structure of the
fronds in distinguishing the genera of Ferns ; and 2ndly, into their
relative value in the cases instanced. He begins by referring to the
numerous authors by whom the venation has been turned to account
in the formation of genera or subgenera, and in particular to the ob-
servation of Mr. Brown, that " for subdivision, the most obvious as
well as the most advantageous source of character seems to be the

38 Linnaan Society.

modifications of the vascular structure, or the various ramifications
of the bundles of vessels or veins of the frond, combined with the
relation of the sori to their trunks or branches." He notices an in-
stance in which Sir William Hooker has given generic importance
to this character of venation alone, viz. in Dictyoxiphium ; while in
Schizoloma he regards the venation as only of subgeneric value ; and
he treats it as a mere question of words, to be decided by conve-
nience, whether or not this character should be generically em-
ployed. In the case for instance in reference to which Mr. Brown's
remarks were made, Polypodium (Dipteris) Horsfieldii, it seems to
him, as a matter of convenience, a much simpler and more easily
comprehensible idea, to regard Dipteris as a group of ferns with
round naked sori, dichotomous primary veins and reticulated ve-
nules, than to have to recognize in Polypodium (a genus of ferns
having round naked sori) an included group called Dipteris, in
which the primary veins are dichotomous and the secondary reti-
culated. In most cases, indeed, he regards subgenera as at the best
but cumbrous contrivances.

Looking at the question of venation, as illustrated in the great
and universally adopted natural divisions of flowering plants, he
thinks its generic importance in ferns rests on better grounds than
convenience alone. In the case of flowering plants the presence of
complete floral organs aff'ords the necessary diversity for generic
distinction ; but as an equivalent to these we have in ferns nothing
more than certain naked or covered aggregations of spore-cases,
which in the great bulk of the species scarcely aflTord any diflferen--
tial characters, or such only as are microscopic, and therefore not
to be resorted to until all more obvious features are exhausted. But
peculiarities in the venation of ferns are for the most part associated
with peculiarities of habit ; and since it appears quite justifiable to
employ other characters than those derived from the fructification in
distinguishing generically such groups as the ferns, in which the
fructification affords comparatively so little variety, what is there so
constant and unvarying, and at the same time affording such diver-
sities, as the peculiarities in the development of the vascular struc-
ture ? Experience, moreover, attests this character of venation as
one to be relied on with perfect confidence, because (with very in-
significant exceptions) whatever modification of vascular structure is
met with in a particular species, that and no other is found in that
species. The author concludes, therefore, that without lowering the
importance of the fructification of ferns in distinguishing generic
groups, the modifications of venation are properly as well as conve-
niently admitted to share in the same office.

Passing to the question, whether a reticulated venation is in itself
a sufficient generic distinction among the ferns, he determines it in
the affirmative, inasmuch as a genus being in his view an arbitrary
group, all that is really required as a generic character is a constant
difference from established genera in the structure of some import-
ant organ or system of organs. Now the vascular system must be
regarded as of the highest importance in the vegetable occonomy

Linnaan Society. 39

even in reference to propagation, it being not at all unfrequent to
meet with extraordinary means of development in connexion with it,
viz. adventitious buds ; and in ferns particularly those points of the
veins which serve in normal cases as the receptacles to which the
sori are attached, in other cases become viviparous and develope
gemmae from which new plants are produced. He believes, more-
over, that characters derived from this system of vessels, when taken
in connexion with the fructification, though sometimes forming
groups of considerable extent, and occasionally separating species
having some external similarity, nevertheless in no case bring to-
gether obviously ill-assorted species, but rather associate those of
obvious similarity and affinity.

For these reasons he is not prepared to follow Sir W. Hooker in
setting aside the genus Hewardia of Mr. John Smith. He regards
the difference as broad and important between the accidental anasto-
mosing of contiguous venules which occurs in some species of Adi-
antum, and a constant and complete reticulation, such as exists in
the genus Hewardia ; and he concludes that that genus should be
retained. This conclusion he finds unexpectedly confirmed in F6e's
' Genera Filicum,' just received in this country, where the same view
is taken of the species of Hewardia as that which he had previously
adopted, and an additional species {H. serrata) mentioned of which
he had no previous knowledge.

The species enumerated by the author are arranged as follows : —

* Sori continui ; venae primariae costiformes.

1. Hewardia adiantoides, J. Smith = Adiantum Hewardia, Kunze.

2. H. dolosa, Fee = Ad. dolosum, Kunze.

** Sori interrupti ; venae uniformes.

3. H. Le Prieurei, F6e := Ad. Le Prieurei, Hook.

4. H. serrata, Fee.

Mr. Moore regards H. Wilsoni, F6e (Adiantum, Hook.), as a true
Adiantum ; as also Sir W. Hooker's variety y. of Ad. lucidum. In
both these the dichotomous veins occasionally anastomose ; but there
is nothing like complete reticulation, and the union, when it does
occur, is evidently accidental.

If the name Hewardia be retained, as the author proposes, for the
genus of ferns to which it was first applied, he suggests that of
Isophysis for the Melanthaceous genus, subsequently so called by
Sir William Hooker in his ' Icones Plantarum,' t. 858, the species
retaining the name of Tasmanica.

The same rule induces the author, in the second case referred to,
to separate from the genus Deparia, Hook., a species having a truly
and constantly reticulated venation, that of Deparia being uniformly
free. The species in question is Deparia Moorii from New Caledonia,
named by Sir Wm. Hooker after Mr. C. Moore, the Director of the
Sydney Botanic Garden, by whom it was discovered ; and the fol-
lowing are its generic characters : —

40 Linnaan Society.

CioNiDiuM, T. Moore in Gard. Cuinp. (nomen tantum).

Char. Grn. Vena reticulatse. Sori semi-globosi, extra-marginales, in
venularum apicibus excurrentibus pedicellati; ca])siilis pedicellatis.
Indmia stipilatn, subcyathiformia. — Frondes bipinnatce ; soris ex
iitrdque phmulariim, pinnatijidarum margine promlnulis.

Cionidium Moorii, T. Moore, /. c.

Deparia Moorii, Hook, in Journ. of Dot. iv. p. 54. t. 3.

Hab. in Nova Caledonia, D. C. Moore (1851).

February 15, 1853. — R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Yarrell, V.P. and Treas. L.S., exhibited a specimen of the
Sooty Tern {Sterna fuUginosa, Lath.), a species new to Britain and
even to Europe, which was killed in October last at Burton-ou-Trent,
was preserved for, and belongs to the collection of H. W. Desvoeux,
Esq.

Read an " Additional Note " to Mr. Newport's memoir on Ich-
neumon Atropos, Curt., in reference to the changes which take
place in the alimentary canal after the parasite has ceased to feed,
and while assuming its imago state. These changes, which are very
considerable both as regards form and condition, are minutely de-
scribed ; and every part of the canal is shown to be supphed with
tracheae, the trunks of which, one in each segment, passing trans-
versely inwards, divide into branches, which, again subdivided, pe-
netrate into and ramify through the structure. These, like all other
tracheae, are formed, as described by Sprengel, of three tissues, an
external membranous and an internal mucous, enclosing between
them a strong spiral fibre. The nature and origin of the external
tissue have been shown by Mr. Newport in previous memoirs ; but he
has since found that the ramifications of the trachea? which pene-
trate the structure of the canal, or of any other organ, become de-
nuded of this external covering, and then seem to be formed only
of two tissues, the spiral and the mucous, if indeed there be not also,
as he has some reason to think, an extremely delicate serous, or
basement membrane, closely adherent to and uniting the coils of
fibrous tissue on its external surface. The ultimate divisions of the
tracheae are always distributed separately, and do not anastomose,
ending, as noticed by Mr. Bowerbank, in extremely minute, filiform,
blind extremities ; and this Mr. Newport finds to be their condition
in all structures, in the nervous and tegumentary, equally as in the
glandular and muscular. These facts, the author observes, may
perhaps assist us to understand the nature of the injection of the
tracheae by M. Blanchard, and also tlie mode of nutrition in insects ;
the ultimate branches of tracheae in the tissues of the alimentary
canal operating, possibly, as absorbent structures, and inducing the
chylific fluid elaborated around them to flow, in its transit outwards,
along the channels formed by their loose peritoneal covering into the
regular circulatory currents. Further, they may assist to explain
the mode of coloration of the tracheae in the experiments of MM.
Alessandrini and Bassi, and of M. Blanchard, and also in others, yet

Linnaan Society. 41

unpublished, made by himself on the larvae of Clissocampa Neustria,
in July 1837.

April 5, 1853. — R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a " Note on the Nature of Fasciated Stems." By the Rev.
William Hincks, F.L.S., Professor of Natural History in Queen's
College, Cork.

The author lays it down as an indubitable principle, that what we
call monstrosities or anomalies, either in the animal or vegetable
kingdom, are always susceptible of explanation from the operation,
under unusual circumstances, of causes or principles the ordinary
operation of which produces the normal structure of the species.
Hence they are always worth studying until a satisfactory explana-
tion of their nature has been arrived at, and even when that is ac-
complished they have still an interest as illustrations of principles
which we apply in the explanation of normal structures, or as proofs
of the truth of particular views in respect to the origin or relations
of parts in certain tribes. In accordance with this view of the im-
portance of such investigations he proceeds to the consideration of
the nature of fasciated stems, which, in concurrence with the view
taken by Linnaeus in his ' Philosophia Botanica,' he is disposed to
regard as formed by a group of coherent stems. According to this
view the real peculiarity would consist in the number and remark-
able arrangement of the buds, the coherence of stems brought to-
gether in such a relative position being, as shown by innumerable
examples, a matter of course. Having regard to the crowded or
unusually placed buds which are found in the anomaly called
plica, tracing this cohesion upwards from the not uncommon ad-
herence of two stems, and observing what must necessarily happen
from numerous branches occurring together, it seems to him that the
fascia is by no means difficult of comprehension. The striae which
it almost invariably presents exhibit the traces of the lines of junc-
tion ; and the curved or spiral contraction, which is so often met
with, is perhaps accounted for by the growth in connexion with each
other of internodes of unequal length. He would not, however, affirm
that every stem which is called fasciate is composite in its nature ;
for that term has been extended to cases of riband-like expansion,
which, although dependent also on excess of nourishment, are dis-
tortions of a single stem .

Mr. Hincks then refers to the objections taken to the theory of
Linnaeus by several recent physiologists, and most clearly and ex-
plicitly stated by M. Moquin Tandon in his ' Teratologic Vegetale '
under the following heads : — 1. " We find plants with a single stem
fasciated (as Androsace maxima), and nothing announces to us that
we have in this case several individuals united together." 2. " On
certain fasciated stems we may remark that the branches are of the
same number and the same arrangement as in the normal condition."
3. *' Two branches accidentally united in the direction of their length
form a body of which the transverse section presents a figure more
or less resembling a figure of 8, if the coherence is recent or slight,

42 Linnaan Society.

and an elliptic or rounded figure if it is of long standing or very in-
timate : traces of two medullary canals are almost always found. In
a fasciated stem the section gives an elongated figure in which we
commonly observe only one compressed canal." 4. " To obtain a
fasciated stem by coherence a great number of united branches
would be required ; but though an accidental union of two branches
or of three may be admitted, it is very difficult for it to occur at the
same time among four, five, or six. It is very difficult to suppose
that these branches should all meet longitudinally, and that the
union, instead of taking place around the central axis, should be en-
tirely in one direction." 5. " If fasciated stems were the result of
many combined branches, we ought to find cases in which the union
is incomplete, and to be able to observe on their surface such a dis-
tribution of leaves or buds as would announce the fusion of many
partial spirals or verticils."

Setting aside the anomalies before alluded to, and guarding
against the assumption that mere adherence explains an appearance
which chiefly depends upon a peculiar position of buds and the pro-
duction of numerous branches in a certain relation to each other,
Mr. Hincks regards these arguments as not possessing any great
weight. In regard to the 1st he remarks, that herbaceous plants
which have usually but a single stem, not unfrequently produce
several, which often remain distinct, but their union into a sort of
fasciated stem is by no means uncommon. In proof of this he
showed specimens of Primula vulgaris and Hieracium aureum, exhi-
biting the union of two stems so produced, and of Ranunculus bul-
bosus showing still greater complexity in the stem, while the prin-
cipal flower appeared to be made up of two or three combined.
The 2nd objection may appear in certain cases to be just, but the
author is of opinion that it is hazardous to conjecture that we have
no more leaves present in a fasciated stem than we should have in
the same space in an ordinary one, and he referred to specimens on
the table as distinctly proving that an increased number of leaves
and buds is a general character of fasciated stems. M. Moquin
Tandon himself has, indeed, referred to an instance in Bupleurum
falcatum where the leaves had been whorled, doubtless, Mr. Hincks
observes, from those belonging to two or more stems being collected
together. The 3rd argument he regards as very deceptive, for the
nature of the transverse section presented by coherent stems must
depend not only on the intimacy of their union, but also on the in-
ternal structure of the stems themselves. When two flowers adhere
without much pressure, they exhibit uniting circles somewhat re-
sembling a figure of 8, but when more completely combined they
have one circumference of a much- elongated figure, and something
similar is to be expected in herbaceous stems. Even the elongated
pith of a transversely cut woody fasciated stem only marks the inti-
mate union of several branches ; and the author has noticed instances
of the union of two and only two stems when the internal appear-
ance was the same as in other fasciations. The 4th objection is
derived from the improbability of the lateral union of many stems ;

Linnaan Society. 43

but in addition to the common examples of the union of two stems,
the author appealed to a distinct case of a union of four flower-stems
of Scrophularia aquatica so complete that a composite flower was
formed containing all the parts of the four component flowers, and
produced a fasciated stem of Ranunculus bulbosus, where the union
of several stems terminated in a flower having at least double the
usual number of parts, as indisputable evidence of the fact. He also
laid before the Meeting examples of numerous branches laterally
arranged as if ready to combine, in immediate connexion with fas-
ciated stems, which, according to his view, are made up of similar
branches already combined. To the 5th and last objection he
answers that cases in which the adherence is incomplete, and on
which the marks of fusion of several stems are to be perceived, are
in fact frequently met with, and may be appealed to as strong direct
evidence in favour of the Linnean theory. A striking example is
given in DeCandoUe's ' Organographie Vegetale ' (pi. 3. f. 1) in a
stem of Spartium junceum having several branches only imperfectly
fasciated ; and similar specimens of Aucuba Juponica and Cotoneaster
microphylla were exhibited, together with a fasciated Ash, in which
the traces of numerous stems were observable upon the surface.

The author stated his conclusion to be, " that the fasciated stem
is best explained from the principle of adherence, where, from super-
abundant nourishment, especially if accompanied by some check or
injury, numerous buds have been produced in close proximity ; and
that the supposition of a leaf-like expansion of the elements of a
single stem is insufiicient to explain the usual appearances, and is
founded on a false analogy between fasciated and certain other ano-
malous stems."

The specimens exhibited were from a collection formed by the
author and now in the Museum of Queen's College, Cork. They
consisted of — 1, an intimate adherence of two stems of Bunium
flexuosum ; 2, an entire adherence of two stems with their heads of
flowers of Hieracium aureum, and of two or more stems of Primula
veris ; 3, a fasciated stem of Ranunculus bulbosus, with the terminal
flower formed by the union of two, and the stem showing other signs
of composition ; 4, a fasciated stem of Cheiranthus Cheiri, apparently
consisting of at least three united branches ; 5, a fasciated stem of
Veronica maritima ; 6, two stems of the same plant, in which the
buds which usually produce individual flowers have produced se-
condary stems themselves flower-bearing, so as to transform a simple
into a compound spike ; 7, a fasciated stem of Aucuba Japonica,
seeming to prove the composite nature of such stems ; 8, a fasciated
stem of Cotoneaster microphi/lla, in which the composite structure is
peculiarly evident ; 9, a fasciated stem of Fraxinus excelsior showing
a crowd of buds and of small branches in a linear series at the ex-
tremity of fasciated portions, and also showing the curved contrac-
tion of the fasciated branches from weaker branches being connected
with a stronger one. The author also referred to a remarkable
fasciculation of Asparagus officinalis in the same collection, the upper
portion of which is spirally twisted, and the crowded branches from

44 Linnaan Society.

which seem to prove the presence of several stems ; and to some fine
specimens of fasciations from the Society's collection which were
placed upon the table.

April 19, 1853. — R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Westwood, F.L.S., communicated a notice of the discovery
in England of a new genus and species of Amphipodous Crustacea,
the Niphargus stygius of Schiodte, an animal hitherto only found in
the caverns of Adelsberg, celebrated as the locality of the Proteus
anguinus. The Crustacean in question has been found in great
numbers in a well near Maidenhead, the water of which was in con-
sequence rendered unfit for use. Mr. Westwood took occasion to
remind the Members of the opinion entertained by some naturalists
of the existence of a distinct subterranean fauna of which the Pro-
teus was an example ; the members of which fauna hitherto disco-
vered were remarkable for their general want of colour, and for
their being destitute of eyes, two physiological conditions dependent
on the dark and gloomy places where they have hitherto been found.

Mr. Kirby, in his ' Bridgewater Treatise,' was one of those wri-
ters who contended that such animals formed no part of the fauna
now in existence on the surface of the earth, but belonged to a di-
stinct subterranean race of animals. M. Schiodte, in a remarkable
memoir recently published in the Transactions of the Danish Aca-
demy (which Dr. Wallich has kindly translated for the Entomolo-
gical Society of London, in whose memoirs the translation has ap-
peared), has described a number of singular animals belonging to the
class of Annulosa, exhibiting all the characteristics of such a fauna,
being destitute of sight and also almost or quite colourless. Amongst
them are the Crustacean in question, a species of Spider and false
Scorpion, a species of the family Poduridte, and several Coleoptera,
all of which were found in the caverns of Adelsberg in Carniola.
Mr. Westwood also noticed that animals very closely related to
those described by Schiodte had been found in the Great Mammoth
Cave in Kentucky, including also a blind species of Cray-fish, and
one or more species of fishes destitute of eyes, at least wanting the
transparent external cornea, although the 0})tic nerve was present,
which would probably allow a certain sensibility to the presence of
light ; and M. Schmidt had noticed that two newly discovered spe-
cies of Beetles belonging to one of Schiodte's singular genera had,
although destitute of all external rudiments of eyes, exhibited a
sensibility to light by retreating under stones and towards the
darker parts of the cavern when brought towards its entrance. A
remarkable new genus of Shrimps had also been recently described
by Professor Bell in his work on British Crustacea, dredged at a
very great depth of the ocean, of which the eyes, although present,
were destitute of the usual hexagonal facets.

Read a paper " On the Ocelli in the genus Anthophorabia,
Newp." By George Newport, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c.

The author remarked that since the publication of his observations
on these insects in the ' Transactions ' of the Society, his attention

Zoological Society. 45

had again been directed to the peculiarities of the organs of vision
in the male sex. He had already shown that these individuals pos-
sess only ocelli at the sides of the head as well as on the vertex, but
that these structures exist at precisely the same parts of the head as
the ocelli and the compound eyes in the female, and consequently
that there can be no doubt of their homology. These appearances,
however, having led some to question the correctness of this, it be-
came necessary, in order to judge aright of their nature, to consider
what are the essential conditions of a structure which is specially
destined for the appreciation of light. This consists, as already
pointed out in Fishes, of a follicle or pit in the tegument of the head,
coated with dai'k pigment, and receiving the distal termination of
a particular cerebral nerve, conditions which are precisely those of
the ocelli, both of the sides of the head and of the vertex, in Antho-
phorabia. The various modifications of the eye in insects, with re-
gard to the form of the cornea, the depth of the chamber, and the
presence of the choroid, and of the lens, with reference to the extent
of field, and the focal distance, of vision, were pointed out, and the
degree in which they exist in Anthophorabia mentioned, as coinciding
with the peculiar habits of the insect. The structures in the male
were thus shown, by the presence of cornea, chamber, choroid, and
nerve, to be most indisputably organs of sight. The author referred
also to the binary origin of the nerve of the middle ocellus of the
vertex, as formerly pointed out by him in his paper on Pteronarcys ;
to the origin of ocelli in the same way as other dermal tubercles ;
and to the imperfect eye-spots in the Scorpionidce being supplied
with nervous filaments from the same optic nerve which supplies the
recognised organs of vision in those animals.

May 3, 1853. — R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a memoir " On the Vegetation of Buenos Ayres and the
neighbouring districts." By Charles James Fox Bunbury, Esq.,
F.R.S., F.L.S., &c.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
May 13, 1851.— John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair.
The foUowmg papers were read : —
1 . Observations on the Eye of the Mole, in a letter

ADDRESSED TO W. SpENCE, EsQ., F.R.S.

By John Davy, M.D., F.R.S.

In a letter with which you favoured me some weeks ago, you
made mention of Schiodte's ' Faunae Subterranese Specimen,' and
of the interesting discoveries described in it of several species of
eyeless animals, the inhabitants of caves into which the sun's rays
never penetrate, and where, in utter darkness, visual organs would
consequently be useless.

46 Zoological Society.

Reflecting on the subject, I thought it worth while to examine with
some care the eyes of the common Mole, an animal that spends the
greater portion of its time beneath the surface of the earth, and seems
in its general organization specially adapted for a subterraneous life.

I shall chiefly notice what, in the dissections I have made, appears
to be peculiar.

The first peculiarity that arrests attention is, that the eyes of the
Mole are not contained in bony sockets, but lie unprotected by any
bony prominences in the cellular tissue, beneath the common integu-
ments ; and, in consequence, were this animal an extinct one, and its
skeleton found in a fossil state, there being no orbit, the palaeontolo-
gist might be led to infer that it is a species destitute of eyes.

The next peculiarity I would mention is in regard to eye-lashes.
These too it seems to" be destitute of. The hair in which the eyes
are buried, and by which they are defended, seems to be the common
fur of the head. I could detect in that immediately surrounding
them no hairs of larger dimensions, or in any respect difi'erent from
those of which its fine fur is composed.

The apertures for the admission of light constitute another pecu-
liarity. When the fur is removed from the skin surrounding the
eyes, a minute aperture appears over each, about ^ih. of an inch in
length when closed, and, in this state, linear and straight, but cir-
cular when fully expanded. The extreme margins of these openings
in the integuments being covered with fur, there is no well-marked
appearance of eyelids, — indeed, it may be a question, whether the
Mole, in strictness, can be said to possess these appendages. From
the observations I have made, I am disposed however to mfer that it
does possess them, but imperfect ; — imperfect, not having been able
to detect beneath the marginal cutis any vestige of ciliary cartilages,
and yet having found in the surrounding subcutaneous cellular tissue
muscular fibres so arranged as if designed for closure, resembling an
orbicular muscle, and probably designed for and performuig the part
of such a muscle.

As to the other muscles of the eye, one only, an abductor, was
distinguishable from adjoining muscles. It is of large size compara-
tively, and it may be inferred powerful : by acting on it, seizing it
with a forceps, and drawing it upwards, the ball of the eye was re-
tracted, thus denoting its office. I sought in vain for other muscles.
That they were not discovered, supposing them to exist, is not sur-
prising, considering the smallness of the organ and its peculiar un-
insulated position, most unfavourable for discriminating the subordi-
nate parts pertaining to it, such as the muscles.

Relative to the constituent parts of the organs themselves, except-
ing their delicacy and minuteness, I am not aware of any peculiarity.
The eye-ball is about J^th of an inch in diameter; the iris dark
brown ; the pupil circular ; the lens about j-g^rd of an inch in dia-
meter. Traces of a vitreous humour, and also of an aqueous, were
observable ; the former in the appearance of a cellular texture, as seen
under the microscope with a high power ; the latter as an exudation
of moisture, a just perceptible quantity of fluid, when the ball was

Zoological Society. 4i7

ruptured. From the situation of the eyes low down in the face, the
optic nerves are necessarily of unusual length.

The dissections, of which I have thus briefly given the results, I
need hardly remark were made chiefly under water, and with the aid
of the microscope.

To return to the subject which led to the inquiry, viz. the subter-
raneous eyeless Fauna brought to light by the Danish naturalist, you
in your letter briefly advert to the speculations which this curious
discovery gives rise to, as, " whether these animals originally had
eyes, and have lost them from want of use by inhabiting for ages
dark caves ; or, whether they were originally created without eyes,
for those abodes where they have no occasion for them," &c. Allow
me to ask — fully appreciating the difficulty of solving such pro-
blems — whether "the preceding observations on the eyes of the Mole
are not rather in favour of the latter than of the former solution ? It
is easy to imagine how the optic nerve and the more important parts
of the organ of vision might diminish in size from little use ; but it
is difficult to suppose that the same circumstance could have any
material effect in obliterating a cavity in bone — the eye's orbit — and,
if the Mole's eyes were thus originally designed, why may not the
eyeless animals have been formed in the first instance without eyes ?
Do not we see throughout Nature the most perfect harmony between
the organic structure and the modes of Ufe and habits of the living
beings, so that the one is the ti-ue index of the other, — and that in
the most minute details ? Excuse my touching on these sjieculative
questions, which, probably, from their nature, always must be specu-
lative, — unless indeed the eyeless species are found otherwise identical
with species possessing eyes, and there be found also a gradation in
them, as to power and size in accordance with the degrees of hght to
which the individuals have been habituated, as in advancing from the
open air and the entrance of the dark abodes to their deepest recesses.
Also, excuse me if the matter of this letter should not be new to you.
Lesketh How, Ambleside, April 28, 1851.

P.S. — It may be deserving of mention, that notwithstanding the
small size of the eye of the Mole, its appearance in fcetal development
is early : thus, in a foetus which I have recently examined, the length
of which was about three-quarters of an inch, the eyes were distinct ;
they were visible — conspicuous in the naked face, even without the
aid of a magnifying glass, and indeed were not much smaller than
those of the adult, and but little difi"erent in appearance : the diameter
of each was about j-g-oth of an inch.

2. Notice of two Viverridje from Ceylon, lately living
IN the Gardens. By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. etc.

The specimens here noticed were brought from Ceylon by Alex.
Grace, Esq., and lived some time in the Gardens of the Society.

The first is the species which I described some years ago under the
name oi Herpestes Smithii (Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, ii.), from a speci-
men which was living in the Surrey Zoological Gardens, now pre-

48 Zoological Society.

served in the Collection of the British Museum : that specimen was
said to have been sent from the Cape of Good Hope, but this must
have been a mistake, as it is quite unknown to Dr. Burchell, Dr.
A, Smith, Mr. Smut, Dr. Wahlberg, or other zoologists who have
written on the animals of South Africa.

Mr. Grace informs me that it is an inhabitant of the interior part
of Ceylon. It is by far the most beautiful species of the genus.

The second is a new species of Cynictis, which I propose tp-jicall

Cynictis Maccarthi^.

Teeth normal. Red brown ; hair elongate, flaccid, pale brown,
with a broad, black subterminal band, and a long whitish brown
tip ; of hands and feet shorter. Feet blackish brown, hair white
tipped. Claws elongate, slender, compressed, especially of the two
middle toes of the fore feet. Tail redder ; hair elongate, one-
coloured, red. Ears rounded, hairy.

Hub. Ceylon ; Jaffna, North of Ceylon {A. Grace, Esq.).

This species somewhat resembles Cynictis melanura m general
colour, but the hairs are much longer, not so adpressed, and, when
the individual colour of the hair is examined, most distinct.

I have proposed to name this interesting animal after Mrs. Mac-
Carthy, the wife of the Treasurer of the Colony and the daughter of
Mr. Hawes, the Assistant Secretary to the Colonies, who is much
interested in the study of natural history, and has kindly sent me
several very interesting natural productions from Ceylon.

The skull differs from all the other Herpestes that I have examined,
in the back of the nape being deeply and sharply notched instead of
transversely truncated, the notch in the living animal being filled up
with a cartilaginous septum.

3. Descriptions of fifty-two new species of the genus

MiTRA, from the Cumingian Collection.

By Arthur Adams, F.L.S. etc.

1. Mitra serotina, a. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi,
acuminatd, serotind ; spird productd, longitudinaliter plicatd, pli-
cis confertis, undulatis; transversim sulcatd, sulcis subdistantibus ;
aperturd antice dilatatd ; columelld quadriplicatd, basi contortd et
recurvd ; labro intus Urate, margine recto, antice subangulato,

Hab. Marquesas.

A light orange species, vrith a produced spire, and the outer lip pro-
duced and rather angulated anteriorly.

2. Mitra cratitia, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusi/ormi,
albidd, nitidd, liris elevatis transversis, acutis, et lineis elevatis,
longitudinalibus , decussatim ornatd; interstitiis suhtilissinie lon-
gitudinaliter striatis ; aperturd intus aurantiacd ; columelld plicis
quinque instnictd.

Hab. South Africa.

The shell from which the description is taken is worn, and not in

Zoological Society. 49

good condition, but it appears to be distinct from any species already
described.

3. MiTRA STRAMiNEA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi,
stramined; anfractibus planulatis, liris transversis rvgulosis, in-
terstitiis cancellatis, suturd subcanaliculatd ; aperturd oblongd,
antice subproductd ; columelld plicis quatuor, basi subrecurvatd ;
labro intus Itevi.

Hah.- ?

An oblong, transversely-ridged species, rather faintly cancellated
between the interstices.

4. MiTRA iNSiGNis, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-acuminatd ; spird
acutd, lavi, nitidd, albidd ; anfractibus plants, fascid angustd alba

fuscoque articulatd, ornatd; anfractu ultimo antici transversim
striata ; columelld sinuatd, biplicatd, antice incurvatd.
Hub. Rains Island {Mr. Ince).

This is a very peculiar form, reminding one almost of the genus
Pusionella of Gray.

5. MiTRA L^vis, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi, apice
acuta, lavi, nitidd, albidd; anfractibus planis, supremis cancel-
latis, ultimo fascid latd transversd, rufescenti ornato ; columelld
plicis quatuor, supremis magnis imbricatis.

Hab. Zanzibar.

A smooth 0/i»a-shaped species, with a polished surface, and a red-
brown band blending into the white of the last whorl ; the plates of
the columella are imbricate.

6. MiTRA TiGRiNA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-ovatd ; spird
crassiusculd, apice mucronato, rufo, alba strigosd; anfractibus
planiusculis, transversim subsulcatis ; columelld plicis quinque ;
labro intus rufo.

Hah. Phihppines.

Several specimens of this species, all agreeing in form, were col-
lected by Mr. Cuming ; but one only retained the natural colour of
the surface.

7. MiTRA TiARELLA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-ovatd, fused,
nodulis albis, ad suturas coronatd, longitudinaliter subplicatd,
transversim liratd, interstitiis valdi punctatis ; columelld plicis
quatuor ; labro margine crenulato.

Hab. Island of Ticao, sandy mud, 6 fathoms.
This small, brown-coloured species is beautifully crowned, in adult
specimens, with a diadem of white nodules at the suture of the whorls.

8. MiTRA PiGRA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi, ob-
scuro-fuscd, lineis pallidulis transversis prape suturas, albidd,
maculis rufis, ornatd; lavi; spird acuminatd ; anfractibus sep-
tern, planulatis ,• aperturd subdilatatd, intus albd ; columelld pli-
cis quatuor, albis, obliquis, instructd, antice subintortd.

Hah. Australia.
Ann. ^ Mag, N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 4

50 Zoological Society.

This species partakes somewliat of the character of M. sacerdo-
talis.

9. MiTRA LUCTUOSA, A. AcUims. M. testa oblong o-ftisiformi,
obscuro-fuscd, fascid unicd pallidd transversd ornatd ; spird
acuta, an/ractibus planulatis, transversim liratd ,• interstitiis
valde clathralo-punctatis ; aperturd oblongo-ovatd ; spird bre-
viori ; labio crassiusculo ; columelld plicis quatuor salientibus.

Hab. China Seas.

This species was obtained during the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang.

10. MiTRA ixscvLPTA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird brevi, acutd ; aperturd breviori ; an/ractibus planulatis,
pallide fused, maculis rufis, longitudinalibus, variegatd ; cingillis
integris, acutis, prominentibus, eequidistantibus ; liris intermediis
submonili/ormibus ; interstitiis longitudinaliter valde sulcatis ;
aperturd elongatd ; columelld plicis tribus ; labro acvto margine
crenulato.

Hab. Ceylon (Dr. Gardner).

This species also belongs to the same group as M. cingulata.

11. MiTRA EXARATA, A. Adauis. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ; spird
aperturam eequante ; anfractibns subrotundis ; suturd subcanalicu-
latd, olivaced, fasciis duabus pallidis transversis, longitudinaliter
costatd ; costellis cequalibus, subdistantibus ; interstitiis lineis in-
sculptis, profundis, transversis ; columelld plicis tribus, validis,
instructd.

Hab. Bais, island of Xegros, coarse sand, 7 fathoms.
The most characteristic feature of this species is the sculpture be-
tween the ribSj consisting of deep, eugraA ed, transverse lines.

12. MiTRA RVFOCiNCTA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird aperturam cequante ; anfractibus rotnndis, sordide albd,
fascid transversd lata rufo-fuscd ; longitudinaliter costatd, cos-

tis obtusis, rotnndis, distantibus ; interstitiis lineis impressis
transversis ; aperturd subdilatatd ; columelld plicis quatuor in-
structd ; labro tenui antice dilatato.

Hab. ?

A small, shghtly-wom specimen serves for this description, but it
is of peculiar form and sculpture.

13. MiTRA NiTiDA, A. Adauis. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ; spird
aperturd breviori ; anfractibus subrotundis, liEvi, nitidd, badid,
anfractu ultimo antice et postice sulcis nonnullis t)-ansversis in-
sti-ucto ; aperturd oblongd, antice subdilatatd ; columelld plicis
quatuor; labro simplici.

Hab. ?

A small, brown, shining species, with only a few transverse spiral
lines for sculpture.

14. MiTRA coMPT.\, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ; spird
aperturd longiore ; anfractibus subrotundis, svpern}' angulatis.

Zoological Society. 51

sordide albd, longitudinaliter plicatd ; transversim liratd, liris
apud plicas nodulosis ; interstiliis valde et regulariter clatliratis ;
anfractu ultimo antice angustato et reflexo ; columelld plicis quin-
que instructd; labro interne sulcata, margine crenulato.

Hub. China Seas.

This species, remarkable for the strong cancellation! between the
longitudinal plicae, was brought home in H.M.S. Samarang.

15. MiTRA LiGATA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi; spird
aperturd longiore, anfractibus plants ; castaneo-fuscd, lined unicd
pallidd, transversd in medio anfractuum, longitudinaliter plicatd,
transversim subliratd; columelld plicis quatuor ; labro simplici,
margine acuta.

Hub. Pasacao, province of South Camarinas; isle of Luzon, on
the sands.

The colouring of this species is very different from the allied spe-
cies, and the sculpture is pecuhar to many species belonging to the
subgenus Turris of Schumacher.

16. MitRA viBEX, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ; spird
aperturam <equa?ite ; anfractibus rotundis ; fused, prope suturas
palliduld, zonuld albd angustd transversd in medio anfractuum;
longitudinaliter carrugato-plicatd , transversim liratd, liris apud
plicas nodulosis ; interstitiis longitudinaliter striatts ; anfractu
ultimo angustato et antice subreflexo ; columelld plicis quatuar in-
structd; labro acuta.

Hab. ?

This species somewhat resembles armillata of Reeve, but the cor-
rugated nature of the plicae distinguishes it.

17. MiTRA iNTERRUPTA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird acuminatd ; aperturd breviori ; anfractibus plants, prope
suturas angulatis ; albidd, rufa-fusco variegatd ; cinguld trans-
versd fused moniliformi in medio anfractuum ; longitudinaliter
plicatd, plicis aqualibus, obliquis, obtusis, distantibus ; trans-
versim corrugato-liratd ; interstitiis punctatis ; anfractu ultimo
antice recurvata ; columelld superne excavatd, plicis tribus in-
structd; labro simplici.

Hab. North Australia.

The peculiar interrupted, dark, transverse band distinguishes this
elegant species.

18. MiTRA EXiMiA, A. Adams. M. testd ovatd; spird brevi, ob-
tusd ; nitidd, aurantiacd, maculis triangular ibus albis, cingillis
lavibus, latis, transversis ; interstitiis valde longitudinaliter cla-
thratis ; aperturd lineari-oblongd ; columelld plicis quatuor ; la-
bro intus Icevi, margine crenulato.

. Hab.-^-f.

This pretty little species belongs to the same group as M. leeta,
but the sculpture and markings are quite different, although the
colour is nearly similar.

4*

53 Zoological Society.

19. MiTRA MULTiLiRATA, A. Adams. M . fusiformis, spird acu-
minatd, aperturam <equante ; anfractibus rotundatis, ad suturas
angulatis ; pallide rufo-fuscd, cingillis lavibus transversis, aqui-
disiantibus, obhtsis, ornatd ; interstitiis lineis longitudinalibus,
elevatis, subcon/ertis, instructis ; anfractu ultimo antice producto
et subrejlexo ; columeUd antice truncatd, plicis quatuor instructd ;
labro intus sulcata, margine crenulato.

Hab. China Seas.

This species was obtained during the voyage of H. M.S. Samarang.

20. MiTRA L^TA, A. Adams. M. testd ovatd, crassiusculd, auran^
tiacd, punctis albis ornatd; longitudinaliter plicatd ; anfractibus
planiusciilis, transversim nodoso-liratd ; interstitiis simpUcibus ;
columeUd plicis quinque instructd; labro crenulato.

Hab. Ticao, under stones, low water.

An oblong-ovate, shining, orange species, with scattered round
white granules and regular nodulose lirse ; the spire is obtuse ; the
whorls are flattened and longitudinally plicate.

21. MiTRA ORNATA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusi/ormi, acu-
minatd ; spird acutd ; anfractibus novem, ad suturas angulatis;
suturd subcanaliculatd ; albd, fasciis transversis rufo-fuscis or-
natd; longitudinaliter costatd; costis regularibus, obliquis, sub.
crenatis ; interstitiis transversim valde clathratis ; anfractu ultimo
antice subumbilicato et recurvo ; columella plicis quatuor ; labro
postice subangulato.

Hab. ?

This species is pecuhar for its regular form and exactness of scul-
pture, as well as for its beauty of colouring.

22. MiTRA NODiHRATA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi,
pallide fulvd, fascid latd rufd transversd ornatd ; spird acumi-
natd, turritd ; anfractibus octo planis, infra suturas angulatis;
nitidd, longitudinaliter plicatd; plicis distantibus, prominenti-
bus, obliquis, prope suturas valde nodulosis ; interstitiis lineis im-
pressis transversis ornatis ; columeUd plicis quatuor ; labro acuto.

Hab. ?

An elegant form, with the pliciform ribs strongly nodulose at their
hind part.

23. MiTRA PURA, A.Adams. M. testd fusiformi ; spird ttper-
turd longiori; anfractibus subplanulatis ; albd; cingulis trans-
versis angustis, subelevatis, crenulatis, rufo subarticulatis ; liris
tribus intermediis ; interstitiis valde punctatis, ornatd ; aperturd
oblongd, antice dilatatd ; columeUd plicis quinque ; labro intus
sulcato, margine crenato.

Hab. ?

An elegantly formed species, with the last whorl somewhat recurved.

24. MiTRA ciNGULATA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird acutd, aperturam tequante ; anfractibus planulatis ; sordide
albd; cingillis prominentibus subcrenulatis, acutis, transversis ;

Zoological Society. ^

' '^' interstitiis longitudinaliter valde clathratis, ornatd; anfractu ul-
" timo antice producto et recurvato ; columelld plicis tribus.

Hah. ?

This species belongs to that group in which the whorls are encir-
cled with transverse ridges.

25. MiTRA RETICULATA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird apertvrd breviori ; anfractibus subrotvndis ; albd ; cingulis
transversis, cequidistantibus, acutis, crenulatis, sulcis obliquis
long itudinali bus decussatis, ornatd ; columelld plicis qxiatuor ; la-
i bro intus sulcata.
Hab. Port Essington, 7 fathoms, sandy mud (Jukes).
Remarkable for the acute, crenated, transverse ridges which give
the surface a reticulated appearance.

. 26. MiTRA ASPERULATA, A. Adams. M. testd oblong o-fusiformi,
, pallide rufo-fuscd, ad suturas albidd, longitudinaliter sulcatd,
transversim liratd, liris nodulis, subacutis, aspei'ulatis ; spird pro-
ductd ; anfractibus sex, subrotundis ; aperturd spirts dimidium
aquante, antice abrupte truncatd ; columelld plicis tribus; labro
acuto.
Hab. Australia.

The transverse ridges are set with subacute nodules, which give a
rough appearance to the surface.

27. MiTRA MiRABiLis, A. Adams. M. testd fusiformi; spird
acuminatd, aperturd longiori ; anfractibus novem, planulatis, su-
perne angulatis; albd, maculis rufis triangularibus, etpunctis trans-
verso-elongatis, rufescentibus, ornatd; longitudinaliter plicatd,
plicis obtusis, regularibus, distantibus, nodosis ; nodis postici
prominentibus ; cingulis transversis nodulosis, obtusis, elevatis,
instructd ; anfractu ultimo in medio angustato ; antice productd
et subrefiexd ; aperturd elongatd ; columelld plicis quatuor ; labro
postice angulato, in medio inflexo, intus sulcato, margine crenulato.

Hab. Socotra.

28. MiTRA ALBiNA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi, albd;
spird conicd, longitudinaliter plicatd ; anfractibus subrotundatis,
liris transversis omatis ; anfractu ultimo Itevi, postice subplicato,
antice sulcis transversis punctatis ornato ; columelld plicis quin-
que ; aperturd oblongo-lineari ; labia subcalloso ; labro acuto.

Hab. Batangas, Isle of Luzon, on the reefs.

This Mitra is perfectly white, and of a very peculiar form ; Mr.
Cuming possesses but a single specimen.

29. MiTRA AMCENA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi, albd,
maculis rufis variegatd ; spird acuminatd ; anfractibus ado, sub-
rotundis, carinulis transversis, Itevibus, elevatis, rufo-fusco articu-
latis, lird intermedid crenulatd, interstitiis eleganter longitudina-
liter clathratis ; aperturd angustd ; columelld plicis quinque ;
labro tenui, acuto.

Hab. Red Sea.

This elegant species belongs to the annulated group.

54 Zoological Society.

30. MiTRA RUTiLA, A. Adanis. M. testd ohlongo-fusiformi, acu-
minatd, aurantiacd, maculis albis sparsis ornatd, fasciis pallidis
transversis prope suturas, suturis maculis aurantincis maculatis ;
spird productd, acutd ; anfractibus sepiem, transversim liratd ;
anfractu ultimo liris antice distinctioribus ; aperturd dilatatd; colu-
melld plicis quatuor ; labro acuta, antice crenato.

Hab. ?

31 . MiTRA DELiCATA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ; spird
aperturd longiore ; anfractibus plants ; suturd subcanaliculatd, sor-
dide albd, fasciis transversis duabus pallidis ; longitudinaliter

■ plicatd, plicis a7igustis, acutis, crenulatis, interstitiis transversim
clathratis, anfractu ultimo antice angustato et recurvato ; colu-
melld plicis quatuor ; labro margine acuta, crenulato.

Hab. Cape York, 8 fathoms (Jukes).

A species of great delicacy, both of colour and sctdpture.

32. MiTRA RUFESCENS, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird acuminata, sordide albd, rufo variegatd, cingillis transversis,
acutis, subdistantibus, liris duabus intermediis, interstitiis longi-
tudinaliter valde sulcatis, sulcis subdistantibus ; columelld antice
tortuosd, plicis quatuor obliquis instructd; labro interne sulcata,
margine crenato.

Hab. China Seas.

This species, obtained during the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang,
partakes of the same kind of sculpture as M. annulata and others,
for which Swaiuson has formed a subgenus.

33. MiTRA FORMOSA, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusiformi, alba
rufoque eleganter variegatd ; spird acutd ; anfractibus 8, ratundis,
ad suturas subangulatis, cingillis transversis nodulosis ornatd,
nodulis subquadratis, in seriebus regularibus ; aperturd spird bre-
viore; columelld plicis quatuor ; labro acuta, margine crenato.

Hab. Marquesas {Rohr).

A very handsome species, entirely covered with close-set granules
arranged in transverse rows.

34. MiTRA SACERDOTALis, A. Adams. M. testd oblongo-fusi-
formi ; spird acuminatd ; anfractibus novem, subplanulatis ; fulvd,
lineis fuscis transversis ornatd, prope suturas albidd, rufa macu-
losd ; Iccvi, sulcis distantibus, transversis insculptd ; anfractu ulti-
mo basi recurvatd ; aperturd spira dimidium aquante, recurvatd
et antice truncatd ; columelld plicis quatuor, obliquis ; labro alba,
acuta, antice rotundato.

Hab. Australia.

A fine species of a peculiar character, both as regards form, colour
and sculpture.

35. MiTRA MACROSPiRA, A. Adams. M . testd pyramidali -turritd ;
spird valde productd, albidd, maculis rufis irregularibus ornatd;
anfractibus planis, longitudinaliter costellatd, castellis Icevibus sub-
cm fertis, interstitiis clathrato-punctatis ; anfractu ultima antice

Zoological Society. 5Si

angustato, basi subrecurvo ; • columelld plicis guinque ; labro intus
lirato, margine acuto, antice producto subangulato.

Hah. ?

A whitish species with a produced acuminate spire, and the short
aperture with the base narrowed ; the outer lip dilated anteriorly.

36. MiTRA BELLULA, A, Adauis. M. testd oblong o-fusiformi,
albd, nitidd, maculis rufis moniliformibus ad suturas ornatd;
transversim sulcatd ; anfractibus planis, supremis cancellatis ;
aperturd angustd, antice productd, contortd, et recurvd ; columelld
plicis quatuor instructd.

Hab. Isle of Capul, on the reefs, low water.

A small, transversely grooved, polished species, with a necklace-
like row of reddish spots near the sutures.

37. MiTRA ECHiNATA, A. Adams. M. testd fusiformi-turritd;
spird acuminatd, albido-carneold, ad apicem rufescente, ad basin
fascid latd transversd rufescenti ornatd; anfractibus planis , longi-

tudinaliter costatd, costis prominentibus , prope suturas echinato-
nodulosis, et inferne subnodosis, interstitiis sulcato-clathratis ;
labro intus lirato ; columelld plicis quatuor instructd.
Hab. ?

38. MiTRA sciTULA, A. Adams. M. testd fusiformi-turritd ;

spird acuminatd, anfractibus planiuscuUs, carneold ; punctis rU'
fescentibus sparsim pictd ; longitudinaliter costatd, costis undula-
tis, lavibus, subdistantibus : interstitiis valde clathratis ; aperturd
antice angustatd, basi siibrecurvd ; columelld plicis quatuor in-
structd.

Hab. China Seas.

A small, turreted, light-coloured species, with undulating ribs and
clathrated interstices.

39. MiTRA MARMOREA, A. Adams. M. testd fusif ormi-turritd ;
spird acuminatd ; anfractibus planiuscuUs ; olivaced, rufo-fuscd
marmoratd, longitudinaliter costatd, costis Icevibus, crassis, superne
subnodosis; interstitiis transversim exaratis ; columelld plicis
quinque ; basi subcontortd et recurvd.

Hab. Tambay, Isle of Negros, coarse sand, 10 fathoms.
Greenish, marbled with fuscous ; ribs flat and broad ; interstices
with transverse engraved lines.

40. MiTRA TURRicuLA, A. Adams. M. testd fusiformi-turritd,
albd, cameo sparsim pictd, anfractibus superne angulatis ; longi-
tudinaliter costatd, costis crassis, lavibus, distantibus, supra nodosis,
interstitiis sulcato-clathratis ; aperturd spiram eequante; columelld
plicis quatuor, supremis duabus duplicatis ; basi vix recurvd.

Hah. ?

A small, elegant, turreted species, with smooth, thick ribs, and the
interstices piuictate-clathrate.

41. MiTRA PALLIDA, A. Adams. M. testd turrito-fusiformi ;

56 Zoological Society.

spird productd, acuminatd ; anfractibus convexiusculis ; albidd,
sparsim rufo-fusco pictd, longitudinaliler costatd, costis nodulosis,
interstitiis dathrato-punctatis ; aperturd brevi, antice angustatd,
basi productd, tortuosd et recurvd ; columella quadripUcatd.

Hab. Marquesas.

A delicate, small, pale species, with scattered red-brown blotches,
and with the interstices between the ribs clathrate-punctate.

42. MiTRA JuKESii, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ; spird
acutd, aperturce dimidium cequante ; anfractibus planis, prope su-
turas angulatis; albidd, fasciis castaneis transversis ornatd; truns-
versim sulcatd, sulcis, prope suturas, pro/undioribus ; longitudina-
liter plicatd, plicis obtusis, distantibus, prope suturas nodulosis ;
columelld plicis quatuor instructd ; labro intus Icevi.

Hab. North Australia {Jukes).

This species is intermediate between M. cor rug at a and M. vulpe-
cula, but is distinct from both.

43. MiTRA CRENiPLiCATA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi;
spird acuminatd; anfractibus planulatis ; brunned, longitudinaliter
plicatd, plicis crenatis tenuibus ; transversim liratd, liris cequali-
bus, confertis, nodulosis ad plicas ; aperturd spiram eequante ;
labio postice calloso, antice dilatato ; columelld plicis quatuor in-
structd; labro intus dentato-lirato, margine incrassato.

Hab. ?

This species belongs to the group named by Mr. Gray Zierliana.

44. MiTRA CRENiLABRis, A. Adams. M. testd fvsiformi ; spird
aperturam aquante ; anfractibus planis ; fulvd, longitudinaliter
substriatd, transversim sulcatd; aperturd oblongd, antice dilatatd ;
columelld plicis quatuor, antice incurvatd ; labro, in medio, recto,
margine crenato et incrassato.

Hab. ?

This Mitra resembles in many particulars M.fulva, Reeve, but in
all the specimens I have seen the outer lip is thin and smooth in that
species.

45. Mitra castanea, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformi ;
spird productd ; anfractibus rotundatis ; castaned, nitidd, trans-
versim punctato-striatd ; aperturd quam spira breviore, antice dila-
tatd; columelld plicis quinque.

Hab. ?

This species most closely resembles M. badia, Reeve, but the
whorls are rounded, and it differs in other particulars.

46. Mitra dichrom a, A.Adams. M .testd ovato-fusif orm.i ; spird
acuminatd; anfractibus planis ; suturd canaliculatd, antice castaneo-

fuscd, postice albidd ; longitudinaliter substriatd, transversim sul-
catd, sulcis antice profvndis , aperturd antice dilatatd; columelld
plicis quinque instructd, antice productd ; labro intus lirato, mar-
gine crenulato.
Hab. ?

Zoological Society. ^'^v

47 MiTRA DEALBATA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusiformij

spirdapice cancellato ; anfractibus planulatis ; suturd profundd

' .Zbd transversim sulcatd. sulcis distantibus ; aperturd oblonga,

' antice dilatatd ; columelld postke excavatd ; phcis sex ; labro an-

tice dilatato, intus lirato.

S's^s somewhat resembles M. crenilahris in form, but it is
much more slender, and the sculpture is different.
3 MiTRANODx;LiFERA,A.Adams. M.testdturritdjusiformi:
t spird auam apertura longiore; anfractibus, props suturasangulatis;
::;SiddJongitudinaliterplicatd, plicis. ad suturas, nodulos^s, pro-
-Ttttnkbus^istantibusf transversim liraM^^^^^^
■ Haliter striatis ; aperturd intus fulvd, postice angulatd ; columelld
plicis quatuor; labro margtne flexuoso.

A small species, somewhat resembling M. cymelimn, Reeve, but

without the transverse black lines.

49 MitraMari^, A.Adams. M. testd ovato-conicd ; spird
acuminatd ; anfractibus planis.cingulistrrbus.transversisacus.

elevatis. interstitiis longitudinaliter profundi sulcatxs, mstructis;
postice albd, antice hepaticd, reticulationibus albis punctisque rufo-
%scis ornatd; anfractu ultimo, sulcis transversis inerstztns
^cZs; columelld plicis quinque instructd; labro rntus sul-
cato, margine crenulato.
SewttM!;-.ei.«, but of very different form and colour.
50 MiTRA PTJSILI.A, A. Adams. M. testd ovata-fusiformi ;spird
tZritd elongatd; anfractibus subrotundatis ; Mida, fascid laid
iZnvrsd, cLeoM, Lice ornatd ; longitudinabter costatd, costs
reqularibus. cequalibus, subconfertis, interstttus transversim valde
sulcatis; aperturd brevi ; columelld plicis quatuor.

rr T f

A^mall species, with a single, transverse, faint pink band at the
fore part of the last whorl.

51 MiTRA coLTTMBELLiNA, A. Adams. M. tcstd ovato-fusifor-
mi ■ spird brevi, acutd ; anfractibus subrotunaatis, albo castaneoque
concinne pictd, transversim evanide sulcatd; aperturd ovato-ob-
longd, antice dilatatd; columelld plicis quatuor; labro mtus Uvi.

S's^es is very prettily painted with white and dark chestnut-
brown, and in form somewhat resembles a Colmnbella.

52 MiTRA Philippinarum, a. Adams. M. testd ovato-fusi-
formi- spird brevi, acuminata; anfractibus planulatis, cmered.
HammuUs rufo-fuscis, longitudinalibus, variegatd ; transversim
iZtsulfi regularibus, subdistantibus, profundis; aperturd
Unearloblongd. intus fused; columelld plicis sex ; labro margine
albo, crenato.

Hab. Philippines.

58

Zoological Society.

This species is figured in Mr. Reeve's Monograph as M.flammea
of Quoy, the origiual type of which, however, Mr. Cuming possesses,
and it is entirely different.

May 27, 1851.— W. Yarrell, Esq., V.P.L.S,, m the Chair.

The following communications were received and read ; —

1. Notice of the Birds of Madeira, in a letter

addressed to the secretary.

By Edward Vernon Harcourt, Esa.

Sir, — According to your request, I send you a short account of
the birds that breed in ]\Iadeira, together with a list of those that
visit the island.

The birds of Madeira are less numerous than might be expected in
so genial a climate, and most of them are merely varieties, where they
differ from European species.

The birds that breed in Madeira are these : —

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

15.

16.
17.
18.

19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

Latin Name.

Falco Tinntmculus, Linn.

Buteo, Linn.

Strix flammea, Linn.
Turdus Merula, Linn.
Sylvia Rubecida, Lath.
atricapilla. Lath.

English Name.

Kestrel.

Buzzard.

Barn Owl.

Blackbii'd.

Redbreast.

Black-cap Warbler.

(Curruca Heinekeni, Jard.) Variety of the former

Cumica conspicillata. Go mZi

Regulus ?

Motacilla boamla, Linn.

Anthus pratensis, Bechst.
Fringilla butp-acea, Linn.

Carduelis, Linn.

Petronia, Linn.

Tiutillon, Webb S,-

Berthelot.
cannabiaa, Linn.

Cypselus unicolor, Jard.

mm-arius, Temm.

Columba Trocaz, Hein.

Palumbus, Linn.

Livia, Briss.

Perdix rubra, Briss.

Cotm-nix, Lath.

Scolopax Rusticola, Linn.
Sterna Hirundo, Linn.
Laiais argentatus, Brunn.

. Spectacle Warbler.
Grey Wagtail.

Meadow Pipit.

Green or Wild Canary.

Goldfinch.

Ring Sparrow.

BufF-breasted Chaf-
finch.

Greater Redpole or
Linnet.

Lesser Swift.

Common Swift.

Long-toed Wood-
Pigeon.

Ring-dove.

Rock-pigeon.

Red-legged Partridge,

Quail.

Woodcock.

Tern.

Hen-ins; Gull.

Portuguese Name.

Francelho.

Manta.

Coruja.

Merlo-preto.

Papinbo.

Tinto-Negro.

Tinto-Negro de

Capello.
None.
Abibe.
Lavandeira ania-

rella.
Corre de Caminbo.
Canario.
Pinta Silva.
Pardao.
Tentilhao.

Tinto roxo.

Andoriulia daSerra.

do Mai-.

Trocaz.

Pombo.
Pombinbo.
Perdix.
Cordonez.
Gallinhola.
Garajao.

Gaio, Guivata (after
3rd aut. moult).

Zoological Society. 89

Latin Name. English Name. Portuguese Name.

26. Procellaria Puffinus, Linn. Cinereous Shearwater. Cagarra.

27. Anglorum, Temm. Manks Shearwater. Boeiio.

28. obscura, Gmel. Dusky Petrel. Pintainho.

20/ anginho, Heiw. Angel Petrel. \ A„„4„Hn

^y- { Bulwerii, Jard. Bulwer's Petrel. | Angmno.

30. ? ? Roque de Castro.

The Kestrels are very numerous and very tame, perching on the
roofs of houses, from whence they dart frequently at canary-birds
hanging in their reed cages outside the windows, and they generally
succeed in securing their prey ; they hve principally on lizards, grass-
hoppers, and mice.

The Buzzard is seldom seen about the town, but confines his flights
to the highest moimtains, feeding on small birds, insects, and reptiles.

The Barn Owl inhabits the ravines in small numbers ; it is a little
darker than the British Owl. It may be remarked that all the birds
of Madeira are darker than their European brethren.

The Redbreast is very common ; it is frequently caged, and seems
to flourish in captivity.

The Blackbird, which in some parts is very plentiful, does not differ
from the English bird.

The Black-cap Warbler, which is here the most domestic songster,
has been sometimes called the Madeira Nightingale ; there is a ful-
ness in its warble which in a degree justifies such praise. A Ma-
deiran variety of this bird has been described by Sir William Jardine*
as a new species, imder the name of Curntca Heinekeni ; Dr. Heine-
ken, however, in his paper on the subject in the 'ZoologicalJournal,'
No. xvii. Art. xvii., disproves the supposition of its being a distinct
.species, and I am able to confirm the view that Dr. Heineken takes
of it. The popular belief amongst the natives is, that where the nest
of a " Tinto Negro" contains five eggs, the fifth always turns out a
" Tinto Negro de Capello." The variety is much prized ; for where
you could buy a common " Tinto Negro " for sixpence or a shilling,
you woidd be asked eight or ten shillings for a "Tinto Negro de Ca-
pello." The size of the two birds is precisely the same in all parti-
culars ; the chief difi^erence consists in the black cap in the variety
being extended to the shoulders, and I have sometimes seen the black
extended over all the under parts : the under parts are generally much
the same as those of the common female Black-cap, and the upper
parts as those of the common male.

The Wren is one of the prettiest feathered inhabitants of Madeira j
it Uves amongst the laurel forests, in the less frequented parts of the
island. It seems intermediate between the Gold and Fire-crested
Wrens of Britain, and is a little larger and brighter than either.

The Spectacle Warbler is very locally distributed ; it is found in
brakes and bushes in some of the unfrequented parts.

The Grey Wagtail is very common, frequenting the cisterns attached
to houses, as well as the streams ; where, from its familiar habits

* Edinb. Journ. of Nat. and Geog. Science, Jan. 1830, vol. i. p. 243.

60 Zoological Society.

amongst the washerwomen, it has been admitted in Madeiran phraseo-
logy into the ranks of the sisterhood, under the title of "Lavaadeira."

The Meadow Pipit is plentifully found on the cliffs and fields near
the sea, and on the serras.

The Green Canary is the original stock of the bird so well known
to us as the Yellow Canary ; it flies about in large flocks, with linnets
and other birds, and is easily distinguished by its song, which is the
same as that of the captive variety. The price of a good singing ca-
nary, either in Madeira or the Canary islands, varies from five to nine
shillings, so that in fact it may be bought much cheaper in London.
This bird has been admirably described by Dr. Heineken, in the
' Zoological Journal,' No. xvii. Art. xvii.

The Goldfinch is very common, and differs in no respect from our
own.

The Ring Sparrow here takes the place, in a way, of our House
Sparrow : it is universal ; on the bleak serras, near houses, on the
rocks by the sea ; there is no place that it does not frequent. It
diff'ers thus in habits, though in nothing else, from the Ring Sparrow
of Europe.

The Chaffinch of Madeira is nearly identical with the bird figured,
under the name of " FringUla Tintillon,'" in Webb and Berthelot's
work on the Canary islands.

The Greater Redpole is very abundantly met with ; it differs from
the English Linnet in retaining its carmine colouring through the year.

The Lesser Swift is mentioned in Brewster's 'Journal,' by Dr.
Heineken, under the title of " Black-chinned Swift." This property
is however by no means general amongst the species : I have several
in my possession with the chin fully as white as that of the common
Swift. One of the chief diff'erences is in size, the ' unicolor ' being
much the smallest. The tail is forked about an inch and a half, and
the plumage is rather darker than that of the common Swift.

The common Swift is not quite so plentiful as the Lesser Swift.
Both species remain in the island throughout the year ; their nests
are built in the cliff's ; their habits vary from those of Swifts in En-
gland ; here they seem to take the place of the Swallow, hunting and
skimming along the gromid in a manner that would appear very de-
grading to their northern brethren.

The Ring-dove appears to be rather larger than the English bird ;
in other respects it is similar. It lives in the forests on the north
side of the island.

The Long-toed Wood Pigeon has been described by Dr. Heineken,
in 'Brewster's Journal,' under the name of " Columba Trocaz ;" it is
about an inch longer than the Madeiran Ring-dove ; one of its chief
peculiarities, and which seems to have escaped observation, is the great
length of its centre toe, being more than an inch longer than that of
the Ring-dove ; it has a silvery ring all round its neck ; it is darker in
its general plumage than the Ring-dove, and is excellent eating. It
inhabits the forests on the north side of the island, feeding upon
grasses and the acorns of the laurel-trees.

The Rock Pigeon inhabits the sea cliff's, and rocks in the ravines

Zoological Society. ®§

all over the island. There is a variety here which is darker in its
plumage and in the colour of its feet than the common Rock Pigeon.

The Red-legged Partridge is shot on the serras.

The Quail is more plentiful than the Partridge, and approaches
nearer to the habitations of man ; it pairs, laying about sixteen eggs,
and has three or four broods in the season.

The Woodcock is found chiefly in the west, and on the Paul da
Serra, sometimes plentifully. It is a large bird, but I think of in-
ferior flavour ; it breeds in the island, and is met with throughout
the year.

The Tern appears chiefly at the Dezerta islands and at Point Sao
Louren90.

The Herring Gull is common everywhere ; Dr. Renton says it
is quicker by some months in obtaining its mature plumage than
with us.

The Cinereous Shearwater breeds plentifully on the Dezerta islands ;
its cry, whether on the wing or on shore, is very remarkable ; the
natives salt it and consider it eatable.

The Manks Shearwater is also very plentiful at the Dezertas ; it is
easily distinguished from the Dusky Petrel, which is another inha-
bitant of the Dezertas, by its superior size, and by the colour of its
feet. In the Dusky Petrel the feet are bluish ash-colour, and in the
Manks Shearwater flesh-colour ; in the Dusky Petrel all the secre-
tions are green, and in the Manks Shearwater yellow. The Dusky
Petrel is a very tame bird, and will live upon almost anything ; it
runs along the ground on its belly, and uses its curious- shaped bill
in climbing up the rocks.

The Angel Petrel of Heineken has the tail slightly forked, and
differs from the other smaller Petrels in having no white about the
rump or flanks ; it is entirely uniform black ; it is very common on
the Dezerta islands; when approached it emits a highly offensive
matter.

The Bulwer's Petrol, as described by Sir Wm. Jardine *, I never
saw at Madeira, nor have I ever met with any one that has seen it
there. Sir "Wm. Jardine says, " it is easily distinguished from any
other, by having the two centre tail-feathers elongated, as in the genus
Lestris, and not even or forked, like the other Petrels." It is pro-
bably identical with the Angel Petrel.

There is another Petrel, called by the natives " Roque de Castro,"
pronounced "Roque de Crasto," which differs from any I have ever
seen described; it approaches perhaps nearer to Leach's Petrel than
any other, though the shape of the bill alone is sufficient to separate
it from that species. It is common on the Dezerta islands, where it
breeds, though it is by no means so abundant as the Angel Petrel.

* Sir "W. Jardine on the Birds of Madeira, ' Edinb. Journ. of Nat. and Geog.
Science,' Jan. 1830, p. 245, and 'Illustrations of Ornithology,' by Jardine and
Sdby.

63

Zoological Society.

The following is a list of the stragglers found in Madeira : —

Latin Name.

31. Cathartes percnopterus, Temm.

32. Falco nisus, Unn.

33. Corvus corax, Linn.

34. corone, Linn.

35. Oriolus galbula, Linn.

36. Stiirnus vulgaris, Linn.

37. Turdus iliacus, Linn.
3S. musicus, Linn.

39. Sylvia hortensis. Lath.

40. Troglodytes europseus, Selb.

41. Motacilla alba, Linn.

42. Alauda ai-vensis, Linn.

43. Fringilla chloris, Linn.

44. domestica, Linn.

45. Cuculiis canorus, Linn.

46. Musophaga africana, Temm.

47. Upiipa ejiops, Linn.

48. Merops apiaster, Linn.

49. Alcedo ispida, Linn.

50. Hirundo urbica, Linn.
61. rustica, Linn.

52. riparia, Linn.

53. Caprimiilgiis europseus, Linn.

54. Columba oenas, Linn.

55. Turtm-, Linn.

56. CEdicnemus crepitans, Temm.

57. Calidi-is ai-euaria, J/Z.

68. Vanellus cristatus, Meyer.

59. Charadrius hiaticula, Linn.

60. pluvialis.

61 . Strepsilas intei-pres. Leach.

62. Ciconia nigra, Temm.

63. ? Ai'dea cinerea.

64. Ardea russata, Wagler.

65. purpurea, Linn.

66. minuta, Linn.

67. stellaris, Linn.

68. nycticorax, Linn.

69. Limosa melanura, Leisler.

70. Numenius arquata, Lath.

71. pliEeopus, Temm.

72. Tringa pugnax, I/m».

73. subarquata, Temm.

74. vaiiabilis, Meyer.

75. cinerea, Temm.

76. Tetanus hypoleucos.

77. glottis, Bechst.

78. Scolopax gallinago, Linn.

79. major, Temm.

80. Crex Baillonii, Temm.

81. Gallinula chloropus, La/A.

English Name.
Egyptian Vultiu-e.
Sparrow Hawk.
Raven.

Carrion Crow.
Golden Oriole.
Common Starling.
Redwing.
Common Tbrush.
Greater Petty-cbaps.
Common Wren.
Pied Wagtail.
Skylark.

Green Grosbeak.
Common Sparrow.
Cuckoo.

African Bee-eater.
Hoopoe.
Bee-eater.

King-fisher.

House Martin.

Chimney Swallow.

Bank Martin.

European Goatsucker.

Stock-dove.

Tm-tle-dove.

Thick-knee.

Sanderling.

Crested Lapwing.

Ringed Plover.

Golden Plover.

Turnstone.

Black Stork.

Common Heron.

Buff-backed Heron.

Purple Heron.

Little Bittern.

Common Bittern.

Night Heron.

Black-tailed Godwit.

Common Curlew.

Whimbrel.

Ruff.

Pigmy Cmlew.

Dunlin.

Knot.

Sandpiper.

Greenshank.

Common Snipe.

Great Snipe.

Baillon's Crake.
Gallinule.

Authority t-

Mr, Lowe.

Mr. Lowe.
Mr. Penfold.
Mr. Penfold.
Mr. Lowe.

* * *
Mr. Lowe.

* * *
Mr. Penfold.

* 4t *

Mr. Lowe.

* * *
Mr. Lowe.
Mr. Lowe.

Doubtful.
Mr. Hinton.
Ml'. Lowe.
* » «
Mr. Lowe.
Mr. Lowe.

•X- « *

Mr. Lowe.
Mr. Hewitt.
Mr. Lowe.
Mr. Lowe.

Mr. Lowe.

* * *

* * *
Mr. Hinton.
Mr. Lowe.

» * *
Mr. Lowe.

* * »
Mr. Lowe.

* * *

* * *
Mr. Hinton.

t Where there are stars it is on my own authority.

Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

63

Latin Name.

82. Ortygometra crex, Temm.

83. Fulica atra, Linn.

84. Anser segetum, Steph.

85. Mareca penelope, Selb.

86. Anas crecca, Linn.

87. boschas, Linn.

88. Sterna nigra, Linn.

89. Dougallii, Mont.

90. Larus tridactylus. Lath.

91. Lestris cataractes, Temm.

92. Colymbus glacialis, Linn.

93. Sula alba, Temm.

94. Procellaria Leachii, Temm.

95. pelagica, Linn.

I have the

English Name.
Land-rail.
Coot.

Bean Goose.
Wigeon.
Teal.
Mallard.
Black Tern.

Roseate Tern.

Kittiwake.

Skua.

Northern Diver.

Gannet.

Leacb's Petrel.

Stormy Petrel,
honour to remain. Sir,
Yours,

Authorityf.
Mr. Lowe.

Mr. Penfold.

* * *
Mr. Penfold.
Mr. Lowe.
Sir W. Jardine.

Mr. Lowe.

Sir W. Jardine.

Doubtful.

&c..

Edward Vernon Harcourt,

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. -

May 12, 1853.— Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.

The following papers were read : —

r » oX Soap Beans of China," by Dr. Macgowan of Nmgpo^
This paper contained a popular description, chiefly derived from
ChneL authorities, of two species of C^/«f T'^^u^h furnish the
Soap Bean and the Plump Soap Bean of the Chmese The Beans
have marked saponaceous qualities, and are used as detergents, for

«^T%ltV£ of the Island of Arran," by Dr Balfour, The
author noticed the plants which occur in different districts, in con-
neSo^rth the rocks. He mentioned that he had observed between
500 and 600 Phanerogamous plants, and 27 Ferns ^"^ Eqaiseta.

3. "On the Colorific properties of the Lichens. Part IIL The
Manufacture of the Lichen-dyes," by W. Lauder Lmdsay, M.D
The author detailed the various processes of manufacture as carried
on in different countries, on the large fcale (by the manufacturer)
and small scale (by the peasant), with the prmciples on which these
are severally founded.

June 9.— Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.

Dr. Balfour stated that some of the Palms in the Botanic Garden
had sent their fronds through the roof of the Palm-House and that
unless measures were taken immediately for makmg an addition to
the house, he would be under the necessity of destroying some of the
finest Palms in Britain. ^,„-„„

The following are the measurements of some of them. In giving

t "Where there are stars it is on my own authority.

64 Miscellaneous.

the height, the leafy part at the top of the caudex is included, along
with the tub in which the plant is growing : —

Acrocomia aculeata, 38 feet.
Areca triandra, 19 „

Caryota urens, 43 „

The frond is 4 feet 9 inches beyond the roof.
Chamserops humilis var. elata, 20 feet.
Cocos nucifera . . 18 „

Euterpe montana . . 38 „

Frond about 2 feet beyond the roof.
Livistona chinensis, 40 feet.

Fronds bent down by the roof of the house.
Sagus Rumphii, 43 feet.

Fronds about 10 inches beyond the roof.
Seaforthia elegans, 22 feet.

Several of them are between fifty and sixty years old.
Dr. Balfour gave an account of a botanical trip to Ireland in August
1852 with some of his pupils.

MISCELLANEOUS.

On the Fecundation of the Fucacece. By M. Gustave Thuret.

The physiological functions of the antheridia in the higher Cryp-
togamia appear to be now pretty well established. It is no longer
doubted that they are fecundating organs, and that the antherozoi'ds
which they contain are the immediate agents of fecundation, although
the action of these upon the female organ or archegonium has not
yet been observed.

But as regards the lowest Cryptogamia (Algae, Fungi, Lichens)
the question is much less advanced. The existence of antheridia in
these vegetables is a recent discovery, which careful researches will
probably extend to all the families of this vast group, but which in
the author's opinion cannot be established with certainty until the
fecundating power of these organs upon the reproductive apparatus
shall be demonstrated.

The author availed himself of his stay at Cherbourg to endeavour
to resolve this question as regards the organs designated by M. De-
caisne and himself as the antheridia of the Fucacese. He considers
that the results of his researches furnish the first direct proof of the
existence of true sexuality in the lower Cryptogamia.

"With this view he has studied the phsenomeua presented by arti-
ficial impregnation. Several species of Fucacese are dioecious ; when
these plants are placed for some time in a damp atmosphere, the
spores and the antheridia are pushed out on the surface of the fronds
in great numbers ; they are then easily collected and deposited in
vessels filled with sea-water, or simply in a drop of water on a slip of
glass which is protected from evaporation.

Miscellaneovs. ^ ■

When these organs are kept hi separate vessels, the following phse-
nomena are observed. The antheridia unmediately emit their anthe-
rozoids, which move about with the greatest vivacity ; these move-
ments are frequently continued till the next day, diminishing gra-
dually in intensity ; on the third day decomposition commences. The
spores remain for about a week without sensible alteration ; they
then also decompose without further development. Sometimes phae-
nomena resembling germination are exhibited ; some of them emit
irregular prolongations, but no septa are formed ; the evolution of the
spores proceeds no further ; they become decomposed hke the others.
In fact, germination never takes place in spores which are deprived
of the contact of the antherozoids.

But when the spores and the antheridia are mixed together, the
spore becomes invested with a very distinct membrane in the course
of a day or two, a septum is formed which divides the spore into two
hemispheres, and a sensible elongation begins to appear on a point of
the circumference. The development of the young plant then pro-
ceeds rapidly ; the septa become more numerous, the elongation
increases, and in about ten days the spore is converted into a small
ovoid, cellular mass, of a brown colour, supported on a transparent
radicle.

If the experiment has been performed on a slip of glass kept con-
stantly near a window in the same position, it will be seen that nearly
all the radicles are turned towards the interior of the room, or from
the light.

The fecundating action of the antherozoids upon the spores is
therefore an incontestable fact. When they are in considerable quan-
tity, they frequently attach themselves to the spores, crawl in a man-
ner upon their surface, and communicate to them, by means of their
vibratile cilia, a rotatory movement which is often very rapid.
Nothing is more curious than the appearance of these large brownish
spheres rolUng in all directions amongst the crowds of antherozoids
which surround them. This phsenomenon, however, does not appear
to be necessary for the fecimdation of the spores. When all move-
ment has ceased and germination has commenced, the remains of
decomposed antherozoids frequently surroiuid the spore without
being immediately in contact with it ; a layer of mucilage separates
them from the membrane of the spore and forms a transparent halo
around it.

The author endeavoured to fecundate the spores of Ozothallia vul-
garis (Fucus nodosus, Linn.) with the antherozoids of Fucus ser-
ratus and vesiculosus, and vice versa. But although the spores and
antherozoids of these three species present the most complete re-
semblance, and although the antherozoids attach themselves in great
numbers to the spores, pausing them to move with great vivacity, no
grm nation took place. Nor did he succeed in fecundating the
spores of Fucus serratus with the antherozoids of Fucus vesiculosus.
But on reversing this experiment, some of the spores of the F. vesicu-
losus germinated. He does not venture to conclude from this that a
hybrid fecundation is possible, but nevertheless calls attention to the
" Ann. &; Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 5

66 Miscellaneous.

fact, that whilst the Ozothallia and the Fucus serratus are very con-
stant in form, the jP. vesiculosus is extremely polymorphous.

In the higher Cryptogamia the phsenomenon of fecundation pre-
sents two principal modifications. In the Mosses and Characese it
takes place in adult plants, and appears to be necessary for the for-
mation of the reproductive bodies ; it must consequently be repeated
every time that the plant fructifies, and in this respect approaches
the process in the phanerogamous plants. In the Equisetacese, the
Ferns, the Lycopodiaceae, and the Rhizocarpeee, fecundation takes
place some time after the germination of the spore ; its result is the
development of the frond which will fructify every year without fresh
fecundation. The Fucaceee present a third modification of the phse-
nomenon, which resembles the second rather than the first, and which
has perhaps still more analogy with what takes place in the case of
animals. Here it is upon the spore itself that the fecundating action
of the antherozoids is exerted, and it is only in consequence of this
contact that the spore is developed into a frond capable of fructifying
every year without fresh fecundation. — Comptes Rendus, April 25,
1853.

TIME OF SPAWNING OF BRITISH CRUSTACEA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Weymouth, June 18, 1853.

Gentlemen, — I enclose you an addition to my list of the " Time
of Spawning of British Crustacea " which appeared in the ' Annals
of Nat. Hist.' vol. viii. p. 501.

I wish to draw the attention of your readers to an error in that
paper, in which Crangon bispinosus is enumerated instead of Crangon
trispinosus. I have not yet been able to obtain C. bispinosus. I am
at a loss to conceive how this error could have occurred, as my notes
are correct.

I have now succeeded in fixing the dates of carrying spawn of
thirty-eight species of British Crustacea, and I have myself obtained
at this place fifty-four species, and fully expect to add to that
number.

Amongst my latest captures are Crangon spinosus, Hippolyte
Whitei (mihi). My sis chameleon. My sis Griffithsia, and one or two
species I cannot at present make out.

My dredger is a very clever fellow, and would be pleased to supply
anything he might obtain when dredging.

I am. Gentlemen, yours obediently,

William Thompson.

Species. Date when fonnd General Remai'ks.

carrying ova. *

Achaus Cranchii Aug. 18, 1852. I dredged two in six fathoms,

shingle andweedy bottom : one
female had two single ova;
they are of a deepish jellow
colour.

Miscellaneous.

67

Species.
Crangon fasciatus.

Crangon spinosus .

Crangon sculptus ....
Crangon trispinosus .

Crangon vulgaris

Date when found

carrying ova.
June 13, 1853.

June 16, 1853.

May 4, 1853.

June 9 & 13,
1853.

January to July
every year.

General Remarks.

Cancer Pagurus March 1 2, 1853.

Carcinas Manas Nov. 23,1851.

March 1, 1853.
Eurynome aspera June 6,1852.

I obtained two; one of which
was in spawn : ova of a rich
brown : this individual was of a
darker colour than the other.
Caught in three fathoms, sand
and shingle.
Two ; both in spawn : ova of a
dirty white tinged with green.
The colour of this shrimp ^yhen
first caught is very beautiful ;
it is blotched with claret co-
lour. Dredged in the same
locahty as the last species.
Three in spawn : ova of a hght
drab colour. Dredged in six
fathoms, shingly bottom.
I obtained several, most of them
being in spawn : the ova are of
a light sea-green colour. This
is the most numerous of the
rarer shrimps. Two to four
fathoms, sandy bottom.
This species is in spawn all the
summer months : I beheve they
deposit their ova in the month
of June : the ova are drab or
dirty white. Sandy bottom,
from low water to four fa-
thoms.

In spawn : ova of an orange co-
lour. Caught in a trawl.
In spawn : ova orange-brown.

Hippolyte Cranchii
Inachus dorynehus

I

Two, in spawn: the ova are
small, of a lovely bright red
transparent coral colour.
Dredged in twelve fathoms
water, shingly bottom.
Auff 18, 1852. Several in spawn, in five to
seven fathoms water, weedy
bottom.
Aug. 18, 1852. I dredged four ; one of them car-
May 30, 1853. ried ova in very small quan-
tity, — the greater portion had
evidently been deposited.
Those caught in May 30, 1853,
carried a quantity of spawn:
the ova are large and of an
orange-brown colour : the co-
• lour of the animal is dingy
purple, brighter on the fore
part of the carapace. Caught
in weedy bottom, six fathoms.
5*

68

Miscellaneous.

species. Date when found

carrying ova.
Stenorhynchus phalan- Aug. 18,1852.
ffium. May 30,1853.

Stenorhynchus tenui- May 30, 1853.
rostris.

HippolyteWhitei (mihi)* . June 14, 1853.

Hippolyte Thompsoni . May 4, 1853.

Palamon Leachii June 8,1853.

PalcEtnon serratus June 1853.

Mysis vulgaris June 14, 1853.

My sis Griffithsice June 14, 1853.

General Remarks.

In the first, very few ova were

left in the purse ; in those
caught in May 1853, the spawn
was so plentiful that the abdo-
men was thrown back on a
plane with the carapace.

In spawn : ova of a hght orange-
brown colour : the abdomen in
consequence of the large quan-
tity of ova was thrown back
on a level with the carapace.
This species when alive is of a
lovely pink or puce colour.
Weedy bottom, three fathoms.

Several in spawn : the ova are
palish yellow, but much hidden
by the scales of the abdomen.
The prevaihng colour of this
species is meadow green, with
(whilst alive) a white band run-
ning down the centre of the
back. In each there were two
teeth on the under edge of the
rostrum. Weedy bottom and
stones, four to six fathoms.

Dredged some in spawn : the
ova are of a dirty green. Rocky
and weedy bottom, three to
five fathoms.

This is now in spawn ; some few
have deposited their ova, which
are of a brownish drab colour.

All in spawTi ; it will be depo-
sited before the middle of July.

In spawn: ova of a brownish
colovu-.

In spawn.

Experimental Researches on Vegetation. By M. Georgks Villk.

After stating that it has often been asked if air, and especially
azote, contributes to the nutrition of plants ; and, as regards the
latter, that this question has alvpays been answered negatively, the
author remarks it is however known that plants do not draw all
their azote from the soil, the crops produced every year in manured
land giving a greater proportion of azote than is contained in the
soil itself. The question which he has proposed to himself for so-

* This new and beautiful species of Hippolyte I have named after Mr.
Adam White of the British Museum. I have drawn up a specific descrip-
tion for the ' Annals ' for August. — W. T.

Miscellaneous. 69'

lution is, whence then comes the excess of azote which the crops
contain, and in a more general manner, the azote of plants, which
the soil has not furnished ? He divides his inquiry into the three
following parts : —

First. Inquiry into and determination of the proportion of the
ammonia contained in the air of the atmosphere.

Second. Is the azote of the air absorbed by plants ?

Third. Influence on vegetation of ammonia, added to the air.

1. The author remarks that since the observation of M. Theodore
de Saussure, that the air is mixed with ammoniacal vapours, three
attempts have been made to determine the proportion of ammonia
in the air : a million of kilogrammes of the air, according to M.
Grayer, contain 0-333 kil. N"- H^ ; according to Mr. Kemp 3-880
kil. ; according to M. Fresenius, of the air of the day, 0*098 kil., and
of night air, 0-169 kil. He states that he has shown the cause of
these discrepancies, and proved that the quantity of ammonia con-
tained in the air is 22-417 grms. for a million of kilogrammes of the
air; and that the quantity oscillates between 17-14 grms, and

29-43 grms. . , , j ,

2. The author states that though the azote of the air is absorbed by
plants, the ammonia of the air contributes nothing to this absorption.
Not that ammonia is not an auxiliary of vegetation, but the air con-
tains scarcely 0' 0000000224, and in this proportion its effects are
inappreciable. These conclusions are founded upon a great number
of experiments in which the plants lived at the expense of the air
without deriving any thing from the soil. For the present he con-
fines himself to laying down these two conclusions :— 1 . The azote
of the air is absorbed by plants, by the cereals, as by all others. 2.
The ammonia of the atmosphere performs no appreciable part in the
life of plants, when vegetation takes place in a limited atmosphere.
After describing the apparatus by means of which he carried on his
experiments on the vegetation of plants placed in a soil deprived of
organic matter, and the manner in which the experiments were con-
ducted, he adduces the results of these experiments in proof of the
above conclusions.

3. With reference to the influence of ammonia on vegetation, the
author states that, if ammonia be added to the air, vegetation be-
comes remarkably active. In the proportion of 4 ten-thousandths
the influence of this gas shows itself at the end of eight or ten days,
and from this time it manifests itself with a continually increasing
intensity. The leaves, which at first were of a pale-green, assume
a deeper and deeper tint, and for a time become almost black ; their
petals are long and upright, and their surface wide and shining. In
short, when vegetation has arrived at its proper period the crop is
found far beyond that of the same plants grown in pure air ; and,
weight for weight, they contain twice as much azote. Besides these
general effects there are others which are more variable, which de-
pend upon particular conditions, but which are equally worthy of
interest. In fact, by means of ammonia we can not only stimulate

70 Miscellaneous.

vegetation, but, further, we can modify its course, delay the action
of certain functions, or enlarge the development and the modifica-
tion of certain organs. The author further remarks, that if its use
be ill-directed, it may cause accidents. Those which have occurred
in the course of his experiments appear to him to throw an unex-
pected light upon the mechanism of the nutrition of plants. They
have at least taught him at the expense of what care ammonia may
become an auxiliary of vegetation. These experiments, which were
made under the same conditions as those upon the absorption of
azote, are then described, and their numerical results given.

To the conclusions already stated, the author adds that there are
periods to be selected for the employment of ammonia, during which
this gas produces different effects. If we commence its use when
several months intervene before the flowering season of the plants,
it produces no disturbance ; they follow the ordinary course of their
vegetation. If its use be commenced at the time of flowering, this
function is stopped or delayed. The plant covers itself with leaves,
and if the flowering takes place all the flowers are barren. — Proc.
Roy. Soc. May 26, 1853.

On the Priority of the Discovery of the Mode of Action of the
Pholades in the Perforation of Stones. By M. Vrolik.

The question of the perforation of rocks by Pholades, which has
been brought before the Academy of Sciences, has given rise to a
claim of priority put forward by Mr. Robertson, and since contested
by M. Caillaud.

The Academy will not be displeased to learn that Professor Vrolik
of Amsterdam has just shown that the fact of mechanical perfora-
tion by the valves, and as the result of the simple movement of the
Pholades, without the assistance of any acid, was described more than
seventy years ago by Leendert Bomme, a Director of the Commercial
Company of Middelbourg. His memoir, in which he enters into
many details respecting the oeconomy of these animals, which in
1759 and 1760 threatened the destruction of the dykes of the island
of Walcheren, was published in the Transactions of the Scientific
Society of Flessingen. — Comptes Rendus, May 2, 1853.

On Sun Columns observed at Sandwic/c Manse, Orkney.
By the Rev. C. Clouston.

May 18th. About 8 p.m. observed a mock sun having prismatic
colours, on the N. side of the sun, with rays on the off side converging
to a point. In about 15 minutes another of the same description, but
fainter, appeared on the S. side of the sun, and a faint halo appeared
over the sun, as if joining there. At sunset there was a faint sun
pillar.

21st. At sunset another sun pillar seen.

23rd. A sun pillar seen tonight at 8 p.m., about 45 minutes before
sunset, at first being a pale whitish beam, shooting up through the

Meteorological Observations. 7\\

clear blue sky, fully 15° high, and very slender, scarcely the diameter
of the sun.

After the sun had set In a golden sky it became of a rosy hue,
brighter and broader at some places than others, as if the brightest
strata, or thin laminae of the horizontal clouds, reflected the sun-
beams most perfectly. It continued quite perpendicular, and about
half-past 9 o'clock, or 45 minutes after sunset, vanished gradually —
the last spot of it being 1 or 2 degrees above the horizon. About
an hour afterwards, when the moon rose, a pillar of light also ap-
peared over her, but fainter and shorter, and after 30 minutes when
she had risen a little above the horizon, a similar pillar appeared
below her, but they only extended about 3 or 4 diameters of the
moon on each side, having her diameter as a base, and tapering away
as they receded from her. This continued till 12 o'clock and pro-
bably much longer.

I am told that the sun pillar was again very beautiful before sun-
rise next morning, about 3 o'clock.

METEOKOLOGICAL OBSEKVATIONS FOR MAY 1853.

Chiswick. — May 1. Very fine. 2. Slight haze : fine : rain at night. 3. Constant
rain. 4. Hazy. 5. Very fine. 6. Cloudy. 7. Overcast : cold rain. 8. Cloudy :
overcast: clear. 9. Rain: hoisterous. 10. Cloudy and boisterous. 11. Fine.
12. Fine: very clear. 13. Cloudy: rain. 14. Fine. 15. Fine: overcast. 16.
Very fine. 1 7. Dry haze : clear and fine. 18. Fine. 19. Very fine. 20. Clear :
slight frost at night. 21. Hazy : fine. 22. Clear and dry. 23. Clear: partially
overcast at night. 24. Cloudless : windy : slightly overcast. 25. Very fine. 26.
Very fine : clear at night. 27. Very fine : rather hazy : lightning at night : rain.
28, 29. Very fine. 30. Cloudy and fine. 31. Cloudy and cold.

Mean temperature of the month 51°'41

Mean temperature of May 1852 51-45

Mean temperature of May for the last twenty-seven years . 53 -95

Average amount of rain in May l"77inch.

5o*<ow.— May 1, 2. Fine. 3, 4. Cloudy. 5. Fine. 6. Cloudy. 7. Cloudy:
rain and snow a.m. 8. Cloudy. 9. Rain : rain a.m. 10. Rain : rain and hail
A.M. andp.M. 11,12. Fine. 13. Cloudy. 14, 15. Fine. 16. Cloudy. 17 — 28.
Fine. 29. Cloudy : rain p.m. 30, 31. Cloudy.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — May 1. Bright a.m.: damp p.m. 2. Hazy a.m. :
fog P.M. 3. Clear a.m. : clear, aurora p.m. 4. Bright a.m. : fog p.m. 5. Damp
a.m. and p.m. 6. Cloudy, showers a.m. : sleet-showers, aurora p.m. 7. Snow-
showers A.M. : sleet-showers, aurora p.m. 8. snow-showers a.m. : sleet-showers
P.M. 9. Sleet-showers a.m. : snow-showers p.m. 10. Snow-showers a.m. :
clear P.M. 11. Bright am.: clear p.m. 12,13. Clear a.m.: clear, fine p.m.
14 — 17. Clear a.m. and p.m. 18, 19. Clear, fine a.m. and p.m. 20. Clear a.m.
and P.M. 21. Bright, fine a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 22. Bright a.m. : clear, fine p.m.
23. Bright a.m. : sun pillar, clear, fine p.m. 24, 25. Bright, fine a.m. : clear,
fine P.M. 26. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 27. Clear a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 28, 29.
Cloudy A.M. and p.m. 30. Bright a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 31. Bright, fine a.m. :
clear, fine p.m.

Mean temperature of May for twenty-six previous years ... 47°"94

Mea.i temperature of May 1852 50-49

Mean temperature of this month 49 -07

Average quantity of rain in May for seven previous years ... 1-68 inch.

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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 68. AUGUST 1853.

VIII. — On the Genus Cercyon, with a short Monographical
Synopsis of the British SpheeridiidEe. By Andrew Murray,
W.S. Edinburgh*.

[With a Plate.]

This is one of those genera of Uoleoptera which have always
been a stumbUng-block to British entomologists.

The large number of species described by Kirby and Stephens,
coupled with the shortness of their descriptions given by Stephens,
have led to a confusion which is almost inextricable. With the
exception of one or two of the most marked species, scarcely any
two collections have the same species under the same name, and
in attempting to find representatives for so many, one species is
necessarily made to play many parts. After a recent fruitless
endeavour to collate and reconcile the British and continental
names, I was about to give up the attempt in despair, and to
abandon the British names altogether, and confine myself to
those of Mulsant, Heer, and other continental authors, when my
friend the Rev. William Little kindly submitted the whole of
his Cercyons to me for examination ; and as his species had all
been named by Mr. Stephens himself, I had the means (second
only to an examination of the original specimens from which the
species had been described) of reconciling the synonymy of the
British and foreign authors. The distance of my place of resi-
dence from London rendered it impossible for me to avail myself
with effect of the well-known liberality with which Mr. Stephens
gave access to his cabinet ; but even although I had had time to
examine his specimens minutely, the examination would not have
been absolutely satisfactory, because many of the species de-
scribed by him were first named by Kirby, and the types from
which Kirbjr's species were named are not to be distinguished

* Read at the Royal Physical Societv, Edinburgh, 1852.
Ann. «c Mag. N. Hist. Sa-. 2. Vol. xii." 6

74 Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon.

in his collection, which now forms the ornament of the Entomo-
logical Society of London. Mr. Little's collection, so far as it
goes therefore, has an authenticity on the whole not very
greatly behind Mr. Stephens's own. Unfortunately his collec-
tion, although large, does not contain specimens named by Ste-
phens of the whole of the species described in his works. Still
it contains a considerable portion, having 32 out of 58 species,
and it has occurred to me that information even to this extent
will be acceptable to many of our entomologists.

On examining Mr. Little's collection, I have identified the
following species of Stephens with those of Mulsant, viz. : —
C. ruficorne, "]

binotatum, f^^'^P^- = Cercyon littorale, Muls.

dilatatum, J

' > Steph. =■ C. hsemorrhoidale, Muls,
piceum, J ^ '

C. hcBmorrhoidale, Steph., is represented by specimens of C. lit-
torale, but this must be by mistake, as Stephens's description
answers better for C. hcemorrhoidale than littorale.
C. Boletopbagum, '

aquaticum,
flavipes,
immune,
stercorarium,
immaculatum,
terminatum, "I
1, >.

Steph. = Megastemum Boletopbagum, Mttls.

infuscatum, \ Steph. = Cercyon anale, Muls.
apical e, J

^ • ' > Steph. = C. minutum, Muls.
convexior, J ^

C. obsoletum, Steph. ^ C. obsoletum, Muls.

C. laterale, Steph. = C. laterale, Muls.

C. picinum, "j

suturale, > Steph. = C. flavipes, Muls.

femorale, J
C. pygmseum, ^

conspurcatum, S-Steph. = C. pygmseum, Muls.

stercorator, J

Although Mr. Little's specimen of Stephens's C. conspurcatum
is melanocephalum, it has been ascertained by Mulsant from
other sources to be pygmceum.
C. melanocephalum, Steph. = C. melanocephalum, Muls.
C. atomarium, "1

sordidum, \-Steph. = Cryptopleurum atomarium, Muls.

merdarium, J

C. ustulatum, 1 g^ j^ _ ^ centrimaculatum, Muls.

bimaculatum, J '^
C. quisquilium, Steph. = C. unipunctatum, Linn. ? .

Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon. 75

The above information clears up the synonymy of the genus
to a certain extent, and by examining Stephens's desci'iptions,
aided by the light derived from a comparison of the above spe-
cies which have been identified, with their descriptionSj and by
an examination of other cabinets in which I have found what
have been supposed by others to be the species corresponding to
Stephens's names, I shall venture to give a list of our British
Sphaeridiidse with a more extended synonymy — the rather, that
as I have explained my sources of information, no one can be
deceived into attaching more weight to my opinion than it is
justly entitled to. I adopt the arrangement and characters of
Mulsant, and I dare say it will be acceptable to our younger en-
tomologists, if I digest it into the shape of a short monograph,
noticing briefly those distinctive characters which can be readily
seized, but referring them to Mulsant and other authors for full
and extended descriptions.

Mulsant divides the Palpicornes of France into two groups, the
HydrophilidjE and Geophilid^, which are distinguished from
each other by the former having the first article of the posterior
tarsi always shorter than the second, while the latter has it always
longer than the second.

The group HYDROPHiLiDiE is composed of the genera Sperchetis,
Helophorus, Hydrochus, Octhebius, Hydrcena, Limnebius, Berosus,
Hydrophilus, Hydrous, Hydrobius, Laccobius, Helophilus, Phil-
hydrus, and Cyllidium.

The group GEOPHiLiDiE, with which we have to do, is composed
of the genera Cyclonotum, Sphceridium, Cercyon, Pelosoma, Me-
gasternum, and Cryptopleurum.

He separates the four first genera of this second group into
one division, " Spharidiares," distinguished by having the meso-
sternum much longer than broad, and compressed into a kind of
blade. The two last form another division, " Megasternares,"
which has the mesosternum not longer than broad, and of an
irregular pentagonal form.

The mesosternum also furnishes characters sufficient to di-
stinguish the four genera of Spharidiares from each other, viz. : —

Cyclonotum. Has the mesosternum terminated in front by an arrow-
head shape ; scutellum almost an equilateral triangle.

SphfEvidium. Mesosternum compressed into a blade of equal thick-
ness, not terminated in an arrow-head ; scutellum twice as long
as broad.

Cercyon. Mesosternum sublinear, sharpened both before and be-
hind ; scutellum subequilateral, or not more than a half longer
than broad.

Pelosoma. Mesosternum Hnear, but sharpened before and truncate
behind.

6*

76 Mr. A. MuiTay on the Genus Cercyon.

For the more easy understanding these distinctions I annex a
Plate (PI. IV.), showing the under side of the different genera
composing the Geophilida, copied from Mulsant's figures in the
* Palpicornes de France.'

Cyclonotum, Dej., Erich.

Hydrophilus, Fab., Herbst, Marsh., Steph.
Ccelostoma, Brulle, De Casteln.

C. orbiculare, Fab., Erich., Heer, Steph., &c.

Subhemispheric, above brUhant black, closely covered with
punctures, which are smaller on the head and thorax than on the
elytra. The elytra have a single stria next the suture shortened
anteriorly ; under side of body, thighs and legs of a brown black,
tarsi livid testaceous.

Var. B. C. Allabroix, De Casteln. Upper side of body brown-
black, and gradually brownish yellow on the margins of the
prothorax and elytra.

Length li to 2i lines; breadth 1 to 2 lines.

In general appearance this species approaches nearest to the
Hydrobii ; like the most of them it is densely punctui'cd all over,
and has a single sutural stria, but is at once distinguished from
them by the first article of the posterior tarsi being longer than
the second, which, as already mentioned, is the character which
separates this group from the Hydi-ophilidcB. It has also some
resemblance to the Cercyons, more particularly C. obsoletum^
Muls., which is about the same size, but is easily recognized by
its having no striae on the elytra except the sutural, while all the
Cercyons are marked with ten or eleven striae.

It is a water insect, and is found in stagnant water or under
the debris on the margins of lakes and ponds. Found both in
England and Scotland, but not very common.

SPHiERIDIUM, Fab.

Dermestes, Schrank, Fourc, Marsh.

Sph. scarabaoides, Linn., Fab.
A-maculatus, Schrank.

Body above of a shining black, densely punctured ; prothorax
a fifth or a fourth longer in its middle than at the sides ; elytra
with a red mark behind the shoulder, and a semicircular reddish
yellow blotch at the apex ; under side of body and of legs nut-
brown.

The S is distinguished from the $ by having the last article of

Mr. A. Murray on the Gernis Cercyon. 77

the fore tarsi swollen, and one of the nails of the same feet very
thick and strongly curved, while in the ? these parts are in a
normal state.

Var. B. Prothorax with a red or yellowish red margin, some-
times shortened.

Var. C. Sph. lunatum, Fab.

bipustulatum, Herbst.

scarabcBoides, Illig.
Elytra without a spot behind the shoulder.
Var. D. Legs spotted with yellowish red.
Length 2| to 3 lines; breadth If to 2 lines.
Common both in Scotland and England in cow-dung, &c.

Sph. bipvistulatum, Fab.

Body above shining black, densely punctured; prothorax a
third longer in the middle than on the sides, margined on the
sides with yellowish red, with the hinder angles curved back-
wards almost in the form of a tooth ; elytra with a lateral border
and an apical blotch almost semicircular, both of yellowish red ;
under side of body brownish black; legs generally of reddish
yellow with a black blotch on the middle of the thighs.

S and ? distinguished by the same characters as the preceding
species.

Var. B. Sph. bipustulatum, Fab.

hcemorrhous, Schrank.

testudinarius, Fourc.

marginatum, Scriba, Payk., Lat., Gyll., &c.

scarabcBoides, Laich., Illig.

semistriatum, De Casteln.

Elytra with a semicircular blotch towards the extremity from
the sutm-e almost to the outer edge ; a. sometimes dilated to the
apical margin ; /3. at other times reduced to a punctiform blotch
near the suture ; 7. prothorax and elytra, sometimes the one
and sometimes the other, without a red border on the edges;
8. elytra generally marked with rows of punctures in strise more
or less distinct.

Var. C. Sph. 4<-maculatum, Curtis, Marsh.

marginatum, Gyll., var. c. ; Zetterst. var. c. ; Heer,

var. d.
bipustulatum, Steph. syu.

Similar to the preceding type. Elytra marked besides with a
subhumeral red blotch, reduced sometimes to a sort of reddish
transparence.

78 Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon.

Var. D. Sph. scarabaoides, Sturm.

Elytra marked with a subhumeral red blotch more or less de-
cided, without any blotch at the extremity ; /3. as in the type ;
7. elytra sometimes marked with striated rows of punctures.

Var. E. Sph. marginatum, Fab., Payk., Gyll., Curtis, Steph.
syn. &c.
scarabceoides, Illig. var. /5. ; Sturm, var. e. & ff. ;
Schon. var. y. ; Lat. var. D.
4-maculatum, Steph.
Daltoni, Steph.
Upper side of body entirely black, with the outer edge of
the prothorax and elytra red or yellowish red ; y8. prothorax or
elytra, sometimes one and sometimes the other, without a red
border on the sides; S. elytra offering l-arely slight traces of
striated rows of punctures.

Length If to 2^ lines; breadth 1^ to If line.

This species varies much in colour. Commonly it is entirely
black above, with the exception of the yellowish border. The
variations offer all the gradations between the varieties cited
above.

It differs from the preceding species in its smaller size, in its
prothorax being more sinuous at its base, and more sensibly
curved behind at its posterior angles. The black blotch on the
middle of the thigh, though not always to be trusted to, gene-
rally gives a ready indication of the species.

Heer describes two species of Sphceridium as being found very
rarely in Switzerland ; one, S. striolatum, Heer, distinguished
from scarabceoides by its more convex form and the punctuation
of the elytra being a little deeper, and the elytra striolated along
the suture at the scutellum ; and the other, S. testaceum, Heer,
distinguished from marginatum by being wholly testaceous and
smaller and more finely punctate. I am inclined to doubt if
either of these is a good species.

Cercyon, Leach.

Spliaridium, Gyll., Oliv., Payk.
Dermestes, Marsh.
Hydrophilus, Fab.

Div. 1. Mesosternal plate visibly detached at its posterior extremity from
the metasternum.
A. Intervals between the striae on the elytra visibly punctate.

C. obsoletum, Gyll., Steph., Muls.

hiijubre, Oliv., Lat., Marsh, (not Erich., Heer, Muls.).
atomariiim, Payk. (not Steph.).

\

Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon. 79

Oval, narrower behind. Upper side of body finely punctate.
Head and prothorax shining black; the latter scarcely shorter
in the middle than at the sides. Elytra black with the extre-
mity gradually reddish, with light striae marked with cycloid
punctures ; the fourth stria almost angular at the fourth part of
its length, and rendering the fifth interval gradually broader
from this point to the base.

Length 1| to If hne; breadth 1 to 1| line.

This species is readily distinguished from all the others by its
greater size, being the largest of the genus, and by the fom-th
stria on the elytra making an almost angular bend towards the
suture at a short distance from the base, thus gradually in-
creasing the breadth of the fifth interval at the base. The extent
of the paler reddish tint at the apex varies, and it may be as well
to mention here, that in this genus (indeed in the whole group)
colour is very little to be depended on. The whole genus has a
disposition to be paler at the apex than on the rest of the body,
but several of the species vary from dark black to pale testaceous.
The colouring matter appears to have circulated from the head
or middle of the prothorax to the extremity, and to have reached
dififerent lengths in different individuals, one having the paleness
of the apex almost extinguished, while another has a pale blotch
extending halfway up the elytra, or even over the whole body.

This, as well as all the other species of the genus, feeds on the
dung of herbivorous animals, or, as Mulsant more elegantly ex-
presses it, " on vegetable matter which has been animalized by
passing through the digestive tube of certain mammiferse." The
species is not rare in Britain, but is by no means so plentiful as
some of the following.

C. hcemorrhoidale, Fab., Steph., Muls.
melanocephalum, var. /3. lUig.
obsoletum, De Castel.

Body short, oval, narrower behind, finely punctate above.
Head and prothorax shining black, the latter a fourth shorter on
the sides than in the middle, marked with a depression before
the scutellum. Elytra moderately convex on the back, convexly
subperpendicular on the sides ; black at the base, gradually be-
coming reddish brown or brown at the extremity, with striae
edged each by a row of cycloid punctures ; the fourth not an-
gular.

Var. B. C. piceum, Marsh., Steph.

Elytra entirely of a reddish brown, gradually paler towards
the extremity.

80 Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon.

Var. C. C. impressum, Sturm, Steph.

Black, with the elytra red except a triangular black patch at
the middle of the base of the elytra surrounding the scutellum,
and the margins of the base of the elytra also black extending
to the triangular patch.

Length 1| to li line ; breadth ^ to 1 line.

This species is easily recognized by the dimple on the thorax
immediately in front of the scutellum, and by its hump-shouldered
appearance. The variety impressum is coloured like melanoce-
phalum, but is known by the above characters. Not rare.

C hcemorrhoum, Gyll., Steph., Muls.
hcemorrhoidale, Fab.
melanocephalum, var. /3. Illig.
xanthorrheum, Leach, Steph.

Oval, less rounded posteriorly, densely marked with small
punctures above. Head and prothorax brilliant black ; prothorax
sensibly longer in the middle than on the sides, and more ele-
vated a little in front than at the base. Elytra subconvex on the
back, convexly subperpendicular on the sides ; black, passing
rather abruptly to red in the posterior third part, with the suture
black ; with very marked striae, the dorsal ones less distinctly
punctate.

Length 1 to If line; breadth ^ to 1 line.

This species is not so easily recognized at first sight as the
last, but it also has a distinctive mark which fixes it. On look-
ing at the insect sideways, its thorax is seen to differ in shape
from all the others. In them the thorax gradually rises from
the head until it meets the elytra, which join it without dis-
turbing the general curve of the body. Seen sideways the whole
body looks like the segment of a circle. In hcemorrhoum this is
not the case ; the thorax rises from the head in a curve, but be-
fore reaching the elytra it falls again, and the elytra commence
their rise from the thorax, so that the profile is that of two seg-
ments of a circle meeting at the base of the thorax. The suture
also is dark at the apex, while in most other pale-tailed species
it is concolorous.

Rare. I have taken one specimen in Scotland.

C laterale, Steph., Muls.

Shortly oval or suboviform ; moderately convex and thickly
marked with small punctures above. Head and prothorax black ;
prothorax reddish brown on the sides. Elyti-a becoming nar-
rower from a third of their length ; of a red-brown paler towards
the extremity ; with eleven narrow striae, marked with round

Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon. 81

punctures scarcely larger than thein j dorsal intervals less deep-
ened towards their posterior two-thirds.

Length 1 to 1^ line ; breadth | to 1 line.

This is a large species, next in size to C. obsoletum, Muls., and
of a somewhat globular shape. The elytra are of a chestnut-
brown colour, with a dark or black transverse Ime along the base.
It is to be distinguished at this point from flavipes, Muls., which
has also a dark impression running along the base, but flavipes
has another dark impression running down the suture, only
reaching about halfway down, and leaving the suture pale at the
patch at the apex, while laterale has no black on the suture at the
base, but has it darker than the surrounding parts at the apex.
It is to be distinguished from C. obsoletum by its fourth stria less
angular, from fuemorrhoidale by its thorax without a depression
in front of the scutellum, and from hamorrhoum by the form of
the thorax.

Occasional both in Scotland and England.

C. unipunctatum, Linn., Fab., Muls., &c. Erich. ? , Heer ? .
* cordiger, Fuessly, Herbst.

dispar, Payk. $ .

quisquilium, Steph. $ .

Oval, rounded in front. Head and prothorax densely punc-
tate, shining black; prothorax edged on the sides with yellow.
Elytra yellow or reddish yellow, with the suture black, and upon
it a black blotch common to each elytron, with ten strise ; the
dorsal strise less distinctly punctured in the middle ; the lateral
stri« reduced to striated rows of punctures. The legs and some-
times a part of the belly of reddish yellow.

Var. B. Black mark on the elytra very much reduced, or very
pale, sometimes almost wanting.

Length 1 to If line.

This species cannot be mistaken for any other. Its head and
thorax black, and its elytra yellow, with a large heart-shaped
black patch on the middle of the suture extending over both
elytra, sufficiently distinguish it.

Common.

C. quisquilium, Linn., Steph. c?, Erich. <J, Heer,?, Muls.

minimus, Scop. ?

xanthopterum, Laich., Schrank.

unipunctatum, Fab., lUig. (J, Sturm 3^.

melanocephalum, var. Herbst.

dispar, Payk. $.

Oval oblong, more rounded in front. Head and proAorax
brilliant black, densely marked with small punctures. Llytra

dS Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon.

straw-yellow, reddish at the suture, obscure or blackish towards
the sutural angle, with ten punctured striae; the lateral striae
reduced to striated rows of punctures. Legs testaceous yellow.

Var. B. C. flavum, Steph. syn.

Prothorax with a narrow yellow border on the sides.

Var. C. C. scutellare, Steph. syn.

Elytra appearing marked with a black triangular blotch sur-
rounding the scutellum.

Length f to 1 line.

This species in outline and general appearance greatly re-
sembles the preceding, but wants the heart-shaped black patch
on the back : it has been generally supposed to be its male.
Mulsant, however, states that individuals of both sexes are found
with the characteristic mark of each, and that therefore the one
cannot be the male of the other. A positive statement of this
kind coming from one who has studied the genus so much as
Mulsant, drives us either to admit them to be different species or
varieties of the same species. I confess that, although in deference
to Mulsant's authority I have here kept them apart as different
species, my own opinion is that they are connected together in
some way or other, if not as sexes at least as varieties. Whenever
a few specimens of one are taken, some of the other are sure to
be taken along with them.

Common.
C. centrimaculatum, Sturm, Erich., Muls.

pygmceum, Gyll. (not lUig., Steph., Muls.).

bimaculatum, Steph.

ustulatum, Kirby, Steph.

inustum, Marsh., Steph.

nubilipenne, Steph.

Oval, moderately convex and somewhat depressed, shining and
finely punctured above. Head and prothorax black ; the latter
reddish on the sides, roimded at the posterior angles, with the
edges turned up on one part of the base. Elytra testaceous red,
with a blackish mark or cloud on the disk of each, with the
striae punctate; second, third and fourth intervals subconvex,
and as narrow at their extremity as the sutural one.

Var. B. Elytra entirely testaceous red, or testaceous yellow.

Length | to f line.

Its small size and yellow elytra, with a dark cloud on the disk
of each, generally enable us to distinguish this species at first
sight. It has sometimes the elytra coloured like quisquilium, but
its small size, more depressed form and the other characters
above mentioned distinguish it.

Common.

Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon. 83

C. pygmeeum, lUig., Steph., Muls.
stercorator, Steph.
ferrugineum, Herbst (not Steph.).
Var. conspurcatum, Sturm, Steph.
Var. merdarium, Sturm (not Steph.).
scutellare, Steph. ?
plagiatum, Erich. ?

Oblong, oval, rather convex, shining and finely punctate above.
Head and prothorax black, the latter arched laterally with pos-
terior angles prominent ; the edges not turned up at the base.
Elytra somewhat rugulose anteriorly, black, with more or less of
the sides and apex of a livid red colour, with punctate striae
second, third and fourth intervals depressed, and sensibly broader
at their posterior part than the sutural one.

Var. A. Elytra entirely black except the extremity, which is

reddish.
Length i to f of a line.

This species is about the same size as the last, and when they
are both in their normal state of colour is easily distinguished
from it by the colour, the elytra of this never being yellow with
a black patch on the disk. Its general form also distinguishes
it ; it is a deeper and narrower insect, wants the tumed-up edge
at the base of the prothorax, and the second, third and fourth
intervals between the striae are wide posteriorly. The variety
conspurcatum, Steph., has the elytra testaceous with a triangular
black patch at the base like melanocephalum.

Common.

C. littorale, Gyll., Steph., Muls.
ruficorne, Kirby, Steph.
binotatum, Steph.
dilatatum, Steph.

Oval, feebly convex, black or brownish black above, and
densely marked with small punctures. Epistome of the form of
a parallelogram, somewhat cut out in front. Prothorax as short
in the middle as on the sides. Elytra broadest in the middle,
with eleven punctate striae gradually deepening posteriorly. In-
tervals subconvex at the extremity.

Var. B. Elytra bordered on the sides with yellowish red for
half their length, and with a patch of the same colour at the
apex ; a. prothorax entirely black ; /8. prothorax bordered
with red on the edge.

Vai'. C. Like the preceding ; but elytra also with a reddish yel-
low patch at the base, sometimes extended so much as to

84 Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon.

leave only a black spot on the disk, at other times reduced
to a sort of reddish point. Prothorax, a. entirely black ;
/8. bordered with red ; 7. entirely of a reddish brown or tes-
taceous red.

Var. D. Head brown. Prothorax black or reddish brown.
Elytra entirely testaceous red.

Var. E. Elytra very much dilated.

Length 1 to 1^ line; breadth f to 1 line.

This species, although variable, is in general easily distin-
guished. Its oblong depressed form of body, with striae very
slight at the base of the elytra deepening gradually into deep
sulci towards the apex, are peculiar to itself.

Common on the sea-shores under mai-ine rejectamenta.

C. aquaticum, Steph., Muls.

Oval, at least as broadly rounded in the last fourth as in the
first, moderately convex and densely marked with small punc-
tures above. Head and prothorax black, the latter bordered with
red on the sides ; sutural angle of elytra at the apex straight,
with eleven narrow striae marked with round punctures scarcely
broader than the striae ; black, with the extremity and a lateral
border yellowish red. Mesosternal plate somewhat ovidar.

Var. B. The reddish brown or testaceous red margin of the
sides of the prothorax reduced to a punctiform patch, more
or less apparent near the anterior angles.

Length 1 to 1 i line ; breadth § to 1 line.

This has much analogy with the following species. The cha-
racters which distinguish it are these : — It wants the prolongation
at the apex of the elytra, of which I shall presently speak, has
the margin of the thorax pale instead of black, wants the black
base and suture of the elytra, has the mesosternal plate of an
ovular form instead of a linear form, and is altogether of a more
oval shape.

C. flavipes, Fab., Steph., Muls.
heemorrhoidale, Sturm.
melanocephalum, Gyll.
suturale, Steph.
femorale, Steph.
picinum, Steph.

Oblong oval, less broadly rounded in the last half than in the
first, moderately convex and densely marked with small punc-
tures above. Head and prothorax black. Elytra below prolonged

Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon. 85

in the form of a beak at the sutural angle at the apex, anteriorly
of a reddish brown, marked with a black line along and a black
line down the suture for a third of its length, assuming the ap-
pearance of a black X > brown in their middle, with the posterior
part and external margin of a livid testaceous red. Mesosternal
plate linear.

■ Var. B. Elytra nut-brown or black-brown, with the black line
on the base and suture not distinguishable.

Length 1|^ to 1~ line; breadth |^ to 1 line.

This species generally figures in British collections as C. sutu-
rale. I do not think Stephens knew what the true flavipes was.
His species under that name, as I have already shown, was Me-
gastemum Boletophagum. The black marks at the base of the
elytra and down the suture forming a black X readily distin-
guish it when these marks are decidedly present; they are,
however, sometimes not observable, when the form of the elytra
and of the mesosternal plate, coupled with the prolongation at
the apex of the elytra, will distinguish it. The elytra are less
rounded behind than the preceding species, and the mesosternal
plate linear. The prolongation at the apex of the elytra is some-
times very distinct, so much so as almost to take the form of a
beak, as if some one had taken the apex of the elytra when soft
close to the suture and given it a pinch with their nails, but
generally it has more the appearance of a small indentation.

Common.

C. melanocephalum, Linn., Steph., Muls.

Oval oblong, less rounded posteriorly, convex, shining, and
finely punctate above. Head and prothorax black. Elytra
often slightly prolonged hke an obtuse beak at the sutural angle
at the apex, testaceous red, paler towards the apex, with a tri-
angular patch upon and around the scutellum, and the base of
the external margin black with shght striae, often little visibly
punctate on the back.

Length 1 to ly line ; breadth f to |^ line.

This is a common species, whose colour is pretty constant, and
is easily known by its red elytra with a black triangular scutellar
patch. The var. impressum of homiorrhoidale and the var. con-
spur catum oi pygmaum both have a similar triangular patch, but
the former is so much larger and the latter so much smaller
than this, as at once to suggest a query as to their species, when
their other characters will prevent their being confounded.

Very common.

Mulsant notices another species, C erythropterum, which

86 Mr. A. Murray on the Germs Cercyon.

should come between C. fiavipes and C. melanocephalum. It has
the head and prothorax black, the elytra red, paler at the extre-
mity, furnished with a kind of black T covering the internal half
of the base and a third of the suture. It is more oviform and
more regularly convex than C. flavipes, and its elytra are not
obscure in the middle. It is a Sicilian species and not likely to
be found in this country.

B. Intervals of the eljixa appearing smooth.
Obs. These intervals when examined by a strong lens are found to be
obsoletely covered with confluent punctures, and have a silky ap-
pearance.

C. minutum. Fab., Steph., Muls.
triste, Illig. (not Gyll.).
IcBvigatuni) Kirby, Steph.
convexior, Marsh., Steph.
convexius, Kirby, Steph.
convexiusculum. Marsh., Steph.

Oviform, convex, chestnut-black or black above. Head and
prothorax finely punctate. Elytra passing to brownish red at
the extremity ; striae punctate, slight and less distinct posteriorly ;
intervals appearing smooth and silky. Mesosternal blade o\Tilar.

Length f to 1 line.

This is easily distinguished from the rest by the elytra, which
have a dull, opake, sUky or greasy appearance, and have the in-
tervals apparently impunctate. C. lugubre is the only other
which has elytra with the intervals impunctate ; but C. minutum
is less convex than it, and has a less decided patch of red at the
apex; besides, the striae disappear before the apex, which in lu-
gubre they do not.

Occasional.

C. lugubre, Payk., Erich., Heer.

Oviform, veiy convex and shining black above. Head and
prothorax fiinely punctate. Elytra testaceous red towards the
extremity, with eleven narrow striae slightly punctate and a little
deeper behind. Mesosternal blade oval, twice as long as broad.

Length | to ^ of a line.

I cannot say whether this species is found in Britain or not.
I have seen no specimen of it, but Stephens records the species
as found in the London district and in Norfolk and Suffolk. It
can only be confounded with C. minutum, from which the di-
stinctions I have specified under it will distinguish it.

Erichson describes a Swiss species, C. granarium, Erich., as
closely allied to this, principally distinguished by the second ar-
ticle of the palpi being much thicker.

Mr. A. Murray on the Germs Cercyon. 87

Div. 2. Mesosternal blade appearing united to the metasternuin, which ap-
pears excised at its anterior end.

C. anale, Payk., Erich.

terminatum. Marsh., Steph.
Jlavipes, Thunb.
apicale, Steph.
infuscatum, Steph.

Oval oblong, diminishing almost uniformly for the last three-
fourths of the elytra, and terminated in a point. Head and pro-
thorax finely punctate, brilliant black. Elytra of the same co-
lour with a patch of testaceous red at the apex, stopping some-
what abruptly, and not covering the suture ; striae punctate ; the
intervals with a nearly double row of punctures on the anterior
half, and a single row on the posterior.

Var. B. C. marffinellum, Vayk. Sides of prothorax, and some-
times also those of the elytra, reddish brown.

Var. C. Body above reddish brown, or testaceous red, more or
less hvid on the prothorax and elytra, with the apex of the
latter paler. Head blackish.
Length 1 line ; breadth f of a line.

This species is recognized by the acute form of the hinder part
of the body, and by the shape of the mesosternal plate, which is
almost linear.
Occasional.

Pelosoma, Muls.

Cercyon, Dej.
P. Lafertei, Muls.
bicolor, Dej.

Oviform, convex, and covered with small punctures above ;
black or nut-brown, with the anterior part of the epistome
and the sides of the prothorax gradually reddish. Form of scu-
tellum a rectilinear triangle. Elytra broadest towards the third
of their length, with eleven striae slightly punctate and deepest
behind.

Length 1 line.

There is only one species of the genus, and the mesosternal
blade truncate behind is a sufficient distinction. I am not aware
that it has been found in Britain, but have added the description
to make this sketch more complete.

The division of the Sphceridiida, called by Mulsant Megaster-
nares, which comes next, has entirely the aspect of the Cercyons,
and, as already mentioned, is distinguished by having its meso-

88 Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon.

sternum broader than long and irregularly pentagonal. It con-
tains only two species so far as yet known, each of which has
been constituted by Mulsant into a separate genus.
The characters are as follows : —

Megasternum. Sides of thorax not turned in below ; prosternum

lozenge-shaped, longitudinally keeled.
Cryptopleurum. Sides of thorax folded in below in the form of a

triangle ; prosternum pentagonal, with its broadest side in front.

MegasternuMj Muls.

Cercyon, Steph.

M. Boletophagum, Erich., Muls., Steph.
acutum, Steph.
immune, Kirby, Steph.
stercorarium. Marsh., Steph.
iinmaculatum, Kirby, Steph.
Iceve, Marsh., Steph.
contaminatum, Kirby, Steph.
ferruc/ineiim. Marsh., Steph.
concinnum, Marsh., Steph. ?
fuscescens, Steph. ?
testaceum, Steph. ?
immundum, Steph. ?
castaneum, Heer?

Short, oviform, decidedly convex, shining brownish black
above. Head and prothorax punctate. Elytra diminishing to
the apex, with ten slight rows of punctures; intervals more
finely punctate than the thorax.

Length | to 1 line ; breadth ^^ to § of a line.

The shape of the mesosternal plate and prosternum at once
easily distinguish this from all the other species of Cercyon ; but
its body above is also recognizable by a glassy semitransparent
lustre which no other species has. It is exceedingly variable in
size and colour, and in depth of striae and punctuation. Some-
times it is a full line in length, occasionally not much more
than half a line. It is generally dark chestnut-coloured, but
sometimes quite black; sometimes the striae are well-defined,
at others scarcely perceptible, but the form of its mesosternal
plate, its glassy lustre, and a peculiarity in the puncturing of the
strise will always distinguish it. The punctures in the strise are
not as if they had been impressed vertically, as is usually the
case, but as if a needle had been held slanting forwards and a
succession of nearly horizontal pokes had made the punctures.

Notwithstanding the great variety in the points to which I
have alluded, there is no insect in the group more readily recog-

Mr. A. Murray on the Genus Cercyon. 89

nized by an eye once familiar with it. Kirby and Stephens, how-
ever, never seem to have been so, as will be seen from the syn-
onymy I have given. Thev seem to have been misled by every
trifling variety; for instance, C. stercorarium, Steph., and imma-
culatum, Steph., are small black specimens, the one somewhat
crumpled and the other very little marked. Boletophagum is a
large specimen, immune a small one, and so on. The above syn-
onymy I have confined to the genus Cercyon, but I found trom
Mr. Little's collection that Mr. Stephens had carried this spe-
cies also into other genera, as it formed his representative tor
Phalacruspulchellus, Steph., and Phalacrusgemmus, bteph. lUis,
however, was no doubt merely by mistake, at least as tar as
regards the latter, which is a good species, bearmg a certam
resemblance to Megasiernum Boletophagum.
The species is very common.

Cryptoplexjrum, Muls.

Cercyon, Steph.

C. atomarium. Fab., Steph.
crenatum, Panz., Steph.
minutmn, Payk. (not Steph.).
merdarium, Steph.
var. sordidwm. Marsh., Steph.

Shortly oval, broadest in the anterior part. Head and pi^-
thorax obscure black, densely covered with small punctures; the
prothorax angularly folded in below. Elytra black, gradually
livid red towards the extremity, with eleven deep creiiulated
striK, the seventh almost confounded with the eighth, vvhich is
broader. Intervals subconvex punctate, and furnished with hairs.

Var. B. Elytra almost entirely testaceous red, paler towards the
* extremity ; prothorax sometimes testaceous red on the sides.

Length f to 1 line.

The shape of the mesosternum and prostemum at once distin-
guishes this species when seen from below ; when seen from above
It will be known by the coarse appearance of the upper sides and
its deeply crenate striae.

Common.

The above species of Cercyon, Pelosoma, Megasternum, and
Cryptopleurum, include the whole of the British species of the
old genus Cercyon which can be recognized from their descrip-
tions. They amount to 18 in number, and I have little doubt
that the whole of Stephens's 58 species will ultimately be found
to come under one or other of them ; indeed, I thmk I have above

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 7

90 Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Shells from Ceylon.

determined the whole of them, with the exception of C. Calthce,
xanthocq>halum, eryt/u-opus, ohscurum and nigriceps. Heer has
a species, C pulchelhim, found in Switzerland, which, from his
insufficient description, I have been unable to identify. With
the above exceptions I think I have noticed the whole of the
European species hitherto known.

IX. — Characters of new Land Shells, collected by Edgar L. Lay-
ARD, Esq., in Ceylon. By W. H. Benson, Esq.

1. Streptaxis Layardiana, nobis.

Testa arcuato-rimata, depresso-ovata, abbreviata, lata, leviter striata,
albido-cornea ; spira subelevata, apice planulato, excentrico ; sutura
crenulata : anfractibus 5, convexiusculis, ultimo ad latus deviante,
basi convexiuscula, Isevi ; apertura straminea, subtriangulari uni-
plicata, marginibus callo lamellam intrantein validam emittente
jmictis, dextro expanse reflexiusculo, antrorsum arcuate, superne
profunda sinuato, columellari et basali reflexis, umbilico intus ru-
goso-striato.

Diam. major 10§, minor 8, alt. 4 mill.

Hab. inter lapides ad verticem rupis Mehintali Insulae Ceylon.

In one or two specimens the callus near the upper margin is
inclined to form an obtuse tooth at the side of the sinus, which
is much deeper than in H. Perrotetiana, Petit, from the Nil-
gherries.

A graphic account of the discovery is contained in Mr. Lay-
ard's Journal in page 235, vol. xi. of the ' Annals.' This and
the following curious species, of a singular genus, capriciously
distributed through the tropical regions of the globe, are the first
which have been found in Ceylon. The head-quarters of the
genus are in South America and Western Africa. The remain-
ing species, of which the locality is known, are solitary in the
Nilgherry Hills of South India, at Tavoy on the Tenasserim
coast of the Bay of Bengal, in Cochin China, and in the Sey-
chelles and Rodriguez, islands of the Southern Indian Ocean.

M. Petit de la Saussaye objects (Journ. de Conchyl. 1851,
p. 369) to the reception of Streptaxis as a genus, considering it
to be inadmissible in a zoological point of view ; and he adduces
as an argument for rejection the circumstance of its gradual
change into Helix, through species which belong to the group, .
although deficient in the principal character of distortion. The
same argument might be used against the reception of most
other genera. Bulimiis and Achatina have as little title to sepa-
ration as this genus and Helix ; and Streptaxis has equal claims

Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Shells fiom Ceylon. 91

to acceptance witli Lamarck's genus Anostoma, like which the
mollusk to use M. Petit's words, "arrivmg at a certain stage ot
Tow^K abandons in the formation of the shell the regular course
followed by the animals of the genus //e/ia;.

The separation of such a singular gi'oup is, at all events, a great
convenience in conchological research.

3. Streptaxis Cingalensis, nobis.

Testa arcuatim rimato-perforata. depresso-OTata, solida, abbreviata
lata, obsolete costulato-striata, albido-cornea, ^^l^*"; P«];^;Xs
elevatiuscula, sutura crenulata, apice convexmsculo ; anfract bus
6 convexis, ultimo ad latus deviante, basi convexa ; apertura sub
triausulari 3-dentata, marginibus callo lamellam mtrautem vah-
dam^emittente junctis, dextro reflexo, antrorsum arcuato un^da^-
tato, superne profunde sinuate, columellan reflexo, ad basm um-
dentato ; umbiUco intus striato, Unea impressa circumscnpto.

Diam. maior 11, minor 8, alt. 5 mill. .

S in pago Hewagam Corle Ins.d^ Ceylon, inter nmas saxorum.

Nearly allied to the last, but differing in the dentition of the
aperture, in the umbilicus, and in the less flattened form. Ihe
replication of the sinus at the top of the aperture simulates
another tooth at right angles with the laminar plat on the
parietes, a character observable also in S. Pen-otett, and to
Th ch i. Layardiana also shows a tendency. t is intermediate
between those two species in the dentition of the ^per nre>^*
wants the additional tooth which occurs at the base, withm the
aperture, in the first-named species, from which it is moreovei
much further removed in form than from S Layardiana.

Mr. Layard has communicated the foUowmg note on the ani-
xnal — " Epiphragm glassy, animal yellow, with a red line on the
back extending up the two superior tentacles, at the tip of which
the eyes are sifuat^ed : all four tentacles clubbed ; when crawhng
the shell is carried nearly level with the back.

The coloux-ing of the animal reminds me of the hues observable
in the Pup. of the Isle of France, as well as ^^ /he Indian and
Galle speiies, P. hicolor of Hutton It has already been e^
marked by others that Streptaxis has an obvious affinity with
the Mauritian Pupa Pagoda in the formation of the shell.

3. Helix ceraria, nobis.
Testa obtecte perforata, ^epressa, nitidula, cerea radiatim rugo^^^^
striata striis spiralibus remotmscuhs decussata, luteo- uhicla,
versus apicem mbescente, spira convexiuscula, apice obtusato ;
ISactibSs 4, superne planulatis, ultimo lato, cannato, subtus
Suixo ; ape tura magnli, late lunata, peristomate simphci, acuto,

92 Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Shells from Ceylon.

marginibus callo tenuissimo junctis, columellari arcuato, supeme
breviter reflexo, perforationem inconspicuam fere tegente.

Diam. major 20, minor 16, alt. 10 mill.

Hab. in agris altis Insulae Ceylon " Horton Plains " dictis.

4. Helix Puteolus, nobis.

Testa perspective umbilicata, orbiculato-depressa, lenticular), supra
spurca, albida, subremote radiato-lirata, subtus cornea, radiatim
striata ; spira plauiuscula apice vix promiuulo, sutura impressa ;
anfractibus 5^, angustissimis, convexiusculis, arete couvolutis, om-
nibus filoso-carinatis, supeme sulco carinaque secunda parallelibus
munitis, ultimo subtus planiusculo, ad marginem mnbilici medio-
cris profuude excavati, cyathiformis, valde compresso ; apertura
angusta, securiformi, peristomate recto, acuto.

Diam. major 5^, minor 5, axis 1\ mill.

Hab. in saxis ad portas " Balcadua" dictas, Insulse Ceylon.

This little shell is singular on account of its sculpture, the
narrowness of the whorls, and the sudden and deep excavation
of the well-like umbilicus. Vide ' Annals,' vol. vii. p. 305.

5. Helix Mononema, nobis.

Testa angustissime perforata, trochiformi, radiato-striata, corneo-
albida, glabra, non nitida, translucente, spira conoidea, ajjice ob-
tuso, sutura distincta ; anfractibus 6^-7, supeme convexiusculis,
filo unico, elevato, tenui, mediano cinctis, ultimo acute filoso-cari-
nato, subtus subplanulato ; apertura verticali, securiformi, peri-
stomate recto, acuto, margine columellari brevi, verticali, reflexo,
perforationem subtegente.

Diam. major 5, minor A\, axis 4 mill.

Hab. ad Heneratgodde.

Allied to the Himalayan H. fastigiata, Hutton, and to the
Bengal H. Barrackporensis, Pfr., but well-distinguished by its
more depressed form and by the filiform line, which, in addition
to the keel on the last whorl, runs along the central part of each
of the upper whorls. Mr. Layard had not been able to procure
a second specimen.

6. Helix marcida, nobis.

Testa subobtecte perforata, depressa, solida, supeme oblique regu-
lariter costulata, subtus Iseviori, sub epidermide fulvido-cornea al-
bida ; spira vix elevata, sutura impressa, apice obtusiusculo ; an-
fractibus 6, lente accrescentibus, ultimo rotundato, subtus planulato,
apertura sublate lunata, ol)liqua, peristomate recto, tenui, margine
columellari oblique descendentc, crassiusculo, supeme breviter re-
flexo, perforationem subtegente.

Diam. major 14, minor 12, axis 8 mill.

Hab. in Insula Ceylon.

Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Shells from Ceylon. 93

7. Helioe vilipensa, nobis.

Testa aperte perforata, pervia, depressa, solidiuscula, pellucida, cor-
nea, polita ; spira convexiuscula, sutura vix margiuata, apice ob-
tuso ; anfractibus 5, subplanatis, lente accrescentibus, ultimo ro-
tundato, subtus convexiusculo ; apertura late lunata, subobliqua,
peristomate recto, acuto, margine columellari oblique descendente,
expansiusculo, superne breviter reflexo ; umbilico pervio.

Diam. major 8, minor 7, axis 4 mill.

Hab. ad rupem Mehintali.

A little Naninseform Helix with no very prominent character,
dififering from Pfeiffer's H. Perroteti and other small Helices of
the same group, with the exception of a small unnamed Nilgherry
shell which is slightly larger, but othei-wise not easily to be di-
stinguished from it. From H. Perroteti it differs by its more
convex spire, rounder periphery, and more open perforation.

8. Helix perfucata, nobis.

Testa vix perforata, depressa, translucente, purpureo-fusca, politis-
sima, spira elevatiuscula, sutura submarginata, apice obtuso ; an-
fractibus 4, convexiusculis, arete convolutis, tiltimo rotundato, sub-
tus convexo ; apertura lunata, vix obliqua ; peristomate recto, acuto,
margine columellari verticali, leviter reflexo, umbilico non pervio.

Diam. major 5, minor 4, axis 3 mill.

Hab. in pago GaUensi, inter saxa.

Remarkable for its deep clear purple-brown colour.

9. Vitrina Edgariana, nobis.

Testa valde depressa, tenuissima, subtus membranacea, politissima,
pellucida, superne obsolete oblique striatula, lineis nomiuUis spira-
libus impressis omata, lutescente-cornea ; spira planiuscula, apice
prominulo, sutura impressa ; anfractibus 3 celeriter accrescentibus,
planiusculis, ultimo ad periphseriam valde convexo ; apertura ob-
liqua, ovato-lunata.

Diam. major 10, minor 8, alt. 4 mill.

Hab. ad Columbo, Hangwelle, et Ratnapoora, insuper folia arbus-
torum.

Mr. E. Layard remarks, that "the moUusk is very long and
attenuated, yellow and white. On touching it, it throws itself
ofi" the spot where it crawls, and twists and springs about in a
most singular manner, often propelling itself several inches from
its starting-point.^' I have recorded elsewhere a similar habit in
a little fresh rt^ater shell, Planorbis rotula, nobis.

10. Vitrina membranacea, nobis.
Testa valde depressa, submembranacea, obsolete oblique striatala.

94 Mr. W. H. Benson on neiu Land Shells from Ceylon.

striis versus apicem confertissimis, pellucida, virente-cornea, po-
lita, superne convexiuscula, apice planato, sutura vix marginata ;
anfractibus S\, rapide accrescentibus, ultimo antice lato, subtus
planulato, ad periphseriam angustam rotundato ; apertura obliqua,
ovata, margine superior! prorsus arcuato.

Diam. major 11, minor 8, alt. 4 mill.

Hab. ad portas montanas Balcadua dictas, lapidibus adhserens.

11. Achatina Veruina, nobis.

Testa cylindraceo-turrita, valde elongata, sordide albida, inaequaliter
striata, spira superne sensim attenuata, sutura impressa, crenulata,
apice obtuso; anfractibus 12|— 1 3 angustis cylindricis, ultimo ^ lon-
gitudinis vix sequante ; apertura verticali, truncato-ovali, peristo-
mate recto, acuto, margine columellari leviter arcuato.

Long. 25, diam. 5 mill.

Hab. ad Nalande.

12. Achatina pachychdla, nobis.

Testa ovato-oblonga, striatula, striis exilissimis confertis, obsoletis,
spiraliter sub lente decussata, nitida fuscescente-cornea, translu-
cente, spira elongata, subconica, apice obtuso, sutura leviter im-
pressa ; anfractibus 6, \'ix convexiusculis, ultimo ^ longitudiuis vix
scquante ; apertura verticali, oblongo-ovata, peristomate iutus al-
bido-marginata, columella prsearcuata, margine basali incrassato.

Axis 1 1, diam. 5 mill.

Hab. ad Heneratgodde.

This little species of a group, which has so many representa-
tives in Ceylon, the Nilgherries, and the damp woody moun-
tains of North-eastern India, with a more slender form than
A. Oreas, nobis, is well distinguished from the allied forms by
its peculiar sculpture under the lens, and by the internal incras-
sation of the peristome, a feature which is also observable in the
species A. crassilabris, nobis, from North-eastern India.

13. Bulimus Panos, nobis.

Testa rimata, ovato-oblonga, subrugose striata, cornea, spira elon-
gato-conica, sutura mediocri, apice obtuso ; anfractibus 6| convexi-
usculis, ultimo f longitudinis vix sequante, antice subasceudente,
apertura ovata, edentula ; peristomate expansiusculo, acuto, mar-
ginibus conniventibus, columellari bre\ater dilatato, albido.

Long. 11, diam. 5 mill.

Hab. ad Nalande.

This shell has a Pupiform aspect.

14. Pupa Muscerda, nobis.

Testa rimata, ovato-oblonga, striatula, cornea, spira elongata, apice
obtuso ; anfractibus 5^-6, convexiusculis, idtimo tertiam partem

Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Shells from Ceylon. 95

testae ajquante, vix ascendente ; apertura ovata, tridentata, peri-
stomate expanse, acuto, marginibus conniventibus, eolumellari di-
latato, albido, plica parietali 1, eolumellari 1, profundiusculis, dente
palatali I, depresso, obtuso.

Long. 4, diam. \\ mill.

Hab. ad promontorium "Pedro" dictum.

Found by Mr. E. Layard in old posts, and on Palmyra trees
{Borassus fiabelliformis).

15. Pupa Mimula, nobis.

Testa rimata, ovato-oblonga, subcylindracea, oblique tenuiter plica-
tula, pallide cornea, apice obtuso, sutura profundiuscula ; anfrac-
tibus 5, convexis, ultimo vix ascendente ; apertura ovata, verticali,
.5-plicata, peristomate tenui, expanso, marginibus callo tenui ex-
panse junctis, plica 1 iutrante, majuscula, parietali, 1 eolumellari,
1 basali profunda, 2 palatalibus profundis.

Long. 2, diam. 1 mill.

Hab. in vitibus ad Promontorium Pedronis.

A minute species nearly allied to, and somewhat larger than
the Himalayan P. Huttoniana, nobis. It was taken in abundance
by Mr. Layard.

16. Cataulus Atistenianus, nobis.

Testa subperforata, ovato-pyramidata, solidiuscula, eleganter oblique
costulato-striata, sericea, diaphana, saturate rubro-castanea, spira
turrita, sutura impressa, apice acutiusculo ; anfractibus 8, convexi-
usculis, ultimo antice subascendente, carina basali, compressa,
prominente, subfuniculata, antice non dilatata ; apertura subcir-
cvdari, obliqua, sursum spectante, peristomate duplici, incrassato,
saturate fusco-aurantiaco, interno continuo, breviter adnato, externo
fornicatim patente reflexo, superne et ad columellam subauriculato-
dilatato, canali basali aperto, intus vix strictiore, ad sinistram per-
forate : operculo spiraliter laminate, anfractus multes appressos
reconditos exhibente, facie exteriori anfractos plures angustos men-
tiente.

Diam. 13i, alt. 25 mill.

Hab. ad Heneratgodde in rimis saxorum.

Allied in form and size to Cataulus pyramidatus, Pfeiffer, but
differs in sculpture, position of the canal, colour of aperture, &c.
It was taken by Mr. Edgar L. Layard in the deep fissure of a
limestone rock, among the vegetable mould, where it lay con-
cealed under the surface, with the mouth downwards, among the
roots of an ancient Ficus Indica. In some specimens the last
whorl is more swollen than in others.

Mr. Layard has communicated the following description of the
animal in a letter written on the spot : —

96 Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Sliells from Ceylon.

" The animal is dark brown, mottled, about 9 lines long,
5 broad ; tentacles two, brilliant scarlet tipped with brown, 3 lines
long, sharp-pointed ; eyes two, black, situated at the outside of
the tentacles. The moUusk is very slow in its motions, crawling
with the shell plane over its back, resting on the operculum ;
this is round and fits into the mouth ; it is retractile when the
animal is much irritated, but does not close the siphon and
canal ; when crawling, the flesh of the mollusk does not touch
the canal. After placing them in boiling water to clean, I thrust
a needle into one and pierced the operculum accidentally ; judge
of my astonishment, when in attempting to withdraw the instru-
ment, the operculum unfolded revolution after revolution till I
counted nine ! " Subsequently Mr. Layard counted nineteen
whorls in one operculum ; and he has aptly likened it to the
horn toy, made to resemble a snake by slicing it spirally from
end to end, so as to form a laminar centreless screw.

At the request of the discoverer, I have much pleasure in de-
dicating the species to his brother, the enterprising Oriental
archaeologist and traveller Dr. Austen Layard.

17. Cataulus decorus, nobis.

Testa subperforata, elongato-turrita, solida, confertim costulato-stri-
ata, nitidiuscula, rufo-castanea, apice acutiusculo ; anfractibus 8,
convexiusculis, ultimo ad basin compresso-carinato, carina valde
prominente, versus marginem funiculata, incrassata, antice vix di-
latata ; apertura verticali, circulari, peristomate incrassato, reflexo,
hreviter adnato, Isete aurantiaco, ad basin subproducto, deorsum
recedente ; canali extus lato perforate ; periomphalo magno : oper-
culo ut in prsecedente.

Diam. vix 10, axis 21 mill.

Hab. ad Ratnapoora.

Mr. Layard wrote regarding this species — " This was found
under a rock with two others ; animal brownish gray, foot livid.
Tentacles pale orange, two ; eyes sessile, two, black."

Mr. Layard has, since his return to England, detected in the
operculum of Megalomastoma allum a structure similar to that
which obtains in these Catauli, and I have, since the communi-
cation of that circumstance, also observed it in the operculum of
the Himalayan Meg. funiculatum, nobis.

18. Cyclophorus Parapsis, nobis.

Testa late et perspective umbilicata, orbiculato-depressa, tenui, con-
fertim striatula, olivacea, sub ejjidermide tenui albida ; spira pla-
niuscula, apice vix proininulo, sutura profunda ; anfractibus 4 con-
vexiusculis, ultimo cylindrico, leviter dcscendente, nou dilatato ;
a])ertura subverticali, subcircnlari, iiitus glaucescente ; peristomate

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 97

continue, breviter adnato, recto, simplice, ^^uto : operculo tenvu,
corn?o arete spirato, medio concaviusculo. intus obtuse uxnbouah.
Diam maior 13, minor 10, alt. 5 mill. _ ^
Hab ad Damboul, ad verticem rupis, in rimis saxorum.

It differs from C. loxostoma, Pfeiffer (a large and handsomely
inaxled variety of which was found on the same rock), m colour-
r«^ epidermis! depth of suture, narrower and deeper umbdicus,
a°fd the more cir^cular and vertical aperture, which exhxbi^
nothin.- of the diagonal departure from the a^s observable in
PfSs shell. The peristome also is acute and single instead
of b!Sg double, slighti; expanded and thickene^ as m that^^^^^
ries of which Mr. Layard's specimen is variegated with raaiate
and undulated chestnut stripes, and with a smgle band on a
fulvous ground.

London, June 1853.

X^Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, collected during an
eight year^ residence in the Island. By Edgar Leopold
Layard, C.C.S.

To the Editors of the Annah of Natural History .

Gentlemen, .
Should vou deem the accompanying notes on the birds of Cey-
lon worhfof a place in your Journal, they are at your disposal
Xltei myself that the'y.will be found to cont-; complete
\W\ of those birds as yet discovered m Ceylon. 1 have had tne
atantatof consulting with Mr. Blyth and Drs. Templeton and
kelaart, with each of whom I have been on terms of the closest
kit macV and we mutually communicated our discoveries I
ha fn^'self seen and shot Lst of the birds enumerated, mthei
native haunts, for whether walkmg, d^mng or ridmg I always
carried my telescope and collecting gun, and I have thus tra-
versed the greater part of the island. Besides travellmg I have
bSn some 'years st'ationed in the widely -paratf lo^h^^^^^^^^^

Colombo, and Pt. Pedro m the ^e^g^^«^^^«f^;[^,JX forTe
which places I made frequent excursions into the jungle, tor the
purpose of collecting and observing the habits of birds and an -
mals The only parts I have left unvisited are Nuwera Elia
and Batticaloa a'nd^heir vicinities. In the omer f ce D^^^^^^
laart long resided and carefully investigated, as ^i%^^^t/^«'^^'-
Frl Balicaloa I have inspected small -1 Actions ^^^^^^
the only part of Ceylon entirely unknown to eithei ot us three
is the Park country! which I had hoped to explore, but was pre-

98 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

vented by the malady which has caused my return to England.
I may add, I have never admitted the native name of a bird,
until, by repeatedly questioning different and unconnected par-
ties, I have assured myself of its correctness. The classification
and nomenclature I have adopted from Dr. Gray's Catalogue of
the Birds in the British Museum, and the identification of the
specimens has been made by my kind friend Mr. Blyth, of the
Hon. East India Company's Museum in Calcutta.

The list numbers upwards of 300 species, and will be succeeded,
if you approve of it, by a similar list of the terrestrial and flu-
viatile MoUusca.

1. Aquila Bonellii, Temm.

This eagle was procm-ed by E,. Templeton, Esq., R.A., several
years ago, and I do not know from what part of the island it was
obtained. It has not fallen under my notice, nor has Dr. Kelaart
enumerated it amongst his acquisitions at NuM'era Elia ; I can
therefore say nothing of its habits.

2. Aquila pennata, Gmel.

I shot the only specimen of this small eagle yet seen in the
island, on an open plain near Pt. Pedro. I was awaiting the
return of my carriage from Warrany, and took shelter from the
heavy morning dew (it was scarcely daylight) under an old Bo-
tree {Ficus relifiiosa), when my attention was caught by the evo-
lutions of what I took for an immature specimen of our common
fish hawk, Haliastur Indus. It struck me the flight was rathei-
different, but this I attributed to the darkness of the hour.
Suddenly it pounced upon a bulbul roosting in an oleander
bush : this at once undeceived me, and as it rose with its victim
in its claws, I fired and brought it to the ground. It fought
with determined spirit and kept a small terrier at bay, till I
killed it with the butt-end of my gun.

3. Spizaetus Nipalensis, Hodgs.

Dr. Kelaart procured this noble bird near Badulla, at an ele-
vation of some 4000 feet. I know nothing of its habits, as it
never fell under my notice.

4. Spizaetus Limnaetus, Horsf.

This species is common and widely distributed. I have shot
it at Hambantotte, Matura, Colombo, Pt. Pedro, and in the
Anooradapoora Wanny ; I have also observed it at Ratnapoora
and Ambegamoa, and Dr. Kelaart obtained it at Nuwcra Elia.
It is a bold and daring bird, striking fowls before the doors, even

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon* 99

of European houses, and in one instance I knew it to enter
a verandah. I had wounded a fine adult specimen of the httle
common Accipiter badius, and desirous of preserving it ahve,
chained it to a post in the deep double verandah of the old
Magistracy at Pt. Pedro. This bird had become quite tame, when
one morning going into the verandah to speak to a friend who sat
there sipping his coffee, I found my favourite in the claws of the
Crested eagle. The spoiler fixed his eyes upon me, and merely
tried to draw his prey further away, but this the chain prevented.
He then raised his crest as if to intimidate us ; I hastened into
the house for my gun, my friend still looking on, and when I
returned to the verandah the eagle was still there. I aimed at
him, but the gun hung fire, and he escaped, but not till he had
nearly devoured his own kindred, — a practical refutation of the
old saw, that " hawks will not pick out hawks' een." There is a
singularly dark variety of this species, which I have only seen at
Pt. Pedro, and that but very rarely.

5. IcTiNAETUS Malaiensis, Rein.

Dr. Kelaart procured this species at Nuwera Elia, and Mr.
Mitford sent me a specimen from Ratnapoora. I subsequently
saw it at Gillymally at the foot of Adam's Peak, and if I mistake
not, I also observed it on the wing in the " Pasdoom Corle." It
is certainly a mountain species, and I should say not uncommon,
but I know nothing of its oeconomy.

6. H^MATORNis Cheela, Lath. Cudoombien, Mai.

Abundantly and widely distributed throughout the island,
this fierce and gloomy tyrant of the woods lies in wait for its
prey in the gloaming, scaring the herd-boy from the tank side,
or the lonely native threading his way through the jungle, by its
doleful raoanings. By many it is considered equally ill-omened
with the dreaded Ulama, whose shriek is deemed the precursor
of death by the superstitious native. H. Cheela frequents the
borders of tanks and morasses, feeding on frogs, snakes, lizards,
and occasionally, I suspect, on mud-fish. Concealed in the dark
foliage of some overhanging tree, it heedlessly marks the smaller
frogs approach the grassy margin of the pool. Suddenly the
large green bull-frog {Rana Malabarica) uplifts its head and
utters its booming call. The Cheela is now all attention — with
outstretched neck it fijces its glaring eyeballs on its desired prey —
lower and lower it bends ; for the frog, which has now reached
the sedges with a croak of triumph, gains a log. But a shadow
glides over him — in vain he crouches — and his colour becomes a
dull brown, so closely resembling the log, that human eyes would

100 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

take him for a knot in the decaying timber ; with noiseless rapid-
ity the barred wings pass on, and the log is untenanted. Fast
clutched in the talons of his merciless foe, the frog is borne to
the well-known perch, and a sharp blow on the back of the head
from the bill of the bird deprives it of life. H. Cheela builds its
nest in the recesses of the forest, or lofty trees. The structure is
a mass of sticks piled together and added to year by year. The
eggs, generally two in number, are 3 inches in length by 2 in dia-
meter, of a dirty chalk-white, minutely freckled at the obtuse
end with black dots.

7. H^MATORNIS SPILOGASTER, Bl)i;h.

This new Hmnatornis was sent to Mr. Blyth both by Dr. Ke-
laart and myself about the same time ; the Doctor procured his
specimen at Trincomalee, whilst I killed mine in the Wanny. I
afterwards shot another pair at Pt. Pedi'O. I presume they are
migratory like H. Cheela, which visits us in the north about
March and leaves in July. All the specimens were shot in one
year. I know nothing of theii" ceconomy.

8. PoNTOAETUs LETJCOGASTER, Gmel. Cadal ala, Mai. ; lit. Sea
Eagle.

The " fish eagle " is not uncommon, but local, the same pair
frequenting the same eyrie year after year, and adding to its nest
every breeding season, until a vast accumulation of sticks in
some aged Bo-tree reveals the roosting place of the adult birds :
to this they nightly repair. During the season of incubation
the female is very fierce, defending her nest vigorously against
intrusion. The superstitious fears of the natives also operate in
her defence, as the sanctity of the tree (always dedicated to some
dfemon) prevents any adventurous youth from climbing it even
for pecuniary reward. The flight of this species is noble and
imposing : poised high over the resounding surge it wheels above
on circling pinions, and mth extended neck surveys the finny
tribes. Here, vshoals of beak-nosed fishes swim in their seasonal
migrations along the coral reef; there, brilliant Chsetodons float
in the shallows. The tide has partially I'cceded, and the water
lies in still crystal pools in the depressions of the reef : over one
of these the fish eagle passes : an abi'upt wheel shows his atten-
tion arrested, a moment's pause, and down he plunges, his body
swaying to and fro. The surface is reached, the legs suddenly
thrown out, and with exulting cries he soars aloft, bearing in his
talons a writhing snake, eel or large fish. The efforts of the bird
to seciu-e its prey in a proper position are now curious. If a fish
is captured, the feat is comparatively easy; the talons of the

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 101

hawk are gradually shifted until one grasps the prey near the
gills and the other near the tail, so as to bring the fish into line
with its own body, thus offering the smallest surface for the im-
pinging of the atmosphere. With a snake or eel the matter is
more difficult, and I have often seen the prey free itself from its
captor by its strong writhings ; a bite, however, near the head
destroys its power, and it is borne away dangling by the neck iu
the grasp of its destroyer.

9. PONTOAETUS ICHTHYAETUS, Horsf.

I encountered this species in the Wanny, where a pair may be
generally found located by any good-sized piece of water. I
found many nests in such situations, but believe the season for
incubation had not commenced when I visited the locality in
April. The eyrie is usually on some towering monarch of the
woods overlooking the tank where the parent birds find a suffi-
cient store of fish, frogs, and snakes, for themselves and their
offspring.

10. Haliastub Indus, Bodd. Chem prandu, Mai. ; lit. Red
Hawk. Brimalgumoitu, Port.

Common along the whole seaboard of the island, particularly
at the mouths of rivers, and in estuaries, preying on carrion, for
which it contends with the crows and the black kite {Milvus
ater) ; I have known it to seize a fowl, but this is an unusual
occurrence. They build in the vicinity of water, making many
false nests in the same tree before they finally fix upon one
which pleases them ; and whilst the female is incubating, the
male occupies one of those fii-st made. The nest, like that of
Blagrus leucog aster, is composed of sticks and twigs without any
lining. Eggs about 3 inches in length by 1^ in diameter, colour
dull dirty white, dotted at the thick end with bloody-coloured, un-
equal and uncertain small blotches and spots ; in some instances
these spots are nearly black, resembling dry blood. The young,
of which there are generally two, are excluded about the first
week in February, incubation lasting about three weeks. Before
the appearance of their feathers they are covered with a grayish
down, and apparently fed with soft reptiles.

11. Falco peregrinus, Linn.

This bird is doubtless very rare ; the only three specimens pro-
cured I shot in January, on the open plains near Wally Bridge
in the Jaffna district. I found them breeding in a palmirah tope
on the left-hand side of the road from Jaffna to Pt. Pedro ; the
nest, a rough structure of sticks laid on the dead " matties " or
fronds of the palmirah, from which the leafy parts had been cut

103 Mr. E. L. Layard oti the OrnUholoyy of Ceylon.

away. They feed on the small waders which frequent the borders
of the salt pans. I shot the first specimen (a male) early in the
month, but the female was so shy, that though I long remained
concealed near the nest, she never afforded me a shot, and I was
obliged to return home without her. I was surprised to find
another male on the same nest when I revisited the spot at the
end of the month, and procured both him and his mate with a
double shot.

12. Ealco peregrinator, Sund.

I was sitting late one evening in a native hut in Gillymally, at
the foot of Adam's Peak, when Muttoo (my factotum bird-stuffer,
hunter, and horsekeeper) came to tell me that a huge swift
{Acanthrjlis caudacuta) which I had long desired to procure was
sitting on a leafless tree crowning the summit of the hill, under
which the hut was built. Hurrying out with the guns, Muttoo
and I were about to scale the hill, when I saw something fall
from the perch on which sat the bird, which I also mistook for
a swift, so much did its wings overlap its tail. I directed the
telescope, which I always carry, towards the bird, and to my sur-
prise, the hour being so late, perceived a hawk (entirely new to
the Ceylon fauna) devouring a small thrush. By this time
Muttoo, unperceived, had approached within gun-shot of the
lovely bird, and I saw the long barrel of my collecting gun slowly
emerge from a favouring bush : an instant and the deadly tube
was steady, the next its tiny flame burst forth, and ere the ring-
ing report died away, the bird lay dead at the foot of the tree.
This is the only instance in which the bird has been seen in
Ceylon.

13. TiNNUNCuLus ALAUDARius, Briss. Wallooru, Mai.

This bold little hawk is common throughout the island on all
open plains dotted with jungle. They generally hunt in couples,
sometimes skimming low over the bushes or along the ground
and darting on their prey, sometimes hovering in the air and
pouncing down on the larks, amadavats, and the other small
birds on which they feed. I never found the nest of this species,
although so abundant.

14. Hypotriorchis chicquera, Shaw.

I saw this pretty hawk in the flat country near Pt. Pedro, but
could not get a shot at it. I cannot, however, be mistaken in
the bird, as I long watched it with my telescope.

15. Baza lophotes, Temm.
This bird, though rare in Ceylon, appears to be widely distri-

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 103

buted, and to. feed on various substances. I shot one at Jaffna
with half a hzard, Calotes viridis, in its maw, and Mr. Mitford
procured another at Ratnapoora feeding on bees, which it cap-
tured sometimes on the wing and sometimes by darting at the
nest. It was attended by its mate, and the two sat together on
the dead branches of a tree, raising and depressing their crests.

16. MiLVUS GoviNDA, Sykes. Para prandu, Mai., lit. Pariah
Kite; and Calu prandu, Mai., lit. Black Kite, in contradi-
stinction to Chern prandu, the E.ed Kite, H. Indus.

The greatest resort of this species is the estuary ignorantly
called the " Jaffna Lake," and the shallow bay of Calpentyn. On
the large extent of mud left bare by the receding tide, the
" black kites " of Europeans find abundance of genial food, con-
sisting of all kinds of dead fish, mollusca, and decaying animal
matter, which they seize with their claws, darting from a great
height. Nor do they confine their attention to the lonely sea-
shore. Fighting with the pariah dogs, they play the part of
scavengers in the filthy native towns, and eai'ly in the morning
before the streets are tenanted they earn an honest livelihood.
They are, however, bold enough to make frequent depredations
on the fish-stalls, and in one instance I saw a lad about thirteen
years old struck to the ground by the sudden pounce of a kite,
who bore off a good-sized fish from a basket the boy was carry-
ing on his head.

But their great feast is when the returning fleet of fishing-
boats are lightened of their scaly cargo, or when the well- filled
nets are drawn on shore. High overhead with quivering cry sail
the " black kite," its usual companion the "■ red kite," and often
the " sea eagle," Blagrus leucogaster; below, the beach is strewed
with fish, ci'abs, turtle, cuttle-fish, &c. As the fishermen unload
their boats, naked urchins catch up perhaps a gaudy Chsetodon,
or perhaps a strangely-shaped fish with an under jaw projecting
far beyond the upper ; the pariah dogs prowl about and steal
a piece of shark, or nip off the head of a cat-fish ; whilst the
kites now rising, now falling, cull their favourite morsels in the
way of Cephalopods and garbage of all kinds. I have often
watched some fifty or sixty thus engaged, when the smell of fish
drying in the sun for native consumption, the vociferations of
the natives, and the quarrelling of children and dogs, rendered
the scene one never to be forgotten.

The black kite builds in similar situations to the red kite, and
lays two eggs of a rather rounder form, marked with a band of
minute brownish freckles, the band occurring sometimes at one
end, sometimes at the other.

104 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

17. Elanus melanopterus, Daud.

This bird is uncommon, and but two specimens have been
seen by myself or my hunter. The first I saw near Pt. Pedro
and fired at it several times with dust shot, unluckily without
effect ; the second Muttoo killed on the Perth sugar estate on
the Caltura river : he described the bird as frequenting the fences
and stumps of felled trees in the cleared land. He observed it
on several days in the same locality before he finally secured it.
When shot, though severely wounded, it fought with great de-
termination.

18. AsTUR TRiviRGATUs, Tcmm.

This bold and daring bird is apparently confined to the moun-
tainous country, where it is common, waging a destructive war
against the hen-roost, unscared by the guns of Europeans and
natives, who alike join in efibrts to subdue it, and rarely falling
a victim from its wariness and the s^viftness of its attack. If the
luckless hen but leads her mottled brood a short distance from
the shelter of the yard in search of white ants or tempting grass-
hoppers, down swoops the " hill chieftain " from some towering
tree or beetling rock, and despite the fury and resistance of the
faithful mother, rendered fiercer by despair, the foe generally car-
ries off" one, if not two, of her family. It breeds in the holes and
crevices of precipitous rocks, and when the young are captured
early they are trained as hunting falcons and highly prized, sell-
ing for a large sum ; I saw one at Anooradapoora in the pos-
session of a native, who refused Zl. for it, though its training
was not completed. By way of hoodwinking it, its master had
sewn up the eyelids, running the thread through them, so as to
draw the edges together at pleasure.

19. ACCIPITER BADIUS.

The " sparrow-hawk " of Europeans is veiy common and
vfidely distributed, feeding on small reptiles and birds. It has
a pleasing winnowing flight, and sometimes ascends to a great
altitude. I have often watched three or four wheeling round
each other, ascending in circles, till the eye could scarcely follow
them as minute specks in the clear aether.

20. ACCIPITER NISUS.

Included by Dr. Kelaart in his Catalogue of Ceylon birds
(sed non vidi).

21. CiRCDS SWAINSONII.

Not uncommon on open plains, frequenting paddy fields and
moist places in search of reptiles of all kinds, on which it feeds.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology/ of Ceylon. 105

22. Circus cinerascens.

Abundant in the same localities as the preceding, and often
mistaken for it on the wing. Its chief food consists of snakes,
which it seizes in its claws in its low skimming flight. The
prey, clutched as often from the water as from the land, is
grasped by the neck and bitten across the head.

Nothing can exceed in gracefulness the flight of this bird
when beating over the ground in search of its quarry. Its long
pointed wings smoothly and silently cut the air ; now raised high
over its back, as the bird glides along the furrows ; now drawn to
its sides, as it darts rapidly between the rows of standing paddy ;
now the wings beat the air with long and even strokes, and now
extended, they support their possessor in his survey of the marsh
over which he is passing. Suddenly he drops, and after a mo-
mentary halt speeds away with a snake dangling in his talons to
some well-remembered stone or clod of earth, and commences
his repast. I am sure these two species migrate, appearing with
us about the end of the paddy harvest in great numbers. Though
some few remain all the year round, I never ascertained that they
bred in Ceylon, though we generally see more young than adult
birds.

23. Circus melanoleucos.

The only specimen I ever saw of this bird I shot several years
ago, whilst journeying over an open plain near the village of
Mantotte, on the western coast. I therefore know nothing of
its habits. Mr. Mitford, the District Judge of Ratnapoora, has
figured it amongst his spirited and truthful drawings of birds
procured near that place. The bird was brought to him by a
native.

24. Athene castanotus, Blyth. Punchy bassa, Cing. ; lit.
" Small Owl " (the name for all Owls is " Bassa " in Cin-
galese) .

This handsome little owl was not uncommon last year in the
neighbourhood of Colombo, but for nine years previously only
one specimen had been procured. I also found it at Ratnapoora
and Gillymally. Its hoot is not unlike the cry of the cuckoo,
though more shrill and abrupt ; indeed when I first heard it one
morning, I thought it was the note of our annual visitor the
European cuckoo. It hoots as late as 9 or 10 o'clock in the
morning in shady situations ; is silent during the heat and glare
of the day, but begins again at 4 or 5 p.m. It is most on
the alert during moonlight nights, feeding on coleoptera and
geckoids, securing the latter while creeping up the bark of trees,
seizing them in its claws. The natives tell me they breed in

Ann. ^)- Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 8

106 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

April and May, nestling in hollow trees and the crevices of rocks.
The iris of this species is red-brown, and it sees very clearly by
day, being even then most difficult of approach.

25. Athene scutellata. Raffles. Punchy bassa, Cing.

Like the preceding, this species was either very rare, or cu-
riously eluded the observation of both Dr. Templeton and myself
for a long period; indeed I was nearly eight years in Ceylon
before I saw a single specimen. One brilliant moonlight night,
however, in November last, I heard as I supposed the lowing
note of the " bronze-winged pigeon" [Chalcophaps indicus) ; think-
ing it very unusual at this time of night, 1 stopped my buggy to
listen. Muttoo, too, heard the sound and declared it was a dove ;
but a second call undeceived me, though Muttoo still averred it
was " praa cliattam " (dove's noise). As I was dressed too conspi-
cuously in white, I gave him the little gun and desired him to
shoot the bird in question, promising sixpence if he succeeded.
Muttoo slipped off his syce's dress and plunged into the cin-
namon bushes, where I soon heard him imitating the call ; on
this the bird Hew to the tree where Muttoo was concealed, and
he, seeing where the bird alighted, fired and killed it. On dis-
section it proved to be a female with the ovaries distended with
eggs, consequently I imagine the bi'ceding season was near ; the
stomach contained remnants of coleoptera only. Most of our
nocturnal birds of prey are insect-feeders ; indeed this is not
surprising from the great rarity of small mammals ; they are
never seen, as in England, hunting over the meadows in search
of field-mice, shrews, &c. The irides of A. scutellata are dark
greenish yellow.

26. Ephialtes scops, Linn.

Included by Dr. Kelaart in his list of Ceylon birds (sed non
vidi).

27. Ephialtes sxjnia, Hodgs.

Procured at Nuwera Elia by Dr. Kelaart.

28. Ephialtes Lempijii, Horsf. Punchy bassa, Cing.
Motu, Mai. Koorooi, Port.

Very common and widely distributed. I have killed both va-
rieties in Jaffna, Kandy, Colombo, Ratnapoora, and Hamban-
totte. During moonlight nights it hunts about blossoming
trees for coleoptera, which it catches by darting at them passing
and repassing, or resting on the leaves and flowers. Their cry
when at rest is a monotonous and melancholy "^ wagh wagh;"
when flying it is changed to " wah-ha wah-ha," quickly uttered

Mr. W. Clark on the Rissoa rubra. 107

and mingled with a tremulous cry. It breeds in Febiniaiy, nest-
ling in hollow trees, and laying from two to four roundish white
eggs.

29. Ketxtpa Ceylonensis, Gmel. Baccamooney, Cing.
Oomuttanloovey , Mai.

These large owls are common through the island, both in the
interior and on the sea-coast. They feed much upon fish, which
they catch in the shallow moimtain rivulets dm-ing moonlight
nights. I have several times had them alive, and they devoTired
fish with avidity. When alarmed during the day, they utter a
loud hissing note subsiding into a low growl ; during this time
the throat is much inflated at the white spot. I hear that they
breed in hollow trees and clefts of I'ock, laying two large white
eggs.

30. Syrnium Indrani, Gray. Oolama, Cing.

Inhabits dense and lonely jungles, and utters the most doleful
cries, which the natives (a very superstitious race) consider the
sure tokens of approaching evil.

31. Strix Javanica, Gmel.

The only locality in Ceylon for this bird is the pretty fort of
Jaffna. Here several pairs may be nightly seen perched on the
gables of the old Dutch church, or on the dilapidated bastions
of the walls. They feed much on fish, which they capture in
the shallow water of the estuary commanded by the fort.

[To be continued.]

XI. — On the Rissoa rubra. By William Clark, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Gentlemen, Exmouth, June 26, 1853.

It is stated in a paper of mine on the Rissoce in the ' Annals,'
vol. X. p. 262. N. S., "that the R. rubra is very common alive
in certain localities, and that I have never seen the animal, and
can scarcely believe it to be a true Rissoa, as the semitestaceous
operculum and its apophysis are more like those of a Chem-
nitzia."

This view is corroborated by the reception this day, by favour
of Mr. Barlee, of many lively specimens sent from Penzance in
a bottle of sea-water by post, which has enabled me to get notes
of all the organs. I am not aware that this curious, I may
almost say, anomalous species, has ever been mentioned beyond
a very slight notice by one or two authors, which in most respects

8*

108 Mr. W. Clark on the Rissoa rubra.

is so discordant with the animal now presented, that one would
almost think some other had been inadvertently observed ;
perhaps a young example of the more tumid red-brown variety
of the Rissoa ulvce. I judge so, because authors describe their
animal with very long and setaceous tentacula, whereas the true
Rissoa rubra has those organs particularly short and smooth.
M. Philippics account is the best, but sadly deficient in the prin-
cipal peculiarities of the animal. I think malacologists will be
glad of a somewhat enlarged description.

Barleeia rubra, nobis.
Rissoa rubra, auct.

Shell. — The colour is plain red-brown, smooth or slightly
wrinkled, of 4i to 5^ tumid volutions, which form a rapidly in-
creasing cone. Aperture oval, entire, contracted above, rounded
basally, outer margin sharp, without the callous pad of the
Rissoee. Axis j'oth, diameter jyth of an inch.

Animal. — The mantle is plain, even with the margin of the
shell, and without the filament seen at the upper angle of the
aperture in many of the Rissoce. Rostrum very short, not cor-
rugated nor capable of much extension, brindled above with dark
smoke-coloured, fine irregular close-set lines, below of pale yel-
low ; buccal disk of the same colour, of small area, crosially and
vertically cloven, containing the usual masticatory processes of
the Littorinidce ; neck dark, but not so much so as the rostrum,
quite plain and without appendages. Tentacula very short,
strong, broad, not in the least setaceous, with perfectly rounded
somewhat spatulate extremities ; they are not vibrated on the
march : colour very pale yellowish white, with a line of sulphur-
coloured beads or minute flakes running centrally from base to
point : eyes very large, black, fixed on bright sulphur inflations
at the external bases. Foot an elongated, rather narrow oval,
rounded anteally, labiated, with scarcely perceptible auricular
points, posteally rounded, emarginate in the centre of its termi-
nation ; colour in the middle of the upper part confused flake-
white, margined with a belt of pale smoke hue ; sole pale yellow,
with a decided depressed longitudinal line on the centre of the
posterior half, not constricted under the slight auricles as in
Rissoa, and not so slender ; the operculigerous lobe is small,
very little alated anteriorly, but expands below into a dark, flat,
arcuated membrane ; no cirrhus is visible, and I believe none
exists ; it carries a strong red-brown suboval testaceous oper-
culum, sharp above, rounded below and at the outer edge, and
straighter on the columellar side. The structure of the fine
striae on the upper surface is of subannular figure, with a longi-

Mr. W. Clark on the Rissoa rubra. 109

tudinal furrow about the middle, which forms a raised rib on the
under part, the whole of that area being thick, coarse and irre-
gular, with, at the nucleus, which is nearer the base than the
centre, a long, strong-pointed testaceous apophysis, more pro-
minent but not so medial as in Jeffrey sia, but stronger and
longer ; indeed as much so as in some of the Chemnitzice.

These animals inhabit the lower littoral levels at Penzance,
their locomotion is deliberate, and they evince considerable shy-
ness. There are many fasciated varieties and a white one.

This animal nearly approaches the littorinidan group, and
conducts from Rissoa to Jeffreysia : as the latter and it have
analogous subtestaceous opercula and apophyses, they naturally
lead to the Pyramidellidce. But this species cannot be placed in
Rissoa on account of the singular operculum, as the like is not
seen in any other species of that genus, and for many other ani-
mal discrepancies. PhUippi unaccountably omits all mention of
the principal pecuharity, the curious operculum, but he does say
that the animal departs somewhat from those he has examined,
both as regards the organs and the shell ; and I add, that with
the exception of the very short muzzle and depressed line in the
after-part of the foot, there is not another external organ that
has much concordance with the typical Rissoa.

Neither can it be associated with Jeffreysia, which, indeed,
agrees with it, essentially, in respect of the operculum, but the
animals of the two are very different. I shall therefore pro-
pose for it a new genus, which ought, I think, with Jeffreysia,
to form a family intermediate to the Littorinidce and Pyrami-
dellidcB. I have omitted to mention that M. D'Orbigny's sub-
genus Rissoina cannot receive it, as with a testaceous operculum
and apophysis, it is of the spiral or littorinidan type, whilst the
present object is of subannular elements ; and I consider the
operculum, though so much neglected, to afford a most important
generic and differential diagnosis; but independent of these
points, I could not, agreeably to my views, accord with such an
allocation. I repudiate all subgenera, which I consider as an
awkward attempt to define what is undefinable — an intermediate
condition between a genus and a species. I think, when a species
is so discordant with the generic type, that it ought to merge
elsewhere, and take on a substantive capacity and become the
tjrpe of a new genus ; but there can be no objection to the term
sub when used adjectively to qualify a word, as subannular, sub-
rotund, and subsymmetrical, &c., but not substantively, as then
it becomes the source of innumerable absurdities; therefore
with me a genus has no intermediate state beyond species and
their varieties. I have mentioned these views in the last para-
graph of a former paper in the ' Annals,' vol. vi. p. 29. N. S.

110 Mr. W. Thompson on new species of British Crustacea.

I would therefore now submit to malacologists, as I have
shown that no existing genus can with propriety receive this
curious creature, that a new one be constituted for it, and en-
titled Barleeia, as a just recollection of the exertions of a gen-
tleman who loses no opportunity of enriching science with living
objects from the Great Book of Nature ; and though the present
animal is locally common, it is malacologically an almost unre-
corded rarity. We may all blush for our carelessness in not no-
ticing this interesting and unique species, which, though within
the range of many naturalists, would still probably have remained
in obscurity if it had not been deterre and forced into notice by
our invaluable friend.

I am, Gentlemen,

Your most obedient servant,

William Clark.

P.S. — Errata in the paper on the genus Ti-uncatella in the last
July ' Annals :' — vol. xii. p. 7. line 24, for branchial, read oesopha-
geal streamlets. And ibid, p. 6, for Delia Chiaje, read Delle
Chiaje.

XII. — Description of several new species of British Crustacea.
By William Thompson, Esq.

[With a Plate.]

HippoLYTE Whitei (mihi). White's Hippolyte. PI. VI. fig. 1.

Spec. Char. Rostrum (fig. 1 a) straight, without spines above,
and slightly bifid at the apex, beneath with a sharp two-toothed
carina, and a minute one near the apex ; internal antennae with
the thick filament much-curved.

The carapace of this species is more gracile than any other of
the genus, and even more slender than in the genus Pala^mon ;
it is terminated by a straight and elongated rostrum, without
any spine on its upper side ; the apex is rather blunt ; beneath
there is a short carina, which is deepish, and has two teeth*
there is besides a very miniite tooth close to the apex, whicti
gives the apex the appearance of being bifid ; it is, however, not
the case, the apex being quite distinct from the spine, which is
placed on the lower edge of the rostrum ; there is also a small
tooth on each side of the base of the rostrum, just over the
inner edge of the orbit, and another spine on each side the
carapace in a line underneath the antennse. The scale of the
external antennse is large, longer than the rostrum ; its external

Jhm /■ ^Inq. jVnI. Hist. S. i'. Vol. TJ . /'/. 17.

/\ /

l^uu/ 'un..

Ml'. W. Thompson on new species of British Crustacea. Ill

tooth is placed at the distance of about one-fourth the length
from the extremity. The thicker filament of the internal antennae
is largCj and more curved than in H. varians.

Abdomen slender, not at all gibbous^ much compressed. Last
joint of fourth leg jagged on the inner margin. Two long
slender spines at the base of the antennae. External antennae
nearly the length of the animal. Length If inch.

Colour a lovely dark meadow green, with, whilst alive, a
whitish band running down the carapace; one specimen only
out of thirty or forty differed, and that was of a flesh-colour.
Middle plate of the tail acute, with two pair of minute spines,
one pair on each margin.

I took this species for the first time on the 4th of May. I
obtained others on the 30th of May, and carrying ova on the
14th of June ; the ova appear of a yellowish colour, but as they
did not reach below the scales of the abdomen, I did not examine
them as I could wish.

I obtained my specimens in four to six fathom water in a
weed bed, on a stony bottom, in Weymouth Bay.

This species is exceedingly like Hippolyte varians ; it is, how-
ever, of a much lovelier form and colour. Though larger, it is
far more slender than any of the genus.

The main points of difference with H. varians are, that the
rostrum is more elongated, not so acute at the apex, has no spine
on the ridge, and has a minute spine very near the apex on the
under side, thus making three spines on the under side. The
spines on the carapace are much shorter. The carapace is less
gibbous. The scale of the external antennae is longer and nar-
nower, and the spine is nearer the extremity. The thick filament
of the internal antennae is stouter and more bent, and the animal
is larger.

They are more diflicult to keep in confinement than many
others, and far less lively.

Some I had spent the whole of their time clinging to the fronds
of a piece of Furcellaria fastigiata, lying the length of the frond,
and not aci'oss it ; and however often I disturbed them, they in-
variably found their way back.

I have named this species after Mr. Adam White, one of the
Assistants at the British Museum.

I have just had some more specimens brought me, amongst
which I find one with the rostrum much turned up (fig. 1 b), —
quite as much so as in Palamon varians ; — two with the rostrum
curved very much downwards (fig. 1 c), giving them a most
extraordinary appearance ; these I consider provisionally, until I
obtain other specimens, as varieties of H. Whitei; I propose to
name the first H. Whitei (var. ensis), and the second H. Whitei

112 Mr. W. Thompson on new species of British Crustacea.

(var. falcatus) : should I obtain evidence of their being distinct
species, the specific names will then be probably changed.

I now find that some few specimens of H. Whitei are of a
brownish colour ; these had been brought home in a brass box.

HiPPOLYTE Yakrellii (mihi). Yarrell's Hippolyte.
PL VI. fig. 2.

Spec. Char. Rostrum (fig. 2 a) short, bent downwards, in-
curved at the base, hollowed out above, with four spinous teeth
above. The apex tridentate, the upper tooth the longest, the
middle tooth longer than the lower one.

The carapace is short and rounded; the rostrum short, bent
downwards, and suddenly widening near the apex, armed above
with four spinous teeth bent forwards at an acute angle; the
first, which is not very prominent, is placed on the carapace at
the base of the carina, which forms the continuation of the
rostrum ; the second immediately in a line with the ocular notch ;
the third, which is the longest, is placed in a line over the middle
of the peduncle of the eye when the eye is directed forward ;
and the fourth is placed on the rostrum, and about twice its
own length from the apex. The upper edge of the rostrum is
much hollowed out ; the lower edge of the rostrum is straight,
with an inclination downwards, unarmed, and ending in an acute
angle. The apex is deep and tridentate; it is formed of the
tooth just described, and two others projecting beyond it. The
upper tooth is longer than the second and slightly inflected ; the
second is very acute, and longer than the bottom, which appears
to be formed by a portion being scooped out. The two upper
teeth bend upwards, whilst the bottom bends slightly down-
wards ; this widens the apex.

The scale of the external antennse extends to more than half
the length of the filaments of the internal antennse. Marginal
tooth terminal, not so long as in H. Cranchii. Anterior feet
extending forwards a little beyond the antennal scale; second
pair with the wrist long. The junction of the abdomen and
thorax very gibbous.

The process on the posterior margin of the third segment
much more prominent, and running more to a point than in H.
Cranchii.

The middle portion of the tail has five or six pairs of spines
placed on it, and not on the margin.

Length about | of an inch ; colour brown, blotched with a
darker or claret-colour.

I obtained two individuals whilst dredging in AVeymouth Bay
on the 18th of August 1852, in from five to seven fathom water,
on a bed of Rytiphlcea pinastr aides. One carried ova, which were

Mr. W. Thompson on new species of British Crustacea. 113

of a rich orange-brown. This Hippolyte in its general appear-
ance very nearly approaches H. Cranchii, from which it diflers
in the form and number of the spines on the rostrum and at the
apex, the shape of the rostram, the shape of the third segment
of the abdomen, and some other particulars. ^^ ., „ ,

I have ventured to name this species after Mr. Yarrell, to
whose constant friendship, advice and writings, I attribute my
partiality to natural history, and whose kindness at a cntical
age in my youth taught me to turn my leisure hours to, I hope,
a good account.

Hippolyte Grayana (mihi). Gray's Hippolyte. PI. VI. fig. 3.

Spec. Char. Rostrum (fig. 3 a) long, hollowed out above and
below ; above unarmed, with the exception of one tooth near the
apex ; beneath with three teeth.

Carapace rather compressed and of a moderate length.

Rostrum long, the upper edge much hollowed out, and the
widest part armed with a tooth a little behind the apex; this
tooth is shorter than the apex, and curved downwards ; the apex
is acuminate, and longer than the upper tooth ; the base of the
teeth placed above and beneath the apex are on a line, and as
they are both placed on a carina proceeding from the rostrum, it
makes that portion very deep, and gives it an appearance ot a
tridentate rostrum. .,,11 j -x 1 *

The under side of the rostrum is also much hollowed ; its least
depth is immediately over the middle of the peduncle of the eye ;
it then gradually deepens towards the extremity until it attains
the greatest depth, when it again turns up, and ends m a tooth
iust under the apex. It is further armed underneath with a
tooth at the point of its greatest depth, and another a little in
advance, thus making three teeth on the under side of the
rostrum. A sharp tooth is placed over each orbit, and a second
on each side of the anterior inferior portion of the carapace, bcale
of the external antennae rather narrow, long, extending beyond
the filaments of the internal antennae, with a tooth on the
outer margin, at about one quarter the length of the scale from
the extremity ; the inner margin appears to be toothed or rather

notched. . „ , ^ xi, •

There is a peculiar process at the end of the scale ; the inner
margin ends with a curved spine or cilium, and the outer margin
has a straight process against which the crooked one closes. 1
cannot determine whether they have motion or not.

Middle plate of the tail slender, tapering, with two pairs ot
exceedingly minute spines, only visible with a lens. Abdomen
compressed, of even depth as far as the posterior edge ot the

114 Mr. W. Thompson on new species of British Crustacea.

third segment, and then becoming suddenly very much con-
tracted, and of almost equal size throughout. The process of
the third segment of the abdomen is very prominent.

Colour brown wnth a reddish tinge in places.

Length about 10 lines.

This species is very easily distinguished by the armature of
the head, form of the abdomen, and the shape and armature of
the rostrum, in which it approaches no other described British
species. I obtained it in four fathom water, stony bottom,
Weymouth Bay.

I have named it after Dr. J. E. Gray, the Keeper of the Natural
History Department of the British Museum.

HiPPOLYTE MiTCHELLi (mihi). Mitchell's Hippolyte.
PI. VI. fig. 4.

Spec. Char. Rostrum (fig. 4 a) straight, acuminate, without a
spine on the upper portion ; beneath with a three-toothed carina,
and a small tooth near the apex.

Carapace not at all gibbous, terminated by a straight and
elongated rostrum, without a tooth on its upper edge; beneath
there is a short carina carrying three teeth : a small tooth is
placed near the apex. A small tooth is placed each side of the base
of the rostrum over the orbit. Scale of the external antennae
not very broad, but long, extending beyond the rostrum, with
an external tooth, which is placed at one-fourth the length of
the antennae from the extremity.

Length 16 lines.

Colour a beautiful clear and dark green.

I obtained nine individuals from amongst a parcel of Hippolyte
Tfhitei brought me on the 2nd of July, 1853.

This species at first sight might be taken for H. Whitei; it
is, however, larger, and the teeth on the rostrum are more
numerous.

I was at first disposed to consider this as only a variety of
H. llliitei, but the fact of finding so many, and all perfectly
agreeing, decided me in admitting it as a new species.

I obtained this species by dredging ; none carried ova ; it was
taken in four to six fathom water, on a weedy and stony bottom,
Weymouth Bay.

I beg to name this species after Mr. Mitchell, the indefatigable
Secretary of the Zoological Gardens, and the successful pro-
moter of the Marine Vivarium, as it is owing to the impetus
given to dredging by the demand for marine life, that I am
indebted for all the new species now described.

Ann A Majj.Nal.KLst. S. f. Vol.12 , PL. V

■f.lubboc/c dcL.

JJ)e C Scnvrriv .

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species o/Calanidae. 115

XIII. — On two new species of Calanidse, with Observations on
the Spei'matic Tubes of Pontella, Diaptomus, ^c. By John
Lubbock, Esq., F.Z.S.

[With a Plate.]

When, in last March, I described the new species oi Labidocera,
which I proposed to call L. magna, I was only acquainted with
the male, and was therefore anxious to find a female in order to
complete the description of the species. This is the more neces-
sary in the present genus, because the best specific characters
are taken from the right anterior antenna of the male and the
fifth pair of legs, organs which are dissimilar in the two sexes,
and it is therefore evident that unless they are known in both,
it would be very difficult to refer females to their respective
males. Prof. Owen and Prof. Quekett, with their usu^al kind-
ness, afforded me every facihty, but I was unsuccessful in my
search, and have never met with a second specimen. Dr.
M'Donald, however, of H.M. steam-vessel Torch, has recently
met with it in great numbers in the voyage from St. Vincent to
Rio Janeiro, and a short description of it will be found in the
Proceedings of the Royal Society for April 7, 1853. His paper
is accompanied by drawings, to the beauty and general accuracy
of which I can bear witness, fi'om which it appears that the
colour, as in L. Darwinii, is blue. Anomalocera Patersonii,
which is the representative species in the North Atlantic, and
appears to form the connecting link between Labidocera and
Pontella, is also greenish blue. I think it likely that the other
species are also bluish. Dr. M'Donald says, that when they
were " placed in a vessel of sea-water, they rested on their an-
tennae on reaching the bottom, and paddled themselves about by
their fore-limbs and tail." He has also an interesting observa-
tion on the superior development of the right side of the body ;
he " remarks that in all their movements the males exhibit a
tendency to turn towards the left side, and concludes the x*atio-
nale of this fact to be, that the brain on the right side being
more developed at the part from which the right anteima derives
its nerves, a corresponding preponderance is given to the power
of the locomotive organs on that side."

Although however disappointed in my search for the females
of Labidocera magna, I found in the same bottle two other
species. The first is an aberrant species of Pontella, Dana, agree-
ing with that genus in the number of eyes, but very nearly re-
sembling Labidocera Darwinii in the structure of the right male
antenna, and is therefore a link between these two genera. The

116 Ml". J. Lubbock on two new species o/Calanidse.

second, on the other hand, is the type of a new genus which I
propose to call Monops {^6vo<;, one; w-v/r, eye). It differs from
Anomalocera in having no superior eyes ; and resembles Labido-
cera magna more than any other species that I know.

I will first give short specific desci'iptions of all the species at
present known in which the anterior antenna is provided with
dentated plates ; then describe the two new species at length ;
and finish with a few words on the classification and geogra-
phical distribution of the group, with a comparison of all the right
male antennae.

Pontella Bairdii, n. s.

Antenna antica maris dextra duabus dentatis lamellis instructa, api-
cali long. ^ imc. Spina prehensili parva, rigido crini simili. Eamo
interne pedis postici maris sinistri, papilloso. Pede postico foeminse

long- TO-
Color?
Long. cir. i.
Hub. Atlanticum oceanum, S. Lat. 20°, Long. 0°.

Labidocera Darwinii, Lubk.

Antenna antica maris dextra duabus dentatis lamellis instructa, api-
cali long. -^-q. Spina prehensili parva, rigido crini simiU. Ramo
interno pedis postici maris sinistri, annuloso. Pede postico foeminse
long. ^.

Cseruleo-viridis, interdum fusco maculatus.

Long. cir. \.

Hab. Atlanticum oceanum, S. Lat. 38°, W. Long. 65°.

Labidocera Patagoniensis, Lubk.

Antenna antica maris dextra tribus dentatis lamellis instructa. Spina
prehensili magna. Pede postico maris sinistro ; forti, ad apicem
acuto et corneo, ramum internum non gerente. Pede postico foe-
minse parvo, ramum internum non gerente.

Long. cir. i.

Hah. Atlanticum oceanum, S. Lat. 38°, Long. 65° W.

Labidocera magna, Lubk.

Antenna antica maris dextra quatuor dentatis lamelUs instructa.
Spina prehensili maxima, annulosa. Pede postico maris sinistro,
magno, ad apicem tumido, papilloso ; ramo interno nullo.

Long. cir. \.

Hab. Atlanticum oceanum, S. Lat. 18° 40', Long. 2° 30' W.

Monops grandis, n.s.
Antenna antica maris dextra duabus magnis dentatis lamellis in-

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species of Calanidse. 117

■ structa. Spina prehensili magna. Pede postico maris sinistro,
p™vo'non ad apLm tumido, Son papilloso, ramo mtemo nullo.

]sab: Adaitticum oceanum, S. Lat. 18° 22', Long. 2° W.
Pontella Bairdii.

I now proceed to describe P. Bairdii, which I have so named
in honom- of Dr. Baird, who has done so much to mcrease our
knowledge of the Entomostraca of this country.

This species agrees in most pomts very c bsely with L Dar-
wirm, but diifers from it in having an inferior eye, besides the
two superior ; it belongs therefore to PonteUa.

ThLphaiothora. has only six joints, the last having coalesced
with the preceding. The anterior segment ^gf ^^^'^^ ^^.^^
L. DarwLii in not having a spme dnected outwards, as is the
case in L. magna and Patagonienszs The rostrum (PI. V. hg. 5)
is strong, deeply forked, and extends downwards as [ar a« ^^^
inferior eye. Each fork is about ^^^ m length, j^^ m bieadtn
at the base, and yig ^^If way down. i .l,o„ ;„

The superior eies\-e a good deal larger m the niale than m
the femafe. In one specimen they are bright v-let, ^^ut in e-^^
other specimen the colour has been entirely removed; while the
hiferioi eye, which is also violet, has in very many mstances re-

^"'T/f/XlTL is situated between the anterior antenna, it
is llrge tZas remarked above, dark violet. It would be impos-
sible to overlook it, even in the most cursory ^^^^lon ■
I shall refer to this point agam when I consider the ciassiti-

"^'rhe anterior antenna of the female and tl^^Mt antenna of the
male has on the internal side of the apex of the penultimate seg-
ment a long hair ^V of an inch in length, and he apical and
Antepenultimate segments have each a corresponding one J^ of

^?^^^J^^e male is formed upon the same type
as that of L. DarwinM, from which it differs chiefly m the apical
; ate being longer, reachmg nearly to the apex of ^e -tepenu^-
timate segment ; and in the three apical segments bemg moie
pe^ shS, with the larger end in front. In some specimens
E antenna was more swollen than in others, which perhaps
may be accounted for by differences of age, or by the state ot

development of the spermatic tube.

The second pair of antenna ^\ m length.

The mandibles -,\in\ensth, and the palpus also ^^. Each obe

of the palpus has six long plumose hairs, and the mnei lobe

also four smaller ones.

118 Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species 0/ Calanidse.

The first pair of maxilli'peds y^.

The second paii- of maxillipeds J-q. The palpus is -g-*^ in
length, 4-jointed and tapering towards the apex ; the other
species of the genus have six segments to the palpus, and the
joints which have disappeared are the two apical. The basal
segment has a number of spines or small teeth on the inner
edge. L. magna agrees with the present species in having also
a few spines in the same place. In the arrangement and struc-
ture of the hairs, this organ agrees almost exactly with that of
L. magna, except that the third hair has no spines above.

The third pair of mandibles -^-q.

Thoracic legs. The tirst four pairs are adapted for swimming,
as in the rest of the family, and are all alike, except that they
increase in size from the first to the fourth, which are -^^ in
length. The large spines on the external margin of each leg are
deutated above, and accompanied by a smaller spine on each
side. All the appendages, from the second pair of antennae to
the fourth pair of thoracic legs inclusive, are very similar to
those of the allied species.

The fifth and last pair is very different ; its use in swimming,
if any, is quite subordinate to its functions connected with the
act of fecundation. In the female they are smaller and simpler
than in the male, and symmetrical, while in the latter they are
much more complicated, stronger, and asymmetrical, the right leg
being the largest and forming a prehensile apparatus.

In the present species these legs of the female (fig. 4) are much
larger than in L. Darwinii or Patagoniensis, measuring J^ in
length. They most nearly resemble those of L. Darwinii, from
which they only differ in their larger size, and in the external
branch being longer and bearing three instead of two spines at
the extremity.

The left leg of the male (fig. 3) consists of four joints as in
the other species, but the second segment (counting from the
base) appears both in this and in the corresponding right leg to
be composed of two which have coalesced. It most resembles
that of Z. Darwinii, and, like it, bears two rami. I have already
remarked the curious relation which appears to exist between this
branch and the prehensile spine of the right male antenna, viz.
that where one is developed the other disappears, and vice versa.
This ringed branch is homologous with the inner ramus of the
other thoracic legs, like which it is two-jointed. In the present
species it is long, slender, tapering, and ringed, with the rings
produced into papillae. Like the corresponding organ of L. Dar-
winii it appears to be extensible, as the length and thickness
vary in different specimens. Length -^-^.

The right leg, ^^^ (fig. 3), also consists of four joints, but, as in

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species of Calanidse. 1 19

the left leg, the second (counting from the base) appears to be
composed of two segments. The basal segment is attached by its
external basal angle to the apex of a strong crescent-shaped pro-
cess, the horns of which point inM'ards. The second is longer and
thinner, and, as I have just noticed, appears to consist of two ; it
bears a strong spine at the external apical angle. The third is
very strong and muscular, as in the other species of this genus ;
it is attached to the inner apical angle of the preceding segment.
Besides the large claw at the base, which forms with the suc-
ceeding segment a prehensile apparatus, there is a smaller spine
directed backwards. On the external margin, which in the or-
dinary position would be lowest, there are two rounded pro-
jections, of which the apical is the largest and appears to be
transversely striated or furrowed. The portion which answers
to the large moveable claw of the allied species is here, as in
them, attached to the external apical angle of the third segment,
but in the present species it gradually increases in size from the
base, is produced at the apex into a large claw, which with the
corresponding one of the third joint forms a prehensile appa-
ratus, and appears to consist of three segments, of which the
second and thu'd bear a hair each, and the third a long cylin-
drical appendage, provided at the apex with a small spine and
two hairs.

The abdomen (figs. 1 & 2) is entirely without legs. That of
the male consists of four segments, terminated by two 3-jointed
lamellae, exactly as in L. Darwinii.

The abdomen of the female is two-jointed and swollen trans-
versely. The right side is more swollen than the left, and bears
on the back a large spine.

This appears to be the best place to mention what I have to
say about the impregnation. There is a very interesting paper
by Siebold in the ' Annales des Sciences Naturelles,' 1840, 2nd
ser. t. xiv. p. 26, " Sur I'accouplement du Cyclops Castor-" and
in order to make my own observations more intelligible, I shall
quote a part of what he says, premising that the Cyclops Castor
now forms the genus Diaptomus, and, with Pontella, Cetochilus,
&c., has been separated from the old family, Cyclopidse: —

" Ce qui passe pendant que ces animaux se tiennent ainsi
embrasses est un des phenomenes les plus remarquables dans le
regne animal, et dont on n^avait jamais eu une idee. Un tube
cyhndrique, rempli d^un liquide spermatique, s'echappe de
I'ouverture sexuelle du male immediatement apres I'embrasse-
ment ; le mfile saisit ce tube aussitot qu'il est sorti et le coUe
contre le ventre de la femelle, audessous de la vulve

" Chacun de ces tubes spermatiques renferme trois masses bien
differentes entr^elles. Une des matieres contenues est blan-
ch&tre et epaisse ; elle a la propriete de ne pas se dissoudre dans

120 Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species 0/ Calanidse.

I'eaii, mais de s'y transformer en une masse visqueuse et solide.
Cette masse tenace, coagulable dans I'eau, s'etend dans toute la
longueur de la capsule. Une des deux autres matieres est com-
posee d'une foule de tres petits corps ovales et bien contoum^s,
ayant longueur de 00066 a 0-0070 de ligne anglaise : ils parais-
sent d'une forme aplatie. La troisieme masse consiste dans une
foule de corps ovalaires, dont les contours sont moins bien des-
sines, et qui ne sont pas clairs comme ceux-ci, et sont composes
de granules tres-fins. Ces deux dernieres masses se trouvent
reparties dans la capsule d'une maniere remarquable, et forment
une couche tres-mince placee sur la surface interne. Les cor-
puscules bien limites se trouvent dans la moitie superieure de
la capsule, tandis que les corpuscules granules, bien separes des
autres, occupent la moitie inferieure ; ces deux masses ne per-
mettent done pas que la portion tenace se trouve en contact
avec la surface interne de la capsule. Enfin, le col de la capsule
se trouve seulement rempli par de la substance visqueuse

" Aussitot qu'un tube spermatique bien developpe se trouve
en contact avec de I'eau, les corpuscules granules se gonflent
(probablement par I'imbibition de I'eau), et ces corpuscules qui
composent la matiere expulsive, perdent leur forme ovalaire et
deviennent ronds. Peu h pen leur aspect granule s'efface, ils se
transforment en vesicules, qui s'enflent de plus en plus, et ils
finissent par expulser la matiere glutineuse qui se trouve vers le
col ouvei't de la capsule, et qui pent facilement s'echapper. . . .

" La matiere expulsive continue de s'enfler, quand meme la
matiere glutineuse a dejfl quitte la capsule ; de sorte que cette
matiere chasse aussi tons les zoospermes, sans laisser seulement
un coi'puscule ovale dans la capsule. Quand tout est sorti
hormis les grandes vesicules de la matiere expulsive, celle-ci
devient transparent comme de I'eau, et parait composee de
grandes cellules. Or, nous savons qu'avant cette transforma-
tion la capsule etait blanchatre."

In my paper on L. Patagoniensis I described and figured
(PI. X. fig. 2) a cylindrical appendage, situated on the back of
the first abdominal segment, but was obliged to leave it doubt-
ful, whether it was a spermatic tube or an external ovaiy,
although I inclined to the former supposition. In the present
species, however, I was more fortunate ; for after looking through
several hundred specimens, I found a male, from which the tube
was in the very act of escaping, and also four females, each of
which had one attached to them. Three of these are quite
empty, and evidently are homologous with the cylindrical ap-
pendage of the L, Patagoniensis, as they exactly agree with it
in texture and general appearance, and differ only slightly in
shape and in position. It is evident, therefore, that the ap-
pendage of L. Patagoniensis is a true spermatic tube, and is only

i

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species of Calanidse. 121

anomalous in being attached to the back instead of under-
neath. The tube which was in the act of escaping from the
male still retained its contents, which agree with Siebold's
description. Using his nomenclature and letters of reference, d
is the expelling matter (matiere expulsive), e the glutinous sub-
stance (matiere glutineuse), and c the zoosperms (zoospermes) .
I have already remarked that of a large number of females which
I examined, four only were provided with one of these append-
ages ; this is probably owing to their having been collected in
the middle of June. Mr. Darwin's specimens of L. Darwinii
having been caught in November, which answers to our May,
would account for my never having found a fully developed sper-
matic tube in that species, and the only time that Dr. Baird ever
met with a tube attached to Diaptomus was in October.

As, owing to an accident happening to the vessel in which his
specimen of Diaptomus was coutained. Dr. Baird says, he was
" prevented from making any lengthened observations on it," and
as I have heard of no one else who has studied the subject, I
believe my observations are the first which fully confirm those
of Von Siebold. The manner in which the three substances
contained in the tube act in Pontella is probably the same as in
Diaptomus. Jurine says, " il n'est pas rare d'en trouver avec
deux, trois, quatre, meme cinq tubes spermatiques colles autour
de la vulve ;" I, however, never met with a female, either of P.
Bairdii or L. Patagoniensis, which had more than one tube. This
mode of fecundation, which Siebold has truly observed, is one
of the most remarkable phsenomena in the animal kingdom, has
now been observed in Diaptomus Castor, Labidocera Patagoni-
ensis, Pontella Bairdii, Calanus hyperhoreus (see the figures given
in Gaimard's ' Voyage en Scandinavie '), and it probably occurs
also in h. Darwinii and Anomalocera grandis, n. s., because in
these species, as in the P. Bairdii, I have found in the posterior
part of the cephalothorax, an organ which I am nearly sure is a
spermatic tube in the course of formation, so that it will most
likely be found to prevail throughout the whole family. The
shape of the tube varied in the different specimens of the same
species. Since the male orifice is situated between the second
and third abdominal segments, as in Cyclops, it is evident that
the inner branch of the left posterior leg in the male is not a
true penis. The delicacy of the structure of this branch appears
to indicate that it possesses the sense of touch in a high degree.
I have already noticed the curious relation which appears to exist
between it and the prehensile spine.

Length about ^.

Hab. Lat. 18° 15' S., L. 2° 30' W. to 4° E.

From the Museum of the College of Surgeons. Collected by
Sir E. Home.

Ann. i^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Volxii. 9

122 Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species o/Calanidse.

Genus Monops.

Rostrum furcatum. Antenna antica maris dextra geuiculans, tumida.
Oculi superiores nuUi. Ocultis inferior unicus. Pes posticus
maris dexter crassus prehensilis.

These characters distinguish Monops from all the other genera
in the family, but I shall presently give my reasons for consider-
ing this form as a new genus more at length. It is ti'ue that
these are the characters of Anomalocera as given by Templeton,
but that genus has in reality four superior eyes.

I have already given the specific charactei', and it is therefore
unnecessary to repeat it here. In general appearance this species
resembles L. magna more than any other species which I know,
for which reason I have given it an analogous trivial name.

The cephalothorax is 7-jointed ; the posterior segment is very
small, the three anterior large and nearly equal to one another, the
other three intermediate in size and also equal to one another. The
force which has developed the right anterior antenna and the
right posterior leg of the male more than the left, has had the
same effect on the posterior angles of the cephalothorax ; that
on the right side is at least twice as long as the other. In the
female they are symmetrical. The spines of the anterior seg-
ment do not project outwards, and therefore are not vdsible from
above. The rostrum (fig. 7) is very deeply divided, and the
two forks are very delicate, symmetrical, and curved towards
each other. Each prong is -^q in length, at the base yoVo' ^*
the middle g oHo' ^^^ ^^ *^^ ^P^^ ^^^ more than j^^, in diameter.
Those of L. magna, on the other hand, are strong and short,
being only y^^ in length. (See Ann. and Mag. Ser. 2. vol. x.
pi. X. f. 8).

The anterior antenna of the female and the left one of the
male have at the apex a very long hair j^ in length. The cor-
responding hair of the penultimate segment is ^~, and of the
antepenultimate -^jq (fig. 10).

The right anterior antenna of the male resembles that of L.
magna more than that of the other species ; it swells and con-
tracts again, however, more abruptly than in that species. The
prehensile spine is much smaller aod not ringed. The plate be-
longing to the eighth segment (see the comparison of the right
male antennae in this genus) is not free at the base. The teeth
are not so sharp. The eighth and ninth segments have coalesced,
so that the bail's which belong to the latter appear to be situated
on the former.

The sixth segment bears a very small plate with a few rather
large teeth, analogous to the penultimate plate in L. magna. A
glance at the figm-e will give a better idea of the general form
of the organ than any description could convey.

Mr. J. Lubbock on twQ new species of Calanidse. 128

The second pair of antennce have thirteen long hairs at the
end of the longer branch ; they are ^^ of an inch in length.

The mandibles -g^. Palpus -^■^. The rows of hairs which I
have mentioned as present in L. Patagoniensis and magna are
here much developed and form a strong brush.

First pair of maxillipeds ■^-^. The lobes are more divided
than in the allied species. The spines on the inner edge are few
in number, large, strong, curved, and clothed with short brown
hairs.

Second pair of maxillipeds y^o* Palpus y~. There are, as
inL. Patagoniensis, seven hairs on the organ itself; the external
(nearest to the palpus) small, setose on both sides ; the next
only half as long as the first. The next two very long, with in-
conspicuous hairs on the lower side. The fifth short, setose on
each side, but chiefly below, the next only setose below. The
internal setose on each side, but chiefly below. The last three
hairs are about the same size, and half as long as the preceding.
The palpus consists of four segments only, the basal and apical
bearing at the apex two, the rest one hair each, all setose below.

Thi7'd pair of maxillipeds ^ y . There are six of the smaller
hairs plumose on each side. The larger hairs are beautifully
crenate at the apex for about |^rd of their length. The secondary
spines of all the basal portion have disappeared.

Fifth pair of legs. Male (fig. 8). The left leg is much
smaller than the right, and has no inner branch. The second
segment has a spine externally at the apex. The third is small
and bears the two tufts of hairs, and the fourth is very small,
and bears at the apex a little tapering delicate lobe, which may,
perhaps, be the rudiment of another segment, -^^ of an inch.

The right leg (fig. 8) also consists of four segments ; the third,
which in some species is so much swollen, is small, its office
being probably in part transferred to the strong prehensile an-
tenna. The fourth segment is small, and the spine of the
third is very large and pointed, so that at first sight it might
be mistaken for the fourth segment. The presence of two
hairs on the smaller spine unmistakeably denote it to be the
real homologue of the apical segment ; g^g in length when not
extended.

In the female (fig. 9) they are -^^ in length. The inner branch
bifid at the apex ; the outer much-curved, also bifid at the apex,
with a large spine on the inner and two very small ones on the
outer side.

Abdomen. Female (fig. 11). Two-jointed, asymmetrical, the
right side of the basal joint bearing a large slightly tapering
lobe, about half as long as the succeeding joint.

The abdomen of the male (fig. 12) is similar to that of the

9*

124 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals,

other species of the genus, except that on all my specimens
there is a very short cylindrical appendage attached underneath
to the third segment on the right side. A hemispherical portion
at the end is very dark violet, covered with numerous small
spines (fig. 13 a) and surrounded by a nan'ow light yellow
border {b), on which they are rather larger and more scattered.
There are a few hairs on the violet part. The end, therefore,
resembles a hemispherical file, but I cannot ofi"er the slightest
suggestion as to its probable use. Mr. Darwin and Prof. Que-
kett have kindly examined it for me. The females have no such
appendage.

Length about |-.

Hub. Lat. 18° 15' S., Long. 2° 3{y W. to 4° E.

From the Museum of the College of Surgeons. Collected by
Sir E. Home.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.

Fig. 1. Pontella Bairdii. Abdomen. Male. d. Expelling matter, e. Glu-
tinous matter, c. Zoosperms.

Fig. 2. Ditto. Abdomen of female, seen from above, a. The

empty spermatic tube.

F^g. 3. Fifth pair of legs. Male.

Fig. 4. One of ditto. Female.

Fig. 5. Rostrum.

Fig. 6. Four apical segments of the normal anterior antenna.

Fig. 7- Monops grandis. Rostrum.

Fig. 8. Fifth pair of legs. Male.

Fig. 9. One of ditto. Female.

Fig. 10. Four apical segments of normal anterior antenna.

Fi^. 11. Abdomen. Female. Seen from above.

Fig. 12. Ditto. Male. Seen from the side and below.

Fig. 13. A small piece of the dark part of the abdominal appendage of
ditto.

[To be continued.]

XIV. — Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals.
By P. H. Gosse, A.L.S.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Gentlemen,

The expectation which I ventured to express in your Magazine
for last October has been amply reahzed. Marine animals and
plants have been exhibited in London, in their native health and
beauty, in circumstances where their various functions and in-
stincts can be carried on under the eye of the naturalist ; and the
inhabitants of the metropolis have enjoyed a sight of the curious

Mi*. P.H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 125

denizens of our seas, without going out of hearing of their dear
Bow Bell.

What advantages to science our metropolitan zoologists have
reaped from their opportunities, T leave them to record ; but I
propose to lay before your readers, from time to time, some notes
that I have made while engaged in forming the collection. At
the time of my writing these lines, about 3000 specimens of
living marine animals and plants have passed through my hands,
and have been successively transmitted to London for deposition
in the Zoological Society's aquaria. Some of these have appeared
to me as yet undescribed, others seem to be little known, except
in a dried and withered state ; and the great majority even of
such as are considered well known, present so much of novelty
and interest in their habits, that I often regret that the almost
absolute absorption of my time in collecting and transmitting
the specimens, forbids my jotting down a great deal of what I
observe, while fresh in memory.

But without further preface I proceed to describe some new or
rare species of Invertebrata.

Class ECHINODERMATA.

Fam. SiPUNCULiD^.

Sipunculus punctatissirmis (mihi). The Dotted Sipunculus.

Body 1^ inch long, ^ in. thick; trunk | in. long, ^^o ^^- thick.
The body is cylindrical, abruptly pointed, of a satiny gloss, seen
under the lens to be covered with close-set, slight, annular
wrinkles. The trunk is nearly cylindrical, but slightly attenuated
about the middle ; it is wrinkled transversely like the body, and
has in addition several irregular longitudinal furrows ; the ex-
truded tip is surrounded by about eight circles of minute black
bristle-points, and terminated by a single row of short, slender
filiform white tentacles, which are evertile. The general colour
of the whole animal is light umber-brown, which, under a pow-
erful lens, is resolved into a freckling of pale dots excessively
minute, close-set, and numerous, on a ground of brown. I ob-
tained it between tide-marks at Weymouth, July 1st, 1853.

Class ZOOPHYTA.

Fam. CoBYNiD^ ?

Genus Spadix (mihi). Root adhering, creeping for a short
distance. Stem free, very flexible, girt near its base by a mul-
titude of arborescent appendages, which bear berry-like ova.
Upper part of stem fleshy, covered with papillae. The name was

126 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals.

suggested by the resemblance which the animal bears to the
spadix of an Aroideous flower with its surrounding berries.

Spadix purpurea (mihi). The Pui-ple Spadix.

Height to |ths of an inch : root short, thick, yellow : ovarian
branches numerous, bearing globular white ova : free stem,
spindle-shaped, covered with minute purple papillte intermingled
with a few white ones.

This cui'ious form appears to be a zoophyte of the family Cory-
nida, or rather its affinities are closer with the members of that
family than of any other that I know of. The habit, the club-
shaped head, the motions, the manner in which the ova are
clustered, their position, and their appearance, all point towards
Coryne ; and the papillae may be considered as so many ten-
tacles, representing the globe-headed organs of that genus, in-
creased in number but reduced in development.

A semicylindrical thread of a pale yellow tint, about half a
line in diameter, creeps along the surface of a stone for about
^th of an inch, when it rises into a free stalk varying in length
from l^th to |ths of an inch, being very extensile and con-
tractile. A little way above the point of contact ^-ith the stone,
the stem sends forth on every side a great number of short
whitish branches with a dark core, which are again set with a
number of short branchlets. These processes bear the ova,
which stud their surface to the number of twenty or thirty on
each : they are white globules, looking like pearls, and of various
sizes, some minute, others comparatively large and conspicuous.
The largest are about |^rd of a line in diameter. One that spon-
taneously detached itself had a depression at one part of its
surface, where probably the point of connexion had been. The
upper part or body of the animal is spindle-shaped or clavate,
according to the degi-ee of its extension ; it is covered with mi-
nute oval papillae, which are crowded so closely that no inter-
space is visible. These are for the most pai"t of a I'eddish
purple hue, with the tips deeper in tint, but isolated papillse are
scattered all over the body, which are quite white.

The movements of this animal are vigorous and lively, consi
dering its stationary habit. The ovarian branches are frequently
jerked about independently of each other ; the free body is ever
and anon tossed to and fro in the manner of Coryne; it is
lengthened and shortened at will with suddenness and rapidity,
and while the beholder is examining it with a lens, he is sur-
prised by seeing that there is yet another movement among the
papillae, one or two of which, in various parts of the body, are
now and then starting up with a jerk fi-om then- fellows into a
more erect position, and then lying down again.

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 127

I first found this zoopliyte at Lulworth on tbe 8th of June,
and I have since obtained many other specimens at Weymouth.
On each occasion the locality and circumstances were the same ;
rocky ledges, at extreme low water, spring-tide.

Fam. AcTiNiADjE.
Actinia miniata (mihi). The Scarlet Anemone.

Diameter to 1 inch when expanded. Disk broad, pale greenish
gray, with radiating lines numerous and distinctly mottled with
dark brown. Generally a conspicuous white band occupies one
of the radiations. Tentacles numerous, in four rows, rather
short, conical; pellucid brown, with indistinct annulations of
pellucid dark brown and whitish ; the base of each tentacle has
two black and two bright white rings more or less distinct,
alternating with each other. The outermost row of tentacles are
peculiar ; they consist of a sheath of pellucid browa hue, like the
others, but each is permeated by a thick core of orange or ver-
milion, very brilliant, much resembling the central gland in the
papilla of an Eolis. Sometimes the scarlet core is distinctly
separate from the pellucid walls of the tentacle, at other times,
in the same individual, it appears to fill the whole interior. In
some specimens this phsenomenon is partially or wholly wanting.

Contracted, it forms a button of about the same diameter, va-
rying in degrees of depression or elongation, the base sometimes
irregularly lobulate. Colour, a fine orange- scarlet, occasionally
merging into purplish red towards the summit, studded with
large pale glands, which become confluent and form pale radia-
ting bands around the pursed mouth. Under a lens the scarlet
colour is seen to run in slender veined lines.

Found adhering to oysters and pectens brought in by the
trawlers : not uncommon. It may possibly be the immature
state of Act. parasitica.

Act. clavata (Thompson), var. rosea. The Weymouth Anemone.

A very fine specimen when fully expanded has the disk 1^ in.
and the tentacles i in. more on every side, making a diameter
of 3^ inches. It is so diaphanous as to be almost colourless, the
disk showing clearly the convoluted filaments in the septal divi-
sions. The tentacles are of a lovely rose-colour, studded with
transversely-oval specks of white ; they also are pellucid, and the
hue is therefore much diluted ; but when captured, they were
deep purplish pink or crimson.

The exterior surface is rough, with multitudinous sucking
glands, arranged in close-set perpendicular ridges of pale yellow
warts, with a crimson freckled skin showing between. Every
wart has a central crimson speck, and this seems constant ; the

128 Mr. V. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals.

warts, and therefore the red specks, are exceedingly numerous ;
at the margin, where they are most distinct, they rise into
rounded crenations.

This species was described by Mr. W. Thompson in the ' Zoo-
logist' for 1851, and, as I believe, from a single specimen. The
name clavata is objectionable, as the tentacles are not clubbed,
though their tips are often curled up in a peculiar manner. I
will not, however, commit the robbery of depriving the discoverer
of his name, merely because I think I could find one more sig-
nificant. It is quite common on the rocky ledges, inhabiting
fissures and the deserted holes of boring Mollusca ; but only at
very low water level. There are two very distinct varieties ; the
ordinary state has been described by the discoverer ; one more
beautiful, but somewhat less common, I have sketched above.

Iluanthos MitcheUii. The Scarlet Free-Anemone.

Length about 2 inches, greatest diameter 1 inch. The form
is stout, somewhat pear-shaped, thickening from the top for
about f inch, after which it gradually tapers to a blunt point at
the base, in the centre of which is a minute wrinkled disk, which
the animal does not appear to use as an adhesive sucker. The
upper part of the body is pale scarlet, the lower two-thirds flesh-
white, blotched with scarlet, the basal extremity scarlet.

The disk is very protrusile, not so wide as the body. In its
centre is a prominent mouth with two thick lips of rich scarlet,
toothed like that of a Caryophyllia. A ring of purplish black
surrounds the lips, which is succeeded by a wider circle of
white, and the remainder of the disk is pale red ; the whole
marked with the usual radiating ridges. The tentacles are about
thirty -six, arranged in two complete rows ; they are thick and
rather short, conical, and usually curled ; the bases of the two
rows are in contact, but the outer is a fuU sixth of an inch from
the margin, and the inner about as far from the base of the oral
cone. They are pellucid white, marked on their inner sides with
numerous alternate bands of opake-white and purple, sometimes
taking a diagonal direction. The tentacle that is opposite the
extremity of the linear mouth, on each side, is wholly dull pur-
ple, with pale bands almost obsolescent.

This very fine species was brought me by one of the Wey-
mouth trawlers : I have named it after D. W. Mitchell, Esq., the
able Secretary of the Zoological Society, in whose marine aqua-
rium the specimen itself is deposited.

I shall hope to continue this series of notes, as fresh observa-
tions occur to me, and in the meanwhile remain.
Your obedient servant,

P. H. Gosse.

Weymouth, July 9tli, 1863.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Teeth of t..e Genus Mitra. 129

XV. — On the Teeth of the Genus Mitra, Lamar cki 'i'^ tx^
By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c.

The greater the number of examples of the different genera of
Gasteropodous MoUusca I have been able to examine, the more I
am convinced of the importance of the characters afforded by the
teeth of these animals, both for arranging the species and genera
into natural groups and characterizing them. The general re-
sults of my recent observations have been to verify the views I
have from time to time published in this Journal on the subject.
Within the last few days, however, I have been enabled to exa-
mine the teeth of six species of the genus Mitra of Lamarck, and
with a very curious result. The teeth of each of the species ai"e
very different, and, what is still more extraordinary, they belong
to three very different kinds : thus, Mitra Grcenlandica is the only
one which has the single rachiglossal tooth of the Volutidce, which
is like that of the Cymbiola Turneri in form.

Mitra episcopalis, M. adusta, M. Ticaonica, and M. cucume-
rina, as belonging to the restricted genus Mitra, have three series
of odontoglossal teeth like the family Fasciolariada. The broad
lateral teeth, which were alone figured by Quoy and Gaimard as
the teeth of the genus, are very uniform in shape and struc-
ture in the diffei-ent species ; while the central tooth of each offers
considerable variation. In Mitra adusta it is narrow, and has
only a single, very long, hook -like apex, while in the other spe-
cies it is broader, with from five to eight teeth on its upper
edge.

Lastly, Mitra Caffra, which belongs to Montfort's genus Turris,
has the three series of hamiglossal teeth of Muricidce and Buc-
cinidce.

This is another striking instance of the impossibility of ar-
ranging Gasteropodous Mollusca from the examination of the
shell alone.

The genus Mitra was peculiar before for having some species
with a distinct operculum, while the major part of them were
without one. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to examine
the teeth of an operculated species.

I may further observe, as connected with the family Volutida,
that I have examined the proboscis of Mitra (Cylindra) Dactylus
without being able to discover any teeth, but this may have arisen
from the bad state of the specimen. The proboscis of this ani-
mal differs from the hard, smooth, rigid form of all the other
species I have seen, in being of a spongy texture and closely
covered with large conical warts externally.

Marginella [quinqueplicata) has a single rachiglossal series of

130 Bibliographical Notices.

teeth like Volutida, which are broad, lunate, with nine small,
conical, rather distant, transparent denticles on its front edge.
Valuta ( Vespertilio) has a single series of three-toothed teeth on
the tongue like Yetus and Cijmbium, but the central toothlet is
much longer than the lateral ones.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Systeme Silurien du Centre de la BoMme. 1^'« partie, Recherches
Paleontologiques. Trilobites, par J. Barrande. 2 vols. 4to.

The history of the palaeozoic formations, both as regards the deve-
lopment of the organic life of the period and the physical conditions
under which they were accumulated, appears almost to be more
clearly revealed to us than that of the more recent accumulations of
the later tertiary period. That a knowledge of the primaeval fauna
of our planet should be invested with peculiar interest to the zoo-
geologist can scarcely be doubted, either in its relation to existing
nature, or as pointing out to us the peculiar types of the earliest
forms of animal existence. But few years have elapsed since a vast
portion of the earlier fossiliferous rocks were classed under the names
of greywacke and clay-slate, and were considered entirely destitute of
organic forms. Traces of them were, however, discovered in the
Scottish series by the acute geologist Hutton, and other observers,
as Lhwyd, &c., bad also noticed them in some localities. From the
comparative rarity of the fossil organisms in the palaeozoic forma-
tions known at that period, they could not have been used as a
means of distinguishing the different members of the series, nor
indeed was the attempt made so to classify them ; for the great prin-
ciple of characteristic fossils, subsequently enunciated by W. Smith,
was applied chiefly to the secondary group of rocks. Little, bow-
ever, was effected in the classification of these older greywacke rocks
until the border counties of England and Wales and a portion of the
Principality itself was made the special object of some years' study
by Sir R. Murchison, who, " par ses conquetes sur la unit du temps,"
first initiated us vdtb a knowledge of the earlier palaeozoic epoch,
comprising the Silurian system. From that period the active re-
searches of geologists have demonstrated the existence of this group
throughout large portions of the globe, characterized on the whole
by similar forms of organic life, although, as would naturally be
expected, modified in the subdivisions by local peculiarities. Since
the publication of the 'Silurian System,' large and expensive works on
the subject have been issued from the presses of America and Europe,
and Siluria seems to be singularly fortunate in the zeal and liberality
of her illustrators. Among the more remarkable and interesting is
the magnificent volume by M. Barrande. A native of France, and
formerly tutor to the Comte de Chambord, to whom the work is
dedicated, M. Barrande has, from circumstances, resided for twenty
years on the Silurian soil of Bohemia. Commencing his researches

Bibliographical Notices.

i3i

in 1830 on the so-called " transition series," he was further stimu-
lated in 1840 by the perusal of the 'Silurian System/ and his
labours assumed a definite plan.

Those only who are conversant with the country, or will peruse
the volume, can form any idea of the zeal and energy requisite for
overcoming the difficulties of exploring this district, and the labour
and great pecuniary outlay necessary for accumulating the treasures
of this portion of the ancient Silurian fauna. Independently of his
own explorations over the whole district with a view of finding the
fossiliferous localities, whether in worked quarries, in ravines, or on
the weathered surfaces of rocks, M. Barrande trained under his own
eye and practically instructed a number of intelligent workmen (fur-
nishing them with the necessary implements) for the more effectual
carrying out his researches at different points, and who became so
habituated to, and interested in, the emplojnment, that scarcely the
fragment of an organism was ever lost.

The following table will show the numerical result of species ob-
tained during these researches : —

Genera,

Vertebrata Fishes 1

fTrilobites .... 35

Articulata < Cytherinidse . . 1

(^Various 4

MOLLUSCA

Radiata .

10
2

7

?
?

Species.

1

252

25 to 30

4

270 to 280

25 to 30

140 to 150

180 to 200

140 to 150

22 to 25

25 to 30

50 to 60

"Cephalopods

Pteropods .

Gasteropods

Brachiopods

Acephala .

Bryozoa 3

/ Echinoderms . . ?
\ Zoophytes .... ?
From the the above it appears there are 1200 species of fossils
from the Bohemian basin, averaging about eighty miles in length and
thirty in width, a sufficient dish for any Silurian gourmand. The
mere accumulation of such fossil treasures might be sufficient ; but
when the labour necessary for the determination of so many species
is further considered, we must admire the industry of the author, and
we are well aware of the conscientious care with which the whole has
been effected. For (unlike some zoo-geologists, who centred in or
satisfied with the narrow limits of their own knowledge and locality,
not looking for determinations or comparisons elsewhere) M. Bar-
rande has, with the true spirit of a scientific man, entered into cor-
respondence with those naturalists who could assist him, and even
visited many localities, this country in particular, with a view of per-
sonally comparing the Bohemian fossils with the published types, as
well as with those not yet figured*. The present volume, with the

* Particularly the collection of the Geological Survey, with the kind
co-operation of Prof. E. Forbes, and the important assistance of Mr. J. W.
Salter's practical knowledge, who has made the paleeozoic fauna his especial
study.

132 Bibliographical Notices.

atlas, (containing the Trilobites,) is only the first portion of the work,
which will be followed by two more (containing the Cephalopods, &c.),
forming a complete history of the Silurian system of Bohemia. The
text, consisting of more than 900 pages, is devoted (with the excep-
tion of the historical introduction and geological sketch) to details
connected with the determination of the family of Trilobites, and is
illustrated by nearly 2000 carefully engraved figures of all the forms
and varieties assumed by the different species.

The Historical introduction gives a chronological hst of all the
authors who have contributed to the knowledge of the palaeozoic
formation of the centre of Bohemia, with an analysis of their respect-
ive merits and the points of special interest furnished by each writer.

The Geological sketch, which is merely preliminary to a more
detailed one to be given in the third volume, is inserted for the pur-
pose of enabling the reader to understand the position of the stratum
indicated for each species.

The Silurian rocks of Bohemia are divided by M. Barrande into
an upper and lower system, of four stages each, reposing on one
another, and having a conformable stratification, the lower group,
A-D, being chiefly siliceous and argillaceous, the upper, E-H,
mostly calcareous, and reposing on a trappean base and schists with
Graptolites.

Upper Division.

H. Argillaceous schists, containing but few fossils.

G. Argillaceous limestone, with 10 genera and 40 species of Tri-
lobites, 10 Brachiopoda, 6 genera and 10 species of Cephalopods.

F. Mostly calcareous; 10 genera and 75 species of Trilobites,
8 genera and 109 species of Brachiopoda, 6 genera and 26 species of
Cephalopods.

E. Trappean and schistose rocks ; 17 genera and 78 species of Tri-
lobites ; 22 genera and 220 species of Cephalopods ; 65 species of
Brachiopods.

Lower Division.

D. Quartzites and schistose rocks; 23 genera and 61 species of
Trilobites ; also Cephalopods, Brachiopods, &c.

C. Protozoic schists, argillaceous schists, with 7 genera and 25
species of Trilobites ; other forms very rare.

A, B. Azoic series, chiefly crystalline and argillaceous schists and
conglomerates.

The divisions C to H are distinguished from one another, (1) by
a marked predominance of families or different classes in each of the
superposed stages ; (2) in having a very small number of species
common to two or more stages.

The palseontological contrast consists principally in the occurrence
of certain genera exclusively characteristic of the lower division C, D,
as Paradoxides, Conocephalus, Ellipsocephalus, Sao, Agnostus, Asa-
phus, &c. ; also in the development of certain other types, a,slllceniuf
and Ampyx, which scarcely pass the limits of this division. '

The upper division, E-H, presents other genera which in Bohemia

Bibliographical Notices. i^

do not occur in the lower, as Harpes, Bronteus, Pro'etus, Deiphon,
Phraffmoceras, Ascoceras, Trochoceras, and Cardiola, &c. We may
remark, however, that in the genera common to the two divisions, the
species present considerable modification of form. Thus, in Acidaspis,
the species belonging to the lower division have ten or more thoracic
segments, while those of the upper possess only nine. Other specific
modifications are presented in the genera Cheirurus and Ampyx,
which are also found in both divisions.

Decided as is the line of demarcation between the two great divi-
sions, by the outburst and spreading over of a vast mass of trappean
matter at the termination of the lower division, yet a curious fact is
recorded by M. Barrande, in the local appearance or colony of fifty-
seven species belonging to the third fauna E, within the limits of the
second or lower fauna D. This colony of species, limited in extent,
appears therefore to have survived, either by migration or otherwise,
the causes which effected the extinction of the whole lower fauna
with which it is intercalated.

Of the three successive Silurian faunas, defined by the distribution
of the genera of Trilobites, the lower or primordial one C, contains
only one genus, Agnostus, which passes into the second, and that
under diiferent specific forms. This group corresponds to the Olenus
schists of the Malverns, and the Lingula beds of Merionethshire, &c.
In England, according to Mr. Salter, " Agnostus is generally charac-
teristic, not of the first, but of the second zone or true Llandeilo
flags." In the second fauna D, the genera of Trilobites have attained
their maximum development ; some are peculiar to it, others have
reached their numerical specific maximum, and a third set have
their greatest development in the superior fauna. Associated with
these are numerous Cephalopods, Brachiopods, Pteropods and Ace-
phala, which have a very unequal geographical distribution. This
group appears to be the equivalent of the Llandeilo and Bala beds of
N. Wales.

These two faunas may be regarded as only subsections of the
lower division, and this appears to be the opinion of Mr. Salter, who,
from an examination of the British localities, states, " It may perhaps
be necessary hereafter to modify the conclusions drawn by so able
and successful an observer as M. Barrande, as to the primordial and
isolated character of his earliest fossil group ; it may be a local, and
not a general phsenomenon." The third fauna E-H, forming th3
upper division and equivalent to the Upper Silurian, contains many
genera of the second fauna, but the assemblage of the specific forms
and their characters are very different. Here, however, the species
of Trilobites, and not the genera, attain their maximum.

The upper limits of this fauna, or its relation to the Devonian, are
perhaps not distinctly defined, although M; Barrande states that Silu-
rian Trilobitic types range throughout, accompanied by Brachiopoda,
Gasteropoda, &c. In a previous memoir on the Brachiopoda, by
M. Barrande, we thought we had recognized many forms very ana-
logous to, if not identical with, Devonian species of other districts ;
this, however, is a subject for further inquiry.

134 Bibliographical Notices.

Although a uuity may pervade the Silurian system as a whole,
yet that the members comprising it may present a diversity is fully
shown by comparing the local faunas, in their relation to the epoch
at which each class has attained its development, in different countries.
Thus, "The Cephalopods have flourished in the Silurian seas of
N. America, Russia and Sweden, during the deposition of the lower
division, scarcely a trace of them being found in the equivalent strata
of England and Bohemia ; these moUusks, however, abound in the
upper division of these latter countries, becoming rare at the same
epoch in Russia and N. America. England and Bohemia present
another contrast in the Brachiopoda. In the former country this
class attamed its maximum towards the base of the upper division
or ^Yenlock stage, while the Cephalopods abounded in the superior
Ludlow beds. The reverse has happened m Bohemia, where the
maximum of the Cephalopods is fomid in group E, and that of the
Brachiopods at a higher level in group F." In comparing, however,
the geognostical and palseontological characters, there is a general
resemblance between the two great divisions of the Silurian strata of
Bohemia and those of the typical district of England, France, Sweden,
Russia, and N. America.

The Palaontological liortion, which forms the chief part of the
volume, is full of most curious and instructive data, and is divided
into two parts, the first comprising the special study of the different
parts and elements of Trilobites, with an essay on their classification ;
the second contains a detaUed description of the genera and species
found in Bohemia.

The first portion is treated in a series of sections, of which the
following are the most important : — The form and principal parts of
the body of Trilobites (illustrated in plate 1) ; — the elements com-
posing the head (pis. 2 & 3), as the glabella, the sutures, the eyes
(pi. 3), their form and proportion, the cheeks or lateral lobes, the
hypostome and epistome ; — the elements of the thorax, as the form
of the thoracic segments and their articulation, the two types of the
pleura (illustrated iu pis. 4-6), the number of segments, the power
of coiling up, and the value of the characters furnished by it ; — the
elements of the pygidium, its form, axis, lateral lobes, and contour ; —
nature and ornaments of the shell of Trilobites ; — metamorphosis and
mode of existence of Trilobites ; — the distribution of them, both as re-
gards their vertical and horizontal diffusion, and which is graphically
illustrated in pis. 50 & 51.

Among the protean forms of Trilobites, the Sao hirsuta appears
the most remarkable. First described in 1 846, its numerous synonyms
would lead us to iufer that it had passed through all the vacillations
of an older palaeontological nomenclature, for it rejoices in more
names than would gladden the heart of a Spanish Hidalgo. It has
been assigned to no less than twelve genera and twenty-two species ;
but the minute researches of IM. Barrande have clearly proved that
between the embryonic state, which is simply a flattened disk with a
body axis, and the head and thorax not distinct, to the adult form
with nineteen articulations, this Trilobite has passed through eighteen

Bibliographical Notices. • 135

different degrees of development, to each of which a distinct name
has been given.

Without proceeding with further details on the many interesting
points treated of, we may cordially recommend this work to the
student of palaeozoic geology, not only as illustrating a chapter of
its history, but from the fact that the Trilobites play an important
part in the Silurian fauna. The naturalist also, interested in the
study of the Articulata, will here observe the frequent anomalies that
are found in the arrangement of the elements of the bodies of these
ancient crustaceans, compared to the regularity of the law recog-
nized among the modern forms, — presenting an important suggestive
subject, and which must not be forgotten in the great question re-
garding the successive development of this group of animals. We
may therefore hope that the zoological interest, which has long ex-
isted respecting the Trilobites, will be still further excited by the
great variety of new facts observed in the Bohemian species.

Popular Physical Geology. By J. B. Jukes, F.R.S. 12mo.

Reeve and Co., London, 1853.

This volumeforms part of a series of useful works on Natural Science,
and is intended to convey, in a popular manner, the general principles
of physical geology. The author, who is well acquainted with prac-
tical field geology, does not pretend to have given much original
matter, in the sense of new facts, the object being to describe the
common facts and principles of geology, in a clear and concise maimer,
without entering too much into the detail of the observations by
which those facts have been discovered, or on which those principles
have been established. In this respect he has somewhat succeeded,
treating the subject with a freshness and spirit, and showing that
" geology is not a mere dull and barren disquisition on the nature
and composition of rocks and stones, but has become incidentally, as
it were, the opening to a full, rich, and varied history of the earth,
embodying the labours of the naturalist, the chemist, and the physi-
cist, — of all who study the living beings that people it, the consti-
tution of the matter that composes it, or the laws of force that act
upon it — ^into one great harmonious whole." The first part of the
work contains the elementary facts and principles, and is followed
by a general sketch of the series of stratified rocks. The subject of
the formation of sand, gravel, clay, &c., is clearly and concisely
treated, and it is well observed, that he who thoroughly understands
the origin and natui'e of common sand, has made no despicable com-
mencement in the study of the science. We could have forgiven
the author, had he ventured a little more into the domain of
palaeontology, when treating of the stratified rocks, for it has become
so essential a part of geology, that some acquaintance with it is
necessary, just as a knowledge of chemistry and mineralogy are
equally useful to the student of the crystalline and volcanic rocks.
The accompanying plates are artistic, and illustrative of some prin-
cipal features in physical geology.

136 Royal Institution.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

May 13, 1853.— The Duke of Northumberland, K.G., F.R.S., Presi-
dent, in the Chair.

On some New Points in British Geology. By Prof. Edward Forbes,
F.R.S., President of the Geological Society.

Not many years ago it used to be said, that the geology of England
was done, and yet the best investigated localities are constantly
affording fresh discoveries. When the Lecturer last year exhibited
Captain Ibbetson's beautiful and accurate model of Whitecliff Bay in
the Isle of Wight, in illustration of his views respecting the distribu-
tion of species in time, he had not the slightest suspicion that this
particular locality, so often and apparently so thoroughly explored,
could yield new results and new interpretations. Nevertheless,
having had occasion, at the suggestion of Sir Henry De la Beche,
to examine the tertiary strata of the Isle of Wight for the purposes
of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, this very bay of White-
cliff proved to be a rich source of novel geological information.
Moreover, a great portion of the Isle of Wight, on further examina-
tion, turned out to belong to a division of the older tertiaries, that
had never been demonstrated to exist within the British Islands.
As a general statement of these resuhs and of their bearings may be
more intelligible to non-professional lovers of geology than the de-
tailed memoirs about to be published on the subject. Professor
Forbes has taken this opportunity of communicating them to the
Members of the Royal Institution.

The Isle of Wight is divided into two portions by a great chalk
ridge running east and west. This is the ridge of vertical chalk
beds. To the north of it, the country is composed of tertiary, to the
south, of older strata, as far down in the geological scale as the
Wealden. The Lower Greensand or Neocomian beds occupy the
greater part of the surface of the southern division, and freshwater
tertiaries that of the northern. At Alum Bay, on the west, and
Whitecliff Bay, on the east, the ends of the older tertiary strata, as
they rise above the chalk, are seen truncated and upturned, being all
affected by the movement which caused the verticality of the chalk.
These tertiaries constitute the following groups, successively enu-
merated in ascending order : the Plastic clay, the Bognor series (equi-
valents of the true London clay), the Bracklesham series, and the
Barton series, upon which lie the Headon Hill sands, and those
freshwater strata that spreading out form the gently imdulating
comitry, extending from near the base of the chalk ridge to the sea.

Owing to the sections at Headon Hill near Alum Bay being so
clear and conspicuous, and their position being in the loftiest ter-
tiary hill that exhibits its internal structure in the island, the fresh-
water and fluvio-marine beds which compose that elevation have
long attracted attention and have been described by many observers,

Royal Instituiion. 137

the first of whom was the late Professor Webster. The apparent
slight inclination of these beds, as seen in the Headon section,
except at the point where they are suddenly curved in conformity
with the verticality of the chalk and the beds immediately above it,
appear to have led geologists to the notion that the fluvio-marine
portion of the Isle of Wight was composed entirely of continuations
of the beds forming Headon Hill. Two observers only suspected
a discrepancy, viz. Mr. Prestwich, who, in a short communication to
the British Association at Southampton, expressed his belief that
Hempstead Hill, near Yarmouth, would prove to be composed of
strata higher than those of Headon ; and the Marchioness of Hastings,
who, having given much time to the search for the remains of fossil
vertebrata in the tertiaries of the Isle of Wight and Hordwell,
declared her conviction that these remains belonged to distinct
species, according as they were collected at Hordwell, Hempstead,
and Hyde, and that these three localities could not, as was usually
understood, belong to the same set of strata. The recently pub-
lished monograph of the pulmoniferous moUusks of the English
Eocene Tertiaries, by Mr. Frederic Edwards, afforded also indications
of the shells therein so well described and figured having been col-
lected in strata of more than one age.

A few days' labour at the west end of the island convinced Pro-
fessor Forbes that the surmises alluded to were likely to prove true,
and that the structure of the north end of the island had been in the
main misunderstood. After four months' constant work at both
extremities and along the intermediate country, he succeeded in
making out the true succession of beds, with most novel and gratifying
results. During this work he was greatly aided by his colleague, Mr.
Bristow, and by Mr. Gibbs, an indefatigable and able collector
attached to the Geological Survey.

The freshwater strata of Whitecliff Bay proved to be wholly mis-
interpreted. Instead of their being constituted out of the Headon
Hill strata only, more than a hundred feet thickness of them are
additional beds characterized by peculiar fossils, and resting upon a
marine stratum that overlies the Bembridge limestone, the equiva-
lent of which at Headon is a soft concretionary calcareous marl,
scarcely visible except in holes among the grass immediately under
the gravel on the summit of the hill.

Ttie beds of the true Headon series, in fact, are all included in the
subvertical portion of the Whitecliff sections and are there present
in their full thickness. They are succeeded by peculiar strata of
intermediate character, for which the name of St. Helen's beds is
proposed, and which become so important near Hyde that they con-
stitute a valuable building stone. The Bembridge limestone that
lies above is the same with the Biustead limestone near Ryde, out
of which were procured the remains of quadrupeds of the genera
Anoplotherium, Palieotherium, &c., identical with those found in the
gypsiferous beds of Montmartre. The Sconce limestone near Yar-
mouth is also the same, and none of these limestones are identical
with any of those conspicuous among the fluvio-marine strata at

Ann.S^Mag.N.Hist. ^Qv,2. Vol.xii. 10

138 Royal Instilution.

Ileadou Hill, .and with which they have hitherto been confounded.
They are far above them, and are distinguished by distinct and pecu-
liar fossils.

Almost all the country north of the chalk ridge, exclusive of the
small strip occupied by the marine Eocenes, is composed of marls
higher in the series than any of the Headon Hill beds, and hitherto
wholly undistinguished, except in the "Whitecliff section, where the
age and relative position had been entirely mistaken. These are the
Bembridge marls of Professor Forbes. Above them are still higher
beds preserved only in two localities, viz. at Hempstead Hill, to the
west of Yamiouth, and in the high ground at Parkhurst. For these
the name of Hempstead series is proposed. Their characteristic
fossils are very distinct, and the highest bed of the series is
marine. These beds prove to be identical with the Limburg or
Tongrien beds of Belgium and with the Gres de Fontainebleau
series in France. We thus get a definite horizon for comparison
with the Continent, and are enabled to show, that instead of our
English series of Eocene tertiaries being incomplete in its upper
stages as compared with those of France and Belgium, it is really
the most complete section in Europe, probably in the world. We
are enabled by it to correct the nomenclature used on the Continent,
and to prove that the so-called Lower Miocene formations of France
and Germany are in true sequence with the Eocene strata, and are
linked with them both stratigraphically and by their organic contents.
We are also enabled to refer, with great probability, the so-called
Miocene tertiaries of the Mediterranean basin, of Spain and Por-
tugal, — those of the well-known ^laltese type — to their true posi-
tion in the series, and to ])lace them on a horizon with the Tongrien
division of the Eocenes. As these Maltese beds are unconformable,
and e^^dently long subsequent to the deposition of the great num-
mulitic formation, we are enabled to assign an approximate limit
to the estimate of the latest age of that important series. From
well-marked analogies we get at a probable date even for the Au-
stralian tertiaries. Thus the deciphering of the true structure of a
small portion of the British Islands can throw fresh light upon the
conformation of vast and far- apart regions.

The peculiar undulatory contour of the surface of the flu\ao-marine
portion of the Isle of Wight is due to the gentle rolling of these
beds in two directions, one parallel with the strata of the chalk ridge,
and the other at right angles to it. The valleys and hills running
northwards to the sea depend upon the synclinal and anticlinal
curves of the latter system of rolls, a fact hitherto unnoticed, and
the non-recognition of which has probably been one cause of the
erroneous interpretation of the structure of the Isle of Wight,
hitherto received. The truncations of these curves along the coast
of the Solent exhibit at intervals beautiful and much neglected
sections, well worthy of careful study. There is one of these
sections near Osborne. Her Majest3''s residence stands upon a
geological formation hitherto unrecognized in Britain. Near West
Cowes there are several fine sections along the shore. The total

Zoohffical Society. 139

thickness of unclassified strata in the Isle of Wight is 400 feet,
if not more, and within this range are at least two distinct sets ot
organic remains. The fluvio-marine beds in all, including the Headon
series, are very nearly 600 feet thick.

ZOOLOGICAL. SOCIETY.

May 27, 1851.— W. Yarrell, Esq., V.P.L.S., in the Chair.

Description of new Land Shells from the Collection

OF H. Cuming, Esq. By Dr= L. Pfeiffer.

1 Helix audebardi, Pfr. H. testd imperforatd, conoideo-
globosd, soliduld, nitidd, castaneo-fulvd, strigis saturatioribus
confertis ornatd ; spird conoided, apice obtusiusculd, albidd; an-
fractibus 5^ convexis, summis gramlatis, ultimis irregulanter

rugoso-striatis, ultimo inflato , antice deflecco ; columelld perdeclivi.
subarcuatd, laid, pland, alba; aperturd perobliqud. truncato-ovah,
intus caruled, nitidd ; peristomate incrassato, subreflexo, albo.

Diam. maj. 48, min. 39, alt. 35 mill.

Hab. St. Domingo {SalU).

2 Helix albersiana, Pfr. H. testd umbilicatd, subturbinato-
depressd, tenui, acute et confertim costatd, diaphand, rufo-corned;
spird subturbinatd, apice acutd; anfractibus 4^ convexis, celeriter
accrescentibus, ultimo antice deflexo, basi juxta umbihcum an-
guste constricto ; aperturd perobliqud, lunato-ovali ; peristomate
tenui, marginibus subconniventibus, dextro breviter expanso,colu-
mellari dilatato, reflexo, intus plied obliqud, dentiformi mumto.

Diam. maj. Uf, min. 12, alt. 8^ mill.
Hab. St. Domingo (SalU).

3 Helix pubescens, Pfr. H. testd angustissiml umbilicatd,
depressd, tenui, pilis mollibus, brevibus, confertis pubescente, dia-
phand, lutescente; spird vix convexd, obtusd ; anfractibus 5, con-
vexiusculis. ultimo subrotundato, altiore quam lato, non descen-
dente; aperturd vix obliqud, rotundato-lunari ; peristomate sm-
plice, recto, margine columellari superne breviter reflexo.

Diam. maj. 11, min. 10, alt. 6 mill.
Hab. St. Dommgo (SallS).

4. Helix leucorhaphe, Pfr. H. testd anguste umbilicatd,
depresso-turbinatd, subtilissime striatuld, diaphand, luteo-corned,
fascid angustd, cretaced, ad suturam ornatd; spird subturbinatd,

apice obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 6 planiusculis, ultimo convexwre,
non descendente, basi subplanato ; aperturd vix obliqud, lunari;
peristomate simplice, recto, margine columellari reflexiusculo.

Diam. maj. 10, min. 9, alt. 6 mill.

Hab. St. Domingo {Salle).

5. SucciNEA DOMiNiCENSis, Pfr. 8. tcstd ovali, soliduld, sub-
striatd, corneo. albidd. punctis corneis irregulariter aspersd ; spird
conicd. acutd; anfractibus 3^ convexis, summis corneis, ultimo

10*

140 Zoological Society.

f loiigitudinis (equante ; columelld suhcallosd, via: recedente ; aper-
turd parhn obliqud, ovali, subregulari, superne vix angulatd.
Long. i\\, diam. 7, alt. fere 6 mill. Apart. 7\ mill, longa, medio
4i lata.

Hab. St. Domingo (Salle).

6. BuLiMUS MOUSSONi, Pfr. B. testd perforatd, oblongo-conicd,
siihldEvigatd (lineis impressis spiralibus obsolelis notatd), nitiduld,
albd,fasciis sub 5, roseis ornatd; spird cotiicd, apice acutd, i~ubra;
anfractibus 6, siibplanis, ultimo spird paulb breviore ; columelld
arcuatd, superne subtortd; aperturd oblongo-ovali, intus concolore;
peristomate shnplice, recto, margine columellari fornicatim reflexo.

Long. 26, diam. 12 mill. Apert. 12 mill, longa, 7 lata.

Hab. St. Domingo {Salic).

Next allied to B. Hondurasanvs, Pfr.

7. AcHATiNA DUNKERi, Pfr. A. tcstd turritd, tenuiusculd, lavi-
gatd, pellucidd, nitidd.fulvescente; spird elongatd, apice obtusd ;
suturd impressd, marginatd, obsolete crenulatd ; anfractibus 9, vix
convexiusculis, ultimo ^ longitudinis non attingente ; columelld
arcuatd, alte et subverticaliter truncatd ; aperturd subtriangulari-
semiovali; peristomate simplice, margine dextro antrorsum ar-
cuato.

Long. 28, diam. 7i mill. Apert. 9 mill, longa, medio 4 lata.
Hab. St. Domingo (Salle).

8. AcHATiNA iMPRESSA, Pfr. A. tcstd oblongo-turritd, tenui,
Icsvigatd, lineis impressis longitudinalibus irregulariter notatd^
fulvidd ; spird turritd, apice acutiusculd ; suturd impressd, sub-
marginatd ; anfractibus 6 J planis, ultimo f longitudinis sub-
aquante ; columelld arcuatd, basi abrupie truncatd ; aperturd
obliqud, sinuato-ovali ; peristomate simplice, margine dextro basi
recedente.

Long. 8^, diam. 2f mill. Apert. 3 mill, longa, medio \^ lata.
Hab. St. Domingo (Salle).

9. Balea dominicensis, Pfr. B. testd subperforatd, sinistrorsd,
turritd, sublcevigatd, nitidd, olivaceo-corned ; spird regulariter
attenuatd, apice acutd ; anfractibus 1 2, convexis, ultimo infra me-
dium subangulato ,■ aperturd verticali, subovali; peristomate sim-
plice, recto, margine columellari verticali, breviter reflexo.

Long. 11|^, diam. 3 mill. Apert. 2|^ mill. longa, If lata. (An adult.?)
Hab. St. Domingo (SalU).

10. Cylindrella monilifera, Pfr. C. testd subrimatd, ob-
longd, soUduld, truncatd, confer tissim'^ et arcuatim costulato-
striatd ; opacd, sordide albidd; suturd impressd, nodulis albidis
subdistantibus notatd; anfractibus (superst.) 9, convexis, ultimo
non soluto, basi subacute carinato ; aperturd oblique subcirculari,
ad carinam canaliculatd ; peristomate albo, reflexiusculoexpanso,
superne appresso.

Long. 19, diam. supra medium 6 mill. Apert. cum peristomate
oblique 5 mill, longa, 4^ lata.
Hab. St. Domingo (Salle).

Zoological Society. l^l

11. Cylindrella ADAMSiANA, Pfr. C. testd vix rimatd, ob-
longo-pupiformi, truncatd, nitidd, conferfe striato-punctatd, albidd,
corned, irregulariter strigatd et variegatd ; suturd lineari, (clbo-
crenulatd; anfractibus (superst.) 8-9, planis, ultimo angustiore,
nan soluto, basi cristd compressd, obtusd munito ; aperiurd vix
obliqud, subcirculari, ad cristam subcanaliculatd ; peristomate
albo, breviter expanso-rejlexo, superne interrupto.

Long. 14-1 5^, diam. 5 mill. Apert. 4i mill, longa et lata.
Hab. St. Domingo {SalU).

12. Cylindrella salleana, Pfr. C. testd nan rimatd, cylin-
draced, gracili, truncatd, oblique confertissime costulato-striatd,
nitidd, palUde fuscescente , vel rufo-fuscd ; anfractibus (superst.)
17-18, vix convexiusculis, ultimo angustiore, basi carind com-
pressd, acutd munito, antrorsum breviter porrecto ; aperturd sub-
obliqud, rhombeo-rotundatd, ad carinam distincte canahculatd ;
peristomate albo, nitido, undique reflexiusculo-expanso .

Long. 27, diam. (prope basin) 5 mill. Apert. cum peristomate 4f
mill, longa et lata.

Hab. St. Domingo {Salle).

13. Cylindrella gouldiana, Pfr. C. testd vix suhrimatd, tur-
ritd, truncatd, confertissime costulato-striatd, sericed, pallide cor-
ned; suturd impressd, subdenticulaid ; anfractibus {superst.) 9,
convexiusculis, ultimo soluto, antrorsum breviter descendente, basi
subcompresso ; aperiurd subobliqud, fere circulari, latere dextro
subangulatd ; peristomate albo, undique breviter expanso.

Long. 10, diam. 2i mill. Apert. 2 mill, longa et lata.
Hab. St. Domingo (Salle).

14. Cyclostoma orbignyi, Pfr. C. testd subperforatd, elongate
pupoided, solidd, confertim arcuato-striatd, rube/lo-fulvd ; spird
subcylindricd, sensim attenuatd, apice conicd; suturd profundd ;
anfractibus 8 vix convexis, penultimo lato, ultimo fascia latd vio-
laced, antrorsum evanescente, ornato, basi cristd compressd, ob-
tusd munito; aperturd circulari; peristomate incrassato, subre-
flexo, superne appresso, infra cristam anfractibus penult, subex-
ciso. Operculum tenue, albidum, extus concavum, arctispirum.

Long. 27, diam. 9 mill.

/3. Unicolor virenti-fulvum. .

y. Minus, interdum omnino violaceum, anfractibus convexioribus.

Hab. St. Domingo (Salle).

15 Helicina versicolor, Pfr. H. testd depressd, tenui, l<Evi-
qatd, citrind, scepe viridi variegatd, suturd vel vertice purpureo ;
spird parhm elevatd, obsolete papillatd ; anfractibus 4^, planius-
culis, rapide accrescentibus, ultimo lato, subdepresso, anttce vix
descendente; aperturd diagonali, subtriangulan-semiovali ; colu-
melld brevissimd. callum crassum, semicircularem, nitidum. album
emittente; peristomate breviter expanso, margine basali subrejiexo,
immediate in columellam continuato. Operculum tenue, submem-
branaceum, castaneum, margine cohmellari et nucleo patluiis.
Diam. maj. 8, min. f)|, alt. ^ mill.
Hab. St. "Domingo (iS'«//'0-

■j^^2 Zoological Society.

16 Helicina DOMiNiCENSis, Pfr. H. testd globoso-conicd so-

^YulucTcLrici confertim striata, parum rf^f'^'^^^;
velfulvo-zomtd; spirdconicd, acuta; f^nfracHbns G.plamusculs,
suturd profunddjunctis, ultimo convewiore, vu descendente cou-
ZlmCLiJ, basi denticulatd callum ermtte.Uc «^.-
circumscriptum; aperturd parhn obhqud, ''^'''f';J''''J^ZZ
acuto, subrecto. Operculum tenue, testaceum, carneum, margme
columellari elevate.

Diam. maj. 6i, min. 5f, alt. 5 mill.

Hub. St. Domingo (Salle).

Descriptions of new Species of Trochid^.
By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

Genus Trochtjs, Unn.—Pyramidea, sp. Swains.
1 Trochtjs CuMiNGii, A.Adams. T. testd turrito-conicdvio-
' 7aZ macu^^s viridibis pulcherrimh pictd ; anfractibusplams,
lauUsZanorum moniliformibus ornatis, inferne nodoso-ph-
lltanfractu ultimo aiuUio, peripherid rc^fj^nrj.^^^^^^^^^
nosd basi concavd, cinguUs granulosis, "^f «'i^^f' ^ ;/,7,.
fundb excavato umbilicus, simulante ; coumeUa ^P^o iiZs
tuosd, basi dente terminatd; aperturd tetragond ; labro intus

M.^'sibonga, island of Zebu, under stones at low water {H. C).
Mus. Cuming.

9 Trochtjs fastigiattjs, A. Adams. T. testd conicd imper-

^' foratd, ruhrd, maculis albis longitudinalibusvanegatd; an-
fractibus planis, in medio concavis, superne cmgulis tribus
noduloZn ornatis, ad suturam nodis subsprnosrs vnstructis,
baTpZd, concentric^ liratd ; liris crenulat^s ; columeldpos-
ttclcanaliculatd, a^iticc truncatd ; labro m medio angulato.

Hab. ?

Genus Pyramis, Chemn.

Tectus, Monti— Pyramidea, sp. Swains.

1 Pyramis architectonicus, A. Adams. P. testd conicd,
' imperforatd, albidd ; anfractibus planis, subimbncat^is, longi-

tudinaliter costatis, costis crassis, rotundts subnodoszs basi
pland, firis concentricis exaratd; columelld brem, tortuosa,
antice truncatd; labro margine fimbnato.
Hab. Signet Bay, North Australia {Bring).

2 Pyramis letjcogaster, A. Adams. P. testd conicd, im-
' nerforatd ; spird acutd, in medio tumidd, albd, viruh vanegatd ;

Infractibus planulatis, lonyitudinaliter cojrugatis transversnu
cLulis nodulosis ornatis, ad suturam nodis Misfimbratis
basi pland, albd, concentrice sulcatd ; columella bren, valde tot-
tuosd ; labro antice intus Itrato.
Hab. ?

Zoological Society, 14^

Genus Infundibultjm, Montf. — Cannidea, Swaius.

1. Inftjndibulxjm chloromphalus, a. Adams. /. testd de-
presso-conicd, pseudo-umbilicatd, viridi, atro-purpureo punc-
tatd; anfractibus planis, cingidis confer tis granorum ornutd,
basi concavd, cingtdis incBqualibus articulatis insculptd, regione
umbilicali infimdibuliformi, intus viridi; columelld supernb
turtuosd, tuberculatd.

Hab. ?

2. Infundibulum Californicum, a. Adams. /. testd de-
presso-cotiicd, pseudo-umbilicatd, albidd, viridi rufoipie varie-
gatd ; anfractibus planis, supra angulatis, ultimo angulato,
cingulis tuberculorum subdistantium multiformium ornatd ;
interstitiis longitudinaliter oblique costatis, basi concavd, cin-
gulis confertis crenulatis insculptd, regione umbilicali infundi-
buliformi, viridi, lined albd elevatd cinctd ; columelld superne
tortuosd, tuberculatd.

Hab, California.

Genus Polydonta, Schumacher. — Lamprostoma, Swains.

1. Polydonta gibberula, A. Adams. P. testd elevato-conicd,
in medio gibbosd, anfractu ultimo angustato ; albidd, lineis roseis
fiammulatis radiatim pictd ; anfractibus subconvexis, cingulis gra-
nosis transversis ornatd, ultimo obtuse angulato; basi convexi-
usculd, albUffasciis roseis radiatim pictd ; centra excavato, umbi-
licum mentiente ; columelld superne solutd, margine tuberculo-den-
ticulato; labro intus lirato, inferne denticulato.

Hab. PhiUppines.

2. Polydonta palltdula, A. Adams. P. testd elevato-conicd,
albidd, maculis luteolis pictd ; anfractibus planis. cingulis tuber-
culorum ornatd, tuberculis inferne in castas excurrentibus, basi
convexd, cingulis granosis ornatd, cavitate contortd umbilicum
simulante ; columelld superne solutd, margine tuberculato-dentato /
labro intus lirato, inferne. denticulato.

Hab. ?

3. Polydonta corrugata, A. Adams. P. testd elevato-conicd,
albidd, rufo-fusco variegatd ; anfractibus planiuscuUs, sulcis trans-
verjis, sulcisque obliquis nadaso-reticulatis, inferne obliqui costa-
tis, costis nodosis ornatis ; basi planiusculd , in medio concavd, ex-
cavatd, umbilicum mentiente; columelld superne solutd, margine
tuberculato-dentato ; labro intus lirato, inferne denticulato.

Hab. ?

4. Polydonta squamigera, A. Adams. P. testd elato-
conicd, albidd, cinereo-viridi radiatim pictd ; anfractibus planius-
cuUs, cingulis granulorum tribus ornatis, inferne oblique costatis,
costis in spinis squamiformibus excurrentibus, basi plana striis
granosis, fasciisque rufo-viridibus ornatd, centra excavato umbili-
cum simulante, intus albo lineis elevatis cincto ; aperturd lineis
acutis elevatis, transversis infaucibus instruct a.

Uab. ?

144 Zoological Society.

Genus Phorcus, Risso. — Omphalius, Philippi.

1. Phorcus nodicinctxjs, A. Adams. P. testa conoided, urn"
bilicatd, fused luteo variegatd, leevi; anfractibus suhplanulatis ,
cingulis tribus nodulosis, liris elevatis transversis ornatis, an-

fractu ultimo subnngulato, bnsi eonvexiusculd, iineis elevatis
eoneentricis sculptd, regione umbilicali albidd ; columelld brevi,
arcuatd, basi dentibus duobus terminatd; labro fusco marginato.
Hab. ?

2. Phorcus granifer, A. Adams. P. testd orbiculato-eonicd,
fused, cingulis transversis granorum distuntium ornatd, cingulis

remotiuseuHs, interstitiis transversim liratis ; anfractibus rotun-
datis, suturd eanaliculatd ; umbilieo aperto, perspective ; columelld
sinuatd, basi dentibus duobus terminatd ; labro intus crenulato.
Hab. ?

3. Phorcus uratus, A. Adams. P. testd conoided, umbilicatd,
fused, Iineis pallidis undulatis ornatd, cingulis distantioribus trans-
versis insculptd; columelld sinuatd, basi dentibus tribus ter-
minatd, umbilieo aperto, perspective, peromphalo viridulo ; labro
intus lavi.

Hab. 1

4. Phorcus semigranosus, A. Adams. P. testd orbiculato-
conoided, umbilicatd, purpureo alboque variegatd, transversim
tenuiter striatd ; anfractibus planiusculis, cingulis confertis sub-
granosis ornatis, ultimo subnngulato, basi planiusculd, cingulis
granosis insculpto ; margine umbilici lined alba elevatd cincto ;
labia supra calloso ; columelld superne sinuatd, basi in tuberculis
duobus terminatd et infra tuberculos dentibus duobus inslructd ;
labro intus lavi, antice callo marginato.

Hab. West Indies.

5. Phorcus californicus, A. Adams. P. testd orbiculato-
eonicd, profundi umbilicatd, viridi, atro-purpureo radiatim ma-
culatd, liris transversis subnodulosis incequalibus ornatd ; an-

fractu ultimo subangulato ; basi eonvexiusculd ; umbilieo perspec-
tivo ; labio in medio valde excavato, columella antice dentatd, intus
lavi.
Hab. California. Mus. Cuming.

Genus Clanculus, Montfort.

Polydonta b., Schum. — Fragella, Swainson. — Apiculum, sp..
Humph. — Monodonta, sp., Lamk. — Ofavia, Risso (not Cantraine).

1. Clanculus ormophorus, a. Adams. C. testd depresso-
conied, umbilicatd; anfractibus rotundatis, cingulis granorum
aqualibus ornatis, cingulo prima, secunda et tertio granis fuscis
albis alternantibus, quarto granis fuscis arnatis ; anfractu penul-
timo gibboso, ultimo rotundato ; umbilieo crenulato ; columelld
callosd, subreflexd, basi dcntc tripUcato.

Hab. ?

Zoological Society.. V^

2. Clanculus variegatus, A. Adams. C. testa depresso-
conicd, pallida, rufo-fusco variegatd; anfractibus supra tumidis,
cingulis granorum ornatis ; interstitiis striis ohliquis longitudinali-
bus ; anfractu ultimo acute angulato, basi piano ; umbilico crenu-
lato ; columella, supra tortuosd, margine reflexd, crenulatd, basi
dente biplicato terminatd ; labro intus dentibus lamellaribus, su-
periore majore.

Hub. Island of Siquijor, under stones {H. C).

3. Clanculus cingulifer. A, Adams. C. testa elevato-conoi-
ded, carneold, cingulo albo rufoque articulate ornatd; anfracti-
bus rotundatis, cingulis transversis granosis sculptis ; basi con-
cavd, perotnphalo albo rosea radiato, margine plicato ; columella
crassd, supra nodosd, infra uniplicatd ; basi dente triplicate ter-
minatd ; labro intus lirato ; tuberculo maximo, prope marginem
superior em.

Hah. ?

4. Clanculus mactjlosus, a. Adams. C. testd elevato-conoi-
ded, rufo-fuscd, maculis albidis variegatd ; anfractibus rotundatis,
cingulis granorum ornatis, interstitiis oblique striatis, margine um-
bilici crenulato ; columelld supra tuberculo magno instructd, basi
dente biplicato terminatd; labro intus lirato, lird supremd maximd.

Hab. ?

5. Clancxjlus sulcarius, a. Adams. C. testd parvd, albidd,
fasciis fuscis radiatim ornatd, cingulis distantioribus granorum
instructd, interstitiis longitudinaliter oblique striatis ; anfractibus
parum convexis ; margine umbilici crenulato ; columelld dente
pliciformi ; labro intus crenulato.

Hab. Island of Masbate, sandy mud, 7 fathoms {H. C).

6. Clanculus acuminatus, A. Adams. C. testd elevato-
conicd ; spird acuminata, fused, nigro-fusco punctatd, cingulis
transversis subdistantibus granorum ornatd; interstitiis lineis
transversis et longitudinalibus decussatis ; margine umbilici sub-
noduloso ; columelld margine reflexo, integro, basi dente simplici
magno terminatd; labro intus lirato.

Hab. Sibonga, island of Zebu, under stones {H. C).

7. Clanculus albinus, A. Adams. C. testd conoided, albidd,
cingulis granorum confertis ornatd, granis nonnullis fusco punc-
tatis ; anfractibus convexis, ultimo rotundato ; margine umbilici
plicato-dentato ; columelld callosd, plicis duabus transversis, basi
dente triplicate terminatd; labro superne inflexo, intus lirato;
tuberculo magno trisulcate prope marginem superiorem.

Hab. ?

8. Clanculus turbinoides, A. Adams. C. testd turbinato-
conoided, fused, cingulis subdistantibus granorum ornatd; inter-
stitiis lineis transversis prominulis ; anfractibus rotundatis, su-
tvrd canaliculatd ; basi cingulis conccntricis granorum instructd ;

146 Zoological Society.

umbilico dentato ; columella sulcata, margine reflexa, tuberculis
quatuor ; labro intus lirato.
Hah. ?

9. Clanctjlus STiGMATARiTJS, A. Adams. C. testa elevato-
conicd, cingulis confertis grmiorum ornatd, lutescenti cingulo ter-
tio et septimo grants albis et roseis subdistantibus, basi grants
roseis ornatd ; umbilici margine subnodoso ; columella crassd,
transversim subpUcatd, basi dente magno triplicato terminatd;
labro supra inflexo, intus lirato, tuberculo magno bisulcato prope
marginem superiorem.

Hah. Island of Corigidor, bay of Manila, coarse saud, 9 fathoms
{II. C).

10. Clanculus textilosus, a. Adams. C. testa conoided;
spird acuminata, cingulis granorum inaqualibus ornatd, prima,
tertio et sexto coccined, secundo, quarto, quinto et septimo granis
albis nigris alternantibus ornatd ; margine umbilici dentato ; colu-
mella biplicutd, margine acutd, basi dente triplicato terminatd;
labro intus lirato, prope marginem superiorem tuberculo magno.

Hah. Island of Ticao, sandy mud, 6 fathoms {H. C).

11. Clanculus minor, A. Adams. C. testa parvd, conicd, al-
bidd, fasciis ru/o-fuscis radiatim ornatd; anfractibus planis, cin-
gulis transversis granosis sculptd, anfractu ultimo angulato, basi
planiusculd, margine umbilici crenulatd; columelld tuberculo de-
curvato terminatd; labro intus lirato.

Hah. Island of Masbate, sandy mud, 7 fathoms {H. C).

12. Clanculus brunneus, A.Adams. C. testd depressn-conicd,
fused, cingulis granorum subdistantibus ornatd ; interstitiis lon-
gitudinaliter elevate striatis ; anfractibus planiusculis , ultimo
acute angulato, umbilici margine pland; columelld transversim
plicatd, margine fimbriatd, basi dente biplicato terminatd ; labro
intus lirato, lira supremd majore. •

Hah. ?

13. Clanculus unedo, A. Adams. C. testd elevato -conoided;
spird prominuld, apice roseo, cingulis granorum confertis (in anf.

'ultim. quinque) ornatd, coccined, cingulo secundo, quarto et quinto
granis albis et nigris ornatis ; umbilici margine plicato-crenulatd ;
columelld obliqud, crassd, margine reflexd, basi dente magno tri-
plicato terminatd; labro intus lirato, supra tuberculo magno.
Hah. ?

14. Clanculus zebrides, A. Adams. C. testd conoided, fus-
cescenti, nigro-fusco radiatim pictd, cingulis granorum sculptd ;
interstitiis lineolis transversis elevatis ; aifractibus rotundatis ;
umbilici margine crenulatd; columelld supra tuberculo, margine
callosd, basi tuberculo magno terminatd; labro intus dentibus
linearibus instructo.

Hah. ?

15. Clanculus edentulus, A. Adams. C. testd orbiculato-
conoided, sordide rufd, tdho varicgatd, cingulis transversis gra-

Zoological Society. 1417^

nosis sculptd ; anfractibus parum convexis ; umbilici margine sub-
crenulatd ; columelld supra plicatd, infra edentuld, margine infra
tuberculis tribus ; labro intus subsulcato.
Hab. ?

16. Clanculus NIGRICANS, A. Adams. C.testd depresso-conicd,
umbilicatd, nigricante ; anfractibus planis cingulis quinque gra-
nulatis ornatd, ultimo angulatd, carinis planis duabus in parte
inferiore, cingulis 5-6 articulatis sulcisque intermediis sculptd;
umbilici margine crenulato ; columelld rectd, superne solutd, in
parte superiore tuberculatd, extus tuberculis tribus instructd ;
labro intus lavi.

Hab. ?

17. Clanculus carinatus, a. Adams. C. testd conicd, albidd,
flammulis rubris pictd, anfractibus planis, cingulis ineequalibus
confertis granorum ornatd, supra suturam angulatd, anfractu ul-
timo margine carinato, carind albo rufoque articulatd; umbilici
margine piano; columelld rectd, supra subcallosd, basi dente
simplici acuta terminatd; labro intus sulcata.

Hab. ?

18. Clanculus microdon, A. Adams. C. testd orbiculata-
canicd, fused, nigra -fusca maculatd, cingulis granorum ornatd ;
interstitiis lineis elevatis transversis ; anfractibus rotundatis,
basi cingulis subnodosis, rufa- et nigro-fusco articulatd ; umbilici
margine deniato, dente superiore majore ; columelld supra flexu-
osd, plicatd, margine reflexa, sulcata-crenulata, basi dente parvo
terminatd ; labro intus lirato.

Hab. ?

19. Clanculus omalomphalus, A. Adams. C. testd depresso-
conicd, pallidd, fusca maculatd, anfractibus paulum rotundatis,
cingulis granorum ornatd; interstitiis striis longitudinalibus, an-
fractu ultimo acute carinato, carind alba rufoque articulatd, basi
pland ; umbilici margine plana; columelld transversim plicatd,
margine reflexa dentato, basi dente biplicato terminatd ; labra intus
lirato.

Hab. Sydney (^Strange).

20. Clanculus gibbosus, A. Adams. C testd depressa-conicd,
pallidd, fasciis fuscis radiatim dispositis ornatd, cingulis trans-
versis cequttlibus granosis sculptd ; anfractibus rotundatis, suturd
profundd, caaaliculatd, anfractu ultimo gibbosa, infra subangu-
lato ; umbilici margine crenulato ; columelld plicatd, margine re-
flexa supra dentato, basi dente magna biplicato terminatd ; labro
intus corrugato-crenulato, supra inflexa, tuberculo magna in-
struct o.

Hab. New Ireland (Jukes).

21. Clanculus conspersus, A. Adams. C. testd orbiculato-
conicd, rufescente, alba rubraque variegatd, cingulis manilifarmi-
bus transversis ornatd, cingulo infra suturam majore, anfractu
ultimo angulato ; columelld postice subcanaliculatd vix toriaosd.

148 Miscellaneous.

antice plied magnd transversd terminatd ; labro intus valde den,'
tato-lirato.

Hab. ?

22. Clanculus NODiLiRATUS, A. Adams. C. testa depresso-
turbinatd, carneold, liris transversis nodulosis subdistuntibus
ornatd; interstittis longitudinaliter tenuissime striatis ; anfrac-
tibus subquadratis, margine umbilici dentato ; columella recta,
antice tuberculo parvo terminatd; labro intus lirato.

Hab. ?

MISCELLANEOUS.

Observations on the Breeding of the Nightingale in Captivity.
By H. Hanley, Sergeant- Major 1st Life Guards.

Being of opinion that any bird which breeds in this country in a
wild state, might, by studying its habits, be brought to do so in a
state of captivity, I made preparations during the winter of 1844 for
trying the Nightingale, which I considered to be the most retired in
its habits of any of our summer visitants. I had a cage made, 4 feet
long by 3 feet high, the back, ends and top solid, with a wire front,
in which I placed a small Scotch fir-tree, planted in a flower-pot ; to
each end of the cage I attached a common-sized canary's breeding-
cage, communicating with the large cage by a hole about 4 inches
square. I broke a new birch-broom, and filled up the cages at each
end, to make them resemble as near as possible the bottom of a thick
hedge, and then put in a plentiful supply of withered oak-leaves and
moss, of which the nightingale forms its nest, covering the fronts of
the two small cages with green glazed calico : I placed the cages high
up against a wall facing a landing-window. The following spring,
that is, about the latter end of April 1845, I directed a bird-catcher
(Blake, of John-street, Tottenham-court-road), who goes to Watford
every season to catch nightingales, to bring me a cock and hen bird
which had paired naturally ; he did so, and, fortunately, they meated
off very readily. By " meating off," I mean that such birds as live
on insect food will not peck at dead food until taught to do so, which
is effected by enclosing meal-worms in a small glass tube, corked up
at each end,' and then placing the tube in their food ; on pecking at
the worm the beak slips off the glass amidst the food, which they
swallow, and will afterwards go to it without the aid of a tube. On
finding my birds feed freely in the small cage, in which until then I
had confined them, I turned them into the place I had fitted up for
them, and was much gratified, about a week afterwards, to observe
the hen bird flying about with an oak-leaf in her beak. She made
her nest in one of the small cages at the end of the large one ; laid
four eggs, of which she hatched and brought up three young ones.
During the time she was sitting, the cock sang as well and as loud as I
ever heard one m a wild state : when the young were excluded he left
off singing, and was most assiduous in assisting to feed and rear them.
—Proc. Zool. Soc. Juno 10, IH.ll.

i

Miscellaneous. l-iQ

EUCRATEA CHELATA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

6 North Parade, Penzance, June 4, 1853.

Gentlemen, — On June 17, 1852, I found this pretty Zoophyte
trailing over the pods of HaUdrys siliquosa, washed in beneath the
Hoe, Plymouth. On examining it under the microscope I found
what I then supposed to be ovicells. Shortly after I saw Mr. Hincks
in Exeter, when I told him that I had met with them, at which he
seemed surprised and somewhat doubtful. I promised to send him
some specimens, which he has so well described and delineated in the
Annals for March last. I have lately been able to confirm all his
remarks upon them, as during the past month (May 1853) I have
met with them in much greater abundance, and springing frequently
from the polypidoni.

The zoophyte is plentiful on the outside of the bulb of Laminaria
bulbosa from St. Ives Bay on the north coast of Cornwall. I have
also succeeded in obtaining a view of the polype. The number of
tentacula are about ten. The polype is of a shy disposition and
does not protrude far from the cell, and appears to be slow in all its
movements. I shall have much pleasure in supplying the ovicells to
any person who may be desirous of possessing them. Mr. Busk, in
the' Catalogue of the Marine Polyzoa of the British Museum, has
named this species Scruparia chelata.

I remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

William F. Templbr.

On a new species o/'Bulimus. By Lovell Reeve, F.L.S.

BuLiMTJS Maconelli, Bul. testd acuminato-oblongd, tenuiculd,
suboblique convolutd, spird brevi, suturis rudibus, anfractibus qua-
tuor ad quinque, minute et creberrime spiraliter undulato-striatis,
ultimo valde inflato, columelld subcontortd, aperturd subampld,
labro simplici ; brunned, maculis parvis punctisquc nigris undiquc
pictd et seriatim fasciatd, maculis infra suiuras regularibus, aper-
tur(B fauce fuscescente.

Hab. Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Australia.

This fine species has been forwarded to me from the Manchester
Museum of Natural History, with the above name attached to it in
manuscript, by Captain Brown. It is chiefly remarkable on account
of its absolute similarity in texture, in colour, and in pattern, to Helix
Falconari of the same locality. It appears to differ in nothing but
in that difference of convolution which characterizes the respective
genera. Mr. Cuming possesses an exactly similar un-umbilicated
specimen ; and none of several examples of H. Falconari, with which
it has been compared and which are all largely umbilicated, present
any indication of an intermediate form. It is the first instance on
record of a strictly typical richly painted Bulimus and Helix agreeing
in colour, in pattern, and in all respects save that of form. — Proc.
Zool. Soc. June 24, 1851.

150 Miscellaneous.

JOHNSTONELLA CATHARINA, GOSSE. THE CRYSTALLINE
JOHNSTONELLA.

Mr. Gosse, in his amusing and interesting work on the coast of
Devonshire, describes as new to science an animal xmder the above
name. I am sorry, — as I should much wish for the above name to
have been permanent, — to have to observe that it appears to belong
to the same genus as the animal described by Eschscholtz in the
' Isis' (182.5), p. 736. t. 5. f. 5, under the name of Tomopteris onisci-
formis from the South Seas ; and by MM. Quoy and Gaimard in
the ' Voyage of the Astrolabe,' ii. p. 284. t. 21. f. 21, 24, under the
name of Briarcea Scolopendra from the coast of Spain. Hermannsen
has proposed to change the latter name to Briarcea : Harry Goodsir
calls it Briarevs : and Mr. R. Ball writes it Bryarea. Eschscholtz
and Quoy and Gaimard regard it as a mollusk ; the first referring it
to the order Heteropoda, and the latter to the Nudibranehiata.

Mr. Harry Goodsir, who found the animal abundant in the North
Sea (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1845, xvi. 163), observing the pre-
sence of " cilia fringing the bifurcated posteriors of the lateral ex-
tremity of its body," decided that it could not be a mollnsk.

Menke (Zeitsch. fiir Malac. 1844, 21) proposes to remove the ge-
nus to the Annelides ; more recent authors have considered it as a
Crustacean.

Mr. Gosse at first sight thought it might be a Brachiopod Crus-
tacean, but thinks it has more affinity to the Annelides (p. 348), dnd
refers it to that class in the Systematic Index.

According to Eschscholtz and Quoy and Gaimard, the South Sea
specimens are very much smaller than those found in the Mediter-
ranean : thus, Tomopteris onisciformis and T. Scolopendra are most
probably distinct species. Mr. Gosse' sJohnstonella Catharina is, no
doubt, a synonym of the latter, since Mr. R. Ball records that Brya-
rea Scolopendi-a has been taken in Dublin Bay by Dr. Corrigan
(Proc. Brit. Assoc. 1849, p. 72).— John Edw. Gray.

July 14, 1853.

On a new genus o/Anomiadse. By J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c.
Tedinia.
Shell irregular, loosely lamellar ; upper or right valve with a broad
cardinal groove, and with three muscular scars, the upper small, ob-
long near the cartilage, the other two large, subcentral, upper sub-
trigonal, lower oblong, transverse, united by a nearly straight medial
cross line ; left or attached valve with an elongated, triangular, con-
vex cardinal ridge, with a deep groove on each side, having the car-
tilage on its inner edge, with two muscular scars, one small, half ob-
long near the cardinal ridge, the other large, subcentral, subcircular,
and with a roundish circular hole near the upper edge, with a slight
impression shovring the grooves to the margin some distance from
the cardinal ridge ; the plug shelly, fixed into and exactly fitting the
hole, with a triangular base sunk into the surface, commencing from
the apex of the shell on the outer surface, and formed of erect shelly
longitudinal plates within.

Meteorolugical Observations. 151

The shell has the ])lug and ninch the external appearance of the
Subgenus Fododesmus, but differs from it and all the other Anomia-
dee iu the following particulars : 1 . That the line which indicates the
junction of the two edges of the sinus which forms the perforation,
instead of being placed on the side of the ridge which supports the
cartilage, is placed at a considerable distance from it ; 2. The sides
of the sinus are firmly soldered together, leaving only a circular hole ;
3. The support of the cartilage, instead of being merely a ridge or
process, here forms a large elongated subtriangular talus, hke that
found in the geuus Ostrea ; 4. It differs greatly in the number and
form of the muscular scars ; the two large ones in the free valves are
placed as in the genus Placunanomia, and there is a third anterior
one in each valve not found in any genus of the family, and very un-
like the third scar of the genus Anomia. I know only of a single
specimen of the genus, which is in the collection of Mr. Cuming,
who believes that it came from California. It may be called Tedi-
nia pernoides ; subquadrangular, reddish, subsquamose, obscurely
radiated, internally reddish brown. — Proe. Zool. Soc. June 24, 1851 .

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JUNE 1853.

Chiswick. — June 1. Overcast : slight rain. 2. Cold haze : overcast : heavy
clouds. 3. Fine : clear. 4. Slightly overcast : cloudy and fine : clear. 5, 6. Very
fine. 7. Hazy : very fine. 8. Very fine : overcast. 9. Cloudy and mild. 10. Fine.
11. Slight haze : fine. 12. Overcast: rain. 13. Constant rain. 14. Cloudy.

15. Very fine : heavy clouds : overcast. 16. Very fine : clear. 17. Cloudy and
fine. 18. Fine. 19. Rain. 20. Very fine : cloudy and showery at night.
21. Very fine : rain : clear. 22. Cloudy: slight rain. 23 Fine: clear at night.
24. Very fine : clear. 25. Rain : cloudy : rain. 26. Overcast : rain at night.
27. Densely overcast : slight rain. 28. Overcast. 29. Cloudy and fine. 30.
Showery.

Mean temperature of the month 59°'16

Mean temperature of June 1852 58 -01

Mean temperature of June for the last twenty-seven years . 60 "56

Average amount of rain in June 1'77 inch,

Boston. — June 1 — 5. Cloudy. 6. Fine : rain p.m. 7, 8. Fine. 9. Cloudy.
10 — 13. Fine. 14. Cloudy: rain, with thunder and lightning p.m. 15. Fine.

16. Cloudy. 17. Fine. 18. Cloudy. 19. Rain : rain a.m. and p.m. 20. Fine :
rain p.m. 21. Cloudy : rain p.m. 22. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 23. Cloudy.
24. Fine. 25. Cloudy : rain a.m. 26, 27. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 28. Cloudy :
rain a.m. 29. Fine: rain a.m. 30. Cloudy: rain p.m.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — June 1. Fog a.m.: damp p.m. 2, 3. Drops a.m.:
cloudy P.M. 4. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 5. Clear a.m. : cloudy p.m. 6. Cloudy
A.M. : showers, fine p.m. 7. Clear, fine a.m. : clear p.m. 8. Clear a.m. : hazy p.m.
9. Drizzle a.m : showers, fog p.m. 10. Fog a.m. and p.m. 11. Fog a.m. :
showers, hazy p.m. 12. Hazy a.m. and p.m. 13. Bright a.m. : clear, fine p.m.
14. Bright, fine a.m. : cloudy p.m. 15. Showers a.m. : cloudy p.m. 16. Cloudy
a.m. : cloudy, fine p.m. 17. Cloudy a.m. : rain p.m. 18. Rain a.m. : cloudy p.m.
19. Bright a.m.: rain p.m. 20. Damp a.m.: clear, fine p.m. 21. Clear, fine
A M. and P.M. 22. Clear, fine a.m. : fog p.m. 23. Damp a.m. : clear p.m. 24.
Showers a.m. and p.m. 25. Showers a.m. : clear p.m. 26. Bright a.m. : clear p.m.
27. Rain a.m. and p m. 28. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 29. Raiu a.m. : showers
p.m. 30. Cloudy a.m. and p.m.

Mean temperature of June for twenty-six previous years 52^-69

Mean temperature of June 1852 55 '33

Mean temperature of this month 55 '21

Average quantity of rain in June for seven previous years ... 2'46 inches.

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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 69. SEPTEMBER 1853.

XVI. — Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals.
(No. 2.) By P. H. GossE, A.L.S.

[With a Plate.]

Class CRUSTACEA.
Earn. Pal^monid^.
Hippohjte fascigera (mihi). The Plumed Hippolyte.
Rostrum straight, acuminate, with two teeth above, the one at
the base and the other near the apex ; two teeth below, the one
near the middle, the other near the tip. Body studded with
deciduous tufts of plumes.

This c\ipious species attains about |ths of an mch in length.
The carapace is moderately gibbous ; the rostrum straight, elon-
gated, furnished on its upper edge with a curved tooth near vthe
base, and a second small one so close to the extremity, that the
tip might almost with propriety be called bifid ; the tip itself is
acute, and extends a little beyond the apical tooth ; on the under
edge, which is much hollowed at the base, and deep in the
middle, there are two teeth, of which one is a little beyond the
middle, and the other near the tip, but considerably behind the
line of the upper apical tooth. The scale of the external antenna
is large, exceeding the rostrum by one-third of its own length ;
its tooth is placed about one-fifth from the extremity. The
thicker filament of the internal antenna is comparatively slender,
not longer than the thin filament, and bent up at a right angle.
The fii-st pail- of feet are short ; the second has the wrist four-
jointed. The middle plate of the tail has two spines on each
side, and six placed slightly divergently at its extremity, of which
the outermost on each side is minute.

The most remarkable character is that each segment of the
Ann. i^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 11

154 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-knowrc Marine Animals.

body is armed with six tufts of plumose bristles, set transversely
at nearly equal distances. The thorax has three transverse rows,
and the abdomen one on every segment. Each tuft consists of
from ten to fifteen plumes, which spring from a point and di-
verge in a fan-like manner in the longitudinal plane. Each
plume is a slender straight taper stem, set distichously with two
rows of very close pinnse, diverging at a small angle from the
stem, and graduated to a point, like the barbs of a feather.
These plumose tufts are very peculiar, and are sufficiently con-
spicuous during life even to the naked eye ; though, being very
deciduous, it is rare to find the whole series perfect, and in dried
specimens they are frequently altogether wanting. In this con-
dition the species may be easily mistaken for H. varians, which it
resembles closely in many of its characters, besides the form and
denticulation of the rostrum. It may, however, be distinguished
at once, while alive, by its colour, which, though varying, does
not assume any of the phases of H. varians. It is usually pellucid
white, clouded with opake drab, and generally blotched with
dark reddish purple. When dead, and divested of its tufts, the
rostrum displays minute but constant points of difference, in the
closer proximity of the upper and lower apical teeth to the apex,
and in the wider separation of the two lower teeth inter se. The
relation of the filaments of the internal antennae to each other, in
length and thickness, also affords a good distinction ; but not
the direction of the thicker; for though this in H. varians is
stated by Professor Bell not to be bent at right angles, I must
venture to coiTcct this observation ; its angle, according to my
experience, is as abrupt during the life of the animal as it is in
H. Cranchii for instance.

Hippolyte fascigera is taken with the dredge in Weymouth
Bay a few miles from land ; though less numerous than some
other species of the genus, it cannot be considered rare.

Hippolyte Cranchii (Leach). Cranch's Hippolyte.

The colours of this little species when alive, taken by compa-
rison of several specimens, are as follows. Upper parts nearly
white, the rest light pellucid purple, in which the blue or the
red element prevails in irregular patches. The hue is most
positive on the legs, where it is banded, on the terminal segment
of the abdomen, on the tail-plates, and on the false feet. In
other parts it is seen by means of a lens to consist of minute
stellate specks on a light ground. The extruded ova, which form
a lai'ge mass, are white, becoming olive. Sometimes the whole
animal is of a pellucid drab hue, with scattered purple specks. I
have seen a specimen which was wholly of a deep purple, except

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 155

the thorax, which was alternately banded with brown and pale
yellow, and the eyestalks, which were pale yellow. A narrow
band of whitish drab running along the median line of the ab-
donaen, and expanding into a broad oval spot on the fourth seg-
ment, is pretty constant in all, and may be considered cha-
racteristic.

The rostrum has four teeth on the upper edge, quite as often
as three, if not oftener ; and the extremity is occasionally trifid.

This is one of the most common of the smaller Crustacea in-
habiting the deeper parts of the coralline zone in Weymouth Bay.
It is brought up in almost every haul of the dredge or keer-drag.

Hippolyte Thomp&oni (Bell). Thompson's Hippolyte.

The denticulations of the upper edge of the rostrum in this
Prawn are not simple serratures of the edge as in Hip. Cranchii,
and in the true Palcemons, but triangular spines articulated to
the edge. In Pandalus annulicornis the same structure exists,
and the superior size of this latter species facilitating manipu-
lation, I found that by means of a fine needle I could move the
spines to and fro with considerable freedom, on their articulated
bases. The spaces between the spines are occupied in both
these species by rows of short bristles graduated in length, as in
Palcemon serratus.

Crangon sculptus (Bell). The Sculptured Shrimp.

This pretty species varies exceedingly iu colour. In one of its
most common conditions, the ground colour is a plain drab,
which is studded with minute blackish dots, and stellate specks
of reddish brown. The body, especially the abdomen, is elegantly
clouded with pale sienna-brown in a sinuous but symmetrical
pattern. The sinuosities are in some parts edged with pale blue,
and there are three more conspicuous spots of bright azure blue,
set at equal distances along the median line of the abdomen, each
of them taking the form of a semi-ocellus with a black pupil. An
undulating line or macular band of azure crosses the front of the
thorax. The ground colour of the fourth abdominal segment is
of a deeper brown than the rest, the difference being gradual an-
teriorly but abrupt posteriorly, where it ceases with a transverse
line of deep brown, imparting some resemblance to C. fasciatus.
Sometimes there is a broad well-defined band of deep brown
across the hinder part of the thorax. One specimen that I have
seen had the whole upper parts opake white, minutely freckled
with buff; except the last abdominal segment and the tail -plates,
which, as well as the sides of the body and the false feet, were
freckled with blackish purple.

11*

156 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals.

Another had the buff of the upper parts so mingled with
rufous, pui-jjle and dark brown, as to give a warm bay tint to
the whole, with azure spots scattered, and a broad band of deep
bistre brown across the hind part of the thorax.

Another is about equally clouded and banded with black and
rose-crimson ; exceedingly rich and beautiful.

The projection of the wrist of the anterior foot on each side,
like an angular elbow, gives a peculiar aspect to this little
shrimp.

Crangones vulgaris, trispinosus, sculptus, fasciatus, and spinosus
occur in this bay with a comparative frequency indicated by the
order in which I have placed their respective names.

Fam. MysiDiE.
Mysis productus (mihi). The Long Opossum Shrimp.

Form elongate, slender. Rostrum lanceolate, nearly twice as
long as the eyes. Peduncle of internal antenna elongate,
curving outward ; second and third joints together as long as
the first. Scale of external antenna about half as long as the
carapace, strongly toothed.

The general form is much longer and more slender than that
of M. chamceleon. The rostrum is hyaline, broadly lanceolate,
acute, and nearly twice as long as the eyes. All the joints of the
peduncle of the internal antenna are lengthened ; the second and
third united are equal to the first, and together reach about to
the tip of the antennal scale. This latter is lengthened ; nearly
parallel-sided, with the tip abruptly angular ; a strong tooth pro-
jects from the outer angle, from whence long cilia extend round
the tip along the inner edge. PI. VI. fig. 5 a.

The middle plate of the tail (fig. 5 b) is lanceolate, with the apex
entire, obtuse; the base constricted; the margin fringed with
small spines. The inner lateral plate tapers to a point, with a
terminal spine. The outer plate is by much the longest, it is
emarginate on the outside near the tip ; the inner edge is deeply
ciliated, the fringe extending round the tip to the emargination ;
there a rather long spine occurs, followed by a series of minute
spines to the base.

The colour of the only specimen found was pale umber-brown,
becoming redder towards the tail. The outer tail-plate was
hyaline, with a large stellate spot of red on its basal half. Eyes
black. It was taken in Weymouth Bay in July, together with
several of M. chamceleon.

The species appears to combine some of the characters of
M. Griffithsice and M. vulgaris, but to be sufficiently distinct
from either.

I

Mr. P. II. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 157

Class ZOOPHYTA.

Fam. ActiniadjE-

Genus ScoLANTHUS (mihi). The Worm- Anemone.

Body cylindrical, lengthened, vermiform, invertile, incapable

of attachment ; posterior extremity rounded, perforate ; anterior

discoid, surrounded by a marginal series of slender tentacles.

Name from o-accbXt/I, a worm, and av6o<;, a flower.

Scolanthus callimorphus (mihi) . The Yellow Worm-Anemone.
When contracted this animal is about three-fourths of an inch
long, and one-third of an inch in diameter, covered with a cori-
aceous, minutely corrugated skin, of a deep orange-yellow colour.
(See PI. X. fig. a.) In this state it bears a strong resemblance to
a Holothuria, which indeed for some time I supposed it to be. On
being placed in a glass vase of sea-water with a layer of gravel
at the bottom, it speedily burrowed out of sight. The next
morning, however, I perceived it greatly changed, being lully
expanded. It had fortunately selected a site in contact with the
side of the glass, so that I could see the whole length of the ani-
mal through the transparent medium.

When fully protruded it extends to about 2i inches, with a
sUght diminution of the former diameter. (See fig. b.) The ante-
rior extremity for about one-third of an inch forms a sort ot fluted
column, a little less in thickness than the rest of the body, from
which it is abruptly separated. The flutlngs, eight in number
at the base, but divided into sixteen at the summit, are of a rich
sienna-brown hue, varied irregularly with black and white, each
bearing a conspicuous lozenge-shaped spot of cream-white at the
base, and terminated by a white tip. The effect of these co-
lours is bizarre, and much resembles those mosaics of coloured
woods well known as Tunbridge-ware. (See fig. c.)

The extremity of the coloured column is truncate, forming a
transverse disk, in the centre of which is a smaU, ovate, conical
mouth, agi-eeing in structure with that of the Actinia generally.
The surface of the disk is white, marked with a series of pointed
arches in form of a star of deep sienna-brown ; the regularity and
beauty of which figure, resembling the forms of the kaleidoscope,
so struck my imagination as to suggest the specific name, from
KoKo^, beautiful, and jjiop^^i}, form. From each angle ol the
mouth a broad band of blackish brown crosses the disk, inter-
rupting the star at opposite points. (See fig. d.)

Sixteen depressed radiating lines on the disk mark the out-
lines of the basal portion of so many tentacles, which become free
only at the edge of the disk. They are lung, slender, and ot

158 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals.

nearly equal diameter throughout, but taper to a blunt point at
the extremity. Their substance is of colourless transparency,
with the exception of transverse rows of specks and dashes of
opake white, more or less arranged in rings, increasing in num-
ber and size, until they become confluent at the tips ; this glassy
translucency imparts to the tentacles a singular effect, especially
as the part where they become free and spring from the margin
of the disk is marked by an abrupt circle of opake white. Each
tentacle is about thrice as long as the disk is wide. These organs
radiate horizontally, and commonly are curved either upward or
downward at their tips. Their bases coincide with the flutings
of the column.

The specimen which I have described was dredged in four or
five fathoms in Weymouth Bay, about the end of July. Its habit,
judging from what I have seen of it in captivity, is to burrow in
fine gravel or sand at such a depth as allows it to protrude the
coloured column from the surface (as shown at fig. c). Here it
expands its tentacled disk for passing prey : I fed it with frag-
ments of a shrimp, and found that it ate with the same avidity,
and in exactly the same manner as its cousins, the Sea-Ane-
mones ; the tentacles catching and moving to and fro the morsel,
and disposing its position and direction so as to facilitate the
mouth's grasping it; this latter organ expanding its flexible
lips to an apparently indefinite width, and gradually enveloping
the presented food.

If rudely touched, the disk was suddenly withdrawn, the co-
lumn, and then the upper two- thirds of the body disappearing in
rapid succession by a process of inversion, exactly like that by
which the Earthworm withdraws its fore parts, or, to use a homely
simile, like the turning of a stocking. The extent to which the
introversion proceeds depends on the degree of aimoyance to
which the animal has been subjected, or on its wayward will : it
is capable of crawling along in its subterraneous abode, while
contracted ; pushing aside the gravel with the front of its body :
it proceeded in this way two or three inches in as many hours,
while I was watching it, before it turned upwards and thrust
out its head ; the evolution of the column not beginning until
the surface was reached.

The form and habits of this animal had appeai'cd to warrant
its isolation from any genus known to me ; it is most nearly
affined to Iluanthos of Professor Forbes, but seemed to me suffi-
ciently distinct from that genus, before I was aware of the pre-
sence of an anal orifice. This is a peculiarity (probably con-
nected with its elongate form) which at once isolates it from its
fellows. The aperture is moderately large, of a deep black,
which hue appears to be derived from the colour of the faeces

y^g(^^(j\

Jnn Jt Ma(f Nat. Hist. S2 Vol 12 /Z YE

J. Luhhoek del

JDCSomtrfy .

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species of Calanidse. 159

staining the surrounding skin ; it is seated in a depression in
the centre of converging corrugations. On irritating this part
slightly, the tortuous frilled bands (commonly called seminal)
that occupy so large a portion of the interior of all ActimadcB
were protruded. I examined a very minute portion of one with
the microscope, and found it to contain a few elliptical thread-
capsules, which presented nothing peculiar.

I presume that the usual membranous septa run down the
interior cavity ; for pale longitudinal lines are seen through the
dimly-pellucid integuments of the body, which appear to indi-
cate such a structure. i • u • +

The skin is coriaceous, not mucous, but covered with minute
irregularly-transverse corrugations, as if it lay excessively loose,

and was wrinkled up. „ ^, ^

P. H. GossE.

Weymouth, August 5, 1853.

XVII.— On two new species of Calanidse, with Observations on
the Spermatic Tubes of Pontella, Diaptomus, l^c. By John
Lubbock, Esq., F.Z.S.

[With a Plate.]
[Continued from p. 124.]

Antenna.
Although the right anterior antennae of the males of Labido-
cera Darwinii, magna and Patagoniemis, Pontella Bairdii, Ano-
malocera Patersonii and Monops grandts, appear at first sight to
differ very materially from one another, and from the corre-
sponding antennae of the left side, which, on the other hand
aeree with those of the female, a little examination will
prove that they are all reducible to one type, and that their dif-
ferences are formed by the development of certain parts at the
expense of others. I have therefore, when describing the above
species, said little about these organs, intending to consider them
all together. Extraordinary as are the forms, and beautifully
adapted as is the prehensile apparatus of each, yet that which
has struck me most is the regular arrangement of the hau-s, ot
which there are five sorts.

1st Short down, which I have only found on the external side
of the basal segments of the female and left male. I never saw
any on the right antennae of the male.

2ndly The plumose hairs so prevalent among the Jl/uto-
mostraca, and which chiefly prevail at the basal portion and the

160 Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species 0/ Calanidae.

apical segment, being apparently replaced from the Ist to the
12th segments inclusive (counting from the apex) by
3rdly. Ordinary, cylindrical tapering hairs, and
4thly. By transversely wrinkled hairs. These two last gra-
dually pass into one another, and though generally perfectly
distinct, yet it is sometimes difficult to know to which form the
smaller hairs belong. And

5thly. Flattened lanceolate hairs. Hairs of this shape are
represented on the antenna of a Calanus quinqueannulatus in
Gaimard's ' Voyage en Scandinavie,' but I do not remember ever
to have seen similar ones on any other animals.

The normal arrangement of these hairs is three on each seg-
ment, all on the inner side. I have already observed, however,
that the short down is, when present, on the outer side. The ex-
ceptions to this rule are the three apical segments, of which the
terminal bears seven hairs ; and the other two have each one on
the outer side in addition to those on the inner. These two hairs
(PI. VII.) are very conspicuous in Cetochilus septentrionalis, Cala-
nus communis, and Oithona setiger, Dana, and are also present
in Pontella, Acartia ?, Dana, Catopia, Dana, Caudace, Dana,
Undina, Dana, Euchata, Dana ; in short, I believe they will be
found throughout the family. The plumose, wrinkled and ordi-
nary hairs appear often to pass gradually into one another, the
secondary setae becoming further and further apart, and the
wrinkles less and less distinct ; they also often replace one
another, the plumose prevailing on the apical and the twelve
basal,, and being almost entirely absent on the intermediate seg-
ments. On the other hand, the lanceolate hairs are much more
constant and definite in form ; there is not one on every seg-
ment, but wherever a segment is provided with its three hairs,
one is lanceolate, and to this rule 1 know of no exception. The
other two are generally (in that part of the antenna containing
the second and eleven following joints to which our attention is
now chiefly directed) one ordinary and one wrinkled, sometimes
however two wrinkled or two ordinary. I have already remarked
that ea«h segment, except the three anterior, is normally pro-
vided with three hairs, the apical with seven, and the second and
third with four each. The number is often less, but never more
than this. In the ordinai-y unswollen antenna, two of the hairs,
one of which is the lanceolate, are attached to the upper end, and
one to the middle of each segment, but in the swollen prehensile
antennae they are all found at the apex.

In the females, and in the left antenna of the males, we find
on the eleventh segment a strong hair larger than the rest, and
evidently homologous with the hair marked {u) on Pontella
Bairdii. This again as evidently represents that marked («) on

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species 0/ Calanidse. 161

L. Darwinii, P. Bairdii, A. Patersonii, M. grandis, and L. Pata-
goniensis ; and finally, the large annulose appendage of L. magna,
in which it attains to its maximum development. If now we
count the segments from the apex in A. magna, we shall find that
it is apparently situated on the ninth ; two therefore are evidently
either soldered together or missing, and at the same time the
fourth shows traces of consisting of three ; in M. grandis the
apical one of these three is distinct from the other two, and in
L. Darwinii there are transverse lines, which divide it into three
segments, but are very indistinct. We have now therefore re-
duced the twelve anterior segments of the prehensile and non-
prehensile antennae in the two sexes to the same type, and no
doubt the same might be done with the basal portion; here,
however, the joints are much more indistinct, and differ with
age ; I have not therefore thought it worth while to devote to
this inquiry the time which would be necessary to work it out
satisfactorily, but will content myself with a description of the
apical portion, especially dwelling on the law which has evidently
presided over the arrangement of the hairs.

The three first or apical segments are always somewhat aUke,
small and either distinct as in P. Bairdii, or soldered together
as in L. magna ; in either case, however, the boundaries are
well marked by the hairs. On the first, these are seven in num-
ber. The most internal is the largest, and is either simple or
wrinkled ; the next is simple or plumose, the third always lan-
ceolate, and the rest either simple or plumose. In some cases
these hairs are so delicate, that I could not quite convince myself
that they agreed with the above description, and in my single
specimen of L. magna several had unfortunately been broken off.
I know of no case, however, which disagrees with this rule.

The second segment has in every case three hairs, two internal
and one external. One of the two internal is always lanceolate ;
the other two either simple or ringed.

The third bears one internal and one external, either simple or
ringed. In L. Patersonii, however, the external is plumose.

The following segments are provided with hairs on the outer
side only : —

The fourth segment, which in L. Patagoniensis, P. Bairdii,
L. magna, and M. grandis, is intimately united with the two fol-
lowing, bears a simple hair in A. Patersonii, a wrinkled one in
L. Darwinii and P. Bairdii, and two wrinkled and a small spine.
This spine I consider, not as homologous with a lanceolate hair,
but rather as a rudimentary plate, of the same nature as those
which are more developed and provided with teeth in the suc-
ceeding segments.

The fifth bears a lanceolate hair in L. magna, Patagoniensis and

163 Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species 0/ Calauidse.

Darwinii, P.Bairdii and M.grandis, and a simple one in A. Pater-
sonii. It is also provided with a dentated plate in L. Patago-
niensis and magna, with a spine (analogous to a plate) in M.
grandis and A. Patersonii; and perhaps a part of the large ante-
rior plate of L. Darwinii and P. Bairdii, which rises from the
next segment, may be considered to belong to this.

The sixth has a lanceolate hair in L. Darwinii and P. Bairdii
only, and bears a dentate plate in every species except L. Pata-
goniensis.

The seventh has a dentate plate in every species, and with the
preceding forms the most important part of the prehensile ap-
paratus, the teeth being turned in such a direction as to retain
firmly any object seized.

The eighth has two hairs, one lanceolate and the other gene-
rally ringed, but sometimes simple, and also either a dentated
plate, as in L. Paiagonietisis and magna, M.grandis and A. Pater-
sonii, or a spine as in L. Danvinii and P. Bairdii. This is the
first segment of the swollen portion, which includes the ninth,
tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth.

The ninth bears a lanceolate hair in every species except A.
Patersonii ; and two large, generally wrinkled hairs, one of which
however in M. grandis, and both in A. Patersonii, are simple.

The tenth a lanceolate and two others, which in L. Dar-
tvinii and P. Bairdii are one wrinkled and one plumose, and in
L. Patagoniensis and M. grandis one wrinkled and one simple ;
in L. magna both wrinkled, and in A. Patersonii both simple.

The eleventh has a lanceolate hair ; a prehensile spine, which
in L. Darwinii and P. Bairdii is represented by a large ringed
hair ; and a third which is simple in M.grandis and A. Patersonii,
wanting in P. Bairdii, and wrinkled in the other three species.
It is evident therefore, as I have remarked above, that the pre-
hensile spine, which is large in L. magna, is no new organ, but
merely a hair very much developed.

Finally, the twelfth has, like the preceding segments, a lanceo-
late hair, and two others which are either wrinkled or simple, or
in M. grandis plumose.

The remaining joints are so indistinct, and it is often so dif-
ficult to determine to which the hairs belong, that I did not
think it worth while to examine them as carefully. It is how-
ever evident that the hairs are arranged according to the same
plan, the chief difference being, that whilst the lanceolate remain
unaltered, the wrinkled and simple have been replaced by plu-
mose hairs. The same regularity in the number, structure and
arrangement of the hairs is also found on the other organs, and
the more they ai-e examined, the more does this become appa-
rent. I hope I shall not be considered to have described the

Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species of Calanidse. 163

above with unnecessary minuteness, as it was the very closeness
of the agreement which struck me, and which brought before me
in quite a new Hght the text which says, that " the veiy hairs of
our head are all numbered." Who can help adoring that om-
nipotent power whose influence we perceive in everything around
us, and which extends to things which we should have thought
almost too insignificant for His notice !

Geographical Distribution.

The species belonging to the genus Labidocera have hitherto
only been found in the Atlantic Ocean and in the southern
hemisphere. L. Darwinii and Patagoniensis were collected by
Mr. Darwin off the coast of Patagonia, Lat. 38° 40' S. Ascend-
ing towards the Equator, at L. 18° to 23° S., and from 3° 30' W.
to 4° E., we find their places supplied by L. magna, Pontella
Bairdii, and Monops grandis ; further north again these yield to
A. Patersonii, which is found from the north of Ireland 54° N.
to 60° N., and from 6° to 35° 45' W. Probably every part of
the Atlantic is inhabited by one or two species of this group.
They are all inhabitants of the open sea, and as they swim m
great shoals must furnish abundant food for fishes. Medusae, and
other marine animals. All these species form, though belongmg
to different genera, a group characterized by having the right
anterior antenna of the male swollen and provided with dentated
plates, and, as far as we know at present, the Atlantic Ocean is
the only part of the world in which this group occurs. Among
the large number of Calanida obtained by Dana in the Pacific,
and among those figured by Gaimard in the " Voyage en Scan-
dinavie," the antennae are only geniculated, as in the common
Cyclops vulgaris. There are probably many species of this group
as yet un described, but I do not know of any others at present
existing in our collections.

Classification.

The presence or absence of superior and inferior eyes, and the
structure of the right antenna of the male and the fifth pair of
legs, whether prehensile or not, have hitherto been considered as
generic characters, and upon them the classification of the family
is founded. The eyes present the most useful characters ; and
though the antennae and fifth pair of legs, being simple in the
females, are not so convenient, yet as the species generally occur
in shoals, in which the two sexes are found together, it will in
most cases be found tolerably easy to make out the names. It
may be doubted, however, whether these are really of generic
value ; for instance, Monops grandis and A. Patersonii, both of

161 Mr. J. Lubbock on two new species of Calanidse.

which I have very carefully examined, have been placed in dif-
ferent genera, because the former has no superior eyes, and the
latter has four ; in all other respects, however, at least as far as
regards their external anatomy, they agree very closely. The
same may be said of Labidocera Darwinii and F. Bairdii. Fol-
lowing however in the steps of my predecessors, I was obliged
to act as I have done, for if I altered their classification I was
bound to propose a better, which I must confess I could not do.
It seemed best, therefore, to retain an arrangement, which, if
it is rather artificial, is undeniably convenient, and to delay
attempting to form natural genera, until the discovery of new
species, and a more intimate acquaintance with the old ones, and
especially with their internal anatomy, should give more hopes
of success.

Note on Anomalocera Patersonii.

For the purpose of comparing together the right male an-
tennae of all the species in which they are so much developed, I
applied to Dr. Baird to know if he could furnish me with any spe-
cimens of A. Patersonii, Tern. Neither he, however, nor the Bri-
tish Museum, has any of Templeton's specimens, but he sent me
some Calanidce marked A. Patersonii, which have been recently
brought from the North Atlantic by Dr. Sutherland. To my great
surprise, however, I found that these, far from having no supe-
rior eyes, had four ; each of the two normal eyes being divided.
Considering that in this family the number of the eyes is a va-
riable character, being sometimes one, sometimes two, and some-
times three, naturalists will not be surprised at there being also
a case in which they are five in number ; still it is interesting
to find a Crustacean with five eyes. At first I thought this
must be a new species, nay, even a new genus, for it seemed
highly improbable that such accurate observers as Dr. Baird,
Goodsir, and Templeton should all three have overlooked so
curious a character. The structure of the fifth pair of legs, of the
antennae, the maxillae and maxillipeds, the shape of the cephalo-
thorax, and all the other parts in which specific diff'erences are
usually found, agreed however so closely with the corresponding
organs of A. Patersonii, that I asked Dr. Baird to examine these
five-eyed specimens, and give me his opinion on the subject.
This he did with his usual kindness, and in a letter to me, he
says, "1 have no doubt that the specimens collected by Dr.
Sutherland are the true Anomalocera."

The species which I have described as Monops grandis would
have belonged to the genus Anomalocera ; I was therefore rather
doubtful whether to retain Templeton's name, alter the generic
character and describe my species as a new genus ; or to refer

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Omitholoffy of Ceylon. 165

my species to the genus Anomalocera, and make a new genus for
the old species. Dr. Baird^ however, thinks that the name ought
not to be altered; it will be necessary therefore to give a new
generic character.

Genus Anomalocera.

Antenna antica maris geniculans, tuinida. Oculi superiores quatuor.
Oculus inferior unicus. Pes posticus maris dexter, prehensihs.

The four superior eyes fully distinguish it from eveiy genus
hitherto described. Probably in Goodsir's and Templeton^s spe-
cimens they were not so distinct as in Dr. Sutherland's. The
posterior angle of the cephalothorax on the right side is much
longer than that on the left. The rostrum, on the contrary, is
symmetrical.

Monops agrees with Catopia, Dana, in the eyes, but that ge-
nus in the ' Proceedings of the Am. Ac. of Arts and Sciences ' is
described as follows : " Oculis superioribus nullis, inferioribus
grandibus, antenna maris antica dextra geniculante ; aliis Calano

affinibus ; " in Calanus, and therefore in Catopia, the posterior

feet are " non-prehensile, often obsolete ;" in Monops, on the con-
trary, they are prehensile.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII.

Fig.\.

Labidocera Patagoniensis.

Right antenna of the male.

Fig. 2.

magna.

Ditto

ditto.

Fiff.3.

■ Darwinii.

Ditto

ditto.

Fig. 4.

Pontella Bairdii.

Ditto

ditto.

Fiff.5.

Monops grandis.

Ditto

ditto.

Fig. 6.

Anomalocera Patersonii.

Ditto

ditto.

XVIII. — Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, collected during
an eight years' residence in the Island. By Eogar Leopold
Layard, CCS.

[Continued from p. 107.]
32. Batrachostomtts moniliger, Layard.

Only two specimens of the above new species have as yet been
procured ; one was caught at Avishavelly and sent to Sir J. E.
Tennent, who, with his wonted kindness and liberality, trans-
ferred it to my collection. It lived three days with me, but re-
fused all food; during the day it slept, squatting on the ground,
with its head sunk between the shoulders ; on being alarmed it
sprang upwards with a sudden jerk, and after executing a rapid
summersault in its confined cage, it would again alight and
settle down like the Caprimulgi. I am informed this species is
not uncommon in the locality from whence it was procured.

166 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

which is rocky and precipitous, and full of gullies and crevices.
I also saw a drawing of one procured at Ratnapoora by Mr. Mit-
ford of that place. He told me, he observed two of these birds,
frequenting a tree in full flower, and capturing the beetles which
flew about it ; at last he shot one with an air gun, and the other
left the place. The eyes of this species, like those of the Noc-
turnal Raptoi'es, exhibit considerable luminosity, and partake of
the same internal form.

33. Caprimulgus Asiaticus, Lath.,

and

34. Caprimulgus Maharattensis, Sykes. Ra-bassa, Cing,
Pay-marrettey, Mai. ; lit. Cheating Devil.

The last of these birds is abundant in the vicinity of Colombo,
and throughout the Southern province ; mingled with C. Asia-
ticus, which predominates in the North almost to its total exclu-
sion. In habits the two species are precisely similar. Hiding
during the day under the umbrageous shelter of a thick bush,
the nightjars avoid the " garish eye of day," and only venture
forth when twilight or the softened eff"ulgence of the moon's
rays afford it that description of light for which its vision is so
admirably adapted. At these times, till morning dawns, or the
moon sets (they do not venture forth during the darkness),
their " churring " cry may be heard in every direction ; and the
belated traveller hurrying homeward ere the last dying gleams
of the setting sun fade in the west, is startled by what seemed a
stone flying up with a few rapid querulous notes, and gliding
along on noiseless pinions settling again within a few yards of
him.

During the warm rainy evenings when the white-ant hills
send forth their winged hosts to propagate fresh swarms of ra-
vagers, the Caprimulgi are actively engaged (assisted by the
crows and bats) in thinning their numbers ; their undulating
motions are at these times particularly elegant and graceful, and
I have watched them with delight till I could no longer distin-
guish them amid the darkening landscape. They never appear
to fly high ; in this pursuit they seldom rise beyond 15 or 20 feet ;
the bats thin the next rank ; and above the tree-tops, evidently
to have the benefit of the little remaining light, the crows eagerly
pursue those ants which escape from the carnage below.

During my residence in Canada, I was sui'priscd both by the
prodigious number of " Fern Owls " which nightly made their
appearance hunting in company, and also at the great altitude they
attained in their airy gyrations. Here, as before stated, this is
not the case, and it is a solitaiy bird, at most only seen in pairs.

Mr. E. L. Layard on tlie Ornithology of Ceylon. 167

The nest is merely a depression in the ground under a tuft of
grass, or a bush, or beside a stone ; the parent bird deposits two
oblong eggs of a delicate buff colour, sparingly marked with
irregular brown spots. Axis 14 lines, diam. 11 lines.

Dr. Kelaart procured another species at Nuwera Elia, which
Mr. Blyth has described under the name of

35. Caprimulgus Kelaarti, Blyth.
I have not seen it in its native haunts.

36. Cypselus Balasiensis, Gray. Wahaleyna, Cing.; lit.
" Rain Fowl," the name for all swifts and swallows.
Extremely common throughout the island j building in the
Borassus flabelliformis, to the dead fronds of which it attaches
its nest by some viscid secretion. The nest is a small semicir-
cular cup composed of the downy seeds of the Asclepias gigantea
and the Bombax pentandrum, which they collect on the wing.
The eggs are laid in the months of June or July, from two to four
in number, and pure white. The species is partially migratory.

37. Cypselus Melba, Linn.

Common about Nuwera Elia and the hilly zone ; found also
about Damboul and Ratnapoora.

38. Cypselus affinis. Gray.

Migratory; breeding in April in large numbers about the
rocks at Damboul. I also found them building under a bridge
near Tangalle in the low country. The nests, built in clusters,
are composed of mud and grasses, with a small round entrance
precisely resembling those of the martin, Hirundo urbica ; the
eggs from two to four in number, and purely white.

39. Macropteryx coronata, Tickell.

Generally distributed, but affecting the jungles more than the
open country. It generally selects an elevated and leafless branch,
from which it sallies in quest of insects ; when on the wing it
utters a peculiar ciy resembling the words " chiffle, chaffle"
" klecko, klecko," often repeated. Sometimes I have heard them
utter the same note when at rest, rapidly elevating and depress-
ing the crest.

I never could find the nests of this species, though the natives
assure me they build in old Euphorbia trees in the jungles. It
appears about Colombo in March, and disappears in December.
I shot a young bird in March; its plumage was green, each

168 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

feather edged with white, causiug the bird to appear as if covered
with scales.

40. CoLLOCALiA BREviRosTRis, M'Clelland.

Having fully described my acquaintance with these birds in a
letter to my fi-iend ]\Ir. Blyth, I cannot do better than copy what
I then wrote, adding his remarks and the result of my subsequent
inquiries. " I have at last visited the cave in which Collocalia
nidifica builds, and will now, with the aid of my journal, give all
the information I can, sending you birds skinned and in spirit,
and a young nestling taken from the nest with my own hand. The
cave is situated at a place called Havissay, about thirty-five miles
from the sea, and twenty from the river, and about 500 feet up
a fine wood-clad hill called Diagallagoolawa, or Hoonoomoo-
loocota. Its dimensions ai"e as follows : — length between 50 and
60 feet, about 25 broad, and 20 high. It is a mass of limestone
rock, which has cracked off the hill side and slipped down on to
some boulders below its original position, forming a hollow tri-
angle. There are three entrances to the cave, one at each end,
and one very small in the centre. The floor consists of large
boulders, covered, to the depth of 2 or 3 inches, with the drop-
pings of the birds, old and young, and the bits of grass they
bring in to fabricate their nests. The only light which penetrates
the cavern from the entrances above-mentioned is very dim ;
when my eyes, however, got accustomed to the light, I could see
many hundreds of nests glued to the side of the fallen rock, but
none to the other side, or hill itself. This I attribute to the fact of
the face of the main rock being evidently subject to the influence
of the weather, and perhaps even to the heavy dews off the trees ;
but for this the side in question would have been far more con-
venient for the birds to have built on, as it sloped gently outward,
whereas the other was much overhung and caused the birds to
build their nests of an awkward shape, besides taking up more
substance. I was at the spot a few days before Christmas, and
fancy that must be about the time to see the nests in perfection.
This is corroborated by the fact of my finding young birds in all
the nests taken by me, and by what the old Chinaman* said, that
the 'take' came on in October. I find that they have three
different qualities of nests, and send two for your inspection ;
the best is very clean, white as snow and thin, and is also very
expensive. The most inferior are composed of dry grasses, hair,
&c., but I could not detect anything like the bloody secretion as
described ('though only under peculiar circumstances of ex-
haustion ') by Mr. Barbe, even in a fresh nest. I was in the

* Alluded to in a previous letter.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 169

cave late (after 5 p.m.) ia the evening of a day which threatened
rain, but the old birds were still flying round the summit of the
mountain, at a vast altitude, occasionally dashing down into the
cave with food for their nestlings. By daylight next morning I
was on foot, but the birds were before me, hawking on the plain
below, and all about the hills : I have found the birds here in
Colombo, in Kandy, and all along the road we went. I could
learn nothing of the number of eggs laid, nor of their colour. I
found one bird in each nest. The Chinese who live on the spot
pretend not to understand anything asked them, and the apa-
thetic Cingalese have never taken the trouble to see for them-
selves, so they could give me no information. The aspect of the
country, broken and rugged, coupled with the numerous flocks
of birds I saw flying round the various hills, lead me to think
there must be many breeding places yet undiscovered. One,
however, was pointed out, but we had not time to visit it. I
could not hear of any other kind of swift breeding there, but
have just received such information as leads me to suppose that
C.fuciphaga builds near Jafi"na on some rocks overhanging the
sea. I may further add, that there were no bats in the cave with
C. nidifica, nor did I see any bird of prey, save a fine Hcematornis,
which I shot. The Cingalese name for C. nidifica is Wahalcma."
On this letter Mr. Blyth remarks : —

" The specimens sent by Mr. Layard are perfectly identical in
species with those from Darjiling, &c., and measure 4| to 4| in.
long, of which the outer tail-feathers measure 2 to 2^ in. ; ex-
panse of wings lOi to lOi in., and closed wing 4| to 4^ in. The
gastric glands, as in C. fuciphaga, present no trace of the struc-
ture figured by Sir E. Home. The nests sent difi'er remarkably
from those of C. fuciphaga, in being partly composed of grass
stems worked in with layers of the mucus, and one of the two
has some moss fixed to the outside. Hence they correspond with
the descriptions of the nest of the Linchi or Lintge of Java, or
C. fuciphaga, the nest of which is without any such intermixture,
and no doubt the misrepresentations of the gatherers have led to
the mistake. As regards the activity of the birds, early and late,
the requirements of the young at the particular period might
sufficiently account for it, only that Capt. Lewis also found the
other species with young in the Nicobars, and the habit of re-
tiring early may prove characteristic of C. fuciphaga*-."

To this I have little to add, save that 1 have traced the birds
up to Anarajahpoora, and doubt not they breed among the rocks
in that neighbourhood. I may remark that I only found single

* From a paper by Mr. Blyth printed for private circulation. Calcutta^
1849.

Ann. £(• Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 12

170 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

birds in each of the nests procured by me^ and that I have lately
received a single fresh egg from Diagallagoolawa taken in the
month of February. It weighed 9ii, and was of a spotless white,
slightly tapering at one end.

41. ACANTHYLIS CAUDACUTA, Lath.

This splendid swift is confined to Nuwera Elia. I have not
seen it myself in its haunts, but received it from friends, who tell
me it flies with immense rapidity, its wings causing a rushing
noise as it darts through the air. The natives report that they
build in hollow Rhododendron trees.

42. HiRUNDO GUTTUKALIS, Scop.

Common throughout the island, arriving in Colombo about
the end of September.

43. HiRUNDO HYPERYTHRA, Layard.

I first discovered this species in November 1 849 at Ambepusse,
on the road to Kandy. I have since seen them at Putlam, up
the Central road as far as the hills extend, at Ambegamoa, and
up the Caltura river from Perth sugar estate to Ratiiapoora and
Adam^s Peak. They breed in caverns and under bridges, and
build a nest of mud attached to the roofs. The general shape
and size is that of a small basin, with a round entrance hole at
the top. The lining is composed of fine hay and feathers, and
the eggs are laid in March. The late Dr. Gardner informed me
that a pair built their nest on a ring supporting a hanging lamp,
nightly used in his sitting-room. They securely hatched their
eggs, unscared by the cleaning or lighting of the lamp, and the
young birds returned to the nest every night for about a month
after being fully fledged.

44. HiRUNDO DOMicoLA, Jerdon.

Found by Dr. Kelaart at Nuwera Elia breeding in the Euro-
pean houses. It appears to be confined to that locality; the eggs,
four in number, precisely resemble those of the European spe-
cies except m size.

45. HiRUNDO Daurica, Linn.

I found one of these birds in the village of Pt. Pedro in De-
cember : it had probably been driven over from the opposite
coast by stress of weather : it was hawking about the street. I
fired at, and wounded it, but it flew away. Next day it was
again in the same place, and I succeeded in killing it, and I
found the shot of the previous day had broken a leg.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 171

46. Harpactes fasciatus, Lath.

This is one of the most beautiful of our indigenous birds.
They inhabit the high tree-jungle called by the natives " Moo-
koolaney," and are extremely shy. I found them about the Perth
estate and Ratnapoora, frequenting the highest tree-tops. On
dissection, their stomachs proved full of the remains of various
insects and small seeds.

Preserved skins give but a faint idea of the beauty of these
birds ; the contrast afforded by the brilliant crimson breast, and
the deep blue cere of the eye, bill and legs, when fresh, must be
seen to be appreciated.

47. Coracias Indica, Linn. Cawolovm, Cing. Kotta Killy,
Mai. ; lit. Palmyra Parrot (from breeding in hollow palmyra
trees).

Common, and widely distributed; very partial to the small
clumps of trees scattered over the cultivated parts of the Jaffua
peninsula ; they are also very fond of sitting on the top of the
Well- Whips in the fields. It breeds in hollow trees, laying four
or five greenish eggs profusely speckled with dai'k brown spots.
Axis 15 lines; diam. 11 lines.

48. EURYSTOMUS ORIENTALIS, Linn.

Very rare in Ceylon ; but three specimens fell under my no-
tice ; one I killed in the Pasdoom Corle. It resembled the pre-
ceding in its flight, but clung to trees in the manner of the Pi-
cidoe. I shot it in the act of tearing away the decayed wood
round a hole in a dead tree. The other birds I killed at Gilly-
mally in a similar situation. Their stomachs were full of wood-
boring coleoptera, swallowed whole, and merely a little crushed,
and I saw them beat their food against the trees as a thrush
would beat a snail.

49. Halcyon capensis, Linn.

Is rare in the immediate neighbourhood of Colombo, but found
occasionally about Caltura, and up the river to Ratnapoora. It
is very abundant neai- Trincomalee and Batticaloa, and the Ana-
rajahpoora Wanny, frequenting tanks, and feeding on fish, frogs,
crabs, and small moUusca. When flying they utter a loud harsh
note, not unlike the cracking of castanets. I have never ob-
tained their nests, but the natives say they build in hollow trees.

50. Halcyon atricapillus. Lath.

This lovely kingfisher has but once fallen under my notice as

12*

173 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

an inhabitant of Ceylon. The specimen in question was shot in
the Jaffna district, in the island of Valenny. I know nothing
personaEy of its habits.

51. Halcyon Smyrnensis, Linn. Calavy cooroovi, Mai.; lit.
Large-mouthed Bird.

Very common and widely distributed, feeding indiscriminately
on fresh or saltwater fish, crabs, beetles, and buttei'flies. I have
seen them capture these last in the manner of flycatchers {Musci-
capidee), darting from a sprig and seizing them in the air, their
mandibles closing with a snap, audible at the distance of some
yards. One, which was unluckily introduced into an aviary, de-
stroyed most of the lesser captives ere he was detected as the cul-
prit ; he was at last caught in the act of seizing a small bird in
his powerful bill ; he beat it for a moment against his perch, and
then swallowed it whole. The nest of this species is found in
decaying trees ; the parent bird deposits two white eggs, axis
15 lines, diam. 13 lines, beautifully smooth and shining. I have
procured eggs in the north of the island in December, in the
south in April.

52. Ceyx tridactyla, Linn.

This lovely little bird is certainly one of our uncommon spe-
cies, and yet, at the same time, widely distributed. I have seen
it at (ialle, Trincomalee, Anarajahpoora, Matelle, Putlam, and
Ratnapoora. It delights equally in the headlong waters of the
mountain torrent, and the calm unruffled bosom of the jungle
tank; and glancing like a gemmed arrowpast the traveller journey-
ing along the narrow native road, its minute form evades his
quickest shot. I have only procured one specimen.

53. Alcedo Bengalensis, Gmel. Mal-pillihudua*, Cing. ; lit.
Flower Kingfisher.

Found throughout the island, feeding alike on small fresh
or saltwater fish, crustaceans, &c. It is captured in great
abundance during some seasons of the year, by Moormen who
resort to this country for that purpose, and transmit the skins
to China, where they are used for embellishing fans and other
fancy work. They are entrapped by a net placed under the
water covered with horse-hair nooses, and baited with a small
fish.

54. Ceryle RUDis, Linn.

Commonly distributed, feeding on fresh or saltwater fish, ac-
cording to its locality. Whilst other kingfishers pounce upon their

* Pillihudua is the native name for all Kingfishers.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 173

prey from the overhanging bough of a tree, or solitary stake
protruding from the water, C. rudis hovering in the air with
head inchned marks its victim. Plunging down with unerring
aim, it is lost for a moment in the spray caused by its heavy fall,
and reappears with the prey struggling in its bill.

55. Merops Philippinus, Linn. Kattalan cooroovi, Mai. ; lit.
Aloe Bird (from a fanciful resemblance in the tail of the bird
to the aloe plant). Pappugai de champ, Port. ; lit. Ground
Parrot.

This bee-eater is very common throughout the island during
the period of its visitation : it is the harbinger of the snipe, and
appears about the middle of September.

They frequent open fields, perching on fences, or on the tops
of low bushes, always choosing a dry projecting twig, from which
they dart at any insect that may pass by, returning with an ele-
gant sailing flight : before the prey is devoured, they beat it
against the perch till sufficiently broken to be swallowed entire.
In the evenings they frequently pursue insects after the manner
of swallows, uttering the while a pleasing chiruping note and
soaring to a great height in the air.

56. Mekops viridis, Linn.

This species is confined to the open plains of the maritime
districts. I have seen it at Trincomalee and Hambantotte, and
traced it from Chilau to Mulletivoe. I am not aware that it is
found near Colombo, nor in the interior, where the preceding
and following species replace it.

It delights in the neighbourhood of water, over which it hunts
for insects. I have even seen it take them from off" the surface,
which it has struck with its breast in the endeavour. It is a
much bolder bird than either of the other two, often allowing
a European to approach within a few feet before seeking its safety
in flight.

It is singular to observe the distinction in this respect between
the native, in his usual state of semi- nudity, and the white man ;
the former can usually approach closely to any wild animal or
bird, but the sight of the latter puts them to speedy flight : I
attribute this more to the colour of the face than to the Euro-
pean dress ; for I always found that by allowing my beard and
whiskers to grow, I could approach them more closely than when
shaved.

M. viridis roosts in large flocks, always returning to the same
tree for successive months ; they usually retire before 5 o'clock
in the evening, whereas M. Philippinus flies till dark.

174 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

57. Merops quinticolor, Vieill.

"\VTillst the two former species frequent low open plains, and
are rarely, if ever, seen in elevated districts, the present species,
on the contrary, affects the hilly forest region. Here it pursues
its insect prey among the lofty tree-tops, seldom descending to
the ground, except in the breeding season, when it frequents
steep banks for the purpose of providing a suitable habitation
for its young : this is generally eflFected by scooping a hole in
the soil J to the depth of about 18 inches, terminating in a
domed chamber, in which the young are hatched on the bare
ground. The eggs, two in number, resemble those of the king-
fisher in shape and colour : they are hatched in April.

58. Upupa Senegalensis, Swain. Chaval cooroovi, Mai.; lit.
Cock Bird (from their crest) .

The hoopoe is common in the Jaffna peninsula during the
season of its stay, and I have every reason to believe that it not
unfrequently breeds vnth us, as I shot young birds not fully
fledged, in August. I saw the bird at Hambantotte and Trinco-
malee, and procured one solitary specimen in Colombo.

They feed much upon the ground, and are indefatigable in
scratching into the ordure of cattle, in search of small coleo-
ptera : at such times the crest is carried flat on the head ; but
when seated on a tree- top uttering its monotonous " hoop, hoop,
hoop," the crest is rapidly elevated and depressed, the bird swing-
ing itself backwards and forwards at every repetition of its note.

I have been assured by a gentleman long resident in the
Northern Province, that U. Epops, Linn., had occurred to him ;
scd non vidi.

59. Nectarinia Zeylonica, Linn. Teyn cooroovi, Mai. ; lit.

Honey Bird.

My house in Colombo was, as is usual in the East, surrounded
by a verandah, up which crept, in tropical profusion, several spe-
cies of Passiflora ; to the flowers of these came the various Nec-
tarinia for their morning and evening meals, rarely appearing in
the heat of the day; they hovered about the starry flowers,
thrusting in their curved bills, in search of the minute insects on
which they fed ; occasionally they would fly into the verandah and
seize a small spider from its web, or from the crevaces of the
walls. Then they would betake themselves to the trelhs sup-
poi'ting the passion-flowers, or to the branches of a pomegranate
clase by, where they pruned themselves and uttered a pleasing
song. If two happened to come to the same flower, and from
their numbers this often occurred, a battle ahvays ensued, which

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 175

ended in the vanquislied bird retreating from tte spot with shrill
piping cries, while the conqueror would take up his position upon
a flower or stem, and swinging his htt e body to and fro, till
his coat of burnished steel gleamed and glistened m the sun,
pour out his note of triumph. All this time the wings were ex-
panded and closed alternately, every jerk of the body in iV Asia-
tica and N. Lotenia disclosing the brilliant yellow plumelets on

either side of the breast. j ■ ji j ,i;

N Zeylonica is abundant in the southern and midland di-
stricts, but is rare in the north, where it is replaced by

60. Nectarinia minima, Sykes.

I never could ascertain to my satisfaction the nest of these
species, but believe them to be similar to those of the foUowmg.

61. Nectarinia Lotenia, Linn.

This species is exceedingly plentiful in the southern and mid-
land districts j it is not so common in the north as

63. Nectarinia Asiatica.

The nests of these latter two are elegant domed structures,
generally suspended from the extremity of a twig of J«^« ^^^
bush artfully covered with cobweb, m which I have often seen
the spider still weaving her toils, havmg extended the jeb o
the surrounding branches, thus rendermg the deception still
rnore effective ; Ld it would seem that the birds were aware of
it and left their helper undisturbed. i i. • i

The entrance to the nest, which, if built m a bush, is always
turned inwards, is screened from the sun and ram by a portico
projecting often above an inch beyond the walls The egg.
Sly are from two to four, of a whitish ground colour, so
closely speckled with minute dusky spots as to appear gi^y.
They weigh from 3i. gr. 1. to 9i. gr. 6, while the parent bird is
only 3ii. heavier. The young males are clad in the livery of the
female, but at the first moult assume their proper garb, the
brTlW metallic hues fii'st appearing m a long line down the

breast. ' ui 4.1.

63. Dictum Tickelli, Blyth.

This, the smallest of our feathered tribes, is plentiful among
parasitic plants wherever found, but it especially delights to feed
on the white viscid berries of a misletoe? which flourishes on
the Sooria {Hibiscus) trees, and I believe it is by their means
that the plant is propagated, the seeds passing undigested

176 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Head of the genus Conus.

through the intestine. I never saw the nest of this species, nor
do the natives seem cognisant of it.

64. Phyllornis Malabarica, Lath.

A rare species, and confined to the upland districts. Dr. Ke-
laart procured it at Nuwera Elia, and Muttoo brought in a
single specimen whilst I lay ill at Gillymally.

65. Phyllornis Jerdoni, Blyth.

Extremely common in the south of Ceylon, but rare towards
the north. It feeds in small flocks on seeds and insects, and
builds an open cup-shaped nest. The eggs, four in number, are
white, thickly mottled at the obtuse end with purplish spots.

66. Phyllornis aurifrons, Temm. ?
Included by Dr. Kelaart in his catalogue; sed non vidi.

67. Dendrophila frontalis, Horsf.

This elegant little creeper is abundant about jack-trees, among
the branches of which it incessantly creeps in search of minute
insects, examining the under as well as the upper sides, and the
bold little climber courses upright or headlong with equal
facility.

These birds always hunt in small parties, and the rapidity of
their motions is such as to bafBe the eye.

[To be continued.]

XIX. — On the Head of the Genus Conus, Linn.
By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c.

Adanson (Voy. Seneg. t. 6), Lesson (Voy. Freycinet, t. 67. f. 7),
Quoy and Gaimavd (Voy. Astrolabe, t. 52 & 83), Philippi (Moll.
Sicil. t. 12. f. 19), Ehrenberg (Sym. Phys. t. 2), Eydoux and
Souleyet (Voy. Bonite, t. 45), and Chiaje (Moll. Sicil. iii. t. 45),
have described and figured the animal of the Cones as having an
elongated muzzle or rostrum like the phytophagous univalve mol-
lusks ; and Loven, probably misled by these descriptions, expressly
describes them as having " rostrum productum non recondendum."
Never having had an opportunity of examining the mouth of
these animals before the publication of the arrangement of the
families which I proposed in the 'Annals and Magazine of
Natural History' for Feb. 1853 (xi. 130), I placed the family
Conidce in the suborder Rosfrifera.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Head of the genus Conus. l77

Having lately, in pursuing my researches on the teeth of Mol-
lusca, examined the mouth of several species of Cones, I was sur-
prised to find that they were all provided with a distinct retractile
proboscis, and that the part which had been mistaken for the
rostrum was only a prolongation of the veil which unites the
base of the tentacles, always found in the Proboscidifera, but
which m this genus is more developed, and assumes the sem-
blance of a rostrum. This is the more remarkable, as Adanson
specially describes the mouth of the rostrum as round and con-
tracted, and some authors figure it as linear and inferior.

The veU in all the species I have examined is produced some-
what like a muzzle or rostrum, and is provided with a large aper-
ture, which, when contracted in spirits, is oblong, transverse, and
has a more or less large longitudinal slit on the centre of the
upper surface, as is well represented in De Blainville's figure of
the animal (Freycinet, Voy. t. 67. f. 7, copied by Mrs. Gray, Mol-
lusca, t. 11. f. 8) ; but from the appearance of the animal when
it has been placed in a weak solution of caustic potass, I believe
that it is funnel-shaped and expanded at the end when the ani-
mal is alive ; and Adanson particularly observes that the Cones
use the mouth, as he calls the end of the veil, as a leech does its
oral disk, to attach itself to any animal it touches.

In most specimens the veil is simple on the edge, but in others,
as Conus Tulipa and C. striatum, it is fringed with a series of cy-
lindrical beards or tentacles, as represented by Quoy and Gaimard
(Voy. Astrol. t. 53. f . 2 & 12, copied by Mrs. Gray, MoUusca,
t. 12. f. 2 & t. 10. f. 6).

The proboscis in its retracted state, as seen in the animal pre-
served in spirits, is short, broad, conical, annulate, prominent,
in the base of the tubular veil, with a roundish central mouth.
Instead of having any elongated lingual band covered with
short transparent teeth, like the rest of the Proboscidifera and
Rostrifera, it has a fleshy tube with a bundle of subulate barbed
teeth directed towards the mouth ; this tube is prolonged behind
and below at right angles with its upper pai't and mouth into
an elongated, fleshy, attenuated subulate tube, containing with
its hinder edge two series of similar subulate red barbed teeth
directed from the aperture towards the apex of the tube.

The teeth are implanted by a distinct root into the substance
of the tube ; those near the upper or oral part of the tube
are placed rather irregularly in two parallel rows, but those
nearer the tip are more crowded, and the hnes gradually diverge
from each other.

I shall not attempt to describe the manner in which these
teeth are brought into action, as I have only seen them in the
preserved specimen ; but those nearest the mouth are probably

178 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Head of the genus Conus.

used to pierce the animal, which is held fast by the contraction
of the veil as described by Adanson. The organization and
structure of the mouth are so unlike that of the other Proboscidifera
and Rostrifera, where the teeth are placed on a lingual band and
used to rasp the food, being replaced by others as those in action
are injured by use, that I am inclined to form the Cones into a
third suborder, which may be called Toxifera ; and it is probable
that the Pleurotomidce, which are described by Loven as having
similar subulate teeth in two series, should be placed in the same
suborder, as they appear to differ from the Cones chiefly in the
veil being truncated and not produced round the base of the
proboscis, — a character of comparatively little importance, as the
Delia, and probably the Cassides, and some species of Tritons,
have the veil more or less produced, forming a more or less
distinct tube round the base of the proboscis, and giving the
appearance of having a very short rostrum.

While on the subject, I may observe that the genera Cassidulus,
Cochlidium, and I believe Fulgur, have the head produced into
an elongated cone like a rostrum ; but in these the tentacles,
which are generally very small, are placed at the top of the cone
on the side of the small apex, from which the very long retractile
proboscis is emitted, as in the TuorindXProboscidifera. lam inclined,
on account of this peculiarity in the form of the head, to separate
these genera from Muricidce and form for them the family Cassi-
dulidce.

I sent this communication in manuscript to Mr. Arthur
Adams, that he might have the opportunity of placing the fa-
mily Conidce in its proper position in the forthcoming number of
his ' Genera of Mollusca,^ and he informs me that he has observed
the veil of the genus expanded in the living animal, and referred
me to the following observations made by him on the habits of
these animals, showing that the theory I had ventured to propose
is correct : —

" Its bite produces a venomed wound, accompanied by acute
pain, and making a small deep triangular mark, which is suc-
ceeded by a watery vesicle. At the little island of Mayo, one of
the Moluccas near Ternate, Sir Edward Belcher was bitten by one
of the Cones, which suddenly exserted its proboscis as he took it
out of the water with his hand, and he compared the pain he
experienced to that produced by the bui'ning of phosphorus

under the skin The instrument which inflicted the wound in

this instance was probably the tongue, which in these moUusks
is long and armed with two ranges of sharp-pointed teeth."
(Zool. Voy. Samarang, 19.) Mr. Adams informs me that it
adhered to the hand by its mouth like a leech, as described by
Adanson.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Animal o/Rotella. 179

XX. — On the Animal of Rotella, Lamk. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D.,
F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c.

This animal has great affinity with that of the T'rocAtV^t?, but differs
so widely in some important particulars that it appears worthy of
a separate description, more especially as the figures of the ani-
mal of this genus given by Quoy and Gaimard (Voy. Astrolabe =
Gray MoUusca, t. 38. f. 7, 8, and by Kiener, Conch. 1. 1 = Gray
Mollusca, 1. 107. f. 6) do not properly represent the animal : both
must evidently have been taken from a species of Trochus.

The foot is truncated in front, and when contracted in spirits
has a deep central groove, and the side edges folded down in
front. The lateral fringe is distinct, with three tentacles on each
side; on the front of the right side near the base of the tentacles
it is produced into an oblong fleshy lobe, which probably partly
covers the base of the shell when the animal is exposed, and
may deposit the peculiar callosity over the axis which charac-
terizes the genus. The upper part of the body has a deep
groove on each side separating it from the rest of the body. The
tentacles two, subulate, with a black longitudinal central line ;
the right tentacle is largest and free, with an oblong compressed
lobe on its hinder side, which has an indistinct indication of an
eye on the inner part of its upper edge ; hence I am inclined to
consider it as a modified eye-pedicel. The left tentacle is smaller
and partly attached to the upper side of the left eye-pedicel,
which is cylindrical, bearing. a very distinct eye, and with a large
membranaceous expansion attached to the whole length of its left
side, which is fringed with small black beards or tentacles on its
edge ; this expansion is folded first over the mouth towards the
right tentacle, and then folded back to the left side of the head
and continued by a slightly elevated ridge to the front edge of
the left lateral fringe, being a modification of the appendages
near the base of the tentacles found in other Trochidee. There
is no muzzle, as in the animal of that family, but a small circular
sunken hole under the base of the fringe veil emitting a short
cylindrical retractile proboscis, armed with an elongated linear
lingual membrane. The teeth, as figured by Loven, are, as in the
Trochidee, placed in many oblique ridges on each side of the lin-
gual membrane ; they are subulate, suddenly bent at the end, and
finely denticulated near the tip ; the innermost series is com-
pressed and suddenly dilated from just under the bend. The
operculum is orbicular, horny, thin, of many gradually enlarging
whorls, finely ciUated on the outer edge, and rather concave
externally.

Since I examined the animal and made the above description.

180 M. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

I have received the May number of the ' Annals of the Lyceum
of New York ' (vi. 35), containing a figure and description of the
animal of Rotella made by the Rev. S. B. Fairbank of Bombay,
and transmitted by him to the late Professor C. B. Adams.

Mr. Fairbank describes the lobe on the right side of the
body, which is an extension of the front end of the lateral fringe,
as a lobe probably " of the mantle which partly clings to the
shell, but does not at all envelope it ;" and he calls the veil " a
siphon," and describes it " as a tube, the side being slit next
the outer lip of the shell and filled with cilia ; the cilia are tipped
with black ; sometimes they gather against the sides, so that you
see the tube with a black rim, but usually they are disposed
much as I have dotted them in the figure," that is to say, like
the rays of a star. The lateral fringe, so constant in all the
Trochidce, is entirely overlooked in this figure and description.
He observes that these shells are found where the water would
leave them diy at least two hours each tide, just bm-ied in the sand;
when placed in water, they did not move about much, but only
raised their siphons. As represented in the figure, the " siphon "
greatly resembles the fringed siphonal tube of a bivalve shell ; but
I can scarcely conceive that the veil, as I observed it in the animal
in spirit, could form such a complete tube. The part here called
a siphon can only be considered as a great development of one
of the fringed lobes which are found near the base of the ten-
tacles of most Trochidce and Turbonidce, and which is a continu-
ation over the head of the lateral membranes of these animals.
It difiers chiefly from the other Trochidce in the rostrum not
being developed, and the mouth consisting of a round opening
under the base of the veil, and in the peculiar development of
the frontal appendages.

XXI. — On the Phosphorescence of some Marine Invertebrata.
By M. A. De Quatrefages*.

[Concluded from p. 27.]

Second Part. — General Observations on Phosphorescence.

1. Description of the Phcenomenon. — It would be useless to
repeat here all the details given by travellers; I will confine
myself to some remarks on my own observations.

The phosphorescence of the sea has appeared to me under two
different forms : — 1st, a result of scintillations more or less nu-

* From the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, vol. liv. 3rd series, as in-
serted in Silliman's American Journal of Science for July, 1853.

some Marine Invertebrata. 181

merous, always isolated, and not giving at all the idea of a liquid
in itself luminous ; 2nd, a general glow more or less uniform,
the phosphorescent substance seeming to be dissolved in the
water itself.

In both cases phosphorescence is equally a result from living
animals directly emitting the light, but the species which pro ■
duce the phsenomenon are different.

A. I have often observed the first mode of phosphorescence on
the western coasts of France, at points peculiarly exposed to the
action of currents and waves. At Chausey, especially in the small
channel called " le Sund de Chausey," I have seen very numerous
and brilliant sparks brought out by each stroke of the oar. The
track of the vessel seemed for a moment as if strewn with dia-
monds, but these sparks, always very brilliant, and appearing
at the same instant^ never communicated a general glow to the
water. They remained completely isolated, and were distinct
from the dark surface of the sea. At Brehat, St. Malo, and
St. Vaast, I observed similar facts. The fishermen whom I
questioned, all assured me that in these regions, the sea never
presented a different appearance ; the young men who had never
left their native coasts, did not seem to understand my in-
quiries relative to a more general or diffused phosphorescence.
M. Beautemps-Beaupre mentions his observing phosphorescence
of this kind during one of the numerous excursions in which he
was engaged, while making his magnificent Atlas of the coasts of
France ; but he cannot recall the exact locality. It was in the
neighbourhood of St. Brieuc, and it may be that this single ob-
servation was made in some well-sheltered harbour, like the port
of Paimpol.

If the sea itself rarely presents any remarkable phospho-
rescence in the localities of which I am about to speak, it is not
so with the marine plants which are left by the tide. In some
circumstances I have seen masses of the Fucus kindle up when
seized a little rudely ; but even then the light was in isolated
points, which the eye easily distinguished from one another. In
no case did the stalks or the leaves present the uniform tint of
a metal at a white heat, and the water which ran out freely was
never luminous. Moreover, the part of the beach which the sea
had just left dry remained perfectly dark. At most, only a few
sparks might be seen over a space of some extent.

Water drawn from the sea in the circumstances of which I
speak, and when the scintillations were most numerous and most
brilliant, often became suddenly obscure, or presented only some
few luminous points, when the vase containing it was violently
shaken, and these ordinarily disappeared instantly. This same
water, poured out from some height, presented nothing peculiar.

182 M. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

Never, in the regions of which I speak, have I seen the waves
breaking on a shore presenting the appearance described by
ti'avellers.

B. The second kind of phosphorescence I saw for the first time
near StromboU. Here the effects of the hght were heightened
by the dark hue of the waves around the volcanic cone ; more-
over, at Boulogne, and probably at Havre, Dieppe, Ostend, &c.,
this phsenomenon is as complete and interesting as at Stromboli.

At Boulogne, the phosphorescence is apparent throughout the
harbour, except where the waters of the Liane flow into it. It is
diminished and perhaps destroyed towards the entrance, between
the two dykes. It is very decided through the whole port pro-
perly so called, in the basin, and especially in the little cove
named the "Pare aux huitres." The last locality, being very
accessible, afforded opportunity for studying all the details of
the phsenomenon.

However favourable the circumstances for observation, the
water when quiet was always perfectly dark ; but the least move-
ment drew forth light. A grain of sand cast upon the dark sur-
face produced a luminous spot, and the undulations of the water
were so many bright circles. A stone as large as the fist pro-
duced the same results in a more intense degree, and moi-eover
each splashing occasioned a scintillation like that of a bar of
iron at a white heat when struck upon an anvil. The entrance
of a steamboat when the phsenomenon was most apparent, was
a magnificent sight, and recalled to mind the descriptions of
travellers.

The " Pare aux huitres " was always bordered by a phospho-
rescent girdle, resulting from the incessant undulations of the sea,
which reached the shore under the form of small waves ; but in
perfectly fair weather this light was too feeble to be distinguished
at a distance. When these undulations were only 3 to 4 inches
high, the ring might easily be seen from the pier, throughout
its whole extent, and was especially marked in the inner part of
this little harbour.

At Boulogne, as at Stromboli, these luminous waves, seen from
a distance, presented a uniform tint of a pale dull white. It might
be called almost a froth, resulting from the action of the waves
against the shore ; and seen at mid-day under the most favour-
able circumstances, that was all I could distinguish at a distance
of seventy to eighty yards. In proportion as you advance the
appearance changes ; the waves, as they near the shore, seem
crowned with a light bluish flame, which M. Becquerel has
justly compared to that of a bowl of punch. When they strike,
this brightness becomes whiter and more vivid. On reaching
the bank, you often see these same waves under the aspect of

some Marine Invertebrata. 183

surges of melted lead or silver, strewn with an infinite number
of bright scintillations, either brilliant white, or of a greenish
tinge. The spectacle is then most beautiful, and after having
witnessed it on a small scale, I understood the impression left
on the minds of travellers who have seen it under the tropics, in
all its magnificence. The following are the facts which I have
myself witnessed.

The waves, in breaking on the nearly horizontal beach of the
cove, although so little elevated, covered quite an extent, and the
whole space presented a uniform and glowing tint, from which
started out innumerable scintillations yet more brilliant, and of
a bluish or greenish hue.

As the water became absorbed by the sand, a line more
strongly luminous indicated its limit. This eff'ect was especially
marked in the little cavities which the shore presented, where
the line formed concentric curves which diminished as these little
basins were exhausted. On passing a long stick rapidly in the
water, it presented in its whole length the appearance of a blade
of silver.

The water taken up at random and poured out from a little
height had exactly the appearance of melted silver, and it was the
same in the slightest spray. It left upon the hands or clothes
bright spots that were quite persistent. At one time, when, on a
short excursion with M. Bouchard, a dog ran barking at us, we
threw at him the contents of a small cup, and he fled in terror
from what he seemed to take for fii-e, and troubled us no longer
save at a distance. If we plunged oui* hands into the sea, when
drawn out they were luminous all over, but after a few seconds
they were marked only here and there with bright spots, whose
brilliancy remained constant and without scintillations.

The bank recently left by the tide did not however show any
trace of phosphorescence ; yet at the least shock it became lumi-
nous, and seemed literally to glow under the steps of the observer.
In some circumstances, wherever the foot rested on the sand or
gravel, it seemed like burning coals beneath the tread ; and this
appearance was equally perfect, with more or less brilliancy, even
to a distance of some inches.

The Talitri, so numerous on our sandy shores, and whose
habits have gained for them from the fishers the name of sand-
flea, become luminous by contact with the phosphorescent water,
— a fact to be noted ; for at first one might be led to imagine
that they were the cause of the light. Nothing can be more
curious than to see these sand-fleas leaping by hundreds, and
appearing like the scattering of tiny sparks.

2. The Animals that produce the phosphorescence in the two pre-
ceding cases. — a. At Chausey, Brehat, St. Malo, and Saint Vaast,

184 M. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

I have many times sought for the cause of the bright sparks
which I saw shining and then vanishing in darkness. In each
case I met with Uving animals, and these animals were always
Crustacea, Ophiura or Annelida. I usually found the first in the
water drawn up either from channels or at some distance from
the shore. The second were under stones, or in the masses of
seaweed. It was especially to the Annelida that the Fucus owed
its brilliancy.

These results explained all the circumstances of the first kind
of phosphorescence. The Crustacea, whose movements are ener-
getic and whose locomotion is extended, cannot easily be col-
lected in sufficient quantity on a given point to have their scin-
tillations appear like a uniform tint. Besides, there is nothing in
the habits of the species I have examined to lead one to suppose
that they are inclined to collect in numerous bands. The size of
the Ophiura prevents such an idea with regard to them ; and the
smaller Annelid for a like reason cannot contribute to such a
result. Thus the light produced by these different animals is
always seen in points more or less near each other, but never
really blended.

h. At Boulogne, on the contraiy, we find this brilliant light
exclusively due to Noctiluca. With the most careful examina-
tion, I have never found in my vases a single Annelid, or a single
phosphorescent Crustacean.

Many circumstances, some of which will be explained hereafter,
illustrate the particular mode of phosphorescence of the sea, ren-
dered luminous by the presence of these Rhizopodes. We wiU
first notice their size and great number. The diameter of these
Noctilucce varies from about ith to |^rd of a millimetre ; but their
abundance more than compensates for their minuteness, each
drop of water, as observed by Suriray and M. Verhaeghe, con-
taining one or more. The following calculations will give some
idea of their vast numbers.

In taking up some water at random from a brilliant wave, I
filled a tube about a decimetre in height. After being left a little
time quiet, the deposition of Noctilucce on the surface of the
liquid was about 1| centimetre in thickness. Thus the Nocti-
lucce composed about yth of the phosphorescent water. Again, I
took the water from the surface and filled a vessel about one-
half. The whole height of the liquid was about 15 centimeti-es,
and that of the mass of Noctilucce was about 5 centimetres ; here
the proportion was about ^. Finally, I remember that at False
Bay, M. de Tessan found the proportion equal to |. From these
numbers, it is easy to understand how the sea, rendered luminous
by the Noctilucce, may present a uniform brilliancy, irresistibly
impressing the idea of a phosphorescent solution. When the

some Marine Invertebrata. 185

surface of the sea is tranquil, as iu a well-protected harbour, the
Noctiluc(B, because of their small specific gravity, form a conti-
nuous bed, and the least movement is sufficient to cover that dark
surface with a brilliant mantle. When the movement of a vessel
at once breaks in upon this mass of NoctiluccR, and also calls out
their simultaneous phosphorescence, the myriads of bright points
lying in the trough of the wave present one universal hue. From
a distance, the eye sees throughout a uniform brilliancy, and near
by distinguishes only the most brilliant scintillations, or those
thrown out by the animals at the immediate surface of the water.
These brilliant waves are like so many nebulse resolved by the
eye only in part.

Third Part. — Observations and Ewperiments on the Ldght of
the Noctilucse.

[Instead of giving a full translation of this Part of the memoir,
as has been done of the preceding, we offer here an abstract pre-
senting in brief the conclusions of the author. — Eds,]

1. In a sea rendered pLosphorescent by Noctilucse, the light
proceeds only from the body of these Animals. — This proposition
is proved by direct microscopic examination ; and by the water's
being deprived of all light when the Noctilucce are filtered out,
and becoming luminous again when they are restored to it. In
a tube of the seawater, the Noctilucce, if left quiet, soon form a
layer at the top of the liquid, and the light is confined entirely
to this layer of the animals.

2. The production of light is independent of contact with the
air. — The flashes of light that are produced with the breaking
of every wave might seem to show that the access of the animals
to the external atmosphere was essential to the result. But on
the contrary, it is found by observation that in a vase of seawater
containing the NoctiluccB, the bed of these animals that collects
at the top of the base is equally luminous in every part.

3. Colour of the light. — When the Noctilucce are in full vigour
of life in quiet water, the colour is a clear blue. But on agita-
ting the water, or in the waves of the sea, the light becomes
nearly or quite white, or like silver sprinkled with some greenish
or bluish spangles.

4. Intensity of the light. — M. de Tessan states that in some
tropical seas, the phosphorescence is so bright from the breaking
waves, that he could read ordinary type at a distance of fifteen
paces. The light from the Noctilucce cannot compare with this.
At the head of the cove of the " Pare aux Huitres " at Boulogne,
it was not possible to tell the hour with a watch when the waves
were breaking at the observer's feet. With a tube 15 millimetres

Ann. &^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. \ii. 13

186 M. de Quatrefages on the Phosphorescence of

in diameter, in which the NoctiluccB formed a bed at the surface
nearly 20 miUims. thick, the figures of a watch face could be read ;
but strong agitation of the tube was necessary, and it was requi-
site to hold it close to the glass of the watch. Four to five tea-
spoonsfull of Noctilucce were collected in a filter, and on pro-
ducing the phosphorescence by this means the houi' could be
told at the distance of a foot.

5. No disengagement of heat sensible to a thermometer accom-
panies the phosphorescence. — This fact was established by placing
the bulb of a thermometer in the Noctiluca water while it was
quiet, and then giving it a shake to produce the phosphorescence.
The experiment was varied in diifereut ways.

6. The light of the Noctilucse may he produced over the whole
surface of its body or only a part of it. — After a violent agitation,
the Noctilucce retain the phosphorescence for some time, so that
it may be studied at leisure. With a lens magnifying 6 to 8 dia-
meters, it is easy to see that while some of the Noctilucce are
phosphorescent throughout, others are but partially so. In the
figure PI. A^I. (fig. 7), one of the animals is light over its whole
surface, and the other (fig. 8) only on opposite sides. "With a lens
of 10 to 12 diameters we find that the light often appears success-
ively on diff'erent parts of the body. There is hence no circum-
scribed phosphorescent organ, as in the Lampyri, Elaters, and
Pyrosomas*.

7. The light is due to an infinite number of minute scintilla-
tions. — Figui-e 9 of a part of a Noctiluca much magnified, re-
presents the actual character of the phosphorescence. There
is an immense number of points of fight. With a lens of
20 to 30 diameters, the light is like an undefined nebula ; but
with a lens of 60 diameters it is partially resolved, and with
150 diameters, wholly, into its constituent spangles. Each lumi-
nous spot on the body is found to consist of a cluster of minute
instantaneous scintillations, dense at the centre, and more scat-
tered towards the circumference of the spot. Thus the same
phsenomena take place in the Noctilucce as were obsei-ved by
M. de Quatrefages in the Ophiurce and Annelida. Each spot
of light is resolvable into constituent points, and consists of
evanescent scintillations.

* The Noctiluca (PI. VI. fig. 6) has a depression on one side, and near the
middle of this depression is the mouth. At the same place there is a move-
able appendage as long as half the diameter of the animal. The body is
perfectly transparent. The general envelope consists of two membranes
distinguished with difficulty. The outer is excessively thin and like an
epidermis ; the inner is thicker, but without a trace of fibres. On com-
pression the envelope acts like a bag full of liquid, and finally bursts.
Numerous anastomosing and branching lines radiate from the mouth
through the granulous interior.

some Marine Invertebrata. 187

8. The light from the dead Noctilucae, or from fragments of
them, is identical with that from the vigorous living animal.—'
When the hght of the Nocttlucm, after frequent excitement^ be-
comes white, it is also more fixed, and finally covers the whole
body. From numerous experiments, M. de Quatrefages con-
cludes, that this kind of light is evidence of disease, or of a de-
cline of vigour, and when the light is universal, of death. Micro-
scopic examinations make it apparent that in these cases the
light is still made up of minute points, and it is evidently of the
same nature with the light given out in active life.

9. Precautions necessary to succeed in the preceding observa-
tions.- — The animals should be examined without the use of a
compressor ; and care should be taken in employing high powers,
not to be deceived by the light proceeding from a point not quite
in the focus, whose rays produce a confused image, as if the light
were uniform instead of localized. This illusion is difficult to
avoid with fragments, as they are apt to be folded, so as to bring
more than one point of light in the focus at once.

10. The phosphorescence is not the result of a kind of com-
bustion. — On taking a barometer tube nearly filled with mercury,
putting in some seawater containing Noctiluca (the water occu-
pied 6 centimetres of the tube, and the bed of Noctilucae was
3 centimetres thick), and then inverting it over mercury, a
phosphorescence was produced of the pale white light which indi-
cated approaching death, a consequence of the imperfect vacuum.
After one hour and eighteen minutes, the phosphorescence had
ceased, and could not be restored by shaking it. Oxygen gas
was introduced without efiect. It is probable that the phospho-
rescence, if due to combustion, would have been restored by the
oxygen, as happens with the Lampyri, according to Matteucci,
under similar circumstances.

Four tubes were filled with water containing the Noctilucae.
Into one oxygen was poured, into the second hydrogen, the
third carbonic acid, the fourth chlorine. The first three gases
produced the same effect, and not more than atmospheric air
occasions through the agitation its passage causes. After haK
an hour these tubes were shaken with precisely the same result
in all. Chlorine acted like other irritating agents ; the light was
at first bright and continuous, but rapidly became extinguished.
Macaire and Matteucci have shown that the hght of the Lampyi-i
is immediately brightened in oxygen, and rapidly extinguished
by carbonic acid. The light therefore cannot be alike in origin
in the two cases,

11. All physical agents that produce contractions cause phos-
phorescence, and in proportion to the intensity of the contractions.
— This conclusion was established by M. de Quatrefages by ex-

13*

188 Pi'of. F. M'Coy on some new Carboniferotis

periments upon the influence of pressure, heat and electricity ; of
sulphuric, nitric, muriatic and hydi-osulphuricacids; potash, ammo-
nia, alcohol, sether, tui-pentine, common salt, Owen's liquid, milk,
fresh water. With very dilute sulphuric acid, the excitation is
strongly marked, attended ^^^th a rupture more or less rapid of
the filaments uniting the interior mass to the envelope, and finally
a detachment of the mass from the envelope, and a withdi-awal
towards its mouth. A portion of the inner mass and tissues may
still cover the inuer surface of the envelope ; but after a while
they come away from the envelope, and collect about the mouth,
leaving the envelope empty. In the dark there is a very brilliant
light at the first contact of the dilute acid with the Noctilucce ;
then afterwards there appears a clear fixed white light on one
part, which rapidly spreads, till the whole is like a ball of silver.
The brilliancy soon after begins to diminish, and rather rapidly
disappears. The rupture of the fibres and disorganization of the
interior mass evidently take place consentaneously with the
flashes and change in the light.

It is hardly necessaiy to cite the other experiments in this
place. M. de Quatrefages concludes that the light is produced
by the contraction of the interior mass of the body; that the
scintillations are omng to the rupture and rapid contraction of
the filaments of the interior, and that the fixed light which these
animals emit before dying, proceeds from the permanent con-
traction of the contractile tissues adhering to the inner surface of
the general envelope. The production of the light is independent
of all material secretions. "N^Tiether it is accompanied by a dis-
charge of electricity or not remains to be ascertained.

XXII. — On some new Carboniferous Limestone Fossils. Bv Fre»
DERTCK M'CoY, F.G.S., Hou. F.C.P.S., Professor of 'Mine-
ralogy and Geology in the Queen's University of Ii'eland.

Pinna spatula (M'Coy).

Desc. Valves very narrow and much elongated, about four times
larger than the width of posterior end, very slightly convex
except at the beaks, which are pointed and almost cylindrical,
the sides gradually flattening as they approach the posterior
end, which is subtruncate or slightly rounded obliquely ; car-
dinal margin slightly thickened, with the cartilage ridge veiy
close within its edge ; surface perfectly smooth, or with very
faint laminar lines of growth parallel with the margins.
Length of large, rather imperfect specimen o\ inches, propor-
tional greatest width at posterior end about y^^^y, greatest
depth j-§^^ or yg^.

Limestone Fossils. 189

Fragments of this species might be taken for a Solen, and the
S. siliquoides (Kon.) may have some affinity with it, though spe-
cifically distinct. The muscular impression is rather large,
though superficial, quadrato-reniform, rather behind the middle
of the length, and nearer to the cardinal than the ventral margin.

Specimens of the above large size, rare in the carboniferous
limestone of Derbyshire ; specimens about 3 inches long, and
slightly more convex, in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick,
Northumberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Cardiomorpha orbicularis (M'Coy).

Desc. Suborbicular ; anterior end moderately large, semicir-
cular, compressed ; ventral and posterior margin very convex,
regularly curved; posterior side small, rounded, gradually
compressed ; beaks very large, tumid, obliquely inrolled to-
wards the anterior end, projecting greatly beyond the hinge,
nearly over which is the deepest part of the shell ; valves be-
coming gradually flattened towards the margins; surface
smooth, even ; substance of the shell very thin ; hinge-margin
inflected at right angles, forming a cartilage support rather
less than 3 lines wide. Length 3 inches 2 lines, proportional
width from beak to ventral margin -j^^, length of anterior
end yL%, width half-way between the beak and posterior end
y^Q^Q, depth (greatest near the beak) -^-^q.

This is only likely to be confounded with the C. oblonga
(Sow. sp.), but is distinguished by its large anterior and small pos-
terior sides, extremely large beaks, and flattened orbicular valves.
The young of the C. corrugata (M'Coy), which is nearly like in
form, is distinguished by the large corrugations of the sides.

Seems not uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Der-
byshire.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Lithodomus Jenkinsoni (M'Coy).

Desc. Longitudinally oblong or oval, subcylindrical ; beaks
small, much incurved, obliquely inrolled over the wide, deep,
cordate, anterior lunette ; anterior end very short, extending
very slightly in front of the beaks, obtusely rounded ; poste-
rior end slightly wider than the anterior, obtusely rounded ;
dorsal margin nearly straight, gradually rounding into the
posterior end; ventral margin very slightly convex; valves
evenly tumid, most so along an undefined line from the beaks
to the respiratory margin a little in front of the middle of the
length; surface with irregular, coarse, concentric lines and

190 Prof. F. M'Coy on some new Carboniferous

plicse of growth. Casts show the large anterior and posterior
adductor impressions distinctly connected by the simple pallial
scar, together with faint traces of the concentric plicse of the
surface, crossed by microscopic, close, diagonal striae from the
beaks towards the respiratory margin ; also an impression of
the small cartilage ridge within the dorsal margin. Length
1 inch 7 lines, proportional depth greatest at middle of length
-Y^Q, depth at posterior end y'^^"^, from apex of beaks to ventral
margin ^^q, length and width of anterior lunette -^-qq, greatest
depth of both valves -^-^-q, length of anterior end ^-^q.

This is a smaller and much more obtuse species than the
L. dadyloides (M'Coy), the anterior end being proportionally
broader and more obtusely rounded ; the posterior end is also
less pointed, and the anal angle not elevated. I have not seen
the external shell of this species, except near the margins, and
here there is no trace of the distinct longitudinal or radiating
striation of that species, traces of which are however seen on the
internal casts. I dedicate this species to the Kev. Mr. Jenkinson
of Lowick, to whose labours we owe the most extensive and
beautifully perfect local collection perhaps ever made — particu-
larly instructive by the frequent exhibition of internal cha-
racters.

Not uncommon in the impure carboniferous limestone of
Lowick, Northumberland.

[Col. University of Cambridge.)

Edmondia rudis (M'Coy).

Desc. Rotundato-quadrate, very gibbous ; beaks very large, ob-
tuse, posterior end broad, subtruncate, very slightly oblique ;
posterior slope flattened, steep, undefined ; anterior end sub-
truncate, abruptly compressed ; ventral margin gently convex ;
hinge-line nearly as long as the shell, slightly raised, middle
of the shell with very unequal rugged plicae, parallel with the
ventral margin, anterior and posterior slopes evenly smooth.
Length 1 inch 1 line, proportional width ■^-^■^, width of pos-
terior end y^^^, length of anterior end y'^^^, depth of one
valve y%%.

The short, quadrate, extremely gibbous foi-m and unequal
rugged plicae distinguish this species from all other carboniferous
fossils that I know at a glance. There is often a sort of large
obscure pitting between the plicae. The cardinal cartilage ridge
is very thick, and nearly as long as the hinge-line or simple
erect cardinal margin.

Rare in the impure carboniferous limestone of Lowick, North-
umberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Limestone Fossils. 191

Murchisonia dispar (M'Coy).

Desc. Elongate, very acutely conic ; apical angle 30° ; spire of
about eight very gradually increasing tumid whorls having a
very thick obtuse prominent band, forming a rounded keel
much nearer the lower than the upper suture ; upper and lower
surfaces slightly tumid, convex, the lower portion most steeply
sloped ; the band is either simple, or rarely Math three spiral
striae ; two strong spiral lines below the keel, and six slightly
smaller ones above it on each whorl; base of body-whorl
rounded, convex, with an obtuse angulation at such a distance
below the keel, that it is just concealed by the suture on the
spiral whorls ; lines of growth five, unequal, obscure, slightly
arched, oblique to the band. Length 7 lines, proportional
width j%%, height of last whorl yVTy, height of penultimate
whorl -^-°-

This species is easily distinguished from its allies, the M. sub-
sulcata and M. Archiacana, De Koninck, and M. Larconi, M'Coy,
by the disparity in width of the parts of the whorls above and
below the band, and the disparity in number of the keels or
spiral sttise which ornament those parts.

Not very uncommon in the impure carboniferous limestone of
Lowick, Northumberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

PleurOtomaria decipiens (M'Coy).

Desc. Var. a. Spire acute, regularly conic ; apical angle about
40° ; composed of about seven or eight gradually increasing
flat whorls ; suture a simple impressed line ; base of body-
whorl flattened, forming a strong angle with the spire; no
umbilicus ; pillar-lip slightly thickened, arched ; mouth ob-
long angulated, a little wider than long ; surface marked with
narrow thread-like spiral ridges, separated by flat or slightly
concave spaces about three times their width ; about eight or
nine spiral ridges on each whorl, and seven or eight more
rather stronger on the base, the intervening spaces very irre-
gularly cancellated by obscure, unequal, obtuse, longitudinal
wrinkles, very slightly oblique to the band, forming an obscure
irregular, quadrate pitting, occasionally visible on the cast,
these transverse plicse closer and more oblique on the base ;
band about the width of the ordinary spaces between the spiral
lines, flat, very inconspicuous, and bounded by very delicate,
impressed lines, destitute of the obtuse cancellating pUcse of
the rest of the surface, situated two inter-spiral spaces above
the lower suture of each whorl. Width 10 lines, proportional

193 Prof. F. M'Coy on some new Carboniferom

height of last whorl /^%, height of penultimate whorl y*^'^,
width of mouth y'^Qj.

Var. /3. Very elongate conic; apical angle ahout 40°; whorls
moderately convex ; base of basal whorl gradually prolonged,
not flattened nor separated by an angulation from the sides ;
mouth a little longer than wide. Length of last whorl 11 lines,
proportional width ^uV, height of penultimate whorl -j%%.

It will be seen that this species has two extreme varieties
somewhat resembling those of the P. yvanni ; the variety u so
exactly resembles a Trochus, that it requires the most careful ex-
amination to detect the extremely obscure, though definite band,
to convince the observer that it is a Pleurotomaria ; the var. ^,
with the basal whorl elongate and rounded in front or at base,
like the corresponding variety of P. yvaniii, is so like a Macro-
chilus, that it is only by carefully tracing the intermediate forms
and detecting the very obscure band, noting the same number of
spiral ridges on the whorls, &c. that I have become satisfied of
their identity ; both varieties have usually only four whorls pre-
served, the posterior end of the animal at that length depositing
convex imperforate diaphragms, and becoming naturally decol-
lated.

Both varieties rare in the impure lower limestone of Lowick,
Northumberland; the var. /S rare in the similar limestone of
Kendal.

Pleurotomaria erosa (M'Coy).

Desc. Orbicular, depressed, very obtusely conical ; apical angle
105°; spire of 4^ rapidly enlarging whorls ; flattened or very
slightly convex ; sutures fine, simple impressed lines ; body-
whorl flattened or shghtly convex in the upper two-thirds, the
periphery very obtusely rounded, close to the broad flattened
gently convex base ; umbilicus entirely closed, with a large,
very thick, semicircular shelly pad ; broad, narrow, obscure,
bounded by two fine impressed lines ; surface glossy, eroded
with deep, obtuse, excavated markings without regularity in
size, shape or direction ; lines of growth arching backwards to
the band, scarcely visible. Diameter 5 lines, proportional
height j-^Q, height of mouth y^^^, space between last and pe-
nultimate sutures -f^-^, width of umbilical pad yYu-

The band of this species is often almost invisible on the peri-
phery of the body-whorl, and the lines of growth can only be
traced here and there with a lens. The substance of the shell
is very thick, and with the glossy surface, general form, and
large umbilical pad recalls Rotella [Pithonellus) very strongly.

Limestone Fossils. 193

The peculiar "worm-eaten " appearance of the irregular pitting
of the surface is equally marked in the two specimens before me.

Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick.

[Col. University of Cambridge.)

Macrochilus linnmformis (M'Coy).

Desc. Elongate fusiform, very acutely rhomboidal, greatest
width at about the middle of the total length, from whence
the anterior or basal part is conoidally attenuated or rapidly
sloped to the greatly narrowed front of columella, and very
rapidly sloped to the suture, which is simple and slightly im-
bricating ; spire very abruptly attenuated, long, very slender ;
sides very concave in the profile of about six or seven whorls
(usually five preserved) ; apical angle 54°; surface polished
very smooth, with occasionally fine traces of obsolete direct
lines of growth ; mouth narrow, elongate, contracted before
and behind ; anterior part of columella very slightly thickened.
Length about 1 inch 7 lines, proportional length of mouth of
body-whorl y^L, width of body-whorl ^%^^, width of penul-
timate whorl /_o_^ space between last and penultimate sutures
rwu> width of mouth /^°^.

This beautiful species is so totally distinct in form from any of
those described that it is unnecessaiy to compare them. The
very abrupt attenuation of the elongate spire gives so much the
outline commonly seen in Linncea as to suggest the specific
name : in addition to this remarkable peculiarity, the species
differs from its congeners in the conoidal attenuation of the pro-
duced front, from the line of greatest width of body-whorl, which
is at about one-third its length below the suture.

Not very uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick,
Northumberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Macrochilus brevispiratus (M'Coy).

Desc. Elliptical, moderately gibbous, most so about the middle of
the length; spire about one-fourth of the total length, pointed;
of four whorls gently convex in the middle; sutures slightly
imbricating; apical angle varying from 82° to 100°; anterior
portion or base produced, moderately convex ; surface smooth,
with very faint fine striae of growth visible near the mouth,
being scarcely sinuous and very slightly obhque ; mouth elon-
gate ovate, indented by the posterior part of the body-whorl ;
anterior half of columella thickened, arched. Length of rather
small specimen 9 lines, proportional length of mouth or last

194 Prof. F. M'Coy on some new Carboniferous

whorl y^^%, width of body-whorl y%^Q, width of mouth ^Yu*
space between last and penultimate sutures ^^^q.

The extreme shortness of the spire separates this form from
all of the genus at once, except the M. Mickotiantis (D'Kon.) ;
from that globose species, it is distinguished by its much more
elongate slender form (indicated by the much less proportional
width of the body-whorl when compared with the total length),
fewer spiral whorls, less convexity, and the whorls sloping gra-
dually to the sutures.

Rare both in the lower carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire,
and in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick, Northumberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Straparollus costellatus (M'Coy).

Desc. Discoidal, depressed, very obtusely conic ; spire of rather
more than six very gradually increasing whorls, each slightly
convex above, strongly indenting the suture, which is an im-
pressed sharp line ; apical angle 110° (from the obtuseness of
the apex its angles would be larger in very young specimens) ;
umbilicus very \\-ide, roimded, half exposing all the whorls ;
base of body-whorl very convex, rounded, with a vei-y obscure
angulation "at the edge of the umbilicus ; peripheiy narrowed,
obtusely rounded ; upper sm-face of the whorls marked with
sharp, slightly sigmoid, rather unequal ridges, arched ob-
Hquely backwards, becoming abruptly very much finer and
more numerous on passing the circumference to the base (ten
of the upper ridges in two hues on the body-whorl), each
separated by a sulcus about its own width from the next.
Diameter 10 lines, proportional height of spire -5-^0' height of
last whorl ^^q, distance between last and penultimate suture
_.i_5_^ ^\ddth of umbilicus y%'^, width of mouth y%%.

This species is distinguished fi-om its congeners by the beau-
tifully shai-p costellation, or transverse sculptm-ing of the whorls
of the spire, which abruptly cease on the base of the body-whorl,
or become there confounded with the lines of growth. The
inner hp is complete, but thin, as in other species of Straparollus,
distinguishing them from Platyschisma.

Rare in the lower carboniferous limestone of Lowick, North-
umberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Nautilus ? costato-coronatus (M'Coy).

I give this provisional name to a fragment too imperfect to
allow of full description, but so strongly marked, anc( unlike all

Limestone Fossils. 195

described types, that I wish to call attention to it. The fragment
is 7 inches long, and is divided into seven equal chambers, with
simple edges; the surface exposed is the periphery, which is
broadly rounded, moderately and evenly convex, the sides divided
into large conoidal tubercles, each tubercle on one side coincide
with one chamber, and there are two chambers between each
pair of tubercles, the width of the periphery in our specimen is
6 lines, and it is marked with ten narrow equal card-like, closely
tuberculated ridges separated by slightly wider flat spaces.

It strongly resembles the N. tuberculatus, Sow., but is distin-
guished by the costellation of the surface.

Very rare in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Nautilus tuberosum (M'Coy).

Desc. Discoid, greatest width of the whorls at the angle bound-
ing the periphery, which latter is very wide, moderately con-
cave in the middle, and having the angle on each side undu-
lated into large obtuse tubercles (about 1^ inch from tip to
tip on last whorl) ; sides sloping rapidly with slight convexity
to the umbilicus ; mouth subquadrate, angles rounded, inner
side smaller than the other three. Diameter 7 inches 9 lines,
width of last whorl 2 inches 2 lines, width of periphery 2 inches
10 Iraes, at inner edge 1 inch 10 lines, diameter of umbihcus
about 3i inches.

. I have not distinctly seen the surface of this very large spe-
cies, but it seems to be smooth. The comparative flatness and
width of the sides, more quadrate mouth, and deeply concave
periphery, easily distinguish it from the N. tuberculatus (Sow.),
which is the only allied form. In the figure in the ' Mineral
Conchology ' of N. tuberculatus (t. 249) there is an apparent con-
cavity of the section of the periphery, but as this did not agree
with the inner outline I doubted its correctness, and on writing
to Mr. Sowerby he very kindly furnished me with the exact form
of the section of the original specimen, proving that the peri-
phery is strongly and regularly round, contrasting in the strongest
manner with the present species, which also wants the medial
line of the N. tuberculatus. I have only indistinctly seen the
septa, which seem to be regular, moderately arched, and rather
close. The position of the siphon unknown.

Very rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

196 On some new Carboniferous Limestone Fossils.

Orthoceras {Cyaloceras) Flemingi (M'Coy).

Desc, Very gradually tapering ; section (? broad oval), siphon
subcentral large, slightly excentric ; septa numerous, mode-
rately convex, one coinciding with each of the external rings.
Surface girt with close, obtuse, prominent, transverse rings,
little more than their own diameter apart, undulated by about
fourteen or fifteen strong longitudinal costse, slightly further
apart than the transverse rings, so that the oblong intervening
spaces are wider than long, and nearly equalling them in
thickness, both transverse rings and intervening spaces marked
by strong transverse imbricating striae, six or seven between
the centre of one transverse ring and the next. A specimen
5 lines long and 2 lines in diameter at the smaller end has
twelve rings.

This species can only be confounded with the 0. (C.) rugosum
of Flem., from which it is distinguished by its much more nu-
merous and closer rings, fewer and larger longitudinal costae,
stronger transverse striae, and large siphon far removed from the
margin.

Very rare in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick, North-
umberland.

{Col. University of Cambridge.)

Orthoceras {? Poterioceras) comu-vaccinum (M'Coy).

Desc. Conical, rapidly tapering to an obtusely rounded point,
very slightly arched ; section perfectly circidar throughout ;
septa very oblique, flattened, slightly convex, moderately ap-
proximate, extending much further forward on the inner side
of the general curve than on the outer or convex aspect, the
lateral edges being very slightly sigmoidal, on account of their
obhquity ; the septa are broad oval in form, the longest dia-
meter being in the antero-posterior direction-, siphon large,
about its own diameter within the outer edge (corresponding
with the convexity of the general cune of the shell). Surface
horny in appearance, marked with ii-regular scratch-like lon-
gitudinal markings, and fine, nearly regular transverse im-
pressed lines, separated by rather wider flattened spaces;
thii-teen transverse striae in 2 lines at an inch and a quarter
in diameter, about twenty in the same space at 9 lines in dia-
meter. Length of average specimen-S inches 9 lines, 2 inches
3 lines in diameter at the anterior end, and regularly tapering
to the obtusely pointed apex in the above length; average
distance of the last few septa 2 lines.

The above measurements are of average-sized specimens.

Bibliographical Notices. 197

although examples occasionally occur a couple of inches long.
The general, slightly curved, obtusely pointed, rapidly tapering
form, and peculiar horny looking texture have suggested the
specific name. The only described fossil it has any resemblance
to is the Cyrtoceras Verneuilanum of De Koninck (A. F. B. t. 48.
f. 6), but it is easily distinguished by that species having a broad
oval transverse section, while the section of the present fossil is
perfectly circular ; and the septa which from their obliquity ap-
pear oval, have their long axis directed in the opposite direction ;
the curvature is also less in our fossil. Some of the specimens
show a very slight contraction at the mouth, which renders it
probable that the species belongs to the subgenus Poterioceras,
with which all the other characters agree exactly and better than
with any other section of Orthoceras.

Not very uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Lowick,
Northumberland.

[Col. University of Cambridge.)

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

A Naturalisfs Mumbles on the Devonshire Coast. By P. H. GosSE,
A.L.S. &c. London: John Van Voorst, 1853.

We shall do our readers a service at this season of the year, when so
many are seeking health and relaxation by the sea-shore, by directing
their attention to this very pleasing and useful work. Armed with
this and Dr. Harvey's excellent 'Sea-side Book*,' every pool will be
found to offer ample sources of amusement and instruction, and they
may bid defiance to that dire ennui which would appear to be the
source of the ordinary melancholy amusements of a ' watering place.'
We do not mean to say that people who go for relaxation to the sea-
side should bore themselves by taking microscopes and scalpels and
making scientific observations ; but without going at all deeply into the
subject, the search for zoophytes and moUusks will give their walks
something of the excitement of a hunt, and bringing them home —
watching their odd ways, and finding out all about them in the books
— will originate a vast deal of interest, and a great deal of fun and
humour into the bargain. At least so we have found it, and we dare
not venture to imagine that the ' gentle reader ' is a more dry and
adust personage than ourself.

Most persons have a gustatory interest in Prawns, and indeed one
considers it to be part of one's mission at the sea-side to devour them
at breakfast and tea ; but how few of us there are who are aware that

* Published by Van Voorst, — a book popular enough to cause a ' Reli-
gious ' Society to put forth a work with a title so similar, that those who
look no further might be readily deceived. We trust our readers will take
care to discourage this pious aberration.

198 Bibliographical Notices.

the thing we pluck off with our fingers, not without inward murmur-
ings at the absurd complexity of Palsemonic structure, has such a
dignified name as ' Cephalo-thorax.' Still less that the well-flavoured
red thing when alive can deserve so much eloquence as Mr. Gosse has
expended upon him in the following passage : —

" Large Prawns swim at freedom through this large pool ; and a
very pleasing sight it is to watch them as they glide gracefully and
equally along ; the tail-fans are widely dilated, rendering conspicuous
the contrasted colours with which they are painted ; the jaws are
expanded, the feet hanging loosely beneath. Now one rises to the
surface almost perpendicularly ; then glides down towards the bot-
tom, sweeping up again in a graceful curve. Now he examines the
weeds, then shoots under the dark angles of the rock. As he comes
up towards me I stretch out my hand over the water ; in an instant
he shoots backwards a foot or so ; then catching hold of a weed with
his feet and sti-addling its vertical edge, he remains motionless, gating
up at me with his large prominent eyes as if in the utmost astonish-
ment.

" This Prawn, that comes to our tables decked out and penetrated,
as it were, with a delicate pellucid rose colour, beautiful as he is then,
is far more beautiful when just netted from the bottom, or from the
overhanging weed-grown side of some dark pool. If you happen
never to have seen him in this state let me introduce him to you ;
form and dimensions of course you are acquainted with ; these do not
change, but I will just observe that it is a ' sizeable ' fellow that is
now before me, whose portrait I am going to take. Stand still, you
beauty ! and don't shoot round and round the jar in that retrograde
fashion, when I want to jot down your elegant lineaments ! there
now he is quiet ! quiet but watchful ! maintaining a sort of armed
neutrahty, with extended eyes, antennae stretching perpendicularly
upwards, claws held out divergently with open pincers ready to seize,
as if these slender things could do me any harm, and feet and ex-
panded tad prepared in a twinkling to dart backward on the least
alarm."

The book is full of such genial and graphic descriptions of marine
animals, interspersed with an abundance of carefuUymade and detailed
scientific obsei-vations ; particxdarly as regards the Polypes and Me-
dusae. Mr. Gosse gives some of the best descriptions of the peculiar
' thread-cells ' of these animals we have met with, and his observa-
tions respecting the effect of hght on the colour of Fuci and of Crus-
tacea, upon the development of Lepralia, and on the mode in which
the Pecten performs its leaps, are well worthy of attention. With
respect to the latter point we may remark, that whatever may be the
case with Pecten, we have unquestionably seen the allied genus Lima
flapping with its valves like a butterfly through the water.

The only faults we have to notice in Mr. Gosse's book arise from
that want of acquaintance with foreign literature which is unhappily
the rule in English works. Thus he does uot seem to know that the
structure of the eyes of the Lamellibranchiata has been elaborately
described by Krohu and Will, and that a memoir has been devoted

Zoological Society. 199

to PedicelUna by Van Beneden. Again, much as we regret to deprive
a lady of her well-earned honours, we are necessitated to point out that
the animal of which he gives an excellent figure and description, and
on which, supposing it to be new, he confers the name of Johnstonella
Catharina, was first described by Eschscholtz in 1825, uqder the
name of Tomopteris, afterwards by Quoy and Gaimard as Briarea ;
then by Busch in 1847 and by Grube iir 1848, as Tomopteris. It is
in fact the Tomopteris onisciformis, and has a very extensive distri-
bution, having been taken by the present writer in the tropical regions
of the South Pacific. It is assuredly an Annelid, but a most remark-
able form ; and a very excellent description of its structure, by Grube ,
will be found in Miiller's ' Archiv' for 1848.

Lapses of this kind will doubtless be corrected by our author in
his second edition, and we take leave of him with our best wishes
that he may soon have the opportunity of so doing.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

May 27, 1851.— W. Yarrell, Esq., V.P.L.S., in the Chair.

Descriptions of new Species of Trochid^ {continued from
p. 148). By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

Genus 9. Ziziphinus, Leach.
Calliostoma, Swains. — Labia, sp. Oken. — Trochilua, sp. Humph.

1. Ziziphinus zonamestus, A. Adams. Z. testd oblique pyra-
midali, umbilicatd, earned, cingulis transversis granosis permultis
ornatd; inter stitiis purpurascentibus, striis obliquis longitudinali-
bus ; anfractibus plants, supra suturas angulatis, ultimo acute
angulato, basi plano-concavd, cingulis granulatis insculptd umbi-
lico magno, infundibuliformi, intus albo ; aperturd rhomboided,
intus albd ; columelld rectd, basi truncatd.

Hab. Honduras {Dyson).

2. Ziziphinus ticaonicus, A. Adams. Z. testd elevato-conicd,
perforata, luted vel earned, liris transversis rufo articulatis prope
suturas ornatd; anfractibus paulum rotundatis, longitudinaliter
striatis, apice atro-purpureo ; anfractu ultimo subangulato, basi
convexiusculd, cingulis rufo- articulatis insculptd; aperturd sub-
quadratd ; columelld rectd, antice subtruncatd ; aperturd intus
albd.

Hab. Island of Ticao, sandy mud, 6 fathoms {H. C).

3. Ziziphinus japonicus, A. Adams. Z. testd turrito-conicd,
lavi, nitidd, imperforatd ; anfractibus planis, basi lineis duabus
impressis, ultimo angulato, rubra flammulis fuscis et albidis ornatd,
basi convexd, cingulis articulatis insculptd ; aperturd subquadratd,
intus viride iridescenti.

. Sab. Japai^.

200 Zoological Society.

4. ZiziPHiNUS ELEGANTULXJS, A. Adams. Z. testa conicd, ini'
perforata, lutescenti ; anfractibus plants, lineis elevatis distantibus
granulatis monUiformibus violaceis alternis minoribus cinctd ;
interstitiis longitud'maliter striatis ; basi planiusculd, cinguUs
quatuor violaceis ornatd ; aperturd subquadratd, iiitus alba ;
columella basi subtruncatd.

Hah. Malacca, coral sand, 10 fathoms {B.. C).

5. ZiziPHiNUS DECUSSATUS, A. Adams. Z. testa elevato-conicd,
subperforatd, albidd, maculis viridibus longitudinalibus ornatd;
anfractibus planis, basi marginatis, prominuUs ; cinguUs trans-
versis granulatis lineisque elevatis longitudinalibus decussate in-
sculptd ; anfractu ultimo angulato, basi convexiusculd, cinguUs
granulatis ornatd ; aperturd subquadratd ; columelld rectd, basi
truncatd.

Hah. Calipan, Mindoro, coarse gravel, 12 fathoms {H. C).

6. ZiziPHiNUS RUBROPUNCTATUS, A. Adams. Z. testa parvd,
orbiculato-conicd, lutescenti; cinguUs transversis spinulosis or-
natd (in anfractu ultimo quatuor), interstitiis clathratis pulcher-
rime rubra -punctulatis .

Hah. ?

7. ZiziPHiNUS UNiciNCTUS, A. Adams. Z. testd turrito-conicd,
imperforatd, luteold ; anfractibus planis, subimbricatis, basi cin-
guUs prominuUs rubro-articulatis lineisque transversis confertis
ornatis ; anfractu ultimo angulato, basi productd, lineis concen-
ti'icis et cinguld elevatd articulatd sculptd ; aperturd subtrigond ;
columelld rectd, basi subcanaliculatd.

Hah. Lord Hood's Island, on pearl oysters, 8 to 10 fathoms
{H. C).

8. ZiziPHiNUS NEBULOSUS, A. Adams. Z. testd conoided, im-
perforatd, rufo-fuscd albo variegatd ; anfractibus planiusculis,
cinguUs inaqualibus grarwrum ornatd, ultimo subangulato, basi
convexiusculd, ci?igulis subgranulosis rufo alboque articulatis or-
natd ; aperturd subtetragond ; columelld albd, incurvatd, basi sub-
truncatd ; labro intus lirato.

Hah. Rams Island (Ince).

9. ZiziPHiNUS PiCTURATUs, A. Adams. Z. testd turrito-conicd,
imperforatd, viridi aut violaced, fasciis undulatis lineisque ziczaci-

formibus ornatd ; anfractibus planis, basi marginatis crenulatis,
lineis impressis transversis sculptd; anfractu ultimo angulato,
basi convexiusculd ; aperturd subquadratd, intus albd ; columelld
incurvd, basi truncatd.
Hah. Delaguete, island of Negros, sandy mud, 7 fathoms
{H. C).

10. ZiziPHiNUS ASPERULATUS, A. Adams. Z. testd conicd, im-
perforatd, albidd, maculis purpureis radiatim ornatd; anfracti-
bus planiusculis, in medio carinatis, cinguUs incequalibus ornatd,
superioribus granulatis, inferioribus subplanis ; anfractu ultimo

Zoological Society. 201

subangulato, basi pland, cingulis planis insculptd ; regione umbili-
cali depressd, callo obtectd ; aperturd subrotundd ; columelld recta,
basi truncatd ; labro intus lirato .
Hab. ?

11. ZiziPHiNTJS POLYCHROMA, A. Adams. Z. testa turrito-
conicd, perforata, viridi, fasciis albidis undulatis, lineis luteis
angulatis varie pictd; anfractibus plants, subimbricatis ; basi
marginatis articulatis prominulis, lineis transversis subdistanti-
bus hnpressis ornatd, longitudinaliter substriatd ; anfractu ultimo
angulato, basi convexiusculd, cingulis luteo articulatis insculptd ;
aperturd subquadratd, intus viridi; columelld recta, basi sub-
truncatd.

Hab. Island of Masbate, sandy mud, 7 fathoms {H. C).

12. ZiztPHiNus DUPLiCATUs, A. Adams. Z. testd turrito-conicd,
imperforatd ; anfractibus convexis cingulis granorum ornatd ;
basi cingulis duabus majoribus prominentibus instructis ; inter-
stitiis longitudinaliter striatis ; anfractu ultimo subrotundato,
basi convexiusculd, cingulis granorum insculptd ; aperturd sub-
rotundatd ; labro intus lirato ; columelld basi tuberculo termi-
natd.

Hab. ?

13. ZiziPHiNUS CALiFORNicus, A. Adams. Z. testd elevato-
conicd, imperforatd, rufescenti ; anfractibus subrotundatis, supra
excavatis, liris transversis granulosis, duabus, supra suturam,
majoribus ; anfractu ultimo subrotundato, basi convexiusculd ;
aperturd subquadratd ; columelld recta, antice subiuberculatd.

Hab. California. (Mvis. Cuming.)

Genus 10. Canthiridus, Montfort.

Eleuchus, sp. Humph. ; Swains. — Phasianella, c, Menke. — Trochus,
sp. Philippi.

1. Canthiridus cinguliger, A. Adams. C. testd elevato-
conicd, cinered, punctis fuscis in lineis flammulatis dispositis,
transversim sulcatd ; anfractibus planis, cinguld prominenti
supra suturam, anfractu ultimo angulato, cingulo piano cincto ;
umbilico subobtecto ; columelld recta ; labro intus albo, Icevi.

Hab. ?

2. Canthiridus punctulosus, A. Adams. C. testd elevato-
conicd, imperforatd, Icevi, nitidd, cinered, transversim sulcatd ;
cingulis transversis, luteo alboque punctatis nigro-maculatis
ornatd; anfractibus planis, ultimo acute angulato; regione
umbilicali rosed ; aperturd subquadratd ; columelld alba, recta,
antice subtruncatd ; labro intus Icevi, limbo punctulato.

Hab, Swan River, 4 fathoms {Jukes).

3. Canthiridus zealandicus, A. Adams. C. testd oblique
conicd, subturritd, imperforatd, Icevi, nitidd; atro-purpured,

Ann. &; Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 14

20^ Zoological Society.

lineis pallidis transversis, nbique cinctd; anfractibus paulum
convexis ; aperturd obliqud, subrotundatd ; labia albo, simplici,
arcuate ; labro intus sulcata, margaritacea, vividh iridescenti.
Hah. New Zealand.

4. Canthiridus moniliger, a. Adams. C. testa elevato-
conicd, imperforatd, cinered, cinguUs inoniliformibus transversis
ornatd ; interstitiis longitudinaliter elevatb striatis ; anfracti-
bus pi anis, apiee purpurea, suturd canaliculatd ; anfractu ulti-
mo angulato ; aperturd subquadratd ; cohimelld antici subtrun-
catd ; labro intus sulcata.

Hab. Swan River, 8 fathoms (Jukes).

5. Canthiridus articularis, A. Adams. C. testd elevata-
canicd, Icevi, nitidd, cinered ; cingulis confertis, nigra albaque
articulatis arnatd; interstitiis longitudinaliter striatis ; anfrac-
tibus planis, idtimo angidata, basi planiusculd, cingulis articu-
latis scidptd ; aperturd subquadratd ; columelld anticb sub-
truncatd ; labro intus Icevi, limbo articulato.

Hab. ?

6. Canthiridus artizona, A. Adams. C. testd elevate conai-
ded, pallidd ; cingulis carneolis angustis elevatis transversis
ornatd; interstitiis transversim striatis ; anfractu ultitno an-
gidata ; aperturd intus viridescenti ; labro intus lirato, limbo
rufa articulato.

Hab. ?

7. Canthiridus rufozona, A. Adams. C. testd conoided,
pallidd, cingidis rubris transversis interstitiis planis ornatd;
anfractu ultimo rotundata ; labro intus albo, Icevi, limbo rufo-
articulata ; columelld albd.

Hab. ?

8. Canthiridus tenebrosus, A. Adams. C. testd parvd,
elevata-conicd, imperforatd, subnigrd, transversim sulcata, sul-
cis albicantibus idanis ; anfractibus paulum convexis, idtimo
subangulato, basi convexd ; aperturd subrotundatd, intus albd,
margaritaced ; labro intus sulcata.

Hab. ?

9. Canthiridus nigricans, A. Adams. C, testd depresso-
conicd, atro-purpured, cingulis elevatis transversis ornatd ; in-
terstitiis longitudinaliter obliqud striatis; anfractu ultimo sub-
angulato ; labro intus albo, subleevi, limbo nigra.

Hab. ?

10. Canthiridus pallidulus, A. Adams. C. testd elevata-
conicd, imperforatd, pallidd ; cingulis transversis elevatis lutea-
ar tictd at is arnatd ; interstitiis cancinni longitudinaliter stria-
tis ; columelld subrectd, in medio tumidd; labro intus lirato.

Hab. Australia.

Zoological Society. 203

Genus 11. Eleuchus, Swains.
Phasianella, d., 'Mierike.—Canthiridus, sp. Gray.

1. Eleuchus vulgaris, A. Adams. E. testd ovato-conoided,
subturritd, imperforatd, Icemgatd, virenti, transversim tenuis-
sime striaid; lineis undulatis viridis pictd, basiconvexd; aper-
turd ovatd ; columella hasi dente acuta terminatd; labropostic^
subangidato.

Hab. Swan River.

2. Eleuchus rutilus, A. Adams. E. testd turrito-conicd,
hnperforatd ; spird acutninatd, virido-fuscd, lineis longitudina-
libus rufescentibus ornatd, transversim striatd; anfractu ul-
timo vix angulato ; aperturd intus vivide iridescente ; labro
viridi marginato.

Hab. Australia.

Genus 12. Bankivia, Deshayes.

1 . Bankivia major, A. Adams. B. testd ovato-turritd, nigro-
fuscd albo variegatd, IcBvigatd, longitudinaliter obliquh striatd ;

anfractu ultimo ventricoso, transversim sulcato ; columella albd,
tortuosd.
Hab, Australia. Mus. Cuming.

2. Bankivia nitida, A. Adams. B. testd turritd, acuminatd,
carneold, suturis nigricantibus, Icevi, nitidd, transversim tenu-
issime striatd; columelld antice tortuosd; labro ad marginem
nigricante.

Hab. Australia. Mus. Cuming.

Genus 13. Thalotia, Gray.
Elenchus, sp. Humph. — Helenchus, Herman.

1. Thalotia zebuensis, A. Adams. Th. testd elevato-conoided,
perforatd, atro-fuscd, fasciis longitudinalibus ornatd, transver-
siin sulcatd ; anfractibus planulatis, ultimo rotundato, basi
convexd; labio swbrecto, antice reflexo, dilatato ; aperturd sub-
circulari, intus albd; labro intus leevi, atro-marginato.

Hab. San Nicholas, island of Zebu, sandy mud, 6 fathoms (H.C.).

2. Thalotia STRiGATA, A. Adams. Th. testd turrito-conicd, per-
foratd, albidd, fasciis latis rufo-fuscis radiatd; anfractibus in
medio angulatis porcis transversis subgranulosis, interstitiis lon-
gitudinaliter striatis ornatd, basi convexd, cone entr ice pore at d ;
umbilico aperto ; aperturd subrotundatd ; columelld subfiexuosd,
basi truncatd; labro intus lirato, margine crenulato.

Hab. Swan Point, N. Austraha {Bring).

3. Thalotia zebrides, A. Adams. Th. testd tiirrito-conicd,
subperforatd, virescenti, lineis atro-purpureis longitudinalibus
ornatd, porcis transversis confertis sculptd, longitudinaliter
striatd, basi convexd; umbilico subobtecto ; columelld sinuatd,
callo terminatd ; labro intus lirato, margine atro-purpureo
articulato.

Hab. ?

14*

204' Zoological Society.

4. Thalotia suTURALis, A. Adams. Th. testa conicd, subper-
foratd, virescenti, lineis purpureis longitudinalibus imdulatis
ornatil, transversitn liratd, longitudinaliter striatd; anfractibus
plants, supra suturam elevatis ; suturd canaliculatd, basi plani-
usculd ; columella brevi, basi tuberculo terminatd ; labro intus
Icevi, viridi.

Hab. Cape Upstart, Torres Straits, Australia, under stoues, low
water (Drinff).

5. Thalotia tricingulata, A. Adams. Th. testd conicd, ini-
perforatd, nigrd, lineis albis longitudinalibus ornatd ; anfrac-
tibus angulatis, ultimo cingulis tribus transversis prominentibus
instructo, basi convexd, cingulis concentricis nigro alboque «?'-
ticulatis ornatd ; labio ad basin tuberculato ; apertiird subro-
tundatd, intus albd ; labro intus liris elevatis, atro-marginato.

Hab. 1

6. Thalotia crenellifera, A. Adams. Th. testd elevate-
conicd, imperforatd, rufescente, rubro maculosd ; spird acumi-
natd, apicejnibro ; anfractibus planulatis, liris confertis, cre-
nellatis, transversis, interstitiis oblique longitudinaliter striatis ;
anfractu ultimo subangulato, basi convexiusculd ; aperturd sub-
quadratd, intus albd ; columelld albd, incurvatd, antich truncatd.

Hab. Australia. Mas. Cuming.

Genus 14. Monodonta, Lamarck.

Monodon, Schweiger. — Monodontes, Montfort. — Odontis, Sow. —

Trochidon, Swains. — Diloma, Phil. — Trochulus, sp. Humph.

1. Monodonta rugulosa, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-conoi-
ded, depressd, atro-fuscd, fasciis latis luteo-albis irregulariter
pictd, cingulis rotundatis interrtqitis ornatd; columelld basi
bituberculatd, canali parallelo instructd, dente magno acuto ter-
minatd ; labro duplicato, intus lirato.

Hab. ?

2. Monodonta circumcincta, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-
conoided, imperforatd, Itevi, nitidd, crassd, cingulis rubris albo
viridi maculatis alternantibus pictd; anfractibus convexis ;
columelld basi tubercidatd, dente magno acuto terminatd ; labro
duplicato, intus lirato.

Hab. Island of Ticao, on the stones on reefs at low water {H. C).

3. Monodonta tueerculata, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-
conoided, imperforatd, crassd, viridescenti, cingulis tuberculo-
rum oblongorum violaceorum ornatd; anfractibus convexis; colu-
melld basi tritubercxdatd, canali parallelo instructd, dente pro-
minente acuto terminatd ; labro duplicato, intus lirato.

Hab. ?

Subgenus Aradasia, Gray.

Operculum suborbicular, paucispiral.

Aradasia, Gray, in Mrs. Gray's Figures of Molluscous Animals, p. 90.

— ? Otavia, Cantr.

1, Monodonta sulcifera, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-

Zoological Society. 205

conicd, umbilicatd, fused, cinyulis granorum distantium monili-
formibus, interstitiis profiindti sulcatis, sulcis subl(svibus longi-
tudinaliter striatis ornatd; columella ad basin trisulcatd, dente
parvo acuto instruetd ; labro tetiui, intus sidcato.
Hab. Roebuck Bay, North Australia {Bring).

2. MoNODONTA CLATHRATA, A. Adams. M. testa ovato-conoi-
ded, albd, imperforatd, cinguUs subgranosis distantibus ornatd,
in anfractu idtimo septem, interstitiis costidis longitudinalibus
eleganter clathratis; cohmelld tubercido parvo terminatd ; labro

Hab. Guidulman, island of Bohol, rocky ground, GOfathoms {H. C).

3. MoNonoNTA TRiciNGTJLATA, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-
conoided, umbilicatd, rubente, albo et fusco variegatd, cingulis
parvulis granorum ornatd; suturd canalicidatd ; anfractibus
convexis, carinis tribus transversis prominentibus cinctis ; um-
bilico profundo ; cohmelld ad basin tuberculo parvo terminatd;
labro expanso, tenui, intus leevi.

Hab. Malacca; Singapore, fine sand, 6 fathoms {H. C).

4. MoNODONTA PHiLiPPiNA, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-
conicd, perforatd, fused nigro punctatd; cingidis granulatis i7i-
cequalihis ornatd, interstitiis clathratulis ; umbilico parvo;
columelld tubercido parvo terminatd; labro intus sidcato.

Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, in coarse sand, 9 fathoms ;
Bohnao, province of Zambales, island of Luzon, sandy mud, 10 fa-
thoms {H. C).

5. MoNODONTA EDENTULA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-conoi-
ded, umbilicatd, fused, costellis transversis imbricatis, interstitiis
clathratis sculptd ; anfractibus valde rotundatis ; umbilico in-
fundibuliformi ; columelld subrectd, basi tuberculo terminatd;

labro margine crenulato. /tt n\

Hab. Catbalonga, island of Samar, sandy mud, 6 fathoms {H. C).
Mus. Cuming.

6. MoNODONTA FOVEOLATA, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-
conoided, subperforatd, crassd, albd, cingidis transversis nodulo-
sis subdistantibus {in anfractu ultimo septem), interstitiis cos-
tellis longitudinalibus foveolatis ornatd; columelld dente minuto
terminatd; labro intus crasso et lirato.

Hab. Lord Hood's Island, on pearl oysters, 8 to 10 fathoms {H. C).
Mus. Cuming.

7. MoNODONTA EXiGtTA, A. Adams. M. testd parvd, conoided,
' umbilicatd, albidd fusco variegatd, cingulis transversis granulosis

interstitiis longitudinaliter liratis ornatd; anfractibus parum
convexis, idtimo subangulato ; umbilico recto, dente valido acuto
terminatd; labro intus sulcato.
Hab. Japan {Siebold).

8. MoNODONTA RUBRA, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-conoided,
umbilicatd, rubrd, cingulis transversis granorum moniliformibus

206 Zoological Society.

eequantibus interstitiis lineis longitudinalibus impressis ornatd ;
anfractibus rotundatis, suturd canalicidatd, umbilico magno ;
columelld rectd, dente prominente terminatd ; labro intus crasso,
sulcata.
Hab. ?

9. MoNODONTA ALVEOLATA, A. Adams. M. testd ffloboso-
conoided, umbilicatd, albidd, fasciis fuscis longitudinalibus
undulatis pictd, cingulis tratisversis granorum acutorum inter-
stitiis costis longitudinalibus alveolatis ornatd; suturd canali-
culatd ; umbilico angusto ; columelld rectd, dente valido termi-
natd; labro intus valde lirato.

Hab. Guidulman, island of Bohol, rocky ground, 60 fathoms ;
Baclayon, island of Bohol, under stones, low water; island ofCapul,
on the reefs at low water {H. C). Mus. Cuming.

10. MoNODONTA ANGULiFERA, A. Adams. M. testd elevato-
cotioided, imperforatd ; anfractibus planiusculis, imbricatis, in-
ferne angulatis, longitudinaliter nodoso-costatis, cingulis trans-

versis tuberculormn subdistantium interstitiis alveolatis ornatd;
anfractu ultimo subangulato ; columelld rectd, brevi, dente parvo
terminatd ; labro subduplicato, intus sulcato.
Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, sandy mud, 6 fathoms
{H. C). Mus. Cuming.

11. MoNODONTA sTRANGEi, A. Adams. M. testd conoided,
perforatd, fused, cingidis granorum cequalibus confertis ornatd;
anfractibus parum convexis, idtimo subangulato ; columelld cur-
vatd, dente obtuso terminatd ; labro intus sulcato, tuberculo
prope basin columellce.

Hab. Sydney, under stones (Strange).

12. MoNODONTA PUNCTIGERA, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-
conoided, umbilicatd, albd fusco punctatd, cingulis granulosis
incequalibus rufo-punctatis ornatd; suturd canaliculatd ; an-
fractibus rotundatis ; umbilico aperto, infundibuliformi ; colu-
melld rectd, brevi, basi bituberculatd, dente parvo acuto termi-
natd ; labro expanso, intus sulcato.

Hab. Singapore, fine sand, 6 fathoms (H. C). Mus. Cuming.

13. MoNODONTA EXASPERATA, A. Adams. M. testd globoso-
conoided, umbilicatd, subdepressd, albidd nigro-variegatd, cin-
gulis spino-granulatis exasperatd ; columelld sinuatd, dente
proniinenti terminatd ; labro incrassato, duplicate, intus valde
lirato.

Hab. Sibonga, island of Zebu, at low water {H. C.) ; island of
Siquijor, under stones. Mus. Cuming.

14. MoNODONTA SPILOTA, A. Adams. M. testd parvd, ovato-
depressd, conoided, imperforatd, leevi, nitidd, viridi, maculis pal-
lidis triangularibxis ; columelld pland, albd, canali parcdlelo
instructd, dente obtuso terminatd ; labro duplicato, intus lirato.

Hab. ?

Zoological Society. 207

15. MoNODONTA LiROSTOMA, A. Adams. M. testa elevato-
conicd, imperforatd, alhidu ; anfractibus planis, cingulis trihus
granulatis, interstitiis valde clathratis ; suturd canaliculatd ;
anfractu ultimo angnlato ; columella tuberculatd ; labro intus
valde lirato.
Hob. Lord Hood's Island, on pearl oysters, 8 to 10 fathoms {H.C.).
Mus. Cuming.

Genus 15. Labio, Oken.

Osilinus, Philippi. — Trochius, Leach. — Gihbium, Gray. — Monodonta,
sp. Lamck. — Melagraphia, Steutz.

1. Labio porcata, A. Adams. L. testa ovato-conoided, itnper-
foratd, fused alba reticulatd ; anfractibus convexis, transversim
caritiatis, carinis numerosis, elevatis, distantibus ; labio alba,
in/erne subcalloso ; labro intus sulcato.

Hob. Australia.

2. Labio porcifera, A. Adams. L. testd orbiculato-conicd,
imperforatd, fulvescente, liris transversis cequidistantibus nigro-
articulatis ornatd ; longitudinaliter oblique striatd ; labio piano,
regione umbilicali impresso ; columella tuberculis duobus, infe-
riore majore ; labro intus duplicato, margine luteo nigro^articu-
lato.

Bab. ?

3. Labio rudis, A. Adams, i. testd orbiculato-conicd, imper-
foratd ; spird obtusd, lutescente, lineis transversis nigris ornatd,

longitudinaliter obliqu^ striatd, transversim subexaratd ; labio
complanato ; columelld antice subtuberculatd ; labro nigro luteo-
que intus marginato.
Hab. Australia.

4. Labio fxjliginea, A. Adams. L. testd orbiculato-conicd,
imperforatd, nigrd, liris transversis cequidistantibus luteo-ar-
ticulatis ornatd; I'egione umbilicali impressd ; columelld tu-
berculis duobus, antico majore; labro duplicato, nigro-margi-
nato.

Hab. ?

5. Labio corrosa, A. Adams. L. testd turbinatd, imperforatd,
spird elevatiuscidd, anfractibus rotundatis, rugosd, cinereo-
lutescente ; anfractu idtimo subangulato ; labio complanato;
columelld simplici ; labro luteo marginato.

Hab. New Zealand (Ha?-t).

6. Labio concolor, A. Adams. L. testd turbinato-conicd, im-
perforatd ; spird acutd, brunned, longitudinaliter oblique stri-
atd, transversim subliratd ; labio complanato, regione umbili-
cali impresso; columelld arcuatd, antich tuberculo tertninatd ;
labro nigro-fusco marginato.

Hab. New Zealand (Hart).

208 Zoological Society.

Genus 16. Chlorostoma, Swainson. — Oxystele, Philippi.

1. Chlorostoma castaneum, A. Adams. C testa oblique
conicd, umbilicatd, castaneu ; anfractibxis planis, longitudinali-
ter obsolete nodoso-plicatis et oblique striatis, penultimo infra
marginato, ultimo acutangulo, basi concavo pallide fused, lineis
viridi-fuscis radiatim pictd ; umbilico infiindibuliformi, per-
spectivo, intiis albo, peromphalo albo lined elevatd cincto ; aper-
turd subrhomboided ; eolumelld supra sinuatd, basi dente ter-
minatd.

Hub. ?

2. Chlorostoma undulosum, A. Adams. C. testd globoso-
conied, imperforatd ; spird depressd, virescenti lineis undulatis
atro-purpureis longitiidinalibus ornatd, longitudinaliter sub-
striatd ; labio complanato, margine columellari subtubercidato ;
labro intus sulcata, margine luteo, atro-purpureo articidato.

Hab. New Zealand {Earl).

3. Chlorostoma turbinatum, A. Adams. C. testd turbi-
natd, prof aide umbilicatd, nigrd ; spird obtusd, longitudinaliter
subplicatd, transversim sulcosd; anfracfu nltitno rot undo to, re-
gione umbilicali partim callo lutescente obtectd ; eolumelld
antice bitubercidatd ; latiro nigro marginato.

Hab. ?

4. Chlorostoma rugosum, A. Adams. C. testd turbinato-
conoidali, profunde umbilicatd, luteo-fiscd, nigro variegatd, lon-
gitudinaliter nodoso-plicatd, transversim sidcatd ; anfractti ul-
timo rotundato, infra suturam angustato ; columella incurvatd,
antice bitubercidatd, tuberculo supremo magno, prominente ; la-
bro fitsco marginato.

Hab.'- ?

5. Chlorostoma corrugatum, A. Adams. C. testd orbieu-
lato-conoidali, profundi umbilicatd ; spird subacutd, longitudi-
naliter corrugato-plicatd et oblique striatd ; anfractu ultimo
subrotundato, basi piano convexo, regione umbilicali albido sub-
calloso ; eolumelld tubercxdis duobus, supremo magno.

Hab. ?

6. Chlorostoma tropidophorum, A. Adams. C. testd or-
biculato-depressd, prof aide umbilicatd ; spird brevi, nigrd, trans-
versim sidcatd, cingulis transversis prominentibus ornatd; an-
fractu idtimo carinato, basi concentrice exaraio, regione um-
bilicali albo sidco circulari circumdato ; eolumelld tuberculis
duobus, supremo acuto, prominente.

Hab. Valparaiso.

7. Chlorostoma maculosum, A. Adams. C testd conicd,
profunde umbilicatd, viridi-fuscd, maculis itigro-fiscis ornatd;
anfractibus jilamdatis, longitudinaliter substriatis, transversim
striatis ; anfractu ultimo angidato, basi concavo ; eolumelld
antice tuberculo acuto terminatd.

Hab. ?

Zoological Society. 209

8. Chlorostoma SEMiNODOSUM, A. Adams. C. tesUl de-
presso-conicd,profundeumbilicatd, fused; anfractihus planulatis,
supernh subnodosis, longitudinaliter oblique striatis ; anfractu
ultimo angulato, supra unguium cinguld transversd elevatd or-
nato, basi planiusculd ; columella tuberculis duobus, supremo
acuto, prominente.

Hab. ?

9. Chlorostoma articulatum, A. Adams. C. testa orbicu-
lato-conicd, umbilicatd, nigro-fuscd, cingulis transversis elevatis
albo-ai-ticulatis ornatu ; anfractu ultimo subangulato, basi cin-
gulis albo-articulatis instructo, regione umbilicali viridi; colu-
mella tuberculo parvo terminatd.

Hab. 1

10. Chlorostoma xanthostigma, A. Adams. C. testd conoi-
ded, imperforatd, glabra, nigrd, longitudinaliter oblique sub-
striatd ; anfractibus parum rotimdatis, basi concentrice li-
rato, luteo-carneolo ; regione umbilicali callo luteo obtectd;
columelld arcuatd, basi dente terminatd et infra tuberculo in-
structd.

Hab. 1

11. Chlorostoma turbinatxjm, A. Adams. C. testd ovato-
conoided, imperforatd, castaned, Icevi, longitudinaliter obliquh
striatd, striis transversis indistinctis insculptd ; anfractibus
rotundatis, suturd anguste canaliculatd, regione umbilicali im-
pressd ; labio curvato, basi dente et tuberculo terminatd ; labro
intus sulcato.

Hab. ?

Genus 17. Gibbxjla, Leach.

Trochus, sp. Linn. — Steromphala, Leach. — Monodonta, sp. Lam

1. GiBBULA suLcosA, A. Adams. G. testd conoided, umbili-
catd, maculis roseis fammulis albo-punctatis variegatd, an-
fractibus paulum convexis, longitudinaliter substriatd, trans-
versim sidcatd, sulcis subdistantibus, anfractu ultimo subangu-
lato, basi convexiusculd, lineis impressis concentricis sculptd ;
aperturd suborbiculari ; columelld superne sinuatd, bast sub-
truncatd.

Hab. Sir C. Hardy's Island, North Australia, 8 fathoms, coarse
sand {Mr. Jukes).

2. GiBBULA mindorensis, A. Adams. G. testd elevato-conoi-
ded, perforatd, viridi-fuscd, fasciis pallidis longitudinalibus
ornatd ; anfractibus rotundatis, liris transversis subgranulosis
cinctis, ultimo subangulato, basi convexd ; columelld subrectd,
basi tuberculo terminatd ; labro intus sulcato.

Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, in coarse sand, 9 fathoms
{H. C).

3. GiBBULA XJNDOSA, A. Adams. G. testd orbiculato-conoided,
umbilicatd, virescenti, lineis fusco-viridibus undatis longitudina-

210 Zoological Society,

libus pictd ; anfractibus rotundatis, transversim tenue liratis,
ultimo subangulato, basi convexd; aperturd expansd, intus iri-
descenti ; columelld superne sinuatd, bast rotundatd.
Hab. ?

4. GiBBULA PORCELLANA, A. Adams. G. testd depresso-conicd,
late umbilicatd, glabrd, solidd, nitidd, laded, lineis radiantibus
undulatis pulcherrime pictd ; anfractibus plants cingulis pro-
minentibus, duabtts maculis albis et rufo-fuscia vivide pictis
ornatd ; interstitiis transversim sulcatis, basi convexiuscidd,
cingulis concentricis lineis niaculisque rufo-fuscis ornatd ; um-
bilico perspective, intus concentrice lirato, margine lined elevatd
cincto ; columelld subrectd, basi rotundatd.

Hab. New Holland.

5. GiBBULA PULCHRA, A. Adams. G. testd orbiculato-conicd,
timbilicatd, rosed, ad stituram albo luteo fnscoque radiatim pul-
cherrimi pictd ; anfractibus plants, biangtdatis, transversim
sulcatis, sulcis rubro-articulatis, anfractu ultimo angulato, cin-
guld albo luteo nigro fnscoque eleganter pictd, basi convexd,
concentrice sulcatd ; umbilico intus albo, basi rotundatd.

Hab. Australia.

6. GiBBULA Kalinota, A. Adams. G. testd orbictdato-conoi-
ded, perforatd, virescenti, cameo cinereo variegatd ; anfractibus
rotundatis, lineis elevatis albo-articidatis, superne gibbosis ; su-
turd profundd, anfractu ultimo rotundato, basi convexd, cin-
gulis articulatis concentricis ornatd, margine umbilici angulato,
lined elevatd cincto ; columelld superne sinuatd, basi subtrun-
catd ; labro intus Icevi.

Hab. ?

7. GiBBULA VENUSTA, A. Adams. G. testd orbiculato-conoi-
ded, timbilicatd, viridi-ftiscd, mactdis albis prope suturas, cin-
gulis subdistantibus fusco rubroque artictdatis, interstitiis li-
ratis, longitudinaliter oblique striatd ; anfractibus supern^
gibbosis, rubro pictis ; suturd canaliculatd, anfractu ultimo
rotundato, basi convexiusctdd, cingulis fusco alboque articu-
latis, regione umbilicali roseo pictd ; columelld sinuatd, basi
truncatd.

Hab. Australia.

8. GiBBULA PUNCTO-cosTATA, A. Adaois. G. testd turrito-
conicd, lutesceitti, umbilicatd; anfractibus superne cingulis tri-
bus nodulosis, rubro-articulatis nodulis punctatis, inferne Kris
transversis nodulosis rubro-articidatis, infra, cinguld puncto-
nodosd basi pland, cingidis concentricis subnodosis rubro-arti-
culatis ornatd, margine umbilici lined elevatd cinctd ; columelld
subrectd, basi truncatd ; labro intus lirato.

Hab. Island of Capul, on the reefs at low water {H. C).

9. GiBBULA LEUCOSTICTA, A. Adams. G. testd conoided, per-
foratd, nigrd, punctis lacteis pictd, anfractibus convexiusculis.

Zoological Society. 211

transversim liratd, longitudinaliter striatd, liris suhdistantibus
albo-punctatis, interstitiis lineis elevatis transversis ornatd;
anfractu ultimo angulato, basi convexiusculd, eingulis nigro
alboque articulatd ; aperturd subrotundatd ; columelld supernh
sinuatd, basi rotundatd.
Hab. Gindulman, island of Bohol, rocky ground {H. C).

10. GiBBULA NivosA, A. Adauis. G. testd orbiculato-conoided,
umbilicatd, cinered, maculis nivosis subrotundatia pictd, trans-
versim sulcata, longitudinaliter substriatd ; aperturd subrotun-
datd; columelld Jlexuosd, basi rotundatd.

Hab. ?

Genus 18. Monilea, Swainson. — Talopia, Gray.

1. MoNiLEA LENTiGiNosA, A. Adauis. M. tcstd orbiculato-
conicd, umbilicatd, albidd, luteo fuscoque variegatd ; anfractibus
rotundatis, eingulis subgramdosis confertis ornatis, ultimo rotun-
dato, basi convexiusculd, regione umbilicali excavatd ; columelld
superne callosd, basi dente terminatd ; labro intus lirato.

Hab. Ilo Ilo, island of Panay, 7 fathoms {H. C).

2. MoNiLEA KALisoMA, A. Adams. M. testd orbiculato-conoi-
ded, umbilicatd, lutescenti, eingulis purpureo-articulatis ornatd,
eingulis subdistantibus, supremis gramdatis, infimis planis ; an-
fractibus planiusculis, ultimo subangulato, bast paidum con-
vexd, eingulis purpureo-maculatis insculptd; columelld supernh
sinuatd, basi dente terminatd; labro intus lirato.

Hab. ?

3. MoNiLEA PLUMBEA, A. Adauis. M. testd orbiculato-conoided,
umbilicatd, plumbed ; anfractibus rotundis, eingulis granorum
transversis in paribus dispositis ornatd, basi eonvexd; umbilico
mediocri, intus albo; columelld brevi, superne sinuatd, basi dente
terminatd ; labro intus lirato.

Hab. ?

4. MoNiLEA LiRATA, A. Adams. M. testd orbiculato-conicd,
umbilicatd, pallidd ; anfractibus paulum convexis, liris trans-
versis elevatis distantibus, interstitiis decussath striatis orna-
tis ; anfractu ultimo angulato, basi eonvexd, margine umbilici
sulco cincto.

Hab. ?

5. MoNiLEA pusiLLA, A. Adauis. M. testd orbicidato-conicd,
umbilicatd, rubescenti, fusco variegatd ; anfractibus planiuscu-
lis, eingulis granorum transversum distantibus (circa quatuor)
ornatis, interstitiis transversim striatis; columelld in medio
sinuatd.

Hab. ?

6. MoNiLEA Swainson II, A. Adams. M. testd conoided, mnbi-
licatd, albidd, nigro variegatd ; anfractibus planis, cingidis sub-
granosis, albo nigroque articulatis ornatis, ultimo subangulato.

312 Zoological Society.

basi planiusculd, cingulis rufo-articulatis ornatd; columelld
bast tuberculatd ; labro intus lirato.
Hab. ?

Genus 19. Margarita, Leach. — Trochus, sp. Auct.

1. Margarita carinata, A. Adams. M. testd elevato-conicd,
perforatd, fused, liris transversis ornatd, superioribus duabus
costellis longitudinalibus decussatis, inferioribiis plants, inter-
stitiis longitudinaliter tenuissime striatis ; basi jilo^ninsculd,
cingulis concentricis, interstitiis radiatim striatis insculptd;
margine umbilici crenulato.

Hab. Catbalonga, coarse sand, 8 fathoms {H. C).

2. Margarita angulata, A. Adams. M. testd orbiculato-
conied, late umbilicatd, albidd, fusco variegatd ; anfractibus
supra angulatis, transversim omnino striatis ; basi convexd, con-
centrice striatd ; umbilico magno, perspectivn.

Hab. Sandwich Islands.

3. Margarita calostoma, A. Adams. M. testd conoided,
crassd, perforatd, transversim valdh sulcatd, albidd ; anfracti-
bus subrotundatis, tdtimo subangulato ; aperturd rotundd, intus
vivide violascenti iridescenti ; umbilico callo, columellari sicbob-
tecto ; labri margine argenteo.

Hab. Juan de Fuco, Upper California.

4. Margarita Cumingii, A. Adams. M. testd elevato-conicd,
cinered, lineis fuscis undnlatis pictd, late umbilicatd ; anfracti-
bus costellis transversis ornatis, ultimo tribus liris intermediis
cincto, longitudinaliter elevate striato ; umbilico magno, cinguld
crenulatd cinctd, intus lineis radiaiitibus et transversis elegan-
ter decussato.

Hab. Philippines.

5. Margarita variabilis, A. Adams. M. testd orbiculato-
conicd, subdepressd, late umbilicatd, pallidd, fusco griseo al-
boque varie pictd ; anfractibus rotundatis, transversim valdh
sulcatis ; umbilico perspectivo, margine crenidato ; basi plani-
usculd ; labio margine subcrenulato.

Hab. ?

6. Margarita balteata, A. Adams. M. testd orbicidato-
conicd, vix umbilicatd, grised, fusco tessellatd ; anfractibus gib-
bosis, transversim valde sulcatis ; anfractu ultimo subangulato ;
basi planiusculd, concentrice sulcatd ; columelld cm'vatd, vix
truncatd,

Hab. ?

7. Margarita tessellata, A. Adams. M. testd depresso-
conicd, late umbilicatd, Icevi, cinered, regulariter griseo tessel-
latd; anfractibus planiuscidis, idtimo subangulato; basi convexd;
umbilico intus albido ; aperturd rotundd, intus viridi-irides-
centi.

Hab. ?

Zoological Society. 213i

Subgenus Photina, H. and A. Adams.

Shell smooth, subconical ; spire depressed ; axis covered by a
smooth callus ; columella ending in a simple point.

This section includes all the species oi Margarita that are not
umbilicated.

1. Photina nigra, A. Adams. P. testa depresso-conicd, im-
perforatd, solidd, nigrd, Icevi ; anfractibus subrotundatis, trans-
versim sulcatis ; longitudinaliter obliqub substriatd; anfractu
ultimo subangulato ; regione umbilicali impressd; callo alba
obtecto.

Hub, ?

2. Photina fusca, A. Adams. P. testa obliqud, subconicd, ni-
tidd, fusco variegatd ; anfractibus parwn convexis, transversim
sulcatis, ultimo subangulato ; aperturd subrotundatd, intus
viridi iridescenti,

Hab. ?

3. Photina Sandwichiana, A. Adams. P. testd orbiculato-
conicd, imperforatd, Icevi, albidd, viridi fuscoque maculatd ;
anfractibus rotundatis, ultimo subangulato, apice roseo ; aper-
turd apertd, orbiculatd, intus viridi margaritaced ; labio albo ;
umbilico callo albo obtecto.

Hab. Mataineka, Sandwich Islands.

Mr. Oswald then communicated the following remarks by Mr. Mack,
on the fact of black eggs being laid by a white duck of the ordinary
domestic breed : —

" The egg (observes Mr. Mack) which is herewith sent was laid
by a white duck, one of two belonging to Mr. Dickinson of Mitcham,
which stray during the day on the common, but are confined at night.
The drake was lost about a month since, and then one of the ducks
commenced laying black eggs, the other still continuing to lay white
ones, — she laid ten or twelve and then ceased for some days ; she has
again commenced laying black eggs. The ducks are fed once a day
with barley, at the time the other poultry are fed.

" Mr. Dickinson, showing the egg this morning to one of the
guards on temporary duty on the Brighton rail at Croydon, he said
he had a duck which laid the same colour, or even blacker, and that
he had raised (at East Bourne) two brbods of ducks from black
eggs."

Haling Cottage, Croydon, May 24, 1851.

June 10, 1851.— John Gould, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair.

1. On two new species of Birds of the genus TjENIoptera.
By Philip Lutley Sclater, B.A., F.Z.S. etc.

T^nioptera erythropygia, Sclater. T. nigrescens ; vertice
fronts guldque canescente-griseis ; maculd secundariorum albd;
uropygio, abdomine toto crissoque, cum tectricibus caudce supe-

^14 Zoological Society.

rioribus et alarum inferioribus levitir brunneo-rufis ; rectricibus
brunneo-rufis nigro terminatis ; rosiro pedibusque nigris.

Long. tot. 9 unc. 5 lin. ; alse, 5 unc. 7 Un. ; caudse, 4 uno. 4 liu. ;
rostri a rictu, 1 unc. ; a fronte, 6 lin.

Hab. in republica Eqnatoriana.

Wings and interscapulars black, growing lighter towards the crown,
and greyish white on front and throat ; breast darkish grey ; outer
web of the last four or five secondaries broadly edged with white,
forming a white mark on the wing ; lower back and tail-coverts and
whole body beneath below the breast, as also under wing-coverts, hght
brownish rufous ; tail-feathers the same, b\it broadly tipped with black.
For the loan of this and the following species I have to thank Mr.
Edward Wilson, who received them from M. Verreaux of Paris. I
was at first inclined to refer both species to the genus Agriornis of
Mr. Gould, but having had through Mr. G. Gray's kindness an op-
portunity of examining the type of that form, Agriornis lividus* (Kit-
htz), I now consider them better placed in the present genus T(eni-
optera, with which they agree in all their distinctive characters.

TiENioPTERA sTRiATicoLLis, Sclatcr. T. suprd. saturate fumoso-
brunnea ; uropygio paululum rufescente tincto ; superciliis ru-
fescente-albidis ; pennis cauddque nigris ; secundariis tertiariisque
leviter brunnescente marginatis ; infrcL levifer brunneo-rufa ; gut-
ture toto colloque albis nigro striatis ; rectricibus remigibusque
brunneo-rufis nigt'O terminatis ; rostra pedibusque nigris.
Long. tot. 9 unc. 5 lin. ; alse, 5 unc. 3 lin. ; caudse, 4 unc. ; rostri a
rictu, 1 unc. \ lin. ; a fronte, 7^ lin.
Hab. in republica Eqnatoriana.

Above dark smoke-brovra ; an obscure whitish line from the bill to
the top of the eye ; quill-feathers brown-rufous, outer margins and
ends black ; secondaries, tertials, and wing-coverts nearly black, mar-
gined with light brown ; beneath brown-rufous ; chin, throat and
neck white, with longitudinal striae of black ; tail-feathers brown-
rufous, the two outer broadly tipped with black ; the rest have also
the outer web black, except the two medial, which are wholly black.
This species is of the same form as the former, from which it may be
distinguished by its shorter and weaker beak, and the want of the
rufous colouring on the rump and upper tail-coverts, as also by the
conspicuous strise on the neck and throat.

2. Notes on an undescribed species of Tailor-Bird.
By Dr. Nicholson.

It may appear irregular to use what has been meant and applied
as a specific name, as a generic one, but then that name appears to
me to include, and to be indiscriminately applied to, two or three di-
stinct birds, as we may gather by looking at the accompanying
sketch, by the examination of the species described by Colonel Sykes
as inhabiting the Dukhun, and by reading the following description,
taken from Forbes, ' Oriental Memoirs,' p. 34. vol. i., under the
* Tj/rannus gutturalis, Voy. de la Favorite, Ois. 1. 11.

Zoological Society. 215

name oiMotacilla sutoria ; — " The Tailor-bird resembles some of the
humming-birds at the Brazils in shape and colour ; the hen is clothed
in brown, but the plumage of the cock displays the varied tints of
azure-purple, green and gold, so common in those American beauties...
Often have I watched the progress of an industrious pair of Tailor-
birds, in my garden, from their first choice of a plant, until the com-
pletion of the nest, and the enlargement of their young."

Now, it is evident either that Mr. Forbes alludes to a distinct and
an uncommon species, which I have never met with, or else he must
have mistaken the common Cinnyris or Sun-bird representing the
Humming-birds, and both sexes of which he has generally described
above. But then the Cinnyris builds a common-shaped nest in the
fork of a branch, in fashion resembling that of the humming-birds.

This is a resident bird, not very conspicuous, as it keeps hopping
about among the brushwood and plants. It has a loud, short, and
not unmelodious song ; its general cry is ' wheet, wheet, wheet,' often
repeated ; but its alarm-cry is like ' cheertah, cheertah, cheertah.'

I have found its singular sewn nest containing eggs or young at
all seasons of the year, in May and in November ; and this may be
owing to the vegetation of gardens being always kept up by means
of artificial irrigation ; for cultivated spots seem its favourite, if not
exclusive resort at least in the north of India. Though no doubt
it haunts suitable jungles, I never observed it there, nor ever disco-
vered its nest so situated ; but I have found many nests in my gar-
dens, both at Surat and at Raghote, as well as in Cutch. It seems
to prefer the leaf of the Bringal (Solanum esculentum), or that of the
Cuciirbita octangularis, for the purposes of nidification ; and it lays
four small white eggs, marked with faint dark spots at the larger
end. After selecting a fitting leaf, it proceeds by means of its feet
and beak to draw the edges together, perforating holes therein, and
securing their proximity by threads of cotton, with bunches at the
end to prevent their giving way. Then the nest is constructed inside
the leaf, now forming a sort of corve, vdth cotton ; the entrance is at
the top, and the nest seems small in proportion to the bird. If this
bird should prove a distinct species, I would suggest the name of
Sutoria agilis for it.

Weight of the male 2\ drachms.

Length from bill to tail 5^ inches. Alar extent 6J inches.

Head : bill long, slender and curved towards the point. Culmen
slightly divides the frontal feathers, and is iiearly on a line vdth the
top of the head : there is an almost obsolete notch at the end of the
upper mandible. Tongue short, slightly extensible, and divided into
several filaments at the point. Gape wide, commissure under the
eye ; a small denuded spot above the commissure. Nostrils basal,
pyriform, under a tegument ; some small bristles and feathers re-
flexed from the canthus of the eye towards the bill and over the
nares. Eyes small. Iris greenish yellow. Eyelashes edged vdth
small feathers. Eyelids bare. Four remarkable (but inconspicuous)
bristles, like feathers, project from the back part of the occiput.

Wings short and perfectly rounded ; first quill only half as long as
the second; fourth and fifth quills are longest; the second, third

216 Zoological Society.

and fourth graduated ; the first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh
quills are emargiaate on the outer web.

Tail of twelve graduated feathers, the two outer being the short-
est ; under- coverts are long.

Legs long, the tarsus -Iths of an inch ; the outer toe longer than
the inner. Hallux very strong, and as long as the outer toe, with a
large pad beneath the base, its claw the largest ; the tarsus is co-
vered with seven scales in front and one entire behind ; two large
scales lie across the front of the foot ; the claws are curved and
sharp.

Contents of stomach a mass of insect exuviae.

Colours : all above dull green, tinged with ash, light brown towards
the end of the tail and quills, which are lighter on the edges. Two-
thirds of the front breadth of the neck, round the eye, the breast,
belly and thighs (except a chestnut spot on the hallux) are silver-
white ; there is, besides, a remarkable spot on the neck, of a brown
colour, as if the white feathers had been deranged, showing the
roots of a different colour. Bill ash-brown or horn-colour, the
lower jaw lighter, and both lighter on the edges, as also are the
legs and claws of the same colour; forehead of a fine chestnut;
crown of olive-brown.

June 24, 1851.— J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, in the
Chair.

1. Observations on the Dentition of the Tiger Beetles.
By J. O. Westwood, Pres. E.S., F.L.S. etc.

Mr. "Westwood directed the attention of the meeting to the neces-
sity which existed of a more precise examination and description of
the diversity in the dentition of the mandibles of insects, especially
Hymenoptera and Coleoptera, than had hitherto been bestowed
thereon. In the higher orders of animals so much importance had
been given to this character, that it was remarkable that, in general,
entomologists contented themselves with examining, describing, and
figuring a single mandible as affording a sufficient diagnosis of the
structure of both of the mandibles, overlooking the necessary result
which arose from the circumstance of the horizontal instead of per-
pendicular action of these organs in insects, and the variation in the
position of the teeth which such action must necessarily induce. In
general, indeed, the teeth of the mandibles were not greatly developed,
and there was a general similarity between the two jaws ; but when
these organs are of an increased size, and especially when the extre-
mity of one jaw laps over that of the opposite one, a diversity in the
dentition will necessarily exist. It was likewise necessary to examine
the mandibles of both sexes of a species, as it occasionally happened
that there was considerable difference in their dentition. These ob-
servations were illustrated by the case of the Tiger Beetles {Cicinde-
lidcB), which offered a much greater range of diversity in their denti-
tion than had hitherto been supposed. It was chiefly to the genus
Megacephala that Mr. Westwood directed the attention of the
members.

Zoological Society. 217

In the type of that genus- (Mei/acephala senegalensis, Latr., Dej.,
Cic. megalocepkala, Fabr.), an apterous species from Senegal, the
right mandible of the male has two large, nearly equal-sized, acute
teeth in the middle of the inner margin, the extremity being hooked
and very acute ; there is also a small tooth at the base of the large,
broad, compound basal tooth. The left mandible is nearly similar, ex-
cept that the two teeth in the middle of the inner margin are unequal
in size, the upper one being the smaller of the two. The figure of the
jaws of this species, given in the Crochard edition of the Animal
Kingdom (Ins. pi. 16. f. 2 a), is very incorrect, being apparently
reversed. The dentition of the female is almost identical with that
of the male. In the allied bat-winged African species, Megacephala
A-signata, Dej., from Senegal, the toothing of the mandibles is simi-
larly arranged, but the two teeth in the middle of the inner margin,
in both sexes, are broad and obhquely truncate. In the male of
M. euphratica (which has recently been observed to extend from
Spain to India), the teeth are nearly as in M. senegalensis, except
that the subapical tooth of the left mandible is considerably smaller.
But in the species lately received from the north-west of Australasia
{M. Australasia, Hope), we find a different arrangement as well as
number in the teeth, the right mandible having three teeth in the
middle of the inner margin (exclusive of the small tooth * at the base
of the upper side of the large compound basal tooth), the upper one
small, the middle one very small, and lower one large, all being acute.
The left mandible has also three teeth in the same position, — the
upper one very small, and the middle and lower one large and nearly
equal in size.

On turning to the New-World species of the genus, we find four
variations in the dentition of the mandibles ; the group of pale spe-
cies typified by M. (Bquinoctialis, Dej. (hifasciata, Brull^), corre-
sponds almost identically in the dentition of both sexes vrith the old
type (ilf. senegalensis), as described above, the right mandible having
two equal-sized large acute teeth in the middle of the inner margin,
and the left one also two, the upper one being very small. For this
group I have proposed the subgeneric name of Ammosia, in allu-
sion to their habits, which diifer materially from those of the other
species.

A black-coloured species from South America {M. sepulchralis,
Fabr., M. variolosa, Dej.) differs from the Ammosice in the left man-
dible, while the inner margin has only one tooth in the middle, of
considerable size, and exhibiting on its under side a minute tooth,
being all that remains of the large middle tooth of the left mandible
of the Ammosice. This species is the type of Mr. Hope's subgenus
Anaira.

Another very fine Brazilian species {M. testudinea, Klug) differs
in the dentition of the sexes in a more striking manner than any of

* This small tooth exists in all the species, and in both sexes ; and as it appears
to form part of the great basal tooth, I have omitted noticing it in the descriptions
given in this paper.

Ann. &: Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 15

218 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

tlie preceding. The right mandible of the male is long and sickle-
shaped, with a small tooth obliquely truncated below the middle of
the inner margin, and between this and the tip of the jaw is a mi-
nute acute tooth. The left mandible has two teeth on the inner
margin above the middle, the lower one broad and acute, but rather
obliquely truncate, whilst the upper one is very small. The right
mandible of the female, on the contrary, has two very large equal-
sized teeth in the middle of the inner margin, whereas the left jaw in
this sex is quite simDar to that of the male.

There still remains a numerous group of American species (the
type of which is Cic. Carolina, Linn.), which differ from the rest of
their continental brethren in possessing three teeth in the middle of
the inner margin of each jaw, thus resembling the Australian species
above noticed, and hence I proposed the name of Tetracha, or four-
toothed, for this group, counting the acute apical portion of the man-
dible as a fourth tooth. In general, in both sexes, the tooth next
below the apex of the jaw is equal in size to, or even larger than, the
apical part or tooth itself (thus differing from the Australasian spe-
cies), and the middle of the three teeth is smaller than the rest ; but
in the left mandible in the males the tooth below the apical tooth is
even still larger, whilst the middle tooth is much smaller, and the lower
tooth is quite minute. In the female, on the contrary, the middle
one of the three teeth of the inner margin is rather larger than the
upper one (which is only of a moderate size), and the lower one is
small.

From these particulars (united with the peculiarities of colouring,
geographical range and habits of the species) we are enabled to pro-
pose well-founded subgenera, a task which has hitherto been con-
sidered hopeless in the genera of CicindelidcB. The Old-World spe-
cies thus seem to form only one group, divisible however into still
smaller sections from the presence or absence of vrings, and form and
coloimng of the elytra ; the Australian species stands alone ; and the
New-World species constitute the four following subgenera: —

Ammosia, Westw. Type, M. bifasciata, BruUe.

, Westw. Type, M. testudinea, Klug.

Anaira, Hope. Type, M. sepulchralis, Fabr.
Tetracha, Westw. Type, M. Carolina, Lino.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

July 14, 1853.— Prof. Balfour, President, in the Chain

The following papers were read : —

1 . " Experiments on the Dyeing Properties of the Lichens," by
W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D.

2. " On the Cryptogamic Plants of the neighbourhood of St. An-
drews," by Mr. Alexander O. Black. The author stated that a resi-
dence in St. Andrews during the last eighteen months, had given him

Miscellaneous. 219

an opportunity of investigating the vegetation of a part of our island,
bitherto. but little explored by botanists. He had found in all —
.'(I « )>i " Equiseta 11 species and varieties.

Filices 32 „ „

Lycopodia .... 5 „ „

Musci 170 „

3. " Remarks on the Hardiness of certain Coniferae, as shown by
the effects of the past -winter," by Mr, W. W. Evans.

4. " Notice of the production of Cones in 1851 onPinus Lumber-
tiana," by A. G. Spiers, Esq. The tree on which the cones were
produced was stated to be about 23 feet in height ; the cones con-
tained perfect seeds, from which young plants have been raised.

Mr. M'Nab stated that several plants of Abies Morinda were
fruiting this season in different situations. He mentioned that all these
plants had grown in the Botanic Garden, and had been transplanted
last year. The large plants of the same pine which had not been
transplanted showed no symptoms of flowering.

5. " Measurement of frees in Gurhwal and Kemaon in 1852," by
Mr. John Strachey, C.S.

6. "Notice of the Osseous legumen of the Hymencea courbaril"
by Dr. Seller.

7. "On the rarer plants found in the neighbourhood of Ripon/'
by Mr. James B. Davies.

8. " On Melampyrum montanum, Johnst.," by Daniel Oliver, jun.,
Esq., F.L.S. "This plant, as described in the Berwickshire Flora,
and mentioned in Babington's ' Manual ' as a variety of M. pratense,
I am induced to beheve has been founded by Dr. Johnston on an ex-
amination of an insufficient series of examples of more or less distinct
forms of Melampyrum.

" Last year I described in the ' Phytologist,' a plant which I called
M. pratense var. ericetorum, and in the same communication hinted
that its smaller forms might be identical with the M. montanum.

" I am rather strengthened in this opinion by a series of specimens
which I collected last month near the Wall-town Crags, Northumber-
land. The floral leaves (bracts) are in some of the larger instances
of the plant, ovate-lanceolate or almost ovate at the base, and deeply
toothed, while the smaller ones accord more nearly with M. mon-
tanum."

MISCELLANEOUS.

On the Movements of the Blood in the Pulmonary Arachnida.
By E. Blanchard.

In the circulation of these animals there is a much more compli-
cated mechanism than has ever been supposed. Although the venous
blood is not contained in tubes capable of isolation by dissection, it is
none the less confined to a particular course.

If a very small opening be made into the heart of a hving Scorpion,

15*

l^zO Miscellaneous.

and through this a coloured fluid be introduced into the circulation,
the heart drives this liquid to the extremities of the finest arteries.
Arrived at the last ramifications, the blood certainly slackens in its pro-
gress whilst passing through the capillary netvFork. This network,
which has not yet been pointed out in the Articulata, exists under
the teguments and between the various layers of muscles in the con-
nective tissue ; it consists of distinctly circumscribed canals lined
with a thin epithelium. Thence the blood is received by the venous
canals.

These are only canals and sometimes sinuses and not tubes ; but
they are always lined vnth a membrane, which it is frequently not
difficult to detach from the surrounding tissues. There are no val-
vules to prevent the return of the blood. Nevertheless the blood
always follows a determinate course, and in fact the disposition of the
muscles favours the passage of the fluid in one direction, but presents
an obstacle, sometimes absolutely insurmountable, to its passage in
the other direction.

In injecting a coloured fluid into the abdominal cavity, it is seen to
penetrate readily into most of the spaces occupied by the venous
blood, whilst it does not enter the venous canals of the feet or other
appendages. A resistance is here presented which is not overcome by
considerable pressure ; the flexor and extensor muscles of the legs
approaching at their points of attachment close the passage from
within outwards. It wUl be readily understood, in fact, that without
some particular arrangement, the blood, existuig in abundance in the
thoracic cavity, would always have a tendency to fall back in the
venous canals of the extremities.

The legs are more or less exposed to be bi'oken in the Arachnida.
These fractures always take place at the articulations, and the ani-
mal does not suff"er much from them. A little drop of l)lood may
form at the extremity of the broken limb, but the contraction of the
muscles closes the artery, and the venous canal is so disposed that
the normal course of the blood is never interrupted for an instant.
At the extremity of each joint of the legs the large venous canal is
curved back so as to take up all the blood coming from the lesser
canals. This arrangement completely explains why when half the
leg of a Scorpion or Spider is torn off" the blood escapes from the
detached portion, and not from that which remains attached to the
body.

The venous blood collected from various parts of the body arrives
at last in canals situated at the sides and lower part of the abdomen,
whence it passes to the respiratory organs. The principal venous
canals are lodged in the interstices of the segments, and are formed
by a fold of the internal membrane. In the Scorpions, the venous
canals of the caudiform portion of the abdomen and those of the feet
consist of gutters which show themselves externally as so many
ridges.

In the Arachnida, nearly as in the Crustacea, the blood returns to
the heart from the respiratory organs by means of vessels passing up
along the sides of the abdomen and opening into the pericardiac
cavity. This is eff'ccted in the following manner.

Miscellaneous. %2}.

The respiratoiy organs are covered by a tolerably thick membrane,
which is contracted between each of them, and prolonged in front and
behind in the form of a wide vessel recei\'ing the venous blood. Each
pulmonary sac is alternately raised or depressed by a double or triple
ligament, which rises perpendicularly and is attached to the pericar-
dium. When a portion of the heart is exposed, it is seen that its pul-
sations act upon the contractile ligaments, causing a pressure of the
pulmonary sacs, which forces the blood to rise in the pneumocardiac
vessels. This movement is aided by muscular pillars attached to the
upper and lower walls of the abdomen.

From all these facts we must conclude, that in the pulmonary
Arachnida the venous blood circulates for a great portion of its course
in distinctly circumscribed canals ; that it passes into the abdominal
cavity as into a vast sinus, so as to penetrate thence into the respi-
ratory organs, whence it rises into the heart by means of a particular
mechanism. These facts lead us naturally to the conclusion that
analogous arrangements should be sought for in Crustacea and In-
sects. — Comptes Rendus, June 20, 1853, p. 1079.

THE TIBETAN BADGER OF HODGSON.

Mr. Hodgson having sent to the India House a specimen with its
skidl of his Taxidea leiicurus (Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xvi. 763.
1847), I have compared the skull with that of the various Badgers
in the Museum collection. I find all the Old-World Badgers (Meles)
have a moderate-sized triangular flesh tooth, and a very large four-
sided oblong tuberculous grinder in the upper jaw, which is rather
longer than broad, and the skull is rovmded behind. The nose of
the Tibetan Badger or Tumpha, Meles leticurus, is rather more taper-
ing and more compressed than that of the European Badger {Meles
Taxus^, which it most resembles. The Japanese Badger {Meles
auakuma) differs from both in having a much shorter skull and a
short, rather broad nose.

The American Badgers {Taxidce, Waterhouse) have a very large
triangular flesh tooth, and an equally triangular tubercular grinder
in the upper jaw not exceeding the flesh tooth in size. The skull is
also much broader, more depressed and truncated behind. Of this
genus I only know a single species, T. Labradoria. — J. E. Gray.

Note on the Germination of the Spores of the Uredines.
By L. R. TuLASNE.

Some years since I made known * the origin and structure of the
organs known as the spores of these plants. I then showed that these
bodies, like the pollen grains of phanerogamous vegetables, are fur-
nished with a variable number of pores through which tubular fila-
ments afterwards pass, analogous, at least in appearance, with those
which are the first result of the germination of the spore of a Fungus.

I have since indicatedf the jEcidiohim exanthematum, Ung., as a

* Ann. des Sci. Nat. 3rd serie, t. vii.

t Comptes Rendus, xxxii. March 31, 1851.

222 Misccllaneom.

peculiar organ of the Uredines, and that its frequency amongst their
sori or fertile groups, its relations of position, and its early appear-
ance authorise us in comparing it with the spermogonia of other
Fungi, so that the sexuality of the Uredines was not less probable
than that of the other families of the same order.

Fresh investigations have shown me that the germ-filaments of the
spores do not all continue in the state of simplicity and continuity in
which I formerly saw them, and that perhaps they may constitute
the rudiments of the mycelium.

Thus having sown perfectly ripe spores of JEcidium Euphorbice
sylvestris, DeC., their germ-filaments became less elongated than in
my previous experiments, made at a different time of the year, and
instead of remaining continuous, they divided by means of transverse
septa into four or six cells of unequal size ; then these cells, and espe-
cially the superior ones, each produced a short lateral appendage {spi-
cule), which soon bore an obovate and sUghtly oblique utricle. These
utricles were the last vegetative effort of these spores ; they became
free and then continue a separate existence, which was indicated by
the production of very slender filaments. After the isolation of these
bodies, the spore and the tube from which they were formed become
exhausted and destroyed, so that this tube or filament represents a
sort oi promycelium, an intermediate vegetation between the primary
spore and the utricles, which are either secondary spores, or perhaps
the only true spores, and the real producers of the true mycelium.

The same facts may be observed in the Pucciiiice, the bilocular
fruits of which can commence vegetation without quitting the plant
which has supported them. In Puccinia graminis, Pers., I have seen
the tubes arising from these fruits acquire two or three times their
length, divide into cells hke the germ-filaments of the preceding
JEcidium, and hke these give rise lastly to nearly reniform spores
which soon germinated.

The vegetation of the fruit of Phragmidium incrassatum. Link.,
does not differ from that of the Pucciniee. The spores produced are
more globular than those of the above-mentioned Fungi.

The Podisomata {P . juniperi communis, Fr., and P. /««cm»2. Cord.)
are Uredines by their parasitic existence and their mode of fructifi-
cation, whilst in their general appearance and consistence they re-
semble the Tremellce. Their bilocular fruits {sporidia, auct.) can
emit as many as eight tubes from their middle ; these are crossed and
superposed two and two, clothe the Fungus as with a sort of velvet,
and each produce several obovate spores, an immense abundance of
which may be collected as readily as of those of the Agarici or Tre-
mellce.

In several Uredines which I have studied, such as Uredo Rosce,
Pers., U. suaveolens, Pers., Mcidium Tussilaginis, Pers., ^. crassum,
Pers., and some others, the tubular filaments which arise from the
fruits are capable of more or less ramification, so as to resemble the
true mycelium of Fungi still more closely.

As regards the spermogonia of the Uredines, I will add that they
are organs the structure of which varies extremely little. They all

Meteorological Observations. 223

eject, in the form of viscous drops or short cirrhi, an orange substance
whicli is very aromatic, and consists of very thin, ovoid corpuscles
{spermatia). It is to these alone that the agreeable odour of the
Uredo suaveolens and many other Uredines is due. The spermatia
are produced at the apices of filiform basidia.

The Ustilagmes, which are very nearly allied to the Uredines, pre-
sent certain peculiarities in the vegetation of their reproductive bodies.
The oblong cell, which is produced from the spores of Ustilago an-
therarum, TuL, becoming soon detached to hve independently*, must
apparently be compared to the secondary spores of Mcidium, Puc-
cinia, and other Uredines above described. In TJstilago receptacu-
lorum, Fr., utricles, doubtless analogous with these secondary spores,
are produced on an imperfectly developed promycelium, composed
only of a few cells, but which resembles that of JEcidium EuphorbicB
sylvestris.' — Comptes Rendus, June 20, 1853, p. 1093.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JULY 1853.
Chisroick.—ivAy \. Showery. 2. Cloudy. 3. Cloudy and fine. 4. Very fine.
5. Overcast : fine : clear. 6. Overcast and fine. 7. Uniform haze : sultry : much
lightning, with thunder and rain at night. 8. Cloudy : lightning at night. 9. Rain :
cloudy. 10. Cloudy : clear. 11. Densely overcast : cloudy and fine. 12. Very
fine. 13. Very fine: slight haze: very heavy rain at night. 14. Constant rain.
15. Heavy showers. 16. Showery. 17. Cloudy and fine : very clear. 18. Heavy
showers. 19. Showery : clear. 20. Uniform haze : very fine. 21. Rain : cloudy.
22. Overcast : slight rain. 23. Very fine. 24. Cloudy. 25. Very fine : rain at
night. 26. Cloudy. 27. Cloudy and fine: thunder, lightning and very heavy
rain at night. 28. Rain : cloudy : showery. 29. Fine : rain. 30. Fine : boisterous :
clear at night. 31. Clear : cloudy : overcast.

Mean temperature of the month ^ . 61°'99

Mean temperature of July 1852 67*61

Mean temperature of July for the last twenty-seven years . 63 -22

Average amount of rain in July 2"29inches.

Boston. — July 1. Fine : rain p.m. 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy. 4. Cloudy. 5. Cloudy :
rain p.m. 6—8. Cloudy. 9. Cloudy : rain, thunder and lightning a.m. 10.
Cloudy. 11. Cloudy: rain a.m. 12,13. Fine. 14. Rain: rain a.m. and p.m.
15. Cloudy. 16, 17. Cloudy : rain a.m. 18. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 19.
Cloudy. 20. Cloudy : rain>.M. and p.m. 21. Cloudy. 22. Fine. 23. Cloudy.
24, 25. Fine. 26. Rain : rain a.m. and p.m. 27. Cloudy. 28. Cloudy : rain a.m.
29. Fine. 30. Cloudy : rain a.m. 31. Cloudy: rain p.m.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — July 1. Bright a.m. : drops p.m. 2. Showers a.m.:
fair p.m. 3. Rain a.m. : fair p.m. 4, 5. Cloudy a.m. : rain p.m. 6. Bright a.m. :
cloudy p.m. 7. Drops a.m. : cloudy p.m. 8. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 9. Clear
a.m.1 cloudy P.M. 10, 11. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 12. Bright a.m. : clear p.m.
13. Clear a.m. : cloudy p.m. 14. Clear a.m. : rain p.m. 15. Showers a.m. :
cloudy p.m. 16 — 18. Bright a.m. : clear p.m. 19. Bright, fine a.m. : clear p.m.
20. Rain a.m. and p.m. 21. Damp ajm. and p.m. 22. Damp a.m. : clear p.m.
23. Clear, fine a.m. : cloudy p.m. 24. Rain a.m. : clear p.m. 25. Bright a.m. :
clear p.m. 26. Showers a.m. : damp p.m. 27. Showers a.m. and p.m. 28. Fine
A.M. : clear p.m. 29. Drizzle a.m. : clear p.m. 30. Bright a.m. : fair p.m. 31.
Bright A.M. : fine p.m.

Mean temperature of July for twenty-six previous years 54°-93

Mean temperature of July 1852 61 -36

Mean temperature of this month 58*15

Average quantity of rain in July for seven previous years ... 2-69 inches.

* Ann. des Sci. Nat. 3rd serie, t. vii.

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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 70. OCTOBER 1853.

XXIIT. — On some new species of Tvigonia from the Inferior Oolite
of the Cotteswolds, with preliminary Remarks upon that Genus.
By John Lycett, Esq.*

[With a Plate.]

" Not only by their numbers, but still more by the richness of theii* spe-
cific divisions, by the peculiar prominence of individualization, do the
species of the remarkable genus Trigonia attain their maximum point in
the lower chalk." — L. von Buch, Betrachtungen uber die Verbreitung und
die Grenzen der Kreide Bildungen. Bonn, 1849.

Trigonia and Pholadomya are the two organic forms which
pre-eminently serve to impress a distinctive character upon the
Testacea of the Oolite rocks in whatever country they ai-e dis-
covered, and accordingly from the time when fossil shells were
regarded as mere freaks of nature, we find that authors depicted
their Hippocephaloides and Bucardites. But conspicuous as is
the position which Trigonia holds throughout the Oolites, the
quotation above chosen, and the passages which immediately
follow, ai*e not the less true and worthy of notice ; they evince
the strong impression made upon the mind of a distinguished
and veteran palaeontologist by the remarkable prominence which
the genus Trigonia holds amongst the Cretaceous Conchifera,
both in its numbers and world-wide distribution, a prominence
which appears not the less remarkable when we remember that
the leading sectional oolitic forms of the genus had already
nearly disappeared, and that a little higher in the series even the
cretaceous forms exhibit a rapid diminution, until in the upper
chalk a trifling remnant alone remains to indicate the forth-
coming extinction of the fossil T-igonice, a loss which is not the

♦ Read to the Cotteswold NatvuaUsts' Club, July 19, 1853.
Ann. fif Mag. N. Hist. Ser, 2. Vol. xii. 16

226 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species of Trigoiiia

less strongly felt ujjou a contemplation of the altered, and in
some measure degenerated characters of the living species.
But if the attributes claimed for the genus at the fera which im-
mediately precedes the extinction of the Cretaceous species are
well founded, it will, I think, a])pear equally evident that at its
primal fera in the earlier portion of the Oolitic system the genus
had already acquired that prominence amongst the Testacea
which Von Buch has so vividly described, and that the forms,
dimensions, and ornamentations of the species were scarcely less
characteristic and vai'ied. Upon numbering the entire recorded
species of Triffonia, it will be found that about two-thirds arc
proper to the Oolitic rocks ; and although some little aljatcment
must be made, for instances in which young individuals, varieties,
or mere casts have been erected into distinct species, the predo-
minance of Oolitic forms will remain, inasmuch as the Cretaceous
species are not exempt from similar errors of augmentation.
The inadequate manner in which the Inferior Oolite Trigonue
have been illustrated, will appear, when it is stated that of the
sixteen species recorded in the present paper, four only will be
found illustrated in the range of English literatui-e ; a fifth occurs
in the * Memoire sur les Trigonees ' of Agassiz, and two others
are on the eve of being published in a ' Monograph of the
Palasontographical Society,' leaving upwards of nine species un-
figured, a number which will be admitted to be remarkable when
we remember that SI. D'Orbigny has only enumei'ated seven in
his ' Prodrome dc Paleontologie ' for the Terrain Bajocien of the
whole of France, and M. Agassiz twelve from the entire lower
Oolite rocks of Germany, France and Switzerland. The present
examination of Inferior Oolite species has been suggested by the
frequent occurrence in collections of Trigonia costata, clavellata
and angulata, or of shells bearing those names, pertaining to
nearly the entire series of the Oolitic rocks of England and
France ; the aspect of these shells is so varied and dissimilar,
that they agree with each other and with the tyj>ical forms of
those species only, inasmuch as the first portion is costated, the
second clavellated, and the remainder have their costse bent to
form an angle.

M. Agassiz, in his valuable memoir on Trigonia, arranged the
species into upwards of eight sections, some of which appear to
be separated by distinctions so transitive that it is scarcely pos-
sible to apply them to a large number of specimens, except in
an arbitrary and unsatisfactory manner ; a more simple arrange-
ment here proposed will probably answer every practical purpose,
and has at least the advantage of being more readily understood
and applied ; the genus will thus form six sections, of which one,
the Pectine?, is recent only; the five fossil sections consisting of

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 327

the Costatse, the ClavellatEe, the Quadratse, the Scabrse, and the
Glabra. The Costatm have a figure more arched than the other
sectional forms ; they have smooth regular longitudinal ribs,
which are separated from the posterior slope or area by a carina
more or less prominent, but which, with advance of age, often
becomes nearly obliterated ; this is the marginal carina ; the area
has transverse striations which are frequently decussated by lon-
gitudinal plications, and by one or two, more prominent than the
others, that which bounds the area posteriorly being the inner
carina ; should a third carina be present between the two others,
it is the median carina ; the lanceolate space posterior to the liga-
ment is always plicated or reticulated.

The Cosiatce are remarkably prominent in the lower and
middle Oolite rocks ; in the upper Oolites and lower portion of
the Cretaceous series they diminish and almost disappear. The
Clavellata accompany the Costata in their stratigraphical distri-
bution ; in this section I would include the ClaveUat<2, the Un-
dulatce, and the Scaphoides of Agassiz, all of which have their
costse divided into tubercles, serrations, or irregular varices which
are disposed in rows, either concentric, oblique or excentric ;
sometimes they are bent to form an angle after the manner of
the Goniomya ; the links which connect the one with the other of
these features are too transitive to allow of any clear sectional
divisions when they are applied to a large number of species,
neither will the differences of form afford any more certain guide.
In the Clavellata, as in the former sections, a carina more or less
distinct separates the area from the tuberculated portion of the
surface ; the area is transversely striated and is never large ; the
lanceolate post-ligamental space is smooth, except in certain
subcretaccous forms, which have the space strongly costated, as
in the contemporaneous Scabree, to which they form a passage ;
these are the T. sulcdtaria, Lam., T. muricata, Goldf., and T.
Lusitanica, Sharpe.

The Quadratce have the figure rendered subquadrate by the
largeness of the area, the upper border of which is nearly hori-
zontal; its surface is flattened, and sometimes constitutes the
larger half up the shell ; there is no marginal carina, neither is
there any clear line of separation between the area and the tu-
berculated portion of the surface ; the Quadrate are fewer than
the Clavellatee, which they seem to replace in the Cretaceous and
upper portion of the Oolitic system ; Trigonia nodosa, Sow., is a
well-known example. The Scabree constitute a fourth and very
natural section, which are distinguished not less by their figure
than by the beauty and variety of their ornamentation ; their
figure indicates a change from the usual figure of the genus ; it is
crescentic rather than ti'igonal ; the oblique costse are elevated

328 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species of Trigonia

and serrated ; they are continued across the depressed ai'ea, the
separating carina (marginal) being replaced only by a smooth
groove. The stratigraphical distribution of the Scabrce is equally
characteristic; they are exclusively Cretaceous, and seem to re-
place the Costatee of the Oolitic rocks ; Trigonia alceformis and
spinosa are examples. The fifth section, or Glabrce, are destitute
of costa, rows of tubercles or of carinae upon the area ; their sides
have large longitudinal plications, and are nearly smooth ; Tri-
gonia gibbosa and affinis are examples : this section, of which few
species are known, has not occurred beneath the upper division
of the Oolitic rocks. The sixth section, or Pectines, is repre-
sented by the living species of our Australasian seas, in which
both the form and ornaments of the surface differ materially from
those of the fossil sections ; the radiating crenulated costse and
toothed edges of the valves remind us of the Lima; and Pectines ;
the very partial flattening of the posterior slope and general
figure nearly resembles Cardium, but the internal characters have
nothing peculiar.

In tracing the vertical range of the species throughout the
Oolitic rocks, it will be found that the facts coincide with others
which have been recorded respecting the range of species per-
taining to the other leading genera of Conchifera ; it is rare that
a species ranges beyond a single formation ; and when its exist-
ence was further extended, it occurs usually in the newer forma-
tion, as a variety only, and bearing a physiognomy readily distin-
guished from that of the typical form. The aspect of the genus
seems to have undergone a very gradual but continuous change
throughout the secondaiy formations, by which the sectional
forms of the lower Oolites were modified in the upper Oolites,
and finally disappeared as the Quadratce and Scabrce of the Cre-
taceous rocks acquired prominence; finally, between the latter
and the recent Pectines, there occurs a chasm not less zoological
than stratigraphical, in which we lose the links by which pro-
bably they were connected.

In the discrimination of species, it is of importance to have
correct ideas of the surface-markings which distinguish their
young condition. In the ClaveUatce generally, the young shells
have their concentric costse continued aci'oss the area ; the costje
are slightly tumid and projecting when they cross the position
of the marginal carina : in several instances the young of this
section have smooth undivided costse, and such sjiecies as in the
adult state have their costse forming an angle or undulation, do
not exhibit any trace of such a feature until five or more costse
liave been formed. But if in the rudimentary condition we are
often unable to distinguish forms which subsequently become
widely separated, the individuals of a species are in their imma-

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 229

ture stage all alike ; they exhibit no traces of that law which is
afterwards developed to form varieties of a species. A common
feature observable in the Clavellatce and Quadratce which tends
to mask the species, consists in a confused or reticulated dispo-
sition of the tubercles, which no longer form regular concentric
or curved rows ; the tubercles also become irregular in size, or
they are partially flattened and confluent in the rows ; it is not
clear to what causes are to be attributed this unequal secretion
of shell by the mantle at the lower border ; it is however quite
distinct from another and final change observable in aged shells,
when the mantle ceases altogether to secrete ornaments upon the
surface; in the latter case a change occurs (sometimes sudden),
in which the carinse upon the area, and the tubercles upon the
sides of the shell simultaneously disappear, the last-formed por-
tion of the surface being altogether destitute of ornament.

The mineral character of the beds in which Trigonia occurs is
very various; clays, argillaceous limestones, chalk, calcareous
oolitic freestone, and shelly oolitic drift equally contain it, but the
latter kind of deposit does not seem to have been favourable for
its development ; for although specimens are abundant the size is
dwarfed, and by far the larger number perished in the earlier
stages of their growth.

In England the oldest stratum which contains Trigonia is the
Lias of Yorkshire, which produces the T. literata. Phillips re-
cords it in the lower, and Williamson in the upper Lias, but the
same formation has not furnished a single example of the genus
throughout the middle and west of England ; in Switzerland and
Germany the upper Lias has five species, none of which have
been identified in England. In the Cotteswold Hills, Trigonia is
first found in the beds of ferruginous oolite which immediately
overlie the sands at the base of the formation, and which abound
with Ammonites, Belemnites and Nautili, but the Trigonice are not
numerous, and are only of three species ; in the freestone beds
higher in the series, and which are so largely developed in Glou-
cestershire, some local deposits have many species of Trigonia,
but the genus does not acquire any particular prominence ; it is
only upon reaching the ragstones of the upper division of the
formation that we find Trigonia in abundance ; there it is asso-
ciated with a large assemblage of bivalve moUusks, and less
commonly with Echinodermata and Corals, but in either case the
impressions of Trigonia often constitute a large proportion of
the entire mass of the rock.

The Inferior Oolite, in common with the middle and lower
Oolitic rocks generally, contains, according to the present ar-
rangement, two sections only of the genus Trigonia.

In the following descriptions of species, the references to such

230 Mr. J. Lycett on some neiv species o/Trigonia

as have been before figured and described are given as concisely
as possible.

COSTAT^.

Trigonia costata, Lam. Var. 1. costata. Var. 2. multicosta.
.\ar. S. pulla. Vav. 4. sculpta.
T. costatula, Lye.
T. exigua, Lye.
T. tenuicosta, Lye.
T. hemispharicay Lye.

Clavellat^.
T. striata, Sow.
T. duplicata, Sow.
7". angulata, Sow.
T. signata, Ag.
T. tuberculosa, Lye.
T. v,-costata, Lye.
T. clavo-costata, Lye.
r. Phillijjsi, Mor. & Lye. I'ft/ .
Z". suhglobosa, Mor. & Lye.
J", gemmuta, Lye.
7\ decor at a, Lyo.

Trigonia tenuicosta, Lycett, n. sp. PI. XL fig. d-a.

Shell subhemispherical, moderately large, the anterior and
inferior boi'ders rounded, the posterior border slightly concave ;
umbones pointed, prominent and recm-ved ; costse very numerous,
not much elevated, closely arranged, gracefully curved and almost
united to the marginal carina ; area very large, its surface forms
a considerable angle with the costated surface of the shell ; it
has three carinse, the median and inner of which are small but
distinct, and finely striated throughout their length ; the mar-
ginal carina is delicate, striated, rather acute and very much
curved ; the spaces between the carinas are very finely reticulated,
the lanceolate space between the inner carinse is large and very
finely reticulated.

The great convexity of the valves and incurved figure of the
umbones produces a considerable curvature in the marginal
carina, and the costated portion of the shell near to the umbones
is very narrow ; the length of the marginal carina is somewhat
greater than the diameter of the shell at right angles to it. From
Trigonia costata it is distinguished by the more acute recurved
apex, by the small and finely striated marginal carina, by the
delicate and finely striated median and inner carinte ; the costse
are much more numerous, and are scarcely separated from the

Am.&¥ag.Nat Eist. Yol. ffl. Till.

J'. Dt C. SiK-eri^ /^<

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 231

niar"-inal carina ; the entire form is smaller and unlike T. costata ;
the area is alike in both the valves. , • i ■

It is somewhat rare ; all the examples have been obtamed n\
the upper division of the Inferior Oolite.

Professor Buckman has obtained it near Cheltenham ; my own
specimens are from the Gryphite grit of Rodborough Hill near
Stroud.

Trigonia hemisphcerica, Lycett, n. s. PI. XI. fig. 2.

Shell small, its length not exceeding 3 lines, very much arched,
so that the diameter through both the valves slightly exceeds the
length ; the umbones are scarcely recurved, acute, contiguous ;
the area is large, flattened, forming a considerable angle with
the other portion of the shell ; it has numerous fine longitudinal
plications faintly traced, there is no median carina, and the inner
carina is very small ; the marginal carina is acute, elevated and
finely serrated ; the other surface has numerous closely arranged
longitudinal costse, which are united to the marginal carina.

The large number of costse and the characters of the area in-
duce me to regard this as the adult condition of the species,
notwithstanding the small dimensions.

A single specimen is my authority; it is from the bed of hard
pale calcareous mudstone, a local deposit which in the Nailsworth
valley replaces the bed of Oolite marl and abounds with Nerirma.

Trigonia costatula, Lycett. PI. XI. fig. 5.

Trigonia costatula, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 421.

Shell subtrigonal, convex ; umbones mesial, not prominent nor
recurved, anterior side produced and rounded, posterior side
truncated; area flattened, finely striated transversely, divided
longitudinally into two equal portions by a groove and bounded
by two low carinse; the marginal carina is imperfectly serrated,
it is of moderate size and but little curved; the inner carina is
nearly smooth ; the space between the inner carin^e is smooth and
very narrow or lanceolate ; the costse are numerous (about 21),
moderately prominent and closely arranged ; they are but little
curved, are separated from the marginal carina by a plain sur-
face, their direction being nearly horizontal or conformable to
the inferior border. In the ultimate stage of growth the costse
posteriorly are broken more or less into several portions, which,
however, continue to follow the general direction of the costje.
In the immature form the costse are not separated from the
marginal carina, and the area is traversed transversely by an equal
number of prominent plications ; but these gradually vanish, and
the costse become disunited from the carina, which then becomes

233 Mr. J. Lycett on some neiv species o/Trigonia

serrated. The truncation at the posterior extremity is so consi-
derable that the breadth of the area at that part is equal to half
the entire length of the shell, or to three-fifths of the height ;
the length of the marginal carina is 20 lines.

The upper portion of the middle division of the Inferior Oolite
has furnished the few specimens which have been procured ; the
locality is Scar Hill near Nailsworth.

Trigonia exigua, Lycett, n. sp. PI. XI. fig. 3.

Shell small, subtrigonal, depressed ; umbones mesial, not re-
curved, anterior border nearly straight, oblique, posterior border
truncated ; area moderately large, flattened, transversely ribbed,
and having an obscure oblique mesial furrow, no distinct carinse,
the marginal carina being replaced by a series of small nodulous
elevations upon the posterior extremities of the costse. Costse
smooth, cm-ved, closely arranged, rounded, and slightly bent
upwards as they approach the area, their number being about
fourteen.

The costEe upon the area are smaller and rather more nume-
rous, for an intercalated rib is sometimes added. Specimens
vary from 2 to 5 lines in length, the latter dimensions seeming
to represent the adult form.

From T. costatula it is distinguished by the much smaller
dimensions and by the absence of any distinct marginal carina,
the costse being continued over its position upon the area.

Trigonia concinna, Rcemer, Nord. Ool. Nachtrag. p. 35. tab. 19.
fig. 21. approximates to our shell in the general figure and dis-
position of the costse, but his shell would appear to have greater
convexity and a larger area, and the costse upon the area appear
to be as large as those upon the other portion of the surface ; it
is therefore probably a distinct species.

Our little shell occurs not uncommonly in the shelly freestone
of Leckhampton Hill ; it has also occurred in the same beds near
to Nailsworth.

Trigonia v.-costata, Lycett. PI. XL fig. 7.
Trigonia v.-costata, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 422.
Shell ovately trigonal, moderately convex, anterior and infe-
rior margins- rounded, posterior margin straight or slightly con-
cave ; umbones obtuse, slightly recurved ; area narrow, flattened,
its upper portion transversely plicated, its lower portion nearly
smooth, divided in its middle by an obliquely longitudinal fur-
row ; marginal and inner carinse but faintly marked and striated,
the inner carina being crossed by several varices. The costse are
very numerous, smooth and regular, they are directed from the

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cottesivolds. 233

anterior border obliquely downwards and backwards nearly
straight to the middle of the shell, and there form acute angles
with varices which proceed upwards nearly vertically to the mar-
ginal carina; the varices are slightly nodulous, they are fewer
and larger than the anterior costse. The first eight or nine
costse form only curvatures, and are not broken into two por-
tions.

The species which approaches most nearly to the present shell
is T. angulata, Sow., but the figure of the two is different ; the
latter shell is more elongated and rostrated, the posterior border
is much more concave, the umbones are more recurved, and con-
sequently the marginal carina is more curved and elongated ; the
costse are less numerous, less regular, and the varices are larger
and more distantly arranged ; they form with the costse rather an
undulation than an angle, and are more conspicuously tuber-
culated.

In the young state the two forms would more nearly re-
semble each other, but even in that condition the costse are more
closely arranged in T. y.-costata. Some examples in the British
Museum of a Trigonia collected by Miss Baker in the ferruginous
Oolite of Northampton may be the young condition of the spe-
cies ; to the same species may also be referred some small shells
from the Dogger of the Yorkshire coast; these have smooth,
straight, oblique costse, bent at a considerable angle, and have
been labelled in collections T. angulata. The small T. tripartita,
Forbes, from the Oolite of the Hebrides, has a certain degree of
resemblance to our species, but the varices in that shell are fewer
and much larger.

From T. undulata, From., our shell is distinguished by the less
convex form and absence of large tubercles upon the marginal
carina ; the arrangement of the costse is nearly similar, but in our
species they are much more numerous.

In the Cotteswolds T. y.-costata has occurred very rarely in
the middle or freestone division near to Stroud, and my fi-iend
Dr. Wright has obtained two specimens in the ragstones of the
upper division near to Cheltenham.

Trigonia decorata, Lycett, n. sp. PI. XI. fig. 1.

Shell ovately trigonal, somewhat depressed ; umbones obtuse
not recurved, anterior and inferior borders rounded, posterior
border lengthened and straight ; area flattened, striated trans-
versely, ornamented with three faintly traced carinse, or rather
as many lines of closely arranged very small regular tubercles,
the inner carina having in addition at its upper part a few irre-
gular transverse plications or varices ; there is also a median

3S4 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species o/Trigonia

divisional sulcus, which passes parallel to the median row of
tubercles upon the area. The clavellated portion of the shell
has a very numerous series of rows of concentric tubercles ; the
tubercles are small near to the marginal carina, and become
larger towards the middle of the curvature ; they are distinct,
rounded, closely arranged (15 or 16 being contained in a row),
the number of rows being about twenty, the whole of which are
distinctly tuberculated ; the lines of growth upon the sides of the
shell are fine and distinct. The dimensions are equal to the
largest examples of the clavellated Trigonice.

This elegant shell is nearly allied to T. perlata, Ag., which is
an Oxford clay species ; in that shell however the umbones ai*e
more recurved, the caiinse have much larger tubercles, and the
median carina has in addition a series of transverse varices which
are absent in T. decorata. It has sometimes been mistaken for
T. clavellata, but differs from that well-known form in the fol-
lowing particulars.

The Inferior Oolite shell is less elongated, the umbones are
not recurved, the posterior border is not concave, the general
figm'e has less convexity, the area is more flattened, and the lan-
ceolate space is much smaller and not striated; the I'ows of
costaj are more numerous ; the tubercles are more numerous,
more closely arranged and less prominent. Another large cla-
vellated species, the T. muricata, Goldf., approaches more nearly
to the figure of our shell, but the Portuguese species has the area
much more narrow, the costse are less numerous, but much more
elevated, the tubercles being larger and more distantly arranged.

The figure likewise closely agrees with T. Bronnii, Ag., from
the Terraine k Chailles or Oxford clay ; but the ornamentation of
our species, both upon the area and the sides of the shell, is mox'e
minute and delicate, with more numerous rows of costae, the
caringe having no distinct elevation as in the species of Agassiz.

Trigonia decorata occurs abundantly in the Trigonia grit
throughout the Cotteswolds, but the test is very fragile, and is
difficult to detach from the hard matrix. Rodborough Hill near
Stroud has produced it in great numbers.

Trigonia gemmata, Lycett, n. sp. PI. XL fig. 8.

Shell small, ovately trigonal, excavated and somewhat rostrated
posteriorly, rounded anteriorly ; umbones obtuse, somewhat re-
curved, surface moderately convex; area narrow, transversely
striated and bounded on each side by a narrow, elevated and
striated carina, which is also gracefully curled ; costal numerous,
closely arranged, elevated, acute ; the upper third of the valves
has concentrically curved and finely tuberculated costse, those

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 235

which succeed are directed from the carina obUquely downwards ;
they are straight, are regularly and densely serrated, the spaces
between the costse forming naiTow deep grooves.

T. duplicata, Sow., approaches our shell in the general figure
and in the arrangement of the costse, but the latter costse of
T. duplicata are dichotomous and waved, the serrations being
irregular ; neither of these features are observable in our shell.

It is very rare ; the largest specimen is an inch and a quarter
in length upon the marginal carina, and an inch in the opposite
direction. I have only seen two specimens.

Near Nailsworth, in the freestone beds.

Trigonia tuberculosa, Lycett. PI. XI. fig. 9.
Trigonia tuberculosa, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 422.

Shell small, depressed, ovately trigonal; umbones recurved,
anterior and inferior borders rounded, posterior border slightly
excavated ; area small, transversely striated, the striations being
large and irregular ; marginal and inner carinse narrow, elevated
and sti'iated ; the tuberculated costse are numerous (18 in the
adult), curved concentrically with veiy densely arranged tuber-
cles ; the tubercles are rather depressed, ovate or clavate, their
longer diameter directed downwards.

A pretty little species distinguished from the young of T.
striata by the more numerous costce and by the peculiarities of
the tubercles.

It is rare ; for the present example I am indebted to the
kindness of the Rev. P. B. Brodie, who has procured several spe-
cimens in the shelly freestone of Leckhampton Hill.

Trigonia clavo-costata, Lycett. PI. XI. fig. 6.

Trigonia clavo-costata, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850,
p. 425.

Shell subtrigonal ; umbones obtuse, not recurved, anterior side
produced, its border rounded, posterior border straight, oblique
aud truncated ; area flattened, finely striated transversely and
tricarinated ; the marginal and median carinse have regular mo-
derate-sized tubercles, the inner carina has numerous transverse
plications ; the other portion of the surface is ornamented with a
few rows of concentric tubercles ; the tubercles are large, about
eight in a row, the first two or three, and the latter one or two
rows consisting of costae which are not divided into tubercles.

Compared with Trigonia decorata, it is smaller and shorter pos-
teriorly, the area has finer striations, the carinse have larger and
more distantly arranged tubercles, the concentric costse have

236 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species of Trigouia

much larger tubercles ; they are about half as numerous as in
T. decorata ; lastly, the few primal costse are smooth, in the other
species they are tuberculated.

A specimen in the cabinet of the author, and a second in that
of Dr. Wright, are the only examples with which I am acquainted ;
they are nearly of equal dimensions, and agree in all their cha-
racteristic features.

Length upon the marginal carina If inch, opposite measure-
ment \^ inch.

The building-stone of the Inferior Oolite which forms the
upper portion of its middle division is the seat of this species,
which has been obtained in the vicinity of Nailsworth.

Trigonia costata.

Trigonia costata. Lam., Sow., Zeiten, Deshayes, &c.
Typical form Costata.

Anterior border truncated ; umbones prominent, recurved ;
area slightly concave, with denticulated oblique plications, which
differ in the two valves, the area of the right valve having two,
three, or four large plications upon its anterior half, and no di-
stinct median carina ; the area of the left valve has a distinct
median carina, and four or five plications upon each side of it ; the
inner and marginal carinse are prominent and dentated, the latter
separated from the longitudinal costse by a depression ; lanceo-
late space between the inner carinse reticulated; longitudinal
costse slightly undulated, with a graceful double curvature re-
sembling an elongated letter/.

Var. 3. multicosta.

This variety is much smaller than the typical shell ; it is some-
what more depressed, its anterior border scarcely truncated, the
area more finely reticulated, the costse equal in nimiber to the
typical form, but more delicate and closely arranged ; multicosta
only attains about half the linear dimensions of the typical form ;
it has occurred only in the bed called Gryphite grit.

Var. 3. pulla. T. pullus, Sow.

This small variety occurs both in the Inferior and Great Oolite
of the Cotteswolds ; the larger specimens have a length upon the
marginal carina not exceeding 30 lines, but few specimens are
so large. The anterior border is not truncated, the carinse and
the intercarinal plications are prominent ; in the Inferior Oolite
it occurs in the freestone beds.

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 337

Var. 4. sculpta.

In dimensions this well-marked variety equals the typical form ;
in certain localities it occurs in the Gryphite grit in immense
abundance ; it is distinguished from the typical form by several
conspicuous characters ; the figure is less trigonal, the anterior
border being destitute of any truncation ; the umbones have less
prominence and are less recurved, the area is larger, flatter, it is
less concave, and occupies a much larger proportion of the sur-
face of the shell ; the marginal and inner carinas are larger, less
curved, and in common with the intercarinal plications, they are
much more strongly dentated ; owing to this prominence of the
plications the median carina is much less conspicuous, the pos-
terior half of the area is more depressed than the anterior, so
that a distinct mesial division is formed irrespective of the me-
dian carina. In the young state the median carina is distinct in
each valve, but in progress of growth that of the right valve de-
generates into one of the common oblique plications. The costse
are large and elevated, but they have not the graceful double
curvature of the typical fonn.

This variety therefore differs from the typical form in its pro-
portions, its general outline, and in the greater prominence of
its surface ornaments ; but the peculiaiity which distinguishes
the species in the character of its area is present in all the va-
rieties, and serves to separate them from all of the allied costated
forms.

Trigonia costata is stated to occur over the whole of Europe,
and there is even a presumed variety of it from Cutch, figured
and described by Mr. James Sowerby in the ' Geol. Trans.' vol. v.
2nd Ser. ; it is, however, not improbable that a fm-ther acquaint-
ance with the varieties of this shell and of allied costated species
may lead eventually to altered views, both of their stratigraphical
and geogi-aphical distribution.

The costated Trigonice from the lower Oolite of Switzerland,
figured by Agassiz under the names of T. lineolata and T. den-
ticulata, would appear from his figures and descriptions to be
distinct from T. costata ; the accuracy of the figures in the ' Pe-
trefacta ' of Goldfuss is exemplified in the fidelity with which the
artist has delineated the area of the right valve in the young spe-
cimen, although its peculiarities are not alluded to in the de-
scription ; the typical figure of Agassiz is correct, but it may as
confidently be asserted, that the figure of the right area in the
same plate has incautiously been transferred from the left valve,
or it woidd have exhibited the peculiarities upon which I have
insisted as marking the species.

238 Mr. J. Lycctt on some new species o/Trigonia

TVigonia angulata, Sow.

Trigonia angulata. Sow. Min. Con. tab. 508. fig. 1.

Trigonia clavellata. Sow. Min. Con. tab. 87, the two lower figures.

Shell elongated and rostrated, posterior border concave, ante-
rior border rounded ; umboues recurved ; area narrow, bounded
by small crenated carinse; costse narrow, closely arranged,
straight anteriorly, undulated posteriorly, where they form large
tuberculated varices, the few last varices directed downwards.
M. D'Orbigny (Prodrome de Paleontologie) considers Trigonia
undulata, Fromberg, to be only a synonym of T. angulata : in this
opinion I do not concur ; the figure of the two shells is essentially
different, T. angulata being much more elongated, and the um-
bones more recurved ; the surface ornaments of the shells like-
wise differ; those of T. angulata are remarkably constant and
invariable.

T. undulata has not been recognized in the Oolites of England ;
on the other hand, T. angulata has not been discovered upon the
continent. T. angulata has occuiTcd at many localities in the
Cotteswolds, both in the middle and upper portions of the Infe-
rior Oolite, but it is rare. The imperfect specimen of T. angu-
lata from Little Sodbury, which is given in the two lower figures
of table 87 of the ' Mineral Conchology ' as T. clavellata, has
been the source of much confusion to subsequent observers, and
has led them to catalogue clavellated specimens (usually imper-
fectly exposed) as Trigonia clavellata ; but the figure in the same
work of T. angulata is so characteristic, that it may be relied
upon when the shell itself cannot be obtained for comparison.

Trigonia duplicata, Sow.
Trigonia duplicata, Sow. Min. Con. tab. 237. figs. 4, 5.

Shell slightly rostrated, area narrow, carinse two in each valve,
small, distinct ; costse narrow, serrated, the first few concentric,
the others dii-ected downwards, for the most part bifui'cated and
slightly waved. Should the T. Proserpina of D'Orbigny prove
to be distinct from this species, it must possess peculiarities
which are not alluded to in his ' Prodrome de Paleontologie,'
where the brief description given agrees with T duplicata. M.
Agassiz (probably from an imperfect knowledge of the species)
has placed T. duplicata with the Scabrce, but the very distinct
marginal carina and the area destitute of transverse costJE clearly
remove it from that section, which fii'st appeared with the species
of the lower greensand.

T. duplicata occurs in the upper division of the Inferior Oolite
in the Cotteswolds, where the external impressions are not un-

from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 239

common, but the shell itself is rare ; it has also been found in
the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton.

Trigonia Phillipsi vav.

Triffonia Phillipsi, Mor. & Lye. Gr. Ool. Monogr. 1853, tab. 6. fig. 1 .
p. 62.

Shell ovately trigonal ; umbones submedian, obtuse, scarcely
recurved, anterior border rounded, posterior border short, trun-
cated ; marginal and inner carinse delicate, tuberculated and
small ; area narrow, flattened, striated, divided in its middle by
an oblique furrow ; sides of the valves with densely an-anged,
elevated, concentric, and finely indented or tuberculated costse.

The present variety of the Lincolnshire shell, and of which I
only know two examples, has the anterior portions of the costse
rather indistinct, and their junctions with the posterior and more
curved portions form a kind of angle.

A more detailed description will be found in the monograph
above referred to.

Trigonia signata, Ag.

Syn. Trigonia clavellata, Zeiten, Petref. Wurtemb. t. 58. fig. 3.
T. signata, Ag. Mem. sur les Trigonees, p. 48. pi. 3. fig. 8.

The most elongated and depressed of the Clavellatce ; the um-
bones are not prominent nor recurved ; the area is lengthened,
flattened, nearly smooth ; carinse nearly obsolete, rows of tuber-
culated costse numerous, directed downwards, tubercles equal,
scai'cely separated, placed upon raised costse.

Rare : position the lower or Ammonitiferous beds of the Infe-
rior Oolite near Stroud.

Trigonia striata, Sow.

Trigonia striata. Sow. Min. Con. tab. 237. fig. 1-3; Agassiz, M^m.
sur les Trigonees, pi. 4. fig. 10-12.

Shell somewhat depressed ; umbones recurved ; area flattened,
bounded by two distinct narrow finely indented carinse ; costse
raised, numerous, concentric, deeply serrated, and varying in their
number.

Trigonia Phillipsi, Mor. and Lye. Gr. Ool. Mon. would easily
be mistaken for this species, but the Lincolnshire shell is shorter,
the umbones not recurved ; the costse are much less raised, more
closely arranged, and so finely serrated as to appear smooth to
the unaided vision.

Trigonia striata ranges throughout the Inferir.- '^
Cotteswolds, and is abundant a+ t'- "

240 Mr. J. Brown on some Microscojnc Fossils

Trigonia subglobosa, Mor. & Lye.

Triyonia svbglohosa, Morris & Lycett, Gr. Ool. Monog. Biralres,
1853, tab. 5. fig. 21. p. 55.

Shell nearly circular, convex ; umbones recurved ; area small,
with three tuberculated carinse; costse large, closely arranged,
angulated, their posterior portions forming a few large perpen-
dicular varices.

It occurs in the freestone beds near Nails worth ; also in the
Great Oolite : in both formations it is somewhat rare.

XXIV. — Note on the Artesian Well at Colchester ; and Remarks
on some of the Microscopic Fossils* from the Colchester Chalk.
By John Brown, Esq., F.G.S., of Stanway.

[With two Plates.]

In 1852 an Artesian well was made at the western end of Col-
chester, Essex, on the premises of the Old Water Works. The
surface of the ground at this spot is about 60 feet below the top
of the adjoining hill, known as Balkern Hill. The red sandy
gravelf composing the chief mass of Balkern Hill has a total
thickness of about 60 feet, but at the well the gi-avel is about
6 feet thick only, with 6 feet thickness of alluvium covering it.
The boring then traversed the " London clay," 100 feet thick,
and the " Plastic clay " (" Reading and Woolwich Series " of
Mr. Prestwich), which is 30 feet thick, and then penetrated the
" Chalk with flints " to a depth of 152 feet — making altogether
a depth of 294 feet.

From the chalk brought up by the borer, numerous minute
fossils have been obtained by carefully washing the fragmentary
chalk and examining it under a lens. These consist of small
Serpulse, ossicles of Apiocrinites, and remains of Amorphozoa,
Foraminiferse, Bryozoa, and Entomostraca ; such as are usually
plentiful in and characteristic of the chalk.

Figures 8, 9, & 10 in Plate IX. are the calcified remains of
three minute species of Sponges, of the genera Tragos and Manon ;
but they are too much water-worn and mineralized for identi-
fication.

Of the Foraminiferse, A^orfos«nfl Zippei,N. limbata,Marginulina

* Mr. Rvipert Jones has kindly assisted me in drawing up the following
notes on the microscopic fossils of the Chalk.

t Some remarks on the Gravels of this district, and on their lithological

- —» iiy tjje author, may be foimd in the 'Mag. Nat. Hist.' 18.35,

'^-""t<»rlv Journal of the Geological Society,' 1852,

Jnn. & Mag. NatEist. S.2.^o\M.Ph.Vm.'^

it'ym Itatlexftk

louphjtes. Cfialli, ColcJie-stfT

Inxui iy rMiMuiuc. ToTt

Ann. & Mag. Nat.ffisi. S.2. loUI. Fl./I.

llalltLJilli

Bat. Sis.

Foramiiiifera Chalk, Colchester.

J^HTiUd. ~by W Mmkhu^f Terk.

HV

81^

from the Colchester Chalk. 241

ensis, M. elongata, M. trilobata, Frondicularia Verneuiliana, F^,
Archiaciana, Flabellina rugosa, F. cordata, Cristellaria rotulata,
Rosalina ammonoides, R. marginata, Truncatulina Beaumontiana,
Globigerina cretacea, and Bulimina variabilis are the most nume-
rous. Cristellaria rotulata is especially conspicuous in the group,
and is a species that abounds in the chalk* of every locality,
both in England and on the continent. Some of these forms
have been selected for illustration in Plate IX. The recent ana-
logues of these fossil Microzoa are exceedingly plentiful in most
seas and estuaries, their elegant little shells being easily obtained
in the sands, mud, and seaweeds. The Foraminiferse hold but a
low place in the scale of animal life, and are not far removed
from the Sponges. They are stoniachless, and consist of a
number of minute gelatinous bodies (in shape globular, disci-
form, wedgelike, &c.), arranged in a more or less regular, often
symmetrical series (straight, curved, spiral, alternate, &c.), and
coated with a thin calcareous shell, which is often perfoi-ated all
over, and always exhibits one or more large holes, through
which the gelatinous mass is protruded for the formation of a
new bud-like body, and in some cases in the form of irregular
tentacles (pseudopodia) for the purposes of attachment and loco-
motion. Certain species are characteristic of different oceanic
areas in the present day ; and the different geologic epochs have
their own peculiar forms. Exceptions to this rule exist ; some
species have a world-wide existence, and some species of the
genera Globigerina, Dentalina, Globulina, &c. have extended their
range from the chalk and tertiai'y seas to the present.

Of the remains of Bryozoa, — which are minute animals, allied
to MoUusca, inhabiting cellular cavities on small calcareous axes,
which are generally cylindrical or flattened, and form branched
or foliaceous bodies, either free or fixed to rocks, shells, seaweeds,
&c., — ^numerous fragmentary remains were obtained from the
chalk of Colchester. Owing, however, to the fragments having
been already much water-worn previously to their having been
imbedded in the chalky mud of the ancient sea, but little definite
indication of the original shape of the characteristic cell-cavities
remains, the delicate cell-mouths and their tracery having been
quite worn away. A few specimens illustrative of these forms
are shown in Plate VIII.

The Entomostraca are small bivalved Crustaceans : the valves
are generally of an oblong or oval shape, and are distinguished
one from another chiefly by the character of the hingement.

* It is also abundant in the sands of the shore at Dover (from the dis-
integrated chalk of the cliifs), in the drift of Essex, &c., and the chalk
detritus of Charing, Kent.

Ann. Ss Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 17

242 On some Microscopic Fossils from the Colchester Chalk.

Cytherella ovalis, Bairdia subdeltoidea, Cy there punctatula, and
Cythereis ciliata are those most usually met with both in the Col-
chester chalk and in the chalk of England and Europe generally.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES VIIL, IX.
Plate VIII.
The natural size of the object accompanies each specimen.

Figs. 1, 2, & 3. Dendropora ?

Fig. 4. Ceriopora ; like C. tubiporacea of Goldfiiss (Petrefact. Germ.).
Fig. 5. Melicertes7

Figs. 6 & 7- Pustulopora ; like P. {Ceriopora) madreporacea of Goldfuss
(Petrefact. Germ.).

Fig, 8. Tragos : a 8i b, the two opposite sides ; c, highly magnified por-
tion.
Fig. 9. Manon : a Si b, two views.
Fig. 10. Tragos.

All of these specimens are much worn, and do not possess suflSciently
well-preserved characters for e.^act identification.

Plate IX.
The natiu-al size of the object accompanies each specimen.

Fig. I. Nodosaria liinbatajD'Orhigny*.

Fig. 2. Marginulina ensis, Reuss (fragment) : a, b, c, d, difiierent views.

Fig. 3. elongata, D'Orb. (fragment) : a, side view ; b, the broken end.

Pig^ 4, trilobata, D'Orb. : a, side view; b, back view; c, view of the

outside of the last chamber, showing the aperture.

Fig. 5. Frondicularia Verneuiliana, D'Orb. : a, b, c, different aspects.

Fig. 6. Cristellaria rotulata, Lamarck sp.

This species was termed Lenticulites rotulata by Lamarck; it is the

Nummularia Comptoni of Sowerby. M. D'Orbigny recognized it as a Cris-
tellaria.

Fig. 7. Rosalina marginata, Reuss; upper side.

Fig. 8. Globigerina cretacea, D'Orb. : a, upper side ; b, imder side, the last
two cells each showing an aperture. The dottings on this and on
fig. 9 indicate the coarseness of the minute perforations.

Fig. 9. Truncatulina Beaumontiana, D'Orb. : a, upper side ; b, under side.

* For minute descriptions of these and other Cretaceous Foraminiferae,
consult a memoir by M. A. D'Orbigny in the 4th volume of the ' Memoirs
of the Geological Society of France ' ; and Dr. Reuss's work on the ' Fos-
sils of the Bohemian Chalk.'

An/t. & M(uf. Nat. ITist . S <' Vo]

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On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration. 243

XXV. — On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the
Structure of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals.
By Thomas Williams, M.D, Lond,, Licentiate of the Royal
College of Physicians, formerly Demonstrator on Structural
Anatomy at Guy's Hospital, and now of Swansea.

[With a Plate.]

The mechanism of breathing in the countless hosts of inverte-
brate animals which people the ocean, offers a problem which has
never yet been satisfactorily solved. The mode in which life is
sustained in those degraded forms, in which " a circulation of
blood " is not to be discovered, has long stimulated the curious
wonder of the naturalist. Fishes and Cetacea excepted, the in-
vertebrate animals constitute the entire population of the ocean.
Insects excepted, all invertebrate animals are aquatic. Hence
the wide range of interest which belongs to this subject. How
animals breathe is not second in importance to the question
how they live. Every observer studies the latter, few the former.
There are " habits " associated with the manner in which the
function of breathing is performed which are well-fitted to win
admiration. Wanting the knowledge of this process, not the
smaller half of the history of an animal remains to be acquired.

It is the aim of this memoir to demonstrate first the ana-
tomical conditions under which the office of respiration is per-
formed in the invertebrate animals, and then to study the pro-
cess itself. The anatomical conditions will prove as various as
the classes of which this subkingdom is composed. Two pri-
mary divisions of this subject demand at once to be recognised;
— 1st, that comprising those organs which adapt the animal for
atmospheric breathing; 2nd, that qualifying it to respire in
water. The latter, embracing varieties more striking and
numerous than the former division, should again be resolved into
two denominations, of which one would comprehend the me-
chanism of those organs by which the chylaqueous fluid is sub-
mitted to the agency of the aerating element, and the other,
that of those fitted to expose the true blood*.

All vertebrated animals, fishes excepted, breathe on the atmo-
spheric plan. All invertebrate animals, insects excepted, respire
on the aquatic model. The organs used in the first method are
more complex than those comprised in the second; while the
chylaqueous fluid is subjected to respiration, through the least
complexly arranged mechanisms. The simpler the fluid to be

* The author would here beg to refer the reader, for a full statement of
the grounds of this latter subdivision, to his pa])er on the Blood-proper
and Chylaqueous Fluid, &c., in the Phil. Trans., Nov. 1852.

17*

244 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

aerated, the less involved is tbe disposition of tlie solid parts
through which the exposure is effected. Elaborately vitalized
blood is circulated through respiratoiy organs of inconceivable
complexity and subdivision. The study of the mechanical
conditions of respiration should regard the fluids as well as the
solids of the structures dedicated to this function. The floating
cells of the fluids are concerned in, though not essential to the
respiratory process. The true capillary segments of the lungs of
all vertebrated animals, those of reptiles not excepted, are destitute
of vibratile cilia. The branchiae of fishes, without a single known
exception, are clad only by a now-vibratile epithelium. The
general proposition, that ciliary epithelium constitutes no part
of the active portions of the breathing organs of vertebrated
animals, rests therefore upon the stable basis of actual demonstra-
tion. This negative must be changed into an afiirmative state-
ment, with reference to the air-passages, which in the pulmonary
vertebrated series are profusely and universally ciliated. The pre-
sence of cilia on the branchial structures of invertebrated animals
is a common, but not a constant fact ; the rule without intelligible
reason is suspended in numerous instances. The operation of
cilia is therefore not indispensable to the respiratory process,
even in the invertebrate animal — not an essential constituent even
of the aquatic model. The blood of all vertebrated animals is
richly charged with corpuscular elements. It is invariably
coloured red. In the invertebrated subkingdom not one example
is known of a corpusculated red-h\ood. The blood of every
known mollusc bears floating solid elements. In every arti-
culated animal the true-blood abounds in organized corpuscles.
In every annelid, without a single known exception, the blood-
proper is perfectly destitute of morphotic elements ; it contains
no trace of visible cells. The perfect fluidity of the true-blood of
all Entozoa can also now be affirmed. Every Echinoderni is en-
dowed with an imperfect blood-system, the blood-proper bearing
cells in suspension. The chylaqueous fluid of every animal in
which it exists, is charged more or less abundantly with organized
corpuscles. The generalization is thus incontrovertibly esta-
blished, that there exists no single instance of a real animal, of
which one or other of the circulating nutritive fluids of the
organism, is not replete with morphous particles. What office,
if any, these floating solids exercise in the mechanism of the
respiratory act, it is the province of the physiologist to determine;
their microscopic chai'acters it is the duty of the anatomist to
describe.

Port/era. — In the Spongiadse, the fluids to be aerated are
contained in and between the component cells of the gelatinous
cortex. Each separate cell, like that of Amoeba, is an inde-

I

Respiration in Invertel/rate Animals. 245

pendent organism. The included fluid, moved by the slow con-
traction of the cell- membrane, is a granulated, nutritive com-
pound. That diffused between the cells, in composition,
is less removed from the standard of sea-water. The latter re-
plenishes the former. The inorganic fluid, entering from with-
out into the interior of the living-cell-tissue, carries with it in
solution a large amount of atmospheric air. In these lowly
organisms, this dissolved air probably suffices to oxygenize their
simple fluids. As the contained flmds are rapidly renewed, the
nutritive and the respiratory process come to be performed by
one and the same act. This is the history of the breathing
function in the Rhizopoda and in Actinophrys Sol, recently
described by KoUiker*. The superficies of the whole gelatinous
cortex of the sponge is overspread by a film of ciliated epithe-
lium. It has now been proved by Dr. Dobief and Mr. Bower-
bank, that the " currents " of the sponge are due to the agency
of these motive organules. These currents are simultaneously
nutritive and respiratory.

Polypifera. — Three varieties of plan, in the mechanical condi-
tions of respiration, prevail among Zoophytes : the Hydrafm'm
(PI. XII. fig. 2), the Actiniform (fig. 3), and the Asteroid polypes
(fig. 1) exemplify three minor forms of one type of structure.
In the first the space between the stomach and the outer limit
of the body (fig. 2, a) is subdivided by the intersection of delicate
tissue into areolae, iu which the fluid to be aerated is contained J.

The fluid penetrates along an axial channel to the furthest

* See Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science, Oct. 1852.

t See Annals of Anatomy and Physiology, No. 2, May 1852.

X The author has stated in the text the impression which he has derived
from numerous ohservations on the common hydra of our pools, that the
tentacles open into the perigastric areolse, as shown at (a) fig. 2, and not
into the stomach, and that they are tubular, not sohd threads, as shown at
(6) fig. 1. If, as recently stated by Prof. AUman (Proceedings of the Royal
Society, May 31st, 1853), they open directly into the stomach, the tentacles
can only be injected by the contents of the latter, and their function would
partake of a digestive as well as a respiratory character ; and further, the
digestive system of the hydra would conform with the medusan type which
is marked by the direct extension of canals from the stomach, and by the
absence of a splanchnic cavity, the stomach being merely an excavation in
the solid parenchyma of the body. The observations of Prof. Allman were
instituted on Cordylophora, a genus of Tubulariadce. According to my
researches very lately made on Tubularia indivisa and Alcyonium, the ten-
tacles are tubular and open into the perigastric chambers, which they equal
in number. From its interest, this question cannot remain long unanswered.
If in the hydraform and tubularian zoophytes the tentacles are prolongations
of the stomach, properly so called, zoophytes, as a class, might be ranged
under two leading divisions; that 1st in which the tentacles are gastric, and
2nd that in which they are perigastric prolongations. The fluids would
admit of a similar division.

246 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

ends of the tentacles : they are not perforated at their distal
extremities. In Hydra viridis aud H. fusca, by means of the
rolling granules, the fluid may be readily detected by the eye.
It cannot be renewed directly from without. It is replenished
through the walls of the stomach {b). The respiratory is here a
function distinct and separate from the digestive. A living cor-
pusculated fluid is submitted to the influence of the surrounding
medium, by aid of the tentacles. These appendages in the
hydraform zoophytes are furnished neither within nor without
with motive cilia. They maintain the flux and reflux motion of
the embraced fluid, in virtue of the contractile endowments of
their parietes. In the second variety, illustrated by the sea-ane-
mone (fig. 3, b), the open interval between the stomach and the
integuments, though partitioned by dissepiments, is very capa-
cious. The hollow axes (c) of the tentacles are continuations,
in all species, of the perigastric space. They are filled with
the same fluid as the latter. In some species of Actinia, the
tentacles are perforated at the extreme ends : Anthea Cereus is an
example. In the greater number they are csecal. The interior
of the tentacles, in common with the perigastric chambers, in all
species are richly ciliated {d) . The exterior of these appendages
in many instances is covered only by an ordinary uon-vibratile
epidermis. The chylaqueous fluid* is an inferiorly vitalized

* Under this term (see Phil. Trans. 1852), the author has ventured to
distinguish the fluid which occupies the gastric and perigastric cavities of
all animals below the Annehda. He has elsewhere endeavoured to prove
the proposition, that in all animals below the Echinoderms, it constitutes
the exclusive nutritive fluid of the organism ; that in those families, as in
Zoophytes and inferior Echinoderms, in which it is readily ejected fi'om the
body and as reaihly replaced, it is very little removed in composition from
salt water, and corpusculated only in a slight degree. It is simply al-
buminized sea water. But it has already undergone such preparation as
fits it to enter the " protean " cells of the solids. Here, as illustrated in the
examples of the Amceba and Sponge, it assumes a more highly vitahzed and
corpusculated chai-acter. It may be said that in the cells it is true blood,
in the visceral cavity chylaqueous fluid. The difficult problem of respira-
tion in the lowest forms of animal life can be solved only by determining
the real stages through which the fluids pass in the processes of animahza-
tion. If the great mass of the chylaqueous fluid contained in the polypedal
and visceral chambers consist of pure, unvitahzed, unalbuminized sea water,
then the tentacles can subserve no respiratory purpose ; since between two
fluids (that within, and the element without the tentacles), of identical com-
position and specific gravity, there can occur no interchange of gases. But
if, on the contrary, to this great reservoir of fluid be assigned the value of a
chylaqueous compound, though it may have undergone only the first and
lowest grade of assimilation, then the entire mechanism of respiration and
nutrition becomes intelligible. This argument enforces the ])hysiological
])rinciple, which, in order to demonstrate the true seat of the aerating pro-
cess, demands that the real constitution of the fluids be Jirst discovered.
In studying the nutritive and respiiatory actions in all invertebrate animals.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 247

albuminous compound. It possesses higlier organic properties in
those orders in which the tentacles are closed, than in those in
which they are open. In the former it sojourns longer in the
visceral cavdty under the influence of the Zoochemical forces.
It is in the interior of the cells of the solid structures that the
chylaqueous fluid acquires its final properties. It suflFers here
a second and higher nutritive and respiratory change, or derives
from the chylaqueous mass, still in the visceral cavity, a further
supply of oxygen. The chylaqueous fluid is aerated in two modes ;
1st, every portion of the element from without, which is admitted
into the splanchnic cavity, brings with it a fresh supply of highly
oxygenized air ; and 2nd, it exchanges its carbonic acid for the
oxygen of the surrounding element, in accordance with the prin-
ciples of ordinary aquatic breathing. It is therefore a reservoir of
richly oxygenated fluid, fitted well to impart a renewed proportion
of oxygen to the moi-e highly vitalized contents of the cells. It
is evident that it is only by a clear statement of these apparently
irrelevant particulars, that the anatomist can arm the phy-
siologist with an adequate conception of the physical conditions,
under which the respiratory function occurs in these degraded
organisms. In all actiniform polypes, the bottom of the stomach
sommunicates, by means of a sphincteric aperture, with the peri-
gastric chambers. It is by this route that the large mass of the
contents of these latter cavities are derived from without. The
contained fluid receives the fii'st impress of the vital chemistry, in
its passage over the gastric surfaces. It is then prepared to un-
dergo the respiratory changes in the visceral cavities. The pre-
ceding observations apply to the third (fig. 1) variety of plan (ex-
emplified in the Asteroid families), on which in zoophytes the
fluids are elaborated. There is little difi^erence of structure be-
tween the asteroid and helianthoid polypes. In the former the
stomach is prolonged into the axis of the polypidom (c). The
perigastric chambers [d) also communicate, but in a less direct

one fact of singular interest should be remembered, the truth of which the
author has estabhshed by numerous observations. The cells of the solid
tissues are contractile ; they contract and dilate : in the Cephalopods, the
pigmented cells of the integumentary structures exhibit this property with
remarkable distinctness. The pigment is deposited in the substance of the
cell-wall. When the cell contracts the coloiu-ed point disappears, when it
expands it assumes a conspicuous area. This is the simple explanation of
the singular power, with which the Cephalopods are gifted, of changing their
colour. It appUes also to the chameleon. But in invertebrate animals it
is not confined to the pigmented cells. It is exhibited by the non-pig-
mented cells of neaily all the structures of the body. The author has ven-
tured in this place to bring it under the attention of the physiologist, be-
cause it is unquestionably a property of great importance in the cuculation
and aeration of the fluids.

248 Dr, T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

manner than the stomach, with the channel of the stem. In these
families, the tentacles, which are evidently the continuations of
the pevigasti-ic chambers (fig. 1, a), are said to be perforate at
their distal extremities : this point requires to be confirmed. The
fluid filling the axial channel of the stem enters at the mouth of
each polype, and descends through the orifice situated at the base
of the stomach (fig. 1, c) into the polypidom. In this situation,
in a great variety of species, the motion of the corpuscles con-
tained in the fluid may be readily observed. They present all
the characters of being driven by cilia. The presence of cilia is
however controverted by some observers. From the polypidom
the fluid passes upwards into the perigastric chambers, and thence
into the tentacles in which it undergoes aei'ation. It is curious
that the corpuscles of the fluid of the stem do not pass upwards
into the tentacles. They are filtered back by the cribriform
partition, which divides the chambers around the stomach from
the axis of the polypidom. New observations ai'e required
on the whole family of the asteroid polypes, having special re-
ference, 1st, to the arrangement and existence of cilia, and 2nd,
to the distribution of the fluids.

The fluid by which the whole extent of the stem and visceral
chambers of each individual polype are distended, constitutes
one system. So rapidly is this fluid endowed with a low order
of vital properties, enabling it to fulfil its functions as an element
of nutrition, that it may be rejected en masse, to be replaced with
a fresh volume of zraorganic water. Such is the converting power
of the vital chemistry in these simple organisms. This fact
distinguishes the polype families from all other invertebrate
animals. The true character of the breathing function must
have remained beyond the reach of the physiologist, without the
knowledge of these points. They prove that the lowei- the vital
endowments of the fluids, the simpler the mechanical arrange-
ments required to efiect their aeration. In zoophytes the nutri-
tive fluid is not exclusively vitalized through the agency of floating
cells, it is vivified in part, catalytically by contact with the sur-
faces of the living solids. The moq^hotic elements, therefore,
which exist in the fluids of this group, are scanty in number, sub-
ordinate in function, and indeterminately organized. To detect
the globules in the fluid of the polypary is easy. It is more dif-
ficult to trace its progress upwards into the space which suiTounds
the stomach, and thence into the tentacles. If, as lately stated by
Prof. Allman*, the axes of the tentacles in the tubularian polypes
open directly into the stomach, and not into the space to the outside
of this organ, these appendages cannot be intended to expose the

* Proceedings of the Royal Society, May 31, 1853.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 249

chylaqueous fluid to the aerating medium. Arising out of the
roof of the stomach, as ah-eady stated, at the side of the oral orifice,
they can be injected only with the contents of the stomach, and
that periodically by muscular force. Such a mechanism, for
organs which are indubitably respiratory, is in the highest degree
improbable. The tentacles of the distended polype are filled
undoubtedly by a fluid. In this fluid no corpuscles have yet
been detected. Those observed so readily in the stem cannot be
traced upwards beyond the base of the stomach : Prof, AUman
denies even in the latter situation the existence of cilia. The
globules move, according to this observer, as "the effect of the
active processes, going on in the secreting cells of the endoderm,
— processes which can scarcely be imagined to take place without
causing local alterations in the chemical constitution of the sur-
I'ounding fluid and consequent disturbance of its stability." How-
ever these questions may eventually be determined, it is certain
that there exists in all zoophytes but one fluid system.

This fluid is compounded of the surrounding medium, whether
it be sea water or fresh, and the organic products of digestion.
By this quasi-inorganic fluid the nutritive functions of the organ-
ism are performed. In the tentacles it undergoes aeration ; in the
actiniform orders it may be collected in large quantities : it con-
tains corpuscles characteristic of species*. It affords distinct evi-
dence of the presence of albumen ; it is destitute of fibrine ; it
is the lowest example under which a living nutritive fluid occurs
in the animal kingdom, and yet the cells of the solids of zoophytes
are eminently irritable and contractile. An inverse proportion
obtains generally in this respect in invertebrate animals. The
simpler the fluids, the more irritable and contractile the solids,
the cells of the latter being larger than the corresponding parts
of vertebrated animals.

Bryozoa (fig. 4). — The marine and freshwater polyzoa are mol-
luscan in the character of their alimentary system, zoophytic in
that of the fluids. Their position in the scale must be allotted
according to the relative importance of these two systems : judged
by the fluids, they claim to rank at the summit of the zoophytic
series ; by the alimentary organs, they would constitute the first
link in the molluscan chain. The real signification of the fluids
in the Polyzoa has never been understood. A perigastric cavity
(a, b) is clearly described ; \he fluid within this cavity and its float-
ing corpuscles have been repeatedly observed, but the physio-
logical value of these parts has never been explainedf. In these

* See the author's papers on the Blood, which ai-e now in course of
pubUcation in the British and Foreign Med. Ch. Rev.

t In justification of the statements made in the text, the author would
refer to the admirable report, on the Polyzoa, by Prof. AUman, in the Trans.

250 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

animals there existsneither a heart nor a blood-proper system. The
fluids constitute an unmixed example of the chylaqueous system.
They oscillate under muscular agency in the great visceral cavity
{a,b); under the same force the fluid penetrates the tentacles which
it traverses by a flux and reflux motion. These organs are plain,
tubular appendages ; they are continuations of the visceral cavity ;
— characters which are emphatically zoophytic. The tentacles of
the Polyzoa difier from those of asteroid polypes in the presence
of vibratile cilia. They are limited to the external surface, and
arranged in a single row on either side : the interior of these
branchial tubuli is not ciliated. Thus then is defined the whole
apparatus of the chylaqueous system in this family. Hence-
forth the Polyzoa cannot be severed from the zoophytes.

Acalepha (figs. 5, 6, 7)- — The apparatus for breathing is, in
this class, of simple construction : it consists of a system of csecal
canals in direct connection with the stomach. Four types occur
— the Pulmograde, the Ciliograde, the Cirrhigrade, and the Phy-
sograde. In the first examples [Aurelia, Pelagia, Chrysaora, Rhi-
zostoma, Cassiopea and Cyaiued), the stomach is a central lobu-
lated chamber, furnished with one external orifice, the mouth,
and opening laterally into canals which reticulate at the margin
of the disc : they end csecally. In Cyaneea aurita, they are pro-
longed into the fringed appendages which depend from the cir-

of the Brit. Assoc, 1850, in which the following statements occur. " The
perigastric space and interior of the tentacula and locophore all freely
communicate with one another, and are filled with a clear fluid, in which

float numerous irregular particles of very irregular form and size That

the fluid thus contained in the perigastric space, and thence admitted into
the tentacles, consists really of water which had obtained entrance from
without, there can, I think, be little doubt ; and yet I have in vain sought
for any opening through which the external fluid can obtain admittance

into the interior The fluid which circulates in the perigastric space is

not perfectly homogeneous, and numerous corpuscles of vai-ious and irregidar
shape may be observed to float through it and be carried about by its
current. Some of these coi-puscles are perhaps spermatozoa ; others are of
no definite shape, and look like minute portions of the tissues separated by
laceration. May they not be some of the products of digestion, which have
transuded through the walls of the alimentary canal, being thus conveyed
into the only representative of a true circulation, with which these animals
present us ? " From the preceding passages it is undeniable that this ex-
cellent naturahst has not clearly seized the significance of that which he
has described so graphically. He admits that the fluid of the perigastric
cavity is the only fluid system discoverable in the organism of the polyzoon.
He disputes the organic character of the fluid, while he hints at its nutritive
properties. It is in truth a true and perfect chylaqueous system, and as
adequate as blood-proper to the wants of the living organism. In the
Polyzoa, there is discoverable no trace of a blood-proper system. They
therefore fail in one of the most essential characters of the molluscan or-
ganism — the existence of a heart and an associated circulatory system.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 251

cumference of the disc. The system of the gastro-vascular
canals (fig. 5, c, d; fig. 6, c, d; fig. 7, c, d) in the Discophorce,
forming a horizontal plane, rest in immediate contact with
the inferior surface of the disc — that is, the whole substance
of the disc intervenes between them and the upper surface :
the under surface of the disc externally, in every species, is
ciliated ; the superior is not so. The stomach and the canals
(c, d) to their remotest terminations are ciliated internally.
This fact distinguishes these canals fundamentally from blood
vessels ; they are filled with a fluid which is imperfectly vitalized,
a chylaqueous compound ; it is replete with floating organized
corpuscles. The flux and reflux motions of this fluid are excited,
partly by cilia, and partly by the rhythmic contractions of the
disc. Respiration is accomplished in two modes; partly by the
interchange of gases on the under surface between the contents
of the canals and the surrounding element, and partly by the
air suspended in the external fluid, which is admitted through
the mouth and stomach into the gastro-vascular channels directly
from without.

The basis and bulk of this fluid is composed of salt water, but
qualified by the impresses of the zoochemical influence to sustain
the life of albumen, fibrine, and to evolve definitively organized
floating corpuscles. The refuse portions of this fluid are rejected
per OS ; there is no anal outlet. The cells of the solid structures
of the Acaleph are filled with a semifluid hyaline jelly ; it is the
chylaqueous fluid in its highest grade of organization. In the
Medusa, it is to the chylaqueous fluid, what the contents of the
" protean " cells of the gelatinous cortex are to the currents of
the circumambient element, traversing the passages in the
sponge : thus, in brief, is conveyed a description of the machinery
of the respiratory process in the Acaleph ; from it the nutritive
processes cannot be distinguished. The Ciliograde family departs
from the type of the former in one particular ; there exists here
a second orifice to the digestive system (fig. 7, b). The fact alters
not the principle of the mechanism, according to which the fluids
are aerated. The gastro-vascular canals arise from the fundus of
the stomach, attain the surface, and pass in meridional series
(fig. 7,c,d) from one pole of the body to the opposite, lying im-
mediately underneath the external epidermis. Their courses are
followed externally by rows of motive cilia, or vibratoiy fringes :
all the canals peripherally terminate csecally ; they are fui'nished
on their internal surfaces with cilia. The genera Cydippe, Cestrum
and Callianira are illustrative.

In the Ciirhigrade Acalephs, the second orifice of the alimentary
apparatus disappears. The canals, filled with the chylaqueous
fluid, radiate, while they multiply in the direction of the cir-

252 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

cumference of the disc. Like those of the preceding families,
they are ciliated internally, while they are distributed in close
proximity to the under surface of the dome.

The organization of the Physograde Medusa is little under-
stood*.

It cannot be doubted, that in the fluids of the Acalephs, floating
corpuscles, from their multitude and their determinate sti'ucture,
exercise an important part. They animaUze the fluid; they
endow it with life. Directly or indirectly they develope the
proximate principles out of the inorganic elements. Both the
corpuscles and the fluid contained in the gastro-vascular canals
are nearly colourless. Here, as in many other instances amongst
the invertebrate animals, the lesson is taught, that colour has
little to do with the capability of vital fluids to absorb oxygen.
In this class, it is beyond question, that sea water is admitted
directly into those canals in which the chylaqueous fluid is con-
tained. The former is so rapidly assimilated with the latter, that
the nutritive and vital character of the compound fluid resulting
from the admixture is readily maintained at the required
standard.

It is important to remark, that in all Acalephs the gastro-
vascular canals are distributed as closely as possible to some
external surface ; in Rhizostoma to the under surface of the
dome, in Beroe in meridional lines over the globe, in other
species along the margins, &c. Such disposition has reference
to the respiratory process : vibratile cilia in general are developed
on those portions of the external surface which coincide with the
gastro-vascular canals.

Echinodermata. — In this class the same questions arise, as im-
portant preliminaries to the study of the respii'atory process,
with those as to the meaning of the fluids, which were discussed
with reference to the inferior Radiata ; — which of the three orders
of fluids, present in the oeconomy of nearly every Echinoderm,
is made the special subject of this process ? Jst, the cavity of the
body (figs. 8, 9, <:? ; fig. 10, n) {i. e. the spacious interval which
separates the digestive from the integumentary system) is filled
in all species with a fluid which the author has called the chyl-
aqueous : 2nd, the protrusile suctorial feet (PI. XII. fig. 8, g ;
fig. 9,/) are occupied by another class of fluid; this system
constitutes the water- vascular system of Tiedemann and Miiller ;
3rd, the blood-vascular system (fig. 10, y), of Tiedemann, Delle
Chiaje, Valentin, Agassiz, Dr. Sharpey and Miiller : these three
systems are defiined as severally distinct and independent, and

* See a paper in the Ann. des Sc. Nat. torn, xviii. " Sur la Structure des
Physalies et des Siphonophores," by Leuckart.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 253

their functions respectively are alleged to be distinct and inde-
pendent. In what conceivable manner is the descriptive anato-
mist to depict the breathing systems of these animals, unless by
that of first adjusting these long-controverted questions ? The
ultimate structui'e of those solid parts, on which the office of
aerating the vital fluids is represented to devolve, must be first
determined. This inquiry alone can prove to what extent, if at
all, these parts are capable of answering the purpose which they
ai"e stated to fulfil. The chylaqueous system of fluids exists in
every Echinoderm ; the water-vascular system does not exist in
every species. In the Sipuncles and the Ophiurida, it has no
place. The blood-vascular system is very imperfectly known.
Little has been done to demonstrate its presence in the asteroid
Echinoderm s, and still less in the Echinidse. Its history has
been most fully developed in the Holothuridan and Sipuncuiidan
genera.

1. The Chylaqueous System of the Echinoderms.

Is it capable of subserving a respiratory purpose ? Is it con-
stituted such that it is physiologically capable of executing this
great function ? And is it also distributed appropriately ?

The mass of fluid occupying the visceral cavity, bounded on
one side by the digestive system, on the other by the integuments,
has been described, by the classical authorities upon this subject,
as consisting purely of sea water, admitted directly from without
through the skin, for the exclusive purpose of aerating the blood-
proper, said to circulate in a capillary system of vessels wrought
in the solid parietes circumscribing the cavity. This, in succinct
expression, is the doctrine of the schools, as to the mechanism of
respiration in this interesting class of animals. It supposes the
existence of a profuse plexus of capUlary vessels carrying true-
blood, distributed over all the visceral and parietal surfaces
limiting the chamber in question. It may be at once stated, that
no approach to a demonstration of the presence of this system
has ever been made by any modern or ancient anatomist. Is it
logical to erect one hypothesis upon another ? Let facts be first
represented. In the Asteridse, Echinidse, Ophiuridse and Ophio-
comidse, the fluid contained in the peritoneal cavity has been
described by every comparative anatomist as pure unmixed sea
water. It cannot be denied that the cavity itself is the anato-
mical homologue of the real perigastric chamber of zoophytes
and of the gastro-vascular canals of Medusae. It is therefore
the anatomical locale, in which the chylaqueous fluid should
accumulate; but under what character does it occur in the
higher vermiform Echinoderms ? In the Holothuridan and
Sipuncuiidan genera (fig. 10, n), it presents itself as a chamber

254 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

filled with a chylaqueous compound, under the unquestionable
form of a thickly corpusculated milky fluid, organized in a high
degree, and oscillating as a living nutritive fluid : it is by track-
ing the chai'acters of this fluid from above downwards, that its
real signification in the inferior Echinoderms, in which it offers
the apparent properties of simple sea water, can be unerringly
ascertained. The floating corpuscles of the chylaqueous fluid of
the Sipuncles (fig. 10, h) present the features of constancy in
structure and proportion ; they are always the same in the same
species. The cephalic appendages in this genus, as well as the
whole integumentary system of the body, are organized with ex-
press reference to the exposui'e of this fluid, and this fluid exclu-
sively, to the agency of the external aerating element.

The skin 19, fenestrated (fig. 11, d, d, d), that is at regular in-
tervals the muscular layer disappears, and an interval of ellip-
tical figure, covered over only by a single layer of epidermis,
results. In the solid structures of the integuments there is no
trace whatever of a capillary vascular system to be detected. It
is a simple membrano-muscular pai'tition, intervening between
the chylaqueous fluid within and the surrounding element with-
out : it is through this veil that these two divided fluids inter-
change their dissolved gases. The tentacles present the same
precise mechanism (PI. XII. fig. 10, a & C, & 5) ; they are merely
hollow appendages, musculo-membranous, lined within and tvith-
out by a ciliated epithelium. A few proper blood vessels reach
their bases from the circular vessel ; but no trace whatever of a
vascular plexus, in the structure of these parts, can by any
manoeuvre be discovered. The inference is irresistible, that, like
the skin of every part of the body, which internally is universally
ciliated, the tentacles are designed almost exclusively as instru-
ments for the oxygenation of the chylaqueous fluid [not the blood
proper), which oscillates by a flux and reflux movement in their
hollow interior. To the genus Holothuria these observations in
every detail are strictly applicable. The tentacles, however,
though hollow membranous appendages, are furnished, in the sub-
stance of their parietes, with a few more blood-vessels : the skin
is fenestrated like that of the Sipuncles (fig. 11) ; the open cavity
of the body is occupied by a highly organized corpusculated fluid
which the solid parts just described are expressly fitted to aerate.
From its volume, its organic composition and its suspended cells,
its importance in the organism cannot be disputed. It cannot
acquire nuti-itive properties unless through the agency of oxygen.
This element can be received through no other provisions than
those exhibited by the skin and the tentacles : thus the theory
of respiration, with respect to the chylaqueous fluid, in these
superior Echinoderms is complete. Although attenuated at

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 255

regular points, with a view to approximate as closely as possible
the chylaqueous fluid to the external medium, no open perforation
anywhere exists in the tentacular or integumentary processes.
The surrounding fluid cannot therefore penetrate directly from
without into the peritoneal cavity*. It is introduced through
the mouth and the digestive system.

In the Ophiurida and Ophiocomidae, the visceral cavity is filled
with a fluid, which, though not so highly organized as that of the
preceding genera, is undoubtedly the same system : it is not so
milky in appearance ; it approaches more to that of pure salt-
water. Its floating corpuscles are far less abundant, and more
indefinitely formed ; its oscillations are ceaseless under the move-
ments of the arms and action of cilia. At the flexures of the
articulated pieces of the arms, soft, membranous, hollow processes,
opening into the peritoneal cavity, protrude.

They are designed to aerate the fluid contents of the visceral
chamber : unlike the membranous integumentary projections of
the Asteridse, they are neither ciUated within nor without. They
may be seen perfectly in the smaller species, as transparent
objects. If any vestige of a blood-proper system of vessels oc-
cupied the substance of their parietes, it could not, thus examined,
escape detection ; none such exists. Wherefore then are these
specific organs provided, if not to arterialize the great system of
fluid which penetrates into their interior ? The answer cannot
be withheld ; it is to aerate the chylaqueous fluid exclusively f.
The chylaqueous system of the Echinidse (fig. 9), comprehending
a considerable mass of fluid filling the cavity of the spherical shell
{d), has never yet been recognised by the anatomist as a vital
organic system. Thegreat authorities, Agassiz especially, formerly
quoted, state that sea water streams into the visceral cavity
through perforations in the membranous processes (fig. 9, /, /)
of the shell, especially in those under the name of branchice, which
are distributed in groups around the circumference of the oral
membranous disc. The latter are not connected with the suc-
torial or water-vascular system ; they are distended by injections
thrown into the open chamber of the shell.

They are protruded only by the force of the fluid driven into
their interior. They collapse by contractility of their parietal

* The author would again refer the reader to his recent memoir in the
Phil. Trans. (1852), for a full and complete statement of the anatomical
and experimental evidence, by which ai"e substantiated the general proposi-
tions enounced in the text.

t It will be afterwards shown, that comparative anatomy has done ab-
solutely nothing towards the demonstration of the blood system of these
Echinoderms. A cucular vessel is stated by Miiller only to surround the
mouth.

25G Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

structures. They are not perforated at their extremities {b) . They
caniwt therefore serve as open passages for the direct admission
of the external medium into the visceral cavity. They are un-
questionably in part tactile appendages. In addition to the me-
ridional rows of suctorial feet, the shell of Echirms is perforated
by numerous hollow membranous processes (fig. 9,f,f,f), lined
within and without by vibratile ciha, and penetrated exclusively by
the fluid of the visceral cavity. Like the integumentaiy strac-
tures of the higher genera, they bear no evidence whatever of
blood-vessels. These facts impel the physiologist to the adoption
of one inference. They can only subserve a respiratory purpose on
the supposition that the subject of that process is the chylaqueous
fluid. Then the conclusion cannot be evaded, that, although in
the Echinida the fluid contained in the visceral cavity may look
like simple sea water, it must be something more ; else nothing
would be signified by the express provisions supplied, to subject
it to the process of aeration. It is, in truth a dilute albuminous
solution, charged with corpuscles indeterminately organized. It
possesses a higher solvent power for oxygen than simple sea
water. It is the reservoir out of which the elements of the true
blood are drawn. Injection thrown into the hollow of the shell
of Echinus distends beautifully, in relief, numerous membranous
appendages belonging to the integumentary system. In no in-
stance whatever can di\iy perforations in the extremities of these
processes be detected. There is therefore no dii'ect evidence for
the opinion commonly entertained by the best observers of the
Echinoderms, which affirms that the external water enters imme-
diately through openings in the integuments into the peritoneal
cavity*.

The preceding questions admit of more easy and satisfactory
solution in the Asteridse than in the classes of Echinoderms
akeady reviewed. Asterias rubens is a large animal ; the fluid

* On the subject discussed in the text, Miiller, in his recent elaborate
essays on the Echinoderms, pubUshed in his ' Archiv,' offers the following
remark, which I produce in the original : — " Die baumformigen Kiemen der
Seeigel, die ausseren Kiemen Valentin's soUen an den Enden ihrer Aeste
nach Tiedemann offen sein, auch das Wasser in das Innere des Seeigels auf-
nehmen. Diese Ansicht griindet sich auf Injection rait Quecksilber nnter
gleichzeitiger Anwendung von gelindem Druck. Valentin faud diese
Organe dagegen an den peripherischen Enden geschlossen, so dass sie also
hohle Verlangerungen der Leibeshohle nach aussen dai'stellen, und die
Athemfiinction auf ihrer aussern Oberflache stattfindet. Auch ich habe
bei wiederholter microskopischer Untersuchiing dieser Theile von lebenden
Seeigeln keine Oeffnungen an den abgernndeten Enden wahrgenommen."
Miiller, however, does not explain in what manner the " Athemfimetion "
of these appendages, which he argues to be csecal, is possible. His conclu-
sions as to the imperforate character of these parts I have repeatedly con-
firmed by variously devised methods of examination.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 257

by which the visceral cavity (fig. 8, h) is filled is considerable in
volume. The whole integumentaiy structures are more readily
subjected to demonstration. Everything is favourable to a final
conclusion of the controversy which has long divided anatomists
as to the real signification of the fluid contained in the visceral
cavity : it can be placed, in several modes, beyond doubt, that
no open perforations exist in any part of the integumentary
parietes of Asterias. The membranous processes (fig. S,f,f)
openly communicating with the visceral cavity are so remarkably
elastic and protrusile, that, by means of coloured size forced
carefully into the cavity, they distended to a great distance
above the plane of the external surface. They are cacal at their
distal extremities.

This injection escapes externally only by rupture : this simple
expedient proves the csecal character of these parts ; they are not
consequently designed to admit sea water into the interior of the
body. It is perfectly easy to repeat and confirm the first obser-
vation of Dr. Sharpey, that the corpuscles of the visceral fluid
advance to the distal end of these processes, and then return
under the impulse of ciliary agency*. Although an injection so
thick as size will not escape through these membranous pro-
cesses, a thinner fluid, such as coloured water, will slowly ooze
through ; it is not therefore improbable that an interchange of
the fluids, which their attenuated parietes only divide, may to
some extent occur through endosmose. This fact, however, can-
not shake the stability of the conclusion, that anatomy does not
furnish any grounds for the belief that the fluid contained in the
peritoneal cavity is derived directly from without. The micro-
scope renders it certain that the hollow membranous processes,
filled by the fluid of the visceral cavity in Asterias, bear in the
solid substance of their parietes no trace of true blood-vessels ;
they are lined within and without by vibratile epithelium, and
composed only of interlacing elastic fibres. What conceivable
office can such organs execute, if not that of exposing the chyl-
aqueous fluid to the renovating influence of the surrounding
medium ? In Asterias this fluid approaches " simple sea water "
closely in physical properties. It is, however, in reality a dilute
albuminous, opalescent solution. It is charged scantily with

* Miiller confirins the conclusions stated in the text — " Die respirato-
rischen Rohrchen anf dem Riicken der Asterien, welche mit der Bauch-
hohle communiciren soUen zufolge der Injection von Tiedemann am Eude
oifen sein, und zum Weehsel des Wassers des Leibeshohle dienen. Nach
Ehrenberg dagegen sind die Rohrchen am Ende geschlossen, er sowohl als
Sharpey sahen die Stromungen im Innern am Ende umkehren. An jim-
gen lebenden Exemplaren des Asteracanthion violaceus sah ich dasselbe,
und es gelang mir nicht eine Oeffaung wahrzunehmen." — Anatomische
Studien iiber die Echinodermen. Miiller's Archiv, 1850.
Ann. Sx Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol.\\\. 18

358 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

imperfectly formed corpuscles always the same in the same
species.

In other species of Asteridae the membranous appendages of
the skin present other varieties in size and figure, none in cha-
racter and structure.

In Uraster papposa the membranous intervals in the calcareous
trellis are large and favourable for examination. They may be
readily seen with the naked eye in the living animal to be capable
of being bulged out under the pressure of the fluid in the visceral
chamber.

The Cribellidae present another modification of the soft part
of the integument. The skin is smoother, the membranous in-
tervals are smaller, and the membranes are less capable of pro-
trusion outwards. In every other respect they are identical with
the corresponding parts of the preceding genera. The propo-
sition may now then be finally affirmed, that in the Echino-
dermata the chylaqueous fluid [i. e. the contents of the visceral ca-
vity) is itself first aerated, and that by means of a machinery of
soft pai'ts expressly arranged with a view to this end ; and that
then it aerates the blood-proper.

3. Water-vascular and Blood-vascular Systems of the Echinoderms.
To what extent, in what manner, if at all, do these two fluid-
systems, or either of them, participate in the mechanism of the
respiratory process ? In solving the curious problem presented
by the Echinodermal organism, the highest interest attaches to
this question. Let it be first seen whether the statements of
Tiedemann, Sharpey and Miiller, that these systems are per-
fectly independent of each other and of the chylaqueous system
already described, are really founded on trustworthy demon-
stration. No anatomist up to the present time has done more
towards elucidating the anatomy of the true blood-system of the
Echinoderms than that of proving the existence of certain central
trunks only. This system has never been traced to its peripheric
distribution in any species (the Holothuridan perhaps excepted)
by any comparative anatomist. An induction is unsafe which is
grounded upon hypothesis. The theory of respiration can only
be constructed out of the materials supplied by the patient
labours of the anatomist. It does not appear that Dr. Sharpey
ever could verify the description of Tiedemann with reference to
the blood-system. The tenuity of their coats however, and pale
colour of their contents, render it extremely difficult to trace
completely the distribution of the vessels*. Miiller concurs in
the description of Tiedemann, stating that in Asterias a circular
trunk surrounds the mouth and gives ofi" branches to each ray —
* Art. Echinoderinata, by Dr. Sharpey.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 259

adding the confession, that "die Injection vom Blutgefassring
gelang nur his zum Anfang dieser Gefdsse." And this is all that
the author of this memoir has ever been able to accomplish to
prove the existence only of the central trunks. This is the sum
of the existing knowledge with reference to the blood-proper
system of the Asteridse. Of that of the Echinidse very little also
is known. Miiller describes a circular vessel embracing the
oesophagus immediately underneath the lantern; from this a
trunk proceeds coursing along the curves of the intestine, and
ending in the circulus analis. This learned anatomist observes,
" Um eine klare Vorstellung vom Hersen zu bekommen, muss
man es bei Cidaris untersuchen ; es ist bei Cidaris ein weiter,
ganz gerader Canal mit dicken weichen Wdnden *." In Cidaris
the heart is not a circular vessel, but a fusiform trunk lying pa-
rallel with the intestine. The circumference of the blood-system
in the preceding genera has never yet been brought under de-
monstration. In science negative is inferior in value to positive
proof; but at present it is only possible to declare that no care
can succeed in discovering any evidence whatever of the presence
of a blood-proper system in the solid structures of any part of
the body of the Echinoderm. The parietes of the alimentary
canal are most certainhj not ramified by blood-vessels. The soft
parts of the integumentary system are literally destitute of vas-
cular tissue. The contents of the central trunks of the blood-
system are identical in appearance with those of the visceral ca-
vity, and with those of water-vascular or suctorial system ; that
is, when the morphous elements of these three fluids are placed
in juxtaposition under the microscope, it is impossible to indi-
cate between them any difference whatever in structure or shape.
The fluids themselves are also identical in every physical appear-
ance.

The blood-vessels are internally and externally lined with cilia,
the water-vessels are so, and the visceral cavity is richly so.
T^rhat can these extraordinary facts mean ? Can they mean any
thing, but that these three systems are reciprocally coimected ?
A suspicion to this effect has been expressed by Milne-Edwards
and M. Quatrefages ; but the author claims the merit of having
first produced demonstrative facts which impart to this suspicion
a very probable character. The question admits of more confident
answer in the higher genera. The blood-vessel of the Sipuncle
may be readily exposed : it lies on the intestine in form a bright
pink thread (fig. 10, m,j) ; it exists only on one side ; it has no
discoverable correlate on the opposed side of the cylinder ; it is
filled with pink fluid, the corpuscles of which are identical un-

* Op. cit. p. 127.

18*

260 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

questionably with those floating on the fluid of the peritoneal ca-
vity. The vessel may be readily isolated and placed detachecUy
under the eye of the microscope. The blood-corpuscles while in
the vessel continue in ceaseless motion j this motion instantly
ceases upon their escape from the vessel. Vibratile cilia may be
actually seen on the internal lining membrane of the vessel :
the motion is due to their vibration. Miiller and Quatrefages
and Dr. Peters incidentally refer to this phsenomenon; by
neither of these observers has it been referred to its true cause.
In no other class of animals are the internal surfaces of true bloods
vessels lined with cilia; it is because in the Echinoderms the
blood-system is rudimentarily formed, that this aberrant phaeno-
menon is intelligible. It is in the Echinoderms that the blood-
proper system first appears in the zoological series. Nature's
first effort is imperfect ; the system is not independent of, closed
off from, the other fluid systems of the organism ; it derives its
contents from those of the visceral cavity. The water-vascular
system is exclusively locomotive and suctorial in function; it
nowhere exhibits connexion with the branchial organs. Its fluid
contents however indubitably communicate in some manner with
those of the peritoneal cavity ; the microscope proves them to
be identical. In the Holothuridan genera these admit of more
complete solution. In them the three systems exist under a
pronounced form. The blood-system is more highly developed
than in the inferior Echinoderms ; it supplies branches to the
tentacles, to the integuments, and forms a mesenteric plexus.
The cavity of the body is notwithstanding filled by a highly cor-
pusculated fluid, which penetrates into the hollow of the ten-
tacles, and comes into near contact vnth the surrounding ele-
ment through the fenestrm of the integument. In this genus
then the two fluid systems are separately submitted to the pro-
cess of aeration. The parietes of the tentacles bear a ramifica-
tion of true blood-vessels. Their hollow axes are filled with
chylaqueous fluid. But in the Holothuridse a fourth system of
fluids is superadded — that of the respiratory tree. The meaning
of the respiratory tree is even now enigmatical ; it consists of a
cjecal, subdivided tube, filled with sea water, and communicating
openly with the cloaca. It floats in the fluid of the visceral cavity.
Its parietes are not supplied by a plexiform vascular system. The
plexus formed by the blood-vessels lies in the folds of the me-
sentery, and belongs to the intestine ; it exhibits no connexion
with the respiratory tree. What then can be the signification of
this excentric and paradoxical organ ? Every comparative phy-
siologist from Tiedemann to Miiller has recognised in it a true
respiratory organ ; but in what possible manner can it accomplish
such a function ? The sea water admitted into its interior can-

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 261

not aflfect the true blood ; its parietes are not supplied by blood-
bearing plexuses. The latter are remotely situated. To what
uses then is it dedicated ? It is surrounded by^ it floats in the
mass of the chylaqueous fluid. From their relative positions, it
is manifest that the fresh sea water admitted into the respiratory
tree either itself, or the air by which it is charged, passes by en-
dosmose through the partition of the parietes, and that the chyl-
aqueous fluid in the closed visceral cavity, either itself, or the
effete gases by which it becomes impregnated, passes out into the
respiratory tree by exosmose. This is the real function of the
''respiratory tree of the Holothuria." It is an excentric appa-
ratus artfully provided, to renovate the composition and re-
plenish the volume of the chylaqueous fluid. Thus is pre-
sented a summary statement of the mechanism of respiration in
the Echinoderms.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIL

Fig. 1. Plan in outline of an Asteroid Zoophyte : a & d, visceral cavity or
space between stomach and exterior of the body in which the
chylaqueous fluid is contained ; b. shows the mode in which the
tentacles are supposed by some observers to terminate in and
open into the stomach itself; c, orifice at the bottom of stomach.

Fig. 2. Plan of Hydraform Polype : a, base of tentacle opening into the
perigastric areolse c; b, stomach.

Fig. 3. Actiniform Polype: b, visceral cavity; a, orifice at bottom com-
mimicating with this cavity ; c, tubular base of tentacle ; d, cilia
lining the interior of tentacle.

Fig. 4. Plan of a Bryozoon : a, base of tentacle communicating with the
visceral cavity b.

Fig. 5. Plan of Rhizostoma {Medusa) : 6, digestive sac ; d, c, gastro-vas-
cular canal.

Fig. 6. Horizontal plan of the same : a, centre of digestive sac b; c,d,
gastro-vascular canals.

Fig, 7. Vertical plan of a Ciliograde Medusan, Pleurobranchus : c, d, gastro-
vascular canals.

Fig, 8. Section of an arm of Asterias : a, mouth ; e, opening from mouth
into the digestive caecum b; c, its further caecal end ; h, cavity or
body filled with the chylaqueous fluid ; /,/, membranous tubulai'
and ccBcal processes (the true branchia of the Starfish).

Fig, 9. Vertical imaginary section of Echinus : a, mouth ; b, anus ; d, vis-
ceral cavity ; e, intestine ; f,f,f, hollow membranous processes —
the true branchiae of the Echinus ; g, suctorial processes.

Pig. 10. Head and neck of Sipuncle : B, transverse section of one of the
branchiae, ciliated within and without ; C, the same, viewed trans-
parently ; i, coiled intestine ; h, corpuscles of chylaqueous fluid ;
m, j, blood-vessel ; n, visceral cavity.

F^. IL A piece of the skin of Sipuncle showing the branchial fenestra
d,d,d: a, & pigmented epidermal cell in the centre of the unpig-
mented area b ; c, pigmented cells of the intervals between the
fenestrae.

[To be continued.l

262 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

XXVI. — Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon, collected during
an eight years' residence in the Island. By Edgar Leopold
Layard, C.C.S.

[Continued from p. 176.]

68. PiPRisoMA AGILE, Blyth.

I procured a single pair of these birds along the Central road,
but know nothing of their habits.

69. Orthotomus longicauda, Gmel.

Everywhere common. It builds in broad-leaved shrubs ; the
nest is generally composed of cottony fibres mingled with horse-
hair, and enclosed between two leaves whose edges are sown
together with cobweb. I once saw a nest built among the nar-
row leaves of the oleander {Nerium odorum) ; it was consti-ucted
entirely of cocoa-nut fibre, and at least a dozen leaves were drawn
into the shape of a dome, and securely stitched together, a
small entrance being left at one side. The eggs usually are from
three to five in number, of a greenish white colour, vdth reddish
quadrangular blotches at the thick end. The favourite prey of
this species is spiders, and their cheerful ciy of "pretty, pretty"
may be heard at all hours of the day among the coppices, through
which with elevated tails and abrupt jerking motions they hunt
for them.

70. Cisticola omalura, Blyth, J. A. S. xviii.

I first discovered this species in 1847 in paddy fields near
Galle, and subsequently found it sparingly about Colombo, and
abundantly in the fields of gingelle {Sesamum orientate) at Pt.
Pedro. When alarmed they drop down to the roots of the
grasses, and are flushed with difficulty. Their flight is weak, and
sustained by short jerks, and when on the wing they utter a
faint but not unpleasing chipping note.

Dr. Kelaart says of this species, that " it is found in great
abundance on Horton plains and Nuwera Elia, where they build
their nests among the long patna grasses and reeds."

71. Cisticola cuRsiTANS, Blyth.

Is much less common than the preceding, and. though found
in the same locality, it frequents trees and jungle. Dr. Kelaart
states he procured it abundantly at Trincomalie.

72. Drymoica vauda, Blyth, J. A. S. xx. 180.
Peculiar to Ceylon. Discovered by myself in 1848, and de-
scribed by Mr. Blyth in J. A. S. xviii. under the name of D.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 263

Tobusta. It frequents tufts of grass and low bushes in dry
situations. It is rather a rare bird, and feeds on small insects
of aE kinds, which it seeks amid the bushes. It generally hunts
in small parties, and traverses the branches up and down in a
similar manner to O. longicauda. The iris is a light red-brown.

73. Drymoica inornata, Sykes.

Is common about marshes ; it builds among reeds, the tops of
which it draws together into a dome over the nest. The eggs,
generally four in number, are verditer with purplish blotches
and wavy lines which increase in density at the obtuse end.

74. Prinia socialis, Sykes.

I obtained this species at Pt. Pedro in the fine grain fields ; in
habits it resembles C. omalura.

75. Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth.

Mr. Blyth identifies our Ceylon bird with this species, but it
is a distinctly marked variety with a faint greenish shade upon
all its plumage. It is not uncommon, widely distributed, and to
the best of my knowledge, migratory.

76. Phyllopneuste nitidus, Blyth, J. A. S. xii. 965.

Migratory ; appearing in Colombo in October, and frequenting
all kinds of jungle. Its iris is dark hair-brown.

77. Phyllopneuste montanus, Blyth.

Mr. Blyth, in his Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, gives the Himalayas as the habitat of
this species ; I procured it on the low plains of Pt. Pedro, where
also another Himalayan bird, Lanius erythronotus, Vigors, is
common. The present species is migratory, and abounds in low
thick bushes in company with

78. Phyllopneuste viridanus, Blyth.
The irides of both are dark hair-brown.

79. CopsYCHUs saularis, Linn. Polichia, Cing. Caravy coo-
roovi, Mai. ; lit. Charcoal Bird.
This familiar household bird is called the " Magpie Robin " by
Em'opeans, and the natives regard it with as much interest as we
do our own red-breasted favourite, of which it is the Eastern repre-
sentative. It is seldom seen away from habitations, about which
it usually builds, though the nest is often placed in a thick bush

264 Mr. B. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceyloti:'

or hollow tree. The eggs, commonly four in number, ate*'
bright blue, thickly spotted with brown at the obtuse end. The
food is insects of all kinds, and in all stages, captured on the
ground and on trees. They have a variety of notes, and the
song poured out in the fulness of their joy in the pairing season
is very pleasing. On the top of a towering cotton-tree, opposite
my last residence in Colombo, a magpie robin daily for some
weeks charmed me with his song, whilst his mate sat brooding
her eggs, or callow nestlings, in the roof of a native hut beneath
him. One morning, after the young had left their cradle and be-
taken themselves to the neighbouring compounds, I was attracted
by cries of distress from various birds and squirrels, and above
all I heard the seemingly plaintive mewing of a cat. 1 had no
living specimen of the last in my museum, so wondering what
could be the matter, went into my garden to see. I found the
mewing proceeded from my friends the robins, who were furiously
attacking something in a bush, whilst the birds and squirrels
screamed iia concert. There 1 found one of the young robins,
whose plumage by the way at that early age much resembles
that of the European bird, being brown speckled with yellow,
caught as I thought in the tendrils of a creeper ; I put out my
hand to release it, when to my surprise I saw the glittering eyes
of the green whip snake {Trimesurus viridis, Lacep.), in whose
fangs the bird was struggling. I seized the reptile by the neck
and rescued the bird, but too late ; it lay panting in my hand for
a few moments, then fluttered and died. On skinning it I found
no wound, except on the outer joint of the wing by which it had
been seized, and am confident that fear alone deprived it of life.
A favourite attitude of this species is standing, with the tail
elevated over the back, either perpendicularly or thrown so much
forward as to nearly touch the head, the wings drooping; in this
position they only utter a low note. Swainson has described as
Gryllivora rosea a bird of this species ; it is probably nothing
more than one whose feathers were stained by the dust of om- red
kabook soil. During the long diy season some of our birds be-
come 80 discoloured with this that they are useless as specimens.

80. COPSYCHUS MACROURUS, Gmel,

The first time that I fell in with this exquisite songster will
ever be impressed on my memory as connected with the
beauties of tropical sceneiy. I amved at Kandy one evening,
and started the next morning collecting, and by chance took the
road round the hill at the back of the Pavilion, called '*'Lady
Horton's Walk." A few birds, which though common there,
were rare in the Southern Province, had rewarded my labour.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 26&

The morning air was deliciously cool and bracing, both from the;
altitude and a shower of rain that had>fallen over night, and 1
walked joyously along, deUghted with my birds, and the luxuriant
vegetation around me ; at length under a bank I saw a fine shell,
then new to my collection ; my attention was thus confined to
the side of the road in hopes of finding another, and uncon-
sciously I reached a bend at the summit of the hill. Here a
singular scene presented itself. I stood on the edge of an
abrupt descent ; at the bottom of this, stretched like an ocean, lay
a thick fog bank, thi-ough which the tops of some lofty cocoa-
nut trees here and there appeared, like beacons marking the site
of submerged villages ; all was silent, save that the occasional
voice of some denizen of the grove showed that the feathered
tribes were awakening. Suddenly the sun broke forth in its
splendour, and with it a light breeze sprung up, the fog seemed
endued with life, and heaved and rolled in noble masses ; pre-
sently it rose a little and moved away down the valley melted
into air, and a glorious landscape burst upon me. Below,
meandering hke a silver ribbon through the rich green patnas,
wound the Mahavilla Ganga ; here brawling over rocks, it fell in
mimic cascades whitening the surface with foam, or flowing
stUly, its darkness betrayed its depths. Far away stretched a
noble expanse of patna, broken occasionally by belts of forest,
and dotted with small clumps or isolated trees, till it was bounded
by a lofty range of mountains, whose tops glowed in the light of
the morning sun as if bathed in flame. Behind me and on the
ledge where I stood, some gigantic forest trees reared their heads,
their aged trunks covered with ferns and air plants. Imme-
diately below my feet, reaching to the river, stretched a dense
mass of foliage, relieved here and there by the graceful feathery
branches of the areka or jaggery palm, or the vast leaves of the
talipat. All nature seemed to awake — the woodlands resounded
with the cooing of doves and the voices of hidden songsters.
The green and yeUow and red lizards [Calotes viridis and versi'
color) crept up the topmost sprays of the bushes and sunned
themselves, while the heavy flight of the gorgeous black and
yellow butterfly {Papilio darsius), dipping into the mingled
flowers which tempted it, contrasted pleasingly with the light
and airy floating of the sombre-hued sylph butterfly {Hestia
hyblea). I gazed with delight upon a scene so fair and so con-
genial to the eye of a field naturalist, till, unpleasantly re-
minded by a sharp pricking about my legs, that I stood too
near the grassy margin of the road and was in the midst of land
leeches, who delight in blood and not in scenery, I was covered
with them, having forgotten my leech gaiters, and had no re-
source but to retreat to a lai-ge stone, and pick them off as well

266 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

as I could. So employed, I remarked that one of the songs
which so charmed me was new ; it came from a dark part of the
jungle, and regardless of the tormenting leeches, I crept in on
hands and knees, and peering about discovered a lovely bird,
with two long and broad tad-feathers, piping most sweetly.
Poor thing ! its melody caused its destruction, and as its bright
eye became dim, I thought there were many kinds of blood-seek-
ing land leeches in this world.

Often since, but only in dense jungles and at early morn, or
amid the lengthening shadows of evening, have I heard the clear
note of the Copsychus, and that lovely scene has recurred to me
in vivid distinctness.

81. Pratincola caprata, Blyth.

I procured specimens of this bird at Ambegamoa, and Dr. Ke-
laart includes it in his list as " found in the lower parts of the
Kandian country."

82. Pratincola atrata, Kelaart.

Of this species Dr. Kelaart writes, — " Confined to the high-
lands ; we have not met with it on lower hdls than Rambodde.
It is veiy numerous on the plains of Nuwera Elia, sometimes
seen in pairs and often singly. The male bird perches on a twig
of a small plant, or on a reed, and the female on the ground not
far off; but rarely more than two or three pairs are seen in the
same locality. They frequent gardens and flower-beds in search
of insects."

I procured a pair at the foot of Adam's Peak.

83. Calliope cyana, Blyth.

A few specimens procured at Pt. Pedro, in passage, about the
middle of October 1851.

84. Thamnobia fulicata, Linn. Gary cooroovi, Mai. ; lit. Black
Bird.

This is another of our household favourites, frequenting equally
the Governor's palace and the native hut. It is never seen in the
unfrequented jungle, but like the cocoa-nut tree, which the Cin-
galese assert will only flourish within the sound of the human
voice, is found about the habitation of man. It feeds on in-
sects of all kinds, and like its congener the magpie robin, sits
mvich upon house-tops or fences, with its tail elevated, and utters
a pleasing song. I have procured their nests, which are composed
of hair, mosses and dry grasses, in the months of June and July

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 267

in Colombo, in December and April in the north. The eggs are
from three to five in number.

85. Cyanecula suecica, Linn.

I procured a few specimens at Ambegamoa in the month of
March, but have not seen them elsewhere,

86. Sylvia apfinis, Blyth.

I noticed a few of this species at Ambegamoa in the year
1848, but I never afterwards met with it.

87. Parus cinereus, Vieill.

This titmouse is not uncommon throughout the island; its
habits resemble those of our own well-known bird, hunting in
small parties, and flitting from tree to tree.

88. ZosTEROPS palpebrosus, Temm.

The "white eye" is common in the southern and midland
districts, but rare towards the north. It is usually found in
small parties creeping about blossoming trees, examining the
flowers where it finds its food. It builds a cup nest fixed in the
fork of two branches.

Dr. Kelaart includes —

89. ZosTEROPS ANNULOSus, Swains.,

among the birds he procured in the hills, but writes, '' We fear
that the Nuwera Elia Zosterops is wrongly identified. It is of a
darker green than the common Z. palpebrosus." I however
much doubt the distinctness of this and the preceding, and also
of the two succeeding species.

90. loRA Ze YLANiCA, Gmel. Kirikahaye and Ca-cooroolla, Cing. ',
lit. Yellow Bird (being also the native designation of the
two preceding species). Mam-palla-cooroovi, Mai.; lit.
Mango Fruit Bird, from its colour.

Is extremely abundant, generally found in pairs creeping about
trees. The note of this pretty little bird is a clear bell-like
whistle, which may be imitated on an octave flute.

91. loRA Typhia, Linn.

If this is really distinct from /. Zeylanica, we also have it,
and in the same localities.

268 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

92. MoTACiLLA BOARULA, Linn.

Of this I have seen but two specimens, and those I shot oflF
the summit of an American cork-wood tree, in the Botanical
Garden at Kew, on the Colombo Lake. However, Dr. Kelaart
writes, " that it is generally seen on the highland patnas."

93. MoTACiLLA Indica, Gmcl. Gomarita, Cing. ; lit. Dung-
spreader.

This elegant httle bird is frequently met with in shady places
where cattle have been. They scratch among the ordure in
search of the larvae of insects, hence their native name. Migratory.

94. MoTACiLLA Madraspatana, Briss.

I detected a single specimen in a collection of birds formed
by F. W. Gisburne, Esq., C.C.S., in the Jaffna Peninsula. I
do not know the exact locality where it was killed, but believe
it to have been in the island of Valenny. ».«

.:."'.)
95. BUDYTES VIRIDIS, Scop. •;

Common on all open grass land, either in the mountainous oi*
lowland districts. It is migratory, visiting us about the end of
October and staying till May.

96. Anthus Richardi, Temm. Pullu puraki, Mai. j lit. Worm
Picker, — a name common to all the genus and to the
Alaudina.
Common and widely distributed, affecting low pasture lands.
They rise in the air to a slight altitude, and sing like the Euro-
pean skylark (but not so sweetly) and return to perch on low
bushes. In common with all our Pipits, they feed on small
grubs and worms.

97. Anthus rufulus, Vieill.
Is far more abundant than the last and is found in large open
plains, whilst A. Richardi prefers the vicinity of trees. It breeds
in May, in a small depression of the soil or tuft of grass, slightly
lined with dead fibres ; the eggs, usually five in number, are of a
verditer ground, freckled with minute brown spots.

98. Anthus striolatus, Blyth, J. A. S. xvi. 435.

According to Dr. Kelaart is very common at Nuwera Elia. I
obtained a few specimens at Gillymally, on the lovely open plain
where the village is situated.

Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 269

99. Brachypteryx Palliseri, Kelaart.

One of the novelties added by Dr. Kelaart to our Ceylon
fauna ; he obtained it at Nuwera Elia and Dimboola ; it is
however rare.

,^ 100. Drymocataphus fuscocapillus, Blyth.

This genus was established by my friend Mr. Blyth for the
reception of a small bird, of which but two specimens fell under
my notice. One I killed with a blow-pipe, in my garden in
Colombo, the other I shot in the Central road ; their stomachs
contained insects. The birds crept about bushes and shrubs
like Dumetia albogularis. Mr. Blyth^s description and remarks
are as follows : " Like Dr. nigrocapitatus, but the supercilia, uni-
form with the lores ; ear-coverts, sides of neck, throat, and
entire under-parts, pale ferruginous brown, a little deeper on the
breast ; coronal feathers dark brown, margined with dusky black
and pale striped, rest of the upper parts uniform grayish olive-
brown ; the primaries margined paler and the extreme tips of
the tail-feathers rufescent ; bill pale, the upper mandible dusky ;
feet pale. Length about 6^^ in., the wing 2^ in., and tail 2^ in. ;
bill to gape -ff in., and tarsi 1 in."

101. Alcippe nigrifrons, Blyth.

i'eculiar to Ceylon and widely distributed. I discovered it in
1848. It frequents low impenetrable thickets, and its curious
note often betrays its propinquity, when itself is closely hid.
The irides are pale straw colour, and an egg which I took from
the abdomen of the bird in the month of June was pinkish,
spotted with dark purple.

Of this species Mr. Blyth says, " Closely affined to A. atriceps,
Jerdon, from which it differs in not having the whole crown
black, but only the forehead continued as a line backward over
each eye and the ear-coverts. The tail also is darker and
distinctly rayed with dusky black. General hue fulvous brown
above and on the flanks and lower tail-coverts ; rest of the under
parts pure white, the axillaries tinged with rufescent. Wing
2^ in."

102. Pitta brachyura, Jerd. Tota collan, Mai. ; lit. Garden
Thief. Avitchla, Cing., from its cry, which the syllables
pronounced slowly and distinctly, thus A-vitch-t-a, much
resemble.

This lovely ant thrush is very common, but more often seen
than heard. It is wary and shy in its habits, and frequents

270 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon.

tangled brakes and the ill-kept native gardens. It preys much
upon ants and resorts to the same hill for days together. It
seldom alights on trees, only perhaps when alarmed, but keeps
exclusively to the ground, or to the lovpest branches of the un-
derwood. It is migratorial, preceding the snipe in its arrival
and departure. .[

103. Oreocincla spiloptera. Val-avitchla, Cing. ; lit. Wild
Avitchl. Blyth, J. A. S. xvi. 142.

Peculiar to Ceylon and only found in the hilly zone, affecting
high trees. I procured a specimen or two, both at Ambegamoa
and Gillymally. Dr. Kelaart does not appear to have met with
it at Nuwera Elia, for though he includes it in his catalogue, he
does so on the authority of Mr. Blyth. Dr. Templeton discovered
this species.

104. Merula Wardii, Jerdon,

and

105. Merula Kinnissii, Kelaart.

Neither of these have fallen under my immediate notice.
Dr. Kelaart procured the first at Dimboola and the second nu-
merously at Nuwera Elia. Mr. Mitford shot one (the only animal
life he saw there) at the very summit of Adam's Peak, feeding
on the crumbs of rice thrown out by the pilgrims as an offering
to Buddha ; and when Mr. Thwaites, the Superintendent of the
Botanical Gardens, botanized on the Peak, he also saw a bird
there, though it was much too soon for the pious offerings.
Male jet-black, with orange- coloured legs, bill, and cere sur-
rounding the eye. Female ashy ; bill and feet yellow. Length
9 in. ; of wing 4i in. ; tail 4 in. ; bill to gape 1^ in. ; tarsi 1^ in.

106. Garrula cinereifrons, Blyth.

Another addition to our fauna by Dr. Kelaart. I do not know
where he found it, but I obtained several specimens along the
banks of the Calloo Ganga, about forty miles inland from Cal-
tura, and one at Pallabaddoola, close to the source of the river in
the Peak range. In habits it much resembles the Malacocerci,
hunting in small parties and incessantly calling to each other.
In the stomachs of those I examined were grubs, small snails,
coleoptera and seeds. Affined to G. Delesserti of the Nilgiris,
but differing much in its colouring. General hue a rich brown
above, much paler below ; forehead and cheeks pure ashy ; chin
and borders of the outer primaries albescent ; bill blackish ; legs
dusky corneous. Length 8i in. ; of wing 4i in. ; tail 4 in., the
outermost feathers 1^ in. less; bill to gape \\ in. ; tarsi 1^ in-

Mr. E. L. Layard on t/ie Ornithology of Ceylon. 271

107. POMATORHINUS MELANURUS, Blyth, J. A. S. xvi. 451.

I long considered this one of our rarest birds, and had but a
single specimen which I obtained from a native. However, going
on duty, a few miles from Colombo, on the road to Kandy, in the
low, scrubby and almost impenetrable brushwood, growing on
the chenas which had fallen out of cultivation, I found these
birds in abundance in small parties of six or eight, their singular
churring cry resounding in all directions. I also found it in the
Balcadua Pass, and Dr. Kelaart at Nuwera Elia. They creep
about bushes like the Certhiadce, and feed on insects.

108. Malacocercus grisetjs, Gmel.
Included by Dr. Kelaart in his list, sed non vidi.

109. Malacocercus Bengalensts, Briss. M. striatus, Swains.
Demalichia, Cing. Punil, Mai. Pastru hragaru, Port.
Mud Bird, Enghsh.

This is one of our commonest birds, frequenting the road-
sides and scratching among fallen leaves and the ordure of
animals for its insect prey. They are always seen in small parties
varying from three to seven, according to the number of young
ones in a nest, which seem to remain with their parents until
the period of incubation again commences, when they separate
to form families of their own. When alarmed an old bird utters a
piping note, making several prodigious hops, and takes to flight \
his example is followed by all the rest in succession, and the
whole party wing their way in a long file, alternately beating
the air with heavy strokes, or sailing along on their rounded
wings to a place of safety. Their nest is composed of fibres
(generally those of the cocoa-nut husk), and placed in low bushes.
So loosely is the structure put together that the eggs are plainly
visible through it ; they are of a perfect oblong and of a lovely
blue verditer colour.

110. Malacocercus rufescens, Blyth, J. A. S. xvi. 453.
Kalaparandal, Cing.

This new species of Malacocercus was discovered by Dr. Tem-
pleton, R.A., and described loc. cit. It is peculiar to the island
and confined to the southern and midland districts, in thick
jungle only. In habits it resembles the preceding species, but
conceals its nest with so much care, that I never succeeded in
obtaining information about it, even from the natives. The iris
is white, and the cere round the eye, of the bill and of the legs,
is a bright orange-yellow.

272 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Lias at Fretherne near Neumham,

111. DuMETiA ALBOGULARis, Blyth, J. A. S. xvi. 453.

Confined to the vicinity of Colombo and not uncommon ; it is
generally found in small flocks about the cinnamon and other
low bushes, creeping about in search of insects.

112. Chrysomma Sinense, Lath.

This bird, or a pale variety, is not unfrequent near Caltura
and in the Pasdoom Corle. I also observed a few specimens in
the Anarajahpoora Wanny.

It hunts in small flocks about low bushes.

[To be continued.]

XXVll. — Remarks on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham, and
Purton near Sharpness ,- with an Account of some new Forami-
nifera discovered there ; and on certain Pleistocene Deposits in
the Vale of Gloucester. By the Rev. P. B. Bkodie, M.A.,
F.G.S.*

I AM afraid that the few observations I have to ofier on the
strata and fossils at Fretherne Cliff" will present little novelty or
importance ; still there are a few points of interest to which I
wish to draw the attention of our Members, and which seem to
deserve a short notice. The Lias here rises in the shape of a
low cliff at the end of a round hill between Saul and Arlingham.
You are aware that the Severn in its course below Longney
makes a great curve, so that the low lands in this district are
bounded on three sides by the river, but the generally flat aspect
of the scenery is reheved by the picturesque and bold outlines of
the Oolitic hills on the east and south-east, and the Palaeozoic
system of May Hill and the Forest of Dean on the west and north-
west. There are several cliffs on the banks of the Severn where
the Lias is exposed between Gloucester and Aust Passage. West-
bury is, I believe, the first of these below Gloucester, which I
have already described (Fossil Insects, p. 58), but most of them
exhibit the lowest beds of the Lias resting on the Red Marl, and
contain a peculiar and on the whole distinct assemblage of or-
ganic remains. To this Fretherne and Purton form an excep-
tion, as the small sections exposed there consist of the lower Lias
overlying the " Ostrea bed," equivalent to certain other portions
of the series in the Vale of Gloucester, as at Hatherly, the Leigh,
Piffs Elm, Hardwicke, &c. The upper part of the former cliff
is composed of several layers of grayish white and blue lime-

* Read to the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club (Meeting at Sharpness),
May 3, 1853.

jwAjwnV ^^^ m Account of some new Foraminifera. 273

stoDie, often nodular, divided by clay ; and contains numerous
fossils, viz. the characteristic Gryphtea incurva, Lima gigantea,
Gervillia, Avicula, Pecten, Nautiltis, Ammonites, spines and plates
of Echinoderms, and a few other shells. The lower bands pre-
sent the usual alternations of blue limestone and shales, which
are often loaded with broken joints of Pentacrinites, amongst
which a few heads of the rarer Pentacrinites tubereulatus (Miller)
have been met with. This cliff, however, is particularly interesting,
from the occurrence of a new and fine species of the Brachiopod*,
Orbicula Townshendi (named after the discoverer), and one of
the Foraminifera which I lately found, and which Mr. Rupert
Jones believes will prove to be a true Nummulitef. They occur
in a particular part of the cliff near the centre, and seem to be
confined to one or two bands of limestone, the weathered sur-
faces of which occasionally are covered with them, though,
from the highly crystalline state in which these mimute fossils
are preserved, it is extremely difficult to make out their in-
ternal structure. This is the first occurrence of this genus
in England in any stratum older than the Eocene (Tertiary)
group, and was hitherto supposed to be confined to the Tertiary
series. Ehrenberg proved long ago that many of these minute
organisms among the Foraminifera (which form so important a
part in the composition of many rocks), from the Chalk upwards,
had continued to exist even to the present day, while the con-
temporary forms of a higher order had become extinct, and we
may therefore feel less surprise at the presence of a true Num-
mulite even so low down in the secondary series as the Lias,
although we have no trace of the same genus again until a com-
paratively recent epoch, a wide interval of time having elapsed
between its supposed first creation and its reappearance in pro-
fusion in the Tertiary series. So abundant are some of these
fossils in some places abroad, that vast masses of tertiary limestone
are entii-ely composed of them, and in the Lias at Fretherne they
are generally grouped together in masses.

M. Bouvigny has lately described and figured a Nummulite%
from certain Jui-assic strata on the continent, namely the lower
marls belonging to the calcaire a Astartes, which occurs between
the Kimmeridge Clay and the Coral Rag. I had previously

* Mr. C . Moore has lately found several new species of Brachiopoda in the
upper Lias in Somersetshiie, and one very curious shell which he thinks
may belong to a new genus, having two bosses at the side. Deslongchamps
has also detected several new forms belonging to this order in the upper
Lias of Normandy, amongst which is a Leptana of large size ; all those pre-
viously discovered by Mr. Moore near Ilminster being extremely minute.
See Mr. Davidson's Monograph : Palseontographical Society.

t See Mr. Jones's Note, infra.

X Nummulina Humbertina : see Geol. statistique, miner, et paleont. de la
Meuse ; Atlas, p. 47. pi. 31. f. 32-35.

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 19

274 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnkam,

obsei'ved similar forms in the Lias near Down Hatherley, but
was ignorant of their true characters, for which palseontologists
are indebted to the investigations of the able Assistant Secretary
of the Geological Society, Mr. T. R. Jones, who has already
described new and interesting species of Foi-aminifera from
various deposits. My friend Mr. C. Moore of Ilminster, a zealous
and able collector and a good naturalist, informs me that although
he has detected ffti/ new species of Foraminifera in the upper
Lias and Marlstone of Somersetshire, he has never yet ob-
served a Nummulite. The section at Purton is very small, but
fossils are most abundant ; it appears to be a litile higher in the
sei'ies than Fi'etherne Cliff, and is composed of clay and shale,
in which are imbedded rounded blocks and nodules of blue
limestone. Gryphcea Macullochii is very abundant, with Pleuror
tomaria Anglica, Ammonites Bucklandi (a fine specimen of which
was discovered by Lord Ducie), a few of the Nummulites above
referred to, and two other new and interesting species of Forami*
nifera. Some slabs of limestone are covered with many species of
minute Univalves. It is at this spot that the Lias is succeeded by
the Upper Ludlow rocks, which crop out on the banks of the
Severn a little further to the west. 1 confess I have a great affec-
tion for the muddy Lias, as I am indebted to it for a rich store of
insect remains. When I first came into this district, now twelve
years ago, I carefully examined some of the beds of the lower Lias,
belonging to the middle part of the formation in the neighbour-
hood of Gloucester, without success, and I was struck with the
paucity of organic remains (which certainly are not numerous),
although I have since then obtained a few rare and interesting
fossils in them, especially elytra of Coleoptera, about three species
of Corals, and Foraminifera having the appearance oi Nummulites.
After a time I visited Wainlode Cliff, where the basement beds of
the I>ias are exposed in a fine section resting on the Red Marl.
There for the first time I discovered several wings and small
wing-covers of Beetles in fallen fragments of limestone, which
led me to search more closely, and the result has been a fine
collection of wings, elytra, and a few entire insects from this
division of the Lias, not only in Gloucestershire, but in Somer-
setshire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire, where these insect
beds are more or less extensively developed, and present many
features of novelty and interest.

I subjoin a Note with which Mr. R. Jones has lately favoured
me, since his renewed examination of these little fossils.

My dear Sir,
The following are the characters of the minute bodies in the
Fretherne limestone, as far as I have been enabled to work

vnth an Account of some new Foraminifera. 275

them out. They are discoidal, convex on both sides equally,
-^^ inch in diameter, and -^-^ inch thick in the centre. The
surface is very coarsely granulated, excepting a narrow out-
side border on each face and the edge, which parts are but
slightly roughened. The granulation in some specimens follows
irregular wavy lines from the centre of the disc towards the
border ; in others it is arranged somewhat spirally around the
centre ; more generally, however, it covers the central space
thickly and irregularly. Between the smooth border and the
granulated central part is a slight, narrow depression, which is
stronger in some specimens than in others. The edge is rather
obtuse.

When sections and transparent slices of these little bodies are
examined, the whole body is seen to be coarsely crystalline ; but
by means of lenses of different powers and under a strong micro-
scope several important indications of structure may be recog-
nized. The horizontal sections exhibit internal spiral walls (which
are not, however, in the specimens I have yet manipulated, trace-
able to the very centre), together with short, straight, cross
septa, which latter are very visible in a weather-worn specimen
from Purton. In the vertical sections are seen, on each side of
the median line, the vertical tapering " columns " (originating
in the local difference of structure in the shell tissue), character-
istic of the Nummulite group, and traces of the central hori-
zontal row of chambers. A line of fracture traverses this series
of chambers, and sometimes brownish patches stain the calc-spar
along this line ; but the shape of these chambers is not satisfac-
torily shown.

I have not yet been able to recognize the apertures of con-
nexion between the chambers nor the aperture of the last outer
chamber.

The horizontal median line of chambers, spirally arranged, the
vertical " columns," and the supei-ficial granulations (which are
continuous with the internal " columns ") are characteristic of
the true Nummulite ; but unfortunately we do not know whether
the position of the apertures of the cells in this little fossil cor-
responds with that in the genus just referred to. Provisionally,
however, it may be regarded as a Nummulite ; and, should you
see no objection, it may be termed Nummulites ? liassicus.

This form essentially differs from M. Bouvigny's NummuUna
Humbertina, especially in external character and in size.

The three Stichostegian Foraminifers from Purton are Denta-
lince, belonging to two species. In shape one of them is some-
thing like D. pauper ata (D^Orbigny), and the other approaches
D. Lorneiana (D'Orbigny). To describe and name these fossils
without figures would not be advisable.

19*

276 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Lias at Fretherne Tiear Newnham,

I may here add, that some years since I obtained from a spe-
cimen of Lias clay from Gloucestershire some minute fossils
which may be enumerated with the above, viz. a Cristellaria and
a Vaginulina, which were associated with the Spirillina infima
and a few Cytheres.

I am, dear Sir, yours very truly,

T. Rupert Jones.
The Rev. P. B. Brodie, A.M., F.G.S. ^c.

Sept. 21, 1853.

I miist now draw your attention to certain gravel beds round
Gloucester, which have not been sufficiently or accurately ex-
amined, and which I hope some of our Members will shortly un-
dertake to do. They are evidently of different age ; one of the
most recent appears to be the alluvial deposits on the banks of
the Severn, of which the following section in descending order
affords an example, and was given me by Mr. Edwards, one of
the engineers of the Gloucester and Chepstow Railway.

ft in.

Soil 1

Sand and red clay 10 8

Light blue clay 13 .9

Peat 2

Red sandy clay 4

Brown sand 1 10

Rough gravel 7 8

Sand and gravel 2

Fine gravel 5 10

Hard blue marl 2 3

Total 51

The above section was taken close to the Severn at Westgate
(Over) Bridge. No shells are mentioned, but the thickness of the
deposit is worthy of notice. The gravel round Gloucester is
mainly composed of rolled fragments of Oolite and debris of
Lias, and was evidently derived from the Inferior Oolite and
Lias adjacent. Some pretty Oolitic Corals may be found in it,
and occasionally bones and teeth of Elephant, Horse and Deer,
but these are very scarce. During the excavations for the Great
Western Railway at Stroud, many fine remains of Elephant, Rhi-
noceroS; Horse, Deer, and Ox were procured from the gravel, and
several of these are now in the collection of our friend and col-
league Professor Buckman. The summit of Wainlode Hill is
capped by a bed of pebbles called the Northern Drift, and is
chiefly made up of rolled and rounded pebbles of ancient rocks

with an Account of some new Foraminife7-a. 277

and some flints, which have travelled from the north and north-
east.

Another and veiy interesting deposit of gravel occurs in the
neighbourhood of Westbury, which clearly owes its origin to the
destruction of the Old Red Sandstone in the forest, and of the
Silurian rocks of Huntley, May Hill, and Longhope adjoining.
Among other things it contains many beautiful Corals from the
Wenlock limestone. I had hoped to have been able to have in-
vestigated the Pleistocene formation generally in Gloucestershire,
but unfortunately I have not had time to accomplish it, and I
must therefore leave the task to abler and better hands. Of
late these more modern accumulations have deservedly attracted
the attention of geologists, and many interesting facts have been
brought to light respecting them, and it is most desirable that
they should be carefully examined and described in different
localities.

As I am so shortly about to leave this neighbourhood, to my
great regret, I may be excused, perhaps, in conclusion, for pay-
ing a parting tribute of regard to the geology of the district, to
which I owe many days of health and happiness, and I can only
say that I know of no other which presents so rich and import-
ant a field of research, or one wherein a diligent and active lover
of science may reap a more productive or abundant harvest.

Within a circuit of twenty miles, nearly every formation, from
the commencement of the lower Oolite down to the lower Silu-
rian system^ may be studied with comparative ease, and a good
suite of fossils from each stratum may be collected. This, as
many of you are well aware, comprises a very extensive series of
rocks of vast extent and thickness, of great value in an oecono-
mical point of view, and containing a varied and widely different
fauna, by which we obtain a knowledge of the earth's history in
past times, from one of the earliest ages up to a much more
recent period.

The sorrow felt on leaving a neighbourhood so instructive in
natural phsenomena is increased by the loss of these pleasant
meetings, and the parting with many scientific friends, whose
companionship has added a charm and a zest to the studies of
the closet and the more active labours of the field, and must ever
afford a great encouragement in the pursuit of those noble ends
and grand discoveries for which geology is so pre-eminently
distinguished.

278 Zoological Society.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

July 22, 1851.— John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c., Vice-Presi-
dent, in the Chair.

The following papers were read : —

1. On the largest known species of Phaleridine Bird.
By Charles Lucien, Prince Bonaparte.

Among the new additions lately made to the British Museum I was
struck by one of the Alcidce, which I had never seen before, and
which was very properly placed close by two beautiful specimens of
my singular Ceratorrhina, also lately added to the zoological treasures
of the Enghsh nation. The bird which is the subject of the present
note is evidently the Labrador Awk of Latham, so miscalled from
the erroneous impression that it came from those eastern shores of
America, but too well described not to be recognized. Gmelin com-
piled his Alca lahradora from the description of Latham, and all
those who did not follow him blindly, have referred that indication
to an immature state of the Razor-bill {Mormon arcticd), a course in
which they were led by geographical consideration only. Although
•our bird belongs to the family of the Alcidce, it is not even an Alcine,
as the Razor-bill, but, as is shown by the nakedness of the cere, it
belongs to the other subfamily, or Phaleridine, of which it is at pre-
sent the largest known.

In its family it is certainly alUed to Ceratorrhina, but well de-
serving to constitute a genus by itself. The bill still more com-
pressed, is in fact much more angulated beneath, and covered at the
base, not by a bony process or horn, but by a soft membrane or
saddle, which leaves a simple sht along the margins for the imper-
vious nostrils.

Genus novum Phaleridinartjm.

Sapmatorrhina, Bp. Saddle-Bill.

Rostrum dtiplo longius quam altum ; maxilla ad basin recta cerd

maxima induta, apice incwva ; mandibula ultra medium statini

adscendens, angulum obtusum constituens ; nares lineares, mar-

ginales.

As the bird has been so well described by Latham, Mr. G. R. Gray

very properly suggests that its specific name should be taken from

that author.

Sagmatorrhina Lathami, Bp. Maxima; nigricans; subtus
albido-fidiginosa : rostro pedibusque rubris ; cerd palmisque
nigris.

Long. 16 poll. ; rostr. 2 poll, long., 1 altum, f latum ad basin, f ad
med. ; alee 7\ poll.; cauda 3^ ; tars. 1| ; digitorum longissimus 2f.

Zoological Society. 279

This species is the largest of the subfamily, which is well known
to contain the dwarfs of the Water birds ; it is one-third larger than
Ceratorrhina monocerota, of which it has precisely the colouring,
wanting only (at least in the state we have it) the little white feathers
above the eye and at the corners of the mouth. The proportions of
wings, tail, feet and toes are the same : the bill and toes must have
been reddish ; the cere and membranes black. Like the Cerator-
rhina, it seems to be confined to the North-western Arctic regions of
America ; and we are led to believe it does not extend to the Siberian
shores, from the circumstance of its not having been noticed by
Russian naturalists.

The well-marked family of Alcidce forms, with the ColymbidcB,
Podicipidce and SpheniscidcB, the great section of the TJrinatores,
which, with the Lamellirostres, constitutes alone the Order Anseres,
as it must be restricted to the web-footed Pi-eecoces of Prof. Owen.
The other two sections, Longipennes and Totipalmi, constitute now
the Order Gavice of my Conspectus, being, in fact, web-footed Altri-
ees, which have no more right to remain in Anseres than the Pigeons
among the Gallince, — than the Herodiones among the Grallte. The
passage between my GavicB ov web-footed Altrices, and my Herodiones
or grallatorial Altrices, is beautifully exemplified by that most re-
markable bird the Balceniceps, whose affinity with Pelecanidce has so
well been pointed out, and even exaggerated, by Mr. Gould. On the
other hand, it is no less obvious that the Longipennes, some of which,
vdth tumid bills, have been considered as Sea-Pigeons, connect them
(the Gavice) with the Columbce ; whilst between the two subclasses
the connections and correspondence (affinity and analogy) take place
in different degrees and by different means and sides, chiefly as
exemplified in the following table : —

AVES.
1. ALTRICES (Insessores). 2. PR^COCES (Grallatores) .

1. psittaci.

2. accipitres.

3. Passeres.

a. OSCINES.

b. VoLUCRBS.

4. CoLIJMBiE.

a. Inepti. 8. Struthiones.

b. Gyrantes. 9. Gallince.

5. Gavi^. 10. Anseres.

a. Totipalmi. a. Lamellirostres.

b. LoNGiptiNNES. b. Urinatores^

6. Herodiones. 7. Grall^.

a. Alectrides.

b. CURSORES.

280 Zoological Society.

2. A Monograph of Scutus, a genus of Gasteropodous

MOLLUSCA, BELONGING TO THE FAMILY FlSSURELHD^.

By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

Genus Scutus, De Montfort.

Animal with the head proboscidiform ; tentacles thick and subu-
late, with the eyes on tubercles at their outer bases ; mantle reflexed
over the sides of, and nearly covering, the shell ; sides of foot with a
series of short cirrhi.

Shell oblong, scutiform, flattened ; apex dorsal, obUque, posteriorly
incUned ; margin of aperture sinuated in front ; muscular impression
horse-shoe shaped, open anteriorly.

Parmophorus, Blainv. — Dascmus, Rafin. — Scutellites, Auct. —
Scutum, Sow. jun. — Partnophora, Desh. — Emarginula, sp. Sow. —
Patella, sp. Lamk.

1. Scutus unguis, Linn.

Patella unguis, Linn. Mus. Ludovic. Ulric. Regin. p. 69. no. 419.
— Patella ambigua, Chtvan.—- Scutus antipodis, Moutf. — Parmo-
phorus australis, Lamk. — Parm. elongatus, Blainv.

Hab. New Zealand. Mus. Cuming.

2. Scutus elongatus, Lamarck.

Patella elongata, Lamk. Ann. du Mus. i. p. 310. — Parmophorus
elongatus, Lamk. Hist. — Emarginula elongata. Sow. Gen.
Hab. East Australia. Mus. Cuming. Also occurs fossil.

3. Scutus granulatus, Blainv.

Parmophorus granulatus, Blainv. Bullet, des Scienc. 1817; Lamk.
Hist. An. s. Vert. vol. vii. pt. ii. p. 5 ; Reeve, Conch. Syst. pi. 139. f. 4.
Hab. Port Essington, on the rocks, low water. Mus. Cuming.

4. Scutus corrugatus. Reeve.

Parmophorus corrugatus. Reeve, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842; Conch.
Syst. pi. 139. f. 1.

Hab. ? Mus. Cuming.

5. Scutus tumidus, Quoy et Gaimard.

Parmophorus tumidus, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de I'Astrol. pi. 69. f. 6.
— Parm. gibbosus, Anton. — %Parm. breviculus, Blainv. Biill. des Sci.
1817 ; Sowerby's Gen. (Emarg.) fig. 2.

Hab. Madagascar. Mus. Cuming.

6. Scutus imbricatus, Quoy et Gaimard.

Parmophorus imbricatus, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de I'Astrol. pi. 69.
f. 17, 18.

Hab. Island of Burias. Mus. Cuming.

7. Scutus angustatus, A. Adams. S. testa elongata, subqua-
drangulari, lateribus angustatis, coarctatis ; dorso piano, con-
centrice striato, vertice subcentrali, postice declinato ; extremi-
tate untied sinuatd, posticd excurvatd, subelevatd.

Hab. Eastern Seas. Mus. Ciuning.

Zoological Society. 281

3. A Monograph of the genus Monoptygma of Lea.
• By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

Genus Monoptygma, J. Lea. (? Menestho, Miill.)

Animal unknown.

Shell subulately turreted, transrersely striated, apex simple, acute ;
aperture oval, longer than wide, rounded and entire in front ; colu-
mella with a single oblique fold.

This genus differs from Actaon in being elongated, and in having
an oblique fold, instead of a transverse plait on the columella.

1 . Monoptygma striata. Gray. M. testa turrito-suhulatd, so-
lidd, oUvaced, anfractibus planis, transversim sulcatis, sulcis
prqfundis, distantibus ; aperturd oblongd, intus albd.

This species, which is typical, is a very thick and strong shell, with
a somewhat convex lateral outline, and strongly transversely grooved
across the flattened whorls. Mus. Cuming.

2. Monoptygma fulva, A. Adams. M. testd turrito-subulatd,
graciliori, solidd, fklvd, anfractibus planis, transversim sulcatis,
sulcis prqfundis, distantibus; aperturd oblongd, intus fused.

This elegantly-formed shell is more slender than M. striata, and
of a different colour ; the transverse grooves are also much closer
together, and their edges are rounded ; the twist of the columella is
not so distinct, and the aperture is brown internally. Mus. Cuming.

3. Monoptygma granulata, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-tur-
ritd, albd, solidd, anfractibus planiusculis, gradatis, longitudi-
naliter corrugato-plicatis, transversim sulcatis, sulcis profundis,
valde distantibus ; interstitiis Icevibus ; aperturd oblongd, colu'
melld plied subproductd.

This is a rather short and obtuse white and solid species, very
strongly grooved transversely, and with the whorls longitudinally
corrugately plicated. Mus. Cuming.

4. Monoptygma lauta, A. Adams. M. testd turrito-subulatd,
albidd, tenui, subpellucidd, anfractibus planiusculis, longitudi-
naliter eleganter striatis, transversim sulcatis, sulcis distanti-
bus, interstitiis crenulatis ; aperturd oblongd, columelld obliqud
et curvatd.

A very beautifnlly-sculptured species, dredged from 10 fathoms,
at Bolinao, by Mr. Cuming ; the outline is subulated, and the whorls
rather flattened and longitudinally striated. Mus. Cuming.

5. Monoptygma amcena, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-acuminatd,
tenui, subpellucidd, albidd, longitudinaliter substriatd, anfrac-
tibus convexiusculis, transversim sulcatis, sulcis valde distanti-
bus, interstitiis eleganter punctatis ; aperturd oblongd, antice
dilatatd, columelld rectd.

This is a most exquisite species, both in form and sculpture ; the
whorls are rounded and pimctate-striate, and the shell is nearly pel-
lucid; it is from Bolinao, 10 fathoms water. Mus. Cuming.

282 Zoological Society.

6. MoNOPTYGMA CASTA, A. Adams. M. testa ovato-turritd, albd,
tenui, semipellucidd, anfractibus convexiusculis, transversim sul-
catis, sulcis siihconfertis, interstitiis pulcherrime striatis ; aper-
turd oblongd, antice productd, columelld obliqud, subtortuosd.

This pure white ovate form is from the China Seas, being collected
by the writer during the Voyage of H. M.S. Samarang. The whorls
are grooved, with the interstices striated. Mus. Cuming.

7. MoNOPTYGMA SPECTOSA, A. Adams. M. testd turritd, subu-
latd, albidd, tenui, semipellucidd, anfractibus octo, convexius-
culis, suturd profunda, cingillis transversis elevatis, interstitiis
concinne cancellatis, ornatd; aperturd oblongo-ovali, columelld
subrectd, superne plied obliqud subobsoletd instructd.

Hab. Baclayon ; PhiUppines. Mus. Cuming.

An elegant semipellucid species, resembling an elongated Acteeon,
with the whorls encircled with elevated cingilli, and the interstices
cancellated.

8. MoNOPTYGMA spiRATA, A. Adams. M. testd turritd, albd,
epidermide fusco tectd, anfractibus octo, planiusculis, gradatis,
suturd canaliculatd, plicis longitudinalibus, angustis, confertis,
et sulcis transversis decussatim ornatd ; aperturd oblongd, labio
plied unicd obliqud instructo.

Hab. Camaguin ; Philippines. Mus. Cuming.

A small turreted species, covered, in the living state, with a light
brown epidermis, and with the surface regularly and beautifully de-
cussated with raised lines.

9. MoNOPTYGMA TENELLA, A. Adams. M. testd ovato-turritd,

albd, subpellucidd, anfractibus quatuor, convexiusculis, trans-
versim tenuiter striatd; aperturd ovali, labio subrefexo, plied
obsoletd instructo ; labro dilatato, margine flexuoso incrassato
et subreflexo.
Hab. Philippine Islands. Mus. Cuming.

A small J?moa-like shell, with only a faint indication of a plait on
the columellar lip ; the aperture dilated, and the outer lip expanded
and slightly thickened anteriorly.

10. MoNOPTYGMA STYLiNA, A. Adams. M. testd subulatd, in
medio incrassato, albd, subpellucidd, anfractibus 9—12, planius-
culis, transversim tenuiter sulcata, longitudinaliter substriatd ;
aperturd oblongd, labio superne plied obliqud instructo ; labro,
in medio, subrecto.

Hab. Catanuan ; Philippines. Mus. Cuming.
A remarkable white subulate shell, with the middle whorls, espe-
cially those near the apex, enlarged.

11. MoNOPTYGMA suTURALis, A. Adams. M. testd subulato-
turritd, subumbilicatd, albd, nitidd, snbdiaphand, anfractibus
septem planis, suturd canalicufofd, transversim sulcata, an-

Zoological Society. 283

fractu ultimo subsoluto, /iasciis angustis, alba articulatis, or-
nate ; aperturd oblongo-ovali, labio plied evanidd instructo.
Hub. PhiUppine Islands. Mus. Cuming-

A small white species, with the last whorl nearly free, and having
the suture deeply channeled.

4. Descriptions of new Shells, from the Cumingian Col-
lection ; WITH A Note on the genus Nematura.
By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

Pyramidella metula, a. Adams. P. testd subulatd, turritd,
apice obtusiusculo, albidd anfractibus decern planulatis, longi-
tudinaliter costatd, costis confertis eequantibus, interstitiis
lineis transversis elevatis ornatd ; aperturd ovali, labio incras-
sato, in medio plied unicd instructo ; labro margine subin-
crassato.

Hob. Mizamis, Cagayan. Mus. Cuming.

A small elongated species, somewhat resesembling a Rissoina, with
the intervals between the ribs finely cancellated, and the whorls very
numerous.

Pyramidella aclis, A. Adams. P. testd subulatd albd nitidd,
anfractibus octo planiusculis longitudinaliter plicatd, plicis
cequalibus subconfertis, interstitiis Icevibus; aperturd semiovatd,
labio subincrassato plied unicd munito ; labro subdilatato,

Hab. Philippines. Mus. Cuming.

This is a slender subulate species, likewise resembling in appear-
ance a Rissoina.

Lacuna carinifera, A. Adams. L. testd ovatd, spird acuminata,
anfractibus quatuor, late umbilicatd, fulvd, anfractu ultimo
angulato, carind transversd elevatd, rufo-fusco articidatd, or-
nato ; aperturd semiovatd ; labro acuto, angulato, labio recto,
fissurd umbilicali elongatd.

Hab. Borneo. Mus. Cuming.

The single prominent -keel round the periphery of the last whorl
is the principal feature of this species.

Velutina SiTKENSiS, A. Adams. V. testd nigro-fuscd, epider-
mide liris elevatis transversis confertis obtectd, longitudinali-
ter valdb sulcatd, sulcis subdistantibus ; aperturd ovali, intus,
sulcatd; labro margine refiexo, nigro, incrassato ; postice non-
producto supra anfractum ultimum.
Hab. Sitka. Mus. Cuming.

The dark brown colour and oval form distinguish this species from
V. laevigata, which also has the outer lip arched and expanded poste-
riorly.

Otina fusca, a. Adams. O. testd magnd, solidd, semiopacd,
fused, sine epidermide, dorso convexd, longitudinaliter subpli-
catd, transversim tenuiter striatd, labio lata, piano, et exca-
vato ; labro recto, non refiexo aid expanso.

Hab. Benguela. Mus. Cuming.

284 Zoological Society.

The large size of this species, and its convex form, distinguish it
from O. otis, and its absence of bands, and the outer lip not being ex-
panded, from O. sonata, Gould, the only two species at present known
to me.

5. Note on Nematura, by A. Adams.

The genus Nematura, established by Mr. Benson, appears to have
the closest affinity with Bithynia of Leach, but the horny opercu-
lum, with grooved margins, and the contraction of the aperture, will
distinguish them. There appear to have been found at present but
six species, three of them known, and three here indicated for the
first time ; in the rivers and streams of the East are doubtless many
more ; they are usually found adhering to the imder surface of dead
floating leaves.

1. Nematura Delt^, Benson. N. testd magnd, pallidh fulvd,
globosd, Icevi ; aperturd orbiculari, peritremate simplici.

Mus. Cuming.

2. Nematura minima, Benson. N. testd parvd, corned, semi-
pellucidd, ovali, spird subproductd ; politd, fasciis rufis sub-
obsoletis ornatd; aperturd orbiculari, peritremate simplici.

Mus. Cuming.

3. Nematura polita, Sowerby. N. testd magnd, castaneo-
fuscd, compressd, subvaricosd; aperturd ovali, peritremate an-

tice striata ; regione umbilicali lird callosd circumdato ; punc-
tato-striatd.
Mus. Cuming.

4. Nematura olivacea, A. Adams. N. testd ovatd, opacd,
olivaced, viridi-fusco reticulatd ; aperturd ovali, spird elevatd,
apice decollato, peritremate simplici.

Mus. Cuming.

5. Nematura glabrata, A. Adams. N. testd magnd, ovatd,
non compressd aut varicosd, subviridi-corned ; spird acuta,
apice acuminata, Icevi, politd; aperturd orbicidari, angustatd,
peritremate nigra.

Hah. Penang. Mus. Cuming.

6. Nematura puncticulata, A. Adams. N. testd medioeri,
pallide fulvd, compressd, anfractu ultimo gibbosa, et subangu-
lato ad latera, lineolis punctatis transversis ornatd, peritre-
mate simplici.

Hub. Eastern Islands. Mus. Cuming.

6. A Monograph of the recent species of Rimula, a genus

OF Mollusca, belonging to the family Fissurellid^.

By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

The genus Ritnula of Defrance has been usually confounded with
Puncturella of Lowe, or the Cemoria of Leach, but it is at once

Zoological Society. 285

distinguished by the absence of the arcuated plate in the interior of
the vertex. The species already known are fossil, to which we now
add a few recent examples.

Genus Rimula, Defrance.

Shell conical, with an elevated, recurved, entire vertex, turned
towards the posterior end ; surface cancellated, vnth radiating ribs ;
a linear perforation in the upper part of the shell, half-way between
the vertex and anterior margin ; margin of aperture crenulated ; in-
terior simple, with no shelly plate ; muscular impression crescentic,
interrupted m front.

1 . RiMULA EXQXJisiTA, A. Adams. R. testd magnd, ovali, setni-
pellucidd, albd, costis longitudinalibus, radiantihus, lineisque
elevatis, transversis, concentricis, cancellatd; cancelli subqua-
drati; costis crenulatis, incequalibus, prominentibus, anterio-
ribus duabus divergentibus, interstitiis costellis duabus in-
structis ; supra perforationem concavd ; perforatione elongatd

Hab. Catanuan, island of Luzon and island of Burias, found on
dead shells, 7 and 10 fathoms, sandy mud (JS. C). Mus. Cuming.

2. RiMULA CuMiNGii, A. Adams. R. testd parvd, ovatd, opacd,
costellis longitudinalibus, radiantibus, lineisque transversis, eras-
sis, concentricis, cancellatd; cancelli transversi, elongati ; costis
nodulosis, subcequalibus, prominentibus, distantibus, anteriori-
bus duabus antice divergentibus, interstitiis costellis duabus in-
structis, perforatione elongatd, subquadratd.

Hab. Eastern Seas. Mus. Cuming.

3. RiMULA CARiNATA, A. Adams. R. testd parvd, ovali, costel-
lis simplicibns, permultis, confertis, longitudinalibus, radianti-
bus, ornatd; interstitiis cancellatis ; cancelli punctiformes ; cos-
tellis duabus anterioribus, antice convergentibus, et apud aper-
turce marginem junctis ; interstitiis, supra perforationem, con-
vexis, supra verticem extendentibus, quasi carind ; perforatione
ovali, angustd, antice angustatd.

Hab. Cagayan, province of Misamis, island of Mindanao, on dead
shells, 25 fathoms, sandy mud {H. C). Mus. Cuming.

4. RiMULA PROPiNauA, A. Adams. R. testd parvd, elongato-
ovali ; costellis prominentibus, asperis, longitudinalibus, ra-
diantibus, subdistantibus ; interstitiis valde cancellatis; can-
celli transversi, subquadrati ; costellis duabus anterioribus,
antice convergentibus, ad apertures marginem junctis ; perfo-
ratione angustato-ovali, antice acuminatd.

Hab. Catapan, Philippines. Mus. Cuming.

286 Zoological Society.

7. A Monograph of Puncturella, a genus of Gasteropodous

MOLLUSCA, BELONGING TO THE FAMILY FiSSURELLIDjE.

By Arthur Adams, R.N., F.L.S. etc.

Genus Puncturella, Lowe.

Head proboscidiform, tentacles subulate, with the eyes on swell-
ings at their outer base ; sides with a range of cirrhi, interrupted be-
hind on each side ; mantle-margin simple ; branchial plumes two ;
anal siphon prominent, forming a truncated membranous canal pro-
jecting from the subapical perforation.

Shell conical, with an elevated, slightly recurved, obliquely spiral
entire vertex, turned towards the posterior end ; aperture expanded,
oval ; surface with radiating ribs ; margin entire ; a linear perfora-
tion in the upper part of the shell, between the vertex and front
margin, in the line of an elevated rib. Interior with a linear groove,
vaulted over with a shelly plate corresponding to the perforation ;
muscular impression crescentic, interrupted in front.

Cemoria, Leach, MSS. — Sipho, Brown. — Rimula, Loven ; Gould ;
Couthouy. — ? Diadora, Gray.

1 . Puncturella Noachina, Linnaeus.

Patella noachina, Linn. Mantissa, p. 551 ; Chemn. Conch. Cab.
vol. xi. p. 186. pi. 197. f. 1927, 1928.— Patella Jissurella, Miiller.—
Fissurella Noachina, Schum. — Puncturella Noachina, Lowe. — Ce-
moria Flemingii, Leach, MSS. — Cemoria Noachina, Lowe. — Rimula
Flemingii, Macgill. — Rimula Noachina, Couthouy. — Sipho Noachina,
Brown.

Hab. British Islands. Mus. Cuming.

2. Puncturella cucullata, Gould.

Ritnula cucullata, Gould, Expedition, Shells, p. 14.
Hab. Puget Sound.

3. Puncturella galeata, Gould.

Rimula galeata, Gould, Expedition, Shells, p. 14.
Hab. Puget Sound. Mus. Cuming.

4. Puncturella cognata, Gould.

Rimula cognata, Gould, Expedition, Shells, p. 14.
Hab. Orange Harbour.

5. Puncturella conica, D'Orb. Voy. Am. Mer.

6. Puncturella fastigiata, A. Adams. P. testd albidd ele-
vnto-conicd, nitidd, vertice acuminato involuto, costellis longitu-
dinalibus cequalibus cequidistantibus, interstitiis planis lineis
incrementi concentricis ; fissurd lanceolatd; aperturd ovali,
margine crenulato, fornice costd, costd valde arcuatd, transver-
sali, simplici.

Hab. Eastern Seas. Mus. Cuming.

Zoological Society. 287

7. PuNCTURELLA PRiNCEPS, Mighcls and Adams.

Cemoria princeps, Mighels and Adams, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist,
vol. iv. p. 43.

The following descriptions of new Naticce were communicated by
Dr. Philippi : —

8. Descriptiones Naticarum quarundam novartjm ex

COLLECTIONE CUMINGIANA, AUCTORE R. A. PhILIPPI.

1. Natica catenata, Phil. N. testa subglobosd, tenui, lividd,
zonis quatuor albis, maculas fuscas semilunatas exhibentibus
pictd ; anfractibus rotundatis ; spird breviusculd, nigricante ;
sulcis radiantibus profundis supei'iorem anfractuum partem oc-
cupantibus ; aperturd semiorbiculari, intus purpured ; umbilico
amplo, margine acuto cincto ; callo spirali satis valido medium
umbilici occupants.

Alt. 8|, diam. 8| lin.

Hab. . ?

Differt a N. tceniatd, Menke, anfractibus superius non horizon-
talibus sed declivibus, zonis longitudinaliter maculatis, callo labiali et
callo umbUicali longe latioribus, etc. ; a N. depressd forma globosa,
umbilico amplo, callo umbilicari mediano, etc.; aiV. maroccand ioTvak
globosa, umbilico longe ampliore, callo ejus mediano, etc.

2. Natica Incei, Phil. N. testd depressd, suborbiculari, solidd,
striatuld, nitidd, luteo-albidd ; anfractibus superius planatis ;
spird lath conicd, acutd; aperturd semiorbiculari, valde obliqud;
angulo basali columellee incrassato ; suturd duplicatd ; callo
maximo albo umbilicum magnum omninb implente.

Alt. ab apice ad basin aperturse 9\, a dorso ad ventrem 6 lin. ;
diam. 12 Un.

Hab. ad insulam Raines, in freto Torres, ubi legit Capt. Ince, R.N.

Cave ne banc speciem cum N. Josephinid, Risso {N. Olid, M. de
Serr.), confundas, cui simillima est, et a qua unice differt : ambitu
pauUo magis orbiculari ; anfractibus minus rapide crescentibus ; an-
gulo umbilicum cingente paullo magis distincto ; columella basi valde
incrassata ; callo umbilicari albo ; colore fere albo in luteum vergente,
prsesertim versus basin, denique sutura duplici. Linea superior su-
turse a callo labiali, inferior a margine superiore anfractus formatur,
pariter ut in Bulliis d. Gray. — Operculum corneum.

3. Natica intemerata, Phil. N. testd globoso-ovatd, solidd,
striatuld, nitidd, lacted, adsuturam versus umbilicum et in parte
ultimd anfractus ultimifiavd; anfractibus superius planiusculis;
spird conicd, circa ^ altitudinis ceq^uante ; aperturd semiorbicu-
lari; columelld rectd, incrassatd; umbilico magno, pervio, lacteo,
sulco profundo lato exarato ; funiculo semicylindrico ejus a callo
labiali distincto.

Alt. 181 diam. IZ^lin.

Hab. in sinu Califomise ; legit Rever. Steel.

288 Zoological Society.

Simillima videtur N. porcellane(B d'Orb., sed umbilico multo am-
pliore et colore flavescente diifert ; a N. casta, Phil., testa solidiore
minus depressa, umbilico albo angustiore, funiculo umbilicali longe
magis eleyato, etc. distinguitur ; a N, pede elephantis testa baud de-
pressa, funiculo umbilicali minus elevato satis superque discrepat.

4. Natica carib^a, Phil. K. testa, ovatd, sordidk albd, ad sw-
turam zond lacted munitd ; anfractibus superius vix convexis ;
spird brevi, acutd ; aperturd semiorbiculari ; umbilico parvo ;
callo lato cum labia confluente ilium maximd ex parte opplente.

Alt. 8, diam. 7 hn.

Hab. in mari Caribseo ad insulam St. John.

Forma omnino acQedit ad N. mammillam vel N. lacteam et umbi-
lico pervio cum N. lacted convenit. Differt tamen umbilico longe
angustiore, et callo ejus longe majore ; an nihilominus mera varietas ?
N. uberind, d'Orb., testa longe angustiore magis differre videtur. —
Operculum tenue, corneum.

5. Natica vestalis, Phil. N.testdovato-oblongd, acutd, lacted,
substriatd, nitidissimd ; spird acutd, conicd, sextain vel septimam
totius altitudinis partem occupante ; aperturd semiorbiculari ;
callo convexo, crassissimo, cum callo labiali confluente, et sulco
longitudinali ante marginem columellarem instructo, umbilicum
fere omnino claudente.

Long. 16|^, diam. 16 lin.

Hab. ad oram Mozambique dictam ; legit Rev. Steel.

Forte nihil nisi varietas N. mammillce, a qua unice differt callo
umbilicali crassiore convexiore, sulco longitudinali ante medium mar-
ginis columellaris, parte libera umbilicum cingente.

Obs. — Qusestio valde difficiUs, utrum sub N. mammilld, L. plures
species lateant, an merae varietates, vix examine singulorum specimi-
num in Musseis asservatorum decidi poterit, sed unice investigatione
numerosae gregis in ipso loco natali.

6. Natica? pomum, Phil. N. ? testd ovatd, inflatd, tenuiusculd,
striatd, glauco-fulvd, basi albd ; anfractibus convexis, superiori-
hus superne subangidatis ; spird quartam altitudinis partem
eequante, subcontabulatd ; aperturd ovato-oblongd, propter an-
fractum penultimum prominentem fere lunatd ; umbilico angus-

tissimo, perforata ; labio parum calloso, basi supra umbilicum
reflexo.
Alt. 19, diam. 18i lin.

Hab. ?

Hsec species a reliquis Naticis valde aliena et forte ad genus Am-
phibolam. Sebum. {Ampullacera, Quoy et Gaimard) mandanda est,
etenim sinus latus satis profundus in parte suprema labri hujus testae
in nulla alia specie generis Naticae observatur.

Royal Society. 289

ROYAL SOCIETY.

June 16, 1853. — The Earl of Rosse, President, in the Chair.

" On the Anatomy and Physiology of Cordylophora, a contribution
to our knowledge of the Tubularian Zoophytes." By George James
Allman, M.D., M.R.I.A., Professor of Botany in the University of
Dublin, &c.

The author, after pointing out the necessity of giving greater de-
finiteness to the terminology employed in the description of the true
zoophytes, proceeds to the anatomical details of Cordylophora, a genus
of Tubulariadce. He demonstrates that Cordylophora is essentially
composed in all its parts of two distinct membranes enclosing a
cavity, a structure which is common to all the Hydroida. For
greater precision in description, he finds it necessary to give to these
membranes sj)ecial names, and he therefore employs for the external
the name of ectoderm, and for the internal that of endoderm. Each of
these membranes retains its primitive cellular structure. In the ecto-
derm thread-cells are produced in great abundance ; these are formed
in the interior of the ectodermal cells by a process of endogenous cell-
formation, and are afterwards set free by the rupture of the mother-
cell. The thread-cells in a quiescent state are minute ovoid capsules,
but under the influence of irritation, an internal sac is protruded by
a process of evagination ; the surface of the evaginated sac is
furnished with a circle of curved spicula, and from its free extremity
a delicate and long filament is emitted. The thread-cells of Cordy-
lophora thus closely resemble the "hastigerous organs" of Hydra.
The polypary is a simple unorganized secretion deposited in layers
from the ectoderm. In the endoderm, the author points out a di-
stinct and well-developed glandular structure composed of true
secreting cells, which are themselves produced in the interior of
mother-cells, and elaborate a brown granular secretion which he
assumes as representing the biliary secretion of the higher animals.
He describes, as a system of special muscles, certain longitudinal
fibres, which may be distinctly seen in close connection with the
inner surface of the ectoderm. The tentacula are shown to be
continuous tubes communicating with the cavity of the stomach,
and thus possess the same essential structure as those of /^ycfra ;
they are formed of a direct continuation of the ectoderm of the
polype, lined by a similar continuation of the endoderm. The
appearance of transverse septa at regular intervals, which is so very
striking in these tentacula, must not be attributed to the existence
of true septa. It is due to a peculiar condition of the endodermal
layer, but the author has not been able to give a satisfactory ex-
planation of it. Through the whole of the canal which pervades
the axis of the stems and branches, a constant though a regular
rotatory movement is kept up in the contained fluid ; this movement
is not due to the propulsive action of vibratile cilia, and is explained
by the author as the efiect of the active processes going on in the
secreting cells of the endoderm, processes which can scarcely be
imagined to take place without causing local alterations in the

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 20

290 Miscellaneous.

chemical constitution of the surrounding fluid, and a consequent
disturbance in its stability.

The reproductive system of Cordylophora consists of ovoid cap-
sules situated on the ultimate branches at some distance behind the
polypes ; some of these capsules contain ova, others spermatozoa ;
they are plainly homologous with the ovigerous sacs of the marine
TubulariadcB ; they present a very evident, though disguised medusoid
structure, having a hollow cylindrical body, whose cavity is conti-
nuous with that of the polype-stem, projecting into them below, and
representing the proboscidiform stomach of a Medusa, while a sy-
stem of branched tubes which communicate at their origin with the
cavity of the hollow organ, must be viewed as the homologues of
the radiating gastro-vascular canals, and the proper walls of the
capsule will then represent the disc. From comparative observations
made on other genera of Hydroida, the author maintains the presence
of a true medusoid structure in the fixed ovigerous vesicles of all the
genera he has examined, and he arrives at the generalization, that for
the production of true ova in the hydroid zoophytes, a particular
form of zooid is necessary, in which the ordinary polype -structure
becomes modified, and presents, instead, a more or less obvious
medusoid conformation. Hydra being at present the only genus
which appears to offer an exception to this law, though the author
believes that the exception is only apparent, and that further obser-
vations will enable us to refer the reproductive organization of this
zoophyte to the same type with that of Cordylophora and the marine
Hydroida. The author has satisfied himself that the ova-like bodies
contained in the capsules of Cordylophora are true ova, and not
gemma: ; he has demonstrated in them a distinct germinal vesicle,
and has witnessed the phaenomenon of yelk-cleavage ; and the paper
details the development of the embryo to the period of its escape
from the capsule in the form of a free- swimming ciliated animacule,
and traces its subsequent progress into the condition of the adult
zoojihyte.

MISCELLANEOUS.
On the Monstrosity of a Rose. By J. T. Arlidge, A.B.

With few exceptions the flowers on a standard-rose, growing on a
lawn, failed this summer to exhilrit good ' blooms,' and presented
various degrees and forms of monstrosity. This occurrence may be
attributed to the wet season stimulating the tree to the production of
wood instead of flowers. It should, however, be noted, that neigh-
bouring rose-trees, growing under precisely the same circumstances,
but of different species, produced their proper flowers ; with, however,
a prevailing tendency to abortive petal-growth, and the production of
the condition known as the ' green-eye.'

In the tiee in question the most remarkable example was that of a

Miscellaneous. 291

^ower which was repeated three times on the same axis, each time ex-
hibiting sepals, petals (coloured and scented), perfect stamens with
pollen, and imperfect semi-leafy carpels. The stem expanded into its
usual rounded receptacle, fringed by the free portion of the calyx of
its general character, and supporting on its discoid margin the petals,
and within these numerous stamens. Some of the iiuiermost petals
were not well-coloured, nor well-developed, but small and greenish.

From the sides of the cup-Uke receptacle sprang several hairy
styles crowned by their stigmas, of much the usual form, but still
not well-formed ; and along with these imperfect carpels of a green
colour, and having the form of narrow leaves folded longitudinally
on themselves, and many of them terminating in a fringed process or
awn. Neither the normal styles nor the leafy carpels had ovules.
The centre of the cup exhibited a larger carpellary leaf so folded as to
enclose one or more similar though more delicate leaves and a grow-
ing point, representing a continuation of the stem. This point gra-
dually elongated, developed towards one side two lanceolate decurrent
leaves or bracts, which, like itself, assumed a reddish colour. Having
acquired about an inch in length, it shot out five ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate sepals, confluent at their base and decurrent, not on the
same plane but spirally arranged, and also tinged red. Thus a second
flower grew in all respects like the first, except that it had a very
indistinct receptacle. During the development of the second, the
first flower withered, its petals falling away. The axis of the second
inflorescence, endued with the like powers of growth, extended itself,
produced a sheathing bract, then swelled into a half-globular recep-
tacle, with five sepals as in the last, but here set in a regular whorl
on the same plane, and having two bracts, like themselves, imme-
diately external to them.

The petals of this third flower were numerous, small indeed, but
sweet-scented : the stamens numerous, containing pollen ; whilst a few
very rudimentary, slender, carpellary leaves and styles surrounded a
larger involuted one containing a growing point along with two or
three pistils terminated by stigmas.

In this terminal inflorescence (examined whilst actually flowering)
the carpellary leaves were smallest, and the leaf-like character most
lost ; whilst many styles, hairy and delicate, occupied the concavity
of the receptacle, and apparently had perfect carpels at their base.

The production of these three flowers in sequence occupied two
xnonths.

On a longitudinal section the growing point in each flower was seen
not to have proceeded from the exact centre or actual axis of the
receptacle, but rather from one side. Hence both the irregular pe-
duncles curved so as to maintain the flower in the same line with the
original stem.

In another monstrosity, in which two flowers were produced on
the same continuous axis, the sepals exhibited a tendency to be com-
pound by developing imperfect leaflets.

In a third example the sepals had grown inta large compound
leaves, having two leaflets on each side the petiole, and a very large

20*

292 Miscellaneous.

terminal one. In this case too, where but one flower formed, the
growing point started at nearly a right angle to the original peduncle,
and then, curving to bring itself in the same straight line, grew into
a strong shoot, forming at its apex a good bud (flower) for the
winter.

A similar growth of the calyx into actual leaves occurred in another
case.

The last irregularity to which I shall refer is, where the axis of a
flower grew into a strong leafy shoot. In this case no cup-like recep-
tacle existed, but the carpels were placed on a disk-like expansion
surroiinding the stem, which appeared little more than a large node
from which the leaves had fallen. The carpels here extended up-
wards in a green, leafy form, and were deficient of ovules. Eight such,
with dilated, capsule-like bases, were found in a whorl on the same
])lane ; and within these, two close together, longer and of a more
leaf-like character. Above these last, five more evident leaves, four of
which were actually trifoliate, were disposed in a spiral manner
around the axis for the space of an inch above the carpellary whorl.
Then a node occurred, surrounded by six pinnate leaves, not quite on
the same plane, and yet not in opposite pairs, nor clearly spiral in
position. Three-quarters of an inch from these leaves the shoot ended
by a terminal bud (winter) surrounded by three pinnate leaves of
unequal size.

These instances of monstrosity well illustrate the morphology of
carpels — their origin from leaves, and their tendency to take on the
form, and along with this, the spiral arrangement of the latter. The
perfect pinnate leaves of a shoot proceeding from the centre of a rose
we must suppose to be morphologically the same wth the small
folded carpellary leaf ; the last instance cited shows the grades of de-
velopment between the two.

The production of the shoot causes the abortion of the flower and
its ovules ; hence the size and vigour of the shoot afford a measure of
the vital vegetative force expended in the formation of a flower, and
mainly of its ovules.

I am inclined to beUeve with Schleiden, that the ovide is a product
of the axis and not of the carpellary leaves ; that indeed it is a bud
growing from the axis in the axil of a leaf — i. e. the carpel.

On the Change of Colour in a Chamceleon (Chamseleo vulgaiis) .
By H. N. Turner, Jun.

Notwithstanding that the peculiarity of the Charaaeleon in changing
its colour is so universally known, and that an illustrated work
on the subject was prublished by Van de Hoven, I have thought that
a careful record of the varieties of tint, presented by the specimen
which has lived for some time in my possession, might prove ser-
viceable to the naturalist if compared with similar observations upon
other species and upon the same one under difi^erent circiimstances.
And might also assist in the determination of the means by which it
is effected, the influences by which it is regulated, and the objects
which it serves in the oeconomv of the animal.

Miscellaneous. 293

Its general tints vary between different shades of brown, olive, yel-
low, and light green, the last-named being the most rarely observed,
and the yellow being the tint usually assumed when the animal has
been hidden from the light. This is the colour it always presents if
taken for inspection at night, and when brought into the influence of
lamp-light it appears at first almost white, but may soon be seen to
darken and some of the markings to appear. The side that is next
the light will change rather sooner than the other, the changes being
always gradual. It has three distinct sets of markings, the first to
appear being two ranges of irregular distant elongated spots, which
may appear either as a dark tint upon the ground-colour when that
is light, or a light one if it be dark. These marks are never entirely
absent when either of the other sets is present, although sometimes
but faintly discernible.

The other two sets of markings consist of an irregular marbling,
and a number of full round spots ; the latter never appear otherwise
than as dark upon the ground-colour, and the marbling, which is ge-
nerally also dark, only occasionally appears a little lighter than the
ground-colour, and then of a different tone ; either may be visible
without the other, or both may be distinctly traceable. Sometimes
the marbling will be apparent together with such of the spots as are
placed vnthin its intervals, those upon the surface occupied by the
marbling being amalgamated with it.

When the general colour is light yellow or pale greenish, which is
the case if the animal be suddenly brought into the light, the elon-
gated spots, which form two rows on each side, will begin to appear
of a very delicate purple tint. After that the marbling gradually
shows itself, and the general tint begins to darken ; when some time
has elapsed a brown colour is assumed, and the elongate spots, at first
purple of a darker tint than the yellow ground-work, are seen to be
brown, of a lighter and rather richer tint than that which now per-
vades the whole. These distinctions may go on increasing, may then
decrease and again increase ; the spots may appear, may come and go
with different degrees of intensity, so that the variety of appearances
presented is almost indefinite. When visited in the day-time, the colour
is generally brown, sometimes without markings, generally with the
elongate spots of a lighter tint, and the marbling or the round spots,
or both, more or less apparent. Occasionally it presents a uniform
dull olive, and then has no markings. Sometimes it is of a light drab
colour, with the different marks faintly indicated. The ventral series
of prominent scales remains constantly white, as stated by Van der
Hoven, not participating in the changes of the surrounding parts.

This author does not in any of his plates represent the longitudi-
nal rows of markings as a decided dark upon the grouad-colour, nor
is the marbling anywhere clearly shown as pervading the whole body ;
neither does he give the deep brown tint with the marbling as a dark,
and the longitudinal rows of spots definitively marked as a light.

I have never seen my specimen present anything like the appear-
ances delineated in his plates 4 and 5, probably because I have not
irritated it.

294 Miscellaneous.

It has generally been imagined that the purpose of this singular
faculty accorded to the Chamseleon is to enable it to accommodate its
appearance to that of surrounding objects, but the observations of
Van der Hoven seem to negative that idea, and the few experiments
I have made vs^ith that ^iew have not led to any such results. The
box in which it is kept is of deal, with a glass at the top and a
piece of flannel laid at the bottom ; a small branching stick being
introduced by way of a perch. I have introduced at various times
pieces of coloured paper, covering the bottom of the box, of blue,
yellow and scarlet, but without the slightest effect upon the appear-
ance of the animal. Considering that these primary colours were
not such as it would be likely to be placed in contact with in a state
of nature, I next tried a piece of green calico, but equally without re-
sult. The animal went through all its usual changes, without their
being in any way modified by the colours placed underneath it. The
general tints approximate, as may readily be observed, to those of the
branches of trees, just as those of most animals do to the places in
which they dwell ; but I have never seen the faculty of changing
called into play with any apparent object. It is only when the light
is removed that the animal assumes a colour which absorbs but little
of it.

Regretting that I have not been able to attain any more definite
conclusions, I offer these few remarks, hoping that to some naturalist,
who may undertake the investigation of these singular phaenomena,
they may prove not to have been thrown away. — Proc. Zool. Soc.
July 22, 1851.

Notes on a new species of Artamus, from India.
By Dr. Nicholson.

These birds are only found in very thick jungles among the brush-
wood, where they are always moving about, and are shot with great
difficulty, and even then, if not killed outright, they are so tenacious
of life, that they creep into the first hole or crevice they come to.
The only note I ever heard was like ' chick, chick.' I think they
are residents, but the few I have seen just appear and are lost again
in a moment, so that I know little of their habits ; the one described
here had one leg and both wings broken, and still crept into the hole
of a jerboa-rat, from which I dug it out dead.

Male : weight 6^ oz.

Length from bill to tip of tail 7f inches. Alar extent 10 inches.

Head large. Bill strong, narrow and sharp, gently arched on the
culmen ; a distinct notch near the tip of upper mandible ; gape wide.
Tongue homy and divided at the point. Nostrils basal, small. Eye
rather small. Iris of a silvery colour, tinged with yellow.

Wings rounded ; first quill very short ; third longest ; second,
third and fourth quills emarginate on outer web.

Tail short, and nearly even at the end, of twelve feathers, 2f inches
long.

Tarsus strong. Hallux and claw stronger than the other toes, and

Meteorological Observations. 295

as long as the inner toe, and has a large pad at its base ; the outer
toe is shortest ; the claws are much hooked.

Coutents of stomach were a few grains of Holcus spicatus and the
exuviae of insects.

Plumage is soft and loose.

Colours : the whole top of the head is covered with a cap of black.
Bill lead-colour at base and black at the point. The chin, the breast,
and all underneath white ; the body all above of a leaden colour.
Quills and tail of a light black, edged with light on both webs ; the
outer web of the outer tail-feather is white, as well as the tips of the
first five on each side. Feet and legs black.

I propose for this species the nsnae of Arfamus cucullatus, — Proc.
Zool. Soc. June 10, 1851.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR AUG. 1853.

Chiswici. — August 1. Uniformly overcast : very fine : rain at night. 2. Very
fine. 3. Uniform haze : clear. 4 — 8. Very fine. 9. Slight haze : very fine :
•clear. 10. Very fine. 11. Slight fog. 12. Cloudy and fine. 13. Overcast.
14. Cloudy. 15. Cloudy and fine. 16. Uniformly overcast: rain. 17. Very
fine. 18. Slight fog : very fine ; clear. 19. Foggy : very fine : slight rain. 20.
Slight rain : cloudy and fine. 21. Very fine. 22. Fine: cloudy: heavy rain at
night. 23. Rain : cloudy : clear. 24. Dense fog : dusky haze : fine. 25. Over-
cast : slight showers : boisterous, vrith rain at night. 26. Very boisterous
throughout. In this and the preceding day a large quantity of air from the south
must have moved over the kingdom. 27. Cloudy and rather boisterous. 28. Clear
and very fine. 29. Overcast: very fine. 30,31. Very fine.

Mean temperature of the month 59°'69

Mean temperature of Aug. 1852 63 "67

Mean temperature of Aug. for the last twenty-seven years . 62 -12
Average amount of rain in Aug 2'35 inches.

Boston. — Aug. 1. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy. 4. Fine.
5—8. Cloudy. 9—11. Fine. 12—15. Cloudy. 16. Cloudy: rain a.m. 17.
Cloudy : rain p.m. 18. Fine. 19. Cloudy. 20. Cloudy : rain a.m. 21, 22. Fine.
•23. Cloudv: rain A.M. 24. Fine : rain p.m. 25. Cloudy: rain a.m. 26. Rain a.m.
and P.M. "27. Cloudy: rain a.m. 28, 29. Cloudy. 30, 31. Fine.

Sandioiek Manse, Orkney. — Aug. 1 . Drizzle a.m. : rain, fair p.m. 2. Cloudy a.m. :
damp P.M. 3. Showers a m. : fair p.m. 4. Cloudy a.m. : showers p.m. 5. Cloudy
a.m. : drizzle p.m. 6. Drizzle a.m. and p.m. 7, 8. Cloudy a m. and p.m. 9.
Bright A.M. : clear p.m. 10. Clear a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 11. Bright a.m. : cloudy
P.M. 12. Cloudy a.m. : fine p.m. 13, 14. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 15. Damp a.m. :
cloudy P.M. 16. Cloudy A.M. : clear, fine p.m. 17. Showers a.m. : clear, fine
P.M. 18. Clear A.M. : clear, fine p.m. 19. Damp a.m. : thunder and lightning,
showers p.m. 20. Bright a.m. : thunder and lightning, showers p.m. 21. Bright
A.M. : clear p.m. 22. Bright a.m. : showers p.m. 23. Cloudy a.m. : showers p.m.
24. Blight A.M. : clear, aurora p.m. 25. Clear, fine a.m. : drizzle p.m. 26. Rain
A.M.: cloudy P.M. 27. Rain a.m : damp p.m. 28. Damp a.m. : drizzle p.m.
29. Damp a.m. : cloudy p.m. 30. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 31. Bright a.m. :
drizzle p.m.

Mean temperature of Aug. for twenty-six previous years 55''08

Mean temperature of this month 55 "98

Mean temperature of Aug. 1852 60 '64

Average quantity of rain in Aug. for seven previous years ... 2-70 mches.

On the 24th, from 9^ till 10 p.m., a comet was seen with a long bright tail,
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THE ANNALS

A^fD

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]
No. 71. NOVEMBER 1853.

XXVIII. — On the " Nucleus " of the Characeje.
By Al, Braun*.

[From his Memoirs on the Circulation in the Characeas.]

In the cells immediately serving for the reproduction of the
Chaiacese, the germ-cell or spore and the mother-cells of the
spermatozoids, there is no circulation of the sap, but a cir-
culation is met with in various cells of the enveloping organs,
through the medium and under the protection of which the
essential reproductive cells are produced. I cannot avoid dis-
cussing a few general points connected with these most pecu-
liarly formed organs of the Characese, the import of which has
been explained in the most varied ways. The organs in question
are of two kinds. The one, the seat of formation of the sper-
matozoids, usually named, in avoidance of any functional signi-
fication, simply the globule, formerly i-egarded as an anther, and
even as a pollen-grain f,^ or erroneously asserted to be a bud ca-
pable of germination :j:, is now generally termed the antheridium.
Aberrant as its structure is from all other known antheridia, it
appears to me, from its centripetal development, to possess a
certain agreement with the antheridia of the Mosses and Liver-
worts, so that I cannot, with Hofmeister (Flora, 1851, No. 1),
term it a convolute of many antheridia or a ' head ' of an-
theridia. In the antheridium are formed the active seminal
filaments [spei'matozoa, anther ozoidia), which were first seen by

* Monatsber. K. Preuss. Acad. Jan. 1853. Translated by Arthur Hen-
frcy, F.R.S. &c.

t Meyen, Linnsea, 1827, p. 63.

X Wallroth, Ann. Bot. 1815, p. 170. Reichenbach (Flor. Germ. exc.
]j. 147), on the contrary, regards the female organ as a bud, and the globule
as an androgynous flower with eight pistils and numerous staminodia.

Ann. §• Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 21

298 M. A. Braun on, the Nucleus of the Characeae.

Bischoff in the year 1828*, who at that time regarded them as
Infusoria. Varley (1834) first saw their exit from the cells of
the antheridial filaments ; but the two most delicate cilia, by the
vibration of which the spirally wound body is set in motion, were
first described by Thuret in the year 1840t. Thui-et saw these
cilia in Nitella syncarpa and Chara fragilis ; I have seen them so
distinctly in Chara aspera and ce?'atophi/lla, that no doubt what-
ever can exist as to their presence. I laave only to add to Thu-
ret's account, that I have found the winding of the spiral body
constant to the riffht in Ch. fragilis. The second organ of fruc-
tification, in which the spore is developed, regarded by the older
botanists as a pistil, and in the ripe .condition called either
capsule (Vaillant), beri-y (Sprengel, Willdenow), drupe (Berto-
loni), or nucule (Wallroth), or merely seed (Linnaeus), has been
subsequently, quite as unfitly, termed a spore-case, sporocarp (Bis-
chofi^), or sporangium (Cosson and Germain). Hofmeister com-
pares it with the archegonium {pistillidium) . Apt as this compa-
rison seems in reference to the reduction of the characters of
fructification of all the higher (spermatozoid-beariug) Crypto-
gamia under one common point of view, since in this way all the
plants with unequivocal antheridia likewise possess an archego-
nium, peculiar difficulties are met with in the attempt to cany
out the parallel. That which has been called an archegonium,
is an organ of the first generation of the leafy Ciyptogamia, the
generation growing up from the spore, in which organ, accord-
ing to the researches so profoundly followed out by Hofmeister
in particular, the germ-cell of the second generation is produced
by free cell-formation, and developed after impregnation (like the
embryo of the Phanerogamia) . In the Vascular Cryptogamia
(Ferns, Equiseta, &c.) the first generation consists of a leafless,
thalloid preparatory structure, the pro-embryo or prothallium,
whUe the second generation is developed into the leaf-producing
' stock,' the vegetative, and finally spore-bearing plant ; in the
Mosses, on the other hand, the first generation advances from
the thalloid preparatory structure to the leaf-producing ' stock,'
while the second generation is represented by a peculiar fruit-
structure serving merely for the production of the spores, and
this structure, emerging from the cavity of the archegonium,
sometimes breaks through the cover [calyptra) formed by the
latter, and sometimes can'ies it up through its becoming detached
below. In the lowest groups of Hepaticse, especially in the
Ricciete, this fruit-structure, so complicated in the higher Mosses,

* Civpt. Gewachse, p. 13. in the note.

t Ann. des Sc. Nat. 2nd ser. xiv. (1840), p. (IS ; and 3rd se'r. xvi. (1851),
t.9.

M. A. Braun on the Nucleus of the Characese. 299

is of extremely simple nature, and remains enclosed at the bot-
tom of the archegonium, without freeing itself from its coats.
"From the Mosses with the simplest structure of the fruit,
finally," continues Hofmeister*, in his description, " it is only
one step to the Characese, in which the influence of the sperma-
tozoid on the central cell of the archegonium does not lead to
the production even of the simplest kind of cellular mass, but
merely to the filling up of the reproductive cell found free in
that central cell, with starch and oil. The Charce, in which the
prothallium is the entire plant, thus represent one end of the
series, the other end being formed by the Phanerogamia (exclu-
sive of the Coniferse), in which the whole plant corresponds
solely to the second spore-producing generation of the Vascular
Cryptogamia, and the cell-formation in the embiyo-sac previous
to the impregnation scarcely even reminds vis of the multifold
vital phsenomena of the prothallia of the Ferns and of the albu-
men mass of the Coniferse."

For the further elucidation of the relations in which the Cha-
racese stand to the i-est of the Cryptogamia possessed of anthe-
ridia and archegonia, we must in the first place accurately exa-
mine whether they really have these two distinct generations,
even with ever so slight a development of the second, to which
the transition from the first is caused by impregnation, or whe-
ther they complete their entire cycle of life in one generation
(leaving ramification- generations out of view). According to
Hofmeister's description, there is found in the central cell of the
archegonium of the Characese, a new cell, the development of
which into the spore containing oil and starch is dependent on
impregnation. If this be the condition, if that which is found
in the central cell is a mere spore, there is in fact no alternation
of generations, but only one generation, for the spore in this case
is the primary cell of a generation which essentially resembles
that by which it is produced. If we compare, then, the one ge-
neration of the Characese with the first of the higher Ciypto-
gamia, especially with the prothallium of the Vascular Crypto-
gamia, Hofmeister's interpretation appears warranted on one
side, in so far, namely, that the structure of the Characese termed
an archegonium is a female organ (receiving impregnation),
borne by the prothallium, but, on the other hand, unsupported,
since this does not produce any second, spore-bearing generation,
but merely a spore. But if the comparison with the archegonium
is nevertheless to be maintained, we must extend it to organs
through which the spore-formation is brought about in the
lower (leafless) Cryptogamia, an extension for which many

* Flora, 1851, No. 1. p. 7-

21*

300 M. A. Brauu on the Nucleus of the Cbaraceae.

grounds may indeed be found, but would lead far away from the
strict definition of the arcliegouium, as hitherto held. The sup-
posed asexuality of the lower Cryptogamia could not restrain the
indicated extension of the conception of the archegoniura to the
sporangial structures of the lower Cryptogamia, since a duplicity
of sexes is constantly being demonstrated as more widely extended
among the lower Crjrptogamia*, and the term antheridium has
also been frequently applied in analogous extension already (for
instance to the organs of the Fucoidese, Florideaj, Lichens and
Fungi). The question is, therefore, whether the morphological
agreement of the female organ of fructification of the Characese
with that of the Mosses, Ferns, Equiseta, Lycopodiace?e and
Rhizocarpese, is of a kind to render the use of the same name
for both suitable.

It cannot be denied that it at first sight appears to have a
similar structure. The envelope — composed of five rows of cells
terminating in the form of a five-pointed coronet, at a particular
period open — surrounding the central cell of the female organ of
fructification in the Characese, reminds us very much of the
more or less elongated style-like structure composed of a deter-
minate number of rows of cells, surrounding and surpassing the
central cell of the archegonia, especially when, as in Pilularia
and Equisetum-f, the uppermost cells of these diverge like rays
in the same manner as the coronets of many species of Chara.
But when we turn back to the earlier stages of development, we
find that this resemblance is deceptive. The archegonium is in
all cases an originally closed, more or less elevated, cellular cover,
under which the central cell is concealed from the beginning.
The tubular canal leading to the central cell is formed subse-
quently by the separation of the cells from each other. The re-
verse takes place in the Characese ; here the central cell is ori-
ginally uncovered and gradually becomes overgrown and enclosed
by the cells of the envelope. Therefore the envelope and coronet
of the Characese are altogether different, morphologically, from
the envelope and tube which surround the central cell in true
archegonia, and this takes away all ground for close comparison ;
I shall not trace the more distant analogies which may exist be-
tween the archegonia of the higher Cryptogamia and the organs
of fructification of the rest of the Crjrptogamia. A different ex-

* See among others, Tliuret, Recherch. sur les Antheridies des Cryptog.
(Ann. des Sc. Nat. 3rd ser. xvi.); and Tulasne, Mem. p. servir a 1' Hist,
des Lichens (Ann. des Sc. Nat. 3rd ser. xvii.).

t See Hofmeister, Vergleich. Unters. der hoh. Cryptogamen, t. 21. (P«-
lidaria); Milde, Flora, 1852, No. 32. t. 7; and Hofmeister, Beitrage znr
Kenntniss der Gefasscrypt. t. 17 & 18 {Equisetum).

M. A. Brauu on the Nucleus of the Characeae. 301

planation from Hofmeister's was proposed by Griffith*, and still
earlier, but less consequently, by Meyenf- Both compared the
fruit of the Characese to the ovules of the Phanerogamia, regard-
ing the envelope as integument, the central portion as nucleus.
Since the single generation of the Characese, as the producer of
spores, may be compared with the second generation of the Vas-
cular Cryptogamia, a comparison still further supported by the
fact that the entire mode of construction of the Characeae by no
means belongs to the forms of thalloid structure, but exhibits a
definite contrast of stem- and leaf-formation, nothing can be
said a priori against seeking a comparison on this side. In the
gradual closing together of the central body, the envelope of
the Chara fruit certainly exhibits a similar behaviour to the in-
tegument of the Phanerogamic ovule, and the comparison of the
central portion with the nucleus seems even still more apt. This
central portion, hitherto regarded as a single cell, is in fact a
cellular body formed of four cells, one of which by prepondera-
ting growth at an early period displaces the rest, and may be
compared with the embryo-sac. It might appear as though no-
thing were wanting in this comparison but the formation of an
embryo in the large cell of the central body. But after close
examination, only a distant resemblance remains even on this
side ; for while the integument of the Phanerogamic seed corre-
sponds to a closed sheath-like leaf, the integument in Chara, as
I shall demonstrate hereafter, is an envelope formed of a five-
leaved whorl. The greatest difference however relates to the
nature of the large cell of the central portion, which, for compa-
rison either with the embryo-sac or with the central cell of the
archegonium, must be the mother-cell of a germ-cell, the origin
of which, according to Hofmeister's account in the above-named
places, actually takes place by free cell-formation.

Fully as I trust in the acuteness and accuracy of Hofmeister's
observations, and desirable as the confirmation of his statements
would be to me, I have not yet succeeded in convincing myself
of their correctness ; I have seen a nucleus, and in later stages a
vacuole in that cell, but could never detect the formation of a
real daughter-cell in it ; on the contrary, the entire large cell in
every case appeared to become developed into the spore. If this
be really the case, it offers the weightiest objection against too
close comparison both with the ovules of the Phanerogamia and
with the archegonium of the Cryptogamia, since a spore-forma-
tion of such a kind would rather point to a comparison with the
lower groups of the Cryptogamia, in which alone occurs spore-

* Calcutta Journ. of Nat. Hist. vol. v. (1844), p. 241.
t Pflanzcnphysiologie, iii. (1839), ]i. 354.

302 M, A. Braun on the Nucleus 0/ /Ae Characese.

formation of spores by mere detachment of cells, or tying-off
[abschniirung) as it is termed. Therefore to avoid using any
name referring to too distant analogies, I shall apply to the
female organ of fructification with its accessory portions, as a
whole, for reasons to be explained hereafter, the name of spore-
bud {sporophysd), distinguishing the envelope surrounding the
spore as the spore-coat {spoi-ostegium) .

Thus, through the spore-formation, through the want of the
alternation of generations proper to the higher Cryptogamia, as
also through the tru^e cellular structure, the Characese will adjoin
the lower Cryptogamia ; while on the other hand, the presence of
convoluted spermatozoids, as also the contrast of stem- and leaf-
formation, connect them with the higher Cryptogamia, so that
they occupy a strange intermediate position between the two.
That they possess a real (active) contrast of sexes is indicated, in
the first place, by the spermatozoids, the necessity of which for im-
pregnation has been demonstrated by numerous observations and
experiments in the higher Cryptogamia* ; so that, looking at the
great resemblance those of the Characese possess to those of the
higher Ciyptogamia, especially those of the Mosses and Liver-
worts, we can certainly apply the Aristotelian ovhev yap /xdTrjv
7] <pV(TL<; TTOtel. It is further testified by the distribution of the
sexes, analogous to that of the higher plants, sometimes both to
one plant (monoecious), sometimes in distinct plants (dioecious),
in which latter case ' stocks ' of both kinds are usually found
in company f.

The order of development of the organs of fructification also
agrees, since in general the development of the autheridia pre-
cedes that of the spores, which is especially striking in those
species where life is of short duration, as, for instance, Nitella
syncarpa a,nd fasciculata. The frequent occurrence of a peculiar
mode of degeneration of the spore- coat, probably connected
with sterility of the spore, wherein the hard shell, which in the
normal condition protects the spore, is not formed, seems likewise
to indicate the necessity of impregnation, yet it is remarkable
that the spore itself, in such degenerated spore-coat, is as abun-
dantly filled with starch as the normal.

* The recent experiments of Hofmeister with Selaginella (Vergleich.
Unters. p. 124) and Jsoe/es (Beitrage z. Kenntniss der Gefassm-]it. p. 128),
bring new confirmation of the older ones of Savi ou Salvinia and Fabre on
Marsilia.

t Ch. stelligera, Bauer, forms an exception to this, only S))ecimens bear-
inw antheridia having been hitherto found in its known stations in tempe-
rate and northern Eurojie. The Italian Ch. ulcuides, described by Bertoloni,
a])pears to be the female plant of a more vigorous form of the same species.
Ck. stellUjera is a ]>laut which is abundantly and readily increased also in
the vegetative way by its stellate, sprouting tubercles.

Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. 803

XXIX. — On the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves.
By William Clark, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History,

Gentlemen, Exmouth, September 1853.

I REQUEST permission to reply to Messrs. Alder and Hancock's
comments in the 'Annals of Natural History/ vol. viii. p. 370.
PI. XV. N. S., on my branchial theory, which appeared in a
paper on the Phohdidce in vol. vi. p. 313 of that publication.
I was so engaged last year in the examination of a splendid
harvest of rare animals, that I had no time to consider their re-
marks, but having now an unlimited supply of Pholades, I will
endeavour to acquit myself of my engagements with these gen-
tlemen.

They commence by quoting parts of my theory, and say that
I announce " that y^ths, if not all, the branchial water is admitted
by the pedal gape." On this point they observe —

" Let us for a moment consider what would be the conse-
quence of Mr. Clark^s supposition, that these animals obtain
water only by the pedal gape. Nearly all of them pass their
lives buried in sand or mud, or immured in solid stone, with only
a small aperture externally, the pedal opening being beneath,
and the siphonal tubes in communication with the sea. Yet
Mr. Clark would have these animals receive only the small quan-
tity of water charged with sand and mud that finds its way to
the bottom of the cavity, rather than draw their supply from the
pure element on the surface, by means of their long siphons."

To this quotation T reply, that a fresh and very extended exa-
mination of four species of the Pholades fully supports me in
maintaining all my positions, and I think I shall demonstrate
that Messrs. Alder and Hancock's system of branchial currents
is erroneous- The only correction I have to make is, that I have
clearly ascertained that the branchial, like the anal siphon, is
both inhalant and exhalant.

With respect to their observations on the habits of the Pho-
lades, it is only necessary to admit, that these animals often in-
habit sand and shingle, mixed with clay, and are not always im-
bedded in hard rock. But we contend that the cavities in which
they dwell afford sufficient passage for the sea water, and the
areas of their habitats are saturated thei'ewith, as when the tide
withdraws, much of its waters is retained by the various strata,
which by filtration reaches the burrows in a pure state, and not
" charged with sand and mud."

Continual watchinffs for months of multitudes of these ani-

304 Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in (he Bivalves

nials prove beyond doubt that tlie water is not only copiously
received at the pedal gape or aperture, but is often expelled
with as much force, and with a similar formed jet, as from the
branchial siphon; and my dredger, who during the last fifty
years has excavated more Pholades than any man in existence,
says, that he continually sees the water expelled from the pedal
gape. This is an important fact in corroboration of my theory,
as an in- and ex-current is established pedally in combination
with the branchial siphon.

I will now mention a decisive proof that nature, in all the
bivalves, intends the water, under certain conditions, to be re-
ceived and expelled by the pedal gape or aperture. When the
gape of the Pholas jntpyracea is closed, by being domed by the
animal, a large ovally dilatable fissure is always left for the water
in the connecting membrane of the laminfe of the dome, in its
centre, to correspond with the gape that has been rendered in-
effective. And in the linear Solens, in which, from the quality of
the foot and its singular position, the water cannot well enter
pedally, a similar aperture is also left in the membrane of the
connecting valves. In the Myce and other bivalves the water can
get access through the ventral and pedal apertures. Thus we
learn from these examples that when nature has denied the or-
dinary pedal entry and exit for the fluid, she always supplies a
compensation.

The periodic entry and reflux of the branchial water present
two distinct characters ; the one being regular, the other more
uncertain. With respect to the first, place a dozen Pholades and
as many Pullastra pullastra, or P. decussata, in a dish of sea
water : it will be seen that each has a regular periodic action, the
Veneres usually from one to two minutes, and the Pholades three
to four, until a change of circumstances induces a new disposition.
The entry and issue of the fluid, in conjunction with the pedal
gape and aperture, are thus performed : — the animal simulta-
neously closes the orifices of both siphons, which after a short
pause are again opened ; the eff"ete water flows from both, and
fresh is received. But independent of these silent thougli very
visible operations, there is about every five minutes a powerful
and copious jet from both tubes, sometimes simultaneously, at
others at intervals, and that from the branchial tube in the
Pholades is almost always accompanied by a strong ejection from
the pedal gape, and also in the Veneres from the ])edal aperture,
though from the absence of a gape in their shells it is not so
visible. The periodic times of the in- and out-flux, of whichever
character it may be, as the animal becomes exhausted-, are more
and more prolonged ; they arc only in vigour for twelve hours.
What is the object of these copious and regular receptions

Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. 305

and expulsions of water ? Will not every reasonable person
acknowledge that they can only serve for branchial purposes —
the receptions, to administer water to the gill-lamiusej and
the expulsions to remove it when effete by the contraction of
the adductors of the valves and siphonal retractors ? In corro-
boration of the above, I particularly refer to the Rev. James Bul-
wer's account of the Isocardia cor, published in the ' Zoological
Journal/ vol. ii. p. 258. Messrs. Alder and Hancock cannot
controvert these facts, and therefore in relation to my theory
say, " This is, however, a special case having nothing to do with
the regular branchial currents, as has before been pointed out to
Mr. Clark."

My opponents may find their special case a general law, and
their system of regular branchial currents an illusion.

They, having discovered that no ascertained communication —
[this is a condition of my theory] — existed between the branchial
and anal chambers, thus express the fact : — " We certainly
find no opening between the foot and the gills, nor between the
gills and the mantle ;" and in consequence of their favourite
doctrine being in jeopardy, they " found it necessary to make a
careful examination of the anatomical structure of these ani-
mals," and have informed us of the discovery of a channel, by
declaring the gill-laminae and their inter branchial tubes per-
meable, on which — to them a most important fact, if true — they
emphatically observe, ''Thus in an instant the secret was ex-
plained ; the currents communicate through minute openings in
the laminae of the gill-plates."

I think these gentlemen have formed an erroneous conclusion :
I cannot accord with the monstrous position, that the impure
bi-anchial water, deprived of its oxygen by the cilia, and of the
alimentary matters by the palpi of the animal, is sent by filtra-
tion, even if pores existed, through the gill-laminae and inter-
branchial tubes, which are the supports of the delicate blood-ves-
sels for discharge at the anal siphon.

As the capacity of the branchial chamber is at least three
times greater than the anal, Messrs. Alder and Hancock must ad-
mit that two-thirds of its fluid is expelled agreeably to my theory ;
it is therefore difficult to conceive a plausible reason why a part
of the effete water, only one-third, should be got rid of by an
issue, termed by them a branchial current. The sustentation
and aeration being unquestionably effected in the branchial
vault, we may inquire, what is the object of this partial labyrin-
thine exit for the water instead of its being wholly ejected by the
pedal aperture and branchial siphon, at which it entered, agree-
ably to the simple laws of nature ?

In connexion with these views, I state a fact that may have

306 Mr. W. Clark on the Bi'anchial Currents in the Bivalves.

some weight even with the sceptical. The longitudinal retract-
ors and transverse muscles of the siphons are of very great
power ; the office of the latter is to diminish the calibre of the
tubes, that, in conjunction with the former, they may effect a
more powerful expulsion of the impure fluid. As proof, if a dozen
Pholas dttctijlus are placed in a large dish of sea water, they will
cause so great an ejection from the siphons, not from the effect
of sudden disturbance or being startled, but of regular periodical
emissions, as to cover the table several times during the twelve
hours of the day and also throughout the quietude of the night :
assuredly this circumstance serves to prove that the impure water
is thus expelled, and that no part of it permeates the inter-
branchial tubes.

However, it still appears that Messrs. Alder and Hancock
insist on a regular in-current by the branchial siphon, and an
ex-current from the anal, effected by cilia, for the use of the
respiratory apparatus ; these are, as I think, strange and impotent
motor agents. I have in a former paper expressed a belief that
the function of the cilia is to beat and subdivide the water, that
the oxygen may be the more easily extracted. I must now ob-
serve that all the testaceous MoUusca have many parts of their
bodies clothed with cilia, which show their action in a similar
manner to the Bivalves ; what then, in them, are the functions
of these appendages ? May we not reasonably conclude, the same
as in the Bivalves, to extract air from the water not only for their
branchiae, but perhaps to pass the vital fluid through the pores
of the body. One can hardly suppose that in either group their
duty is mechanically to create currents, when a more simple,
visible, and effective plan exists ; I therefore think the view is
untenable, that they effect the in- and out-flux of water in the
anal and branchial chambers. I believe a simple hydrostatic law
provides for this operation in all the Bivalves by a vacuum being
formed by the contraction of the valves in the expulsion of the
effete water, and that on opening them and relaxing the siphonal
orifices to take in a fresh supply the vacuum ceases.

The action of the cilia is local. That they produce currents or
rather eddies on the gill- laminae and different parts of the body
of the Gasteropoda cannot be doubted ; these result from every
stroke of each that causes a displacement of fluid which instantly
reverts to its level, but they are not the locomotive agents of the
entrance or exit of the branchial water ; they are strictly parti-
cular, having no determinate line of operation, and act indiscri-
minately from every pole. As presumptive proof, examine an
oyster or a mussel from a ])rovincial stall a few days after they
are received, when the cilia under the microscope will be found
in full action as if just taken from the sea, and will continue so

Mr. W. Clai'k on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. 307

as long as moisture remains. In this, case these species, even if
they had siphons, could not produce in- and out-currents by
separate ducts, from non-access to water ; we are, therefore,
bound to give the preference to the idea that their functions are
to eliminate the oxygen. I may observe, that cilia are attached
to the different epithelia in all animals, from the monad to man.
The inconsistency of such a motive power will be apparent from
the consideration that the cilia must act antagonistically from
opposite points ; one set to work the water in branchially, and
another to expel it through the anal duct after percolating the
gill-laminae and interbranchial tubes. I shall recur to the cilia,
and expect to prove that the new scheme of communication be-
tween the two siphons is very problematical, I may say imprac-
ticable.

Messrs. Alder and Hancock go on to say, that any one may
convince himself of the existence of a branchial in-current and an
anal ex-current, by placing a Pholas " in a glass of sea water,
and then by gently adding a little fresh, slightly charged with
floating particles,'' he will perceive the two actions. I admit, by
this process, that currents will ensue, as the invigorating fresh
element causes the animal to expel that which has become effete
and take in a new supply ; but as I have, under every condition of
experiment, examined multitudes of these creatm'cs, I am bound
to declare that the currents have no continuous regularity : and I
think the mode of testing their presence by means of the water
being chai-ged with buoyant particles is fallacious ; these only
float on the surface, and are subject to many pertui'bations and
deceptions arising from depth of water, currents of air, the po-
sition of the animal, whether on the ventral or dorsal surface,
by its will and humour, state of exhaustion, and by an unnatural
confinement. My repeated examinations show that the par-
ticles are whirled in all directions ; sometimes they pass into the
branchial chamber, at others none will enter : capricious gyra-
tions, whether arising from the action of the animal or other
natural causes, are their ruling character. With respect to the
anal siphon, the floating particles are certainly repelled from its
orifice in a somewhat regular and continuous manner, being only
interrupted by the periodic reception of fluid to supply the ex-
haustions. The frequent repulsions of particles from the anal
orifice have been construed by Messrs. Alder and Hancock to
arise from the percolation of water from the branchial vault
through the gill-laminae and interbi'anchial tubes to an issue at
the anal siphon, produced by the agency of cilia. I think it will
appear that this complicated operation will meet with insur-
mountable difficulties, and though I admit the anal outflow, I
protest against its being considered of branchial oi'igin and regu-

308 Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves.

lav ; the regularity is fallacious, though most naturalists appeal*
to have adopted that idea, without perhaps sufficient examina-
tion, and others have been careless in their observations. But the
diligent observer of cause and effect will perceive that there is as
much water inhaled as expelled by the anal siphon, and that its
fluctuation in the branchial chamber, produced by the contraction
and dilatation of the four gill-plates, which can often be seen by
a lens through the orifice of a large P. dacttjlus, aided by the
respiratory circulation, causes a pressure and an impulse on the
interbranchial tubes ; these, as before shown, are filled every two
to four minutes by a reception of water anally, which after per-
forming its function, of whatever nature it may be, is thus for
a similar period made to reflow into the anal cavity, and from
thence is discharged by an insensible contraction of the siphonal
muscles until the exhaustion of the fluid : this is very evident by
the failure of the current, which only recovers its full action on
the periodic renewal of the water. I have thus, perhaps, ex-
plained the mystery of the so-called bi-anchial current.

It is problematical what are the precise functions of the water
that is received into the interbranchial tubes and anal vault ; I
have hereafter alluded to some of them conjecturally, and for the
present will only observe, that as this tube acts as a conduit to
the contents of the rectum, one probable use of the water is to
break down and remove the dejections ; and it would indeed be
strange if it had no other entry, except from the branchial vault
by the devious route of filtration through the interbranchial
canals.

In further support of the view that the anal ex-cuiTcnt is not
the efifect of a percolation of liquid through the gill-laminse, I
will for a moment digress, and relate a short incidental experi-
ment. As the anal siphon is somewhat longer than the branchial,
it is easy to subject the latter to the influence of the water and
isolate the former; it resulted, that whilst the water flowed into
the branchial cavity, none, in an hour's constant observation
under the lens, issued from the anal siphon, a sufficient proof of
the non-communication of the two; but as soon as the anal
siphon was allowed to reach the water and obtained a supply, the
current recommenced.

I now come to another experiment from which IMessrs. Alder
and Hancock conclusively infer the connexion of the siphonal
currents. They state, "that the nosle of a blowpipe charged
with a coloured fluid was placed at the inhalant orifice of a
Pholas, and immediately a quantity was drawn into the animal.
Watching carefully the result, wc had soon the satisfaction of
beholding a blue-stained stream issue from the cxhalant orifice."

To this I observe, that having tried the experiment again and

J

Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. 309

again, failure always occurred ; as the animal, after receiving the
coloured fluid, which was applied without difficulty, in general
immediately discharged it by the pedal gape, or by the branchial
aperture overwhelming with coloured matter both tubes, the ori-
fices of which by their inflection by the animal were so retracted
and blended together as to be undiscoverable ; of course, any issue
of liquid from a particular tube was undistinguishable. When,
in any example, the fluid, which was coloured by archil, re-
mained a little time without expulsion, I opened the branchial
cavity to see if the gill-laminse and interbranchial tubes showed
any increased inflation or colour from the filtration of the injec-
tion, but no unusual appearance presented itself. I also opened
the anal vault and collected with a camel's-hair brush as much
of the moistu.re as possible; this was applied to a very small
quantity of distilled water, but no trace of colour appeared ; we
may then presume that none of the injection had passed from
one siphon to the other. But when the coloured fluid was ad-
ministered anally, all the interbranchial tubes were at once filled
and remained inflated more than an hour, representing minute
well-filled hoses, which bore the pressure of a delicate wooden
stylet, and exhibited the fluctuations of the liquid, which, on its
removal, instantly reverted to the points of displacement without
any escape into the branchial chamber. We may therefore con-
clude, that the interbranchial tubes are impervious tissues, and
are supplied through the orifices of the crypts from the water
sucked in by the anal siphon ; and one of their uses is probably,
by being filled, to afford a sufficient tension to the network of
the blood-vessels that they may the better receive the action of the
cilia : they may also possibly be the receptacles for the matura-
tion of the ova, agreeably to the opinions of some naturalists ; but
in the multitudes I have examined I cannot corroborate this
view, as during the months of May, June, and July I failed to
see any deposit of ova either on the gill-laminse, or within the
interlaminar cavities, or in the crypts of the anal vault ; still the
" ffenitabile tempus" may be later; nevertheless the ovaria were
well filled with germs of various sizes. Under all the circum-
stances of this experiment, I think, though it may not be im-
practicable, that it cannot be depended on even if the gill-laminse
are permeable ; but as I confidently believe no communication
exists through them, I must conclude that these gentlemen were
mistaken in supposing they had detected an issue of coloured
fluid from the branchial vault through their exhalant siphon.
I have now to consider the principal experiment, which Messrs.
Alder and Hancock think will settle the disputed problem of in-
and ex-currents in the Bivalves, produced by the action of cilia
through separate siphons. They say, —

310 Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivdlve^i

" But a simple experiment will at once solve this difficuHyi'^
Having killed a specimen of Pholas crispata with the siphonal'
tubes contracted as little as possible, and having placed it in di-
luted spirit a few hours to render the tissues firm without hai-d-
cning them too much, we had again recourse to the blowpipe,
charged as formerly with coloured fluid. The specimen was
opened down the venti'al margin, exposing to view the whole of
the gills stretched along the roof of the branchial cavity. The
nosle of the blowpipe was passed into the anal siphon, and on
removing the finger from the top of the pipe, the contained fluid
immediately filled the anal chamber behind the gills, and then
passing at once down the tubes between the laminse of the gills,
issued through ten thousand pores, and dyed the water in the
branchial chamber. Thus in an instant the secret was ex-
plained ; — the currents communicate through minute openings
in the laminre of the gill-plates. '' ''

" Having thus satisfied ourselves of this fact, we next directeid '
our attention to the structure of the gills. Accordingly the anal
chamber was laid open, and its ventral wall was seen to exhibit
four longitudinal rows of large orifices. These four rows of ori-
fices, already well knowoi to anatomists, correspond to the at-
tached margins of the four gill-plates, which hang from the roof
or dorsal membrane of the branchial chamber ; this membrane
being the ventral wall of the anal chamber, — the membrane, in
fact, which divides the chambers.

" These orifices lead into wide tubes which pass between the
two laminae forming each gill-plate. These interbranchial tubes
lie contiguous and parallel to each other, and extend the full
width of the gill, being bifid within its free margin. Thus it is
evident that the tubes within the gill-plates communicate freely
with the anal chamber. The laminse forming the walls of these
tubes were now examined through the microscope, when the
whole was observed to present a regularly reticulated stiiicture
composed of blood-vessels ; those passing transversely being the
stronger and more prominent. The longitudinal vessels, rather
far apart from each other, form the meshes into parallelograms.
These meshes are open spaces, fringed internally with a narrow
membrane and active vibratile cilia. The two vascular laminae
forming the gill-plate are really sieves to separate suspended
molecules from the surrounding medium on the passage of the
water from the branchial to the anal chamber ; — an apparatus of
the most exquisite beauty and perfect adaptation to the desired
end.

"We cannot understand how this beautiful structure escaped
detection by the mercurial injection of Mr. Clark."

I at once dispose of the last remark to save trouble in my

Mr. W, Clark on the Bi'anchial Currents in the Bivalves. 311

counter-statement ; if these gentlemen had read a little more at-
tentively, they would have seen, in the paper on which they have
passed their strictures, that Mr. Clark states, " the application of
the mercury to that tube gradually filled the entire range of the
branchial vessels, which exhibited a very elegant appearance, but
no fluid escaped from them into the branchial sac."

It is proper to state, that the Pholas a'ispata is the species
that has furnished my controversialists with their remarks on my
branchial theory, which is illustrated chiefly by the P. dactylus.
I am not aware that this circumstance is of much moment, as
we may safely conclude that the gills of all the Pholades have in
essentials the same character. But I ought to mention, that the
framework of the respiratory apparatus in some tribes of the
Bivalves presents a very diff"erent arrangement. For example, there
are several British families whose species I have seen alive, and
which fortunately can be obtained, that have a peculiar branchial
construction, which appears as to general configuration closely
analogous to that lately described in the ' Annals ' to exist in
the Chamostrea albida and Myochama anomioides of authors, but
the particular parts of the mechanism in my species do not ac-
cord; I think the nan-ow reticulated ribands on the external
sui'face are not permeable, and do not lie on apertures that com-
municate with the interbranchial tubes. I refrain, at present,
from extending these remarks, but in a fitting time I shall be
prepared with some comparative notes on certain species that
have only a single complete gill-lamina and a rudimentary one
on each side the body, which seem to me to difi^er essentially
in structure from the descriptions that have been promulgated
on the composition of the branchial mechanism of the species
that have been alluded to.

I now enter on the counter- statement to the last quotation,
and beg to observe, that Messrs. Alder and Hancock, in the ex-
planatory sketch of their Pholas crispata, PI. XV. vol. viii. N.S.,
give a very intelligible outline of their theory. Though entirely
dissenting from it, I cannot but admire the ingenious delineation,
particularly fig. 3. of the gill-laminse, showing the aspect of the
meshes ; it has however one fault — it exhibits them all with sym-
metrical longitudinal fissures called " orifices," which I think are
ruptures of the membrane of each mesh, not one of which exists
naturally in the three species I have examined.

Since May 1853 I have often performed " the simple experi-
ment " detailed by Messrs. Alder and Hancock in the third pa-
ragraph of their paper, p. 374 ; it is by far the most important
of the series, as the problem of communication, with them, be-
tM'een the anal and branchial siphons, depends on it : — by the in-
jections of more than 200 Pholades with mercury and coloured

312 Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves,

fluids, the invariable result has been my inability, as ii}^i,tbe
first experiments iu 1850, to pass the fluids through the anal
chamber further than to All all the iuterbranchial tubes ; but I
always found the gill-laminse, which form their walls, impex'vious,
instead of allowing liquid to issue " from 10,000 pores." It is
necessary to state that the numerous interlaminar canals that
compose the divisions of the gill-plates are nearly parallel, and
hang vertically from the dorsal line, ranging at equidistances
throughout a great part of the extent of each branchial plate,
and by sutural lines of jmiction cut off" the communication be-
tween each tube.

I will now enter a little more into detail on some points iu
connexion with the branchial laminae, by describing the appear-
ance of the areas of the parallelograms under repeated examina-
tions by ti-ansmitted light, and also as opake objects, rendered
so by the injection of mercury.

In a full-grown Pholas dactylus, the surfaces of each gill-
lamina together comprise an extent of about a square inch,
every one-tenth of which contains 400 oblong sabquadrangular
spaces, or 40,000 in each plate, forming a total in the four gills
of 160,000; this admeasurement and enumeration may not be
very far from the truth. In each parallelogram, besides a ge-
neral suboval depression, there are within it five to twenty or
more shallow excavations of various size and shape, but there is
no ruling symmetrical fissure as delineated in Messrs. Alder and
Hancock's fig. 3. Each area shows a plain, a pitted, and a mam-
millated or tracericd surface, detected by the action of the micro-
scopic foci. We will start from the plain surface in which there
is certainly no perforation ; the fine adjustment of the instrument
measures the depth of the depressions, and by another movement
shows the character of the minute points, thus proving that no
fissure or aperture exists, as when there is really an imperfection
in the membrane it cannot thus be resolved, but under every phase
of the instrument the hiatus of a solution of continuity is seen.
The shallow depressions are the uncovered patches of the mem-
branous base of the scales or epithelium incident to all the Mol-
lusca ; from them the numerous vibratile cilia spring which pre-
sent the most discordant and particular motions that operate
from every point ; sometimes they appear as if each entire pit
was Avhirled on a vertical axis, at others a compact mass of
strands dilates and contracts like the heart, then a fasciculus of
cilia is seen beating the water with every irregularity ; sometimes
only a single eirrhus is raised and falls in quick succession, like a
hammer in a mechanic's hand ; but it is impossible to describe all
the varieties of motion. In a fresh animal the action and strokes
exhibit the greatest rapidity ; it seems utterly impracticable that

Mp, W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. 313

regular currents can be formed by such a chaos of agency ; ra-
pidity and diversity is the natural character of the action of the
cilia, and it is only by the exhaustion of moisture, which can
never occur in natural sites, that a subdued and more delibei'ate
motion is attained, and even then their direction is as variable as
ever ; I can only consider them as the eliminating mechanism of
the oxygen. The epithelium is pretty regularly deposited on the
upper area of a compound membrane, one lamina being thin,
horny, and of a yellowish pale brown ; the other thicker, of a
more mucous quality and whiter colour ; this is seen by exami-
ning the edges of a section. Between these membranes which
form the substance of the gill-plates the network of the blood-
vessels is spread, as without such support it would fall to pieces :
perhaps the roots of the cilia pass through the epithelium and
its supporting membrane, and impinging or centring on the
coats of the blood-vessels, by a capillary or porous action supply
them with the air they extract from the water. It is scarcely
possible to view a more interesting object than the structure of
the branchial mechanism and operation of the cilia, by trans-
mitted light, under a power of 300 or 400 diameters. I think
these data will almost convince naturalists that these organs
cannot be the agents of a communication from the branchial
chamber to the anal siphon.

It is necessary to state that occasional lesions, and now and
then a perforation, are seen on the surface of the gill-laminse,
the evident effect of a casual imperfection ; with these exceptions,
entirety is the ruling aspect ; all my fellow-observers concurred
in this opinion ; and two pieces of gill-lamina containing several
interbi'anchial tubes were submitted to a distinguished metro-
politan microscopist, who thus reported on them : " I can find
no pores in them, unless a piece of leather may be called porous."
Since this opinion a great number of the gill-membranes of the
Pholas dadylus have been examined by transmitted light by one
of Mr. Ross's microscopes, with the i and \ of an iiich object-
glasses, a power more than sufficient to detect the presence of
natural symmetrical apertures or pores through which effective
permeation could be obtained ; indeed that power would be equal
to show pores through which no water could pass freely, and
scarcely by exudation.

The gill-plates of the Pholas parva are more delicate than in
the ' dadylus.' IS o appearance of symmetrical apertures exists,
but only an excessively minute wiry tracery, studded in the inter-
stices with points, which, under a power of 300 linear, only pre-
sented a surface little larger than the point of the finest needle,
and had the aspect of prominent dots rather than pores.

In the Pholas papyracea the gills are of the finest texture, but
Ann. 6,- Maff. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xii. 22

314 Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bilialvei.

exhibit no appearance of a permeable structure ; minute points
are scattered in the tracery of the parallelograms, some of them
being circled by a shallow grooved line ; but this is merely a de-
pression of the epithelium or its supporting membrane. I have
preserved the preparations. The P. Candida has not been exa-
mined, and the P. crispaia does not inhabit the South Devon
coasts.

Having mentioned accidental lesions and gill-laminar imper-
fections, I have to add, that in testing Messrs. Alder and Han-
cock's chief experiment, no alcoholic injections should be used,
as by their penetrating quality they may exude through these
supereminently delicate tissues; nor should mercury be employed,
as its weight in young subjects without great care often causes
ruptures, and from its density it does not pass near so freely as
aqueous fluids. Sea water coloured by indigo or archil, or pure,
is the proper injection, which must not be pushed beyond a full
distension of the interlaminar tubes. The animal should be
prepared in as natural a state as possible, and not be killed by
any process producing sudden asphyxia, as immersion in hot
water or alcohol ; the first destroys tenacity in delicate tissues,
the second thickens and hardens them too much, and occasions
lesions and fissures by contraction. Thei'e must be no lesions
in the gill-laminae, except those that result from imperfections,
which prevail to more or less extent in every animal I have
examined — at least 500; any solution of continuity at the junc-
tion of the gills with the excessively delicate mem%i'anes of the
body will be fatal to success.

If the experiment is thus conducted, no injection through the
anal siphon will flow into the branchial vault by the route of the
interlaminar canals ; the only moisture, if any, that can arrive
there, may be a slight exudation, a proportionate one to the
number of perforations and cracks in the membrane from laminar
malformation, and of these only those which pass through into
the interbrahchial tubes. There may be in the 40,000 paral-
lelograms in each gill, about twenty flaws or imperfections, and
I reserve the possibility that all or most of these may arise from
the manipulation of such delicate tissues.

After all these incidents, how am I to explain the great
discrepancy between the experiments of the northern naturalists,
illustrated by their " 10,000 pores," and mine, by the impossi-
bility of causing fluids to issue from the interbranchial tubes
by percolation through the membrane on which the network of
the blood-vessels is spread ? But 'tis said, the sight is keener
in the North than with us southrons. The only solution I can
offer is a mere guess, that the animals operated on by these
gentlemen, after being killed, and alcoholized to harden the

MpiWt^Clirk on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves. 315

fabric, — and the contractive qualities of alcohol are well-known,
— had, when the moisture was evaporated, the membrane of the
entire network of the branchial laminse broken by lesions and
contractions, and their tig. 3. in the plate has much the aspect
of such ruptures. " I cast this idea on the waters," as Southey
did " his little book," and it may have as much value as it deserves.
I had scarcely written these lines when I found that my conjecture
might be right. Having opened in a gill-plate an interbranchial
tube that retained the injected mercury, I cleared it of the
mineral, and being dry it was placed in water to recover pliability,
for fixing on a tablet, on which it was carefully spread without
stretching ; I found that in the central portion of the membrane
of the plate almost every parallelogram was ruptured, which
under the microscope showed no previous solutions of continuity,
and each fissure proved a facsimile of those delineated vol. viii.
N. S. PI. XV. fig. 3.

The area of the portion of the plate examined contained about
2000 parallelograms in rows, and by its size caused the sphere
of contractibility to centre in the middle, whilst towards the
margins, a less resistance and greater elasticity prevailing, many
of the rows of network preserved their integrity. I then pre-
pared another portion of ten transverse and as many longitudinal
rows ; in this diminished area not a mesh was ruptured, and the
membrane of the blood-vessels remained perfect. It appears
then, that the moistening of the gill-plate with plain water — and
of course with alcohol a much greater efi\jct is produced — may
have caused all the fissures in Messrs. Alder and Hancock's
specimens, thus fully accounting for the singularly different
results of our respective injections of the anal siphon.

If I am right in these points, the question of in- and ex-cur-
rents by cilia and separate siphons is disposed of. The data of
these gentlemen to show a communication between the anal and
branchial vaults through the membrane of the network of the
gill-laminae not being tenable, of course their theory falls to
the ground, on the principle of " sublata causa toUitur etfectus ; "
consequently mine, as published in the ' Annals,' 1850, has not
yet been proved incorrect.

Hitherto the Pholades have been more particularly the object
of consideration ; it may now be not amiss to turn our attention
to a group of Bivalves which, though essentially the same, diifer
materially in the configuration and arrangement of many of their
organs ; they may perhaps assist us in searching out the truth,
by the discordancy of their attributes with those of their pre-
cursors.

How am I to consider the Anomice and Ostrea, that have open
mantles and no tubes, in which the water must enter at every

22*

316 Mr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves.

point of the periphery that is patent, contemporaneously with
the opening of the shell by the animal ? Here the water cannot
be passed off by what is called an anal tube, because none exists ;
it must therefore be discharged by the great ventral cavity. Or,
am I to idealize, and suppose that in the same branchial vault a
distinct in-current has its course and another out ? I may ob-
serve, that in the Gasteropoda there is a similar periodic entry
and expulsion of water from the branchial chamber as in the
Bivalves ; and after the cilia have extracted the oxygen, I have
witnessed a hundred times the forcible expulsion of the effete
fluid by a jet as decided as in them ; — am I here also to suppose
that there are two distinct opposite currents in the same undivided
cavity ?

I have now to inquire how the gill-percolation, admitting for
argument that it exists, is disposed of in this tribe of Bivalves
without siphons. If the water permeates the gills of the Pholades,
it must do so in the Anomice and Ostrece ; in the former there is
a possible vent by the siphon, but none in the latter, therefore
it must revert to its source, the branchial cavity. Does not this
go far to pi'ove that there is no permeation in either case ?

Then, may it not be permitted us, in this asiphonal group, with-
out having recourse to an " olla podrida," or hash of currents,
to conclude, that when the animal opens the shell for the ad-
mission of water to bathe the branchiae, and when that function
is accomplished, it ejects the effete fluid by the same channel it
entered, as no separate duct can be found? Will not the calm
consideration of this case make most men doubt the existence of
branchial currents either by distinct tubes, that is one inhalant
and branchial, and another exhalant and anal, or by what I term
supposititious ones ? The former position I think I have proved
in the Pholades by showing that there is no effective communica-
tion between the two chambers ; and in the Anomice and Ostrea,
the latter condition of the currents being imaginaiy, appears to
be the most correct view. It may therefore be considered that
in the Bivalves, whatever modification their siphonal mechanism
may present, all are subject to a general law of the water being
expelled from the same siphon or channel at which it entered,
aided by the pedal gape and pedal aperture where they exist ;
and in the Anomice and Ostreee, in which these organs are rudi-
mentary or entirely wanting, the water is simply received and
expelled through the ventral range, and not by an imaginative
inhalant and exhalant regular current, effected by cilia.

The remainder of Messrs. Alder and Hancock^s paper requires
no further remark than a few words on their concluding experi-
ment, showing how the colouring matters collect in the neigh-
bourhood of the buccal aperture. I have observed these appear-

Ml'. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves, 317

anceSj but I am of opinion, that in an animal cut up from stem
to stem, with the so-called in-current, as they admit, annihilated,
little dependence can be placed on the action of the gill-laminae
floated in a shallow vessel, to account for the colouring matters
^een at its oral termination. And I cannot understand the
hydro-pneumatic statics of these gentlemen, nor the position
agreeably to their theory, that " a tendency to form a vacuum "
in the anal chamber and interbranchial tubes is effected by the
" flowing out " of the water from the ex-current siphon, com-
bined with ciliary agency, which actions, they add, are the
foundation of their " correct answer to this question ; How is
the matter, divided into such minute particles, collected on the
surface of the gills ? "

But a fallacy with respect to a tendency to form a vacuum
seems to present itself, as in this case a flowing out involves the
idea of a flowing in, which militates against the vacuum, for the
fact is, that with the outflow there is in their theory a contem-
poraneous succession of fluid to compensate any possible ex-
haustion. One would rather suppose that a tendency to a vacuum,
instead of existing in the anal chamber, the point of issue, would
be formed in the branchial vault, the source of supply, from a
possible deficiency of fluid : a river shows no appearance of
vacuity at its debouchure or elsewhere, whilst its sources main-
tain their integrity.

I can conceive in a running stream that the pressure of one
portion of water on another produces an impulsion, not a
vacuum ; but how is this impulsion from mere declivity of gra-
dient to operate in the Bivalves, in which the natural position of
the siphons is almost invariably at an angle of 90° in refei'ence
to the horizon ? How is the flow out of water to be effected in
them ? Are we called on to believe that the cilia, besides elimi-
nating the oxygen for the blood, perform the function of a
pumping apparatus ? Surely I need not further entertain such
an absurdity ; we may therefore conclude that the water is ex-
pelled at intervals of two to five minutes from both chambers, by
the powerful adductor muscles in combination with the siphonal
retractors of the animal operating on the valves ; these agents
act as a force pump; there is no other adequate exhausting
mechanism.

I do not think the idea of ciliary currents, independent of
those for the extraction of the oxygen, can be sustained. I also
cannot admit, with my views of the impermeability of the gill-
laminse, that the concluding hypothesis of these gentlemen
throws " some hght on the sustentation of the Lamellibranchiate
moUusks ; " I believe the gills are strictly a respiratory machine,
with the exception that they may be subservient in some or all*

318 IMr. W. Clark on the Branchial Currents in the Bivalves.

the Bivalves to reproduction. I consider that i}\Q palpi are.tb^
purveyors and locomotive agents of the alimentary matters.

As a last argument I submit a syllogism, which perhaps some
of your readers will say, from its decisive character, had better
have been placed at the head, instead of the end of this paper, and
thus they and myself would have escaped the trouble of wading
through long accounts of optical and other experimental tests.

In a gill-membrane in which cilia are planted, epithelium is
always present, and it and its supporting tissue cannot exist
without a membranous and mucous substratum ; these are abso-
lutely antagonistic to water and impermeable ; therefore the gill-
lamiuse of the Pholadcs and other bivalves are impermeable.

I apprehend, that ciliated mucous membranes are neither
absorbents nor emunctories, though the vessels of such glands
may pass through them to the surface ; they are probably a
product by exudation from the blood-vessels, for the formation
of an upper membrane and the epithelium. Thus the very con-
stitution of the branchial plates informs the anatomist and,
physiologist, that there cannot through them be a communica-
tion from the bi'anchial to the anal chamber.

Jt would be lost labour to pi-olongthis disquisition, in which I
fear my observations have been too often repeated, but the im-
portance of the problem is my apology. If I have failed to
convince, I have at least supplied matter for reflection, which
may perhaps lead malacologists to doubt whether the doctrine
of inhalant and exhalant currents by cilia and distinct apertures
can be maintained against the evidence I have presented, and to
admit that this long-entertained theory may prove a delusion.

I conclude with a remark of Sir William Napier, who thus
offers an apology — all will exclaim, a needless one — for writing
the history of what he terms "a thrice-told tale," the Peninsular
War : the eloquent historian says, " that two men observing the
same object will describe it diversely, according to the point of
view from which either beholds it ; in the eyes of one it shall
be a fair prospect, to the other a barren waste, and neither may
see aright.'"

Are the northern naturalists and myself in tliis category ? He
adds, " wherefore truth being the legitimate object of history, it
is better that she should be sought for by the many than by few,
lest for want of seekers, amongst false lights, she be lost
altogether."

Let us then apply these views, and hope that in this branch of
historv many observers, besides the present controversialists, will
step in to announce the truth and dispel the mists of prejudice.
I am. Gentlemen, your niost obedient servant,

Willi vm C'lark.

Mr. R. Warington on Marine Vivaria. 319

XXX.-^U/i Pmemny the Balance between the Animal and Ve-
aetable Organisms in Sea Water. By Robert Warington.*

In the published notices of my experiments of 1849, to maintain
the balance between the animal and vegetable organisms in a
confined and limited portion of water, the fact was demonstrated,
that, in consequence of the natural decay of the vegetation, its
subsequent decomposition and the mucus-growth to which it
gave rise, this balance could only be sustained for a very short
period, but, if another member were introduced, which would
feed upon the decaying vegetation and thus prevent the accumu-
lation of these destructive products — a function most admirably
performed by the various species of water-snail — such balance
was capable of being continuously maintained without the
slightest difficulty ; and I may add, that the experimental proof
of this has now been carried on, in a small tank in the heart of
London, for the last four years and a half, without any change
or disturbance of the water ^ the loss which takes place by eva-
poration being made up with rain or distilled water, so as to
avoid any great increase of the mineral ingredients originally
present. It follows then, as a natural deduction, from the suc-
cessful demonstration of these premises, that the same balance
should be capable of being established, under analogous circum-
stances, in sea water. And in a paper published in January
l853t, I stated that I was, at that time, "attempting the same
kind of arrangement with a confined portion of sea water, em-
ploying some of the green sea-weeds for the vegetable member
of the circle, and the common periwinkle as the representative
of the water-snail."

The sea water with which the exjieriments I am about to de-
tail were conducted, was obtained through the medium of one of
the oyster-boats at the Billingsgate fish- market, and was taken
from the middle of the English Channel,

My first object was to ascertain the kind of sea-weed best
fitted,, under ordinary circumstances, for keeping the water clear
and sweet, and in a sufficiently oxygenated state to sustain ani-
mal life. And here opinions were at variance, for one naturalist
friend whom I consulted, advised me to employ the Ilhodosperms ;
another stated that it was impossible to make the red weeds
answer the purpose, as he had tried them, and strongly recom-
mended the olive or brown-coloured Algae ; while, again, others
thought that I should be more successful with those which had

* Communicated by the Author, having been read at the Hull Meeting
of the British Association.

t Gardeners' Botanical Magazine and Garden Companion, Jan. 1852,

S30 j\li'. R. Warington on Preserving the Balance bcttceen

in theory first suggested themselves to my own mmcl, uamely
the Chlorosperms. After making mimerous unsuccesslul expe-
riments with both the brown and the red varieties of Algte,
I was fully convinced that, under ordinary circumstances, the
greeia weeds were the best adapted for the purpose.

This point having been practically ascertained, and some good
pieces of the Enteromorpha and Ulva latissima in a healthy state,
attached to nodules of flint or chalk, having been procured
fi'om the shore near Broadstairs, several living animal subjects
were introduced together with the periwinkle. Everything pro-
gressed satisfactorily, and these all continued in a healthy and
lively condition.

My first trials were conducted in one of the small tanks which
had been used for fresh water ; but as it was necessary, dui'ingthe
unsuccessful experiments with the brown and red sea-weeds, to
agitate and aerate the water, which had been rendered foul from
the quantity of mucus or gelatinous matter generated during the
decay of their fronds, until the whole had become oxidized, and
the water rendered clear and fitted for another experiment, it
was, therefore, for greater convenience, removed into a shallow
earthen pan and covered with a large glass shade to protect the
surface of the water, as much as possible, from the dust and soot
of the London atmosphere, and at the same time impede the
evaporation. In this vessel then I had succeeded perfectly in
keeping a large number of beautiful living specimens in a healthy
condition up to the close of 1852. I therefore gave instructions
for the making of a small tank as a more permanent reservoir,
and one more adapted for carrying on my observations and
investigations on the oeconomy and habits of the inhabitants.

From the experience I had obtained in my experiments with
the freshwater tank, I was induced to modify slightly the con-
struction of this vessel ; thus, at the back, or part towards the
light, the framing was filled with slate in the same way as the
ends and bottom ; for I had found that the glass, originally em-
ployed, very soon became covered with a confervoid growth
which had an unpleasing appearance to the eye, and in conse-
quence of which I had been obliged to paint the glass on the
exterior to prevent this growth from increasing to too great an
extent. It was also an vrnnatural mode of illumination, as all the
light should pass through the surface of the water. The front
towards the room and the observer was constructed of plate-
glass, the whole being set in a stout framework of zinc, and
cemented with what is known under the name of Scott's cement,
and which I have found to answer for the purpose most admi-
rably. Within this tank were arranged several large pieces of
rock-work, thrown into an arched form, and other fragments

the Animal and Vegetable Organisms in Sea Water. 321

were cemented in places against the slate at the back and ends,
and at parts along the water-line, so that the creatures could
hide themselves at pleasure ; a short beach of pebbles was also
constructed in order that shallow water could be resorted to if
desired. The whole tank was covered with a light glass shade to
keep out the dust and retard evaporation.

With the sea water obtained in Januax'y 1852, I have been
working without cessation up to the present time, agitating and
aerating when it became foul during the unsuccessful experi-
ments on the sea-weeds, but since then it has been rarely ever
disturbed ; the loss which takes place from evaporation being
made up, as before stated, with rain or distilled water.

For a considerable period, after commencing these experi-
ments, I was much troubled to obtain living subjects in a healthy
condition, but having alluded to this, and the success of my in-
vestigations, in a short notice appended to a paper published in
the 'Annals of Natural History' for October 1852, my friend
Mr. P. H. Gosse, who was then sojourning at Ilfracombe for his
health, offered in the kindest manner possible to supply nie with
materials, and from that period he has always most heartily re-
sponded to my wants. It must not be imagined for a moment
that the beautiful creatures I have thus received have been all
preserved alive or always quite healthy. In experimental investi-
gations this would be unreasonable to expect, as the very fact of
experimenting implies a disturbance of the then state of things.
Besides which, from want of a sufficient knowledge of natural
history, from want of forethought and experience and other
causes, I have lost many very fine specimens ; and as the detail of
these losses may prevent the occurrence of the like annoyances
to others, I shall venture to occupy your time for a short period
with their history.

My greatest loss arose from too great an anxiety to transfer
the collection I had preserved in a healthy condition to the end
of December 1852 into the new tank. As soon as it arrived
from the maker's I lost no time in introducing my numerous
family to their new abode, and dearly I paid for my precipitancy,
for on the next morning I found many of my most beautiful spe-
cimens dead ; thus I lost two fine Holothurias {H. Pentactes), a
small freckled Goby (Gobius minutus), a beautiful little Pipe-fish
[Syngnathus lumbriciformis) , and several others, and on opening
the door of the case the cause of this mortality was at once evi-
dent, — an iridescent film of oily matter was floating on the sur-
face of the water, arising from the paint with which the angular
joints and edges of the small tank had been coloured not having
become sufficiently hardened.

Another source of loss arises from the several creatures attack-

323 Mr. R. Wai'ington on Presej'ving the Balance between

ing and devouring each other, and it therefore becomes a point
of great importance — and highly necessary to be carefully ob-
served, where their preservation is an object — to ascertain what
varieties may be safely associated in the same tank ; as, for in-
stance, I have found that the Shrimps and Prawns attack, and
verj' soon devour, all the larger varieties of Corallines and Polyps,
Sabellse, Serpulse, Rock-borers, Cirrhipeds, some of the Annelids,
many Bivalve and Univalve MoUusks that are unprotected by an
operculum, or have no power of closing their valves. The in-
stances which have come under my own immediate observation
have been the destruction of the Pholas dactylus, Saxicava rugosa,
Cyprcea Europcea, and several specimens of Sabellse, Serpulse,
Corijne sessilis and many others.

Tlie common Crab {Cancer Mcenas) is likewise a most de-
structive agent ; and the tribe of rock-fish, the Bleunies, Gobies,
&c. are also most voracious, devouring all the varieties of Cirrhi-
peds, Corallines, Polyps, Annelids, &c. ; they will also attack
the shrimps and prawns, and even seize upon the horns of the
periwinkle, which they bite. If the mollusks do not keep a very
tirm hold of the rock or tank sides, they are rapidly turned over
by these fish on their backs and lie helplessly exposed to their
attacks*. It is doubtless their seeking food of this kind which
causes these little fish to be so generally found in the shallow
iX)ck-pools of the coast. In consequence of these ravenous pro-
pensities I have been obliged to establish several small tanks and
imitation rock-pools, so as to separate these various depredators
from each other : thus in one I have varieties of Actinia, Shrimps,
Nudibranchs, Holothurias, and some Annelids ; in a second the
rock-fish, as the Bleunies, Gobies, Cottus, with Crabs and
Actinia ; in a third Corallines, Annelids, Polyps, Rock-borers,
Sabellae, Serpulse, Holothurias, and Actinia.

Another curious instance of loss I may detail which has quite
recently occui-red, and which may prove interesting ; it was in a
small rock-pool containing Blennies, Gobies, Crabs, &c. I had
procured two live oysters for the purpose of feeding my nume-
rous small fry in these vivaria, and one of these having proved
ample for the purpose of one meal, the other was placed on the

* Since the reading of this paper at Hull I have received a Blenny of
larger size, being about 85 inches in length, and although it has become so
tame that it will allow itself to be touched by the hand and takes its food
from the fingers, yet its destructive propensities are so great, that it very
soon killed four small Crabs ; and to save three others, of rather a larger
size, I have been obliged to remove the Blenny to a rock-pool in asso-
ciation with his own s])ecies and a few Actinia. The only refuge the poor
Crabs had was to bury themselves in the sand, and whenever they attem]ited
to move out of their refuge they were immediately potmced upon an<I only
escaped by burrowing rapidly again.

the Animal and Vegetable Organisms in Sea Water. 333

sandy bottom ; on the second day after this the oyster was ob-
served to have opened the valves of his shell to a great extent,
which were afterwards seen closed, but a small Gobius niger, in-
habiting the pool, could nowhere be seen. The day after this
the oyster was opened for the general feeding, when, lo ! within
the shell was found the unfortunate Gobius, quite dead. Whether
this little gentleman had been attracted within the trap by cu-
I'iosity or the ciliary motion of the oyster, it is impossible with
certainty to say ; but that he must have seized on some sensitive
part of the oyster is more than probable, so as to have caused
such a rapid closing of the valves of the shell as could entrap so
active a burglar.

Another important point is the gravity of the sea water ;
this should be very carefully regulated, for it must be borne in
mind that many of the marine creatures are supplied by a per-
meation of water through their tissues or over their delicate and
beautiful organs. The specific gravity should not rise above
1026 at 60° Fahr., and a small hydrometer should be at short
periods introduced to ascertain that this point is not exceeded,
particularly during the hot months of summer. The reduction
to this gravity can be readily effected by the addition of rain or
distilled water. Many of the creatures will of themselves afford
indications of this increase of density ; some of the Actinice will
remain closed and become coated with a white slimy covering
within which they remain for a length of time, and if the specific
gravity of the water be lowered this is very soon ruptured by
their expansion, thrown off, and the tentacula become soon
extended.

All putrescent matter or excess of food or rejecta of the Ac-
tiaice should be carefully removed from the water, as the noxious
gaseous compounds generated by the decay of such matters appear
to diffuse themselves rapidly through the water, act as a virulent
poison, and speedily desti'oy the vitality of the occupants. Thus
many beautiful subjects were lost in a few hours from the intro-
duction, into a small glass jar, of a large Pecten shell, encrusted
Avith corallines, which had become loaded with putrescent matter
by partial submersion in a foul muddy bottom.

Great care should also be taken in moving the Actinia that
the foot or sucking disc with which it attaches itself to the
rocks, stones, or mud, be not injured, as, when this occurs, they
rarely survive, but roll about without attaching themselves, and
gradually waste away and die.

With these exceptions then, everything has gone on very sa-
tisfactorily, care being always taken not to overload the water
with too large a proportion of animal life for the vegetation to
balance, as, whenever this has been inadvertently attempted, the

334 Prof. J.Buckmau on the Cornbrash of the

water has soon become foul, and the whole contents of the tatik,'
both animal and vegetable, have rapidly suffered, and it has Re-
quired some time before the water could be restored to its former
healthy condition. •'

In one of the numbers of the ' Zoologist ' of last year, I statfea
that besides the Ulvce, Enteromorphce and Cladophorce, I had foiind
the Zostera marina a very useful plant for oxygenating the sea
water ; but this observation has I'eference only to the case of a
tank supplied with a ground where its roots will find a sufficiency
of food for its growth, as in a clear shingle or sand it soon de-
cays; and it should be associated with such animals as delight
in a ground of this nature, as many of the Annelids, Crabs, bur-
rowing Shrimps, &c. Thei'e are several interesting observations
which have been made from time to time connected with this
subject, which I hope to lay before the natural-history world as
soon as I can find leisure time for the purpose.

Apothecaries' Hall, Sept. 10, 1853.

XXXI. — On the Cornbrash of the neighbourhood of Cirencester.
By James Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology
Royal Agricultural College*.

The Cornbrash as it occurs in the neighbourhood of Cirencester,
though for the most part a very thin member of the Oolitic
series of rocks, yet presents us with many points for consider-
ation of great interest.

In the counties of Gloucester and Wilts it is always found to
rest upon a thick bed of Forest marble clay, a section at Kemble,
four miles from Cirencester, being as follows in descending
order: —

1 . Cornbrash, an oolitic stone, with rough uneven fracture and ft. in.

full of shells 8

2. Blue elay without shells ) Forest 17

Siliceous Umestone ... f marble 6

4. Bradford clay, very iossihierous . 7

5. Great OoUte

The bed No. 1, which it is our object to describe in the fol-
lowing remarks, though of so slight thickness, is found to be the
substratum of large tracts of land, especially in the neighbour-
hood of Cirencester, Fairford, Cricklade, and Malmsbury ; in
each case presenting great and beneficial peculiarities of soil,
not only when compared with that upon its surrounding forest
marble, but also in comparison with other oolitic brashes; in-
deed, its name " Coi-nbrash " would appear to have been given
to it from the fact that its soil affords a brash or stony soil
* Read to the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club, Sept. 20, 1853.

neighbourhood of Cirencester.

325

favourable for corn ci'ops, which is far from usually being the
case with those either of the Inferior or Great Oolitic beds ; in-
deed our observations of crops upon what the Cotteswold farmer
calls " stone brashes " of the district, when compared with the
Cornbrash, would lead us to conclude the following as a faif
average grown upon an acre in bushels : —

1. Stonebrash,
Inferior Oolite.

2. Stonebrash,
Great Oolite.

3. Cornbrash.

^Vheat

Bushels.
15 to 20

25 to 30

25 to 30

Bushels.
20 to 25

30 to 35

35 to 40

Bushels.
25 to 30

40 to 45

45 to 50

Barley

Oats

The average rent may perhaps be gathered from the following
table : —

the acre.

1 . Stonebrash, Inferior Oolite 7*. to 20s.

2. Stonebrash, Great Oolite 14s. to 25s.

3. Cornbrash 20s. to 40s.

This great difference in the productive powers of soils, which
a cursory examination only would lead to the conclusion were
nearly alike in character, may, to a considerable extent, be ex-
plained by the following analyses, which were made by Professor
Voelcker from specimens which I had the pleasure of procuring
for him ; and it may be remarked in passing, that as the analyses
were made by the Professor in order to ascertain the different
constituents of the rocks and not the soil, in each case typical
hand specimens were presented to him, and the result singularly
explains observed facts with regard to the crops upon the re-
spective substrata.

Result of analyses by Professor A. Voelcker : —

Inferior Oolite. Great Oohte. Cornbrash.

Carbonate of lime

Magnesia

Sulphate of lime

Oxide of iron

Alumina

Phosphoric acid

Soluble silica

Insoluble siliceous matter..
Alkaline salts

89-20
•34
•09

4-14

•06

2^75

327

undetermined,

99 85

95-346
•739
•204

1-422

-124
1-016

-533
undetermined,

99-384

89-195
•771
-241

2-978

•177

1-231

4-827

undetermined-

99-420

826 Prof. J. Buckmaii on the Cornbrash of the

These analyses show that the phosphoric acid and sulphate of
lime — two important chemical agents in the growth of crops— -
greatly predominate in the Cornbrash ; and besides this, the thick-
ness of Cornbrash soil is always greater than that upon the
Stoneb rashes, as this rock more readily breaks up and becomes
disintegrated by atmospheric action.

These remarks tend to show the great practical advantage of
geological and chemical knowledge, and fully explain how a
successful farmer near Cirencester has converted a " brash farm "
— which is in general a term of reproach — into one of the most
productive farms in the district, this brash being the fertile Corn-
brash.

But not only is this thin stratum of interest on account of
the line crops which it yields, but it will ever present a
charm to the geologist from the rich harvest of fossils which it
everywhere contains ; indeed, the reason why it crumbles down
so readily is probably owing in part to its being composed of
shells, which are merely cemented together by a calcareous ma-
trix, whilst the phosphates of the rocks are doubtless derived
from its imbedded animal matter ; hence our examination has not
only afforded a tolerable list of species, but several forms are
numerically so great, and offer so many curious tj^pes, as to de-
serve a more attentive study than has yet been accorded them.
Now in giving an account of the fossil contents of the Cornbrash,
it must be understood that my facts are solely derived from ob-
servation in the quarries of my more immediate district and are
consequently incomplete, and as a lengthened list of fossils could
only be the more tedious the more copious its details, I pro-
pose in this place to append a mere summai-y of its remains,
making remarks upon its more interesting palseontological
features.

Summary of Cornbrash Fossils from the neighbourhood of
Cirencester.

Species.

1 . Brachiopoda 7

2. Conchifera 30

3. Gasteropoda 10

4. Cephalopoda 3

5. Annelida 4

6. Zoophyta 3

7. Echinodermata 8

65
An interesting feature in the natural history of the Brachio-
poda, is that five forms of Terebratula, namely the T. lagenalis,
sublagenalis, obovata, ornithocephala, and digona of authors (see
DavidsonV memoir on Oolitic Brachiopoda by the Palseontogra-

neighbourhood of Cirencester. 387

phic Society), are all referable to one species ; this is a fact ar-
rived at by a comparison of hundreds of individuals, and that
the author just cited seems to have almost ai'rived at when he
says, in his description of T. lagenalis, " This species has little
to distinguish it from T. ornithocephala, into which it seems to
merge by insensible passages," p. 42. As regards T. sublage-
nalis, the same author remarks, " This species is always accom-
panied by T. lagenalis, of which it may perhaps only be a va-
riety," p. 43 ; and further, " It is not difficult to find species
uniting ornithocephala to lagenalis, and this last to sublagenalis ;
but as the typical shapes of each are well distinguishable, it
will be found convenient to retain them under distinct specific
names." The Terebratula digona, he says, " often approaches in
general form and convexity certain specimens of T, obovata."

Here then a wide subject for discussion seems to be opened
up ; for if we are to found specific names upon typical specimens,
the question is, where are we to stop ? certainly in the case before
us, not with five species. And again, if we admit the specific
identity of the five types under discussion, is it not probable that
even these are but derivative forms that may, in like manner,
be identified with others ? Our own materials certainly tend to
this conclusion.

In this district the five forms quoted, though not altogether,
yet for the most part, affect distinct localities ; hence the T. la-
genalis and sublagenalis will be found congregated in masses in
the Fairford quarries, while the T. obovata, from being a rare
exception with them, becomes the rule between Cirencester and
Cricklade. All these, however, are at Malmsbury replaced by
the T, digona, which, as yet, is the only instance in this district
in which I have observed the latter shell straying from the
Bradford Clay, of which I have been used to consider it charac-
teristic.

The only remaining Brachiopod I shall here mention will be
the T. intermedia, ' Min. Conch.' 1. 15. f. 8 : this is undoubtedly,
to say the least, a form of T. perovalis. This ojjinion again is
borne out by Mr. Davidson, as he says in his Memoir, p. 53,
" Ter. intermedia bears some resemblance to T. perovalis ; some
specimens are undistinguishable." Now as this latter is an
abundant fossil of the Inferior Oolite as well as Cornbrash, the
sequel will show its recurrence to be of great interest.

Our next remarks will be upon the Conchifera, the chief in-
terest of which will be found in the fact, that in our summary of
fifty species, twenty-one or nearly half can be identified with
Inferior Oolite shells, and those for the most part of individuals
which have always been held as highly characteristic of the Lower
Oolite beds ; this will become apparent from the following

328 On the Comhrash of the neighbourhood of Cirencester.

List of Fossils common to the Inferior Oolite and Combrash of

Gluncestershire.

1. Amphidesma securiforme, Phill. 12. Modiola gibbosa, M. C.

York. (Gresslya.) 13. plicata, M. C.

2. decurtatiim. Phill. York. 14. Mya literata, M. C.

3. recurvum, Phill. York. 15. Ostrea, undetermined (perhaps

4. Astarte excavata. several speeies).

5. Avicula inajquivalvis, M. C. 16. Pholadoniya Murehisonse, M.C.

6. Cardium citronoideum, Phill. t. 545.

York. 17. gibbosa.

7. dissimile, M. C. 18. Plagiostoma duphcatum.

8. , undetermined. 19. Pecten.

9. Isocardia concentrica. (Cero»i!/«.) 20. Trigonia costata.

10. minima. 21. clavellata.

11. Lima gibbosa, M. C. 491.

Here then we have evidence of an older fauna reappearing in
force in a newer bed, and that bed of a very insignificant thick-
ness ; these facts, while they should make us cautious in assign-
ing limits to the range of fossils, may at the same time account
for much of the confusion felt in the history of the Oolites of
Britain, which only becomes the greater on comparison with the
" Jurassique " of the continent.

These remarks are the more pertinent, when it is understood
that in Phillips's ' Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire,'
nearly all, if not every individual species figured as characteristic
of the Cornbrash are amongst the more common examples of
Inferior Oolite fossils.

Now these species, except in a few instances, are not common
alike to the Great Oolite of this district, but a reference to
Morris and Lycett's ' Monograph of the Mollusca of the Great
Oolite, chiefly from Minchinhampton and the coast of Yorkshire,'
will tend to explain how the parallelism of the Inferior Oolite
and Cornbrash species of this district could be maintained by the
Great Oolite of the more northerly oolitic deposits. In the
introduction to the memoir cited, p. 6, are the following re-
marks: — "The evidence afforded by the few species of univalves
which have been forwarded to the authors from Scarborough,
through the kindness of Mr. Bean, though not conclusive, tends
rather to assimilate them with the Inferior Oolite, and the
authors are led to the following very satisfactory explanation.
Admitting therefoi'e the parallelism of the deposits containing
somewhat distinct faunas in the north-eastern and south-western
parts of the present area of England, we are naturally led to
infer, either that the physical conditions might be favourable to
the continuation of species in one locality, or that species cha-
racteristic of an older deposit, in a more distant region, may
have migrated and lived on during the formation of a newer de-

On the Teeth of the Pneumonobranchiate Mollusca. 329

posit in anotherj the conditions having become unfavourable to
the perpetuity of their development in the latter deposit over the
original region whence they had migrated,"

There is now only one other part of our summary of fossils
which seems to claim attention, and that is the Echinodermata.
Of these at least six out of eight are common to the Inferior
Oolite, namely —

Nueleolites = Clypeus. Holectypus = Galerites.

1. sinuatus. 4. depressus.

2. clunicularis. 5. Acrosolenia hemicidaroides.

3. orbicularis. 6. Diadema depressum.

Of these the Nueleolites sinuatus and Holectypus depressus are
highly characteristic of the Inferior Oolite.

In concluding these remarks, it should be understood that
they refer only to a limited district. Were our observations ex-
tended over the whole range of the Cornbrash, as it occurs in
this country, we should doubtless arrive at additional facts, both
as regards the structure and agricultural capabilities and also its
fossil contents : we may indeed expect the list of the latter to be
greatly augmented, and in all probability other species common
to the Inferior Oolite will have to be noted in addition to those
in our present list.

XXXII. — On the Teeth of the Pneumonobranchiate Mollusca.
By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c.

The teeth of the Pneumonobranchiate Mollusca are exceedingly
uniform, when this group is confined to those which have a
closed pulmonary cavity, which, in my former arrangement, I
called Adelopneumona ; I now think that the genera which form
the other suborder, being unisexual, and having many characters,
as well as the structure of the tongue, like those of the Tceni-
glossa, should be arranged with them, near to the Littorinidee,
which often pass the greater part of their lives out of water,
and have very imperfectly developed gills on the inside of the
mantle.

All the genera of the order so restricted have very numerous,
nearly similar ctenoglossal teeth, placed in many cross lines on
a more or less elongated lingual band.

In some genera the line is straight, in others angularly di-
verging from the central lines, and in some the series are angu-
larly bent on each side of the central line.

Professor Troschel, who has figured the teeth of some European
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. To/.xii. 23

330 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Teeth of the

and exotic genera, Dr. Wyman the American genera, and Mr.
Thompson, who has described the teeth of many of the EngUsh
genera and species of this order, have shown these pecuharities,
and the alterations which occur in the form of the teeth in dif-
ferent parts of the same cross series.

I have examined the teeth of several of the other exotic ge-
nera, and find them quite conformable to those of the European
kinds. In general the teeth have a broad, expanded, more or
less four-sided, oblong base, with a reflexed tip ; the bases of the
teeth in the same series and of the neighbouring series being
close together on the lingual band, so as to form a close-set
rasp.

This is the case with the genera Arion, Nanina, Parmacella,
Clypeidella [Dussumieri) of Arion id^e; Philomycus, Limax, Geo-
malacus, Vitrina, Helix, Acavus, Arianta, Vallonia, Iberus, Poly-
gyra, Theba, Helicella, Succinea, Bulimus, Partula, Zua, Pupa,
Clausilia, Balea, and Achatina of Limacid^ ; Veronicella of
Vero\icellid.e ; Onchidium of Onchidiad^; Auricula, Me-
lampus, Alexia, Scarabus of Auriculidje ; Lymnea, Amphi-
peplea, Bulimus, Physa, Coretus, Segmentina, Ancylus of Lym-
NEAD^ ; Siphonaria of Siphonariad^; and Amphibola of Am-

PHIBOLIDiE.

The only exceptions I have observed are in the genera Testa-
cellus and Peronia, and the teeth of these animals are exactly
similar. They consist of numerous cross series, each series con-
sisting of many teeth, like the other families of the order, but
the teeth are far apart, slender, curved, with a blunt, rounded
upper and a pointed lower end like a pin, and only attached to
the lingual band by a slight process on the inner side of the
middle of the tooth.

This difference in the teeth and the peculiar habit of the genus,
living as it does on worms, which it swallows whole, induce me
to propose to separate the genus Testacellus from the Helicida,
and form it into a peculiar family Testacellidce, to which Plectro-
phorus will probably belong, as it has the same sunken hnes on
the side of its body from the tentacles to the middle of the back ;
and in the same manner I would separate the genus Peronia,
which lives on the sea-coast, from the Onchidia, which have the
normal teeth of the order.

The genus Parmacella in Arionida, and some species of Heli-
cella ( = Zonites) and Oleacina in Helicida, have a much narrower
and more elevated recurved apex with a narrow base, and are
more distinct from each other in the tongue-membrane, making
a kind of transition between the normal teeth of the order and
the teeth of the genera Testacellus and Peronia.

Pneumonobranchiate Mollusca.

331

Arionid^.

The Nanina Albinensis, N. Otaheitana, and N. Panayensis all
have very numerous nearly uniform teeth, close together on a
very broad lingual band.

Parmacella {Olivieri). The teeth numerous in very close cross
lines, with a compressed elevated central ridge with a flat edge
ending in two teeth.

TeSTACELLIDjE.

Fig. 1. Testacellus.

Lingual membrane broad ; teeth numerous in diverging cross
series, those of the first six or seven lines yellow, the first
darkest, the rest transparent, without any in the central series ;
the teeth pinshaped, slightly curved, with a roundish head and
an acute tip, only attached to the thin lingual membrane by a
small central process (see fig. 1).

HeLICIDjE.

Fig. 2. Achatina fulica.

In this and the following figures, c represents the central, I the lateral,
and u the exterior lateral teeth.

The teeth of all the exotic species I have examined are like
those described in the European kinds. I figure the teeth of
Achatina fulica (fig. 2), as the teeth of that genus have not before
been described ; they are numerous in each cross series, those of
the two central series are small ; they are all small, four-sided,
rather broader than long, with a blunt rather large central tip.

The teeth of Par tula {faba) are like those of Bulimus ; they
are placed on a broad pale yellowish lingual membrane in
numerous straight transverse lines on each side of the central
line, and are equal and uniform.

VERONICELLIDiE.

The teeth of Veronicella are very like those of Bulimus.

23*

The

332 On the Teeth of the Pneumonobranchiate Mollusca.

lingual membrane is broad ; the teeth numerous, similar, uni-
form, in numerous straight cross series on each side of a narrow
central equilateral tooth ; the lateral teeth are very nearly equi-
lateral, with a broad, flat, subcentral, subeqiiilateral tip.

OnCHIDIADjE.

The teeth of a new species of Onchidium, very like O. Cel-
ticum, from the coast of West Africa, are very similar to those of
Helix, with a short and narrow central tooth in each cross series :
the foot of this animal, when preserved in spirits, is quite mar-
gined by the mantle and folded across by deep grooves into
divisions; the tentacles are completely retractile.

PeRONIADjE.

The teeth of Peronia Mauritiana are so like those of Testacellus,
that the description and figure of them will almost suit for these
(see fig. 1).

AURICULID^.

Fig. 3. Auricula.

The teeth of Auricula (fig. 3) are very like those of Bulimus.
The lingual membrane is broad, elongated ; the teeth numerous,
in a slightly bent cross series on each side of an equilateral nar-
row central tooth; the lateral teeth are rather inequilateral,
diminishing in size towards the other edge.

Lymnead^.

The teeth of Lymnea, Planorbis, Physa and Ancylus are ex-
tremely similar, and have been well described by Dr. Troschel
and Mr. Thompson.

AMPHIBOLIDiE.
Fig. 4. Amphibola.

The teeth of Amphibola nux avellana (fig. 4) are very similar to
those of Lymnea. The lingual membrane is large, very broad,
expanded and long, with a central space or line scarcely defined ;
the teeth are numerous, equal, similar, four-sided, rather longer

On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration.

333

than broadj in straight cross lines, with a broad rounded lobe,
rather more sinuous on the inner than on the outer side of its
front edge.

SlPHONARIAD^.

Sipkonaria.

The teeth of Siphonaria are on a broad, rather long, dark
brown lingual band, are numerous, equal, in a slightly arched
cross line ; the central tooth is narrow, elongated, with a small
rhombic apex ; the lateral teeth are larger, diverging, and gra-
dually diminish in size towards the outer side of the series, and
furnished with a rather oblique curved tip (see fig. 5).

Fig. 6. Cyclophorus.

The teeth of Cyclophorus Inca (fig. 6) are similar to those of
Natica and the other marine genera belonging to the group of
Ptenoglossa.

XXXIII. — On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the
Structure of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals.
By Thomas Williams, M.D. Lond., Licentiate of the Royal
College of Physicians, formerly Demonstrator on Structural
Anatomy at Guy's Hospital, and now of Swansea.

[With a Plate.]
[Continued from p. 261.]

Rotifera. — It is the undivided belief of all recent observers that
a blood-proper system does not exist in the Rotifera. These ani-
malcules are provided with a rudimentary water vascular system^

334 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

which entitles them to rank near the Echiuoderms. The cavity
of the body is capacious ; it is filled with a fluid which is sustained
in motion by provisions expi'essly designed for this purpose.
Vibratile ' tags/ accurately described by Ehrenberg and Dal-
rymple^ aided by ordinary cilia on the external surface of the
digestive canal, are well fitted for this office. The cavity ex-
ternal to the viscera is filled with a fluid, remarked by all ob-
servers, but specially described by none. Its nutritive character
may be confidently inferred : 1st positively, from its anatomical
locale ; 2ud negatively, from the absence of every other fluid.
' Tags ' and ' cilia ' cannot aerate a vital fluid ; they can only set
it and maintain it in motion. Confusion has brooded over this
simple point. Only the thin structure forming the exterior en-
closure of the body intervenes between the fluid of the visceral
cavity and the surrounding element. Thus is the former sub-
mitted to the influence of the aei'ating agent*.

Entozoa. — Mystery has long enshrouded the natural history
of the Entozoon. Living in situations bej'ond the access of the
atmosphere, and totally uncomprehended in the real character
and distribution of its fluids, the mechanism of the respiratory
process has proved only the arena for conjecture and speculation
as erroneous as various and contradictory. M. E. Blanchard has
long misled the helminthologists of Europe. In the Cestoid and
Trematoid Entozoa he has pictorially represented a blood-proper
system of extreme complexity and development. He has figured
with elaborate minuteness that which has no existence in na-
ture t- He has confounded an apparatus of irregular, ramifying

* See the excellent Art. Ratifera, by Dr. Lankester, in Cyclop. Anat. and
Phys. " Contributions to the Anatomy and Physiology of the Rotifera,"
by Mr. Huxley in Micros. Journal. Annales des Sciences, 1851, Art. Laci-
nularia, par M. Udeken. Leydig on Lacinularia socialis, in Siebold and
Kolhker's Zeitsehrift, Feb. 1852.

t The author would desire to speak with respect of the researches of
M. E. Blanchard on the Entozoa. His memoirs on this subject enrich the
pages of the ' Annales des Sciences Natiu-elles ' for the years 1847, 1848 and
1849. His illustrative figures, which are copied into Crochard's edition of
the ' Regne Animal,' executed in the highest style of French art, are de-
signed to display the true-blood system of the Cestoid and Trematoid
worms. With reference to the latter order he remarks : — " Au moyen de
mes injections, je me suis assure qu'il existait chez ces animaux un appareil
de vaisseaux a parois propres, se ramifiant dans toute I'etendue du coi-ps.
On ne distingue ici ni veines, ni arteres proprement ditcs ; les deux fonctions
paraissent appartenir aux memes vaisseaux ! " — Is it not extraordinary that
such a distiuguished physiologist as M. E. Blanchard should oiFer such a defi-
nition of any apparatus designed to circulate true blood ? where in the ani-
mal kingdom could a parallel to such a system be indicated ? — " Nous le
voyons consister en un ou plusieurs vaisseaux principaux, oifrant de nom-
breuses ramifications s'anastomosant sur une infinite de points ; en sorte

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals, 335

channels destined to contain a real chykqueous fluid with a
system of true blood-vessels. M. Blanchard's inferences are
drawn from injected specimens. In such investigations the me-
thod of injection is liable to numerous fallacies ; it imparts a
uniform diameter to canals which are remarkable for variety of
calibre. The real characters of such structures can only be de-
termined by direct inspection of the living individual. Thus
only can the fact be demonstrated, that the so-called blood-vessels
of the parenchymatous worms neither rythmically contract nor

qu'il existe la un veritable re'seau vasculahe." In principle how totally
this definition differs from the former !

Bojanus and Nordmann have described almost in the same words the
same system, indicating it as the apparatus for the circulation of the
blood-proper. In relation to the Cestoid worms M. E. Blanchard observes :
" Pendant longtemps, partageant I'erreur commune, je pensais qu'il n ex-
istait point de systeme vasculaire proprement dit chez les Cestoides. Les
canaux gastriques, communiquant de I'un a I'autre dans chaque Zoonite,
etaient regardes tres-generalement comme destines a remplir les fonctions
des deux appareils. Mais re'cemment, dans les Tanias du chien et de la
fouine, j'ai constate, independamment de ces canaux gastriques ou mtes-
tinaux, I'existence d'un systeme vasculaire tres-complexe, consistant en
vaisseaux longitudinaux pourvus de ramifications et d'anastomoses nom-
breuses. Ainsi ces animaux remarquables, consideres par les zoologistes
les plus eminents comme des Vers parenchymateux completeraent degrades,
sont au contraire des etres dont I'organisation est loin d'etre tres-simple."
(Annales des Sciences, tome viii. 1847, p. 119.)

In the Cestoid worms M. Blanchard describes a perfect blood-vascular
system, independently of that of the straight lateral canals which consti-
tute the gastric apparatus. He describes an artery, a vein, and an inter-
mediate order of straight parallel capillary vessels. In the Trematoda, in
one place he states that the extreme vessels form a ramifying plexus ; in
another he remarks, " II est a remarquer aussi que les vaisseaux de la
partie ante'rieure (speaking of the vessels in Amphistoma conicum (Regne
Animal, pi. 28)), et sm-tout ceux de la partie posterieure du corps, se ter-
minent sous la peau en de petites lacunes, du reste tres-nettement circon-
scrites." No instance is known in the whole animal kingdom of a blood
system terminating in csecal extremities. The apparatus which exhibits
such characters cannot fall under the denomination of a blood-projier
system. The method of investigation adopted by M. Blanchard has dis-
torted the features of the object sought to be studied. Forcible injections
into textures fragile and deUcate will enable a preoccupied fancy to con-
struct any results, to recognise grounds for any conclusion. The views
stated in the text are foimded upon examinations conducted with extreme
care, and instituted on living specimens. To a great extent the author's
researches have corroborated the descriptive anatomy of M. Blanchard : in
many essential respects however they stand in direct opposition. If the
system of vessels depicted in the figures of M. Blanchard were really a true
blood system, the Cestoid and Trematoid Entozoa would be entitled to
rank high in the zoological scale. They stand really below the Annelida,
To this position they are assigned on the ground of the general affinities of
their organization. The author is persuaded that the French helmintho-
logist has mistaken a modified chylaqueous system for a blood- proper ap-
paratus.

336 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism.of Aquatic

pulsate. Among blood-vessels such a circumstance would con-
stitute an irreconcileable anomaly. The blood-vessels described
by M. Blanchard, and in common with him by nearly all hel-
minthologists, in the Cestoid and Trematoid Entozoa proceed
from one or more central sjjaces. When these spaces are cylin-
drical in figure they assume the apparent characters of blood-
trunks. They really represent the splanchnic or visceral cavity.
Such is the form under which this cavity, so conspicuous in the
Nematoid Entozoa, occurs in the Sterelmintha. The main cen-
tral channels present a genei-al coincidence of disposition with
those of the alimentary system (PI. XIII. figs. 3, 6, 8, 9).
They do not present a uniform diameter according to the
customary manner of a vascular trunk. They exhibit irregular
outlines, now contracting into narrow necks, and now dilating
into lacunae. This is especially true of those of the Trematoid
worms. In the Cestoid orders (fig. 6) the main trunks follow
the margin of the " Zoonite," the lesser crossing in the parallel
spaces between the transverse annuli into which the integu-
ments are wrinkled. These secondary channels in Tania are
much more irregular in outline and distribution than the
blood-vessels {sic) depicted in the drawings of M. Blanchard :
they penetrate intimately the substance of the integuments.
With reference to these channels, lai'ge and small, one important
fact should be noted : they are not gifted with separate mem-
branous parietes. This fact alone is enough to prove that they
are not channels for the conveyance of true blood. Every true
blood-vessel is endowed with a special power to circulate its fluid
contents. Its parietes are contractile. The bore of the channel
rythmically increases and decreases. Such movements would be
mechanically impossible if the parietes of such ' vessels ' were
adherent to the surrounding solid and fixed tissue. In a chan-
nel destined to convey chylaqueous fluid the latter case is the
rule. They possess no inherent circulating power. Their con-
tents are impelled to and fro under the conjoint force of ciliary
and muscular action. Here then is a clearly defined distinction
between a chylaqueous channel and a true blood-vessel. Let
the wonderful vascular system, which M. Blanchard has deli-
neated from artificial injections in the Cestoid and Trematoid
worms, be tested by this anatomical principle. This excellent
observer has omitted to investigate the histological characters of
these parts. He has not in any case determined the relation
between that system which he describes as the true blood system
and the surrounding solid structures. In no instance has he
reduced to demonstration the physical characters of the fluid by
which his so-called blood-vessels are filled. The same criticism
will apply with equal justice to the illustrations, by aid of which

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 337

he defines the alimentary system of Tania and Bothriocephalus.
The blood system described by M. Blanchard in these worms ^oes
not exist. "That which he so beautifully pictures as the gastric
apparatus, consisting of straight capacious lateral canals, joined
by cross conduits, constitutes really an order of passages tun-
nelled in the solid parenchyma of the body, answering m every
sense to a normal chylaqueous system. The contamed liquid is
not blood, but chylaqueous fluid* : it is a flmd which is devoid
of eveiy trace of morphotic elements. Why it is so will be im-
mediately understood. , ^ ht -oi i. j
In the Trematoid worms the blood-vessels of M. Blanchard
fall unquestionably under the denomination of a chylaqueous
system. In Distomum hepaticum it is perfectly easy to reduce
to demonstration its entire characters. A large median, irre-
arilar channel commences in smaller passages near the posterior
or generative sucker, and proceeds as far as the caudal end ot
the body of the worm, exhibiting a gradually dimmishmg dia-
meter. Viewing the object transparently, it may be proved first
that this channel is a hollow space by the rolhng to and fro ot a
contained fluid; the movements of the fluid being rendered ap-
parent to the eye by the presence of minute accidental molecules.
In other respects, it is a perfectly homogeneous non-corpuscu-
lated fluid. By Bojanus, Mehlis, Nordmann, and other ob-
servers this channel is defined as terminating m an orifice pos-
teriorly, and the channel itself, from the limpid character of its
fluid contents, is described as the great duct of an excretory
system. This is an error. This system in the Trematoid En-
tozoa has neither an inlet nor an outlet. It is a closed system, but
not therefore a blood-system. In Distomum there is only one
central space: it is not a blood- trunk; it represents unques-
tionably the visceral cavity. These worms are not literally
therefore sterelminthous, sohd, or parenchymatous worms
(Vers intestinaux parenchymateux , Cuvier). The cavity is dis-
tributed in form of irregular, imparietal, reticulate passages.
These passages can be traced with facihty throughout the whole
substance of the body. They ramify profusely underneath the
skin and amid the digestive diverticula. They arise in the
most unequal manner from every point of the circumference of
the central trunk. They end peripherally in numerous ^stances
in ccecal terminations, corresponding with the mode m which the

* The author is here desirous to explain that he does not deny altogether
the existence of a blood-proper system in the Cestoid worms. His re-
seLches enable him only to affirm with confidence that those channels
which are described by M. Blanchard as constitutmg an independent system
of blood-vessels do not exist; that his ahmentary is really a chylaqueous
system, and that his ovarium is truly a grand digestive organ.

338 Dr. T, Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

blood-vessels [sic) of M. Blanchard terminate in Holostornum ala-
tuni, Amphistoma conicum, Tristoma coccineum; in others they form
re-entering branches. The tigure of M. Blanchard* represents
the secondary trunks in Distomum as proceeding from the pri-
mary with far too great regularity. To this trunk he seems to
indicate a caudal orifice, and yet calls it a blood-vessel ! It is
susceptible of proof that this central channel in Distomum is not
contractile. The adjacent trunks of the digestive system contract
and dilate in regular periods. The walls of the central channel
are perfectly stationary. Its interior is not lined with cilia.
Its fluid contents do not move in one systematic orbit : they
oscillate to and fro. Such characters can belong only toachyl-
aqueous system.

In Holostornum alatum, Amphistoma conicum, in Tristomata,
in Brachyleemus variegutus, sometimes found in the lung of the
Frog and Toad, in Monostoma verrucosum, &c., the main primary
channels of the fluid system coincide with those of the digestive.
The latter are embraced by the former. This anatomical fact is
significant of a physiological principle. It points to the manner
in which the contents of the chylaqueous passages are derived by
exosmosis from the chymous fluid contained in the digestive
cseca. In those species of Trematoid worms in which the central
conduits are more than one in number, it is important to observe
that they are always joined together into one system by inter-
vening passages. They do not convey opposite currents. In both
the contained fluid flows and ebbs with great irregulainty, in
obedience to the contractions and expansions of the muscular
integumentary envelope. In these essential particulars the
standard definition of a true-blood system is violated. M.
Blanchard defines thus the Appareil vasculaire of Distomum he-
paticum : — " Get appareil consiste en un vaisseau principal et
median." A true circulation requires two primary trunks, an
artery and a vein. In another place this helminthologist observes
generally with regard to the Trematoda — " Chez tons ces vers,
le sang n'est certainement pas transporte, d'une maniere regu-
liere, d'arriere en avant par certains vaisseaux, et d'avant en ar-
riere par d'autres, comme I'a pense M. Nordmann. Dans les
Trematodes en general, le fluide nourricier est transporte et ra-
mene alternativement et plus ou moins irregulierement par les
memes vaisseaux ; c'est un mouvement de va-et-vient plutot qu'une
veritable circulation." (xlnnalesdes Sciences Nat. torn. viii. 1847,
p. 336.) Ample evidence is thus drawn from his own obser-
vations to convince the physiologist that the system of vessels

* See plate 36, — Zoophytes : Crochai'd's French eihtion of tlie ' Regne
Animal.'

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 339

described by M. Blanchard constitutes not a blood-proper but
really a clearly defined chylaqueous system. The presence of
this fluid implies the existence of a visceral cavity : it is its nor-
mal anatomical locale.

With reference to the blood-proper of the Cestoid and Trema-
toid Entozoa the author will at present only remark^ that if it
exists at all, it must be under conditions of rudimentary abey-
ance. The following general statements will then serve to
convey the corollaries which his recent researches appear to war-
rant. In the Cestoid and Trematoid worms the whole substance
of the body is pervaded by a highly albuminous but homogeneous
non-corpusculated fluid, which is distributed extensively by
means of imparietal and irregular conduits under the entire
cutaneous surface of the body^ constituting the true apparatus of
respiration, and displaying alternate flux and reflux movements
under external muscular agency, and embracing in every possible
direction the diverticula of the digestive system, and from which
it extracts its reinforcements.

It is adequate in every physiological sense to the ends of
a nutritive system. Abounding in albumen it is capable of
ministering to the wants of the solids. Though destitute of
morphotic elements, it yet conforms to all the essential charac-
ters of a chylaqueous system.

The digestive apparatus (Plate XIII. figs. 3, 6, 7, 8, 9) of the
parenchymatous Entozoa is intimately concerned in the process
of respiration. In the Cestoid and Trematoid orders it presents
but one essential type. It has but one external orifice. A
stomach properly so called does not exist. There is this re-
markable and apparently anomalous fact to be stated with
respect to the fluid with which the digestive cseca are filled:
— it is charged with definitely organized floating cells, which
exhibit constant dififerences in difi^erent species ! These cor-
puscles are not formless molecules. They consist of a cell-wall
and granular contents, and frequently a nucleus legible to
the eye. They are flat, scaly particles, having a yellowish
tinge. They are undoubtedly not fragments from the glan-
dular parietes broken ofi" by pressure. They oscillate with great
regularity under the rythmic contractions and dilatations of the
parietes of the cseca. It is contrary to no analogical argument
to suppose that these floating cells are designed to raise the chyme
in which they float to an organic standard above that of ordinary
chyme. In the parenchymatous Entozoa they execute the re-
quired changes in the nutritive fluids, while the latter are yet
within the alimentary system. Among the Annelida several ex-
ceptions occur in which the same peculiarity is illustrated. The

34b Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

Nemertine orders (Plate XIII. figs. 1, 2) will be afterwards
shown to fall under this categorj'. In Aphrodita aculeata (fig. ^,d)
the digestive diverticula are filled with a corpusculated fluid,
which is exposed by an express contrivance to the agency of
the surrounding aerating medium. This is also the case in
several species of freshwater planariform leeches (fig. 4). It
prevails too in the true marine Planariae (fig. 3). To the
value which the author has endeavoured to assign to the fluid
systems of the Cestoid and Trematoid Entozoa, no sound analogy
is opposed. These worms are, on the ground of the interpreta-
tion of the fluids now first offered, naturally linked into a continu-
ous zoological chain with the lowest parenchymatous Annelids.
Notwithstanding the meritorious researches of M. Blanchard,
the organization of the Cestoidea is even now a theme prolific of
controversy. The large, branched, flocculent organ (fig. 6) form-
ing the bulk of each segment in Tania and Bothriocephalus is
designated by all recent writers after M. Blanchard as the ova-
rian apparatus. It is really the alimentary organ. It opens ex-
ternally by an orifice proper to each segment. This organ in
each segment is therefore independent. It sucks nourishment
from without by its own separate mouth. It is a Planaria in
itself.

What are ordinarily described as the straight canals along either
edge of the body are not gastric but chylaqueous. They ai-e a
part of a system of open channels ramifying through the cells
of the parenchyma in which the gastric caeca are lodged. The
latter are almost surrounded externally by the fluid filling the
former. This fluid, as formerly explained, although non-cor-
pusculated, constitutes the real chylaqueous system of the Cestoid
and Trematoid Entozoa. It is through its agency that the
breathing function is chiefly accomplished.

In Teenia this fluid system is' common to the whole body of
the animal. The ' segments ' therefore are separate units only
as respects the alimentary and reproductive organs. The chyl-
aqueous fluid attains its enclosing channels by exosmose from the
alimentary organ, not directly ab extra. The posture of the ani-
mal in its native habitat favom-s this interpretation of its organism.
The orifice of each segment is applied to the surface of the infested
part. The necessity for the preceding explanation illusti'ates the
intimacy with which the respiratory function is interwoven with
all the other nutritive operations of the body. In the TcBuice then
the respiration is cutaneous, but not in the mode commonly sup-
posed. The skin is not the scene of a rich plexus of true blood-
vessels. It is permeated and pervaded evei-ywhere by that fluid
which embraces the alimentary organ, and which is distributed

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 341

throughout the parenchyma of the body by means of the irregular
canals already described. It reaches the surface sufficiently nearly
to receive the influence of the surrounding medium.

It is impossible therefore that the blood-proper can in this
worm be the immediate subject of the respiratory process. Its
existence is insusceptible of demonstration. If present at all,
it can only receive oxygen indirectly through the medium
of the chylaqvieous fluid. This explanation is simple. It is
founded on fact, and supported by analogy. The organiza-
tion of the Nemertine Annelida conforms in every essential
particular to that of the Cestoid Entozoa * (see figs. 1, 2).
The latter are illustrated and explained by the former. The ali-

* From the following extracts it will be seen how little confident, nay-
how confused and obscure, the best and latest author appears to be with
respect to the real significance of the most important element of structure
in the Cestoid Entozoa : — " On a generalement regarde les canaux longi-
tudinaux dont il sera question apres cet appareil, comme digestifs. Quel-
ques auteurs ont meme ete jusqu'a leur accorder une, deux ou quatre
bouches, par exemple dans les Tenias : tout recemment on leur a attribue
une quasi-houche, parcequ'il fallait bien trouver un moyen de faire arriver
les aliments dans ces canaux. Je crois qu'aucune de ces opinions n' est fondee,
que ces vers se nourrissent par toute la surface de la peau, et qu'il n'y a
pas plus d'organe special ou d' appareil particulier pour la digestion que
pour la respiration. Plusieurs anatomistes ont pense, Rudolphi entre
autres, que les segments qui se detachent peuvent se nourrir, pendant quel-
que temps, par I'ouverture qui s'est formee a la suite de la separation ;
cela me parait evidemment errone. Quand ces segments se detachent, le
corps s'est resserre de plus en plus au bout, et au moment de se separer, il
ne tient plus que par un mince pedicule !" From the above observations, it
is undeniably evident that Van Beneden is perplexed with doubt as to what
really should be regarded, and what should not, as the digestive system in the
Cestoid worms. Without a definitive knowledge of this system, how is it
possible to form a correct conception of the disposition and functions of the
nutritive fluids ? Nor are the ideas of Van Beneden with reference to the
circulating system of these worms more clearly defined : — " M. E. Blanchard
croit devoir admettre pour tous les animaux de ce groupe une circulation
veritable ayant lieu par des troncs principaux et dans des tubes a parois
propres. J'ai etudie, sous ce point de vue, les parties minces et transpa-
rentes chez des individus tres-frais, et je suis persuade que le mouvement
circulatoire a lieu dans de grandes lacunes, qu'il n'existe pas de vaisseaux
a parois propres, et que le liquide correspondant au sang ne pent suivre un
cours determine ; il y a plus, des brides s'etendant de I'une parol a I'autre ;
elles maintiennent les organes en place, et c'est dans I'espace laisse par les
brides que la circulation sanguine s'effectue. Voila le resultat d' etudes
faites sur des parties vivantes, minces, voisines de la peripheric du coi-ps et
sans avoir fait subir aucune preparation a I'animal." " Je ne crois pas me
tromper en disant que les Trematodes et les Cesto'ides n'ont ni appareil di-
gestif, ni appareil circulatoire " .' .' — a conclusion perfectly marvellous, for
a comparative anatomist so circumspect and laborious as Van Beneden.
The preceding quotations will be found at pages 35 and 36 of his work
entitled " Les Vers Cestoides ou Acotyles," Bruxelles, 1850.

340 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

mentary organ in the Nemertinidae* is precisely conformable
to that of Tcsnia. In the former the whole organ has but one
external opening, which is situated, in form of mouth, at the an-
terior end of the body. In the latter each segment has its sepa-
rate opening (fig. 6, a) . In both the digestive diverticula are filled
with a corpusculated fluid. In both the spongy tissue, in the
midst of which the alimentary organ is lodged, is chambered into
capacious areolse in which the veal chylaqueous fluid is observed
iri'egularly to roll. In the Neraei'tinidse f, however, the entire
external cutaneous surface is ciliated. In the Cestoid worms no
vibratile cilia in any situation have been proved to exist. It is
a remarkable fact, that in all Entozoa the ciliaiy variety of epi-
thelium is entirely suppressed. The agency of these organules
is not essential therefore to the process of cutaneous respiration.
The Trematoid Entozoa are allied to the Cestoid by the most
intimate affinities of structure. In the former type as in the
latter, there exists but one orifice to the alimentary system.
The gastric diverticula, which in several species amount only to
two in number, in all Trematoid orders terminate csecally. These
caeca are filled internally by a corpusculated, and surrounded ex-
ternally by a non -corpusculated fluid. The oscillations of this
latter fluid have been observed by Nordmann, Duges, Rudolphi,
Blan chard, and others. It constitutes the true chylaqueous sy-
stem. Such a development of the blood-proper system in the
Trematoid Entozoa is opposed unqualifiedly by the analogy of
the whole Planarian family, after whose type the former are con-
structed. The parenchyma, which intervenes between the di-
gestive system and the external surface in these worms, is loose
and large-celled — readily traversed by fluid. This fluid reaches
the cutaneous surface ; it embraces and laves everywhere the
digestive caeca. The Trematoid Entozoa then, like the Cestoid,
respire cutaneously. Every spot of the surface is utilized. The

* These Annelids are abundantly illustrated on our coasts by the genera
Borlasia, Polia, and Lineus.

t The author is anxious here to bear witness to the excellence of the
memoir by M. Quatrefages on the Nemertine Annelids (Annales des Sci-
ences Naturelles, t. vi. 1846), with which he has only just become acquainted.
While his essay is acknowledged as a master-piece of minute descriptive
anatomy, the author is constrained to ditfer toto ccelo from M. Quatrefages
in the physiological interpretation of parts. In these worms the French
naturalist indicates correctly the mechanism of the respiratory function : —
" Si c'est la surface entiere du corps qui joue le role d'organe respira-
toire, il s'ensuit que la respiration doit s'exercer principalement et plus im-
mediatement sur le liquide qui remplit les grandes cavites que sur le sang
lui-meme, puisque celui-ci est renferme dans des vaisseaux qui sont en-
toures par le liquide dont nous parlons." — Op. cit. p. 269.

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 343

chylaqueous fluid is present everywhere, and immediately under-
neath the cuticle. It moves to and fro in its vacuoles. It is the
immediate recipient of the external oxygen. It imparts it se-
condarily to the true blood, if this exists. Future science may de-
monstrate that the properties of oxygen are intensified {ozonized'?)
by passage through, or absorption by, a living fluid. Deep
meaning may yet radiate from material collocations, over which
now chaos broods.

It is a remarkable fact, that the body of every Entozoon,
whether imbedded in the parenchyma of solid organs or lodged
in the cavitary viscera, is immersed in a reservoir of fluid. The
Tcenim and Bothriocephali are applied closely to the walls of the
intestine (the orifice of each segment being adherent to the in-
fested surface and surroimded by a mucous capsule filled with
fluid). This fact is easily verified in the instance of those species
of Cestoid worms which inhabit the intestine of fishes, birds and
reptiles*.

The Fluke swims in a pool in the biliary ducts of the sheep.
The Trichina in the substance of a muscle floats in a reservoir
of fluid, and the Filaria in the cellular tissue is surrounded by a
stratum of serous liquid. These enveloping fluids are effused by
the living vessels of the part upon which the animal preys. These
circumstances present a fact which demonstrates that the life of
Entozoa is essentially aquatic. The fluid is no essential consti-
tuent of the organism of the parasite. It is extravasated by reason
of the irritation excited by the presence, the worm on a living sui'-
face, or in the midst of a living organ. It is however a fimdamental
condition of existence. . It is the medium of respiration to the En-
tozoon. How could this vital process occur if the animal were
surrounded by a solid substance ? The fluid contained in these
cysts must be frequently renewed, because the blood-corpuscles
revealed in it by the microscope are always fresh in appearance,
plump and perfect in outline. This fact also proves that it is
derived directly from the blood of the infested animal ; it is there-
fore charged with oxygen in the same proportion as the latter.
Thus is explained an important external condition of respiration
in the Entozoa.

The Nematoid Entozoa (figs. 10, 11 & 12) are distinguished
from the parenchymatous orders in one essential respect. In the
Nematoidea the viscera float more or less freely in a spacious cavity
filled with fluid. They agree in organic type with the cylindriform

* Bothridium Pythonis inhabits the large intestine of the Cod.
Acanthobothrium coronatum is found in the intestine of the Ray-fish.
Trienophorus nodulosus lodges itself on the peritoneal surface of the
liver of the Perch.

Floriceps saccatus in the intestine of many fishes, &c.

344 Dr. T. Williams on tlie Mechanism of Aquatic

Annelids. From the latter, however, they differ in one extraor-
dinaiy particular. The Nemertinidse, Planariae and Clepsinidae
excepted, in all Annelids the chylaqueous fluid is corpusculated,
and the blood-proper is entirely destitute of all morphous par-
ticles. In the Nematoid Entozoa these conditions are reversed.

In the Cestoid and Trematoid genera the fluid contained in the
digestive diverticula, through its floating cells, enacts that office,
which, in the example of the Nematoid worms, is transferred to
the blood-proper, and in that of the Annelids in general to the
chylaqueous fluid. This circumstance, however, does not imply
that in the Nematoidea the blood-proper system is preponde-
rantly developed. It consists only of two principal longitudinal
trunks, adherent at the ventral and dorsal median lines to the
internal surface of the integumentary cylinder. Cloquet has
described the blood-system in several species. Ecker* has also
defined a blood-system in a species of Filaria. The \Aoodi-vessels
of the Nematoid worms exhibit a distinct red colour. It is not
yet certain that the contained blood partakes of the same colour f.
Rudolphi has characterized these and all Entozoa as white-
blooded worms. The primary trunks are connected together by
means of transverse secondary branches : these latter can only
be discovered in the substance of the integuments, not on or in
the parietes of the viscera. The blood-proper of the Nematoid
worms is indeed a very subordinate constituent of the organism,
quite insufficient to supply the solids with the materials of in-
crease, and not less unequal to the function of breathing. A
few blood-vessels distributed scantily over the cutaneous surface
would pi'esent too limited a surface of contact with the sur-
rounding element to receive a proportion of oxygen adequate to
siipply the wants of an organism so large as that of Strongylus
Gigas. By inference it becomes obvious that some other fluid
element of nutrition in these genera is required to minister to
the exigences of the solid parts. It is accordingly found that in
the Nematoid orders the chylaqueous fluid is relatively abundant
in quantity : this fluid is contained, as in the cylindriform An-
nelids, in the peri-intestinal or visceral cavity (figs. 10, c ;
11, d; 12, c). In the round worms this cavity occurs under
two distinct anatomical conditions. In one case, illustrated
in the example of Ascaris Lumhricoides (fig. 11), the intestine
is tied by frequent transverse bridles to the integumentary
cylinder : these bridles intersect the cavity, and limit the
motion of the contained fluid. They stretch outwards through

* Miiller's Archiv, Ueber ein Gefassystem in eingepuppten Filarien,
S. 606. t. 15. figs. 3, 4, 1845.

t For a further statement of the author's researches on this subject, see
his papers in the ' British and For. Med. Chirur. Rev.'

Respv'ation in Invertebrate Animals. 345

the whole thickness of the integument under the charactei-
of transverse muscular fasciculi. They are accompanied by
open passages by which the chylaqueous fluid reaches the
cutaneous surface for the purposes of aeration. The longitudinal
muscular bandsj with their embracing spaces, establish between
the transverse, free communications. It is thus clear, that
although the integuments in certain species of Nematoid worms
are remarkably dense and resisting, they are permeated by chyl-
aqueous fluid to an extent enough to subserve the purposes of
breathing. The intimate connexion which in some Nematoid
worms subsists between the intestine and integument, limits the
movements of the intestine. It is to this anatomical circum-
stance that the motionless state of the chylaqueous fluid in these
worms is to be ascribed. In consequence of the absence from this
fluid of all visible globules, to detect its existence is not easy
to the uninitiated observer.

It is upon the freedom with which the intestinal cylinder
moves within the concentric integumentary, in many species of
Annelida, that the rapid and unobstructed oscillations of the
interposed chylaqueous fluid depends. Why should the same
fluid, occupying the same locality, be required to move so little
in the Entozoa ? The answer probably is, that in the two indi-
cated instances the fluid difi'ers materiallyin chemical composition.
The second type (fig. 10) of Nematoid Entozoa is exemplified
best in the case of the large Strongylus, constantly to be found
in the small intestine of the sheep. Here the intestine, a straight
tube, is considerably smaller in diameter than the space included
by the integuments, while it is tied at few points to the latter.
The visceral chamber is therefore unusually capacious in dimen-
sions, and the enclosed fluid is considerable in bulk. It is a
fact of unusual interest, that the chylaqueous fluid, whether sta-
tionary or moveable in its containing chamber, of all Nematoid
Entozoa, is perfectly homogeneous and destitute of every trace
of visible element. In these worms the digestive system does
not lodge a corpusculated liquid, of which the suspended cells
supersede the necessity for the agency of similar cells in the
extra-intestinal chylaqueous fluid. It must therefore be inferred,
that the true blood of these worms is the seat of the floating cell
agency. If it should be hereafter proved by exact observations,
that neither the true blood, nor the chylaqueous fluid, nor the
intra-intestinal chyme is charged with floating cells, these ani-
mals will constitute an exception unique in the animal kingdom,
in which an animal oi'ganism is sustained without a single
corpusculated nutritive fluid.

The principle is at present inadmissible in science, which sup-
Ann. Sf Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 24

346 Dr. T. Williams on the Mechanism of Aquatic

poses that the intervention of cells in the nutritive fluids is
neither indispensable to the pi-ocess of solid nutrition nor to that
of respiration.

It is a fact of surpassing physiological interest that the chyl-
aqueous fluid in the Strongylus of the sheep, which can be col-
lected by spoonfuls, is nothing but a thick solution of albumen.
After even prolonged standing, it does not throw down the
slightest vestige of fibrine-clot. If " the blood " of the infested
animal permeated through the integuments of the parasite,
and thus reached the visceral chamber of the latter, it appears
probable that both the fibrine and the red corpuscles of the
former would be capable of detection in the chylaqueous fluid of
the latter. This, however, is not the case. The cyst in which
Trichina spiralis is lodged in the substance of the muscle is
filled with a fluid in which both the fibrine and the red cor-
puscles of the infested animal can be readily shown to exist. The
inference is obvious. The chylaqueous fluid of the worm is not
derived directly from without by filtration through the partition
of the cutaneous structures.

In the order of Nematoid worms, typified by the Strongylus
of the sheep, the integuments are veiy thin ; the spaces be-
tween the circular muscular fasciculi being covered by little
more than the epidermis — conditions well-fitted to favour the
interchange of gases between the chylaqueous fluid within and
the aerating medium without. No indications of vibratile epi-
thelium in any structure in any species of Nematoid worms can
be discovered on the general cutaneous surface, dedicated though
it be unquestionably to the office of respiration : they exist in no
instance. Why do they not exist ? The organic law presiding
over the development of these motive organules is still beyond the
ken of science.

Henceforth it will not satisfy the physiologist to affirm, in the
vagueness of a general phrase, that " the respiration is cuta-
neous.'^ He must know, with exact definition, by which order
of fluids that function is enacted, and whether the living fluid,
immediately influenced by the external element, be charged or
not with morphous particles. Superstition for ages has wrapped
these uninviting beings in unresolvable mist. The assertion has
now been abundantly supported, that the process of respiration
in all Entozoa is conducted on the aquatic model — that the
chylaqueous fluid, though non-corpusculated, is by far the most
voluminous and important fluid element in the organism, and
that which directly performs the function of breathing. The
true blood when it exists is only secondarily aerated. The ' value '
of the respiratory function is directly proportional to the organic

Respiration in Invertebrate Animals. 347

^ofiiplexity of the fluids. The figure expressive of its amount
progresses upwards with the zoological standard of the organism.
This principle explains the faculty conferred upon the Entozoon,
by a Nature exhaustless in expedients, illimitable in resources, by
which it is enabled to extract oxygen enough for its wants from
the least oxygenated of the animal fluids — venous blood — and
securely to breathe amid the pestilential atmosphere of the colonic
intestine.

These parasites are capable of sustaining life in any and every
recess of the animal body. This fact proves inferentially what
the physiologist cannot reduce to positive demonstration, that
every part, every fluid, whether in or out of the vessels, is per-
vaded by the electric presence of oxygen. It proves that the
respiratory process is really an inseparable attendant on, and an
integral and essential part of, the nutritive actions of the body —
that it is ubiquitous, not partial— that it vivifies every constituent
atom, fluid, and solid of the entire organism*.

* In order to facilitate the repetition of the observations upon which the
general conclusions stated in the text aie founded, the author appends here
a short hst giving the name and place of abode of the most familiar Nema-
toid Entozoa : —

Name. Habitat.

Ascaris megalocephala (Cloquet) ... Intestines of the Horse.

lumbricoides Small intestines— Man.

Salaris (Blanchard) In intestines of several fishes.

fY7am e^Mma (Rudolphi) Folds of the peritoneum of the

Horse.

attenuata (Blanchard) Air-cells of carnivorous birds.

Spiroptera sanguinolenta (Rudolphi) Stomach of Dog and Wolf.

Spirura Talpce (Blanchard) Stomach and intestines of the Mole.

Megastoma (Rudolphi) Stomach of Horse.

Oxyuris vermicularis {\)\x]Axdim) ... Rectum — Man.

Sclerostoma Equinum (Rudolphi) ... Caecum of Horse.

Cucullanus Perca {MuWer) Pyloric appendages of common

Perch.

Angiostoma entomelas (Dniaxdin) ... Lungs of Reptiles.

Cyathostoma lari (Blanchard) Orbital cavity of Sea-Gull.

Strongylus Gigas (Rud. & Miiller)... Kidneys of Horse, Dog, and Man.

Trichostoma cBrophilum (Rudolphi) . Trachea of Fox.

Trichocephalus hominis (Rudolphi) . . . Caecum of Man.

The order Nematoidea, Calelmintha (Owen), includes the principal in-
ternal parasites of the human subject, viz. Trichina spiralis, Filaria medi-
nensis (Guinea worm), Filaria oculi, Spiroptera hominis, Filaria bronchialis,
Trichocephalus dispar, Strongylus Gigas, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Ascaris
vermicularis. The Entozoa found in the blood have been recently described
under the class-name of Hamatozoa. Several species of Filana, Monosto-

mata, Disfomata, and Infusoria, have been discovered in the blood of ftp^s
dogs, fishes, and mollusca (Micr. Journal, Oct. 1st, 1853).

348 Zoological Society.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIIL

This plate is designed to express, in outline plans, the natural manner in
which the alimentary system of the Cestoid and Trematoid Entozoa passes
into that of the Nemertine and Planarian Annelida — that they are really
constructed upon one and the same principle. Though not represented in
this series of figures, the system of the nutritional fluids in these Entozoan
and Annelidan groups conforms to one type. The channels for the fluids
differ little in distribution from those of the alimentary system.
Fiff. 1 . Alimentary system of Nemertes Camilla;, the caeca (b) of which are
chai-ged with a corpusculated chyme ; e, space external to the
latter system filled with the chylaqueous fluid ; d, shows that the
true alimentary organ of this worm, in common with that of all
Nemertine Annelids, is closed at all sides ; a, oesophagus enter-
ing the proboscis.
Fig. 2. The caudal end of the alimentary organ of another Nemertine An-
nelid, Borlasia ?, proving it to be csecal also at this extre-
mity : a, cavity ; c, caeca of this organ filled with a corpusculated
fluid ; b, space external to the alimentary caecum fiUed with chyl-
aqueous fluid.
Fig. 3. Alimentary system of a Planaria : h, mouth ; c, caeca ; a, areolae
external to the digestive diverticula.

Fig. 4. Digestive system of a freshwater leech, Clepsina ? : a, caeca

filled with corpusculated chyme.
Fig. 5. Ideal, transverse, section of Aphrodita aculeata, showing the dis-
tribution of the alimentary system, and its relations to that of the
nutritional fluids : a, stomach ; b, visceral cavity ; c, scales, by the
rising and falling of which a strong current of sea-water is main-
tained through the dorsal channel (e), by which current the fluid
contents of the digestive caecum {d) are aerated.
Fig. 6. Alimentary caecum of one segment of Teenia Solium : a, mouth of
this segment leading into a short oesophagus {b), and thence into
the ramifications (c) of the digestive system.
Fig. 7- Alimentary system of a Trematoid Entozoon : a, oesophagus ;

b, digestive caeca.
Fig. 8. Ditto of Amphistoma : a, b, caeca of digestive system.
Fig. 9. Ditto of Bothriocephalus latus (a sterelminthous worm) : a, mouth

of a single segment ; b 8i c, caeca of digestive system.
Fig. 10. Plan of a Nematoid worm, showing the great dift'erence between
the diameter of the intestine {a) and that of the space (c) enclosed
by the integuments ; b, rejiroductive organ.
Fig. 11. Another type of a Nematoid Entozoon {Ascaris lumbricoides), in
which the intestine (a) is larger m diameter, and tied by frequent
bridles (6) to the dense integuments (c).
Fig. 12. Transverse section of the same.

[To be continued.]

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

July 22, 1851.— J. E. Graj^ F.R.S. &c., Vice-President, in the Chair.

On the Arrangement of the Edentate Mammalia.
By H. N. Turner, Jun.
In offering to the Society a summary of my observations on the
craniology of the Edentate order, I have not so great a number of

Zoological Society. 349

hitherto unrecorded facts to bring forward as in some of my former
communications. Tlie very remarkable modifications which this order
is seen to present, not only in comparison with the rest of the Mam-
malian class, but also among its own members, and the wonderful
variety of extinct gigantic species which the New World has yielded
to research, have caused the osteology of the group to be more mi-
nutely investigated ; while the small number of species and the striking
external differences which they exhibit, have left but little room for
doubt in the minds of naturalists as to their true arrangement. I will
therefore simply point out such of the cranial peculiarities as seem to
be characteristic of the order and of its families and genera, dividing
it, as appears to me necessary, into five families, since the two forms
inhabiting the Old World differ so much from each other, and from
the three groups into which those of the New World naturally divide
themselves, that although each consists of a single genus, and one of
but a single species, it seems requisite that both should stand di-
stinct. It will also be necessary to remodel the genera of the Arma-
dilloes, and to define them anew by their external characters as well
as by those of the skull, since the presence of a tooth in each of the
intermaxillary bones of a single species of the family has prevented
the essential similarities and diiferences from being duly appre-
ciated.

Although some few naturalists may still associate this order with
the true Ungulata, for the sake of keeping the divisions of the class
within the predetermined number five, I think that most of those
who have given particular attention to the subject will agree, that
so natural and strongly-marked a group is well worthy of isolation,
which was the opinion of Linnaeus and Cuvier, although the former
wrongly associated vnth it a few genera belonging properly to other
groups.

The characters possessed in common by the members of so diver-
sified an order, must be expected to be comparatively few ; those
which I have observed in the skull are as follows : —

The tuberosity of the maxillary bone is articulated by the whole
of its upper surface to the frontal and orbitosphenoid bones.

The zygoma is flat and straight, projecting at once outwards and
forwards, its articulating surface being more or less confluent with a
concavity at the inner side of it which forms a portion of a more or
less elongated cone, whose apex would point backwards. In such
forms as have the articulation longitudinal, the glenoid surface is
distinguishable from that of Rodents by its posterior termination,
which is not a thin free edge like the anterior.

The ahsphenoid bone never extends high, so that the pterygoid
ridge forms its upper boundary, or even extends above it.

The absence of enamel in the teeth, when they exist, must also be
named among the cranial characters.

Fam. 1. Bradypodid^.

The intermaxillary bones confined to the lower part of the nasal
opening ; the maxillary bones provided with simple teeth, shortened,

350 Zoological Society.

their malar processes much pushed forwards upou them, and the
molar series converging behind ; the posterior palatine foramina re-
placed by a series of minute openings extending the whole length of
the palate ; the malar bone having a descending masseteric process
transversely compressed, longitudinally extended, and with a di-
stinct superadded process arising between its frontal and zygomatic
processes ; the foramen rotundum distinct, and opening exteriorly at
the base of the pterygoid process some distance below the spheno-
orbital foramen and anterior to the foramen ovale ; the zygoma
straight and trigonal, its origin thick and extensive, reaching back
quite to the posterior part of the squamous bone ; the mastoid bone
with a wide digastric fossa, and a strong thick styloid process, ter-
minating in a circular concavity for the reception of the stylohyal
bone ; the lower jaw widened anteriorly with an extended symphysis.

It must be observed that the superadded process of the malar bone
is peculiarly characteristic of this family, and is quite distinct from
any of the processes of that bone to which special names have been
assigned. It is situated between the frontal or postorbital and zygo-
matic processes, both of which seem also to exist in a more or less
rudimental form in most of the known species ; and when the latter
is wanting as in the geims Choloepus, the fact that the new process
stands aloof, above the zygoma, is enough to prevent its being taken
for the zygomatic process, which in all mammalia possessing a com-
plete zygomatic arch either abuts simply against the extremity of the
zygoma, or more generally seems to support it from beneath.

The zygomatic process is well developed in the Megatherium, and
completes the arch, leaving the other, which might be called the
supratemporal process, projecting above it. In Mylodon robiistus
the frontal process is reduced to a slight angle upon the base of the
supratemporal process. In the Scelidotherium the ))rocess existing
above the zygomatic process appears to be broken off, but the obli-
quity of its base renders it improbable that it would be the true
frontal process so largely developed.

The circular pit for the attachment of the stylohyal bone is pre-
cisely similar in the Sloths to that in the large fossil genera, and it
is somewhat remarkable that Prof. Owen, while describing the cha-
racter in these extinct forms, should have made no allusion to its
existence in the recent Sloths, even though Cuvier expressly points it
out. The tongue is largely developed in this family, and the living
sloth may be seen to make great use of it in taking food into its
mouth, as was observed by Mr. Ball, in a short communication pub-
lished in the ' Proceedings' some years back. On the other hand, it
is long and slender in the insect-feeding tribes, so that the maximum
degree to which it was developed in the Glossotherinm is certainly
no indication that such was the food of that remarkable genus.

Cholcepus, Illiger.

Intermaxillary bones small, produced anteriorly ; postorbital pro-
cess well-developed ; malar bone with a well-marked frontal process,
but no zygomatic process, the supratemporal process projecting

.Zoological Society. ^1

■liackwards or bent a little upwards; pterygoid bones inflated;
■crotaphite impression approaching near to the occipital ridge ; tym-
panic bone reduced to a simple ring; lower jaw produced ante-
riorly, straight below, its condyle depressed ; teeth j^, simple,
rounded, the anterior ones in each jaw enlarged, trigonal.
C. didactylus.

Bradypus, Gray.

Intermaxillary bones reduced or wanting ; postorbital process
slightly developed ; malar bone with the frontal and zygomatic pro-
cesses slightly marked, the supratemporal process rising obliquely ;
pterygoid bones inflated ; crotaphite impression terminating at a con-
siderable distance from the occiput ; tympanic bone well-developed,
forming a bulla ; lower jaw with a flattened square process in front,
deep posteriorly, the lower outline convex, the condyle elevated ;
^^^^ ^> simple, rounded, the anterior ones similar, small in the
upper jaw.

B, crinitus.

In addition to the character of the pterygoids, which, in the absence
of actual knowledge, might possibly have belonged to age or sex, I
find this species to be clearly distinguishable from those of the next
genus by the great distance that intervenes between the posterior
termination of the temporal fossae and the occiput, which is much
greater in the old specimens even than in the young of the genus Arc-
topithecus. The occiput also differs from them in being proportionally
smaller, of a rounder form ; the digastric fossae converging a little
superiorly, instead of diverging as iii the other genus. The lower
jaw also presents a character more decided than the anterior pro-
duction which Mr. Gray points out in his paper on the genus Bra-
dypus : it is much deepened behind, rendering the lower outline
very convex. And further, there are certain characters pointed out
by Cuvier in the ' Ossemens Fossiles ' which appear to be constant, so
far as I have been able to observe, as it is only in young specimens
that the sutures are discernible. They are, first, that in this species,
the At a collier, the nasal bones are bevelled towards the middle pos-
teriorly, so that they form a point between the frontals, while in the
other species they are bevelled in the opposite direction, the frontals
descending between their extreme points. Secondly, that the pala-
tine bone forms but a narrow slip vnthin the orbit, and the alisphenoid
bone occupies a much larger portion of the temporal fossa than iu
the other species.

The skull spoken of by Mr. Gray as being taken from a skin, pre-
sents characters intermediate between the other one and that upon
which the B. affinis is founded, therefore I refrain from inserting the
J atter as a species until further evidences are obtained.

Arctopithecus, Gray.

Intermaxillary bones short and small ; postorbital process slightly
developed ; malar bone with the frontal and zygomatic processes

352 Zoological Society.

slightly marked, or the former wanting, the supratemporal .process
rising obliquely ; pterygoid bones compressed and simple ; crota-
phite impression extending to very near the occipital ridge ; tympa-
nic bone well-developed, inflated ; lower jaw with its inferior outline
concave posteriorly, its condyle elevated ; teeth ^, simple, rounded,
the anterior ones similar, small in the upper jaw.

A. GULARis. J'i a dos brulc.

A broad patch of soft yellow hair between the shoulders, and a
black line running through it down the back ; the upper anterior
molars proportionally larger, and the second less, than in the fol-
lowing species ; the occiput again affords us a very good distinction,
as it is much wider and not so deep as in the following species, and
the foramen magnum not so large. Two skulls in the British Museum
present these characters, and evidently belong to adult, probably
aged, individuals ; that of the skeleton, also from Bolivia, seems
referable to the other species.

A, MARMORATUS.

Fur everywhere more or less lengthened, no yellow spots, dorsal
line grey brown ; anterior upper molars very small, the next rather
larger than those which follow ; occiput deeper and narrower than
in the preceding species, its foramen larger.

The A. Blainvillii is not distinguishable by external markings, and
the skulls bearing that name in the Museum collection all present a
general robustness, such as age and sex might very probably occasion.
One of them, which, from retaining some of the sutures, seems to be
younger than the others, has the frontal bones less swollen, and the
lower jaw with its angular process as much produced as in those
labelled marmoratus, though deeper, but not so deep as in the others.

The A. flaccidns may be only a local variety, the skulls not being
very clearly distinguishable, for there are not two between which
some individual peculiarities may not be traced.

The skull to which the name problematicus is given is evidently
young, having all its sutures well-marked, and in the absence of the
fur cannot be safely looked upon as the type of a species. It agrees
with the others in the character of the occiput, which distinguishes
them all from the A. gtdaris, as well as from the Bradypus crinitus.
The palaeontologist is well aware of the uncertainty of establishing
species upon trivial details of form, although slight distinctions are
in some cases known to afford a true indication . the skulls of the
Three-toed Sloths vary greatly, and all present a coarse, rough-hewn
appearance which must detract from our confidence in little differ-
ences of detail. With regard to the lower jaw, they certainly do not
present differences so strikingly characteristic as those upon which
the species of Mylodon are established.

Megatherium, Cuvicr.

Intermaxillary bones lengthened and prominent ; postorbital pro-
cess lengthened and drawn out, but not inflated ; malar bone with its

Zoological Society. 353

frontal and zygomatic processes well-developed, the latter attached
firmly to the zygoma ; the supratemporal process rising obliquely ;
pterygoid bones compressed, and not inflated ; crotaphite impression
approaching near to the occipital ridge ; tj'mpanic bone attached,
small, and not inflated ; (immediately in front of the circular facet
for the stylohyal bone there descends a strong process, which may
probably belong to the tympanic bone and form a portion of a vaginal
process ;) lower jaw produced in front, deepened in the middle by the
extensive implantation of the molars, the condyle much elevated ;
teeth ^j, quadrate, grooved transversely on the crown when worn,
the caementum being thickened on the anterior and posterior surfaces ;
the posterior upper one small.

M. CUVIERI.

Dr. Lund figures a tooth having the characters of this well-known
genus, but of smaller size, under the name oi MegatheriumLaurillardi.

Megalonyx, Jefiferson.

General cranial characters unknown ; teeth ^^, subelliptical, with
a ridge on the inner side.
M. Jefersonii.

Mylodon, Owen.

Intermaxillary bones small (lost in the skeleton) ; postorbital pro-
cess but little developed, thick ; malar bone with the frontal process
indicated by a slight angle, the zygomatic well-developed, touching
the zygoma, the supratemporal process rising obliquely ; pterygoid
bones thin and compressed ; crotaphite impression approaching near
to the occipital ridge ; tympanic bone reduced and separate ; (the
foregoing characters can of course apply only to the Mylodon robustus,
it being the only species of which the cranium is known ;) lower jaw
broad and more or less prolonged in front, the lower outline straight,
the condyle depressed ; teeth j^, the anterior ones rounded or tri-
gonal, the posterior ones larger, trigonal in the upper jaw, gradually
becoming bilobed in the lower. The species can only be characterized
by the lower jaw, as it is the only part that is known in all of them.
The characters are taken chiefly from Prof. Owen's works.

M. Darwinii.

Lower jaw much produced anteriorly, with a double mammelliform
tuberosity upon the symphysis below. The first tooth rounded or
subtrigonal, the second subelliptical, with a slight depression on the
inner side ; the third subquadrate, grooved on the inner side ; the
posterior internal angle produced ; the fourth bilobed, sharply grooved
on the inner side.

M. Harlani.

Lower jaw with the symphysis short ; the second tooth sub-
quadrate, grooved on the inner side, with the posterior internal angle

354 Zoological Society.

produced ; the third trapezoid, obliquely placed, with the inner side
rounded ; the fourth bilobed, the inner groove biangular, and a small
shallow one anterior to it. '"^^

T

M. ROBUSTUS.

Lower jaw produced and very broad anteriorly, the first tooth
round, the second subtrigonal, grooved internally, the third sub-
quadrate, oblique, the fourth bilobed, with a deep scallop on the
inner side and a smaller one anterior to it.

Glossotherium, Owen.

Crotaphite impression approaching near to the occipital ridge ;
tympanic bone reduced and separate. The general cranial characters
are unknown, but the fragment is recognizable by the great size of
the surface for the stylohyal bone, and of the precondyloid foramen.

SCELIDOTHERIUM, OwCU.

Malar bone with a well-developed zygomatic process ; the cha-
racter of its frontal process cannot be determined through mutilation
of the specimen ; crotaphite impression approaching near to the occi-
pital ridge ; tympanic bone reduced and separate ; lower jaw greatly
curved below, its condyle depressed ; teeth j^, transversely extended,
the anterior ones fully as large as the others, the first in each jaw
elongate trigonal, the others gradually becoming bilobed, the last
upper one trigonal.

S. leptocephulum.

Platyonyx, Lund.

This genus is proposed by Dr. Lund, to include a series of species
discovered by him, the first three of which he had previously referred
to the genus Meyalonyx, and Prof. Owen, in the conspectus at the
end of his memoir on the Mijlodon, has placed them in his genua
Scelidotherium ; but I prefer to adopt, for the present. Dr. Lund's
latest arrangement, since in the lower jaws figured, the last lower
molar has a deep groove on its posterior side, and the fourth species,
of which an entire skull is figured (tab. 38), agrees in this cha-
racter, and shows a marked distinction from the S. leptocephabim in
the zygomatic arch being incomplete ; the malar bone has no frontal
process, and but a shght angular indication of the zygomatic process.
P. Cuvieri. P. minutus.

P. Bucklandi. P. Brongniartii.

In addition to these. Dr. Lund represents a metacarpal bone of a
species which he calls P. Owenii, and an os scaphoides of the foot of
another, which he names P. Agassizii.

The genera Ccelodon and Sphenodon of Dr. Lund seem open to
the objection suggested by Prof. Owen, namely that the teeth would
be first developed in the form of hollow obtuse cones, not assuming
the cylindrical form until worn down to the part which has acquired

Zoological Society. a'SSfS

in process of growth the normal thickness ; but while I feel natu-
rally cautious of introducing into my category any genera or species,
the establishment of which is not made fully satisfactory to my mind,
I must not be considered as rejecting any of those of Dr. Lund,
when his illustrations and lists of names are the only evidences I can
attain ; since his original specimens are far beyond my reach, and my
ignorance of the Danish language prevents my comprehending his de-
scriptive memoirs.

Fam. 2. Dasypodid^.

The nasal bones long, of nearly uniform width, their extremities
projecting forwards beyond the intermaxillaries ; the intermaxillaries
are portions of cylinders, reaching further especially on their palatal
surface than in the other families ; the maxillary bone swollen and
provided with simple teeth ; its zygomatic process projecting boldly
outwards, and a ridge continued from it for the masseter, the molar
series diverging behind ; the posterior palatine foramina are replaced
by a row of minute openings extending the whole length of the
palate ; the malar bone, when there is a descending masseteric pro-
cess, or a rudiment of one, has it compressed longitudinally, extended
transversely ; the foramen rotundum is included in the foramen sphe-
no-orbitarium ; the zygoma is fiat, gently tvdsted upwards towards
its extremity ; the mastoid bone with a deep narrow groove, con-
taining one or more mastoid foramina ; the basi-occipital bone with
a transverse depression just anteriorly to the edge of the foramen
magnum, and (excepting in the genera Tolypeutes and Ghjptodon)
with an articular surface upon the lower edge of that foramen
receiving the odontoid process of the axis when the head is deflexed ;
the occipital condyles are portions of cylinders, placed horizontally,
each in a line with the paroccipital process ; the precondyloid foramen
is placed close to the condyle ; the supra-occipital bone is broad above,
forming on each side a strong thickened ridge ; the lower jaw is
narrowed and slenderly produced anteriorly.

The true affinities existing among the various Armadilloes have
been rightly perceived by the Baron Cuvier, and are well pointed out
in the ' Ossemens Fossiles' ; but he did not designate the subgenera
by any particular names, and naturalists, for the most part, have
adopted the arrangement of Mons. F. Cuvier, which limits the genus
Dasypus to the single species that has teeth in the intermaxillary
bone, and unites all the rest, excepting the Giant Armadillo, under
the generic name Tatusia. Mr. Gray, in the 'List of Specimens of
Mammalia in the British Museum,' has adopted in addition the
genus Xenurus of M'^agler, and it will be further necessary to make
use of Illiger's genus Tolypeutes for the Apara or Three-banded
Armadillo. The species villosus and mimitus nmst be associated, as
Baron Cuvier has done with the Encoubert in the genus Dasypus.

The groups recognized in the ' Ossemens Fossiles ' being thus
restored and the names proposed by other authors appUed to them,
I shall proceed to characterize them by their external armour, by
which they may very easily be distinguished, and to add the cha-

356 Zoological Society.

racters of the cranium, in which my observations have been assisted
by the immortal work alluded to.

Tatusia.

Ears thrown backwards and approximated ; plates of the head of
irregular shape and smooth ; those of the scapular and pelvic shields
much smaller than those of the bands, and surrounded with others
smaller still ; fore-feet -with four toes, the claws straight, the index
and medius nearly equal, the pollex and annularis small ; maxillary
bone terminating in a pointed process behind ; teeth rather small,
none of them being further back than the root of the malar process ;
this process concave anteriorly, projecting ovitwards and backwards ;
the infra-orbital canal entirely below it ; malar bone simply a portion
of an inverted arch, hollowed on the outer side for nearly its whole
length by the masseteric impression, merely abutting against the
zygoma ; palatine bone reduced in vertical extent, being encroached
on above by a large thickened portion of the ethmoid bone which
appears in the orbit, the sphenopalatine foramen being a narrow
fissure between them ; pterygoid bone simply bordering the termi-
nation of the palatine, without hamular process ; zygoma compressed
and elevated, its glenoid surface circular ; tympanic bone reduced to
a ring ; mastoid narrowed ; lower jaw slender, its condyle but little
elevated, transverse and flat, coronoid process elevated.

T. SEPTEMCINCTA.

Ears about one-third of the length of the head ; plates smooth ;
tail as long as the body.

T. affinis of Dr. Lund may possibly be identical.

T. HYBRIDA.

Ears about one-fourth of the length of the head ; plates of the
pelvic shield convex and elevated ; tail about two-thirds of the length
of the body. The characters of this species, which was named by
M. Desmarest, are carefully pointed out by Mr. Martin in the ' Pro-
ceedings ' of the Society, January 1837.

Cuvier speaks of a third species brought from Brazil by M. de
Saint-Hilaire, under the name of Tatou verdadeiro, differing from
the mule Armadillo in having the tail terminated by a horny sheath
of one piece, the bands broader, ai^d the plates of the pelvic shield
larger.

Dr. Lund figures two ossicles of a Tatusia, indicating dimensions
much greater than those usually attained by specimens belonging to
the genus, and applies the name Dasypiis punctatus. I find in the
Museum of the College of Surgeons a recent carapace, denuded of its
homy epidermal scutes, and wanting the scapular shield ; it is as
large as Dr. Lund's figures would im]3ly, and has the same punctate
depressions in the grooves which mark the surfaces of the component
dssicles. It differs from a smaller one, still a large sj^ecimen, also
denuded of the epidermal scutes, in the latter having the central area
of each ossicle a little elevated at its posterior margin, and the punc-

Zoological Society. 357

tate depressions fewer and smaller behind this area than in front of
it ; while in the larger specimen they are all about equal in size.

It is difficult to compare these specimens with those which retain
their natural covering ; but the punctate character seems to belong
to the genus rather than to the species, it not being perceptible until
the horny scutes are removed : and whether the Tatusia punctata
be a species, or merely a large variety of one of the others, it would
appear not to be extinct.

Chlamyphorus, Harlan.

Plates of the head, the scapular shield and the body forming an
uninterrupted series, each a parallelogram, those of the neck smaller,
and those of the muzzle irregular ; pelvic shield small, flat, or slightly
convex, placed vertically, at right angles to the dorsal armour, and
composed of concentric semioval rows of trapezoid plates ; fore-feet
with five toes, the medius being the longest, the two inner claws the
smallest, and the three outer ones very deep and compressed ; frontal
bone with a large thickened process above the eye ; malar bone thin,
deep anteriorly, with a rudiment of a descending masseteric process
assuming a transverse position ; auditory process bending forwards
round the base of the zygoma ; lower jaw with the ascending ramus
much elevated, the condyle higher than the coronoid process.
C. truncatus.

Dasypus.

Head broad behind, ears wide apart, its plates irregular, marked
like those of the body ; those of the scapular and pelvic shields ob-
long parallelograms, like those of the bands, but becoming penta-
gonal or hexagonal towards the neck and croup — all the plates
marked with an indented pattern ; bands about six or seven ; fore-
feet with five toes, the index nearly as thick as the medius, which is
the longest, the claws a little twisted outwards ; maxillary bone ter-
minating behind in a strong vertical column formed by the alveolus
of the last tooth, and concealing the sphenopalatine and pterygo-
palatine foramina ; teeth rather large ; malar process compressed in
the antero-posterior direction, suddenly projecting, concave anteriorly ;
infra-orbital canal short, pierced through the base of the process ;
malar bone angular, with a rudiment of a descending process, com-
pressed in the antero-posterior direction ; its zygomatic })rocess deep,
extending beneath the zygoma ; palatine bone ascending into the
orbit ; no appearance of the ethmoid within the orbit ; pterygoid
bones with well-defined hamular processes, bent outwards ; zygoma
well-developed, flat ; its glenoid surface slightly convex, reniform ;
tympanic bone well-ossified, forming a bulla ; auditory process largely
developed ; mastoid bone very broad, placed entirely in the occipital
region ; lower jaw deep and thick, its ascending ramus high ; coronoid
process largely developed, condyle broad.

D. SEXCINCTUS.

Muzzle broad ; plates large, distinct, but slightly indented ; bands
six or seven, 110 separate band on the anterior edge of the scapular

858 Zoological Society.

shield ; terminal plates of the bands and pelvic shield small ; hairs
few, white ; teeth jfEiS' the first upper one on each side being in the
intermaxillary bone.

D. VILLOSXJS.

Muzzle broad ; plates closely united, roughly tubercular, those of
the bands closely united and small ; bands eight ; a separate band on
the anterior edge of the scapular shield, behind the row of nuchal
plates ; terminal plates of the bands and pelvic shield large and fal-
cate ; hairs profuse, brown.

D. MINXJTUS.

Muzzle tapering, narrow at the end ; plates of the head smooth,
those of the shield and bands closely united, and flatly tubercular ;
terminal plates of the bands and pelvic shield large and falcate ;
bands six or seven ; a separate band on the anterior edge of the sca-
pular shield, behind the row of nuchal plates ; upper parts with black
hairs ; sides of the head and limbs with brownish hairs ; under parts
with whitish hairs ; teeth |^, none in the intermaxillary bones, nasal
and intermaxillary bones lengthened.

Xenurus, Wagler.

Head broad behind, ears wide apart, its plates irregular, smooth ;
those of the scapular shield irregular in the middle, hexagonal towards
the sides ; bands twelve, composed of short and square plates ; pelvic
shield with square plates in the middle, becoming hexagonal towards
the sides ; tail almost naked ; fore-feet with five toes, the index
longest, but very slender, the three outer toes rapidly diminishing in
length, but furnished with large claws, twisted outwards ; maxillary
bones articulated posteriorly by suture to the palatine, its malar pro-
cess thick, rounded anteriorly ; malar bone but slightly angular, its
zygomatic process extending beneath the zygoma; palatine bone
ascending into the orbit, and pushing up the sphenopalatine foramen
into a fossa which contains the foramina of the orbit ; pterygoid
bones with their hamular processes styliform, projecting backwards ;
zygoma small, rounded above ; tympanic incompletely ossified ; mas-
toid bone broad, placed obliquely ; lower jaw slender, its condyle
elevated, reniform ; coronoid process feebly developed, lower than the
condyle.

X. UNICINCTUS.

Cuvier mentions a species with a shorter and more entirely naked
tail ; it is probably the same that has been called nudicaudis by Dr.
Lund. X. antiquus of the same distinguished author may possibly
be identical.

Priodontes, Frederick Cuvier.

Head broad behind, ears wide apart ; plates of the head and body
as in Xenurus ; tail closely covered with quadrangular scaleSj placed
in a quincuncial arrangement ; fore-feet as in Xenurus, the outer toe

Zoological Society. 359

inueh reduced ; maxillary bone articulated posteriorly by suture to
the palatine ; teeth numerous and minute ; infra-orbital canal long,
commencing below the malar process, and terminating nearly on the
middle of the bone ; malar bone forming simply a portion of an in-
verted arch, round, and devoid of processes ; palatine bone ascending
into the orbit ; pterygoid bone strongly developed, with an angular
termination ; zygoma rather small^ the glenoid surface lengthened,
the lower part of the squam.ous and the alisphenoid bone forming a
longitudinal swelhng within it ; tympanic bone small, and loose ;
mastoid bone broad, forming the sides of the occiput which are
rounded ; lower jaw thin and compressed, condyle longitudinal, but
Uttle elevated ; coronoid process much reduced.
P. gigas.

ToLYPEUTES, niiger.

Head broad behind, ears wide apart ; plates very closely articulated
to each other, their siirface divided by impressed marks, and studded
with blunt tubercles, those of the scapular and pelvic shields varying
from a square to a pentagonal or hexagonal form ; bands three, com-
posed of oblong parallelograms, equally subcircular, and closely arti-
culated ; fore-feet four-toed, the outer being absent ; the medius
slightly longer than the index, with a much larger claw, both having
an outward twist ; maxillary bone articulated posteriorly to the pala-
tine, its malar process standing suddenly outwards, compressed ; infra-
orbital canal commencing below and behind its root, rather lengthened,
rising a little in its course ; teeth rather large ; malar bone slender,
and simply abutting by an oblique suture against the zygoma ; pala-
tine bone ascending into the orbit, pterygoids with blimt hamular
processes, a little bent outwards ; zygoma rather narrowed, glenoid
surface flat, reniform ; tympanic bone reduced to an annular form ;
lower jaw slender, condyle moderately elevated, reniform, coronoid
process elevated.

T. TRICINCTUS.

Cuvier cites the Cheloniscus of Fabricius Columna as being this
species, but represented with four bands instead of three ; the last
row of plates of the scapular shield is composed of oblong parallelo-
grams like those of the bands, which may have given rise to such
an error.

Chlamydotherium, Lund.

Judging by the plates that accompany Dr. Lund's Memoir, this
appears to be a genus of extinct gigantic Armadilloes, having the body
provided with moveable bands like the recent ones, and teeth of a
compressed form, and irregularly fluted ; two species are distin-
guished.

C. Humboldtii. C. giganteum.

Heterodon, Lund.

Distinguished by the unequal sizes of the teeth : the fragment of

360 Zoological Society.

the lower jaw figured contains six teeth, of which two are much larger
than the others.

H. diversidens.

EuRYODON, Lund.

Dr. Lund figures a tooth resembling those of the Armadilloes, but
apparently broader in proportion to its antero-posterior diameter.
E. latidens.

Glyptodon, Owen.

Carapace ovoid, without distinction of shields or bands, composed
of small hexagonal pieces with sculptured surfaces ; teeth divided into
narrow transverse lobes ; malar bone with a lengthened descending
process, placed transversely ; zygoma flat, its glenoid surface elevated,
transversely elongate, looking a little backwards ; mastoid propor-
tionally small, placed laterally.

G. CLAVIPES.

The central tubercle upon each ossicle large, round, or subhexagonal,
conspicuous above the surrounding ones, which are small, and more
cut up by reticulate depressions.

G. ORNATUS.

The central tubercle of each ossicle not conspicuously marked above
the rest ; all more finely granular.

This may possibly be the young of that to which the name reticu-
latus has been applied, and which, therefore, I will at present omit.

G. TUBERCULATUS.

Ossicles approaching to a square or rhomboidal form, their surface
divided into numerous irregular elevations.

The genus Hoplophoms of Dr. Lund appears to be identical vnth
Glyptodon ; he figures two teeth in which the characters of that
genus are clearly shown, and several detached ossicles and portions of
carapace bearing a general resemblance to the species of Glyptodon,
principally to the G. ornatus. He distinguishes two species, the H.
Euphractus and H. Selloi. Prof. Owen refers to the H. Euphractus a
portion of carapace brought home by Mr. Darwin, and figured in the
' Voyage of the Beagle,' which very closely resembles those afterwards
figured in the ' Catalogue of Fossil Mammalia and Aves in the Museum
of the Royal College of Surgeons' under the name G. ornatus.

I am not as yet acquainted with the Pachytherium magnum of
Dr. Lund's catalogues.

Fam. 3. Myrmecophagid^.

The nasal bones simple, of uniform vndth, emarginated at the
ends ; the intermaxillary bones much reduced ; the maxillary bones
much lengthened, toothless, the malar process projecting backwards,
outwards and downwards ; the posterior palatine foramen single, or
wanting ; the malar bone reduced to a slender stylet free at the pos-

Zoological Society. 361

terior end: the foramen rotundum included in the foramen spheno-
orbitarium ; the zygoma very small, and pushed quite to the anterior
superior angle of the squamous portion ; the supra-occipital hone en-
croaches up'on the upper surface of the skull, and has a median pro-
tuberance ; the lower jaw much lengthened and slender at the end,
•without coronoid process. i » x ^ t i,„„»

Not having seen the skull of the little Two-toed Ant-eater, I have
used a little caution in characterizing this family. For example, I
have avoided alluding to the peculiar character of the pterygoids as
Cuvier informs us that they do not enclose a long canal as in the
larger species. I therefore limit the diagnoses of the genera to the
few points, in which, in the absence of a skull of the small species,
they are known to differ*.

Myrmecophaga, Linnaeus.

Fore-feet with four toes; hind-feet with five toes; palatine and
pterygoid bones united beneath the nasal canal for their whole length.

M. JUBATA, Linn.

Varied with black and grey, the latter predominating on the head,
back, sides, fore-limbs and tail ; throat, a mark gunning obliquely
from the shoulder upwards and backwards, and hmd-hmbs black ; tui
very coarse ; tail but little longer than the body, very bushy.

M. Tamandua.

Head, shoulders, fore-hmbs, outside of the hind-limbs, and middle
third of the tail white ; a stripe from each side of the neck over the
shoulder and remaining parts black; tail but little longer than the
body, its terminal third scaly. Varies chiefly by the dimmution of
the intensity of the black. i x i „ „„„

I have found that the Yellow Ant-eater, hitherto considered to be one
of the varieties of this species, differs remarkably in the length and size
of the tail ; the ears also appear to be larger, but this atter character
is less decisive, owing to the different degrees to which they may
shrink when dry. A specimen in the British Museum, and one in
that of this Society, resemble each other exactly, while a young pale
specimen of M. Tamandua has a tail proportionally of the same length
as the larger and darker individuals. Under these circumstances I
have been induced to propose a name for the Yellow Ant-eater, deem-
ing it probable that the species may be distinct.

M. longicaudata.

General colour uniform hght ochraceous, a paler line runs down
the middle of the back ; tail nearly double the length of the body,
its terminal half covered with small scales and a few scattered black
hairs ; ears large, round, about one-third the length of the head.

* I have since seen the cranial portion of the skull of the Little Ant-eater, and
find that although the pterygoid bones do not enclose the nasal canal below, they
s emble those of the larger species in their great extent backwards.
Ann. Sf Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xu. 25

Zp^i Zoological Society.

Although the flanks show a sliglitly darker reflection in certain di-
rections of the hght, there is no trace of the mark which runs across
the shoulder.

On referring to the figure, in Krusenstern's Voj'age (tab. 6 e),
on which M. Desmarest founded his Myrmecophaga annulata, I find
it to be a very excellent representation of a Coati-mondi, probably
the brown species. The head is bent downwards, the tongue pro-
truded, and curved beneath the left fore-foot ; from under the further
side of the foot there comes a small twig of a tree, which, if it were
not branched, would look like a continuation of the tongue. But
the figure published in Griffith's translation of the ' Regne Animal'
is not so easy to interpret. The general form of the body is more
like that of an Ant-eater, though rather too long and slender ; the
tapering head and the dark stripe from the end of the muzzle to the
eye remind one of the Myrmecobius, which was not known until
several years afterwards ; the tail is just such as a Coati-mondi might
have supplied. The figure is said to have been drawn from a stuffed
specimen, but the authors do not state where the specimen existed,
and possibly may never have seen it.

Cuvier asserts, with much probability, that the animal from which
Buffon took his figure of the Tamandua was made up of the skin of a
Coati-mondi, to which striped markings had been artificially applied.

Cyclothurus, Gray.

Fore-feet with two toes, the outer one much the larger ; "the pala-
tines only meet below for two-thirds of their length, and the bony
canal of the nares there terminates, the pterygoids not meeting, but
presenting only two long parallel and little prominent crests."

C. DIDACTYLUS.

Dr. Lund inserts in his lists of fossil species one which he has
named Myrmecophaga gigantea, but I have seen no representation of
any portion of the animal among the figures published.

Fam. 4. MANiDiE.

The intermaxillary bones small, having ascending processes run-
ning upwards and backwards ; each encloses a separate incisive fora-
men ; the maxillary bones short, toothless, their malar processes pro-
jecting backwards, outwards and downwards ; the palatine bones
much spread out in front, and with distinct posterior palatine fora-
mina ; the malar and lacrymal bones wanting, but a large lacrymal
opening ; the alisphenoid bone much reduced ; the zygoma deep, thin,
concave exteriorly, and pushed downwards to the anterior and inferior
angle of the squamous portion ; the occipital condyles prominent,
oblique, the precondyloid foramina at some distance anterior to them.

This family consists of but one genus, containing several well-
marked species.

Manis, Linnaeus.

In characterizing the species of this genus, I give the number of
scales in each transverse row, instead of the number of longitudinal

Zoological Society. 363

rows, which has been the usual method adopted. The number in
each case will appear much less, but it will be recollected that this is
owing to the scales of one row being alternate with those of the next

M. PENTADACTYLA, Liuu. {macroura, Desm.)

Each transverse row of scales composed of three on each side of
the median one ; scales striated at the base, smooth at the end, the
striated part distinctly separated from the smooth portion ; ends of
the scales simple ; under parts naked ; tail very broad at the base,
about equal to the body in length ; fore-feet five-toed, the claw of the
medius much the largest, that of the annularis next, that of the index
much less, the other two very small ; hind-feet with lengthened claws;
limbs scaled to the bases of the claws.

M. JAVANicA, Desm.

Four scales on each side of the median one in each transverse row,
the lower ones on each side, and the lateral ones beneath the tail,
keeled and pointed at the ends ; tail broad at the base, equalling the
head and body in length ; under parts with short white hairs ; limbs
scaled to the bases of the claws ; fore-feet vnth the middle claw
largest, the index a little less than the annularis, the others very
small ; hind-feet with lengthened claws.

M. Temminckii, Smutz.

Body altogether very broad ; scales broad, three on each side in
every transverse row, striated to the tips which are rounded, none of
them carinate ; under parts naked ; tail about the length of the body,
broad and rounded at the end ; limbs scaled to the bases of the claws ;
fore-feet with the middle claw largest, the two next less, the remain-
ing two much less ; those of the hind-feet vertical, truncated.

M. TETRAD ACTYLA, Linn. {AfHcana, Desm.)

Scales large, three on each side in every transverse row, striated to
the tip, which is square, with a point projecting from the middle,
the lower ones at the sides and the lateral ones beneath the tail cari^
nate ; tail double the length of the body, a little narrowed at the
base, soon becoming broad ; limbs only scaled at the base, then
covered with black hairs like the under parts ; fore-feet vidth the
middle claw very long and compressed, the index and annularis much
less and nearly equal, the minimus less still, the inner toe very small ;
hind-feet with lengthened claws, nearly equal.

M. MULTiscuTATA, Gray, Proc. Z. S. Feb. 1843.

Five scales on each side of the median one in every transverse row ;
scales striated to the tip, which is square, with a median point;,
those on the sides of the trunk and limbs, and the lateral ones be-
neath the tail, carinate ; tail nearly double the length of the body, of
moderate width ; under parts with short whitish brown hairs ; fore-

25*

364 Zoological Society.

limbs scaled to the carpus ; toes all well-developed, except the thumb,
which is small, the medius longest ; hind-feet scaled nearly to the
base of the claws, which are all lengthened and well-developed, ex-
cept the thumb, which is small ; the annularis nearly as long as the
medius.

31. aurita, Hodgson.

Fam. 5. Orycteropodidje.

The nasal bones long and much spread out behind, narrowed and
not projecting anteriorly ; the intermaxillaries well-developed, pro-
minent below, not enclosing foramina ; the maxillary bones length-
ened and deep, provided with compound teeth ; the palate termina-
ting soon with a strong transverse ridge, having a pair of large poste-
rior palatine foramina ; the lacrymal bone large, extending much upon
the face ; the malar bone large, extending much upon the face, but
its zygomatic process small and slender ; the frontal bone large and
swollen, with a small and contracted post-orbital process ; the parie-
tals extended downwards at their anterior inferior angles to articulate
with the alisphenoids ; the zygoma slender, tmsted as in the Arma-
dilloes ; a strong post-articular and a post-auditory process, and just
within the latter a short truncate styloid process, not enclosed by any
vaginal process, as the tympanic bone is much reduced and separate ;
the occipital condyles hemicylindrical, but with a portion of articular
surface continued from them upon the lower edge of the foramen
magnum ; the paroccipital processes in a line with them, but distinctly
separated.

As this family consists, so far as is yet satisfactorily known, of a
single species, its characters might be multiplied to almost any extent ;
should another form be discovered, they will of course need revision.

This communication having extended far beyond the length that I
at first contemplated, notwithstanding that I have limited myself in
most cases to the distinctive peculiarities of the skull, it will readily
be seen that, had I entered upon the whole osteology of the order, or
even introduced in every instance the characters by which the genus
or species may be known externally, I should have swelled this little
monograph to such a degree as almost to preclude its insertion in the
'Proceedings' of the Society, and entailed upon myself an amount of
labour from which I would by no means shrink, but fear I shall be
compelled to defer until more favourable opportunities present them-
selves ; but I trust that the little I have as yet accomplished may
afford the naturalist a clearer insight into the relations of the living
Edentata among themselves, and with those that formerly peopled
the portion of the world which was then, as now, the principal abode
of this remarkable group.

Pimlico, Julv 1851.

Miscellaneous. ^"^

MISCELLANEOUS.

6PADIX PURPUREA, GOSSE.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Falmouth, September 30, 1853.
Gentlemen, —The Spadix purpurea, Gosse {Arum Cocksii,
Vigurrr re Report of th^ Royaf PoVchnic Society 1849 xs an
old friend of mine, having found it in the antumn of 1844, attached
to the under surface of a large stone, extreme low water mark, spring
tide, Gwyllvn-vase, in the neighbourhood. Smce that period a great
number of specimens have been sent to some of the first-class natu-
ralL^ts of the age, in this country, on the continent, and m Amenta
hut hitherto it has proved an enigma not easily solved In the year
1847 Mr J. Alder sent several from Falmouth to the Members of
the Natural-History Section, British Association, and specimens alive
were forwarded, per post, to Sir G. Dalyell, but unfortunately death
terminated the career of this good and great man before he had time
to untie the Gordian knot. I am glad that another habitat has been
found for this interesting creature. I have repeatedly produced the
young from the ova; they are free for several days, and perambulate
on their stilt-like legs with ease and agility.

I am. Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

W. P. CoCK3.

Note on the Parasitism of Comandra umbellata, Nutt.
By Asa Gray.
So long ago as the year 1847, Mr. William Mitten an EngUsh
botanist, communicated to Hooker's London J^^^^^ °^, f "f^^
^-vol vi D 146. pi. 4) a brief article, on the oeconomy of the roots
if Thesium linophylhm ; in which he shows that the roots of this
plant are parasitic ; the ramifications of the root forming attachments,
by means^f suckers, with the roots of adjacent plants of various
species. The same parasitism probably occurs in other species of
Thesium, if not in the genus generally. But I am not aware that
the fact has been confirmed on the contmental «P^"f ' ^^j^^^^^^^^
somewhat numerous, although attention has been called to the sub-
jecTby the reprint of Mr. Mitten's article in the ' Annales des Sciences
Naturelles' in the volume which bears the nominal date of 1847),
and an interesting extension was at once given to the discovery by
M. Decaisne, who detected a similar parasitic attachment of the
rootlets oiMelampyrum, Pedicularis, and other rhmanthaceous plants
lone known to be uncultivable. • . xi. i *„j

In the Botanical Text-book, I had called attention to the related
genus Comandra, which replaces Thesium in this country, as likely
to exhibit the same parasitic ceconomy, but, pressed by other occupa-
tions, had neglected to make the exammation myself ; nor had 1 any
notice of thi observation having been made by ^^^^ers although
Comandra umbellata is everywhere a common plant m the Umted
States.

366 Miscellaneous.

The discovery, however, has now been made by my esteemed cor-
respondent, Mr. Jacob Stauffer, of Mount Joy, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania. He has recently sent me fresh specimens of Cornan-
dra umbellata, with its elongated and woody subterranean stems,
giving off numerous roots, the branches of which are often expanded
at their tips into a small tubercle or sucker, which is implanted by
its disc-like surface upon the bark of adjacent roots, principally of
shrubs. The foster-plants, in the specimens communicated, are
Blueberries and Huckleberries {Vaccinium vacillans and Gaylussacia
resinosa). Mr. Stauffer' s specimens are accompanied by a neat
drawing, illustrating the mode of attachment. This I would gladly
forward for the engraver : but it will suffice, perhaps, for the present
to say, that the attachment is similar to that so clearly exhibited by
Mr. Mitten, in the plate which accompanies his article ; only that
the rootlets in Comandra arise from subterranean stems, and the
suckers, so far as I have examined, do not appear to penetrate the
foster-root deeper than the surface of its wood.

Since the above was written and in type, I have received from Mr.
Stauffer the announcement of his discovery of the parasitism of Ge-
rardia flava, accompanied by a drawing which exhibits it, and a spe-
cimen which plainly shows the attachment. The numerous branches
of the root are not only attached by discs or suckers to the bark of
the root of the foster-plant (in this case either white oak or witch
hazel), but also are implanted upon each other, forming parasitical
anastomoses. — Silliman's Journal, Sept. 1853.

RARE IRISH MOLLtrSCA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Windsor Lodge, Monkstown, co. Dublin,
September 30, 1853.
Gentlemen, — Having had a few days' dredging last month off
this coast, will you kindly record for me, at your earliest convenience,
the obtaining of the following Mollusca ? Those species marked with
an asterisk I believe to be new to the fauna of this county.
*Corbula rosea. Off Dublin Bay.
Lyonsia Norvegica. Killiney Bay and Dalkey Sound.
*Thracia distorta. Dalkey Sound.
Cochlodesma prcetenue. Killiney Bay and Dalkey Sound.
Solecurtis coarctatus. Same localities as the last species.
*Astarte elliptica. Dalkey Sound.

sulcata, var. Scotica. Same locality as the last species.

*Lepton squamosum. Dalkey Sound and Killiney Bay.
*Nucula radiata. Dalkey Sound.

* tenuis. Same locality.

Leda caudata. Killiney Bay and Dalkey Sound.
Trophon Barvicensis. Dalkey Sound.
Mangelia teptangularis. Same locality.
Phyline scabra. Same locality.

I am. Gentlemen, yours obediently,

William White Walpole.

Meteorological Observations. 367

NATICA SORDIDA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Windsor Lodge, Monkstown, Co. Dublin,
Oct. 22, 1853.
Gentlemen, — I have much pleasure in being able to record an-
other habitat for that rare Mollusk Natica sordida, specimens of which
were obtained by me this summer ; they were taken off this coast by
trawling in about sixty fathoms. In company with the above shell was
found Fusus propinquus ; I have also noticed the same two MoUusca
occurring together off the Wexford coast, and my friend Dr. Melville
has likewise dredged the two species in close proximity off the Isles
of Arran, Galway Bay.

I remain. Gentlemen, yours truly obliged,

William White Walpole.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR SEPT. 1853.

Chiswick. — September 1. Cloudy and fine: heavyrain. 2. Overcast: heavyrain.
3. Clear. 4. Cloudy and fine : very fine : overcast. 5. Fine : cloudy : clear. 6. Very
fine: clear at night. 7,8. Overcast. 9. Foggy: rain. 10. Fine: slight rain.
11. Fine. 12. Cloudy and fine. 13. Rain: fine: clear. 14. Dense fog : very
fine. 15. Foggy: cloudy: rain at night. 16., Uniform haze: showery. 17.
Very fine. 18. Slight fog: very fine. 19,20. Very fine. 21. Foggy: fine.
22. Very fine : rain. 23. Cloudy. 24. Clear : cloudy : clear : lightning in the
evening : rain. 25. Rain : boisterous throughout. 26. Clear and windy. 27.
Slight fog : fine. 28. Overcast. 29. Fine : rain. 30. Very fine : clear : lightning,
with rain at night.

Mean temperature of the month 55°-45

Mean temperature of Sept. 1852 56-21

Mean temperature of Sept. for the last twenty-seven years . 57 '04
Average amount of rain in Sept 2-57 inches.

Boston. — Sept. 1. Rain a.m. : lightning p.m. 2. Rain a.m. and p.m.
3. Fine. 4. Cloudy. 5, 6. Fine. 7—10. Cloudy. 11. Fine. 12. Cloudy.
13. Cloudy : I'ain a.m. 14. Fine. 15. Cloudy : rain a.m. 16. Fine : rain p.m.
] 7, 18. Cloudy. 19, 20. Fine. 21. Cloudy. 22. Fine. 23. Cloudy. 24. Fine :
rain a.m. 25. Rain a.m. and p.m. : very stormy p.m. 26. Fine : very
stormy a.m. and p.m. 27 — 29. Cloudy. 30. Fine.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — Sept. 1. Bright a.m. : clear p.m. 2, 3. Cloudy a.m. :
cloudy, aurora p.m. 4. Clear, fine a.m. : clear, aurora p.m. 5. Clear, fine a.m.
and p.m. 6. Clear, fine a.m. and p.m. 7. Damp a m. : cloudy p.m. 8. Drizzle
A.M. : cloudy p.m. 9. Bright a.m. : clear p.m. 10. Bright a.m. : cloudy, aurora
P.M. 11. Cloudy A.M. and p.m. 12. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 13. Cloudy a.m. :
showers p.m. 14 — 16. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 17. Cloudy a.m. and p.m.
18. Showers A.M. and P.M. 19. Rain a.m. : damp p.m. 20. Cloudy a.m. : cloudy^
showers p.m. 21. Bright a.m. : rain p.m. 22. Rain a.m. : sleet-showers, thunder
and hghtning p.m. 23. Showers a.m. : sleet-showers, aurora p.m. 24. Bright a.m. :
sleet-showers p.m. 25. Cloudy a.m. : sleet-showers p.m. 26. Bright a.m. : sleet-
showers p.m. 27. Bright A.M. : showers p.m. 28. Rain a.m. : showers, thunder
and hghtning p.m. 29. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 30. Showers a.m. : cloudy p.m.

Mean temperature of Sept. for twenty-six previous years ... 52°-26

Mean temperature of this month 53 -28

Mea 1 temperature of Sept. 1852 ,. 53 -45

.Average quantity of rain in Sept. for thirteen previous years 275 inches.

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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERII^.]
No. 72. DECEMBER 1853.

XXXIV. — On the British Tritons.
By John Higginbottom, F.R.S.

[With two Plates.]

These observations are the result of an unremitting attention
to the natural history of the Triton during five years.

Regarding the physiology of each individual species of animal
as a type and example of physiology in general, I imagine that
the science would not be advanced more certainly than by an
undivided investigation of one, and that a most interesting
example.

My steps have been guided by the w^orks of Dr. Rusconi
and Professor Bell, and the following observations will be found
curtailed or extended, as I imagine I have arrived at the same
results as these two authorities have done, or added some new
facts or views to what was previously known.

As the result of my observation, I may premise that I have
not been able to find more than two species of Triton in the
midland counties of England ; that these, produced in water, are
furnished in a peculiar manner with respiratory organs, first for
aquatic respiration, and in the second place for atmospheric
respiration ; that after leaving the water they chiefly remain in-
habitants of the land and breathe atmosphere for no less a period
than three years uninterruptedly, passing through changes and
states in their slow growth, which have misled naturalists into
the opinion that there are more species than really exist ; that at
the expiration of the third year the animal in its mature state
betakes itself for a second time for a season to the water, but
solely for the purpose and during the period of reproduction ;
and that this view of the subject, the result of long and assiduous

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xii. 26

370 Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons.

observation, is singularly confirmed by the facts of the anato-
mical structm'e, viz. that the male Triton has no appearance of
crest, silvery stripe on the tail, fringe or membrane on the hind
toes, during the first and second year; and the testes and ovaries
are of a very diminutive size, facts to be noticed more particularly
hereafter.

The principal questions which I purpose to notice are —

1st. The determination of the number of species of Triton in
the midland counties of England.

2nd. The fecundation, deposition, and bursting of the ova.

3rd. The development of the Tadpole and the perfect animal.

4th. The uninteiTupted extension of its terrestrial life through
three whole years in a state of activity in the summer, and in a
state of hibernation in the winter season.

5th. The limitation of its second aquatic life to the period
required for reproduction.

6th. Certain peculiarities in its anatomy.

I. On the Species q/" Triton.

During my long observation of the Triton in the pools of the
midland counties and their clayey banks, &c. &c., I have not been
able to detect more than two species ; one of them is that termed
the common warty Triton, and the other is designated the com-
mon smooth Triton. But these two species of the Triton pre-
sent such varied appearances during the three years of their slow
but progressive growth, and during the changes they experience
preparatory to their return from being inhabitants of the land,
bi'eathing atmospheric air, active in the summer and hibernant
in the winter, to being active denizens of the water, repi'oducing
their kind in the months of March, April, May, June and July,
that I think they have been regarded by naturalists as presenting
too great a number of distinct species.

The crest, from which one species has received the designation
of cristatus, and the fringe or membrane, from which another
has received that of palnipes, are not permanent adjuncts, but
exist only during the active season of reproduction, and only
in the male. These appendages are scarcely therefore ad-
missible as characteristics of the species of Triton. I would
venture to propose as permanent and descriptive names, which
I shall take the liberty of making use of in this paper, the terms
Triton asper and Triton Icevis ; in fact, the large Triton is at all
times distinguished by its rough granular skin, whilst the smaller
is always known by its smooth surface.

The terms aquatic and terrestrial are not more applicable, as
I am enabled to say. that no species of Triton is exclusively

Mr, J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons. 371

either teiTestrial or aquatic, but that both are equally aquatic in
their early tadpole stage and in their later and reproductive life,
and equally terrestrial in the long intermediate period.

Cuvier himself observes, in a note subjoined to his description
of the various species of Triton : — " Cette caracterisation des
especes europeennes est celle qui m^a paru le plus conforme k la
nature, mais il me serait tres-difficile d'y rapporter exactement
la synonymic des auteurs, tant je trouve leurs descriptions et
leurs figures peu d'accord avec les objets que j^ai sous les yeux*."

II. The Fecundation, Deposition, and Bursting of the Ova.

From minute observations of the process of fecundation in the
pools where the Triton abounds, I am led to conclude that this
takes place internally through the medium of water, without the
immediate contact of the sexes.

The protuberances on each side of the cloaca in the male are
very prominent during the breeding season.

The protuberances and the villous enlargement also around
the cloaca in the female, exist in this prominent condition only
during that period.

The ova begin to be deposited as early as the beginning of
April, and continue to be deposited as long as the first or second
week in July.

If a plant with long leaves be thrown into a pool where there
are Tritons for only a single night during the breeding season,
it will be found on the following morning to have a number of
its leaves folded, and within each fold an ovum.

For the successful development of the ova, it is necessary ge-
nerally that they should be deposited and enclosed within the
folded leaves of some living aquatic plant. If they are placed at
the bottom of a vessel, or merely on the surface of a leaf exposed
to the water, they usually perish at an early period.

For this purpose some aquatic plants are much more suited
than others, the best being those which have some firmness of
fibre. I have seen some ova laid on the water dock, which it has
required the little animal to exert very strong pressure to double ;
this, however, it has effected at length by breaking the firm fibres
of the plant.

I have found that some aquatic plants are too pliable and soft,
as the Nasturtium aquaticum. Not having sufficient fibre to pre-
serve the ova the fold is not permanent, so that the ova become
too much and too early exposed to the water, and they perish.
The most favourable plants I have observed for the deposition of

* Regne Animal, t. ii. p. 117.

26*

372 Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons.

the ova are the Veronica anagallis, and the long grasses which
abound in some pools.

The Veronica anagallis has a firmer leaf than the Nasturtium
aquaticum, is formed into fii'mer folds, and is thus better cal-
culated for enclosing and protecting the ova. The long grasses
appear still more favourable for this purpose, and are best suited
for the security of the ova ; they admit of four or five or more of
the ova being deposited singly in folds on a single blade. Each
ovum is generally placed in the centre of that part of the blade
on which it is laid, and is neatly covered within a fold in such
various directions as frequently to present a fantastic appearance,
when the whole or the greatest part of the blade is folded.
Almost any aquatic plant serves as a receptacle of the ova. I
have seen them deposited even within the linear leaves of the
Ranunculus aquaticus, so compressed as to secure the ova.

The Triton, when depositing its ovum, first rests with the
lower part of the body across a leaf or blade of grass ; this it
folds up by means of its posterior extremities, making repeated
acts of pressure with them until the fold is sufficiently complete
to admit of the secure insertion of the ovum ; when that is ac-
complished the posterior extremities are pressed together upon
the enclosed ovum for a minute or more, when the little animal
quits it to deposit another ovum. The ovum when first de-
posited is round and has a small white yolk in its centre, which
has no attachment within its envelope, but is surrounded by an
aqueous fluid, within a firm transparent capsule.

A soft jelly-like substance covers the surface of this capsule,
which materially assists by its adhesive property in securing the
ovum and preserving it from too great exposiu-e to the water, an
event which at an early period often destroys its vitality, in which
case it is seen to become covered with mould. In about a fort-
night the ovum becomes so large as in some degree to sever itself
fi'om the fold of the leaf, and some parts of the ovum now come
freely in contact with the water without injury ; indeed, the free
exposure to the water appears necessary for its further develop-
ment. By the experiment of putting some ova into water coloured
with saff'ron for a short time, it will be found that they exhibit
an appearance of little golden balls, and by removing them after-
ward into clear water for a time, they become colourless, proving
that there is a constant endosmose and exosmose through each
ovum, so that there is a constant- supply of fresh water for the
presei'vation and further development of the embryo.

The safety of the ovum depends also, at an early period of its
development, upon the integrity of the leaf on which it is depo-
sited, as I have already stated, for when this is much broken in
folding, when the plant is too delicate of fibre, or from other

Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons. 373

causes, the ovum becomes exposed to the water too early and
perishes.

About a week after the ovum has been deposited, the embryo
acquires more of an oval shape ; in another week it increases in
size, and the head, body and caudal extremity are seen distinctly
through the transparent capsule which gradually increases in
size ; in about three weeks the embryo is perfect and beautifully
formed, and moves quickly round within its envelope, which is
now much distended.

About this period the tadpole escapes from the capsule, when
in water freely exposed to the open air, but its development is
modified by circumstances, such as situation, temperature, &c.

I kept some ova in a room with a south aspect at 60^ Fahr.,
and the tadpoles escaped in fourteen days. I placed other ova,
which were deposited on blades of grass, in a deep, dark, rock
cellar, at 48° Fahr. ; they were fully developed in these in three
weeks, the same time as some others placed in the open air at
55° Fahr. ; but after quitting the ova, the growth of those tad-
poles in the cellar was materially impeded ; the facts of which
are given in my paper "On the Influence of Physical Agents on
the development of the Triton and Frog,'' published in the Phi-
losophical Transactions, Part 2, for 1850, p. 431.

III. The Development of the Tadpole and the young Animal.

At length the ovum bursts, and the tadpole escapes and swims
freely away ; it rests or suspends itself on the edge of a leaf, or
on a blade of grass, or on the oblique sides of the vessel. It
sometimes remains on the bottom of the vessel, lying on one side,
as if inanimate or unable to sustain itself, but on being disturbed
it quickly swims away.

Shortly after the tadpole quits the ovum it feeds voraciously
on aquatic larvae, animalculse and small animals in the water.
I have seen the Triton asper in its branchial state with three of
the smaller species in its stomach at one time. The Triton re-
mains in the water in the tadpole or fish -like state until its
branchiae disappear and its legs become sufficiently strong to
enable it to quit this element. The development and growth
of the legs is very tardy; the anterior extremities are about
twenty-one days in being formed after quitting the ovum ; the
posterior about ninety days, and they are then extremely fine
and delicate; but as the legs become stronger, the branchiae
gradually disappear and the opercula close over the gills. When
these changes are accomplished, the animal leaves the water and
becomes entirely terrestrial. This occurs generally in September,
between the first and last week in that month ; but to this rule
there is an exception, which I first observed in October 1845,
on exan-ining some pools where Tritons of both species abound

374 Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons.

during the summer season, I found a Triton asper in the tad-
pole state, with large branchise and an expanded tail. I kept it
in a glass globe in the open air in water (in which were aquatic
plants) during the winter months, and found that it retained
the branchiae until the succeeding February, when it died. The
following month (March) I had brought to me two tadpoles of
the smooth species in the same condition, with the persistent
branchiae and expanded tail, and on searching a pool where this
species particulai'ly abovmds I found several others. I perceived
that these could not be of that season's growth, for at this period
the full-grown Tritons had not come to the water, the breeding
season not having commenced. I considered that these tadpoles
must be the produce of the ova deposited late in the former sea-
son, as in June or July ; and this view I think was corroborated
by their branchiae disappearing in June, nearly three months
earlier than in those produced from the ova deposited in the
spring. These observations appear to prove that the Triton
does not grow during the winter, and that in genial weather,
between five and six months are required for the tadpole to arrive
at its full development.

IV. The uninterrupted extension of terrestrial life through three
whole years, in a state of activity in the summer and in a state
of hibernation during the winter season,

I think the young generally travel a greater distance from the
water than the older ones, and do not, like them, assemble and
become coiled together. They are often found in damp cellars,
old wells and similar places, and under flat stones, and sometimes
deep in the earth, single, and far remote from any pools or
water. It is from this cii'cumstance I imagine, and from theii*
long continuance out of water, that in Britain a terrestrial
species of Triton has been supposed to exist by some natu-
ralists, and is often called by the common people the ground newt.
The Triton does not commonly return to the water until the
expiration of the third year, when they are so far advanced
towards maturity as to be able to reproduce their kind.

It was not until the third year of my investigations that I
could account for the different sizes of the Triton existing at the
same period of time. At the end of March I found several of
the Triton asper in holes under the embankment of a pool, the
least of them not quite 2 inches in length ; and a few days
afterwards, that is, in the first week of April, I took out of the
water the full-grown Triton nearly 6 inches in length and
beautifully crested. On carefully comparing those of the smaller
size with some which I had kept during the winter, I perceived
that they corresponded with those of one year's growth. On
examining and comparing others, I found that there were two

Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons. 375

intermediate sizes^ so that I was led to the conclusion that the
full-grown Triton of three years' growth is partially crested, and
that the fully-crested Triton is four years in arriving at this
perfect size and state : growth is arrested during hibernation.

During two years of repeated visits to the pools, I did not
observe a Triton of the first and second year's growth in the
water. During the tliu'd year I found none of the first year's
growth, and only two of the second year's in the water; the
appearance of these I was compelled to look upon as accidental.
It seems probable that if the Triton of one year's growth should
find its way into the water, it would presently fall a prey to the
larger ones, which are very voracious during the breeding season.

The Triton asper at the close of one year is about 2 inches
in length ; the colour of the body is of a blackish brown, slightly
rough, with minute spots of white, the breast and abdomen
being of a light yellow, sometimes with small dark spots (PI. XV.
fig.l.)

At the close of the second year this Triton is now more than
3 inches in length, varying little from that of the first year,
except in having more dark spots on the abdomen, and sometimes
a yellow line extending along the middle of the back to the tail :
the sexes are scarcely to be distinguished externally (fig. 2).

At the end of the third year it is 4 inches in length, the
skin on the body has become rougher, the breast and abdomen
more of an orange colour, and marked with large irregular spots.
In the male, during the breeding season and for the first time,
there is an indented dorsal crest, and a dark-coloured protu-
berance on each side the cloaca is observed. The tail (which
during the two former years, when terrestrial, was more com-
pressed) becomes now more expanded, and is marked on each
side with a silvery stripe, which is persistent. In the female
there is an oval raised villous appearance round the cloaca, and
the tail is also more expanded (fig. 3).

At the expiration of the fourth year the Triton asper is between
5 and 6 inches in length, and the chest and abdomen are of
a stUl deeper orange colour, and marked with dark irregular
spots ; the male has its full-grown dorsal crest, the tail is still
more expanded and of a lanceolate form ; and in the female, the
protuberances on the sides of the cloaca are larger, and the raised
villous appearance is still more apparent than before. The
female is usually larger in size than the male (fig. 4).

The generic characters of some Tritons have been distinguished
by the upper lip overhanging the lower. I have observed, that
in the first yeai''s Triton asper the upper lip overhangs the under
considerably at the sides. In the second year it overhangs less.
Between the second and third year it becomes straighter, and in
the fourth it overhangs again as much as in the first year. This

376 Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons.

is also very evident in the Triton lavis, in which the same changes
take place.

In winter the full-grown Triton is often found in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of those pools to which they resort in the
spring.

The average weight and length of the Triton asper as taken
from eighty in number, found in the crevices and holes in the
neighbourhood of the pools in September 1846, are as follows : —

LARGEST.

30 grains.
2i inches.

70 grains.
4 inches.

90 grains.
4| inches.

First Year's Triton.

SMALLEST.

20 grains.
If inch.

Second Year's Triton.
46 grains.
3^ inches.

Third Year's Triton.
60 grains.
3i inches.

25 grains.
2^ inches.

54 grains.
3-i inches.

75 grains.
4 inches.

Fourth Year's Triton.

180 grains. 120 grains. 134 grains.

6 inches. 4f inches. 5^ inches.

(See Plate XV. figs. 1, 2, 3, 4.)

A similar computation might be made of the Triton kevis.

There is a general meeting of all ages of the Triton in August
and September, before the period of hibernation. It would be
useless to attempt to find them at any other time of the year.

In the summer the Tritons of both species are found in abun-
dance in the pools of old brick-^yards. The brickmakers, who
are constantly disturbing the water and removing the clay, and
who occasionally clear the bottoms of the pools, state, that they
never find any Tritons in the water during the winter months,
but they discover great numbers of them in holes in the clay,
and sometimes ten or twelve coiled together.

I have already stated that I have not been able to find any in
the pools during the winter, except the branchiated ones before-
mentioned. To test the accuracy of the opinion and to obtain
further knowledge of the habits of the animal, I made the two
following experiments : — Fii-st I procured a large earthenware
vessel (a foot-bath) eight inches in depth, in one part of which
I placed pieces of dry clay and some flat stones to the height
of six inches, whilst on the other side I placed some moist clay
and poured water upon it to the depth of two inches, and thus

Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Ti'itons. 377

arranged a watery and an earthy place of abode for my Tritons.
I put a number of these into the water. In a short space of
time they all left it and crept into the crevices above and under
the stones, and there remained in a state of hibernation during
the whole of the winter. About a fortnight afterwards (on the
23rd of October, 1843), I tried a second experiment which I
thought would be still more conclusive : — I obtained a large
long cylindrical glass vessel ; in the centre and at the lowest
part of this I secured a piece of pumice-stone with common
cement ; around the base of the stone I put some soft clay and
poured in rain-water to the depth of three inches, leaving the
upper part of the pumice-stone uncovered. About three inches
above the water I arranged pieces of wood across each other in
the form of latticework, supporting it by small wooden pillars,
and leaving holes large enough for the animals to creep through,
and I placed an inclined plane of wood with notches so as readily
to allow them to ascend to the latticework if so disposed. I put
twenty Ti'itons into the water below, and placed clay and some irre -
gular flattened stones upon the latticework to the height of six
inches. The top of the vessel was secured by means of muslin.
The Tritons found their way in a few hours from the water through
the latticework into the crevices and holes formed by the clay
and stones j two indeed more bulky than the rest were some
time in attaining this object, but these succeeded ultimately.
They remained in this situation of comparative dryness during
the whole winter, except that one or two occasionally dropped
through a crevice into the water. On one occasion, about
Christmas 1843, the sun had during two or three days consider-
able power, and in the afternoon of the 24th December I observed
two bats flying about some old buildings in a neighbouring
village. On the same day I observed that the Tritons in the
glass were restless, and that several of them descended and
bathed their tails in the water, but I did not see them go into it;
they soon regained their former situation, where they remained
in a state of hibernation till the following spring. 1 have ob-
served that either a very wet or very dry situation is fatal to the
Triton during its state of hibernation, and that a moderately damp
one is always chosen for that state of existence.

In the autumn of 1843 a considerable number of Tritons
escaped during several wet days, from two large earthenware
vessels which I had placed in a garden upwards of thirty yards
from my house; some of these were found in an adjoining
garden, but several months afterwards, on the 2nd of December,
eleven (nine of the Triton asper, and two of the Triton Icevis)
were discovered coiled together behind and under a broken brick
at the further end of a deep rock cellar. They had thus found

378 Mr. J. Higginbottom on the British Tritons.

their way through a grating which led to the cellar in an irre-
gular course twenty-six feet deep and nearly perpendicular.

The cellar was sufficiently damp to prevent evaporation and to
continue the cuticular absorption, for they were all plump and
healthy; but having been afterwards put into a small white
glazed jar and left in a room from 55° to 60° Fahr. and forgotten,
they were found dead in a desiccated state after the lapse of three
or four days.

Another accident occurred to a number of the Tritons which
I had kept exposed to the weather in a large vessel with clay and
stones. There had been a continued rain for several days, and
they had from this cause become covered with water whilst in a
state of hibernation. I found them all dead and swollen, whilst
others which had not been exposed to the rain were in a healthy
state.

I have, in two experiments, found that the Triton can hve in a
solid mass of ice, without injury, as has been noticed by na-
turalists.

In Feb. 1844 I put two Tritons into some water in a vessel
and exposed them to a freezing temperature during the night;
in the morning I found the water frozen very lirmly, with the
Tritons enclosed in its centre. On thawing they were lively and
flexible ; not in the same condition which occurs during hiberna-
tion, for when in that state I have found them comparatively
stiff, with the body bent in various shapes, and with the tail
partly curved, and on being put into the hand (at 80° Fahr.)
they twist the body, and the tail becomes more curved.

In the second experiment there was a piece of ice at the bot-
tom of a circular vessel. I placed two Ti'itons upon it and then
another covering of ice, and filled the vessel with water. I ex-
posed it du