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INCLUDING

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(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ANNALS’ COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND

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ARTHUR HENFREY,F.RB.S.,F.L.S., Prof. Bot. King’s Coll. Lond.,

AND

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VOL. II.—THIRD SERIES.

~ ——— — eS

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS.

SOLD BY LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL,

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1858,

*“Omnes res create sunt divine sapientie et potentie testes, divitiz felicitatis

humane :—ex harum usu bonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini;

ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet.

Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper estimata; a veré eruditis

et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.”—

LINNZUSs.

“ Quelque soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu’ouvrir les yeux pour voir

qu’elle est le chef-d’ceuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rapportent

toutes ses opérations.”—BruckNER, Théorie du Systéme Animal, Leyden, 1767.

o fe We Wel elie) se ne-oy ~ op LUNE sylvanipowers

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. Taytor, Norwich, 1818,

owes se

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

[THIRD SERIES. }

NUMBER VII.

Page

I. Observations on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinee. By

ES gs 70) EE ee ee 1

II. On some new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks. By E. J. CHap-

MAN, Prof. of Mineralogy and Geology, University College, Toronto. 9

IIT. On the Structure of Humphreyia, an anomalous Bivalve Shell,

hitherto confounded with Aspergillum. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.,

leap aisres caveananosenssaerasncacnesesscsessansccaccaseseonne 16

IV. On the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. By H. J.

Carrer, Esq., H.C.S. Bombay. (With three Plates.) ......ss00....00 20

V. On the Winteracee. By Joun Miers, F.RS., F.L.S. &e.... 33

VI. Note on some specimens of Cyprea (Cowries) from the Sand-

wich Islands. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c. .........000ee- 49

VII. A Notice of Nature-Printing of Sea-weeds on the Rocks in

the vicinity of Stromness, Orkney. By CHartes WILLIAM Peacu. 50

New Books :—The Wonders of Geology, by Gideon Algernon Mantell,

LL.D. &e. Seventh Edition, revised and augmented by T. R.

Jones, F.G.S.—Flore de l’?Ouest de la France, by J. Lloyd.—

Flore du Centre de la France et du Bassin de la Loire. Third

Edition, by A- Boreaur «............2.cssceveceessecsesssvsessoses 54—59

Proceedings of the Royal Society; Zoological Society; Geological

Society ; Royal Institution of Great Britain .........++-+ee...++ 59—80

Obituary Notice—Robert Brown, Esq.; On the Anatomy of Tere-

bratula australis, by P. Gratiolet; On the Torpidity of the Mar-

mot, by G. Valentin; Description of Aphroceras, a new genus of

Caleareous Spongiade, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c.; On the

Hypermetamorphosis and Habits of Sifaris, by M. Fabre ... 80—84

iv CONTENTS.

NUMBER VIII.

Page

VIII. On the Structure and Position of the genus Teredina of

Tamarck. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &e. .<<000---0eseeeuee 85

IX. On the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. By H. J.

Carrer, Esq., H.C.S. Bombay | ...:..0cs0sss<c0es-<ssenseeeneesteeee eee 90

X. Note on the smaller British species of Pisidium. By the Rev.

L. JEnyns, M.A., F.L.S. &c. ....-. Sec ecesseaccdensceasecanessseteeMeereetnen 104

XI. On the Nature of the Sub-basal Membrane of Adamsia palliata.

By Puitie Henry Goss, F.R.S.....0:0.0.ccd0seseeessscuananeeeeaeeeeaee 107

XII. On the Winteracee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e.. 109

XIII. Observations on the genera Camptonyx and Tanysiphon of

Benson. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R:S., V.P-Z:S. 8&0! .-<ss.ccseensueeenees 116

XIV. Gleanings in British Conchology. By J. Gwyn JEFFREYs,

aq. tS... (With a:Plate.) .2.:t00s0s Pe eaenee | uh

XV. Observations on Conchological Nomenclature. By M.

ABTA Ts MOREE cs cieponce sae nosnrencerssntas<<esteeet ee eee sears canons 133

New Book :—The Aquarian Naturalist: a Manual for the Sea-side ;

by Thomas Rymer Jones, FBS. 8c... 2555-<p-sseoae-seeepete eee 139

Proceedings of the Zoological Society .......+2s.secsesscseseecssees 144—162

Further Observations on the genus Teredina, Lamarck, by Dr. J. E.

Gray, F.R.S. &e.; On the Variation of the Form of the Upper

Mandible im a Rapacious Bird, by P. L. Sclater, Esq., M.A. ;

On the Metamorphosis of Praniza into Anceus; On the Power

of Dissolving Shells possessed by the Bernard Crab (Pagurus),

by Dr. J. E. Gray, FURS. &¢. .p00s0s:0nsecenenspecearape eeeeee 162—164

NUMBER IX.

XVI. On Praniza and Anceus, and their Affinity to each other.

By C. Spence Bate, F.L.S. &c. (With two Plates.)...............4+. 165

XVII. Remarks on Lepas anatifera, Linn. By Grorce Law-

BOM; PED D« sarseserescsveserviocerssnecnstse nats casndsgeeaenenn sntee sans 172

XVIII. Descriptions of new Ceylon Coleoptera. By Joun Nizer-

NER, Colombo, Ceylon ..........cscscssserscvcces hoo dsikvhaudineamiben diveeveay 175

XIX. On a new species of Lardizabala, and on the Structure of

the Seed in that genus. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e. ...... 183

XX. Characters and Descriptions of some new British Sea-Ane-

mones. By Puitip Henry Gosse, F.RB:S. ...20s.51..sccsenssssosesssses 192

XXI. Description of a Coleopterous Insect from the Canary Islands.

By T. VERNON WOLLASTON, M.A.,, FLAS. scssesscesessscceveersessseees 196

CONTENTS. Vv

Page

XXII. On the Habits and Reproduction of some Marine Animals.

MMi oe oe reno wannioes wennecnnesen cedapeet atwns cases seatheoas 197

XXIII. Characters of some apparently undescribed Ceylon Insects.

ae gE Fa inna dni pie tawaeneh=nyaraccaddeetees “CO

New Books :—Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to

the China Seas and Japan. Vols. I. and II—The Angler in the

Lake District ; or Piscatory Colloquies and Fishing Excursions in

Westmoreland and Cumberland, by John Davy, M.D., F.R.S. &e.

—The Practical Naturalist’s Guide, containing Instructions for

Collecting, Preparing, and Preserving Specimens of all Depart-

ments of Zoology, by James Boyd Davies........0...ccs+eeees 210—213

Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; Zoological

elnino dain n'a aac sosslennnwsedenudins sdacdecndscnesac7 213—233

On the Animals of Millepora, by Prof. Agassiz; On new species of

Birds from the Rio Napo, by P. L. Sclater, Esq.; On the genera

Orbulina and Globigerina of D’Orbigny, by L. F. Pourtales; On

the Anatomy and Development of the genus Myzostoma, by

eee anew aa nininndat sais sais ninewUisuinaenemedenvaeeedan= 233—236

NUMBER X.

XXIV. On Fecundation in Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. By

H. J. Carter, Esq., H.C.S. Bombay. (With a Plate.) ...........0008 7577)

XXV. On the Parasitism of Osyris alba. By Dr. J. E. PhrancHon. 254

XXVI. On some Sections of the Upper Lias recently exposed at

Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. By JoHNn Lycert, Esq.........-...00000+ 255

XXVII. Description of a new species of Grass Finch from New

Caledonia. By JoHN MacGILuivray, F.R.G.S. .......ceeeeeeeeeeeee 263

XXVIII. Descriptions of some apparently unrecorded species of

Longicorn Beetles, belonging to the genera Phrissoma, Nyphona, &c.

By Apam Waite, Assist. Zool. Dept. Brit. Mus. ...........2eseseeeeeees 264

XXIX. On Sarcodictyon catenata, Forbes. By P. H. Gosse,

EE EMSC nose nonne coe. snes annie oaceonnnenponsns demmpannnrasen 276

XXX. Characters of some apparently undescribed Ceylon Insects.

ete areg chance nacasieesesaven nena <dunanseesenasnacue 280

New Books :—Weeds and Wild-flowers; their Uses, Legends, and

Literature, by Lady Wilkinson.—How Plants Grow: a simple

Introduction to Structural Botany, with a Popular Flora; or an

Arrangement and Description of Common Plants, both Wild and

Cultivated; by Asa Gray, M.D. 2.00... .ccccoscssesecsnsccccececs 286, 287

Proceedings of the Royal Society ; Zoological Society............ 288—307

vi CONTENTS.

On the Flowering of the American Aloe, by W. Sowerby; On a variety

of Chorda filum, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; On the Influence

of the Moon’s Light upon Plants, by Prof. Zantedeschi; General

Examination of the Group Euphorbiacee, by M. H. Baillon; On

‘Hautlé,’ or Animal Bread, of the Mexicans, by M. Guérin-

Méneville ; New Experiments on Agilops triticoides, by Dr.

Godron; On a new species of Platyrhynchus from the Rio Napo,

Page

cafg esd bey Sally Be ool Feo Ree eer sooo sso cooneis 307—316

NUMBER XI.

XXXI. On Permian Entomostraca from the Fossiliferous Lime-

stone of Durham. By J. W. Kirxsy. (With a Plate.) .........-+0 °

XXXII. Characters of a new genus and Descriptions of three re-

cently discovered species of Araneidea. By JoHn BLACKWALL,

WMS alaes nated ustedes ddageeides ds od seas ta uecides de cleetontteas eee soties

XXXIII. Description of two new species of Chalk Starfishes. By

Hi SEBEGY ssi ) . c.cc2.,sassnencevesss tozsh «dane de> apiedesaep Saree aan

XXXIV. On a new genus of European Coleoptera. By T. Ver-

NON WOLLASTON, M.A, FLS. ...ccoccccas cos s-tscacecnguaceecensaeaaeae

XXXV. List of Coleoptera received from Old Calabar, on the West

Coast of Africa. By ANDREW Murray, Edinburgh ....s.cseeeseeeee

XXXVI. On Phyliangia, a new living British Madrepore. By

PHILIP: HH. Goss, PRS: (oiikld..akewseiscds. eset nae dskiee eee Ps

XXXVII. On Arctium. By Cuartes C. Basineton, M.A,

BRS, GCs. ase sc tenssenese ations onsetcereassans epaaccas eee enn Sats

XXXVIII. Sprcrnecia Enromotocica. By ApAM WHITE,

Assistant Zool. Dept. Brit. Mus. :—

I. Description of Telocera Wollastoni, an apparently unre-

corded species of Longicorn Beetle from Australia.........csesseeee

II. Descriptions of new Curculionidous Beetles collected on

the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald. By M. Henri JEKELt, of Paris.

With Notes by ADAM WHITE .....sececsecssceceeeeseescscesensuesecees

XXXIX. On the Atlas and Axis of the Plesiosaurus. By Lucas

BARRETT, F:G.S. (With a Plate.) ........sceecscsscscosesccecesancooeses

New Books :—Uandbook of Zoology, by J. Van der Hoeven, Prof. of

Zool. in the University of Leyden. Translated from the Second

Dutch Edition, by the Rev. William Clark, M.D., F.R.S.—

Actinologia Britannica; a History of the British Sea-Anemones

and Madrepores, by Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S. Parts L-IV.

317

331

335

337

340

349

351

353

356

361

364—369

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ..-sccseccecseseeeereneeeeees 369—386

On the Death of the common Hive-Bee, supposed to be oceasioned

CONTENTS. Vil

Page

by a Parasitic Fungus, by the Rev. H. H. Higgins, M.A.; Ona

new species of Toucan, by Mr. J. Gould......... Ra fadowsicev deat 387, 388

NUMBER XII.

XL. On the Cambium-layer of the Stem of the Phanerogamia, and

on its Relation to the Increase of Thickness. By H. von Mout ... 389

XLI. On Additions to the Madeiran Coleoptera. By T. VERNON

PRUNE StiSarUPeTORE ee E Ey 0s eaten coc ccccsnccaccwteteectcce=sesccersness 407

XLII. On a species of Pipe-fish (Syngnathus e@quoreus ?) lately

found at Scarborough. By J. LeckEenBy, Esq. (With a Plate.)...... 416

XLII. On the Chylaqueous Fluid of the Actinie. By G. H.

OS eee BOG Renee cern nate ete neon ous Si acvedsuaalesaaes 417

XLIV. Descriptions of new Ceylon Coleoptera. By Joun Nrer-

RE WIG Si siocaenvsoscecncanadnoasqrqiedencv-esess ss sn sraecacnens 418

XLV. On another new species of Lardizabala. By JoHN Miers,

I ie eo ancien sen nc coc oncusepe<cccescaebdesencsausassonnkans 431

XLVI. On Permian Entomostraca from the Fossiliferous Limestone

of Durham. By J. W. Kirxsy. (With a Plate.)...........cccseeseseees 432

XLVII. ‘Investigation of the Generative Organs and Reproduction

Geeuc latasoria. By M. BALBIANT .2...0.2.0.....ccccesecsscccosspoewpers 439

XLVIII. Remarks on certain Vermiform Fossils found in the

Mountain Limestone Districts of the North of England. By ALBANY

Seen eee OC Wit erx Plates.) .. 0100.2, o0ccs.vescadebrsscversaceswens 443

XLIX. Notes on Birds. No. VII. Ona peculiar Process attached

to the Ischium in Erucivores. By T. C. Eyron, Esq., F.L.S. &e.... 457

L. On the Agency of Bees in the Fertilization of Papilionaceous

Flowers, and on the Crossing of Kidney Beans. By CHarLEs Dar-

apis anctv cues s2s0adseucscarevibedsiusvteduvdesoMbacluessssndenes 459

LI. Description of a new species of Bird from Palestine. By

PemPaPeerinny SCLATER, M.A., FiLS.. ...0¢...c..scccsccocsecchcstecdes 465

New Books :—General Report upon the Zoology of the several Pacific

Railroad Routes. Part II. Birds, by Spencer F. Baird, John

Cassin, and George N. Lawrence.—A Life of Linnzeus, by Miss

IE IINWIEN, occured case e san cao s'scwoexisexaatacetece 466—469

Proceedings of the Zoological Society .........sc0..sssssesseseeeees 469—489

Note on Dysidea papillosa, Johnston, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ;

On the Auditory Apparatus of Insects, by C. Lespés; Why does

vill CONTENTS.

Page.

the Queen Bee lay an Unfeeundated Egg in the Drone-Cells, and

a Fecundated Egg in those of the Workers and Queens? by

Dr. Kiichenmeister ; On the Development and Propagation of the

Trichocephalus dispar and Ascaris lumbricoides, by C. Davaine ;

Note on Enteromorpha cornucopia, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.;

On the Liability of Shells to Injury from the Growth of a Fungus,

by the Rev. H. H. Higgins, M.A.; Description of a new species

of Himalayan Mole (Talpa macrura), by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. ;

On Euchetes, a new genus of Birds, by P. L. Sclater, M.A. 489—494

Mndex wee ee ha a ee Os bab i as Resins Gace cee ee es 495

PLATES IN VOL. II.

Sri I. Reproduction of Nostochinez.

|W UI. Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

rv:

V. New species of British Mollusca.

Vy Ae | stages of Development of Praniza and Anceus.

VIII. Fecundation in Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena.

IX. Sarcodictyon catenata.

XL “} Permian Entomostraca.

XII. Syngnathus zequoreus?

XIII. Structure of Plesiosaurus.

pod

XVIL

XVIII.

XIx.J

th ‘yustacean Tracks.

THE ANNALS

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[THIRD SERIES.]

SE asersevesecsccive per litora spargite muscum,

Naiades, et circim vitreos considite fontes :

Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores :

Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum.

At vos, o Nymphz Craterides, ite sub undas ;

Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco

Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas

Ferte, Vez pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”

N. Parthenii Giannettasii Eccl. 1.

No. 7. JULY 1858.

1.— Observations on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinee.

By M. G. Tuurer*.

[With a Plate. }

THE Nostochinee are among those tribes of Alge of whose

reproduction we know least. About thirteen years ago I de-

scribed the curious phenomena accompanying the reproduction

of an aquatic Nostoct. Since then, no one appears to have taken

up this subject ; and M. Fischer{, in his memoir on this family,

remarks that my observations have remained isolated up to this

time.

But the mode of reproduction which I made known is cer-

tainly not peculiar to one species. I cannot doubt that it will

be found in all, when it is sought for with a little attention and

perseverance. Already the correctness of this assertion has been

* Translated from Mém. de la Société des Sc. Nat. de Cherbourg,

Aug. 1857.—A. H.

+ Ann. des Se. Nat. 3 sér. ii. p. 319 (1844). The plant forming the object

of that paper was not the true Nostoc verrucosum, but a neighbouring

— which M. Mougeot had published under this name (Stirpes Crypt.

og. Rhen. fase. viii. no. 798), and which now bears that of Nostoc Mou-

geotii, Bréb. (Menegh. Monogr. Nostochin. Italic. p. 113; Kiitz. Sp. Alg.

p- 300.)

t Beitrage z. Kenntniss der Nostochacex, Berne, 1853, p. 13.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 1

2 M.G. Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinee.

confirmed by Dr. Montagne, in a note published by him last

year on Nostoc Boussingaultii*. For my own part I have re-

peated, some years since, on a terrestrial species common about

Cherbourg, all the observations I formerly made upon Nostoe

Mougeotu. In spite of the difference of station of the two

plants, they were reproduced exactly in the same way, and pre-

sented exactly the same phenomena. The resemblance in this

respect is so complete, that, finding no new fact demanding no-

tice, I have thought it useless to publish these researches. If

I determine to do so now, it is above all from a desire to profit

by the talent of M. Riocreux to illustrate the subject by figures

far more perfect than those which accompanied my preceding

memoir. In the second part of this note I shall make known

a mode of reproduction of another genus which offers a certain

resemblance of structure to Nostoc, but which possesses a distinct

fructification, of which the latter is destitute.

Nostoc vesicarium, DC., is a small species with a globular

frond, growing on the ground among mosses and blades of

grass. It is met with abundantly around Cherbourg, on the

coping of walls covered with earth, along turfed roads, &c.

Young specimens are perfectly spherical, often combined in

great numbers under the form of little grains of a blackish-green

colour, the dimensions of which vary from microscopic minute-

ness to the size of a pea. In proportion as the plant enlarges,

its frond becomes less regular; it produces convolutions and

folds, and the largest specimens form sinuous expansions, re-

sembling small specimens of Nostoc commune.

Under the microscope the frond presents the same structure

as that of other species of Nostoc. It consists of a transparent

gelatinous mass, smooth and firm externally, sometimes having

a yellowish tinge at the borders, while within are entwined

innumerable chaplets of greenish granules. ‘These chaplets are

simple, and are composed of an indefinite series of globular

joints, formed of a slightly granular pale green substance. The

row is interrupted at intervals by a larger globule, almost colour-

less or slightly yellowish, with contents more homogeneous and

less refractive than those of the other joimts: on each side of

this globule is observed a little granulation situated at the point

of contact with the adjacent joint (PI. I. fig. 4). The chaplets

are elongated by the repeated division of the green globules.

Each of these, after having increased a little in the longitudinal

direction of the row, is cut in half, and thus gives birth to two

* Note sur deux Algues nées pendant les expériences de M. Boussin-

gault, Comptes Rendus, 1856, April 28.

M. G. Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinee. 3

new joints, which subsequently divide in the same way. As to

the large globules, they do not divide, and they end by becoming

detached from the chaplets without undergoing any change.

They have long been regarded, though without any reason, as

the reproductive bodies of Nostoc. M. Kiitzing even still con-

tinues to designate them by the name of spermatia. But this

denomination, which M. Kiitzing, by a lamentable abuse, applies

indifferently to most diverse organs, cannot be longer preserved

here, any more than in many other cases where there is nothing

to justify its employment. Among the different names that

have been given to these large joints of the Nostochinee, that

of heterocysts, employed by Dr. Allman, seems to me the most

suitable; and I shall adopt it the more willingly as it does not

prejudge the function, of whose true nature we are at present

ignorant.

It is during the months of September and October that we

observe in Nostoc vesicarium the same series of phenomena that I

have described in Nostoc Mougeotii. We at that time frequently

find individuals whose contents escape in a diffluent greenish

jelly, which spreads over surrounding bodies. This jelly pre-

sents exactly the aspect of a Palmellacean. But if a portion is

placed under the microscope, we perceive that it is filled with

fragments of chaplets intermixed with detached heterocysts.

An attentive examination of these fragments of chaplets shows,

that at this epoch they are endowed with a creeping motion,—

very slow, but easy to ascertain under a sufficient magnifying

power. Placed in a drop of water, on a slip of glass, in front

of a window, they gradually gather together at the margin of

the drop nearest to the point whence the light comes. When

one of these deliquescing Nostocs is placed in a saucer with a

little water, the chaplets soon spread round the circumference,

and form at the bottom of the saucer a greenish pellicle, as an

Oscillatoria would do*.

If the observation of the fragments of the chaplets be con-

tinued for some days, they are soon seen to become motionless,

* The independent motion possessed by the chaplets of the deliquescing

Nostoe did not escape Vaucher (Conferves d’eau douce, pp. 215, 216). It

is especially evident in the aquatic species. At least, it appeared to me

very marked in Nostoc Mougeotii, and Vaucher has made the same obser-

vation on Nostoc verrucosum. But it occurs also under the same cireum-

stances in the terrestrial species, and I was in error in my former paper in

raising some doubt upon this point. J have had particular opportunity of

ascertaining it in fine specimens of Nostoc commune, gathered in warm

damp weather in the month of June, when some portions were beginning

to deliquesce. I mention this fact, because it was under the same con-

ditions and at the same time of the year that Vaucher also observed the

movement of the chaplets in this species. a

4 M.G. Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinee.

and to acquire a transparent membrane (fig. 2). At the same

time the green globules increase in magnitude; but this time

their increase is in diameter, and no longer in the direction of

the length of the chaplet. They thus become discoid: finally,

they divide into two by a division which takes place in a direc-

tion opposite to that described above (fig. 3). Most of the glo-

bules divide once or twice in this way, and then the chaplet,

considerably enlarged, has entirely changed its aspect. It is

transformed into a transparent sac, of variable length, in which

the doubled granules are arranged in parallel superposed ranks,

often very distinctly and pretty regularly (fig. 4). But this

regularity soon vanishes; the rows become jomed together

alternately; that is, the globule placed at the border of one

rank becomes adherent to the globule placed above it, and the

globule opposite, to that below it In this way a new chaplet

is formed, wound upon itself, in the interior of the sac. At

the first instant it is difficult to distinguish this arrangement

of the globules. Crowded in the narrow sac which the mem-

brane forms, and attached together more or less obliquely, they

often exhibit only a confused heap. But their enchainment

becomes more and more evident in proportion as the young

Nostoe grows; the sac dilates, the new chaplet becomes elon-

gated, and its convolutions separate, and become more distinct

(fig. 5). For some time longer the young frond still presents

enlargements which correspond to the situation occupied by

the rows of globules: by degrees these traces are effaced, and

the frond becomes developed into a transparent rounded mass,

in the interior of which the chaplet turns and twists im all

directions. At this epoch we may already distinguish some

heterocysts among the globules. The figures comprised under

the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 will, I think, give a sufficient idea of

the different aspects presented in the transformation of a chaplet

of Nostoc into a new individual. This phenomenon presents

numerous variations of the details, upon which I consider it

useless to dwell here. I shall confine myself to the following

observations.

In general the terminal globules of the chaplet do not undergo

the same modifications as the rest. They lose their colour like

the heterocysts, and remain attached to the extremities of the

chaplet, without taking part in the development I have just de-

scribed. Sometimes we find them a long time after, still ad-

herent to the surface of the young frond.

Frequently, also, one of the intermediate globules becomes

transformed into a heterocyst. Sometimes even two or three

are produced at different intervals in the length of the chaplet

(fig. 4). The latter thus becomes divided mto two or more

M. G. Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochiner. 5

portions, which proceed with their development independently.

Hence it is that we not unfrequently observe under the micro-

scope, young examples of Nostoc attached together by an inter-

posed heterocyst.

If.

The other Nostochinee of which J have to speak belong to

the genus Cylindrospermum, Ralfs (Kitz. pro parte). This

genus comprehends a portion of the species which were formerly

united under the name of Anabaina, Bory, and which consist of

moniliform filaments, analogous to the chaplets of Nostoc, but

forming an indeterminate gelatinous stratum. Certain joints of

the filaments are transformed into heterocysts; others acquire

an elliptical form, more considerable dimensions, and become

the sporanges. The different positions which may be occupied

in the filament by the sporanges and heterocysts have served to

break up Anabaina into several genera. Those proposed by

M. Kiitzing are too vaguely defined to be adopted without re-

striction. Mr. Ralfs has proposed divisions founded upon more

precise conditions, which seem to me admissible*. I shall

merely remark, that it is at least superfluous to separate generi-

cally plants united by such close affinities, and that it would be

better to restrict the divisions established by Mr. Ralfs to the

rank of subgenera, preserving the name of Anabaina for the

whole group of species. As to the latter name, it should be

maintained in any case; and Mr. Ralfs is wrong in proposing

to replace it by Trichormus, Allm., supposing that the priority

belongs to the genus Anabena, established by M. Ad. de Jussieu

in the family of Euphorbiacez. The latter was only published

in 1824+, while Bory St. Vincent’s genus dates from 1822 f.

In the genus Cylindrospermum, as defined by Mr. Ralfs, the

heterocyst forms the last joint of the filament, and the sporange

occupies the next joint. The filaments are endowed with a very

slow but appreciable creeping motion. The jomts are cylin-

drical ; they contain a substance of a bluish-green colour, a little

granular, and they multiply like those of Nostoc ; that is to say,

after having elongated in the direction of the length of the fila-

ment, they become cut in two by a transverse division. The

last joint, before changing into a heterocyst, is like the rest, but

the granules it contains disappear by degrees; the joint acquires

a yellowish tinge, becomes larger, and assumes a more or less

elongated ovoid form (fig. 8). At this epoch it is almost always

* Ann. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. v. p. 321. pl. 8 & 9 (1850).

+ De Euphorbiacearum generibus medicisque earum viribus tentamen,

p. 46.

t Dictionnaire classique d’Histoire Naturelle, 1. p. 307.

6 M.G.Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinez.

found surrounded by a few irregular mucous filaments. These

filaments (ci/s), the presence of which is very common on the

heterocysts of Anabaina, are probably nothing more than para-

sitic productions.

After the formation of the heterocyst, the sporange is very

soon developed at the expense of the next joint. This becomes

elongated, enlarged, and its contents become very granulose.

By degrees its walls become thickened, and assume a brown

colour. It is not, as Mr. Ralfs states, the substance contained

in the sporange which takes this colour; it is merely the wall of

the cell. The interior of the sporange is filled up by an elliptical

spore, which may be distinguishable through the transparency

of the sporange, and which preserves the green colour, as may

be easily ascertained by causing it to emerge from the sporange

by slight pressure. Filaments are often met with terminated at

both ends by a heterocyst. It is more rare to see one filament

bearing a sporange at each extremity, and in such cases it has

always appeared to me that the development of one of the spo-

ranges has preceded that of the other (fig. 9).

M. Fischer, in the memoir above cited, mentions an observa-

tion of M. Nageli on the germination of Cylindrospermum*.

The description which he gives, besides being very short and

incomplete, does not appear to agree with what I have seen my-

self in these plants.

The first species in which I observed the reproduction is re-

markable from the rugose surfaces of its sporanges. The fila-

ments are about =5'55 to gopath of an inch in diameter. It is

the same plant that has been published im the ‘ Fasciculi’ of

M. Rabenhorst}+ under the name of Cylindrospermum majus,

Kutz. It is possible that it may be really the species thus

named in the ‘Species Algarum ;’ but I cannot affirm anything

on that point; for M. Kiitzing does not mention the rugose

aspect of the sporanges, and the ‘Tabula Phycologice’ of the

same author are unfortunately far from supplying the deficien-

cies of his diagnoses.

I found this species, in the month of June of last year, fioat-

ing in a ditch in mucilaginous masses. The sporanges were

abundant, of a brown colour, and appeared perfectly ripe. This

circumstance induced me to place some fragments of the plant

in a drop of water upon slips of glass, keeping them under a

_** In Cylindrospermum, Prof. Nageli has actually observed the germina-

tion. After a longish stage of rest, a repeated division suddenly occurs in

the cells; the outer thick’wall is dissolved, and the young filament com-

meneces its growth by simultaneous division of all its cells.”—Fischer, J. c.

». f-

+ Die Algen Sachsens, no. 411.

—-_

M. G. Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochiner. 7

bell-glass to prevent evaporation. The filaments soon became

decomposed ; the heterocysts lost their colour, and were in part

detached from the sporanges. A great number of the latter

were also spoilt, and the spores which they contained vanished

without leaving a trace. But others were preserved without any

change of aspect. I continued to observe them with care, and

in the course of the month of September, I had the pleasure of

seeing the spore at last pierce the summit of the sporange, and

become developed into a new filament, in the following manner.

The spore, becoming elongated, lifted up a little piece of the

internal wall of the sporange, which it pushed before it. As

soon as it had made its way out, it began to exhibit septa, and

to change into a torulose filament, composed of three or four

joints, filled with very granular contents. The divisions of the

joints are at first rather indistinct, but become more and more

clear in proportion as new ones are formed. For rather a long

time the fragment of the wall of the sporange which has been

lifted up by the spore remains at the summit of the filament in

the form of a little cap covering the last joint (fig. 12). The

filament elongates simultaneously at both ends, but more rapidly

at first at that which is outside the sporange. The new joints

are of less diameter than those formed in the place occupied by

the spore, so that the young filament is slightly attenuated at

the extremities (fig.13). By degrees, however, these differences

are effaced ; the joints, in multiplying, acquire dimensions more

and more equal ; their granules become less apparent, and the

resemblance of the new filaments to the old ones is at last

complete.

I have subsequently discovered that this experiment succeeds

just as well, or still better, with specimens dried and preserved

for several months in the herbarium, provided the spores are quite

ripe. On placing them in the same way on slips of glass with

a drop of water, I have seen them begin to germinate in about

a fortnight. The spores of Anabaina therefore belong to that

category of reproductive bodies which M. Al. Braun* calls hypno-

spores, and which are susceptible of development after a long

period of repose, and in spite of prolonged desiccation. In

many freshwater Algz we find reproductive bodies provided with

this persistence of vitality, which seems to be a condition neces-

sary for the preservation of the plants during the alternations

of drought and humidity to which they are exposed; but none,

I think, are better endowed in this respect than the species of

Anabaina, as the following example will show.

In the month of April 1848, I gathered fine specimens, well

in fruit, of Anabaina licheniformis, Bory (Cylindrospermum

* Algarum unicell. genera nova, p. 16.

8 M.G. Thuret on the Reproduction of certain Nostochinee.

licheniforme, Kiitz.). In this species the sporanges are smooth,

and of a deep brownish red when they are perfectly ripe. In

the spring. of the present year (1857), I detached a few frag-

ments of these specimens, which I had preserved in the herba-

rium for nine years, and subjected them to the same experi-

ments as the preceding. A fortnight had scarcely elapsed when

a great number of sporanges began to open, and to emit the

summit of the young filament. I have repeated this experiment

several times with the same success ; and in those which I made

this summer, I have often seen the spores germinate at the end

of six or seven days. The germination of this species exactly

resembles that of the preceding. Only the little portion of the

wall of the sporange, lifted up by the spore like an operculum,

is not carried away at the summit of the filament, but remains

attached laterally upon the sporange (fig. 7).

I should have desired to have made the same trials with spe-

cimens of still greater age. It would be interesting to ascertain

how long a time the spores of Anabaina can preserve their

faculty of germination. But the success of these experiments

requires, as I have said before, that the spores shall be perfectly

ripe. Now, it is more rare than one would suppose, to find them

in this state in herbaria. I have assured myself of this by ex-

amining all the specimens in my collection and that of Bory

St. Vincent ; and this difficulty has prevented me from carrying

my researches any further.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.

[All the figures are magnified 330 diameters. |

Fig. 1. Two of the filaments or chaplets filling the interior of Nostoc vesi-

carium, DC.

Fig. 2. Chaplet clothed by a transparent membrane.

Fig. 3. erable, of which the globules are enlarged and beginning to

divide.

Fig. 4. Chaplet with the multiplication of the globules more advanced.

Fig. 5. Course of development of the chaplets into new fronds.

Fig. 6. Two sporanges of Anabaina ( Cylindrospermum) licheniformis, Bory.

That on the left contains a spore; the other is empty. The

membrane of the latter exhibits slight punctations.

Fig. 7. Germination of the same. The spore pierces the summit of the

sporange, and elongates into a moniliform filament, which soon

becomes similar to that of the mother-plant.

Fig. 8. The filaments of A. (Cylindrospermum) major, Kiitz., in different

states. That on the left is the youngest. ‘lhe terminal joint,

rounded at the free extremity, is beginning to change into a

heterocyst. In the next the heteroeyst is already formed, and

surrounded by a few mucous threads. In the third the sporange

is beginning to develope.

Fig. 9. Filament with a sporange formed at each extremity.

Prof. E. J. Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks. 9

Fig. 10. Filament bearing an older sporange.

Fig. 11. Spore detached and quite ripe. It is still surmounted by a

heterocyst. The transparency allows the enclosed spore to be

distinguished.

Fig. 12. Germination.

Fig. 13. A young filament produced by germination of the spores.

I1.—On some new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks*. By E. J.

CuapmaNn, Professor of Mineralogy and Geology, University

College, Toronto.

I. On anew species of Asaphus from the Silurian Rocks

of Upper Canada.

$1. Introductory Notice.—In the autumn of 1856, I commu-

nicated to the ‘Canadian Journal,’ under the title of Asaphus

Canadensis, a brief notice of a supposed new Trilobite from the

Utica schist (Lower Silurian) of Whitby, in Canada West; and

im a subsequent number of that- publication, I gave a more de-

tailed description of the form. At the same time I pointed out

that Professor Hall of Albany believed it to be identical with a

species founded by him (under the name of Asaphus (?) lati-

marginatus) ou two imperfect caudal shields, figured in the first

volume of his ‘ Paleontology of New York.’ At the period in

question, I was not in a position, from the want of works of refer-

ence and other sources of information, to claim this Trilobite

as actually new; but an extended investigation having shown

it to be really a distinct form,—a view also adopted by others,

—I now publish a complete description of the species, together

with as accurate a figure as I am able to get executed in Canada

(see p.13). In this communication, also, I have attempted to

show, by a brief analysis of all the fairly-established species of

the genus Asaphus, that our Canadian species is undoubtedly

distinct. JI should state, with regard to the figures of Professor

Hall, alluded to above, that it is impossible to determine whether

our species be identical or not with these. In the words of

Barrande, in his great work on the Silurian Basin of Bohemia,

they are too incomplete to be determined with any certaintyt+.

For this reason, in the Museum of the Geological Survey of

Canada, the specific name of Canadensis, as originally bestowed

on this Trilobite by the author, has been retained. Barrande,

in the work just cited, alludes to another American Trilobite in

* Communicated by the Author.

+ “ Divers fragments d’Amérique nommés Asaphus par J. Hall, et figurés

dans la Paléontologie de New York, sont trop incomplets pour étre sfire-

ment déterminés.””—Barrande, Systeme Silurien du Centre de la Bohéme,

vol. 1, p. 657.

10 Prof. E.J.Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks.

the possession of M. de Verneuil, but unnamed and unfigured,

with which our species may very possibly agree ; only the caudal

shield of this specimen would appear to possess no lateral seg-

mentation, and to have scarcely a defined axis, as M. Barrande

refers it to the platycephalus or gigas type*. His statement

respecting it is as follows :—‘ Nous avons vu récemment, dans

la belle collection de notre ami M. de Verneuil, un Asaphus des

Etats-Unis, qui, portant A Pangle génal une pointe longue et

eréle, constitue une espéce trés distincte d’ As. (Is.) gigas. Mal-

heureusement, nous ne savons quel est le nom spécifique qui lui

a été donné par les savans Américains. Ce Trilobite se rangerait

dans le groupe de A. gigas, @aprés les souvenirs qui nous restent

de sa conformation.”

§ 2. Description of Asaphus Canadensis.—This description is

based on what is probably the long or male form.

General outline a broad oval. Vertical to transverse diameter

nearly as 3:2. Relative lengths of head-shield, thorax, and

pygidium, as 1:0°88: 1-1.

Head-shield obtusely pointed anteriorly, much as in Asaphus

platycephalus. Genal angles termimating in sharply-pointed

horns of the paradoxides type, extending downwards to about

the middle of the body+. Facial suture as shown in the figure;

the branches uniting in an obtuse but clearly defined angle

above the glabella, nearly at the extreme anterior margin of the

head-shield, and terminating at the lower margin, about mid-

way between the glabella and the genal angles. Glabella feebly

raised, broad, and generally conformable at its upper part to the

outline of the facial suture. At its base there occurs a slight

but evident neck-furrow. There are no furrows on the glabella

itself. Length of glabella to length of head-shield as 0°8 : 1-0.

Eyes moderately raised and delicately reticulated, although in

most specimens they are more or less destroyed. Breadth be-

tween the eyes, to extreme breadth of head-shield across them, ©

as 5:11. Whole surface of the head-shield covered with fine

punctures, except at the striated limb.

Thorax with eight segments. Axis well defined; narrow,

somewhat broader in the middle than at the ends. Mean breadth

of axis to breadth of each side-lobe, as 5:6. Pleure termi-

nating in slight points, and curving slightly downwards; fur-

* It is perhaps the Asaphus Iowensis of Dale Owen.

+ In most specimens, as in the figure, the horns extend to the bottom

of the fourth thoracic segment; but in a small specimen obtained quite

recently from Whitby, and kindly submitted to us by Mr. J. F. Smith of

Toronto, they reach to about the middle of the sixth pair of pleurz.

{ In the horned Asaphide, and in nearly all the horned 'Trilobites, the

pleura point downwards; whilst in the forms with rounded genal angles,

Prof. E. J. Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks. 11

rowed to about half their length from the axis, and then crossed

obliquely by a curvilinear ridge. A second, but slighter, furrow

runs along the lower edge; and two short deep furrows, shaped

together like the letter V placed upon its side with the point

inwards, separate each pleura from its axis-segment. Beyond

the ridge the points are delicately striated. Fine punctures

occur upon the axis and also on the pleure. On the latter the

punctures are larger and farther apart; and, when examined

through a magnifying glass, they appear to be of a semilunar

form, with the convex side turned inwards; they are likewise

more deeply indented at the convex side.

Pygidium oval, with striated limb and well-developed taper-

ing axis. This terminates somewhat abruptly before reaching

the end of the pygidium. It contains from 12 to 14 segment-

markings, and a similar number are present on the side-lobes.

All are destitute of secondary furrows. Those on the side-lobes

bend downwards near their extremities, and merge into the

striated limb. The lower ones are nearly vertical. The whole

surface of the pygidium is covered with fine punctures, shaped

and arranged exactly like the punctures on the surface of the

thorax. <Asaphus platycephalus, as mentioned by Professor Hall,

exhibits in some specimens a delicately punctured surface ; but

in the present species the punctures appear to be much more

striking. Our other new species, A. Halli, is also very visibly

punctured, although the punctures, as shown in our figures, are

too coarse and too far apart.

The only specimens of Asaphus Canadensis hitherto obtained,

have been procured from the Utica schist (Lower Silurian) of

the townships of Whitby and Nottawasaga (localities about 80

miles apart), in Canada West. They occur in association with

Triarthrus Becki. In length they appear to vary from about

an inch and a half (= 38-1 millimetres) to about 5 inches

(=127 millimetres). Ihave not yet been able to observe the

under side, so as to make out the direction of the under sutures

and the form of the hypostoma. An isolated hypostoma, how-

ever, found near Whitby, probably belongs to this species. It

is badly preserved, but it appears to resemble very closely the

hypostoma of A. platycephalus.

$3. Specific differences.—(1.) Asaphus Canadensis differs from

A, platycephalus, Stokes (Isotelus gigas, Dekay) ; A. expansus,

Linn.; A. Barrandei, De Verneuil; A. leviceps, Dalman; A.

the pleurz have almost invariably an upward curve, as in the figure of

A. Halli, on page 13. When the side-pieces or cheeks of the head-shield

are broken off, we may generally determine the nature of the genal angles

by this character.

12 Prof. E.J. Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks.

(Is.) affinis, M‘Coy (including Js. gigas, Is. planus, and Is. Powisit

of Portlock)—in having, with other opposing characters, the

genal angles of the head-shield extended into horns.

(2.) It differs from A. tyrannus, Murchison, A. Powisiz,

Murchison, and A. ingens, Barrande—in having, with other

opposing characters, the branches of the facial suture united

above the glabella on the upper surface of the head-shield.

(3.) It differs from A. nobilis, Barrande, in wanting the

curved furrows on the axis of the pygidium, as exhibited by that

species; and also by the greater number of the segment-mark-

ings on the side-lobes of its pygidium, as well as by the general

outline of the facial suture, and other characters.

(4.) It differs from A. extenuatus, Waldheim, by the obtuse

outline of its cephalic shield, and by other marked characters.

(5.) It differs from A. (Js.) laticostatus, Green,—the genal

angles of which are unknown,—by its thorax being nearly of the

same length as its head-shield, and by the greater number of

segment-markings on the side-lobes of its pygidium, as well as

by other characters.

(6.) It differs from A. ovatus, Portlock, by the presence of

segment-markings on the side-lobes of its pygidium. Iam not

acquainted with the head-shield of A. ovatus, and I cannot here

obtain a copy of Colonel Portlock’s Report in which the species

is figured. ,

(7.) It differs from A. angustifrons, Dalman, and A. frontalis,

Dalm., by the greater development of its genal points; Dal-

man’s species being placed by him under his subdivision “ Mu-

fict,”’ comprising the forms with rounded or but slightly pointed

genal angles. Iam not sufficiently acquainted, however, with

these Swedish species to name any other distinguishing charac-

ters ; and I have no means of procuring here a copy of Dalman’s

‘ Palzeaden,’ in which the species are deseribed.

(8.) It differs from A. Jowensis, Dale Owen, by its genal

points reaching only to the middle instead of to the end of the

thorax ; by its facial suture being pointed, instead of curved,

above the glabella; and by the presence of segment-markings

on its pygidium.

The head-shields of A. grandis, Sars, A. Fournetti, De Ver-

neuil, and A. latimarginatus, Hall, are still unknown.

(9.) It differs from A. Cianus, Barr. (the genal angles of which

are unknown), by its slightly raised glabella and by its narrow

body-axis.

(10.) It differs from the imperfectly-known A. glabratus and

A, contractus of Barrande, by its feebly raised glabella, by the

greater number of segment-markings on the side-lobes of its

pygidium, and probably also by the direction of its facial suture.

Prof. E. J. Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks. 13

‘(ggg ‘ds ‘uemdeyg

WL) oH snydvsy

‘(geg, “ds ‘uemde

ut@)

") sisuappung snydosp

14 Prof. E. J. Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks.

Finally, apart from the absence of secondary furrows on the

pygidium-segments, Asaphus Canadensis differs from the gene-

rally admitted species of Ogygia by the following characters :—

(1.) From O. Buchii, Brongniart, and O. (?) Portlockii, Salter,

by the branches of the facial suture beg united on the upper

part of the head-shield.

(2.) From O. (?) Guettardi, Brongniart ; O. (?) Desmaresti,

Brong.; O. (?) Brongniarti, Rouault; and O. (?) Hdwardsi,

Rouault—by the angular junction of the branches of its facial

suture above the glabella.

(3.) From O. radians, M‘Coy, by the large number of the

segment-markings on the axis of its pygidium, O. radians ex-

hibiting only three. The head-shield of O. radians is unknown ;

but M‘Coy refers the species to Ogygia, on account of the short

segmental furrows between the larger markings on the side-

lobes of the pygidium.

Il. On a second new species of Asaphus from Canadian Rocks.

Fig. 2 represents a new species of Asaphus, from the Trenton

limestone (Lower Silurian) of Peterborough and other localities

in Upper Canada. The same form is believed to occur also in

the Utica schist.

General outline a broad oval; length to breadth as 3:2, or

thereabouts; relative lengths of head-shield, thorax, and pygi-

dium, as | : 0°87 : 0°87.

Head-shield obtusely pointed anteriorly, and much resembling

that of A. plutycephalus in its general outline. Limb striated

with concentric lmes; genal angles rounded ; facial suture as

shown in the figure. The branches unite above the glabella in

a well-defined angle, almost touching the extreme anterior mar-

gin of the head-shield; and they terminate at the lower margin,

about midway between the glabella and the genal angles. Where

they join this lower margin, they make a short curve inwards

(see the figure), somewhat as in A, eapansus,—a peculiarity not

exhibited by the facial sutures of A. platycephalus (?) or A. Cana-

densis. Glabella feebly raised, and divided into two distinct

portions ; the lower portion, of a semi-oval shape, is defined, as

it were, by a prolongation of the body-axis. Durectly above this

an undulating furrow occurs (as shown in the figure), strongly

marked in the centre, but becoming fainter where it joins the

facial suture, a little above the eyes. The anterior portion of

the glabella is altogether undefined. The eyes appear to be of

the usual Asaphus type; they are somewhat wide apart; the

breadth between their central points, to the entire breadth of

the head-shield across them, is as 5:9. Except at the striated

limb, the whole surface of the head-shield is finely punctured.

Prof. E. J. Chapman on new Trilobites from Canadian Rocks. 15

Thorax with eight segments; division-line between the axis

of each segment and its pleurz not very sharply defined. There

are no intermediate V-shaped furrows, as in A. Canadensis. The

pleure curve upwards at their slightly rounded extremities ; they

are furrowed to about half their length from the axis, and then

crossed by a curvilinear ridge, beyond which the upper portions

are delicately striated. The axis and the side-lobes (in the

transverse measurement of the Trilobite) are of equal breadth.

The middle segments of the axis are slightly broader than the

upper and lower segments. The surface is very delicately punc-

tured. The pygidium closely resembles that of A. Canadensis.

In the axis there are from twelve to fourteen segment-markings,

with a similar number on each side-lobe. There are no secondary

furrows. The striz on the limb are largely developed. Hypo-

stoma, &c., unknown.

The two nearly perfect specimens and the various fragments

of this species that I have examined, belong to individuals of

comparatively large size. Of the perfect specimens, one is

nearly 5 inches in length (= 127 millimetres), and the other

exactly 6 inches (=152°4 mill.).

Specific differences.— Asaphus Halli, on account of its rounded

genal angles, need only be compared with the following species:

A. platycephalus, Stokes (Is. gigas, Dekay, &c.) ; A. eapansus,

Linn.; A. leviceps, Dalman; A. Barrandei, De Verneul; and

A. (Is.) affinis, M‘Coy, the latter species being made to include

Portlock’s Is. gigas, Is. planus, and Is. Powisii. All the other

well-recognized species of Asaphus are horned forms.

The new species differs from A. platycephalus more especially

by its divided glabella, and by the presence of furrows on its

pygidium.

It differs from A. expansus and A. leviceps by the form of

the glabella, the angular junction of the branches of the facial

suture, and the segment-markings on the side-lobes of the

pygidium. The latter character distinguishes it also from A.

affinis.

It differs from A. laticostatus, Green,—of which species the

genal angles are unknown,—by its thorax and pygidium being

of equal or nearly equal length, and by its divided glabella.

M. de Verneuil’s species, A. Barrandei, from the south of

France, is only known to me by name. Reasoning from ana-

logy, however, it may be fairly admitted that the two species

are distinct.

Our new Canadian species somewhat approaches Barrande’s

Asaphus nobilis, by the curious transverse furrow on its glabella.

In A. nobilis, however, the genal points of the head-shield ter-

minate in horns, and the segments of the thoracic and caudal

16 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure of Humphreyia.

axis are marked by peculiar furrows,—characters not exhibited

by the present species. The transverse furrow on the head-

shield probably corresponds more or less in outline with the

underlying hypostoma; but no traces of the latter organ, as

already remarked, have yet been found.

In the preceding article on Asaphus Canadensis, it was stated

that Professor Hall had published, in the first volume of the

‘Paleontology of New York,’ two imperfect caudal shields,

under the name of Asaphus (?) latimarginatus. I would willingly

adopt this specific name for our second Canadian form, because,

so far as it is possible to determine, the two may prove eventually

to be alike; but, on due consideration, I have thought it ad-

visable to bestow upon the form in question a name altogether

distinct. My object in this is solely to avoid the chance of con-

fusion, in case the thorax and head-shield of Professor Hall’s

form should hereafter be discovered, and be found on examina-

tion, as would very likely happen, to constitute a different spe-

cies. I therefore claim the privilege of naming the Trilobite

described in this article,—a privilege to which I am justly en-

titled by the really indefinite character of the figures referred to

above. The name I adopt as the most appropriate, under the

circumstances of the case, is that of Asaphus Halli. Paleeonto-

logists, I am sure, will receive it willingly.

III.—On the Structure of Humphreyia, an anomalous Bivalve

Shell, hitherto confounded with Aspergillum. By Dr. J. E.

Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &e.

In the preceding Number of this Journal, I gave an account of

the development of the genus Aspergillum. Shortly after it was

in print, Mr. Cuming kindly allowed me to examine the speci-

mens of that genus in his extensive collections. I was delighted

to find, mixed with the other species, a shell, which I was con-

vinced, on a very cursory glance, could not be formed in the

same manner as the Aspergil/a, and, indeed, could have but very

little relation to the other species of the genus to which it has

been referred by Mr. Arthur Adams, who described and figured

it in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1852 (p. 91.

t. 15. f.3), under the name of Aspergillum Strangei. It was

received from Sydney Bay, Australia, by the late Mr. Strange.

This animal, instead of living in a tube sunk in the sand or

mud of the sea-coast, like the Aspergilla, or in a tube more or

less immersed in the substance of shells, rocks, or other marine

bodies, like the Gastrochene and Clavagella, fixes itself by its

ventral surface to shells or rocks, so that the whole of the

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure of Humphreyia. 17

shell, including its tubular prolongation, is exposed, giving it

the appearance of a specimen of Vermetus or Serpula; and,

like the Vermeti, the tube is covered with a distinct thin peri-

ostraca.

When the shell is more carefully examined, it is clear that it

has been formed by a conchifer; for, like Aspergillum, the two

valves of the young animal are to be seen forming a kind of

umbo at the dorsal part of the base of the tubular projection.

But instead of the animal, as in Aspergillum, living free nm

the tube until it has attained its full size, and then fixing the

shell in the substance of the tube itself, and closing its base,

the animal of Aspergillum Strangei evidently attaches itself,

shortly after it is hatched, by its ventral surface, to some fixed

body; and then, as it requires room for its increased size,

produces the hinder part of its shell into a projecting tube.

For it is evident that the valves themselves are expanded

below and on the sides, and are produced behind into the

subquadrangular tube with a circular aperture; while, in the

true Aspergilla, the valves are imbedded in the substance of

the tube, and are to be seen, in all the species of the genus, of

their full size, and with a well-defined edge on the inside of

the tube; in some kinds only the umbones, and in others a

larger part of the valves, being left exposed on the outer surface

of the tube.

The valves of the newly-hatched free animal of Aspergillum

Strangei are very soon united together, by shelly matter deposited

on their inner surface, into a single shield-like shelly plate,

which is extended on the sides; and the gap between the valves

in front and below is filled up with a shelly deposit, which, with

the united valves, forms a slipper-like bag attached by its ventral

or lower side to the surface of some shell or rock; so that the

shell has changed from a free, regular-shaped bivalve shell to a

sessile, attached, slipper-like case. The shell is then gradually

extended behind into a tube, as the animal requires a larger

cavity for its protection, the periods of its enlargement being

marked by transverse concentric impressed grooves.

The part of the tube in front of the valves is irregularly pro-

minent, and scattered with shelly tubes, showing that the ani-

mal, like Aspergillum, is furnished with thread-like tentacles on

the front of its mantle, which are emitted through these tubes ;

and there is also a series of holes, often placed in pairs, and

sometimes produced into flat processes, on the edge of the ven-

tral part of the tube, just above the part which is attached to

marine bodies, doubtless for the protrusion of similar tentacles.

The cayity of the shell is quite simple, without any indication

of the shape of the two valves which are seen externally, or of

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 2

18 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure of Humphreyia.

the valves which are seen in the interior of the tube in Asper-

ila.

. This shell must form a distinct genus, which I have named

Humphreyia, after George Humphrey, the shell-dealer and con-

chologist, who published the Catalogue of M. De Calonne’s

collection, in 1797; and I have no doubt it is the type of a new

family, Humphreyiade.

The two specimens in Mr. Cuming’s collection which are here

figured (figs. 1 &2), are very unlike; and this difference has

assisted me in giving the above

account of thew structure and

formation.

In the larger one (fig. 1) the

valves of the shell were consider-

ably enlargedand well developed,

approaching the form of ordi-

nary bivalve shells, before the

animal developedthe slipper-like

case by which they are attached,

and began to develope the

hinder tube. In the other spe-

cimen (fig. 2), on the contrary,

the shelly valves are scarcely

more developed than they were

on the newly-hatched animal,

which appears to have proceeded

at once, as soon as it came into

the world, to form the bag-like

cavity over the gape in front Humphreyia Strangei.

and between the ventral edge of

the valve, to attach itself to the rock, and to proceed to develope

its tube.

It may be observed, though we are not able to assert it posi-

tively (as there are only two examples known), that the difference

between the two specimens depends on the kind of place to which

the animals were attached: the larger one was attached to a

mussel-shell, and the other to a piece of rough sandstone rock.

I was glad to see, on consulting Mr. A. Adams’s description

of this shell, for the purpose of quoting his name and figure,

that he had observed this peculiarity, and agrees with me as to

the manner in which the tube is formed. He observes: ‘ The

fact of the tube being nothing more than the valves greatly

expanded and modified, is well shown in one of the specimens.”

(P.Z. 8. 1852, 91.) It does not appear whether Mr. A. Adams

considered this formation of the tube as a peculiarity of the

species, or as explaining the development of the tube of Asper-

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure of Humphreyia. 19

gillum in general ; most probably the latter, as in his work pub-

lished since the paper, he still places the species in the subgenus

Foegia of the same genus.

Some persons, to whom I have stated my idea of the struc-

ture of Humphreyia, have suggested that the tube of Aspergillum

might be developed in a similar manner, after the animal had

attained its full size in the sand, without any tube; and they

explain in this way why the tube of several species of Warnea is

nearly cylindrical; but the tubes of many species are clavate,

small at the siphonal and large at the front end. I cannot

agree to this theory, as I do not know of any mollusk that lives

sunk in the sand, and then developes a tube; while, on the

other hand, Teredo, Gastrochena, and other conchifers which

live in tubes, form them as soon as they are hatched, and the

tube may be observed increasing in length and diameter as the

animal grows,—sometimes even, as in Furcella, forming a septum

across its base, which is removed when the animal again desires

to enlarge its habitation. It is further to be observed, that

though the tube of some Gastrochene and Teredines is clavate,

yet in other Teredines it is nearly cylindrical; and in all these

the siphonal end is modified, sometimes elongated, or even

reproduced during the life of the mollusk, as in Aspergillum.

A good account of the manner in which Gastrochena enlarges

its more or less exposed, irregular clavate, or retort-like tube,

would be an interesting communication, as it is difficult to

understand how the small closed chamber of the young shell is

altered to the larger chamber of the full-grown individual, unless

the animal absorbs and re-deposits the base of the tube after it

has increased its size, as the animal of Furcella is shown to do,

in my paper on the development of that genus in the ‘ Annals’

for April 1858, p. 295; but I have not observed any specimen

which justified my coming to that conelusion.

We have been long aware that the valves of Aspergillum and

Clavagella are, when the animals reach the adult size, soldered

into the tube in which they live, which caused them to be for-

merly regarded as univalve, and arranged with the Serpule;

and the exterior appearance of Humphreyia would justify such

a position in any cabinet.

It appears to me that the anomalous structure of Mulleria

more nearly resembles that of this shell than any other I know;

for, in both, the animal is hatched with two symmetrical valves,

which become united together, and are prolonged behind into a

tube. But there the similarity ends; for in Mulleria the tube

is expanded into two laminz or valves, one of which is at-

tached to a rock, the upper lamina breaks off in an irre-

gular manner from the end of the tube, and the body of the

20 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

adult mollusk is enclosed between two irregular-shaped valves,

like an Etheria, with the tube and the valves of the young shell

on the produced end of the attached valve. (See Proc. Zool.

Soe.

Ty Humphreyia, on the contrary, the small united valves

are attached by their ventral edge, and they are extended be-

hind into a free, ascending, subquadrangular tube, like Ver-

metus, which continues to grow in length as the animal increases

in size.

The use of the tubules in Aspergillum and Clavagella, and of

the minute perforations in the lower part of the tube of the

genera Furcella and Foegia, has not been satisfactorily explained.

They have been supposed to admit water to the front part of the

body of the animal, and have been regarded simply as tubes

or perforations, as if they were always open; but they can only

be formed round the tentacles, and it is most probable that the

tentacles fill up the tubular cavity during the life of the animal,

though they are vacant, and the tentacles on which they have been

formed are not to be observed in the specimens of the animal

which are preserved in spirits. The admission of water to the

front of the animal does not appear to be necessary for their

ceconomy, as such tubules or pores are not to be found in the

tubes of Teredo, Gastrochena, &e. In some Clavagelle and

Aspergilla, the tentacles and the tubules which cover them are

branched and spread out, as if the mollusk wished to obtain a

knowledge of the animals and other bodies in its neighbourhood.

They may also serve to steady the tubes, as roots do trees,

and prevent their being thrown down by the usual waves of the

sea, as it is the kinds which live sunk a small depth im the sand

that appear to have the tubules most extended ; while those that

are sunk deeper, or are fixed on rock, have only perforations in

their place,—as trees which have their roots near the. surface

have them greatly extended horizontally.

It is to be observed, that when these animals have completed

their tube, if they extend any more in size, it is only posteriorly

in the length of their siphons ; and then they extend the length

of the shell by the addition of fresh portions to the siphonal end

of the tube, as shown by the ruffles in Warnea and Bryopa.

IV.—On the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

By H. J. Carrer, Esq., H.C.S. Bombay.

[| With three Plates. |

Tue following communication contains a description of the de-

velopment of the spermatozoa in the ovisac with the ovum, in a

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 21

new species of Nais, together with other matter bearing on the

origin of the sperm-cells both of the so-called testes and ovisac ;

also on the functions of the floating-cells of the peritoneal cavity,

and that contractile body called by Dr. T. Williams the “ seg-

mental organ*;’’—to which is appended a short summary of the

changes which successively take place in the yelk during the

development of the embryo, and the product which frequently

results when the yelk fails to fissurate.

This information has been chiefly obtained from a perennial

species of Nais that, for a year past, has colonized the sediment

of a glass jar, in which Chara has been growing out of a little

saucer suspended a short distance from the bottom; but not |

having afforded me any opportunity of following the develop-

ment of the embryo, I have been obliged to take advantage of

another species for this purpose, which I found in a gelatinous

Alga (Gleocapsa), collected durmg “the rains,” for the micro-

scopic Filarig that it also contains, and which species not only

furnished me with eggs, but with other observations of a serial

nature, that serve to complete those unsupplied by the first

species.

Thus the facts contained in the following pages having been

the result of investigations carried on under an unusual com-

bination of favourable circumstances, attended with a micro-

scopical examination of upwards of two hundred individuals, it

is hoped that they will be found acceptable.

The text, however, is not the consequence of this labour more

than the illustrations, which are as true to nature as circum-

stances would permit, and have been compiled from a great

number of sketches taken from the objects themselves.

With these few remarks, let us proceed to the following de-

scriptions of the two Naides to which I have alluded, which it

is desirable to premise, that the reader may be familiarized with

their specific and general characters respectively, before he com-

mences the subsequent observations. They are, I believe, new ;

and the first that will occupy our attention is that species which

has colonized the sediment of the jar of Ciara, as it is this from

which my information has been chiefly derived.

Nais fusca, H. J.C. (nov. sp.) Pl. I. figs. 1-3.

Filiform, of a pinkish-brown colour, subsegmented, setaceous ;

anterior extremity clavate pointed, posterior extremity slightly

attenuated, obtuse ; mouth inferior, a little distance from the

anterior extremity; anus subterminal. Reproductive band

near the head, commencing with the fifth segment. Cirri

* Aon. and Mag. Nat. Ilist. vol. xix. p. 393, 1857.

22 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of anew species of Nais.

ventral, in pairs in each segment throughout the body; each

cirrus composed of 2—4 short, sigmoid, stiff hairs, suddenly

inflated in the centre and bifid at the extremity. Setee (fig. 4)

in groups in pairs in each segment after the posterior border

of the reproductive band, each group composed of 2-3 straight

hairs, of which one is much larger than the rest, and equal in

length to the breadth of the body. (sophagus narrow,

without: distinct glands, expanding gradually into the intes-

tine at the posterior limit of the reproductive band. Intes-

tine wavy at first, afterwards straight, subsegmented, of a

brown colour tinged pink by the vascular system, which con-

tains red blood. Androgynous. Testicular sacs immediately

in front of the reproductive band; eviducts and ovisacs under

and posterior to it respectively; openings of the testicular

sacs close to the anterior border of the reproductive band on

each side. Spermatozoon (fig. 6 0) linear, straight, extremely

narrow, with attenuated extremities, 1-160th of an inch in

length. Segmental organ single, existing only in those divi-

sions which are behind the reproductive band. Floating-cells

of the peritoneal cavity spherical, colourless. Length of body

when dry a little less than 1-5th of an inch.

Hab. Tanks and ponds of fresh water among soft, silky Oscil-

latorie and decomposing vegetable matter ; breeding through-

out the year.

Loc. Island of Bombay.

Obs. This worm, which belongs to the genus Blanonais

(P. Gervais), is very like the figure of Lumbricus tubifex (pl. 34.

fig. 4a, Encyclop. Méth.), while the sete of the latter more

resemble those of the following species.

Nais albida, H. J.C. (noy. sp.) Pl. IIT. figs. 47, 48.

Filiform, colourless or white, obsoletely segmented; anterior

extremity obtusely pointed, posterior extremity obtuse ; mouth

subterminal; anus terminal. Reproductive band a long di-

stance from the head, commencing about the tenth segment.

Cirrus and sete (PI. IIT. fig. 49) retractile, both composed of

minute, short, straight, thick hairs, all alike and of equal length,

three in the former and two in the latter, situated ventrally

and laterally respectively, in pairs in each segment throughout

the body. (isophagus narrow, surrounded in its first part

by four distinct glandular masses, then by hepatic cells, then

becoming naked as it passes under the reproductive band, at

the posterior border of which it expands into the intestine.

Intestine at first wavy, and then straight to the anus. Andro-

gynous. ‘Testicular sacs indistinct, situated justin front

+. oe

ie ae

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 23

of the reproductive band; oviducts and ovisacs in bunches

under and posterior to it respectively ; openings of testicular

sacs undiscovered, those of the oviducts ventral, and passing

through the reproductive band. Spermatozoon (fig. 34) capi-

tate, straight, the anterior third or head uniformly enlarged,

twice or thrice the thickness of the rest, pointed ; the posterior

two-thirds gradually alternated to the extremity ; total length

1-700th of an inch. Segmental organ double in each seg-

ment, with the exception of those under the reproductive

band. Floating-cells of the peritoneal cavity colourless, oval,

fusiform. Blood colourless. Length of body when dry, a

little more than 1-5th of an inch.

Hab. Living and breeding in the portions of Gleocapsa which”

grow on the sides of gutters and old walls during the rainy

monsoon only.

Loe. Island of Bombay.

Obs.—This species also belongs to the genus Blanonais, if it

be not absolutely necessary for this, that the hairs of the cirrus

should end in hooks.

Having thus premised the specific and general characters of

these worms, the reader will be prepared to follow the other

observations on them to which I have alluded. In doing this,

however, it is desirable that he should remember that they will

be entirely confined to Nais fusca, except where, for confirmation

or to fill up /acune, it may be necessary to refer to those sup-

plied by N. albida.

Integument.

The integument of Nais fusca may be stated to consist of two

transparent, cylindrical sheaths or layers (fig. 37,s), of which

the outermost is composed of cells, and the mnermost without

apparent structure. Within the latter, again, floats the aliment-

ary canal (which may be viewed as a third cylinder) and the

other internal organs of the body.

In the cells of the outer or dermal layer, there is nothing

remarkable except the reproductive band (fig. 3¢), which espe-

cially claims our attention, because it will hereafter be seen to

be developed in proportion to the presence of spermatozoa in

the so-called “testes,” and therefore may perhaps be found to

furnish the sperm-cells of these organs.

This band seems to be merely formed by an hypertrophy or

inflation of the dermal cells of this part, which, having become

distended with vesicles filled with refractive matter (fig. 5), pre-

sent individually the following composition from without in-

wards (fig. 5 ¢): viz. a delicate cell-wall, more or less partially

24 Myr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

lined by a group of vesicles filled with refractive matter, resting

on a central sphere equally refractive. There is also a nucleus

present (fig. 5 d), which in all probability is held in position by

a thin layer of endoplasm situated between the vesicles and the

central sphere, and from which vital agent or primordial film all

the rest of the cell has been produced. For the most part these

cells are diffluent in form (5a, 6), but there are many which

are spherical (fig. 7), and the latter average 2- to 3-5600ths of

an inch in diameter. The refractive matter with which the

vesicles are filled, as well as that which composes the central

sphere, appears to be albuminous at first; but while that of the

former, in the vesicles of the floating-cells of the peritoneal

cavity, which will presently be seen to be identical to all appear-

ance with the cells of the reproductive band, may pass into oil

or spermatozoa, that of the latter disappears without further

change, or becomes granular in a way which will be better un-

derstood hereafter. Certain it is, that the centre of these cells

is composed of a solid sphere of refractive substance, which

possesses sufficient tenacity to retain its form against the solvent

action of water, even after being deprived of the cell-wall

(fig. 5 d), and which sphere, we shall find by-and-by, in the

floating-cells, affords nourishment to the spermatozoa during

their development from these cells in the ovisac. We may safely

infer, then, I think, that it contains the elements of both albu-

men and oil, which substances are developed in it at the expense

of each other, according to the requirements of the case. Dr.

Williams considers the albuminous centre of the floating-cells

to be a fibrinous compound*. Thus, then, to recapitulate, we

have the cells of the reproductive band composed of a cell-wall,

a nucleus, and a number of vesicles surrounding an albuminous

sphere, which thus occupies the centre of the cell.

Of the inner sheath or layer (fig. 3 s) nothing need be stated

further than that it forms the chief skeleton-support of the body

of the Nazs, and may be muscular or fibrous, or both. It be-

comes separated from the cellular layer under the influence of a

solution of bichloride of mercury, and thus may easily be de-

monstrated. Between it and the alimentary canal is the peri-

toneal cavity, in the “chylaqueous fluid” of which float the

floating-cells, segmental organ, organs of generation, and a good

part of the vascular system.

Alimentary Canal.

This (fig. 2 a, f, f) forms, as above stated, a third or central

cylinder, suspended inside the second by the delicate loose por-

* Phil. Trans. part 2. p. 625 e¢ seq., 1852.

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 25

tions of membrane which compose the dissepiments or partitions

of the body, and thus floats freely within this space throughout

its whole course, becoming surrounded by the layer of hepatic

cells only after it emerges from behind the posterior border of

the reproductive band, that i is, where the cesophagus ends.

Floating Cells*,

Throughout the peritoneal cavity, that is, from one end of

the Nazs to the other, are a number of spherical cells (fig. 3 5,4, 4,

and fig. 7), varying in size from 2- to 3-5600ths of an inch in

diameter. Most of these are loose, hence the name of “ floating-

cells,’ while many adhere to the parietes of the peritoneal

eavity through the plasticity of their cell-wall. In composition

they are identical, as just stated, with the cells of the reproduc-

tive band; and therefore, to avoid repetition, the reader is re-

quested to refer to the latter for this part of their description.

How they are produced, I am ignorant; but they make their

appearance in the young Nais before the hepatic cells and before

the reproductive band. If they were reproduced by fissiparation,

one ought, among such numbers, to be able to see this taking

place in all its stages; but such is not the case: it is true

that two, three, or more are often seen adhering together, but

this may arise from the plasticity of their coats. As they are

seen of all sizes, however, it seems not improbable that their

vesicles may sometimes become the young litter, and thus the

supply may be kept up; or, indeed, they may be developed from

the surface of the peritoneum, which thus acting as a basement-

membrane, may have developed them from the commencement.

When these cells are subjected to the influence of a solution of

bichloride of mercury within the worm, their vesicles expand,

burst, and become undistinguishable from the albuminous centre,

while the nucleus, remaining, thus becomes distinctly visible

(fig. 7 c): when also they issue into pure water, from a rupture

of the body, the same changes take place ; but when the internal

vesicles have been formed for some time, or present a yellowish

tinge, they remain unaltered; in which case the delicate cell-

wall frequently disappears and leaves them adhering to the re-

fractive albuminous sphere, which is just as tenacious as that of

the cells of the reproductive band (fig. 7 6). Indeed, the com-

position of the whole celi, as before stated, is exactly thie same.

Hepatic Cells.

These are spherical or diffluent in form (fig. 8), and composed

* For an account of these cells generally in the Invertebrate animals,

and the * Chylaqueous Fluid”? above eee see Dr. T. Williams’s

excellent paper, Phil. Trans. 1852, p. 595. pt. 2

26 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

of a cell-wall, vesicles, nucleus and albuminous centre, like the

floating-cells, but with the following exceptions, viz.—that some

of the “vesicles,” though retaining their original shape, have

acquired a yellowish tinge; others have become of an amber-

colour, and have flowed together to form bile-globules ; while a

third set have apparently shrunk into abortive, brownish, or

colourless granules; many also of the hepatic cells have lost

their cell-wall, thus leaving nothing but the parts just men-

tioned adhering to the surface of the albuminous sphere (fig. 8 a).

The hepatic cells are so loosely attached to the intestine, that,

under the slightest pressure, many of them separate from it, and

may be observed free among the floating-cells of the peritoneal

cavity, when the only difference that can be observed between

those which are spherical and the floating-cells, is the yellow

tinge of the vesicles: neither is there any earlier stage of deve-

lopment of these cells than this in the hepatic layer; hence it

becomes a question, from whence are the hepatic cells originally

derived ?

To me, the hepatic cells appear to be merely the final stages

of development of the floating-cells, for the following reasons :

First, from there being no cells earlier in development in the

hepatic layer than those of a spherical form, in which the vesi-

cles are already tinged yellow, and in which state, but for the

presence of this colour, they would be undistinguishable from

the floating-cells. Secondly, from the hepatic cells beg en-

closed by no general membrane, but attached loosely to the

surface of the intestine. Thirdly, from the plasticity of the

cell-wall of the floating-cells enabling them to attach themselves

to the intestine, as we have seen them adhering to one another

and to the surface of the peritoneal cavity. Fourthly, from there

being floating-cells in the abdominal cavity of many Infusoria,

as well as in the stomach of Planaria and the Rotatoria, where

the sequence of development from the young cell with un-

coloured, to the older cell with coloured vesicles and bile-glo-

bules, is always present. And, lastly, from the free microscopic

Filarie that have come under my observation, both from the

salt- and fresh-water pools of the island of Bombay, having the

abdominal parietes of the peritoneal cavity covered with biliary

oil-globules as well as the intestine ; showing that, if the latter

are not derived from the former, both the abdominal as well as the

intestinal layer of the peritoneum are capable of producing them.

If, then, we admit that the hepatic cells are derived from the

floating cells of Nais, then these cells are homologous with the

floating cells of the Infusoria, e. g. Nassula, Prorodon, Oto-

stoma, &e.*

* See * Spherical Cells,” Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xviii. p. 124, 1856.

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of anew species of Nais. 27

With reference to the formation of the bile, it has already

been observed, that the vesicles of the floating-cells may form a

new generation ; and it will also be seen hereafter that they,

under other circumstances, may produce spermatozoa. Hence

it might be inferred, that where neither of these developments

take place, the endoplasm or vital part, which must be present

with the oil, perishes; and that the former beimg thus lost, their

oleaginous contents become subject to the laws of inanimate

matter, and so more or less flow together, to form the large

amber-coloured bile-globules which appear scattered over the

intestine.

Segmental Organ.

This (fig. 2 g and fig. 3) is the name proposed by Dr. T.

Williams* for a tubular organ that exists in almost all the seg-

ments, with the exception of those containmg the generative

organs, which, as this gentleman has also intimated +, are but

mere modifications of it. In some species it is single, in others

double (fig. 48 /), as will be seen by looking at the figures of

the two Naides now under consideration.

In Nais fusca the segmental organ is single. It is absent in

the segments before the reproductive band; attains its maximum

size in those immediately behind it; and diminishes gradually

towards the tail, where it almost becomes obsolete. Where best

developed, it consists of an elliptical body and tubular portion.

The former (fig. 5 p), which chiefly owes its size to a more con-

voluted state of the latter at this part, is situated on the right

side of the body close to the anterior partition or dissepiment,

through which its tubular portion is prolonged for a short di-

stance, and then terminates in an expanded, slightly constricted,

and marginated mouth (0), furnished with long cilia. From

this the tube passes back through the elliptical body, in which

it becomes exceedingly tortuous, and after issuing from its pos-

terior extremity, makes two sinuous revolutions round the seg-

ment, and then also ends on the right side (¢), midway between

the partitions of the segment, where it opens externally and

ventro-laterally. Throughout, this tubular organ floats freely in

the peritoneal cavity, except where it is fixed by passing through

the partition, and where it opens externally; and throughout,

also, it is imbedded in a fine granular substance disposed in lobes

around it (into which, on one occasion, I ¢hought I could perceive

the branching-out of a vessel from the tube). The cilia round

the internal opening are much larger than those which line the

tube, and the movement of the former sluggish compared with

that of the latter, which is very rapid ; neither is there any par-

* Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xix. p. 393, 1857. + Idem.

28 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

ticular direction manifested by the cilia of the internal open-

ing, while that of those in the tube is distinctly backwards, or

towards the external opening. What the direction of the con-

tents of the tube may be, I have not been able to determine,

for I have never seen anything pass through it; and the

floating-cells in contact with the internal opening mdicate no

current at all, but merely displacement, when struck by the

cilia. No current can be seen, either, at the external opening,

when carmine is added to the water for ascertaining this; but

the tube throughout becomes continually and gradually dis-

tended, and every now and then contracts suddenly, to empty

itself, after the manner of the contracting vesicle and its tubular

system in the Rotatoria and Infusoria, or perhaps, more parti-

cularly, in Lactnularia, where, according to Prof. Huxley, there

is no “ contracting vesicle*.”

Of the use of this organ I am ignorant, but undoubtedly it is

homologous with the “ contracting vesicle” and its tubular sy-

stem, both in the Rotatoria and many of the higher, if not in all

the Infusoria. In Nais fusca, no current, as just stated, appears

to pass into or out of either its internal or external orifice,

although there is a rapid ciliary movement going on throughout

the whole of the intervening tubular portion; this motion again

appears to be from within outwards, from which it might be in-

ferred that the contents of the tube take the opposite direction,

and therefore that the fluid with which it becomes filled comes

from without. If we direct our attention to the cilia which

cover the rectal part of the intestine in N. fusca, &c., this move-

inent is evidently from behind forwards, while it is equally evi-

dent that the contents of the intestine pass in the opposite

direction; and again, if we watch the cilia on the sides of a

Planaria, their motion will be observed to be towards the head,

while the current produced by them, as indicated by the neigh-

bouring particles, is distinctly backwards. This apparent con-

tradiction, however, appears to derive explanation from the

single cilium of some of the polymorphic Monads, which, undu-

lating from the base towards the extremity, draws the surround-

ing particles towards itself, and thus the motion appears one

way while the current is another+. Yet some of the larger

Rotatoria, in which the contracting vesicle is also very evident,

and opens freely into the cloaca, one would think ought to afford

us means of proving whether the fluid with which it becomes

distended really comes from within or without. I have, how-

ever, tried this, by placing carmine in the water with a large

species of Philodina, but never could detect any in the distended

* Quart. Journ. Microseop. Soe. Lond. vol. i. p- 3, 1853.

Tt Annals, vol. xx. pl. 1. fig. 10.

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 29

vesicle; possibly the opening into it, though freely admitting

water, might not be large enough to admit particles of carmine.

Then, again, the facts which I have brought forward to prove

that the “ contracting vesicle” in the Infusoria is filled from the

vascular system connected with it*, are also opposed to the view

which I have assumed of the manner in which the tubular part

of the “segmental organ” in Nazis is filled; while the latter

theory, after all, only rests on the inference that the direction of

the movement in the cilia indicates the opposite in the direction

of the contents. The question, therefore, is still open for in-

quiry. It is easy enough to see the large contracting vesicle in

the rotifer Brachionus become distended and contract, and there

ean be little doubt that its contents pass outwardly; but the

slowness with which it becomes refilled affords us no informa-

tion as to where the fluid comes from; so that, before this is

determined, it is impossible to say to which system this organ

belongs, viz. whether respiratory or renal. At one time I thought,

from the intimate connexion of the “segmental organ” in Nazis

with the generative system, whose organs, as before stated, are but

mere modifications of it, and all equally contractile, that it was

the rudimentary form of the kidney in higher animals ; but sub-

sequently observing the direction of the ciliary movement in the

alimentary canal of Nais to be opposite to that of its contents,

I am now inclined rather to consider its functions respiratory ;

at the same time, it is difficult, if this be the case, to conceive

why it should have an internal opening—while, again, it is not

always that the contents of the tube pass in the opposite direc-

tion to the movement of its cilia, as we shall see hereafter, viz.

in the floating-cells of the peritoneum, which get into the ovisac

through the so-called fallopian tube, which is but a modification

of the tubular portion of the segmental organ in front of the

elliptical body, and has the motion of the cilia in the same

direction. Are the functions of this organ both excretory and

respiratory? or, in short, what are its functions? and what is

the use of the tubular part, and what that of the fine granular

matter which surrounds it, respectively? I must leave future

inquirers to determine, merely observing that the question is one

of much interest, as the organ appears to me to be traceable

through the “ contracting vesicle” in Infusoria, even into the

“vacuole” of the vegetable kingdom Tt.

* Annals, vol. xviii. p. 126, 1856.

+ Since the above was written, I have distinctly observed the motion of

the body-cilia of a species of Spirostoma, when under a slip of glass, to be

whip-like, and the neighbouring particles to follow the forward movement

of the lash, which of course is the most powerful; while the wave in the

cilia in totality was also forward, quite contrary to that which is observed

30 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

Testes.

The so-called testes (fig. 2b and 3 d) are situated immediately

in front of the reproductive band, and consist of simple con-

tractile sacs opening externally by a short duct (d) close to the

anterior border of this band. They may be empty, or contain

spermatozoa in bundles (a, a), the cause of which bundling will

appear hereafter. With the spermatozoa are generally a number

of loose, irregular, hard granules (6 a), and an albuminous mass,

which will be seen, by-and-by, to be the effete remains of the

spermatophorous elements. I have also observed cells (c) pre-

sent in the anterior part of the sac, like those of the reproduc-

tive band and peritoneal cavity, but with some brown matter in

each, which is particularly deserving of attention, because it will

be found hereafter to mark the sperm-cell throughout. Lastly,

in one instance, four small globular masses of granules (d), from

which radiated, in all directions, attenuated linear bodies re-

sembling the spermatozoa at an early stage of growth, were

forced out from the testicular sacs; but beyond this, the so-

called testes in Nais fusca have not afforded me any other stage

in the growth of the spermatozoa, with the exception of the full

development, although many scores have come under my ob-

servation. The fully-developed spermatozoon (fig. 6 4) is about

1-160th of an inch in length, linear, and so narrow that I have

never been able to see its attenuated extremities satisfactorily

with a magnifying power of 450 diameters.

It may now be asked, from whence the cells come, from which

the spermatozoa are developed,—assuming that which will be

proved hereafter, viz. that those cells which were observed in

the testes with the brown matter in them were undoubtedly

spermatic cells? In reply to which I can only state, that, much

as I have sought for a duct in the so-called testis communicating

with the peritoneal cavity (and much as, @ priori, we might expect

one to exist like that of the segmental organ (fig. 30) and the

so-called fallopian tubes (fig. 3 ec!) leading into the ovisaes, from

the testicular sac and oviduct being but mere modifications of

the segmental organ), I have not been able to find any; while

the contour of the testes being so neatly defined, and the con-

tents, on pressure, always escaping through the external orifice,

leads me to the conclusion that there is none. Again, the testes

being filled with spermatozoa only when the reproductive band

is well developed, and empty and contracted when it is absent,

leads one further to infer that the reproductive band is in some

way connected with the testes; and that the cells of which it is

in Planaria, &e. The movement of the cilium in Spirostoma was pre-

cisely that of the line in fly-fishing.

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 31

composed, being to all appearance, as before stated, identical

with the floating-cells (from which we shall by-and-by find the

spermatozoa to be developed in the ovisac), have some means

perhaps of getting into the testes by a channel as yet undis-

covered, and there becoming subservient to the same purposes ;

for, as I have already observed, there are cells in the testes

sometimes which bear all the characters of the spermatic cells of

the ovisac.

Thus the so-called testis appears to be a sac for holding the

sperm-cells during the development of the spermatozoa, rather

than for providing these cells; while, should the latter be de-

rived from the reproductive band, this band would be more

appropriately termed the testis.

Although, however, I have not been able to trace the develop-

ment of the spermatozoa im the testes of Nais fusca, yet I have

been able to do so in N. albida (PI. IV. figs. 31-33) ; but as the

process is the same as that which I shall have presently to detail

in the ovisac, it is better not to go further here than barely to

mention this fact.

Oviducts ; Fallopian Tubes ; Ovisaes.

The oviduets (fig. 2c and 3 f) are elliptical, transparent, deli-

cate sacs situated under the reproductive band, on each side of

the median line ; they have wrongly been called “ uteri,” for they

are no more deserving of this name than the oviducts of a fowl.

They are endowed with a motile power which manifests itself

almost rhythmically, by sudden contraction, so that at first they

look like large “contracting vesicles.” Each has three aper-

tures, viz. one (g) inferior, which opens ventrally, and may be

termed the vaginal aperture ; another, in the anterior extremity,

which is continuous with the so-called fallopian tube (e); and

the third in the posterior extremity, which is continuous with

the ovisac (k). It is this saccular duct which probably holds the

ovum for a short time, during the addition of the horny shell.

The so-called fallopian tubes (e’) are, again, wrongly named,

because they do not convey the ova into the ovisac, but, on the

contrary, as we shall see presently, convey the floating-cells of

the peritoneal cavity into the oviduct, previous to their passing

into the ovisac, where they become sperm-cells. They are sim-

ple tubular prolongations of the oviduct, which, passing through

the partition of the preceding segment, thus become fixed in

their position, and open freely into the cavity of the peritoneum

close to the testes (e). Each tube is ciliated internally, and ter-

minates in an expanded aperture, whose inner margin is also

surrounded by a fringe of long, straight, coarse cilia. The

direction of the motion of the cilia in the tube is backwards,

32 Mr.H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

and very rapid, as in the tube of the segmental organ, while

that of the long cilia round the mouth is comparatively slow,

and indicates no more current among the floating-cells and other

particles of the peritoneal cavity in juxtaposition, than those on

the corresponding part also of the segmental organ. Nor have

I ever seen any of the floating-cells in the fallopian tube, though

frequently in the oviduct (fig. 3). It is this mstance of the

floating-cells passing into the oviduct with, instead of against,

the movement of the cilia, to which I alluded when speculating

upon the functions of the segmental organ.

The ovisacs (fig. 2d and 3h,h) are also extremely delicate,

transparent, contractile bags, which, commencing by a narrow

neck from the posterior end of each oviduct, extend backwards

to the second and third segment behind the reproductive band,

where they terminate in round extremities ; beyond this there is

nothing remarkable in them when empty, except that they are

enveloped and partly supported, as they float in the peritoneal

cavity, by long loops of the vessels termed “the branchial sy-

stem” by Dr. Williams in Nais filiformis*, but which here are

evidently of great service in affording nourishment to the ovam

and the sperm-cells when they are undergoing development in

the ovisac.

Ovary.

We must assume here, as in many similar cases that how-

ever thin and attenuated the ovisac may be, the mner sur-

face of its posterior extremity can furnish a poimt or particle

which may become an ovicell; and, for reasons which will be

better understood by-and-by, that the ovicell which it can thus

produce is composed of a cell-wall lined by a layer of endo-

plasm, in the periphery of which is the nucleus, consisting of a

nuclear cell and nucleolus; that the nuclear cell is filled with

endoplasm charged with several points or nuclei, which become

surrounded by, or develope around themselves, as many cells ;

and that finally the nucleolus perishes, and leaves these cells

alone, or rather enclosed in a delicate membranous envelope

(the nuclear cell expanded?). Thus we obtain a group of ova,

(fig. 9 e) which, whether developed in the way mentioned or not,

make their appearance under this form, free and detached from

the surface of the ovisac. In general there is only one of these

groups present; but there may be two (fig. 9 c), or even three.

Kach ovum of the group is, as usual, composed of a cell-wall

lined or filled with endoplasm, and bearing in one part the

nucleus or ‘ germinal vesicle,’ which consists of a diaphanous

cell whose cavity forms the “transparent area,” im which again

* Report of the British Association for 1851, p. 183.

Mr. J. Miers on the Winterace. 33

is the nucleolus or “germinal spot.” There is seldom more

than one ovum at a time in an appreciably advanced stage of

development (fig. 10 d), and, if there be two, one is much more

so than the other (fig. 11 d, e).

As the ovum, in process of development, increases in size

(fig. 10d), yelk-granules are developed in its endoplasm,—in

fact, the endoplasm becomes the yelk; the germinal vesicle

enlarges; it also presents an endoplasm in its interior, that is,

in the “ transparent area,” in which several distinct granules or

points appear (fig. 11 /), that become respectively the nuclei of

so many new cells (fig. 12 f), and when the latter are nearly

formed, the germinal spot or nucleolus perishes ( g). The ovum

now appears to have attained its largest dimensions (fig. 11 d);

but the next stage, viz. the disappearance of the germinal vesicle

and the liberation of its contents, I have not witnessed. It is

from the germinal vesicle undergoing these changes that I have

assumed the single ovicell to undergo similar ones, prior to the

development of the “group” of ova; that is, that those of the

germinal vesicle are but a repetition of what have occurred in

the first ovicell. How far I am right in this matter, is left for

others to decide. 1 would here also remark, that the granules

or cells of the yelk appear to be multiplied by that process of

cell-formation called “budding” (fig. 51), so beautifully seen

in the little Lemna-like Physodictyon (Kz.), and the so-called

“ferment-cells,” and that it bears a close resemblance to that

which I have described in the “ovules” of Spongilla* and

Euglenay.

[To be continued.

X.—On the Winteracee. By Joun Mrmrs, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e.

Tue only two genera belonging to this small group that were

known in the time of Jussieu, were placed by that celebrated

* Annals, vol. xviii. p. 231. pl. 6. fig. 39.

t Idem, vol. xx. pl. 1. fig. 16. Since my description of the “ Ultimate

Structure of Spongilla” was published in this volume, I can of course no

longer regard the germs in the spherical cells of the “ capsule” as “ ovules,”

but as the contents of these cells, which themselves are the ova,—each

spherical cell in totality producing an “ ampullaceous sac,”? which appears

to me to correspond to the polype of a polypidom. This would make the

“ germs” analogous to the “ yelk-granules” of the ovum of Nais, and hence

also the analogous budding appearance. I have also described a similar

budding in the cells of Euglena viridis (1. c.), and there is something like

this again in the production of the oleaginous and amyliferous cells (?) of

the Diatomez ; while latterly it has struck me that these may be produced

by a budding in the first instance from what I have termed the “ glair-

eell” (Annals, xviii. p. 241). :

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. ii. 3

34 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

botanist, in his ‘Genera Plantarum,’ among the Magnoliacea,—

an association which has been confirmed by most botanists since

that time. DeCandolle, in his Syst. Veg. i. p. 548, first an-

nounced the opinion of Mr. Robert Brown (in1818), that [/eium

and Drimys, together with Tasmannia, should be classed im a

separate family under the name of Winteree,—a suggestion only

partially adopted by the former botanist im his ‘ Prodromus’

(1824), when he formed them into a tribe of the Magnohacee,

under the designation of the Jiliciee, a classification that has

since been generally adopted. Dr. Lindley, however, in his

‘ Nixus’ (1833), and in his ‘ Introduction to Botany’ (18386), is

the only one who appears to have carried out the suggestion of

Mr. Brown in establishing this as a distinct family under the

title of the Winteracee; but he subsequently abandoned this

arrangement (in 1836), in his ‘ Vegetable Kingdom? (p. 417).

M. Spach (in 1839), in the ‘ Suites 4 Buffon’ (vii. 432), classed

the Winteree as a tribe of Magnoliacee, evidently with much

doubt, as he stated distinctly that he considered that group

more allied to the Dilleniacee than to Magnoliacee (I. c. p. 432).

Endlicher (in 1838), after the example of Spach, classed the

Illiciee, in his ‘ Genera Plantarum,’ as a tribe of the Magnoliacee,

but expressed his opimion that they ought rather to rank as a

distinct order, between that family and the Dilleniacee (Enchir.

p. 428). Lastly (in 1855), we have the authority of the authors

of the ‘ Flora Indica’ (p. 72), who give it as their opinion that the

Winteree form a very questionable tribe of the Magnolhacea,

and may with reason be separated from them, as soon as the

systematic characters of other collateral groups are better esta-

blished. Having already partially stated my own opinion on

this subject*, when treating on the Canellacee, I will now pro-

ceed to mention the facts on which that conclusion is founded.

Although the Winteracee have unquestionably a considerable

degree of affinity with the Magnoliacee, they are distinguished

from them by several peculiar features : the latter are invariably

signalized by very conspicuous and large vaginiform stipules,

which fall off and leave a prominent annular cicatrice, like an

articulation, round each node. In the Winteracee these stipules

are entirely wanting. The wood, in the latter family, as well as

in the Canellacee, and sometimes in the Schizandracee, contains

vessels marked, like those of the Conifere, with very distinct

dots, which are not visible in the Magnoliacee. The bark, as

also the foliage of the Winteracee and Canellacee, abounds in

an aromatic principle, and the younger leaves exhibit many pel-

lucid dots, which are less visible in an older state, on account of

the greater thickness and opacity of the parenchyma: this cha-

* Annals, 3d Series, vol. i. p. 352.

Peete ip

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 35

racter is wanting in the Magnoliacee ; or, if sometimes present,

these dots are exceedingly minute and faint. In the latter family

the several parts of the flower spring from a broad and highly

conical torus, whereas this is extremely small in the Winteracee.

In the latter group the ovaries are generally few, and always in

a single whorl, sometimes reduced to two in number, or even

solitary ; in Magnoliacee, on the contrary, they are constantly

very numerous, being arranged imbricately in many series upon

a conical or almost cylindrical torus. The structure of the fruit

in this last-mentioned family affords a very characteristic fea-

ture, generally consisting of a large cone or ball of many-seried

ageregated capsules, more or less free, but sometimes forming a

solid synearpium ; these capsules generally open by two valves,

each exhibiting one or two tolerably large seeds (covered by a

brilliant scarlet fleshy tunic), which fall out and remain sus-

pended each by a long elastic thread: in the Winteracee the

fruit is small, consisting of a few radiating carpels generally

distinct ; in I/cium, somewhat two-valvular; but in Drimys

and Tasmannia, baccate, enclosing a few small, shining, black,

cochleate seeds, of a structure different from those of Magno-

hacee, and remarkably similar to those of the Canellacee: the

hard crustaceous tunic, hitherto mistaken for the testa, so con-

spicuous in the latter family and the Winteracee, presents a

striking contrast to the scarlet soft tunic, suspended by a long

thread, in the Magnoliacee : in the latter order the raphe is found

in this external fleshy coating, while the tunic beneath it is thick,

hard, and bony; but in the Winteracee and Canellacee the outer

coating is hard, brittle, and void of vessels of any kind; the

raphe is seen in the second tunic, which is thick, soft and

spongy (analogous to the outer tunic of Magnolia), while the

coating next beneath it is thin and membranaceous. The em-

bryo, in the former order, is situated in the axis of the albumen,

at the extremity farthest removed from the hilum, and beneath

the apical chalaza: in the two last-mentioned families, the em-

bryo is excentrically placed near the rostrated summit of the

albumen, at no great distance from the hilum, and at a more con-

siderable interval from the lateral chalaza. There can be little

doubt, therefore, that the Winteracee have far less affinity with

the Magnoliacee than they have with the Canellacee; and it

appears to me that the reasons here given fully justify their

removal from the station hitherto assigned to them, and their

approximation to the last-mentioned family, in the manner I

now proceed to indicate.

The circumstances that seem to connect the Winteracee with

the Schizandracee should not be lost sight of in this investiga-

tion. There are certainly many points of affinity between them ;

36 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteraceze.

but some incompatible features are seen in the moneecious cha-

racter of the latter order, and the trimerous arrangement of the

parts : we must, however, remember that in Tasmannia there is

an approximation in this respect ; for if its flowers be not mon-

cecious, they are often polygamous ; and although Drimys gene-

rally does not agree with Kadsura and Spherostemma in its parts

being always in threes or multiples of three, we find these num-

bers in Jilicium, and sometimes in Drimys ; while, on the other

hand, Schizandra differs from its congeners im having a penta-

merous disposition. There is also in the Winteracee a tendency

towards the Schizandracee ; for though Tasmannia has only one

or two, or sometimes four ovaries, and Drimys six to eight, [d/lictum

has at times as many as eighteen distinct carpels,—but then, it

must be remembered, they are always uniserial. There is also

much similarity in the structure of their ovaries, that is to say,

they are unilocular, with few ovules attached parietally to the

ventral suture. The fruit in both orders is baccate and few-

seeded, the seeds being reniform, somewhat small, with a crus-

taceous shining external tunic, and a short internal raphe along

the sinus, together with an extremely small embryo imbedded

at the extremity of the albumen near the hilum, having very

minute cotyledons in proportion to the radicle. The Schizan-

dracee, like the Winteracee, have alternate exstipulate leaves,

which are equally distinguished by numerous pellucid dots ; and

I have before alluded to the peculiar dotted vessels contained im

the wood of all these three families. In Schizandra, the stamens

are united into a dilated tube or disk, and Canella offers some

analogy with this; but the principal line of distinction that

marks the group of the Schizandracee lies in its moncecious

flowers, and in the multiserial disposition of its distinet and

numerous carpels. Notwithstanding the well-marked characters

that tend to separate these orders, enough has been shown to

prove their near affinity.

The Schizandracee by some botanists are held to be merely a

tribe of the Magnoliacee; but I have pointed out many of the

characters that keep them distinct from the latter, and that place

them in contiguity with the Winteracee. It is not possible, in

any linear arrangement, to form so perfect an approximation of

genera as by the circular system; but the nearest conformity 1s

obtained by interposing the Menispermacee and Lardizabalacee

between the Anonacee and Magnoliacee, and by the intervention

of Schizandracee between the last-mentioned family and the

Winteraceew and Canellacee ; by this disposition we form a chain

of regular gradation, the links of which sufficiently harmonize

together. Keeping thus the Winteracee m the relation best

adapted to them, after all the other families of the Polycarpice,

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 37

and placing the Canellacee at the head of the Rhwades, to which

class, from their carpellary structure, they must belong, we thus

maintain uniformity in the systematic arrangement, without

disturbing the chain of linear gradation that naturally exists

between these families.

The genera of the Winteracee have a wide geographical range.

Drimys is distributed over all equinoctial South America, Mexico,

the more temperate regions of Chile, the Strait of Magellan, and

New Zealand. Tasmannia is met with in Australasia and Borneo,

while J/licium is found in tropical Asia, Japan, and North Ame-

rica; and the coincidence may be remarked, that the Schizan-

dracee exist only in the last-mentioned three distant regions.

Canella has hitherto been met with only in the Antilles and the

northernmost point of the South American continent, while Cin-

namodendron is found on the very margin of the southern tropic

of Brazil, as well as in the West Indies. The Magnoliacee are

natives of many parts of India, of tropical South America, and

the United States; and I believe there is no instance of the

occurrence of any of the above-mentioned families in the conti-

nents of Europe and Africa. The Lardizabalacee, however, are

found in the tropical parts of Africa and Asia, and also in extra-

tropical South America, while the Menispermacee have a general

cosmopolitan distribution.

I will now proceed to offer a few remarks upon the several

genera of the Winteracee, and give an amended character of

each, as far as my own observations extend.

1. Drinys.

This genus has been described by several botanists, more

particularly by St. Hilaire, who enters into many details of its

structure*. One of its peculiar features is in its calyx, which,

in the bud, forms one entire valveless covering, and at length

bursts into two concave segments, more by a Jaceration of the

tegument than by any distinguishable commissure: it is deci-

duous. Its lanceolate petals are distinct to the base, and are

variable in number, being sometimes only five to eight, when

they are uniserial ; in other cases they vary from ten to sixteen,

when they are biserial ; and not unfrequently they are as many

as twenty-four, when they are in three whorls: they are white,

and also deciduous. The stamens likewise vary in number,

being generally very numerous, and arranged in one to seven

whorls, of five to eight in each whorl, somewhat increasing in

length, the inner series being longest : they are all short, less

than one-sixth the length of the petals, and seated, together with

* Pl. Usuelles, 5. pl. 26-28.

38 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

them and the ovaries, upon a very short stipitiform gynobase.

The ovaries, which are yariable in number, from five to eight,

are always free, uniserial, and erect ; they have no sensible style,

the short umbilicated stigma being sessile upon the ventral side

of the conical and somewhat gibbous ovary, just below its apex,

from which point a ridge extends to the base: they are always

unilocular, with a single placentiferous line upon the ventral

face, corresponding with the ridge just mentioned. Upon the

edges of this band are arranged about sixteen ovules, in eight

collateral series, extending from the stigma to the base of the

cell, each reniform ovule being suspended from its sinus by a

short funicle. The ovaries ripen into as many small pear-shaped

berries, each containing ten or fewer seeds, closely packed m a

thin pulp, which possesses a very aromatic taste and smell. The

seeds are densely black, very polished, obtusely rostellated above,

swelling below in a somewhat reniform or cochleate shape, with

a small concave hilum beneath the summit, to which the short

funicle is attached. The outer shell is thin, hard, and brittle,

formed entirely of short, transverse, crystalline cylinders, with-

out vessels of any kind : the next tunie beneath this brittle shell

is of a spongy texture, and of cellular structure, the cells being

filled with coloured aromatic oily matter ; it is covered by a thin

pellicular reticulated membrane, inside of which, and adhering

intimately to it upon its ventral side, there is seen a very

distinct thick cord of some length (a raphe), consisting of a

bundle enclosing spiral vessels, which cord extends from the

hilar poimt to a dark spot (the chalaza) situated just below the

deep sinus: again, within this coating, there are two very di-

stinct reticulated membranes, which, by the medium of a small

quantity of intervening glandular matter, become somewhat

adherent together ; these integuments are homogeneous in all

parts, except where they are thickened at the chalazal disk just

mentioned. The enclosed nucleus consists of a mass of fleshy

albumen, within which, close to the hilum, is found a yery minute

embryo, of a short cylindrical form, rounded obtusely at each

end, that directed towards the centre of the albumen having a

very short but distinct cleft, indicating two minute cotyledons.

St. Hilaire states that this embryo is entire, and that, after care-

ful examination, he could not detect in it any trace of coty-

ledons*. 1 have invariably found, on the contrary, in the seeds

of Drimys Chilensis, the very distinct cleft above mentioned,

St. Hilaire also describes the radicle as protruding beyond the

albumen: I have not found this to be the case; although there

is an appearance of such an occurrence, when the thin portion

of the albumen that covers its extremity breaks away by its

* Loc. cit. p.7.

a eS Ss 2 OO * 7

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 39

adherence to the inner integument, if the latter be not very

carefully removed. The embryo is surrounded by a small quan-

tity of glutinous juice, and from the cotyledonary cleft is seen a

narrow tubular membrane, longer than the whole embryo, ex-

tending along the axis of the albumen, and which, no doubt, is

the remnant of the embryo-sac.

We can have little hesitation in referring to their proper de-

nomination the different seminal tunics above described. On a

former occasion* I have entered into a lengthened discussion

upon the structure of the several coatings of seeds in general,

and have shown that their nature can always be determined with

certainty by the position of the raphe in regard to them; it has

been demonstrated that any integument exterior to that which

bears the raphe must be of a growth subsequent to the fertiliza-

tion of the ovule, and therefore extraneous to, and distinct in its

nature from those resulting from the growth of the proper

tunics of the nucleus; and that such coating, be it membrana-

ceous, thick, fleshy, coriaceous, horny, or osseous, must be aril-

liform in its origm. J udged by this rule, the black, hard,

brittle shell of the seed of Drimys, hitherto paveilered as its

testa, would be an arillus; and the spongy coating in which the

raphe is imbedded is that condition which I have called an aril-

linet, or growth of the primine into the state of a thick fleshy

integument.

The genus Drimys consists of evergreen trees of moderate

size, possessing a hard wood, the bark of which is extremely

aromatic in smell and taste, whence the species peculiar to Chile

bear there the name of Canelo, the bark of which is called

Canela, the Spanish word for cmnamon. The leaves are alter-

nate, generally glaucous beneath ; the inflorescence, sometimes

axillary, is usually terminal, often in aggregated one-flowered

peduncles, and frequently these peduncles bear on their summit

a number of one-flowered pedicels, aggregated in form of an

umbel, with a row of involucrated bracts at their base. With

the exception of one, peculiar to New Zealand, and another

growing in the island of Juan Fernandez, the plants of this

genus are restricted to the continent of South America, one only

extending into the northern hemisphere. D. Granatensis ap-

pears in the mountamous districts of the western tropical portion

of the continent ; a few distinct forms inhabit Brazil, while others

are extratropical, D. Winteri confining itself to the Patagonian

extremity of Chile. Sir W. Hooker, 1 many years agof, seemed

to merge D. Chilensis into the Magellanic species, on

account of the similarity of their leaves; and more recently,

* Linn. Trans. xxii. p. $1. + bid.

{ Bot. Mise. m. 134.

40 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

Dr. Hooker*, after examining the many species of Drimys col-

lected in various parts of the whole American continent, gave

his opinion that all of them, including the one from Mexico and

that from the island of Juan Fernandez, are mere varieties of

D. Winteri. To this opinion I cannot subscribe, for reasons I

will here offer ; nor can I agree with St. Hilaire, that the different

Brazilian forms which he describes+ are only varieties of D. Gra-

natensis. There is certainly a great uniformity of general ap-

pearance among the individuals throughout the genus, for, in

all, the leaves are quite smooth, thick, entire, oblong, polished,

veinless, with an inferior glaucous or whitish surface ; but there

is a certain character among them, by which, without mistake,

we may assign to each the country of its origm. There are,

however, in each of these several groups so many modifications

of form, as well in the leaves as in the inflorescence, that it is

almost impossible to offer good specific characters for them. I

think it better, therefore, to take the middle course, and regard

such individuals as so many varieties, and to consider each group

as a distinct species, for which a clear diagnosis may be esta-

blished. Under this point of view, the species will consist of the

New Zealand form, D. azillaris, the Magellanic tree, D. Wintert,

the Chilian D. Chilensis, and that from the region of the Ecuador,

D. Granatensis, in which I would include the Mexican variety ;

I would establish D. Brasiliensis for the different Brazilian forms

enumerated by St. Hilaire, with the exception of D. montana ;

to these may be added two other distinct species, here proposed,

from Southern Brazil; completing the list by D. Fernandeziana,

from the island of Juan Fernandez.

The younger Linnzeus, who received specimens of D. Grana-

tensis from Mutis, concluded it to be a variety of the Magellanic

species; but Lamarck first pointed out § the forcible distine-

tion between them, and Bonpland subsequently confirmed this

by farther observations||. These botanists showed that m D.

Wintcri the flowers are always solitary upon several simple pe-

duncles, which are aggregated at the termination of the braneh-

lets; while D. Granatensis is strongly characterized by each of

these peduncles invariably bearing upon its summit three to five

long umbellated pedicels, severally supporting a flower. D. Chi-

lensis partakes of this latter character, and is therefore equally

distinct from the Magellanic species. The general resemblance

in the shape and size of the leaves in D. Winteri and D. Gra-

nalensis is certainly great; they have also the same dark green

hue, with a more dealbated under surface, and a similar deep red

Flor. Antarct. i. 229. + Pl. Usuelles, tab. 26, 27, 28.

Linn. fil. Suppl. 269. § Dict. Eneye. Méth. ii. 330.

|| Pl. Aoquin. 1. 208,

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 4]

midrib and petiole—so much so, that if the character of the in-

florescence were put aside, they might be considered varieties of

tae same species: the inflorescence, however, constitutes a good

specific difference, which is constant in each. Between D. Gra-

natensis and D. Brasiliensis there is not only a dissimilarity in

the appearance of the leaves, which in the former are more

narrowly cuneated at the base, and of a much darker hue, but

the inflorescence is distinguished in the former by its very long

peduncles, its more lengthened and fewer pedicels, its larger

flowers with a greater number of petals, and, finally, the inflo-

rescence is axillary as well as terminal, which gives it a prominent

character. D. Chilensis is subject to as many varieties in the

size of its leaves, and the greater or less abundance of its in-

florescence, as D. Brasiliensis ; but there is a perceptible differ-

ence in the size and number of the pellucid dots which corre-

spond with the raised glands upon their upper surface: in D.

Brasiliensis and all its varieties they are comparatively larger

and more distant ; the leaves are far more coriaceous and opake,

so that in most instances the raised glands cease to be pellucid,

and sometimes are wholly immersed: in D. Chilensis and in D.

Winteri the punctate dots are much smaller, and more densely

approximate. It is always easy to distinguish, at a glance, the

difference between the two last-mentioned species : in the latter

the branches are angular, invariably of a dark red colour, that

gives it a peculiar character; the petiole is very much stouter,

considerably shorter and broader, rugose, and darker coloured ;

the nervures of the leaves are fewer, and are soon lost by entire

immersion in its much thicker parenchyma; while in D. Chi-

lensis the petiole is longer, proportionately narrower, the ner-

vures are closer, at least double in number, more conspicuous,

and areuately conjoined long before they reach the margin. I

have already mentioned that in D. Winteri the inflorescence con-

stantly consists of a few terminal simple peduncles, each bearing

a solitary flower; but in D. Chilensis the peduncles are as nu-

merous, are longer, broadly compressed, and always bear on their

summit six or seven umbellated pedicels, each supporting a

flower, and these are surrounded at their base by a verticil of

deciduous bracteoles ; where there are seven pedicels, this invo-

lucre consists of six bracteoles; and with six pedicels it has five

bracteoles. In D. Granatensis this umbel is formed of only three

to five pedicellated flowers, and the bracteoles are far more de-

ciduous. In D, Winteri the calyx is larger, and the petals shorter

and broader in proportion, seldom exceeding six in number ;

while in D. Chilensis I have always found ten petals: the former

has usually four ovaries, the latter generally five. These differ-

ences, added to their general aspect, and their distinct geogra-

42 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

phical distribution, appear to me sufficient to establish the

validity of these several species nearly as they are described by

DeCandolle and other botanists.

The plant from Juan Fernandez I consider to be specifically

distinct; and I find another, from extratropical Brazil, with

smaller and very narrow, almost linear leaves, and terminal

flowers on simple peduncles, which is certainly different from

D. Brasiliensis ; and likewise a third, of remarkable aspect, col-

lected by Claussen in the province of Minas Geraés, to which

Dr. Hooker* alludes, as being a singular state of D. Granatensis ;

but it ill-accords with that species, on account of its imflores-

cence, and its smaller and excessively revolute leaves. I have

referred to Tasmannia, for reasons that will be given, the species

from the island of Borneo, D. piperita, placed in this genus by

Dr. Hooker.

I may here remark, that some of the species (more especially

D. Granatensis) have a disposition to produce what gardeners

call double flowers; in the variety Meaicana of that species

there are usually twelve petals, which are sometimes increased

to twenty-four in number +t.

The anthers in Drimys are generally described as being dor-

sally attached to the broad filament, but this is not the ease; the

two cells are quite separate, and affixed by a median line to the

margins of the filament, which margins are reflected outward,

so that the anther-cells are thus approximated, and thrown into

an extrorse position. In farther proof of this, | may here men-

tion that I have sometimes met with a stamen half-transformed

into a petal, in which case the anther-cells are widely separated,

and attached to each margin of the petal, a little below the

middle,

I propose dividing the species into four sections, distinguished

by the simple or umbellate, either terminal or axillary flowers,

and suggest the following emended character from my own

observations.

Drimys, Forst. Wintera, Murr.—Flores hermaphroditi. Calyx

in alabastro clausus et indivisus, demum lacerato-partitus in

segmentis 2-3 concavis, reflexis, deciduis. Petala 6 ad 24,

oblonga vel lineari-lanceolata, 1-3-seriata, calyce 8-4-plo lon-

giora, toro subcylindrico cum staminibus insita, patentia,

decidua, zestivatione apicibus replicatis imbricata. Stamina

plurima (15 ad 40), indefinita, pluriseriata, hypogyna, brevis-

sima ; filamenta compressa, crassiuscula: anthere 2-lobee, lobis

ovatis, sejunctis, subdivaricatis, ad margines versus apicem

filamenti utrinque aflixis, vix extrorsis, linea longitudinali

* Flor. Antaret. ii. 230. +- DeC. Syst. i. 444.

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 43

2-valvatim dehiscentibus, Ovaria 5-8, distincta, summo tori

uniseriatim affixa, ovata, gibba, unilocularia: ovu/a plurima,

reniformia, e placenta solitari parietali, ventrali, medio funi-

cula brevi, biseriatim appensa. Stylus subnullus. Stigma

parvum, breve, pulvinatum, umbilicatum, infra apicem latere

ventrali situm. Bacce 4-8, distincte, oblongze, gibbe, car-

nose, summo tori elevati sessiles, 1-loculares. Semina in qua-

que 3-10, cochleato-reniformia, hilo apicali punctiformi hori-

zontaliter suspensa: tunica externa (arillus) dura, crystallino-

crustacea, subfragilis, nitida, atra, nucleum valde gibbum et

crasso-virguleformem claudens: tunica intermedia (arillina)

erassiuscula, celluloso-spongiosa (raphide conspicuo chordi-

formi sigmoideo ab apice usque ad chalazam percursa), et ad

integumentum tertium membranaceum adherens ; chalaza late-

ralis versus sinum spectans: integumentum quartum membra-

naceum, reticulatum. Embryo in verticem albuminis carnosi

copiosi minutissimus, breviter cylindricus, utrinque obtusus,

cotyledonibus brevissimis, radicula hilo proxima, supera.

Arbores sempervirentes in America, a Mexico usque ad Fretum

Magellanicum et in insulis Mari Pacifici crescentes, cortice

aromatico; folia exstipulata, alterna, integerrima, coriacea,

glaberrima, subtus sepius glauca, pellucido-punctata, petiolata ;

flores pedunculati, aggregati, e gemma acuminata foliolis con-

volutis cito deciduis orti, sepius terminales, rarius azillares,

pedunculis aut unifloris, aut apice pedicellis plurimis umbellatis

Jloriferis imo bracteolatis gerentibus, bracteolis involucratis par-

vis caducissimis.

Div. 1. Pedunculi plurimi, aggregati, axillares, 1-flori.

1. Drimys axillaris, Forst. Gen. 84. tab. 42; DC. Syst. i. 443 ;

Prodr. *. 78; Hook. Icon. 576; Hook, fil. Fl. Nov. Zeland. i.

12. D. colorata, Raoul, Pl. Nouv. Zél. 24. pl. 23.—Nova

Zelandia.

This is admitted on all hands to be a good species, concerning

which there is nothing calling for remark, except that I accord

with Dr. Hooker in considering Raoul’s plant as specifically

identical with it.

Diy. 2. Pedunculi azillares, umbelliferi, pedicellos 3, rarius 7,

bracteolatos 1-floros gerentes.

2. Drimys Granatensis, Mutis, Linn. fil. Suppl. 269; DC. Syst.

i. 444; Prodr.i.78; H.B.K.v.53. D. Mexicana, Moc. et

Sess. DC. Syst. i. 444; Prodr. i. 78. Vintera Granatensis,

Bonpl. Pl, Afquin. i. 205. tab. 58 ;—foliis oblongo-lanceo-

latis, imo cuneato-angustioribus, summo subacuminatis, co-

44. Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

riaceis, opacis, marginibus nitidis revolutis, superne lucidis,

fusco-viridibus, inferne granuloso-incanis, granulis creberrimis

porosis, nervis pluribus tenuibus sese arcuatis vix distin-

guendis, costa media rubella paullo prominenti, petiolo lon-

giusculo semitereti, angusto, canaliculato ; floribus axillaribus,

e pedunculo szpissime folii fere longitudine, ancipiti, pedi-

cellis 3-5 longissimis, umbellatis ; petalis 10-12; stamimibus

30-40; ovariis 10-12.—In Nova Grenada, Columbia et

Mexico.—v. s. in herb. Mus. Brit. Santa Fe di Bogota (Mu-

tis), (Dombey); in hb. Hook. Bogota (Turner et aliis), Co-

lumbia, Mexico (Hartweg, 444).

Folia 3-44 poll. longa, 9-21 lin. lata; petiolus 5-9 lin.

longus ; pedunculus seepius 2-3 poll. longus; umbella rarius

folufera; pedicelli seepius 3, graciliores, compresso-trigoni,

1-14 poll. longi. Calyx in alabastro globosus, ruptiliter 2-

partitus; petala sepius 12, biseriata; stamina crebra, bre-

vissima, 3-serialia, gynophoro inserta; ovaria sepius 12*,

A specimen in the British Museum, collected by Dombey in

Santa Fé (de Bogota?), though only fragmentary, exhibits a

more than ordinary amount of development: it consists of two

loose leaves and one loose umbel ; the leaves are 5-54 inches

long, 2 inches broad, on a petiole 8-9 lines long; the peduncle

is compressed, a line broad, and 3} inches long, bearing on its

summit two leaflets and five pedicels; the leaflets are obtusely

obovate, cuneate, 13 inch long, including a petiole of 1 line, and

the pedicels are 13-2 inches long; the flowers expanded are

nearly 1} inch in diameter, the petals being 6 lines long, 4 lines

broad, and rounded at their summit. The total inflorescence is

nearly 7 inches in length, or 1 inch longer than its unusually

large leaves.

3. Drimys montana. D. Granatensis var. montana, St. Hil. Pl.

Us. 3. tab. 28 ;—ramis teretibus, foliis congestis, cuneato-

oblongis, apice obtusis et seepe subemarginatis ; marginibus

crassis valde revolutis, coriaceis, supra lucidis, nervis paral-

lelis omnino immersis, subtus pruinoso-albidis, nervis vix

distinguendis, costa media rubella valde prominenti, petiolo

Jongiusculo canaliculato; inflorescentia axillari et terminali ;

pedunculis subtenuibus, compressis, folii fere longitudine,

simplicibus vel interdum 2-3- fidis, et tune pedicellis ills

brevioribus.—Brasilia ; Serra Negra in Proy. San Paolo (St.

Hilaire).—v. s. in hb. Hook. (Claussen) ex Minas Geraés,

Folia 13-24 poll. longa, 6-9 lin. lata, petiolus 4 lin. longus ;

rt A drawing of this species is given in the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’

pl. 27a.

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracer. 45

pedunculus 14-1! poll. longus; pedicelli 6-10 lin. longi;

petala 10-15, linearia, acuta, 3 lin. longa, 1 lin. lata; stamima

circiter 40, 3-serialia; ovaria 6; baccz 3, gibboso-oblonge,

2-3 lin. longe.

This I consider to be a distinct species, evidently allied to the

following, and it differs from D. Brasiliensis, not only in the

size and form of its leaves, but in its axillary inflorescence, and

in the number of the parts of its smaller flowers.

4. Drimys retorta, n. sp.;—ramis teretibus, junioribus sub-

angulatis, transversim rugulosis; folis lanceolato-oblongis,

apice obtusis et valde emarginatis, imo cuneatis, marginibus

subito spiraliter revolutis, paginam inferiorem hinc fere celan-

tibus, crasso-corlaceis, enervlis, superne nitidis, viridibus, in

costam sulcatis, subtus subochraceo-pruinosis, costa media

prominula, petiolo sulecato, margimibus involutis; inflores-

centia axillari, umbellata; pedunculo brevissimo, crassiusculo,

aut sepe obsoleto; pedicellis 3-6, elongatis, gracillimis,

sub-3-gonis, folio subzquilongis, erectis; petalal0; stamina

30; ovaria 5, quorum sepius 2 abortiva.—Brasilia, in Prov.

San Paolo (Bowie) ; Prov. Minas Geraés (Claussen) *.

Folia 1-14 poll. longa, limbo utrinque convoluto 2-24 lin.

diametro, maceratione expansa 4—54 lin. lata; petiolus 4 lin.

longus ; pedunculus in axillis 4} lin. longus ; pedicelli fere fili-

formes, 1} poll. longi; calyx clausus, oblongus, apiculatus,

14 In. diametro, ruptiliter sub-2-valvis, segmentis concavis,

2 lin. longus, demum delapsus, et tune pertusus circa pedi-

cellum trajectus ; petala 8-10, linearia, 2-seriata, 24 lin. longa,

1 lin. lata, mox decidua; stamina circiter 30, brevissima,

3-serialia ; bacce 3, gynophoro cylindrico insite.

This is evidently allied to the former species: D. montana,

however, is readily distinguished by its leaves, which are but

little revolute on their margins, and are almost obsoletely emar-

ginated in the summit; it has very lengthened peduncles, which

are even longer than its somewhat stout pedicels, and it differs

also in the greater number of its petals (12 to 15).

Div. 3. Pedunculi plurimi, aggregati, terminales, 1-flori.

5. Drimys Winteri, Forst. Gen. 84. tab. 42; Lam. Dict. 11.331;

DC. Syst. i. 443, Prodr. i.78; Hook. Fl. Ant. ii. 229. D.

punctata, Lam. Dict. i. 330, Illust. tab. 494. fig. 1. D. aro-

matica, Desc. Ant. i. pl. 40. Winterana aromatica, Sol.

* A figure of this plant is shown in the ‘Contributions to Botany,’

plate 25 B.

46 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteraceze.

Wintera aromatica, Murr. Syst. 507; Willd. Sp. 11. 1289;

Bonpl. Pl. Aiquin. i 209 ;—ramulis subangulatis, fuseo-

rubris ; foliis oblongis, utrinque attenuatis, apice obtusius-

culis, supra nitidis, enerviis, aut nervis vix distinguendis

omnino immersis, subtus glaucis, costa mediana margineque

eartilagineo revoluto rubris, petiolo crasso, semitereti, longi-

usculo, superne subsulcato ; pedunculis terminalibus, simphi-

cibus, confertis, elongatis, angulato- suleatis, apice compressis,

imo bracteis deciduis involucratis ; calyce majori; petalis 5-6,

oblongis ; ovarus 4, rarius plura. In Patagonia et Tierra del

Fuego.

Folia subtus e punctulis granulosis albis creberrimis glauca,

3-32 poll. longa, 12-16 lin. lata; petiolus 6-10 lin. longus,

crassus, imo amplior ; pedunculus 1-1} poll. longus ; alabas-

trus 3-4 lin. diam. ; petala 6 lin. longa*.

I may here observe, that Lamarck’s drawing of this plant is

defective, and that Sir Wm. Hooker’s figure, described under the

name of D. Winteri (Bot. Mag. 4800), must be referred to

D. Chilensis, which I consider specifically distinct, for reasons

already given.

6. Drimys angustifolia, n. sp. ;—foliis elongato- vel lineari-lan-

ceolatis, apice obtusiusculis, planis, marginibus recurvulis,

opacis, superne haud rugulosis, nervis omnino immersis vix

distinguendis, subtus pallide glaucis, petiolo marginibus te-

nuibus sese involutis hine subtereti; inflorescentia terminali

pauciflora, pedunculis simplicibus. — In Brasilia Australi:

v.s. in hb. Hook. (Sello).

Folia subtus e punctulis granulosis ochraceo-albis creberri-

mis glauca, 2 poll. longa, 24-3 lin. lata, petiolus 4-5 lin. lon-

gus ; pedunculus 6 lin. longus, subvalidus ; calyx in alabastro

clausus, integer, ovatus, apiculatus, demum 2-partitus; pe-

tala 9, linearia, in estivatione imbricatim inflexa; stamina 18 ;

ovaria 5+.

This is another and still more extreme form than D. retorta,

with which it bears some analogy. I have observed a variety of

the same (which may be called lanceolata) with broader and

more oblong leaves, rather obtuse at the summit; the limb flat,

1} inch long, 3-81 lines broad, with a petiole of the length of

3 lies: it is of Sello’s collection, and is probably from the

same region as the above; but as the specimen has no flowers,

it is impossible to give its characters and proper place.

* A representation of this species is shown in the ‘ Contributions to

Botany,’ plate 25 a.

+ A figure of this plant is given in the same work, plate 26 a.

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 47

Div. 4. Pedunculi plurimi, aggregati, terminales, pedicellos plurimos

umbellatos 1-floros gerentes.

7. Drimys Chilensis, D.C. Syst. i. 444, Prodr. i. 78; Deless.

Icon. 1. 22. tab. 83; Gay, Chile. D. Winteri, Hook. (non

Murr.) Bot. Mag. tab. 4800 ;—ramulis teretibus; foliis ob-

longo-oboyatis, versus apicem obtusum gradatim angustioribus,

basi obtusiusculis et repente attenuatis, coriaceis, opacis, ner-

vis plurimis, conspicuis, arcuato-nexis, et vix prominulis,

supra crebre leviter granuloso-rugulosis, granulis sub lente

puncto nigro signatis, punctis pellucidis, subtus e punctulis

albis creberrimis glaucis, costa media prominente, margine

cartilagineo recurvulo, petiolo valido subtereti canaliculato ;

pedunculis terminalibus 4-10, pedicellis 6-8 clongatis um-

bellatis e singulo ortis; petalis 10 linearibus; ovariis seepius

5.—Chile.

Folia 33-43 poll. longa, 1-14 poll. lata, petiolus 5-6 lin.

longus ; pedunculi in apice ramulorum aggregati, 3-9 lin.

longi, crassiusculi, compressi; pedicelli tenues 9-14 lin.

longi, 4-goni; calyx 2-sectilis, laciniis zequalibus, ovalibus,

concavis, pallidis, 2 lin. longis. Petala 10, linearia, expansa,

2-serlalia, 5 lin. longa, 13 lin. lata. Stamina 35-40, exte-

riora breviora, interiora 14 lin. longa, 4-serialia. Ovaria 5,

rarius 6, gibba, 2 lin. longa. Bacce 5, pyriformes, purpu-

rascentes, 4-45 lin. longee; semina circiter 12, cochleata,

nitidissima, atra, in pulpam parcam nidulantia*.

There is a variety (/atifolia) with much broader leaves, tole-

rably well represented in Delessert’s ‘ Icones’ (i. tab. 83),—but

the petioles are too broad and flattened, the flowers much too

large, and the petals too flat,—a specimen of which I find in

Sir Wm. Hooker’s herbarium, collected by Bridges; the leaves

are 54 inches long, 25 inches broad, the petiole being 6 lines in

length.

8. Drimys Brasiliensis. D. Granatensis in partem, DC. Syst.

1.444; Prodr. i. 78; St. Hil. Pl. Us. tab. 26, 27 ;—foliis

oblongis, acutiusculis, aut obtusis, basi cuneatis, supra nitidis,

leviter granuloso-rugosis, granulis concoloribus, subtus (ex-

cepto margine revoluto et costa media prominenti) albido-

glaucis, opacis, crasso-coriaceis, obsolete nervosis, petiolo lon-

giusculo, canaliculato ; inflorescentia terminali, pedunculis an-

cipitibus, longiusculis ; pedicellis seepius 3, rarius 5, umbel-

latis, compressis, longulis; petalis 12, oblongis, acutis; ova-

riis 5—7.—Brasiliat.

* A figure of this species, with full generic details, is given in the ‘ Con-

tributions to Botany,’ plate 26 c.

+ A drawing of this species is shown in the same work, plate 25 B.

48 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteraceze.

Folia 3-43 poll. longa, 1-1} poll. lata, petiolus 6-9 lin.

longus ; puncta pellucida quam in preecedenti majora et spar-

siora ; petala biserialia; stamina crebra circiter 40 brevia;

gynophorus cylindricus longiusculus. Variat magnitudine fo-

liorum et abundantia florum.

a. var. campestris, St. Hil. loc. cit. 1. tab. 26.

8. var. sylvatica, St. Hil. loc. cit. 3. tab. 27.

y. var. axillaris, St. Hil. loc. cit. 3.

9. Drimys Fernandezianus, n. sp.;—foliis mm apice ramulo-

rum confertis, lanceolatis, utrinqne paullo acutis, acumine

obtusiusculo, superne nitidis, confertim granulosis, granulis

porosis, subtus e punctulis albis crebris minutissimis incanis,

nervis tenuibus utrinque immersis, vix prominulis, longe intra

marginem sese arcuatis, costa media crassa, prominenti, ru-

Bescente glabra, superne sulcata; petiolo brevissimo, lato,

rubello, subamplexicauli; floribus terminalibus, umbellatis,

pedunculis elongatis, plurimis, confertis, rubellis, valde anci-

pitibus; pedicellis 6, gracilibus, longiusculis; petalis 8;

ovariis 8.—In Insula Juan Fernandez.—». s. in herb. Hook.

(Bertero, n. 1453; Cuming, n. 1328).

Folia 3-32 poll. longa, 6-11 lin. lata, petiolus 1} lin, longus

et latus; pedunculi terminales plurimi, conferti, 9-12 lin.

longi, valde compressi, striati, pedicellis vix breviores, te-

nuiores ; calyx 2-partitus, imo demum circa gynophorum cir-

cumscissus, et in pedicello trajecto delapsus; petala 8, line-

aria, pellucido-punctata; stamina 40 et ultra, im seriebus 4

disposita ; antherz subextrorse ; ovaria 8*.

It is stated in the ‘ Flora Antarctica,’ p. 229, that this plant

quite conforms to that collected in the Organ Mountains of Rio

de Janeiro by Gardner (his No. 5675); this latter plant was

also found by myself in the same locality, and I made a drawing

of it on the spot; but I do not perceive the same resemblance

between them. There is a striking difference in the length of

the petiole, which, in the Brazilian plant, is three or four times

the length, and only half the breadth of the other ; it has much

stouter peduncles, and pedicels of only half the length of the

other, their number being only three in the Organ Mountains

plant, and six or seven in that from Juan Fernandez; the former

has twelve petals and six or seven ovaries; the latter usually

eight petals and eight ovaries.

[To be continued. ]

* A drawing of this species is given in the ‘Contributions to Botany,’

plate 27 b.

Dr. J. E. Gray on Cowries from the Sandwich Islands. 49

VI.—Note on some Specimens of Cyprea (Cowries) from the

Sandwich Islands. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &e.

Tue British Museum has lately received, from Mr. Pease of

Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands, a small collection of marine

shells, among which there are a number of specimens of Cow-

ries (Cypreide), all more or less differing from the usual normal

condition of the species.

The peculiarities may be separated under two heads.

I. Many specimens, instead of being of their usual colour, are

much paler, nearly white, with the markings which are charac-

teristic of the species very pale and indistinct, or in some cases

entirely obliterated.

Specimens with this peculiarity occur of the following spe-

cies :—

1. Cyprea caurica. Very pale; margin pure white, very ob-

scurely spotted.

2. Cyprea cruenta. The back with three slightly marked,

broad bands, the purple spots on the margin scarcely indicated,

and the usual orange colour of the mouth only forming a pale

yellowish tint between the teeth.

3. Cyprea fimbriata? The back white, with three very obscure,

interrupted, broad, brown bands; the base white; the margin

with a few small, pale brown, round spots ; and the apices of the

aperture without any indications of the usual purple spots.

4. Cyprea Gascoini. Much paler than the specimen ori-

ginally described, being very pale dirty yellowish, with regular

circular white spots; the base white, with a few small brown

dots on the upper edge of the margin. One specimen is pale

yellowish white, with very obscure, almost imperceptible indica-

tions of the round whiter spots on the back.

II. The second series, instead of being of their usual colour,

are of a more or less deep and bright pellucid yelk-yellow colour,

with the markings that characterize the species in other locali-

ties more or less completely obliterated.

As, for example,—

1. Cyprea sulcidentata. There was only a bad specimen of

this species in the collection; but I have seen other specimens,

sent at the same time from the same locality, which are of a

very bright orange-yellow colour, almost as bright and deep as

a fine-coloured orange living Cyprea aurora.

2. Cyprea arenosa. Much yellower and more pellucid than

usual.

3. Cyprea Isabella. More pellucid than usual, with the

black marks very distinct and large.

4. Cyprea Helvola. Of a pale yellow colour, with white

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 3. Vol. ir. 4

50 Mr. C. W. Peach on Nature-Printing of Sea-weeds.

margins; the darker spot of the back very obscurely indicated.

There were only two, in a large series of specimens, in which these

marks were distinct, and in them they were paler than usual.

The base very pale yellowish, rather darker between the teeth

of the aperture.

5. Cyprea staphylea. The larger number of the specimens

of this species are bright orange-yellow, polished, and without

any of the usual white tubercles. Some of them have an irre-

gular white blotch on each side.

Some specimens have more or less distinct small white dots

on the back, in place of the tubercles; one large specimen has

these spots very slightly raised, thus approaching the normal

state of the species.

With these shells were sent—

1. Cyprea Madagascariensis, in the usual state of the species.

2. Cyprea staphylea. A small, very dark-coloured variety, of

a uniform pale brown colour on the back, with numerous minute

white dots; the base white, with yellow-edged teeth, and some

dark brown lines on the upper edge of the margin of each end

of the shell.

I have no materials to explain the cause of this absence and

alteration in the usual colour of such a number of species of

shells belonging to a single family. As far as I have observed,

the peculiarities are restricted to the species of this group;

the shells belonging to the other families that were sent with

them being of their normal colour. The specimens, I may

observe, are of the usual size and form, and are easily deter-

mined by comparison with specimens from other localities.

VII.—A Notice of Nature-Printing of Sea-weeds on the Rocks in

the vicinity of Stromness, Orkney. By Cuartes WinLiaM

PEacu*,

I sre to lay before the Society a most interesting fact of true

nature-printing of sea-weeds which I met with in August 1856,

immediately below the ruins of the ancient episcopal palace of

Stromness. I was examining on the sea-shore the charnel-house

in which he the skeletons of the ancient denizens of the waters

of the Old Red Sandstone period; my attention was engrossed

by their numbers and variety, and the beauty of the sculpture

of the black shining wings and dermal covering of the Pterichthys,

the “berry upon bone” cuirass of the Coccosteus, the fluted and

polished spears and delicately fretted mail of the Diplacanthus,

* Communicated by the author; having been read at the last meeting

of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, on the 28th April 1858,

Ene.

Mr. C. W. Peach on Nature Printing of Sea-weeds. 51

and the burnished and spotted portions of the Dipterus, Diplo-

pterus, Osteolepis, &c. &c., and then the large nail-bone of the

gigantic Asterolepis,— all unmistakeable “footprints of the

Creator,”—these, with the scaly Lepidodendron and other land-

plants, all causing me to look back on past ages. Willing

as I might be to muse and ask myself questions, I was not long

able to do so; for in my movements I came upon rocks of a

different character and hue, on which were portrayed pictures

of recent plants, well known to me. I might have drawn on

my imagination, and fancied that some one, well skilled in

drawing, and willing not to be idle, having found a stretch of

flattened rocks prepared for the purpose, had traced, with no

“prentice han’,” some of the Alge of our shores, with a light

yellowish colour on the dark ground, and had succeeded so well,

that at once I was able to name the genera and species, quite as

readily as if the plant itself had been displayed on paper and

presented to me for examination by one of the lady-algolo-

gists who reside in Pomona, and who, by their persevering and

laudable industry, have earned the best wishes of all naturalists,

by adding so largely to their knowledge of the beautiful “ sea-

flowers” which had so long blushed unseen on these rich and

interesting shores,—now, happily, many no longer unseen; of

this I had ample evidence in the splendid collections so kindly

shown to me by several of the lady collectors. I greatly regretted

that my legitimate work, the looking after the fossil land-plants,

would not permit me to examine them so carefully as I could

have desired; for amongst them I saw many species which

hitherto I had only seen on the southern shores of England.

I found that these pictures occupied large spaces; some of

the slabs were covered with them, two or three feet in length by

half as much or more in breadth; the best are from one-third to

one-half between the tide-marks. Desmarestia ligulata is the

predominant form, with Desmarestia (Dichloria) viridis, &c. 1

saw that D. ligulata was very plentiful; a great quantity of it

was lying on the rocks, in various stages of decay,—no doubt

making more pictures where it rested. The form on the slab

herewith sent, compared with the specimen spread on paper,

will show that there is no mistaking the die used for the medal.

If the slab is examined at the paper point, Dichloria viridis will

be found pretty well defined. After I had detached this slab

and one or two smaller pieces, my time was up, and I could

examine no farther.

The stone I send (such is the case with many of the printed

slabs) is coated by Ralfsia verrucosa, a leather-like Alga common

on our shores ; this coating may be likened to the chemical pre-

paration in photography, the Ra/fsia being the sensitive part to

52 Mr. C. W, Peach on Nature-Printing of Sea-weeds.

be eaten away by its overlying corrosive brother. The impress

is thus made, and the stone, “when washed by the next flowing

tide, is cleared of all the vegetable matter, both of the decaying

Desmarestia and dissolved Ralfsia ; the picture is then beauti-

fully shown (fixed) on the light-yellow coated slab. Not only

does the Desmarestia destroy the Ralfsia, it also dissolves some

of the rock; and thus, as well as the depression left by the

washing-out of the Alga, it is engraved in the stone; and pro-

bably this depression is added to, time after time, by the carbonic

acid in the sea-water, and thus the more indelible it becomes.

Even in rocks of a deep dark-grey colour, containing little or

no lime, and on which no growing Alga is to be seen, “the Des-

marestia imprints its form, by extracting the colour; and, al-

though not so distinct as the prepared one, it is often well

defined. I saw such on the coast; and the lady of the Rev.

Mr. Learmonth kindly showed me one, which a quarryman had

brought, some years before, as a plant of the age of the Old Red

Sandstone ; it retained all the markings fresh. These rocks dip

gently to the westward, and are exposed to the full sweep and

terrific lash of the waves of the Atlantic.

The first, and I may say, only impress must be quickly done, for

each returning tide would certainly remove the weed, and leave not

a trace of the vegetable matter behind. When we take into con-

sideration the well-known property possessed by the Sporuchnee

of destroying other Algze, we cease to wonder at the eating-away

of the Ralfsia; the extraction of the colour and the dissolving the

hard rock will, however, cause some surprise, and we naturally

ask, what can this lithographic property be? This and many

other questions must be passed, and the one uppermost attended

to; for we are looking back upon the ancient periods in the

history of our earth. I have seen, in most of our geological

formations, plant-like forms ‘ painted,” or rather, ‘ discharged,”

especially when cleaving the Devonian and Silurian rocks of

Cornwall and the Old Red Sandstones of Scotland, and have

been struck by their forms; for so much like plants have they

appeared, that again and again have I found great difficulty in

persuading myse| If that they were not so,—always pleading the

absence of organic matter; and this was a sad stumbling-block,

for not a vestige could be seen. Others have been equally per-

plexed. Our lamented friend Hugh Miller, after speaking of the

now acknowledged land-plants of the Lower Old Red Sandstone

of Caithness, at page 435 of the ‘ Testimony of the Rocks,’ says,

“YT may here mention, that curious markings, which have been

regarded as impressions made by vegetables that had themselves

disappeared, have been detected during the last twelvemonth in

a quarry of the Lower Old Red Sandstone near Huntley, by the

Mr. C. W. Peach on Nature-Printing of Sea-weeds. 53

Rev. Mr. Mackay of Rhynie. They are very curious and very

puzzling; but though some of the specimens present the ap-

pearance of a continuous midrib, that throws off, with a certain

degree of regularity, apparent leaflets, I am inclined to regard

them rather as lying within the province of the ichnologist than

the fossil botanist.” From never having seen any of my friend

Mr. Mackay’s “‘ puzzling specimens,” I am unable to give an

opinion about them ; but, from the tenor of the whole passage,

of which I have only quoted a part, I should be inclined to give

them to the botanist. The absence of organic matter, with the

midrib and hard fernhke appearance, weigh greatly with me ;—

for, as with the fossil, so with the beautiful Stromness forms,

no portion of the vegetable can now be seen. ‘There is plenty

of proof that the pictures now presented to your notice were

made by plants. I tried, on my return home, the experiment of

laying a piece of Desmarestia on a stone from the beach, and

exposed it in the hot sun, keeping it moistened with sea-water ;

and although the plant was far gone in decay, and the stone

not prepared, and also too pale and siliceous, I succeeded in

getting a faint impress,—quite distinct enough to show that,

with better materials, success would be certain. I have since

ascertained that one of the lady algologists of Pomona, long ago

aware of these markings, had succeeded fully, with the splendid

materials there, in getting them delineated in the way I tried.

One thing, however, we do know,—that land-plants, as well as

sea-plants, existed in the Lower Old Red Sandstone period: as

regards the former in Caithness and Orkney, it is only lately an

acknowledged fact. Plants, principally of the sea, also existed

in the Silurian period; and, as tides ebbed and flowed and the

sun shone in both periods as now, why might not the Algz be

cast on their exposed and ripple-marked rocks, and their like-

nesses indelibly printed, and, on the next flowing tide, the type

swept away, leaving no trace of organic matter behind? I wish

most distinctly to be understood, that I do not insist on claiming

all dendritical markings on and in rocks for the botanist, for I

know that some of these doubtful markings are caused by infiltra-

tion, and very many by the sportive arborescent forms of minerals ;

add to these, those from the crawling of Crustacea, the wriggling

of Annelides, and the tracks of the vegetable-feeding Mollusca,

all playing their part in the puzzling drama. I[ must, however,

after acknowledging all these, and striking the balance, still

think there is a probability that the printing process has thrown

off the greatest number.

I have delayed sending this to you, in the hope of finding

some notice of such a process beyond the very short one which

I forwarded, at the time of the discovery, to the British Associa-

54 Bibliographical Notices.

tion for the Advancement of Science. I have never been able

to find a word. I therefore venture now to trouble you, in the

hope that it will become more widely known, and be the means

of showing that it is going on in different parts of the globe.

I must request that the slab sent with this may be returned.

I would gladly give it to a public museum. It is the only good

one I have; and I see no hope of ever going again to the printing

house at Orkney to get more.

Wick, April 12, 1858.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

The Wonders of Geology. By Gipron ALGERNON MANTELL,

LL.D. &c. Seventh Edition, revised and augmented by T. R.

Jones, F.G.S8. London: H. G. Bohn. 1857-58.

Tus work forms one of the re-issues of Mr. Bohn’s scientific series,

and from the favourable reception it has met with, as indicated

by the number of editions it has passed through, may fairly be con-

sidered as a useful introduction to the study of geology. The ground-

work of these volumes was derived from a series of lectures given

more than twenty years since by Dr. Mantell, at Brighton, in an

attempt at the time to establish a county museum and scientific

institution in that town. The basis of the museum was to have been

the original geological collection, containing upwards of twenty thou-

sand specimens, from which the subjects for the illustration of the

lectures were selected. This collection, the result of the untiring

labour of many years, both in the field and in the cabinet, was not

destined to remain in the county of Sussex, from whence the larger

and more valuable portion was derived, and the physical structure

aud ancient natural history of which it was intended to illustrate.

As is well known, the Mantellian museum, containing many unique

specimens, was transferred to the British Museum, where they are

fully displayed amongst the other treasures contained in the Paleeonto-

logical department of the national collection. Dr. Mantell may be

said to have lived through some of the phases of geological science,

and was no mean contributor to its onward progress, whether we

regard the nature of his scientific writings, or the character of his

popular teachings. As a lecturer, Dr. Mantell was probably un-

equalled : abounding in information, clear and lucid in style, gifted

with a poetic temperament, he never failed to interest and instruct

the audiences he frequently addressed. 'To him intellectual exertion

was a relaxation rather than a fatigue: during the latter years of his

life, and when in au impaired state of health, we have occasionally

returned with him, after lecturing to some large assembly, and fully

felt how his intellectual energies and poetic imagination have sus-

tained him amidst much bodily suffering and mental anxiety.

Bibliographical Notices. 55

The general nature of his lectures may be inferred from the work

before us, and Dr. Mantell carefully revised every edition. The pre-

sent or seventh edition is, however, considerably improved and aug-

mented, and evinces much pains-taking and research,—the editor

having spared no time or labour in working up the discoveries

accumulated during the ten years that have elapsed since the pre-

vious publication, and which have been concisely but carefully incor-

porated in the present volumes. In fact, not only has much new

matter been added, but many portions re-written and so far modified

as to bring the work up to the present state of the science, and make

it an exposition of the philosophy of geology. Copious notes are

inserted, and numerous useful references given, so as to enable the

reader to refer to any subject in a more detailed manner.

The original form of the work is retained—the division into eight

lectures,—some of these, from their length, being again divided, and

the subjects treated successively from the newer to the older depo-

sits. The additional matter generally incorporated in each chapter

contains all the more important and useful points of the science. In

the Tertiary strata, the labours of Ed. Forbes and Prestwich as im-

proving the classification of these rocks are fully given, more espe-

cially in the Isle of Wight district, and the foreign equivalents pointed

out. Considerable improvements are effected in the part treating of

the Cretaceous rocks, both as regards the fossils and the foreign range

of these deposits. A concise account is given of the Foraminifera

and Bryozoa, the editor giving his reasons for retaining the latter term

instead of Polyzoa, used by some naturalists (p. 600). The import-

ance of the Foraminifera in a geological point ef view must not be

underrated, independently of their remarkable forms and structure,

as well as their endless varieties, which have exercised the skill and

excited the admiration of collector and author. For much critical

research on the numerous recent and fossil Microzoa we are indebted

to the labours of Dr. Carpenter, Messrs. Williamson, Jones, and

W. K. Parker.

The favourite subject of Dr. Mantell, the Wealden, is considerably

improved, modified, and enlarged, the new facts connected with the

Purbeck strata, arising from the researches of Ed. Forbes, Austen,

and Fisher, being fully given. Much yet remains to be effected

respecting the Wealden proper, both as regards the relative position

of the strata composing it’ (we allude especially to the Asburnham

beds) and also as to the physical geography of that period, whether

fluviatile or estuarine, whether the result of the action of one river or

many rivers and small streams emptying themselves into an adjacent

estuary, and their general direction,—a subject upon which the

researches of Mr. Fisher and Mr. Godwin-Austen have thrown con-

siderable light. Nor should we forget the labours of Messrs. Beckles

and Brodie, whose discoveries have added so much to the peculiar

mammalian fauna of this period.

In relation to the history of the Wealden, with which the name of

Dr. Mantell must always be intimately associated, we cannot, how-

ever, forbear to notice the researches of Dr. Fitton connected with

56 Bibliographical Notices.

the early inquiry respecting the true relations of the Wealden strata,

and which are not perhaps so fully known as they deserve. To

Dr. Fitton we are not only indebted for the term ‘“ Hastings sands,”’

but also for pointing out their geological and paleontological rela-

tions to the other beds. In 1822 these sands were described as

**Tron sands” by Dr. Mantell (Fossils of the South Downs, p. 24),

and considered in one place (p. 37) to be separated from the Weald

clay by the Tilgate limestone ; while in another this limestone was

identified with the Purbeck (p. 299), and is there presumed to have

been protruded through it, where it is also stated, “‘ whether they

(the Iron sands) are of freshwater or of marine origin, has not been

satisfactorily determined. The term ‘Iron sand”’ was also used by

Buckland, Greenough, Conybeare, and Phillips; and it was “the

sand and sandstone beneath the oak-tree clay” of Smith. Webster,

in his ‘ Letters to Sir H. Englefield,’ described them as ‘‘ ferruginous

sands,” including under this name also the Weald clay and Lower

green-sand, and considered the Purbeck beds as constituting the lowest

strata of the Isle of Wight. Dr. Fitton, in 1824, clearly pointed out

that the two sands were distinctly separated ‘‘ by a stratum of clay

precisely corresponding, both in situation aid in the fossils which it

contains, with the Weald clay of Kent and Sussex. It is the ¢nferior

of these sands alone which is the equivalent of the Hastings beds;

and these constitute the lowest formation visible in the Isle of Wight”

(Annals of Philosophy, 1824, vol. vii. p. 367); and further, that

the organized productions of the Lower greensand (Shanklin sand)

were all marine, but those of the Hastings sands, almost exclusively,

of freshwater origin (ibid. p. 379). Nor should the observations

and deductions of Sir C. Lyell at that time be overlooked, respecting

the order of the strata below the Chalk (communicated to Dr. Man-

tell, July 1822), and which are frankly acknowledged by Dr. Fitton.

Amongst the additions to the Secondary rocks, the notice of the

extension of the bone-bed is an interesting feature. Some other

points in the oolitic strata require further investigation, more. espe-

cially as regards the nature, character, and equivalents of the Lower

Oolites in the central counties of England: there are good reasons

for believing that the slates of Stonesfield and Collyweston alluded

to (pp. 510, 516) are not synchronous ; they have few organic remains

in common, and the Collyweston slates appear to be low down in the

Inferior Oolite, or at least underlie beds containig some of the

characteristic fossils of that stratum in the west of England.

The Trias and Permian are retained, as before, in one chapter, but

their geographical extension is more fully described, and the researches

of Murchison, Ramsay, King, and Howse, on these deposits noticed.

The lecture on the Carboniferous system, upon which the editor

has expended much time, labour, and thought, will be read with

considerable interest, as containing new and important matter, clearly

put and concisely arranged, so as to afford a general view of the

structure, conditions, nature, and probable mode of accumulation of

this important portion of the geological series; the student being

especially referred to numerous valuable papers treating of the nature

Bibliographical Notices. 57

and structure of coal itself, and also to the inquiries respecting the

physical geography of the old carboniferous area, as treated of by

Murchison, Elie de Beaumont, and more recently by Mr. Godwin-

Austen, the observations of the latter bearing more immediately on

the geological structure of the ground beneath London, in relation to

the probable occurrence of some portions of the upper palzeozoic

series at less depths than is generally supposed.

The eighth lecture, in two parts, treats of the Devonian, Silurian,

and Cambrian strata, as well as the nature of volcanic action and

metamorphism, &c. In this part are some useful tables illustrative

_ of the successive changes in the organic kingdom, the chronological

appearance of certain classes and orders of animals, and of the rocks

composed wholly or partly of animal remains. Much new and in-

teresting matter is introduced in this chapter, and the researches of

Sir R. I. Murchison and his early coadjutor, Prof. Sedgwick, fairly

and fully acknowledged. The second edition of ‘Siluria’ of the

former author is looked for with much interest; even in these

volumes the editor has been kindly allowed to use some of the im-

portant facts and corrected classifications contained in that forth-

coming work.

In conclusion, this edition of the ‘Wonders of Geology’ may be

recommended as a useful manual to the student and general reader.

We could have wished that some of the lignographs (41, 42) had

been replaced, and, further, that the mantle of the late author had

not fallen so heavily on the present editor, in his not curtailing the

too frequent complimentary expressions to scientific friends. Science

should be revered for its own sake; it has a reward, and the truth-

loving spirit alone should be the stimulus in our finite attempts to

vestigate the past wonders of Creative Wisdom.

Flore de [ Ouest de la France. By J.Luoyp. 12mo. Nantes, 1854.

This book, of fully 770 pages, includes the plants of Bretagne and

the coasts of the Bay of Biscay to the north of the Gironde. It has

much interest to British botanists, owing to the great similarity of

the Bretagne plants to those of our south-western counties. The

author possesses much skill in detecting the distinctive points of

plants, and has usually so marked them by typographical arrange-

ments as to render their separation from the long descriptions tole-

rably easy.

This book is very valuable and well deserving of attention. Its

author is better acquainted with the doings of the botanists of other

countries than is usual with those of France.

Flore du Centre de la France et du Bassin de la Loire. Third

Edition. By A. Boreav. 8vo. Paris, 1857.

The fact of this work having arrived at a third edition would haye

been a sufficient reason for considering it as deserving of attention,

and an examination of its contents shows that it cannot be safely

58 Bibhographical Notices.

neglected by those who are attached to the study of European

plants.

The descriptive part of the work forms a volume of more than

750 pages. It is accompanied by a smaller volume consisting of an

“Introduction,” ‘‘ Notions Elémentaires de Botanique,” including a

Glossary, a very complete ‘‘ Clef analytique de la Flore,” and “ Pro-

prictés et usages des plantes et étymologies de leurs noms.”

The descriptive volume has the peculiarities, both advantageous

and otherwise, which are usual in French Floras. The deseriptions

of both genera and species are very elaborate and most accurate ;

but the synonymy is almost wholly neglected, and the writings of

foreign botanists seem to be little known to the author: German

Floras are occasionally noticed, but those of England are searcely

recognized. There are no definite specific characters, and the reader

is put to considerable trouble in order to discover the distinctions

between the species ; for the analytical tables are far from furnishing

them, except to a very slight extent. This is a fault common to all

the best modern Floras of France : indeed, that most valuable portion

of the Linnzan system seems never to have established itself there.

This defect must tend to the disadvantage of the French botanists ;

for many persons will not take the somewhat considerable trouble of

discovering the characters upon which their species are founded, and

thus they will suffer undeserved neglect.

M. Boreau announces in his Introduction that he belongs to that

school which considers all permanent varieties as species (including,

of course, cultivated plants), and consequently he admits a multitude

of what many of our most eminent botanists call “false species.”

We incline to a middle course, believing that many of the plants

pointed out by MM. A. Jordan, Boreau, and others, are really specifi-

cally distinct ; but are nevertheless convinced that numbers of others

have not the requisite constancy of character. For instance, we

cannot believe that Draba verna, Linn., consists of nine species, with

M. A. Jordan; nor of five; as recorded in the Flora before us. It is

to be feared that in that case the Linnzean canon—that the genus or

species shows the character, not the character the species—is too

much neglected. Those who are accustomed to examine the minute

external structure of plants have much reason for guarding them-

selves against this error, into which it seems natural for them to fall.

But, on the other hand, those botanists seem to be at least equally

in error who would neglect the more inconspicuous distinctions, and

rashly, although perhaps conveniently for themselves and their be-

heving followers, declare all plants between which they cannot find a

good “paper’’ character, to be only varieties of each other. The

reviewer believes that nature has specifically separated many plants

which the acuteness of botanists has not succeeded in distinguishing

by good definitions, and that we do not advance science when we

decide authoritatively that the want of such definitions is conclusive

against the existence of the species. He protests also, in common

with our French contemporaries, against the modern doctrine, that a

series of specimens from various parts of the world, such as are found

Royal Society. 59

in the great herbaria, prove the identity of many so-called species,

Itis only the converse of a mistake often charged, rightly or wrongly,

upon the school to which M. Boreau belongs. They are stated to

describe species from single specimens ; but they may return the com-

pliment by announcing that their opponents combine them upon just

as little evidence. For in what does a “‘series”’ of individual speci-

mens—one from the Himalaya, another from Siberia, and a third

from Europe, with a few more from other countries,—differ from so

many single specimens of species? How can the writers know, in

these cases, that they are not samples of plants presenting a con-

stancy of character each in its own country? It is as rash to com-

bine as it would be to separate them upon such imperfect evidence.

But we have perhaps occupied too much space with this matter,

and run considerably away from the work proposed for consideration.

We therefore conclude by recommending all earnest students of

European, and especially British botany to obtain the ‘Flore du

Centre de la France.”

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

April 29, 1858.—J. P. Gassiot, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.

«On the Structure and Functions of the Hairs of the Crustacea.”

By Campbell De Morgan, Esq.

The object of this communication is to determine, by the observa-

tion of their anatomical relations, the uses of the hairs and similar

appendages to the shell of the Crustacea. The author mentions the

observations of those who have of late specially investigated this sub-

ject. M. Lavalle noticed the connexion at times of the canals of the

hairs with canals penetrating the whole thickness of the shell, and

the occasional continuity of the matter which filled the hairs with

that which exists in the corresponding canal of the shell. M. Hollard

says that the canals of the shell which correspond to the hairs, are

occupied by membranous investments, which embrace the base of the

hairs, and seem to receive an extension of the nutrient system. He

suggests that amongst other functions, the hairs may possibly be con-

nected with that of general sensibility. Dr. Hackel in a recent pub-

lication has shown that the canals of the shell and hair are lined bya

continuation of the outer layer of the soft internal integument, which

he calls the chitinogenous layer. He describes minutely the structure

of the inner integument, and his account on the whole agrees with

that given by Milne-Edwards ; but he does not recognize the presence

in the canals, of any of the elements of the inner integument except

the external cuticular or chitinogenous layer; nor the connexion of

these canals with the corium which lies beneath it, and which

receives abundantly nerves and vessels.

According to the investigations of the author, it is with this deeper,

60 Royal Society :—

vascular and nervous layer that the contents of the hair-canals and

of the corresponding canals in the shell are especially connected.

This can be readily seen in parts where the shell is thin, asin the foot-

jaws for example. In a section made in such a situation, the canals

leading to the hairs will be found to be often nearly as large as the

bases of the hairs to which they correspond. They are lined by a

thick membrane, which invests the cup-shaped cavity in which the

hairs are implanted, and becomes so closely connected with the bulb

of the hair itself, that it is often dragged out with it when the hair

is pulled out. The eells and other elements of the deeper layer

of the internal integument fill up the canal and pass on into the

hairs.

Where the shell is thick, as in the claw of a lobster, the sheaths

which are connected with the hair-bulbs and line the shell-canals can

be demonstrated in the manner adopted by Mr. Tomes to show the

existence of the dentinal fibres. If a section of a part of the shell or

the claw where the hairs are implanted, and which has been previously

softened in dilute acid, be torn through, the sheaths will usually be

dragged out, and will be seen projecting from the torn edges, their

contents often remaining in them. ‘The connexion of the imner in-

tegument with these sheaths may be seen in sections of the claw with

the integument still adhering to it, when on carefully tearing away the

latter, its prolongations into the sheaths will be dragged out. ‘That

the hairs have some especial and important connexion with the inner

vascular and nervous layer of the integument of the lobster’s claw and

elsewhere, seems probable from the observations made by the author

on the contents of the claw. The terminal moveable piece, the pollex,

and the prolongation of the metatarsus which it opposes, the index,

do not contain muscular fibre, but are filled entirely by a soft pulpy

mass of corium. ‘The nerves of the limb are large, but only some

small branches will be found to go to the muscles; the principal nerves

pass on and terminate in the pulp which fills the opposing pieces of

the claw. The author believes that it is the office of the hairs to.

establish a communication between the outer surface and this inner,

and no doubt highly sensitive pulp, and that this is rendered still

further probable by the comparison of the claws on the two sides.

In the smaller claw the edges are sharp, and have fine tubercles

along their margin; and the hairs are placed in a regular series of

short tufts on each side of the tubercles, beyond which they do not

project. But on the larger crushing claw, the tubercles are massive,

and no hairs are seen projecting above the surface. If, however, a

section be made, it will be seen that a communication is esta-

blished between the inner pulp and the surface by means of an abun-

dant series of canals which terminate in bulbous extremities, sometimes

projecting beyond the surface, sometimes lodged in depressions in the

shell. This arrangement may be found in other parts; and in the

crab’s claw, where the tubercles are deficient, these hairless pulp-

cavities almost entirely replace the hairs.

Here, then, lodged within the densest part of the shell, is a strue-

ture richly supplied with nerves, shut off from other parts of the

Sir P. de Malpas Grey Egerton on Chondrosteus. 61

body, and having communication with the surface only through the

medium of canals, which are sometimes continued into short bristles,

and sometimes terminate in mere bulbs. As a prehensile organ, the

claw needs sensibility, but no force which the animal could exercise

could make any impression on the parts within, through its dense

tuberculated edges. On the other hand, it is difficult to assign any

office to the bristles, and still more to the bulbs, mechanical or

otherwise, unless it be that which has been suggested,—that, establish-

ing, as they do, a communication between the external surface and the

nervous structure within, they communicate impressions, and are in

fact tactile organs.

The author had satisfied himself, before the appearance of Dr.

Hackel’s paper, that the hairs were connected with the inner layers

of the corium, and not with the chitinogenous membrane only; and he

had seen indications in the lobster and larger Crustacea of an arrange-

ment of the pulp corresponding to the arrangement of the hairs.

In the smaller Crustacea, especially in the shrimps, he found a re-

markable confirmation of his views. In the flabelliform processes,

and even in the claws in these animals, he found that the structures

within the shell were arranged in the form of tubes corresponding to

the hairs, through which passed from the deeper parts, fibres which

were prolonged into the hair-canals. In the claw the nerve was

traced to the inner termination of these tubes. The tubes in some

instances merged internally into the general mass of the corium; in

others they were truncated. Externally, or towards the margins, they

presented open orifices, through which the fibres passed. The fibres,

when drawn out from the hair-canals, often presented the plumose or

serrated character, according to the form of hair to which they

belonged. They could be traced for some distance down the tubes,

and at times completely through them, but their deep connexions

could not be clearly made out. Several modifications of this arrange-

ment are described and figured. The author believes that the facts

brought forward are sufficient to establish that the hairs of the Crus-

tacea are probably organs by which external impressions are com-

municated to the internal sensitive parts.

May 6, 1858.—The Lord Wrottesley, President, in the Chair.

“ On Chondrosteus, an extinct genus of Fish allied to the Sturio-

nide.’’ By Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart., F.R.S.

Before the conclusion of his great work on Fossil Fishes, Pro-

fessor Agassiz recognized in some fragmentary remains found in the

lias strata at Lyme Regis, unmistakeable evidence of the existence, at

that period of the earth’s deposition, of a representative of the still

extant family of the Sturgeons. To this extinct fish he assigned

the name Chondrosteus. The author of the present memoir has

been enabled, by the examination of numerous specimens more re-

cently acquired, to describe in some detail the external features of

the fish, and the structural peculiarities of those portions of the

exo- and endo-skeleton which have been preserved. In the former

62 Zoological Society :-—

respect the fossil differs from the recent sturgeon in having a shorter

and deeper trunk, in the greater vertical expanse and wider diver-

gence of the lobes of the caudal fin, in the median position of the

dorsal fin, and in the absence of dermal plates on the back, belly,

and flanks. Before describing the cranial anatomy, the author

points out certain homologies between the head-plates of the recent

sturgeon and the epicranial bones of the teleostean fishes, more

especially with reference to the parietals, mastoids and frontals ; and

explains that these conclusions have resulted from the examination

of the inner table of the skull, where the relative position and propor-

tions of the component plates are constant, however much the outer

or dermal layer may vary.

The remainder of the memoir is devoted to detailed descriptions

of such parts as are preserved in the several specimens; and the

author concludes by stating as the result of his investigations, that

Professor Agassiz was right in referring the liassic fish to the

Sturionidee ; that in some respects it evidenced a transitional form

between the latter family and the more typical ganoids; that its

food was similar to that of the existing members of the family, but

that it was procured in a tranquil sea, rather than in the tumultuous

waters frequented by sturgeons of the present time.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 9, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

On a New Genus or MytTILip&, AND ON SOME DisTORTED

ForMS WHICH OCCUR AMONG BIVALVE SHELLS. By Dr. J.

E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S.

We have for several years had some specimens of large Myti-

lide in the Museum Collection which I have always regarded as the

types of a distinct genus, but have deferred from time to time their

publication, as I was informed that Dr. Dunker and others were en-

gaged on a monograph of the family. Dr. Dunker having described

the species without forming it into a group, I have therefore brought

it before the Society, and at the same time make some observations

on a peculiarity which the species presents.

STAVELIA, N. g.

Shell inequivalve, inequilateral, subtrigonal ; umbo anterior ; the

front of the ventral edge sinuous, the flatter valve with a broad ex-

panded lobe on the front of the ventral margin, the more convex one

with a deep sinuosity to fit the lobe of the other valve. Anterior

adductor sear distinct, oblong; posterior roundish ; submarginal

sear parallel to the edge of the shell, entire. Hinge toothless. Li-

gament and cartilage linear, marginal, rather short.

Periostraca laminate, with elongated flat linear or tapering pro-

cesses.

This genus differs from Mytilus in the inequality of the valve and

Dr. J. E. Gray on a new genus of Mytilide. 63

the sinuosity of the lower edge, in the entire absence of any small

teeth under the umbo, and in the paleaceous periostraca.

1. STAVELIA TORTA.

Mytilus tortus et M. horridus, Dunker, Proc. Zool. Soe. 1856 ;

Reeve, Conch. Icon. t. 3. f. 6 & 9.

Hab. North Australia and Philippines.

I cannot discover any permanent character between the two spe-

cimens described by Dr. Dunker.

The specimens of this genus in the Museum, and others which

have come under my observation, offer a peculiarity which I have

hitherto only observed in a very few other bivalve shells, and in none

to the extent which is presented in this species.

In my paper “On the Formation and Structure of Shells,’ in

the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for 1833 (reprinted by Dr. John-

ston, ‘ Letters on Conchology,’ p. 413), I observe,—

*<In some very rare instances the shells (bivalves) are also reversed ;

but the fact is not easily observed except in the unequal-valved kinds.

There were formerly in the Tankerville collection two specimens of

LIucina Childreni, in one of which the right valve was a dextral

shell, in opposition to the general structure. These specimens are

now in the British Museum Collection.”

The four specimens of this shell which I have under my eye pre-

sent the same anomaly as the two specimens of Lucina Childreni

above referred to, that is to say, two of them have the left valve the

flattest and furnished with the large lobe on the front of the ventral

margin, and in the other two it is the right valve which has this

form and development; and I cannot observe any other peculiarity

in the specimens except this indifference between the development

of the sides of the animal. So that, as in Lucina Childreni, it

is impossible to determine which is the normal form of the species.

A somewhat similar indifference as to the direction of the shell is to

be observed in some land univalve shells, as Budimus aureus, where

the shell appears to be indifferently dextral and sinistral; but in the

genus Stavelia it appears more extraordinary on account of the great

difference of the form of the two valves.

We have just received from China a large species of Mutelade,

allied to Unio Grayii of Lea, (which I do not name, as Mr. Cuming

informs me that Mr. Isaac Lea is describing and figuring it in Phila-

delphia*), which offers a curious peculiarity.

These shells have the hinder extremity twisted up on one side

‘somewhat like Arca tortuosa, but not so regularly ; and unlike that

species, the flexure is not always in the same direction: some have

the bend towards the right, and the others towards the left of the

animal.

I may observe, that, as far as I have been able to examine, the side

seems a matter of indifference, for as many of the specimens are

bent to the one side as the other.

* Triquetra lanceolata seu contorta, Lea.

64. Zoological Society :—

It is to be observed that in Arca tortuosa and A. semitorta the

hinge-line is always straight, and it is only the basal line which is

bent to one side, the valves being slightly unequal, and in fact the

shell is not distorted ; while in the Hyria under consideration the

upper edge of the shell is bent as well as the lower one, and the

shell is truly altered in form by some external circumstance.

The shells appear as if they had been softened and suddenly

twisted on one side. It has been suggested that this change in the

form may be produced by the position which the shell occupies in

the mud or under the stones near which it lives; but it is to be

observed that Uniones generally live sunk in the mud, and not lying on

one side, and that, like shells which live in an erect position, they have

equal valves, while those that live lying on their side almost always

have unequal ones ; and if the form depended on this circumstance,

as the animal must sometimes move and must be sometimes turned

over, we ought to find some specimens with the flexure partly on

one side and partly on the other, but no such specimens have

occurred to me.

I am inclined to believe that it arises from some peculiar predi-

lection of the animal itself, by which it probably more easily obtains

its food in the peculiar situation in which it resides.

These shells were sent to England from China by one of Mr. For-

tune’s collectors. They were accompanied by some specimens of

reptiles and insects, on which the Chinese collectors had been exer-

cising their ingenuity in hopes of adding to their value. Thus there

was a stuffed specimen of a Night Lizard (Geeko Reevesii) which

had a square tuft of hair from some mammal stuck on the back of

its neck.

A Snake, which had the claw of a mammal surrounded with fur

inserted on each side of its neck just behind the head, so as to make

it appear as if it had rudimentary feet armed with large claws.

Several of the Coleopterous insects, especially the larger Ceram-

byces, were painted, so as to give them quite a different appearance

from the usual and natural colour of the species.

I may add that the work was so coarsely executed as to be dis-

covered on the most cursory examination of the specimens, and could

only have been intended to deceive the most ignorant collectors.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE GENUS NERITA AND ITS OpERCULUM.

By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., etc.

The distinction of the species of this genus is rather difficult ;

therefore whatever assists in dividing the species into smaller groups

is of use, as limiting the number of species between which any doubt

can be entertained.

Considerable confidence has therefore been placed in the form of

the surface of the inner lip, which in some species is smooth, in

others tubercular or ridged, or both ridged and tubercular; but

in examining a large series of specimens from the same locality,

though the character is generally permanent, the tubercles or ridges

Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Nerita. 65

vary considerably in number and size, and are sometimes almost

entirely wanting. It is to be observed that in many of the species

which have this part tubercular, the tubercles are more distinct and

crowded in the younger, and especially the youngest, than in the

older, or what is usually called the more perfectly developed state of

the species. In other genera such characters are generally more

developed in the shells formed in the most perfect state of the

animal. Mr. Adams has founded subgenera on characters furnished

by the surface of the inner lip. é‘

My studies on Mollusca have proved to me that few parts offer

more important and better characters for the separation of the

families, genera and species, than the operculum. This has been

illustrated in the family Neritide.

The family is well characterized by the form of this part, and the

possession of the internal apophysis or shelly lobe under the nucleus,

forming a kind of hinge on the sharp inner lip of the shell.

In my paper in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1833,

I stated that the structure of the operculum offered the best

character to separate the Nerite from the Neritine, and I there ob-

served, “The operculum of Nerita agrees in form with that of Ve-

ritina, but differs in having no cartilage on its edge, which is fur-

nished instead with a groove in its outer surface, being covered with

a thick, variously formed shelly deposit as in the genus Turbo, and

in its inner surface being lined with a thick, callous, polished coat.

Between the outer and inner coat there exists avery distinct concen-

trically striated horny layer, like the operculum ‘of Littorina, and

the left muscular scar is deeply grooved like that of the subannular

operculum.

“This difference in the structure of their opercula forms an ex-

cellent distinctive character between these two genera.”

In the same paper I observed, ‘The difference in the outer sur-

face of the opercula of the genus Nerita affords a good character

for the separation of the species.”

I have lately had an opportunity of examining a large number

of freshly collected Nerites, with their opercula dried in the mouth

of the shell, so that there can be no doubt that they are the real

opercula of the species, and that these opercula have not been put

into the mouths of the shells at random, as is too often the case

with shells which have passed through the hands of dealers *.

The species may be divided according to their opercula as fol-

lows :— ;

1. Operculum polished, with a broad, slightly raised, concentrically

grooved, submarginal band. Nerita.

N. polita. Costal grooves arched (fig. 1).

N. lineolata. Costal grooves straight (fig. 2).

* In Adams’s Genera of Shells, t. 42. f. 1, a, 4, a granular operculum, probably

that of N. signata, is figured as that of Nerita polita.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 5

66 Zoological Society :—

2. Operculum polished, with a broad, slightly raised, granulated,

submarginal band. Ritena.

N. plicata (fig. 3).

The specimens vary slightly in the distinctness, and especially in

the breadth, of the tubercular submarginal band.

3. Operculum with a broad, raised, convex, smooth, submarginal

band. ‘'Tenare.

* Operculum smooth.

N. Peloronta (fig. 5).

** Operculum granular.

N. ornata (fig. 4). The younger shells have the inner lip more

granular, and the adult more ridged.

4. Operculum uniform, granular, without any raised or distinct

submarginal band. Natere.

* Inner lip granulated.

N. exuvia.

N. Malaccensis.

N. albicilla (fig. 6).

N. Senegalensis.

1. Nerita polita. 2. N. lineolata. 3. N. plicata.

4. N. ornata. 5. N. Peloronta. 6. N. albicilla.

** Inner lip ridged.

. variabilis. ‘

Chameleon.

. versicolor.

. tessellata.

*** Inner lip smooth.

. signata. The granules large, in lines.

atra.

. nconspicua.

tit fat at

The Puperita pupa, from the West Indian Seas, has an oper-

Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Cuscus. 67

culum of a single coat, with a polished surface like Neritina. This

genus, in the ‘Guide to the Mollusca in the British Museum,’

is by mistake put in the same section as Nerita, instead of that of

Neritina (see p. 137).

February 23, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

Nove ON THE SKELETON OF THE SHEATH-BILL (CHIONIS ALBA).

By T. C. Eyton, Esa., F.L.S.

The general appearance of this skeleton is similar to that of the

Plovers ; the fissures on the posterior part of the sternum are, how-

ever, not quite so deep in proportion to its length, nor is the keel so

broad, but its form is very similar, and distinct from that of other

grallatorial birds. It differs from Thinochorus (with which I at

first thought it might be allied) in having two fissures in the posterior

margin of the sternum, Thinochorus having but one. On comparing

the skeleton with some portion of the skeleton of Glareola pratin-

cola, the bones are almost identical in form, particularly the sternum,

head and pelvis. I should therefore be inclined to place Chionis

and Glareola in the same family.

Mr. G. R. Gray arranges this form along with the Thinochorine

in his order ‘ Galline ;’ Prince Bonaparte, in his ‘ Conspectus Sy-

stematis Ornithologie ’ (1854), places it next to the Gulls, in the

order ‘ Gavie.’

OBSERVATIONS ON THE GENUS CuscUSs, WITH THE DESCRIPTION

or A New Species. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S.,

Pres. Env. Soc., erTc.

Mr. Wallace having sent two specimens of this genus to the British

Museum, to determine them I went over the previous observations on

the genus, and examined the numerous specimens which are in the

Museum collection, received from the French voyages of discovery,

Mr. J. Macgillivray, the Naturalist of H.M. Ship ‘ Rattlesnake,’

and those now sent from the Island of Ula; and I have come to

the belief that they are all to be referred to four species, which are

very variable in the colour of the fur ; one variable in both the sexes ;

another, in which the sexes differ greatly from each other, but

appear to be permanent in their colour; one species in which the

fur of the two sexes is alike and uniform in colour; and one, of

which the female sex only is known, which is uniform iron-grey.

The two have the ears small, hairy on both sides, and hidden in

the fur ; the other two have larger ears, exposed beyond the fur and

bald within.

M. Temminck, in the first volume of the ‘ Monographies de

Mammologie,’ published in 1827, divides the short hairy-eared kinds

into three species.

At the time he wrote he only had specimens from the northern

part of Celebes, brought home by Professor Reinhardt, and from

the islands of Banda and Amboyna.

68 Zoological Society :—

The species evidently depend principally on the colour of the

far, which appears to be very variable in different individuals. It is

true that he describes and figures skulls of the different individuals ;

but the difference between those of Phalangista chrysorrhos and P.

maculata appears chiefly to depend on the age and development of

the specimens figured. M. Temminck and the writers of his school

always forget that the skull and other parts of the skeleton are

liable to quite as much variation from local circumstances, food,

and other accidental causes, as the colour of the fur or the size of

the animal.

1. In Phalangista ursina the fur is thicker and closer, and the

long hairs thicker than in the other species, blackish, with yellow

tips to the longer hairs; and the forehead of the skull is flat. Of this

he had several specimens of different ages, all brought by Professor

Reinhardt from the northern part of Celebes, the natives of which

have not observed any varieties in colouring.

2. P. chrysorrhos is described from two specimens brought home

by the same Professor, from some of the Moluceas, which have a short

cottony fur, of an ash-grey more or less black, and the rump and

upper part of the base of the tail golden-yellow.

3. Of P. maculata Temminck particularly observes, that the

fur in all ages and in both sexes is covered with irregular white or

brown spots, which are paler and less marked in the young. The

very young are sometimes entirely ashy. They come from Banda

and Amboyna.

The yellow colour of the rump and the base of the tail, as far as

the specimens in the British Museum show, is common to the ashy

specimens, which might be called P. chrysorrhos, and the variegated

specimens, which might be named P. maculata: it is very diffi-

cult to distinguish the pale-ramped ashy ones from those without

that mark; but it is easy to connect the grey or ashy spotted ones

with either the one or the other; and it is impessible to separate

the ashy-grey spotted ones from the brown or orange spotted speci-

mens. In one specimen the animal is nearly white, with some small

dark spots about an inch over; and in another the animal is white,

with red feet, and one Jarge red spot on the middle of the back.

From the examination of the specimens in the British Museum,

and of their skulls, I am inelined to believe that the P. ursina

is distinct, and that P. ehrysorrhos and P. maculata are varieties of

the same species.

1. Cuscus MACULATUS.

Ears almost hidden in the fur, clothed internally and externally

with fur ; forehead convex ; forehead of the skull convex and rounded

in front ; grinders moderate ; fur ashy-grey, or white and grey, or

reddish, varied or spotted. Rump and base of the tail yellowish-

white.

Phalanger, male, Buffon, H. N. xiii. t. 11.

Phalangista maculata, Desm, N. D. HH. N. xxv. 472; Temm.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Cuscus. 69

Monog. i. 14. t. 3. f. 1-6; Quoy & Gaim. Voy. Uran. Zool. 59.

t.7; Waterh. Mamm. i. 274. f. .

Phalangista ursina, part., Waterh. Mamm. 267.

Phalangista chrysorrhos, Temm. Monog. i. 12; Waterh. Mamm.

i. 271.

Cuscus maculatus, Lesson & Garnot, Voy. Coq. Zool. 150. t. 4.

Cuscus macrourus, Lesson & Garnot, Voy. Coq. Zool. i. 156. t. 5;

Waterhouse, Mamm. i. 277.

Hab. New Guinea.

Chrysorrhos would perhaps be the better name for this species,

because all I have seen have the rump and base of the tail yellow,

whilst some are not spotted.

Of this species we have in the British Museum—

1. Adult female, from the Moluccas, from the Leyden Museum,

sent as C. chrysorrhos. Uniform ashy-grey ; face, throat, chest, and

beneath the rump and base of the tail yellowish.

2. Young female, from the south coast of New Guinea. Pre-

sented by J. B. Jukes, Esq. Dark blackish-ashy ; head, neck and

shoulders paler; rump and base of the tail reddish-yellow ; cheeks,

throat and beneath white ; feet bright red. :

The two sides of this specimen are not coloured alike. The fore-

head of the sku// is very convex.

3. Half-grown “male from Darnley Island, brought from the

south coast of New Guinea.” Presented by J. Macgillivray, Esq.

Reddish; back and thighs darker blackish-ashy ; cheeks, throat, under

side, large confluent spots on the sides, the rump and tail white;

feet bright red. Like Cuseus maculatus, Quoy and Gaimard, Voy.*

Uranie, t. 7.

4. Half-grown ‘“ male from New Guinea.’ Presented by J. Mac-

gillivray, Esq. Like the former, but white, with irregular large

symmetrical pale reddish spots on body, limbs and tail.

5. Half-grown “ female from Dufaure Island, south coast of New

Guinea.” Presented by John Macgillivray, Esq. Like the former,

but white, with one very large reddish spot on the hinder part of

the back; two large spots on the hind legs, and an obscured in-

dication of a large patch on the shoulders; the feet red.

6. Half-grown, from the “island of Waygeroo.”” From M. Ver-

reaux. Ashy-grey cheeks; back with some white spots; throat,

chest, belly, rump and tail white ; sides white, with scattered, round,

nearly equal-sized spots ; feet reddish.

7. Adult male. Aru Island. Sent by Mr. Wallace. White; body

and limbs with small, roundish, rarely confluent, blackish-ashy spots ;

feet white: the skull has a very convex forehead.

Cuscus maculatus, Lesson, Voy. Coq. t. 4, is intermediate in

colour and marking between Nos. 7 and 3.

Cuscus macrourus, Lesson, Voy. Coq. t. 5, from the island of

70 Zoological Society :—

Waygeroo, bears a great similarity to No. 3; but the reddish spots

are less confluent.

The figure of C. Quoyi, m Quoy and Gaimard, Voy. Uranie, t. 6,

looks like a specimen of this species intermediate between the ashy

and spotted variety, being ashy with darker obscure spots.

2. CusCUS BREVICAUDATUS.

The ears hid in the fur, woolly internally and externally ; tail

short ; the forehead -?; the front lower cutting-teeth broad.

Female uniform ashy-grey ; rump and base of tail, throat, chest

and belly yellowish dirty-white.

Phalangista nudicaudata, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soe. 1849, 110.

Hab. Cape York.

This species is only known by “a female two-thirds grown, sent

from Cape York” to the British Museum by John Macgillivray,

Esq.

li is very like the ashy. variety of C. maculatus, but the front

lower cutting-teeth are much broader, and the tail, which has the

bones still remaining on it, is considerably shorter than any of our

specimens of C. maculatus.

The specimen in the British Museum is that described by Mr.

Gould.

Mr. Gould refers this animal to the subgenus Pseudocheirus of the

genus Phalangista, and calls it P. nudicaudata, because it “ differs

from all the other Australian members of the genus in having the

apical three-fourths of its tail entirely destitute of hair.’ But Mr.

Gould overlooked the fact that it is not a Pseudocheirus, but a Cus-

cus, all the species of which have the major part of the tail naked ;

"and the species under consideration has the naked part of the tail,

and indeed the tail itself, shorter than the rest of the species ; so that

the specific name of nudicaudata is singularly inapplicable.

The light mark on the rump, which Mr. Gould compared to that

of the Koala, is also common to the species of Cuscus, and is pro-

bably produced by the habit of the animal sitting on its rump, rolled

up into a ball, on the fork of the branches of trees.

The skull shows that the animal is much younger than the label

indicates, as it appears only to have the milk teeth, and the broad

lower incisors of the younger specimens of this genus. The skull

differs both from that of C. wrsinus and C. maculatus, but it is too

young to predict what may be the normal form ‘of the adult animal.

The front half of the space between the eyes is rather convex, but

not néarly so much so as the young skull of C. maculatus ; and the

front of the forehead just behind the convexity described is rather

concave ; this concavity has no resemblance to the deep concavity

occupying nearly the whole space between the eyes in C. ursinus and

C. maculatus.

3. CUSCUS URSINUS.

Ears almost hidden in the fur, clothed with fur internally and ex-

ternally ; fur blackish-ash, with larger silvery hairs; head, throat

Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Cuscus. 71

belly and tail rather pale brown; forehead flat, concave; forehead

of the skull flat, deeply concave ; grinders large, in a strongly-arched

series.

Phalangista (Ceonix) ursina, Temm. Monog. i. 10. t. 1. f. 1-3 ;

t. 2. f. 1-5, skull; t. 3, skeleton ; Lesson, Cent. Zool. t. 10 ; Water-

house, Mamm. i. 267, part.

Hab. Celebes.

We have in the British Museum only a single specimen of this

species with its skull, which was obtained from the Zoological Society,

and is the specimen described by Mr. Waterhouse in his Natural

History of the Mammalia, i. p. 268. The other specimen there

indicated as being in the British Museum is a young C. maculatus.

In Lesson’s figure in Cent. Zool. t. 10, it is represented as uniform

blackish-brown, with rather large white-edged ears !

The larger size of the teeth and the flatness of the forehead at

once separate this from C. maculatus.

4, Cuscus ORIENTALIS.

Ears produced beyond the fur, naked internally ; forehead con-

cave. Male white. Female pale reddish-brown, with a darker

longitudinal streak ; skull with a narrow concave forehead ; grinders

moderate.

2 3S Phalangista cavifrons, Temm. Monog. i. 17.

2 3 Cuscus orientalis, Gray, List Mamm. B.M. 84.

2 $ Phalangista (Cuscus) orientalis, Waterh. Mamm. i. 279.

3 Coescoes, Valentyn, Omst. in Amboyna, ili. 272.

Phalanger, Penn. Quadr. ii. 27.

3 Didelphis orientalis, Pallas, Mise. Zon. 9; Schreb. Saugth.

550..t. 152.

3 Cuscus Amboinensis, Lacép.

3 Phalangista alba, Geoff. Cat. Mus.

3 Cuscus albus, Lesson & Garnot, Voy. Coq. Zool. i. 158. t. 6.

3 Balantia orientalis, Mliger, Prodr. 78.

2 Phalangista rufa, Geoff. Cat. Mus.; Desm. N. D. H. N. xxv.

473.

Cuscus Quoyii, Lesson, Mamm. 226.

Phalangista Quoyi, Quoy & Gaim. Voy. Uranie, Zool. 58. t. 6? ?;

Temm. Mon. Mamm. i. 17.

Phalangista Papuensis, Desm. Mamm. Supp. ii. 541 ; Bull. Sci.

Nat. iii. 64.

Phalangista (Cuscus) maculata, part., Waterhouse, Mamm. 1. 275.

? Cuscus albus, Lesson, Voy. Coq. t. 6, 5?

Of this species we have in the British Museum—

1. Adult male, from New Ireland, procured from M. Verreaux of

Paris ; said to have come from one of the expeditions. Pure white ;

throat yellow ; feet nearly bald.

72 Zoological Society.

2. A nearly adult male, from the old collection, said to have come

from Amboyna. White.

3. Young male? Uniform pale brownish-yellow ; throat, chest and

belly whiter. From the island of Waygeroo ; procured from M. Ver-

reaux of Paris.

4, Adult female. Ashy-brown, glistened with silvery ; throat,

chest and belly pure white ; back with a narrow uniform longitudinal

streak. This is sent as Cuscus Quoyit, Lesson, Mamm. 230 ; Pk.

Papuensis of Desmarest, Supp. The figure of M. Gaimard’s animal

in the ‘ Voyage of the Uranie,’ t. 6, is more like a variety of C. ursi-

nus; but the description agrees with our animal.

5. Young female, from the island of Waygeroo; procured from

M. Verreaux.

6. Young female, from Aru Islands; procured from Mr. A. R.

Wallace. These two only differ from the adult specimen in the

silvery hairs of the back being rather more abundant, but they seem

to be deciduous.

Phalangista Papuensis of Desm. was described from a female

specimen collected’ by M. Gaimard, which was afterwards described

as Ph. Quoyt. In Quoy and Gaimard, ‘ Zoology to the Voyage of

the Uranie,’ it is described as having a darker dorsal line, which

rather widens over the loins, which at once shows that it must be the

female of P. orientalis.

Mr. Waterhouse has referred both these names without any com-

ment as a synonym of ee maculata, misled probably by Tem-

minck, who (Mon. Mamm. i. 18) states them to be the young of P.

maculata—evidently aranniae the dorsal stripe.

Lesson, in the ‘ Voyage of the Coquille,’ figures a male animal as

Cuscus albus, t. 6, from Port Praslin, New Ireland: ; it is white, with

a narrow black streak, just as in the female of this species.

Knowing the little authority that is often to be placed on M. Les-

son’s figures, I suspect it is the figure of a pale or perhaps bleached

specimen of a female P. orientalis, inwhich some fold of the pouch,

probably produced by bad stuffing, has been mistaken by the artist

for the scrotum of a male.

5. Cuscus CELEBENSIS.

Jars produced beyond the fur, naked internally. Male and female

alike, ashy-grey, grizzled with silvery hairs ; the nape and the upper

part of es middle of the back blacker, tae without any distinet

dorsal streak.

Cuscus Celebensis, Brit. Mus.

Hab. Celebes.

We have of the species

. Young animal, from the island of Macassar ; procured from

Mi. “A. R. Wallace in 1851.

Geological Society. 73

2. Adult male and female, from San Cristoval, Soloman Group

of Islands, Dec. 1855. Presented by John Macgillivray, Esq. and

F. M. Rayner, Esq. in 1856.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

March 10, 1858.—Prof. Phillips, President, in the Chair.

“ Notes on some Outline-drawings and Photographs of the Skull

of Zygomaturus trilobus, Macleay, from Australia.” By Prof. Owen,

EB>., E.G.S.

About a month since Prof. Owen received from Sir R. Murchison

seven photographs, three of which are stereoscopic, of perhaps the

most extraordinary Mammalian fossil yet discovered in Australia.

These photographs, with a brief printed notice of their subject by

William Sharp Macleay, Esq., F.L.S., andsome MS. notes by J. D.

Macdonald, M.D., R.N., had been transmitted to Sir R. Murchison

by His Excellency Governor Sir W. Denison, from Sydney, New

South Wales; and by desire of Sir Roderick the Professor brought

the subject under the notice of the Geological Society of London, to

whom Sir Roderick desires to present the photographs on the part

of His Excellency Sir W. Denison.

Professor Owen had some weeks previously received from George

Bennett, Esq., F.L.S., of Sydney, outlines of the same fossil skull,

made by him on the reception of the specimen by the authorities of

the Australian Museum at that town; and the Professor had penned

notes of his comparisons of these sketches before receiving the

photographs and descriptions of the fossil skull from Sir R. I, Mur-

chison.

This unique and extraordinary skull of a probably extinct Mam-

mal, together with other bones, but without its lower jaw, were

found at King’s Creek, Darling Downs,—the same locality whence

the entire skull and other remains of the Diprotodon have been ob-

tained.

Mr. Macleay has described the fossil under notice as belonging

to a marsupial animal, probably as large as au Ox, bearing a near

approach to, but differing generically from, Diprotodon. He has

named it Zygomaturus trilobus. ‘Lhe skull has transversely ridged

molars, and a long process descending from the zygomatic arch, as

in the Megatherium and Diprotodon, and exhibits an extraordinary

width of the zygomatic arches. The skull at its broadest part,

across the zygomata, is 15 inches wide, and is 18 inches long. In

Diprotodon the skull is about 3 feet long by 1 foot 8 inches broad :

so that while the latter must have had a face somewhat like that of

the Kangaroo, the Zygomaturus more resembled the Wombat in the

face and head.

Prof. Owen stated that, from the evidences afforded by the photo-

graphs, he finds the dentition of this upper jaw to consist of three

incisors and five molars on cach side, of which the first appears to be

pit. got eno i—1 4—4 ,

a premolar and the rest true molars, ¢. ¢., 4. —, ¢.—, p.—, m. ;

agreeing, in this formula, with Macrepus and Diprotodon. The mo-

74: Royal Institution :—

difications of this dentition resemble those of the latter genus in th

retention of the premolar, after the last true molar has come int.

its place, and in the superior size of the first, as compared with th

second and third incisors. He then described in detail the socket:

of the incisors, and the form and conditions of the molar teeth.

which are highly characteristic of the marsupiality of this huge anc

most strange extinct quadruped. The cranial characters, which

were next described, equally elucidate this affinity. The peculiar

facial bones were then described in detail; that portion in advance

of the orbits forming, as it were, a short pedunculate appendage to

the rest of the skull, increasing ina remarkable manner in both ver-

tical and lateral extent as it approaches the muzzle, but not offering

any evidence of having borne a nasal horn, as theught to be probable

by Mr. Macieay. The cavity of the nose is divided by a bony

septum,—a character which Prof. Owen has lately found to exist

also in a rare species of living Wombat—to a much greater extent

than in other known marsupials. Wholly concurring in Mr. Mac-

leay’s conclusions as to the marsupial nature of the fossil in ques-

tion, Prof. Owen does not think that it exhibits evidences of a

generic distinction from Diprotodon. ‘The Professor suggested,

however, that probably the lower jaw, when found, may show some

peculiarities of dentition and proportions similar to those on which

he has founded the genus Nototherium.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

March 12, 1858.—The Duke of Northumberland, K.G., F.R.S.,

President, in the Chair.

On the Lowest (Rhizopod) Type of Animal Life, considered in its

relations to Physiology, Zoology, and Geology. By WiL1aM

B. Carrenter, M.D., F.R.S.

Among the unexpected revelations which the modern improved

microscope has made to the scientific investigator, there is perhaps

none more fertile in interest than that which relates to the ver

lowest type of animal existence; from the study of which both the

Physiologist and the Zoologist may draw the most instructive lessons,

whilst the Geologist finds in it the key to the existence of various

stratified deposits of no mean importance both in extent and

thickness.

Though the doctrines of Prof. Ehrenberg, as to the complexity of

organization possessed by the minutest forms of Animalcules, have

now been rejected by the concurrent voice of the most competent

observers, working with the best instruments, yet the wonders of

animalcular life are not in the least diminished by this repudiation

of them. Indeed, as great and small are merely relative terms, it

may be questioned whether the marvel of a complex structure com-

prised within the narrowest space we can conceive, is really so great

as that of finding those operations of life which we are accustomed

to see carried on by an elaborate apparatus, performed without any

Dr. Carpenter on the Rhizopod Type of Animal Life. 75

instruments whatever ;—a little particle of apparently homogeneous

jelly changing itself into a greater variety of forms than the fabled

Proteus, laying hold of its food without members, swallowing it

without a mouth, digesting it without a stomach, appropriating its

nutritious material without absorbent vessels or a circulating system,

moving from place to place without muscles, feeling (if it has any

power to do so) without nerves, multiplying itself without eggs, and

not only this, but in many instances forming shelly coverings of a

symmetry and completeness not surpassed by those of any testaceous

animals.

As an example of this type of existence, the 4meba, a common

inhabitant of fresh waters, may be first selected. This may be

described as a minute mass of “‘sarcode,’’ presenting scarcely any

_ evidence of organization even of the simplest kind; for although

its superficial layer has a somewhat firmer consistency than the

semifluid interior, this differentiation does not proceed to the extent

of constituting even a body so simple as the “cell’’ of physiologists,

which consists of a definite membrane investing and limiting its

contents. Although at some times shapeless and inert, the dmeba

at others is a creature of no inconsiderable activity. Its gelatinous

body extends itself into one or more finger-like prolongations ; the

interior substance transfers itself into one or other of these, dis-

tending it until the entire mass is (as it were) carried into it; and

then, after a short time, another prolongation is put forth, either in

the same or in some different direction, and the body being again

absorbed into it, the place of the animal is again changed. When

the creature, in the course of its progress, meets with a particle

capable of affording it nutriment, its gelatinous body spreads itself

over or around this, so as to envelope it completely ; and the par-

ticle (sometimes animal, sometimes vegetable) thus taken into this

extemporized stomach, undergoes a sort of digestion there, the

nutrient material being extracted, and any indigestible part making

its way to the surface, and being finally (as it were) squeezed out.

The Ameba multiplies itself by self-division ; and portions separated

from the jelly-like mass, either by cutting or tearing, can develope

themselves into independent beings.

Nearly allied to this is another curious organism, on which the

attention of many eminent microscopists has been recently fixed.

This creature, the Actinophrys, has a body whose form is more

constantly spherical, but extends its sarcode into radiating filaments

of extreme delicacy, which are termed psevdopodia; and it is by.

the agency of these, rather than by the change of place of its whole

body (as in dmeba), that it obtains its food. For when any small

free-moving animalcule or active spore of a vegetable comes into

_ contact with one of the pseudopodia, this usually retains it by

adhesion, and forthwith begins to retract itself; as it shortens, the

surrounding filaments also apply themselves to the captive particle,

bending their points together so as gradually to enclose it, and

themselves retracting until the prey is brought close to the surface

of the body. The threads of “‘sareode”’ of which the pseudopodia

76 Royal Institution :—

are composed, not being invested (any more than the sarcode of

the body) by any limiting membrane, coalesce with each other and

with it; and thus the particle which has been entrapped becomes

actually imbedded in the gelatinous mass, and gradually passes

towards the central part of it, where its digestible portion undergoes

solution, the superficial part of the body with its pseudopodial

prolongations in the meantime recovering its previous condition.

Any indigestible portion, as the shell of an Entomostracan, or the

hard case of a Rotifer, finds its way to the surface of the body, and

is extruded from it by a process exactly the converse of that by

which it was drawn in.

If, now, it be asked, in what consists the peculiar animality of

beings thus destitute of every feature that we are accustomed to

associate with the idea of an animal,—that is, if it be inquired

what are the characters by which they are distinguished from

vegetable organisms of equal simplicity,—-the physiologist cannot

with confidence reply that sufficient evidence is afforded by the

movements of the Amceeba and Actinophrys; since among the lowest

Plants there are many, which, at least in certain stages of their

lives, are endowed with yet even greater activity. A more positive

and satisfactory distinction lies in the nature of their aliment, and

in the method of its introduction. For whilst the protophyte obtains

the materials of its nutrition from the air and moisture that surround

it, and possesses the power of detaching oxygen, hydrogen, carbon

and nitrogen from their previous binary compounds, and of uniting

them into ternary and quaternary organic compounds (chlorophyll,

starch, albumen, &c.), the simplest protozoon, in common with the

highest members of the animal kingdom, seems utterly destitute

of any such power, and depends for its support upon organic sub-

stances previously elaborated by other living beings. Further,

whilst the protophyte obtains its nutriment by simple imbibition,

the protozoon, though destitute of any proper stomach, extemporizes,

as it were, a stomach for itself in the substance of its body, into

which it ingests the solid particles that constitute its food, and

within which it subjects them to a tegular process of digestion.

Hence these simplest members of the two kingdoms, which can

scarcely be distinguished from each other by any structural cha-

racters, seem to be physiologically separable by the mode in which

they perform those actions wherein their life most essentially consists.

There are found, both in fresh and salt waters, numerous examples

of this RKhizopod type, which do not present any essential advance

upon the Amaba and Actinophrys ; and a large proportion of these

are endowed with a shelly investment which may be either caleareous

or siliceous,—the former being the characteristic of the Foraminifera,

the latter of the Polycystina. In some of these testaceous forms,

the pseudopodia are put forth only from the mouth of the shell,

whilst in other cases this is perforated with minute apertures for

their passage; but where there are no such apertures, the sarcode

body not unfrequently extends itself over the entire external surface

of the shell, and may give off pseudopodia in every direction.

Dr. Carpenter on the Rhizopod Type of Animal Life. 77

Generally speaking, the Foraminifera live attached to sea-weeds,

zoophytes, &c.; but their pseudopodia have a very extensive range,

and form a sort of animated spider’s-web, most wonderfully adapted

for the prehension of food. The absence of any membranous

investment to these threads is clearly indicated by their fusion or

coalescence when two or more happen to come into contact; and

sometimes a fresh expansion of sarcode takes place at spots remote

from the body, so as to form new centres from which a fresh radi-

ation of pseudopodia proceeds.

By far the greater number of Foraminifera are composite fabrics,

evolved, like zoophytes, by a process of continuous gemmation, each

gemma or bud remaining in connexion with that from which it was

put forth; and according to the plan on which this gemmation

takes place, will be the configuration of the composite body thereby

produced. Where the segments succeed each other in a line, that

line is very commonly bent into a spiral; and each new segment

being a little larger than the preceding, the spire gradually opens

out, so that the shell very closely resembles that of the Nautilus,

both in its form and in its chambered structure. There is, however,

this essential difference,—that whereas in the Nautilus and other

chambered cells formed by cephalopod mollusks, the animal lives

only in the outermost chamber, all the inner ones having been suc-

cessively vacated by it, each chamber in the foraminiferous shell

continues to be occupied by a segment of the composite body, com-

municating with the segments within and without by threads of

sarcode, which traverse minute passages left in the partitions between

the chambers. In the classification of these forms, an extraordinary

amount of allowance has to be made for the very wide range of vari-

ation that may present itself within the limits of one and the same

specific type. It is very easy to select from any extensive collection

of Foraminifera, recent or fossil, sets of forms having certain characters

in common, but yet so dissimilar in other respects that few naturalists

would have any doubt as to their specific or even generic distinctness ;

yet when the collection is thoroughly examined, such a series of

intermediate forms is found to exist, as connects all these by grada-

tions so insensible as to prevent the possibility of any line of demar-

cation being satisfactorily drawn between them. A remarkable ex-

ample of this kind is presented by the generic types designated as

Dendritina and Peneroplis; the former being a minute shell, re-

sembling that of the Nautilus in its general proportions, and having

a single large dendritic aperture in its successive partitions; whilst

the latter is flattened, and instead of one large aperture, has a series

of small foramina arranged in a single line. Now between these

every gradation can be found, both in the form of the shell and in

the mode of communication through the septa; the flattened shell

of Peneroplis presenting various degrees of turgidity until it attains

the proportions of Dendritina; and the linear arrangement of the

isolated apertures, in like manner, giving place to one in which they

are approximated more closely together into a sort of bundle, still,

however, retaining their distinctness; whilst in other individuals,

78 Royal Institution :—

the distinct apertures coalesce into one large jagged orifice, the

borders of which become more and more deeply cut, until they

present the ramifying extensions characteristic of Dendritina. Now,

if, in such a series, we once begin to make a distinct species for

every well-marked dissimilarity, either in the form of the shell, or

in that of the aperture, we must multiply our species almost in-

definitely, contrary to all probability; and there is no medium

between doing this, and uniting the whole series of forms included

in these two reputed genera under one specific type. This is the

more remarkable, because in one locality we may find only the

Dendritina-form, in another only the Peneroplis-form, whilst the

transitional or intermediate forms come from a third.

Another remarkable example of this wide range of specific

characters is presented in the Orditolite, a composite organism,

which, originating in a spheroidal nucleus of sarcode, increases by

the formation of new segments in concentric rings around this, so

that, each segment becoming invested with a shelly envelope, a very

beautiful disk is formed, which is enlarged by successive additions

to its margin. The segments communicate with each other by

annular canals ; and there are also passages connecting each annulus

with those within and without; whilst from the outermost annulus

there are passages opening at the margin of the shelly disk, through

which alone the pseudopodia issue that obtain the food for the

whole organism. Now there are two very distinct types of growth

presented by these Orbitolites: one, namely, in which the disk is

very thin, and the segments form (as it were) but a single floor ;

and the other in which the disk becomes comparatively thick

through the vertical elongation of the segments, which, moreover,

are themselves partially divided into at least three distinct stories ;

two, namely, which form the two surfaces of the disk, and an inter-

mediate one, which is very distinctly separated from them both.

The former type of growth may be designated as the simple, the

latter as the complex. Now some Orbitolites seem to go through

their whole lives upon the simple plan, whilst in others the complex

plan shows itself m the very first ring; and from the comparison

of such alone, it might be fairly supposed that these two plans are

characteristic of two distinct species. But when a considerable

number of these forms are examined, it appears that the simple

type may pass into the complex at any period of its growth; the

same disk presenting the simple plan in the first 5, 10, 20, 30, or

more annuli, and the complex in all those subsequently formed.

Hence there can be no question that even so marked a diversity in

plan of growth is not in that case sufficient to establish a diversity

of specific type, but that the two must be accounted varieties only.

A no less remarkable range of variation has been shown by

Professor Williamson and Mr. W. K. Parker to prevail in other

groups of Foraminifera which they have particularly studied ; so

that it would appear as if this type of animal existence were

specially characterized by its tendency to such variations. And

this will seem the more probable, when it is considered how little of

Dr. Carpenter on the Rhizopod Type of Animal Life. 79

definiteness there is in the form and structure of the sarcode body

that forms the shell; so that the wonder is, not that there should

be a wide range of variation both in the form and in the plan of growth

of the aggregate body, and in the mode of communication of the

individual segments, but that there should be any regularity or con-

stancy whatever. But it is only in the degree of this range that

this group differs from others; and the main principle which must

be taken as the basis of its systematic arrangement,—that of ascer-

taining the range of specific variation by an extensive comparison

of individual forms,—is one which finds its application in every

department of natural history, and is now recognized and acted on

by all the most eminent zoologists and botanists. There are still

too many, however, who are far too ready to establish new species

upon variations of the most trivial character, without taking the

pains to establish the value of these differences by ascertaining their

constancy through an extensive series of individuals,—thus, as was

well said by the late Prince of Canino, ‘‘ describing specimens instead

of species,’ and burdening science not only with a useless nomen-

clature, but with a mass of false assertions. It should be borne in

mind that every one who thus makes a bad species, is really doing a

serious detriment to science; whilst every one who proves the

identity of species previously accounted distinct, is contributing

towards its simplification, and is therefore one of its truest bene-

factors.

Some of the most interesting physiological and zoological con-

siderations which connect themselves with the study of this group

having thus been noticed, its geological importance has in the last

place to be alluded to. Traces, more or less abundant, of the ex-

istence of Foraminifera are to be found in calcareous rocks of nearly

all geological periods; but it is towards the end of the Secondary,

and at the beginning of the Tertiary period, that the development

of this group seems to have attained its maximum. Although there

can be no reasonable doubt that the formation of Chalk is partly

due to the disintegration of corals and larger shells, yet it cannot

be questioned that in many localities a very large proportion of

its mass has been formed by the slow accumulation of foraminiferous

shells, sometimes preserved entire, sometimes fragmentary, and some-

times almost entirely disintegrated. The most extraordinary mani-

festation of this type of life, however, presents itself in the “ num-

mulitic limestone,’ which may be traced from the region of the

Pyrenees, through that of the Alps and Apennines, into Asia Minor,

and again through Northern Africa and Egypt, into Arabia, Persia,

and Northern India, and thence (it is believed) through Thibet and

China, to the Pacific, covering very extensive areas, and attaining a

thickness in some places of many thousand feet: another extensive

tract of this nummulitic limestone is found in the United States. A

similar formation, of less extent, but of great importance, occurs in

the Paris basin ; and it is not a little remarkable that the fine-grained

and easily-worked limestone, which affords such an excellent material

for the decorated buildings of the French metropolis, is entirely formed

80 Miscellaneous.

of an accumulation of minute foraminiferous shells. Even in the

nummulitic limestone, the matrix in which the Nummulites are

imbedded is itself composed of minute Foraminifera, and of the

comminuted fragments of larger ones. The remarkable discovery

has been recently made by Prof. Ehrenberg, that the green and

ferruginous sands which present themselves in various stratified

deposits, from the Silurian to the Tertiary epoch, but which are

especially abundant in the Cretaceous peri iod, are chiefly composed

of casts of the interior of minute sheils of Foraminifera and Mollusca,

the shells themselves having entirely disappeared. The material

of these casts, which is chiefly silex, coloured by silicate of iron, has

not merely filled the chambers and their communicating passages,

but has also penetrated, even to its minutest ramifications, that

system of interseptal canals, whose existence, first discovered by

Dr. Carpenter in Nummulites, has been detected also in many recent

Foraminifera allied to these in general plan of structure. And it is

a very interesting pendent to this discovery, that a like process has

been shown by Prof. Bailey to be at present going on over various

parts of the sea-bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Stream ;

casts of Foraminifera in green sand being brought up in soundings

with living specimens of the same types.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Oxsrruary Notice.—Rosert Brown, Esa.

Diep at his residence, 17 Dean Street, Soho Square, formerly the

library of Sir Joseph Banks, on the 10th of June, Robert Brown,

Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S., Keeper of the Botanical Collections in the

British Museum, and formerly President of the Linnzean Society.

We translate from tlie ‘ Archives de Botanique’ for April 1833, the

following notice of this great botanist, from the pen of M. Adrien de

Jussieu :—

“The Academy of Sciences of the Institute of France reckons

among its members eight foreign associates. Whenever death effaces

one of these eight names, the name which appears most illustrious

in the world of science out of France is designated to replace it. To

read over the list of the foreign associates of the Academy from its

foundation, is consequently to pass in review all those men whose

memory is connected with the history of the great advances of the

human mind,—Newton, Leibnitz, E ler, Linnzeus, Haller, Volta, &e.

The science which we cultivate may therefore be proud of the fact

that, at this moment, of the eight elected from among the luminaries

of science, two are botanists, M. DeCandolle and Mr. Brown.

“Tt was in the sitting of the 4th of March that Mr. Brown was

elected by the Academy. Of 47 votes he obtained 29; the re-

mainder were shared among his competitors, none of whom had more

than 7 votes. They were Bessel, Von Buch, Faraday, Herschel,

Jacobi, Meckel, Mitscherlich, Girsted, and Plana. That among so

Miscellaneous. 81

many brilliant works due to these illustrious authors, those of Mr.

Brown should have particularly fixed the attention and commanded

the majority of the Academy, will not astonish our readers, accus-

tomed as they are for the most part to the study of his works. It

will be sufficient for us to recall them briefly, insisting upon results

without paying attention to titles; for Mr. Brown’s memoirs gene-

rally perform a great deal more than they promise, and it is almost

always a specialty that he takes as a starting-point to ascend from

it to the most comprehensive generalizations, by an artifice perhaps

analogous to that which is recommended by the precepts of the

poetic art.

“Mr. Brown early abandoned the practice of medicine for botany,

towards which he was attracted by a peculiar taste and aptitude.

He accompanied Capt. Flinders to Australia, and on his return to

Europe occupied himself with the publication of the Flora of New

Holland. The first volume of the ‘Prodromus’ of this Flora, un-

happily the only one that has appeared, revealed to the scientific

world a great botanist, whom France was the most prompt in recog-

nizing. It is true that the author was the first, out of our own

country, to step out of the narrow circle in which the followers of

the Linnzean system had shut themselves up, and to employ the more

capacious method which had its origin in France. But his merit

was not confined to recognizing its superiority; he treated it like a

master; and the creator of the Natural Method had the satisfaction

of knowing that he was thoroughly comprehended, by the modifica-

tions which his system underwent in its adoption.

«Unquestionably, for a skilful botanist, no study could be better

fitted to exercise and to demonstrate his sagacity than that of the

plants of New Holland,—plants so different in external form from

those of the other great continents, although the greater number of

them are allied by the more important characters of their organiza-

tion,—-plants which appear to us, to use the expression of an inge-

nious botanist, as it were under a mask. In a series of important

memoirs treating of these vegetables, and of those of Africa, of various

natural groups, Mr. Brown has continued to furnish us with a multi-

tude of new ideas on families, their limits, their relation to each

other, and their composition. And while he throws light on a mul-

titude of special points, he treats incidentally, or even in a note, on

general questions of the highest order, as, for example, on the inflo-

rescence (Memoir on Composite), on the identity of vegetable

organs (Memoir on Raffesia), on the questions which interest

botanical geography (various Memoirs); or he takes pleasure in

showing the value of characters previously neglected, such as those

of preefloration (Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl.), or of the stomata (Pro-

teaceze Nov. Holl.).

“Of late years, the question of the generation of plants appears to

have fixed Mr. Brown’s attention, and there have resulted several

memoirs, short, indeed, but full of observation (Kingia— Orchid. and

Asclepiad.), in which he makes known the double element of the

problem, the organization of the ovule on the one hand, and of the

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. il. 6

82 Miscellaneous.

pollen on the other; and we may hope soon to see the mystery of

this function cleared up by the valuable labours of authors of other

nations, and particularly of our own, developing and extending those

which he has published.

“To recall the principal claims of Mr. Brown to the admiration of

botanists as a classifier, a describer, an anatomist, and a physiologist,

is to enumerate those qualifications which obtained for him the suf-

frage of the Academy. Let us congratulate ourselves on having

found this fortunate opportunity of placing his éloge before our

readers ; that of other botanists is commonly only the expression of

our regret, and we occupy ourselves with their lives only when they

have ceased to exist. Since we. have now the good fortune to speak

of a life still full of faculties and of activity, let us close by expressing

a hope that it may continue to bear fruits and to multiply them, and

by reminding Mr. Brown himself that several of his labours still wait

for their completion, which ought not to be left to other hands than

his own.”

On the Anatomy of Terebratula australis. By P. GrarioLer.

M. Gratiolet’s memoir, although published two mouths after that

of Mr. Hancock on the organization of the Brachiopoda, was pre-

pared long before the publication of the latter. Without entering

into a detailed analysis of M. Gratiolet’s work, we may remark, that

the sketch of the circulation of the blood given by him does not at

all agree with that furnished by Mr. Hancock. M. Gratiolet con-

siders as the centres of the circulation the two organs which, since

the investigations of Cuvier upou Lingula anatina, have by common

consent been denominated hearts. According to Mr. Hancock, on

the contrary, these orgays have nothing to do with the circulation,

but serve probably for the emission of the eggs, the true heart being

a single organ. It is clear that so fundamental a difference cannot

be reconciled in any way; but it is as well to remark, that M. Gra-

tiolet has only had Terebratule preserved in spirit at his disposal.

Mr. Hancock denies the existence of the anus in the Brachiopoda,

in opposition to Prof. Owen, who admits the presence of an anal

orifice. It is consequently interesting to find that M. Gratiolet has

been unable to discover the anus of Terebratula australis. How-

ever, he is more cautious than Mr. Hancock, and does not deny its

existence because he has not seen it; far from this, he regards its

existence as probable, but asserts that it must be very small.

M. Gratiolet has also closely investigated the mechanism of the

muscles of the shell and peduncle of Terebratula australis. In

common with Woodward, Davidson and Hancock, he has recognized

the system of muscles which serve to open the shell; these he de-

nominates diductor muscles; they are the cardinal muscles of the

two former writers, and the divaricators of Hancock.—Journal de

Conchyliologie, Oct.1857, and Bibl. Univ. June 20, 1858, p. 176.

Miscellaneous. 83

On the Torpidity of the Marmot. By G. VaLentin.

The object of this memoir of M. Valentin is to examine the

‘influence of the winter-sleep upon the production of glucose by

the liver. During an abstinence from food of five or six months,

the sugar is persistent in the liver of the Marmot; from this it fol-

lows that there is an essential difference between the true winter-

sleep of the Marmot and the torpidity of the Batrachia, or the state

of inanition of waking animals.

When, as is sometimes the case, the death of the animal is caused

by exhaustion at the end of the winter-sleep, the liver no longer

contains sugar. The same fact is observed in Hedgehogs which

have died during their winter-sleep. On the contrary, when a

healthy Marmot, killed at the end of its torpidity, is examined, it is

found that the fresh blood of the aorta and the fresh urine will pre-

cipitate small quantities of protoxide of copper, showing that they

contain glucose.

Some authors have expressed the opinion that the liquid secreted

by the stomach is absorbed, and that after passing through the vena

porta, it produces sugar in the liver. M. Valentin opposes this view,

and cites several facts which speak against it.

The author has observed a striking difference between the sugar

of the liver of Marmots in their winter-sleep and that of other

waking animals; the former is not so readily destroyed by putrefac-

tion as the latter.

In conclusion he cites an observation made upon some frogs which

had passed four months of the winter in a dark cellar. They were

frozen by exposure to a temperature of +5° F.; the sugar of their

livers did not disappear.—Moleschott’s Untersuchungen, vol. iii.

Description of Aphroceras, a new genus of Calcareous Spongiade

brought from Hong-Kong by Dr. Harland. By Dr. J. E. Gray,

F.R.S. &e.

APHROCERAS.

Sponge tubular, branched, without any large superficial oscules,

formed of two distinct coats, externally covered with simple fusi-

form calcareous spicula, placed side by side in the longitudinal axis

of the stem and branches, forming an even coat; inner surface of

the tube lined with a minute network of interlaced fibre placed in

all directions ; branches simple, tapering, attenuated at the tip, with

a round terminal contracted aperture.

The spicula are entirely dissolved in dilute muriatic acid, leaving the

form of the sponge marked by the internal network and the sheaths

of the spicula on the surface. When treated with caustic potash,

the internal network is destroyed, leaving only the external spicula

placed side by side. aike Oa

This genus is allied to Grantia, but it is easily distinguished by

the uniform fusiform shape and the disposition of the spicula.

84. Miscellaneous.

APHROCERAS ALCICORNIS.

Hab. Hong-Kong (Dr. Harland).

This species somewhat resembles Grantia botryoides in appear-

ance and habit; but in that species the spicula are all triradiate,

which appears to be the generic character of the genus Grantia as

I propose to restrict it.—Proc. Zool. Soc. Feb. 23, 1858.

On the Hypermetamorphosis and Habits of Sitaris. By M. Fasre.

M. Fabre has been engaged in the investigation of the habits and

metamorphosis of Sitaris, a genus of Coleopterous insects nearly

allied to Meloé ; the latter, as is well known, was the subject of some

of the admirable investigations of the late George Newport. Singu-

larly enough, M. Fabre was quite ignorant of the memoir of the great

English physiologist, up to the time of his reading his own paper

before the Academy of Sciences. The principal facts in the latter

are summed up by the author in the following words :—

“<The species of Sitaris and Meloé, and apparently other Meloides,

if not all, are, in their early stages, parasitic on Anthophilous Hy-

menoptera.

“The larva of the Me/loides, before arriving at the pupa state,

passes through four forms, which the author denominates primitive

larva, second larva, pseudo-chrysalis, and third larva. The passage

from one of these forms to the other is effected by a simple change

of skin, without any alteration in the viscera.

“The primitive larva is coriaceous, and takes up its abode on the

bodies of Hymenopterous insects. Its object is to get transported

into a cell full of honey. When it reaches the cell, it devours the

ege of the Bee, and its part is performed. This is the active hexapod

larva, described by Newport and other observers as the first product

of the egg in Meloé.

“The second larva is soft, and differs entirely from the primitive

larva in its external characters. It feeds upon the honey contained

in the usurped cell.

“The pseudo-chrysalis is a body destitute of all movement, and

clothed with corneous integuments comparable to those of pupz.

On these integuments there are the design of a cephalic mask, with-

out moveable and distinct parts, six tubercles indicating the feet, and

nine pairs of stigmatic orifices. In Sitaris the pseudo-chrysalis is

enclosed in a sort of sac formed by the skin of the second larva. In

Meloé it is simply half invaginated in the cleft skin of the second larva.

“The third larva exhibits nearly the same characters as the second.

In Sitaris it is enclosed in a double vesicular envelope formed by the

skin of the second larva and that of the pseudo-chrysalis. In Meloé

it is half-enclosed in the cleft skin of the pseudo-chrysalis, which, in

its turn, is inserted in the same way into that of the second larva.

“« After this, the metamorphosis follows the usual course ; the third

larva becomes a pupa, and the latter a perfect insect.’’——- Comptes

Rendus, March 1, 1858, p. 443.

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

(THIRD SERIES.]

No. 8. AUGUST 1858.

VIII.—On the Structure and Position of the genus Teredina of

Lamarck. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.8., Pres. Ent.

Soe. &e.

Lamarck, in the ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Ver-

tébres,’ published a genus under the name of Teredina for a

Miocene fossil shell which he had before referred to Fistulana*,

a genus which he, in the work above referred to, further

separated into several others, Teredina among the rest.

Lamarck formed the genus Teredina, with Aspergillum, Cla-

vagella, Fistulana, Septaria, and Teredo, into a family, which he

called “ les Tubicoles,” because they live in tubes, and separated

them for this reason from “ les Pholadaires.”

The genus is thus defined by its author, who was evidently

forming a character to separate it from Aspergillum, Clavagella,

and Teredo :—“ Fourreau testacé tubuleux, cylindrique ; 4 l’extré-

mité postérieure fermée, montrant les deux valves de la coquille,

a Vextrémité antérieure ouverte” (vol. v. p. 438).

M. de Blainville, in his ‘ Manuel,’ united the two families of

Lamarck into one, under the name of Adesmacea, and arranges

the genus Teredina between Teredo and Pholas ; he gives the fol-

lowing improved generic character, derived from a very perfect

specimen in the collection of M. Deshayes :—

“Coquille épaisse, ovale, courte, trés baillante en arriere,

équivalve, inéquilatérale ; les sommets bien prononcés, un cuil-

leron épais sur chaque valve. Une piéce medio-dorsale, ovale,

en bouclier, sur les sommets de la coquille, et se prolongeant en

* The genus Fistulana, as first established in Ann. Mus. vii. 425, was

divided, in the work above referred to, into several genera, and, as charac-

terized in his later work above quoted, is a Teredo, which has been formed

into a genus named Xylotrya by Leach.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. i. 7

86 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure and Position of Teredina.

arriére en un tube complet & orifice terminal unique?” (Man.

Malacol. p. 579, 1825.)

The existence of the dorsal buckler or plate at once shows

the affinity of these fossils to Pholas.

James Sowerby the elder figured the shell in his ‘Mimeral

Conchology,’ and referred it to the genus Teredo, under the

name of Teredo antenautica, overlooking the character afforded

by the dorsal plate, which is always absent in Teredo, and the

absence of palettes, or terminal opercular valves, as they have

been called, and a containing shelly tube, which are always pre-

sent in that genus.

M. Deshayes, in his ‘ Coquilles fossiles de Paris,’ retains the

two families, /es Tubicoles and les Pholadaires, of Lamarck, and

gives nearly the same character for the genus as that quoted

from De Blainville’s work ; only he calls the cuilleron of De Blain-

ville palettes ; but this is evidently a slip of the pen, as the part

described is always called a cuilleron by French authors, in the

genera Pholas and Teredo, which alone, with Teredina, possess

the process under the umbo so referred to. He adds,—“ Ce

genre fait évidemment le passage aux Taret” (Teredo) (vol. 1.

p. 18).

Deshayes, more lately, in his notes to the new edition of

Lamarck, observes, “ Le genre curieux des Térédines n’a pas été

bien connu de Lamarck; sans cela il lui aurait donné des ca-

ractéres plus complets. La 7érédine est une véritable Pholade

globuleuse fixée 4 Vextrémité dun tube” (vol. vi. p. 34).

Mr. Woodward, in his ‘ Manual,’ which is specially devoted

to the determination of fossil shells, overlooking these observa- —

tions, and perhaps misled by the position of the shell in the old

work of James Sowerby the elder, regards Teredina as a sub-

genus of Teredo! He further observes, ‘ Valves with an acces-

sory plate in front of the umbo, free when young, united by the

margins of the shelly tube when adult (?). The tube is some-

times concamerated, its siphonal end is often truncated, and the

opening contracted by a lining, which makes it hour-glass shaped

or six-lobed (fig. 25 a).” (‘Mauual,’ p. 330.)

The fossil Teredina has been considered as a Teredo by

James Sowerby, a Fistulana by Lamarck, as a subgenus of

Teredo by Woodward, and as a genus intermediate between Teredo

and Pholas by Deshayes, but who still arranges it in a distinet

family from the latter ; and latterly, M. Deshayes has considered

it as a species of the genus Pholas; and in my genera of the

family Pholadide 1 placed it as a genus of that family.

A careful examination of the structure of the shell and its

tube, as it has been called, show that it is, as M. Deshayes ob-

serves, a true Pholas. Indeed, it ought to have been referred

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure and Position of Teredina. 87

to that genus by the Lamarckian conchologist, as soon as the

dorsal valves were discovered, and the genus Teredina erased

from the list, as it has all the characters of Pholas as defined by

Lamarck.

This is an instance of the careless manner in which a single

species is elevated by some authors of that school into the rank

of a genus, because its structure has been misunderstood or be-

cause it possesses some slight peculiarity of external appearance,

while at the same time they retain, in other genera, a number of

species possessing forms which offer quite as important characters

to distinguish them.

It only resembles Teredo in the shape of its valves, but is

immediately distinguished from it by the absence of the shelly

ease of the cavity in the marine body in which it resides, in

the absence of any palettes (or opercula, as they are sometimes

called) at the sides of the ends of the siphons, and in the pre-

sence of the dorsal plate over the umbo, which is never present

in this genus. It has no affinity to such genera as Aspergillum,

Clavagella, or Gastrochena, to which Lamarck, G. B. Sowerby*,

and many authors compared it, as it does not live in a tube,

the part which they described as a tube being only the sheath

of the siphons lapiditied by the process of fossilization, as 1S

proved not only by its position as regards the valves, but also

by its bulging form, which shows that it was formerly soft and

yielding.

Mr. G. B. Sowerby, in his ‘Genera of Mollusca,’ says this

genus “has an operculum, as we are informed, though we have

never seen it, which covers the double opening ;” and, further,

he says it differs from Pholas papyracea in “having an operculum

to cover the posterior aperture of the tube.” I have searched

for these opercula or palettes in a large series of specimens with-

out discovering the slightest trace of them; indeed, the siphons

are not formed as if they were present ; and the absence of the

tube covering the entire animal, siphon, and valves, with which

they are always combined, renders their presence not to be

expected.

Mr. G. B. Sowerby describes them as “ gregarious, occurring

in numbers in a bed of ferruginous sand,” “ living in cavities of

its own terebrating.”” He further observes, “That in its young

state it is destitute of a tube, and consists only of two valves

and a membranaceous envelope, we cannot doubt.” I do not

believe that there is any difference between the old and young

in this respect, as in both states I think it 1s evident the tube

* Mr. G. B. Sowerby observes that “the tube in Teredina never covers

the two valves, but appears to be soldered to them, as in Aspergillum.”

(* Genera.’)

88 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure and Position of Teredina.

was soft and flexible when the animal was living. There 1s little

doubt that in the young state the large rhombie gape between

the front of the valves is open, as in Teredo, Zirfea, and the

young of Martesia, though I have never seen a specimen show-

ing this state of the animal, but always with this part closed, as

in the adult example of the latter and several other genera of

Pholadide.

Among the recent genera of Pholadina it is most nearly allied

to Martesia, but it differs from that genus in several important

particulars, which may be thus stated :—

1. The valves are small, compared with the size of the siphons,

and the gape is larger and more rhombie.

2. The siphons are much larger, compared with the valves

and shell, and swollen beyond them; in the fossil state they

are covered with a hard calcareous coat, or rather coats, for the

part which is described as the tube is formed of several concen-

tric calcareous layers. These siphons, though in the fossil state

they are hard and shelly, have all the appearance of having

been soft and flexible in the living animal, like the siphons of

Zirfea crispata, which they greatly resemble in appearance; for

they are bent in various directions, and are swollen beyond the

edge of the valves behind, so as to have all the bag-like ap-

pearance which the fleshy flexible siphons of these bivalves

present.

The surface of the stony siphons of the best-preserved speci-

mens of Teredina presents the minutely wrinkled surface which

is to be observed on the more or less coriaceous coat, similar to

the periostraca of the valves which envelope the fleshy siphons

of Pholades, Mya, and others which have large, constantly ex~-

posed siphons.

It is to be observed, that the shelly cast of the siphons of this

genus generally presents two very different appearances: the

lower portion nearest the valves 1s usually hollow, and formed of

several thin, concentric, shelly lamine, as is easily seen when it is

broken across. The upper portion is only provided with a thin,

easily deciduous, shelly coat, filled within with a brown solid nu-

cleus, pierced in the centre with two more or less distinct tubes.

This portion appears to represent the part of the two siphons

which is united together; as it is easily separated from the lower

portion, many specimens contained in collections are desti-

tute of this part, and, from Lamarck and De Blainville’s de-

scriptions, I should suspect that it was wanting in the specimens

they described. The two portions are well figured in Sowerby’s

‘Genera of Shells,’ fig. 1, and the lower portion, showing the

laminated appearance of this part, in fig. 3 of the same plate.

It is probable that the upper portion may have been mistaken

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Structure and Position of Teredina. 89

by some observers, as mentioned by Mr. G. B. Sowerby, for

opercula or palettes. ;

3. The gape in the front of the valves is filled up, as is the

case with the adult specimens of Martesia; but here it is filled

up with a single shelly plate, leaving only a small perpendicular

slit in the middle of the well-marked medial line, while in Mar-

tesia the plates fillg-up the gape in each valve are always sepa-

rate. This plate, as in Martesia, is formed by the gradual addi-

tion of shelly matter to the front margin of the gape of the

valves, until it reaches the middle, where the two plates are

united into one, leaving the central slit. The development of

this plate is shown by the concentric lines of growth which are

to be observed on its surface in well-preserved specimens.

4. The hmder part of the cardinal and ventral margins of

Teredina is destitute of any additional shelly plates, which are

generally developed in the species of the genus Martesia.

I think, after these comparisons, that we may conclude that

Teredina is a genus of Pholadina allied to Martesia, but suffi-

ciently distinct from it to be retained as a separate genus, as I

suggested in my paper “on the Arrangement of Pholadide into

Natural Groups,” Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. viii. 1851, p. 384.

I believe that at present only a single species of the genus is

known, which varies much in size according to the position

it holds in the colony, some obtaining

more and others less nourishment, from

local causes.

They present so much variety in the

form and state of development of the

additional dorsal valve or bouclier, that

if they were not all collected together

from the same colony on the same piece

of rock, one might be induced to con-

sider them as belonging to two or more

distinct species.

In some specimens the dorsal shield

is small, placed entirely in front of the

umbo, looking like a flattened bag, nar-

row in front, rather wider and more con-

vex behind, and slightly contracted on

the sides (fig. 2). In this state it is - .

figured by M. Deshayes (Coq. Fossiles Teredina peraonata,

de Paris, tab. 1. f. 24). Showing how the siphons

In others it is large, convex, sub- bulge over tne valves. 1. In

quadrangular, covering the umbo and ar ake ea the dor-

the upper central part of the base of 3. sane lege te eae

the siphon, which is prominent behind developed dorsal plate.

SO Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

the hinder part of the cardinal edge of the valves (fig. 3); it is

deeply notched in the middle of the front edge over the sepa-

ration of the valves, and more or less sinuous on the middle of

the side edges over the convexity of the valves, as it is figured

by Sowerby (‘ Genera,’ f. 2 & 4) *; but it is often of a much larger

size compared with the size of the valves, and more sinuated in

front and on the sides than it is here represented. In most

specimens of these fossils the dorsal valve is wanting, and there

is only a slight fracture between the front of the hmge-margin

of the valves, showing the remains of the cast of the shell by

which it was attached (fig. 1), as it is represented in fig. 3 of

Sowerby’s ‘ Genera.’

[A Postseript to this paper will be found on page 162.—Ep. ]

1X.—On the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

By H. J. Carrer, Esq., H.C.S. Bombay.

(Concluded from page 33. |

Development of Spermatozoa in the Ovisac.

In the ovisac, pari passu with the ovum, the spermatozoa also

frequently become developed ; and this takes place in the follow-

ing way: viz. a number of cells identical to all appearance with

the floating-cells of the peritoneal cavity, that is, consisting of a

cell-wall enclosing a number of refractive vesicles supported on

an albuminous sphere or centre, fill that part of the ovisac which

is not occupied by the group of ova. These, at a very early stage,

when only a few are present (PI. II. fig. 32), may be seen loose

and under a spherical or diffluent form (7), or in agglomerated

masses of twos, threes or more (4), or attached to the surface of

the ovisac, and caudate (/), thus evincing the same plasticity of

cell-wall that we have observed in the cell-wall of the floating-

cells when adherimg together or to the parietes of the perito-

neal cavity, while most of the cells present, respectively, a few

granules of that light brown matter in their interior, to which I

have already alluded as a distinguishing mark of the sperm-cell

throughout. (For more magnified views of these figures, see

Pl. ILI. fig. 13 a—f).

After a time the vesicles enlarge, through nourishment pro-

bably derived from the “branchial” vessels, and surround,

either entirely, or partially in groups, globular masses of fine

granular matter, which vary in size from that of the sperm-cell

upwards (figs. 14, 15), most of which contain more or less of the

* In the explanation of the plate, this figure is erroneously said to re-

present the form of the aperture of the shell. s

Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 91

characteristic brown matter. It has already been stated that

the vesicles are disposed (according to their number) partially in

a group or entirely around the albuminous centre of the float-

ing-cell of the peritoneal cavity ; and it is well to bear this in

mind, for we shall see presently that when the spermatozoa

which are produced from them are half-developed, they hang

generally or partially in groups from the globular agglomera-

tions, and that this grouping may be thus accounted for (figs.

17, 18, &c.). At this period (fig. 9) the vesicles are filled with

a homogeneous refractive substance, which, upon contraction,

after haying been some time exposed to the action of the water,

shows that it is composed of a granular endoplasm, supporting

in one part of its periphery a nucleus,—in fact, that each vesicle

is a complete cell (fig. 26 a, b); while the material of which the

granular mass is composed at this time is so fine, that it has

hardly passed beyond the homogeneity of the original albumi-

nous mass (fig. 26).

The next stage in the development of the spermatozoa is that

the vesicles become elongated and conical, and that the pointed

extremity is applied to the granular mass, whose granular matter

is also now becoming progressively coarser (figs. 10 & 16).

During the fourth stage, the conical poimt becomes lengthened

into a pedicel, which thus presents the first appearance of the

spermatozoon, and the material of the granular mass has become

still coarser (figs. 11 & 17).

During the fifth stage (figs. 12 & 19), the spermatozoon grows

out to its full length, and disunites itself from the granular

mass (fig. 12 e), which, although keeping together in the ovisac

while the spermatozoa are coiled round it, no longer coheres

as before when forced out into the water, but, being effete,

becomes lost or dispersed as soon as this takes place.

The part by which the spermatozoon adheres to the granular

mass, though not distinguishable here from its linear form, is

seen to be the head in Nais albida (figs. 32 & 33): hence it is

the head which would appear to be developed first; and so

KGlliker has stated, but not however in the way thus indicated,

for he has observed that the whole of the spermatozoon becomes

developed first in a cell within the vesicle (fig. 21 a), from which

it gets into the cavity of the latter, and then forces its head out

of one part to become attached to the granular mass*; but in

all instances where the half-developed spermatozoa of this Nazis

have had the contents of the vesicle at their extremities con-

tracted from long exposure to the water or from the addition of

iodine, they have presented a granular aspect. This, however,

may be, and probably is, owing to the extremely fluid state of

* Art. “ Semen,” Cyclop. of Anat. and Physiology, p. 486.

92 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

the matter composing the spermatozoon at this early period ;

for in Nais albida always, and even in N. fusca sometimes, the

tails also project from the opposite side of the vesicle at the

same time (figs. 25, 31, 32), thus proving that the whole body

of the spermatozoon, at least in these cases, is formed at this

early period. I have, however, not been able to see this or the

daughter-cell in the sperm-vesicles of either of these Naides ;

nor have I, of course, been able to see that the spermatozoon is

formed in the nucleus, as also stated by Kolliker*,—that is, I

suppose, in the nucleus of the daughter-cell of the vesicle+,—

probably from the smallness or unsuitableness of the materials

I have had to deal with.

Among the contents of the ovisac from which the spermatozoa

are thus developed, there are some granular masses which are

surrounded by vesicles much larger than others (fig. 26), and

these vesicles, although filled apparently with homogeneous

refractive matter, like the rest, show, by the contraction of this

into a globular form after they have been some time exposed to

the action of water, that it also consists of a granular mass of

endoplasm bearing in one part a nucleus (a, 6). How such

large vesicles are to bring themselves down to the size of those

which only bear one spermatozoon each (fig. 16 a), I have not

been able to understand ; and never having observed more than

one spermatozoon developed respectively from the vesicles at-

tached to the granular masses, and these vesicles all small ones,

Iam at a loss to conceive what happens to the large vesicles, un-

less they become still larger, and then develope several cells in

their interior, each of which bears a spermatozoon, as the pre-

sence of such cells now and then in the ovisae of N. fusea would

seem to indicate (figs. 29, 30). That several spermatozoa may

be developed from one vesicle is a common occurrence, and

fig. 37 is an instance of it in Ampullaria; but whether this is

another instance of each spermatozoon being developed from a

separate cell, or the whole mass of cell-contents has split up

into the bundle of spermatozoa thus represented, I am not called

upon, or prepared even, here to discuss. Views respecting this

will be found in the admirable article on “ Semen,” to which I

have alluded. I must confine myself here to the common and

only course of development in Nais fusca that I have been able

to follow with certainty ; and that is the one above described,

wherein not only a gradual development of the spermatophorous

vesicles can be traced from their first presence in the sperm-

cell to the time when they become conical and present the

first appearance of the spermatozoon, but the presence of the

* Art. “Semen,”’ Cyclop. of Anat. and Physiology, p. 497.

t Is this a “‘ nucleus,” or the embryo of the spermatozoon?

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 93

brown matter unmistakeably marks the spermatophorous mass

throughout, from the sperm-cell to the full development of the

spermatozoa.

Let us now see what evidence we possess of connexion between

the single small sperm-cell and the large globular masses sup-

porting the vesicles, from which the spermatozoa are developed

in the ovisac. In the first place, the only cells which are pre-

sent in the ovisac, before the process leading to the development

of the spermatozoa commences, are the ova en groupe and the

sperm-cells, which at this time are identical with the floating-

cells (fig. 9 a,c). It cannot be the ova, then, which develope

the spermatozoa ; hence we have only the sperm-cells left. Next

we find several of the sperm-cells cohering together through the

plasticity of their cell-walls, and forming agglomerations of dif-

ferent sizes; hence the /arge globular masses are accounted for

(figs. 3k and 13d) ; while the presence of some cells or masses

not exceeding the diameter of the single sperm-cell, yet bearing

spermatozoa, shows that cells or masses, from the size of the

sperm-cells up to that of the largest agglomerations, may bear

spermatozoa (fig. 27). Lastly, having seen that the number of

vesicles in the sperm-cells is very variable, and that these en-

tirely surround the albuminous centre when numerous (13 4, 6),

or, when scarce, are situated on one part of it in a group (fig. 5 d),

while they may be also partially or entirely absent, we have thus,

in the early stage of the single sperm-cell, that which we have

afterwards in the agglomerated mass, viz. the vesicles covering

the mass entirely, or only attached to one part of it (figs. 17 &

18). Besides, it is very common to see the agglomerated masses

themselves, at an early period, presenting groups of vesicles

here and there upon them, indicative that the cells forming these

parts of the masses respectively, alone bear vesicles (fig. 13 d).

One point more deserves notice here, and one, too, which has

not been well accounted for by the authors of the excellent

article to which I have alluded, viz. the disappearance of the cell-

wall or mother-cell in the globular masses. But this yields

immediately to explanation when we know the cell-wall of the

sperm-cells to be plastic, and therefore easy of disappearance in

several ways; indeed, it is so evanescent, that in many of the

cells of the reproductive band, as well as of the hepatic layer,

where the vesicles have not undergone the least enlargement,

the cell-wall is almost as often absent as present. However, one

instance has occurred to me where the cell-wall seemed to have

remained ; and this was where the spermatozoa, which were more

than two-thirds developed, had grown out from single sperm-

cells —judging from their size (fig. 27). Here, then, it would

appear that the mother-cell had become persistent from harden-

94 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

ing, and that, as the vesicles under these circumstances could

not be projected from the granular mass on the caudal ends of

the spermatozoa as usual, the caudal ends had passed through

both their vesicles respectively and the mother-cell. Fig. 28

also represents another instance where the mother-cell of an

agglomerated mass appears to have remained. In some cases,

too, even where the mother-cell is not persistent, and the vesi-

cles, as usual, remain in contact with the granular mass, the

tails of the spermatozoa are thrust through their opposite side

(figs. 25 & 31-33), while not unfrequently both head and tail

may be projecting while the vesicle is in the centre, as before

mentioned (fig. 21 4). All this, however, is readily explained ;

for the vesicle in which the spermatozoon is developed is so

flexible and plastic, that although the enclosed spermatozoon

can throw it into all kinds of shapes, and half extrude itself, it

is with the greatest difficulty only that it can throw it off alto-

gether, while it is frequently so delicate in structure, and so

diaphanous, that it is also very difficult to believe that it is not

a part of the spermatozoon itself, whence the spermatozoon

occasionally appears under a variety of shapes that are apt to

mislead the observer in his determination of its true form.

Another point deserving of attention is the origin of the

“brown matter,” not only in the sperm-cells of the ovisac, but

also in those of the so-called testes. This, as regards the former,

seems easily determined ; for if the sperm-cells of the ovisae be

derived from the floating-cells of the peritoneal cavity, and the

floating-cells subsequently become the hepatic cells, there is

every reason to infer that the brown colouring matter is but the

yellow colouring matter of the bile thus altered, —an inference

which derives confirmation from the fact that the globular masses

bearing spermatozoa in Ampullaria (figs. 35, 36) frequently bear

at the same time one or two large bright bile-globules (a), to-

gether with the granules characteristic of the hepatic cell, some

of which present the brown colour and character of the brown

granules of the sperm-cell, and appear, as before stated, to be

the abortive or effete remains of the bile-vesicles; so that here

(figs. 835, 36) we have the granular mass with some of the vesi-

cles half- developed into spermatozoa; others united together,

forming bright amber-coloured bile-globules ; and a third set in

an abortive or effete state, presenting themselves under the form

of granules, some of which have the colour and appearance of

the brown granules of the sperm-cells. Thus we have not only

evidence of the sperm-cells producing bile, like the hepatie cells,

but also this fact corroborating the inference that both the sperm-

cells and hepatic cells are derived from the floating-cells of the

peritoneal cavity.

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 95

We have yet, however, to account for the presence of this

colouring matter in the sperm-cells of the testes (fig. 6 e), which

cells, as before stated, appear to be derived from the dermal

cells of the reproductive band,—a point that should certainly not

be considered as a natural consequence from their apparent

identity with the floating-cells only; but it so happens that

there is a maculated Nats which dwells in the salt- as well as the

fresh-water pools here, and which latterly I have also found in

the sediment of the jar of Chara before mentioned, where the

dermal cells throughout bear amber-coloured globules (the ma-

cule), corresponding in appearance to bile, and answerig to the

common chemical tests for oily matter, that is to say, dissolving

under the influence of ether or a solution of caustic potash

respectively. Thus we have the dermal cells in this species, at

all events, secreting an oily matter like bile, if not identical with

it: and the cells of the reproductive band being but dermal

cells apparently modified by hypertrophy, and thus brought into

a state similar to the floating-cells of the peritoneal cavity, which

appear both to secrete the bile and form the spermatozoa, as the

occasion may demand, we have this sort of explanation (should

these cells of the testes be hereafter proved to come from the

reproductive band) to account for their presenting the charac-

teristic brown matter of the sperm-cell of the ovisac.

Thus I have stated all that has occurred to me in the deve-

lopment of the spermatozoa in the ovisae of Nais fusca, worthy

of mention; and although I have not been able to follow the

developmental process of the spermatozoa in the so-called testes

of this worm throughout, yet the /acune have been supplied

from the progressive development of the sperm-cells in the testes

of N. albida, which, proving to be the same as that of the ovisac

of N. fusca, thus completes the process for us in the testes of

both. Still, where the sperm-cells of the testes in these two spe-

cies of Nais come from in the first instance, remains undiscovered.

Let us now, before going to the development of the embryo,

compare with one another the changes which take place in the

development of the ovum and sperm-cell, in order that we may

see how far they correspond.

Ovum. Sperm-cell.

Composition,

Cell-wall. Cell-wall.

Endoplasm (primordial film or Endoplasm (primordial film or

cell). cell).

Yelk (composed of fine gra- Albuminous sphere (composed

nules), of crypto-granular refractive

matter).

96 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

Ovum.

Sperm-cell.

Composition.

Nucleus (or “ germinal vesicle”’).

Nuclei (or points in the endo-

plasm of the “ germinal ve-

sicle’’).

Changes.

Cell-wall continues.

Endoplasm disappears.

Yelk-granules become large

and multiplied.

Nucleolus (or “germinal spot’)

perishes.

Nuclei, or pomts in the endo-

plasm of the “ germinal ve-

sicle,”’ become surrounded

by cells respectively.

Nucleus.

Vesicles (or cellules round the

albuminous sphere).

Ist stage.

Cell-wall continues.

Endoplasm disappears.

Albumimous sphere becomes

perceptibly granular.

Nucleus perishes.

Vesicles develope spermatozoa

which attach themselves to

the albuminous sphere.

2nd stage.

Nucleus or “ germinal vesicle”

disappears (that is, bursts,

and the “ nuclei,’’? now sur-

rounded by cells, are dis-

persed in the yelk ?)*.

Yelk persistent.

3rd

Ovum receives the spermatozoa.

Yelk-granules are resolved into

a crypto-granular mass.

Yelk, having received its final

envelopes and been laid, un-

dergoes deduplicative sub-

division.

Spermatozoa fully formed and

separated from the albumi-

nous spheres or granular

masses.

Granular masses effete.

stage.

Spermatozoa enter the ovun.

Thus we see that the differences between these processes are

so great, that they cannot even be considered analogous.

The

new cells produced by the ovum and sperm-cell respectively,

that is, the cells of the nucleus and the “ vesicles,” are the only

products that we can compare with one another ; and these are

so far different, that one is produced in the germinal vesicle, and

the other out of it, while the yelk of the ovum no doubt affords

nourishment to the germinal vesicle, as does the granular mass

* have also observed some of these cells (fig. 12 4) to be again charged

with nuclei, mdicative of their undergoing a further multiplication after

having been dispersed in the yelk.

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of anew species of Nais. 97

to the spermatozoa; but with the complete development of the

latter, the functions of the granular mass cease, at the time that

those of the yelk chiefly commence. There is so little analogy,

then, between these two processes, that while they are sui generis

as regards each other, that producing the spermatozoa is, I think,

different from any other processes of cell-formation with which

I am acquainted. Of course I allude here to the attachment of

the spermatozoa to the albuminous sphere, and not to those in-

stances where the whole of the cell-contents of the spermatic or

mother-cell become divided up at once into a group of spermato-

phorous vesicles, each of which encloses from the beginning its

share of nourishment, and thus has no occasion for re-attach-

ment to an albuminous centre, as m some species of microscopic

Filarie. This is common enough among the Alge.

Impregnation.

This I have not seen, and therefore there is a hiatus here

which I cannot supply. Out of all the enlarged ova that have

come under my observation, not one has presented that broken-

down appearance of the granules of the yelk which follows im-

pregnation ; and although many have been bordering upon this

stage, yet it has been impossible to witness impregnation by

keeping the individual under the microscope, for the very pres-

sure of the slip of glass which is necessary to bring the ovum

into focus kills the worm. Hence we must pass over that part

which intervenes between the development of the cells in the

germinal vesicle and the expulsion of the egg, during which

time the germinal vesicle disappears, impregnation takes place,

the yelk-granules become dissolved or altered, and the ovum,

after having received its final investments, 1s laid.

Development of the Embryo in Nais albida.

It has already been intimated that all the information which

I have been able to obtain respecting the development of the

embryo has been from the eggs of Nazs albida, which were de-

posited in portions of a gelatinous Alga (Glwocapsa) that grows

on the sides of old walls and gutters in the island of Bombay,

during the rainy monsoon. By what means, in addition to the

contractile power of the delicate oviduct, the eggs are expelled,

I am ignorant ; but having frequently observed species of this

Nais with enlarged ova, in the midst of, and dragging them-

selves through, the gelatinous substance of the Alga mentioned,

to which the eggs are thus agglutinated, it does not appear im-

probable that the resiliency of this substance may, to a certain

degree, assist the Nais during delivery.

98 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Sperinatology of anew species of Nais.

The ovum of this worm (fig. 39) is elliptical and slightly bent

upon itself. It averages about 1-55th part of an inch in length,

and consists of a transparent, coriaceous shell (a), terminated by

a thickened, irregular, papillary portion at each end, from the

inner aspect of which a kind of chalaza ( (b) is continued on to

the yelk-bag (c).

Each yelk-bag contains two yelks (d, d), which respectively

undergo more or less irregular duplicative subdivision, of which

the following is a summary: viz. during the first stage, or that

of the larger fissuration, the mass becomes triglobular (39 d),

after which only one of the divisions appears to ‘undergo minute

division, while the other two either remain passive or undergo

what may be termed crypto-division, for their substance certainly

passes into minute cells, in whatever way this may be effected

(40,41). As the fragmentation thus goes on, the trilobate mass

becomes elongated, by the two unfissurating lobes uniting more

intimately to ‘form one part, while the fissurating one forms the

other (42) ; and the two extremities of the embryo becoming

approximated like the ends of a horse-shoe, it thus lies confined

by a delicate membrane, in a somewhat compressed globular

form, with a notch in one part of the margin (43).

The notch now extends inwards towards the abdominal limit,

when the two halves of the worm thus become separated, and

the part which underwent the visible fissuration appeared to me

to be the head. The young Naides now burst through the deli-

cate cell which appears to surround them respectively, and, be-

coming free in the cavity of the shell (44), travel round it for

some time until they have gained sufficient strength to force an

opening through one end of it, when they thus make their exit.

I had not many opportunities of watching the development

of the embryo (which occupies about five days), because I only

discovered the eggs of the Nais mentioned towards the end of

“the rains,” when the Glwocapsa was dying off, and these Naides

also appeared to get weaker and perish with it; but out of

about two dozen eggs, many of which I got within twenty-four

hours after they had been deposited (for they were laid in my

room), sufficient observations were obtained to enable me to give

the above description and accompanying illustrations.

How the double yelk is produced, when only one ovum is

developed at a time, ‘Iam unable to state; but, from one ob-

servation, I am inclined to think that the-first line of fissuration

determines this, viz. from the masses becoming permanently

detached at this time, and the rest of the fissuration going on

in them separately.

On one occasion I obtained an egg which appeared to belong

to N, fusca, and contained three or four embryos; but un-

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 99

luckily the watch-glass containing it was upset, and thus the

means of proving it to be so, by their further development, lost.

Abnormal Development of the Yelk.

If the yelk become abortive, fissuration does not appear to

take place, but several sacs containing a fine granular matter are

developed in the midst of its substance (fig. 45), while gradually

this fine granular matter becomes transformed into globular

cells, each of which contains a yellowish refractive oil-globule,

if it be not a nucleus (a,a). As this is taking place, the saes,

which are now plastic and endowed with motor power, put forth

respectively a tubular prolongation, which, on reaching the shell

of the ovum, becomes suddenly diminished in calibre, and thus

passes through it in an attenuated form (a, a); or the sac may

assume nothing but a tubular form from the first, and, after

penetrating the shell, expand into a globular or conical shape,

ending in a narrow papillary eminence (d). Finally, the ex-

tremity of the tube, in both forms, yields to the pressure of the

internal contents, which now rapidly issue, one after another (4),

in the form of monociliated monads, about 1-5600th of an inch

in diameter (46a). These, after swimming about for a short

time, become fixed, and the next day may be observed to have

lost their cilium and to have put forth a short tube (4), after

the manner of the parent sac; but whether this ends in another

division of their contents into still smaller monads, or they thus

perish, I am ignorant. .

This development of the yelk, which does not occur if it be-

come putrescent, is but another instance of what I have shown

to take place in the protoplasm of the spores, &c., of Algze*,

when arrested in its progress to assume the likeness of the plant

from which the spore has been produced; that is to say, that

instead of doing this in either instance, the contents of the ovum

and the spore respectively become transformed into monads, and

finally into rhizopodous cells—that is, reduced to the lowest

form of organic life with which we are acquainted.

I have stated that the sacs in the yelk “pué forth tubular

prolongations;” and this is done in the followimg way (if I may

judge from similar sacs putting forth similar tubes under similar

circumstances in the algal cell): viz. the endoplasm or protoplasm,

whichever term is adopted, appears to be compelled to obey a

law by which its surface becomes covered with a pellicle, and

this pellicle again compelled by another law to harden soon

after it has been formed; thus circumstanced, the endoplasm

carries a pellicle with it, that corresponds in every way to its

* Annals, vol. i. 3 ser. p. 35, &e. pl. 3. figs. 13-15, and vols. xvii, & xix.

2 ser.

100 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

shape, wherever it goes, and whatever form it assumes; which

pellicle, on hardening, takes on the form given to it by the

protoplasm, and thus the tubular prolongation is produced ; it

is, in fact, only an instance of the way in which all organic forms

are developed, viz. by the moulding power of the protoplasm,

which in this case, however, has lost its specific nature.

“aria in Nais albida (fig. 50).

Among the figures illustrative of this paper will be observed

one of a Filaria, which I frequently found singly and in variable

plurality in the peritoneal cavity of Nais albida, which worm, I

have already stated, was met with accidentally in a species of

Gleocapsa that abounds with microscopic Milarie during the

rainy season. This Alga having been collected for this purpose,

I shall defer further mention of this fact than that which will be

found in the explanation of the figures, until I come to describe

these Milarie generally, which I propose to do on a future

occasion.

Bombay, 24th April, 1858.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES II., HI. & IV.

N.B.—Wherever the species from which the figure has been taken is not

mentioned, it must be assumed to be Nats fusca.

For the purpose of conveying some idea of the relative size of many

of the objects, they have been drawn upon a scale of 1-12th to

1-5600th of an inch, and their measurements given in 5600ths,

with the same view.

PuateE II.

Fig. 1. Nais fusca; natural size.

‘ig. 2. Ditto, proportionally magnified, showing—a, oesophagus ; 4, testes;

c, oviducts, or so-called “uteri;” d, ovisaes; e, reproductive band ;

I. f, intestine ; g, segmental organ; h, continuation of worm.

(The central part of this figure is not filled-in, to save trouble.)

Fig. 3. Ditto, anterior part, still more magnified, showmg—a, cesophagus ;

b, b, b, floating-cells in the peritoneal cavity ; c, testes; d, orifices

of spermatie ducts; ¢@, ciliated openings of e!, the so-called “ fal-

lopian tubes ;”’ f, oviducts, or so-called “uteri ;” g, vaginai open-

ings of ditto; h,h, ovisacs; 7, floating-cells in cavity of ditto

(see the same also, fig. 12 a, e, more magnified); k, ditto, agglo-

merated (afterwards forming granular masses); /, ditto, caudate

(for a more magnified view, see fig: 13 a, f, d, e); m, intestine,

covered with hepatic cells; n, segmental organ; 0, ciliated or

internal opening of ditto; p, elliptical portion of ditto; q, exter-

nal opening of ditto; 7, external or cellular sheath; s, ternal

: or structureless sheath; ¢, reproductive band.

Fig. 4. Magnified view of cirrus and sete: a, sete; 6, bulb of ditto;

¢, cirrus.

Fig. 5. Cells of reproductive band, diffluent in form, about 2-5600ths of an

inch in diameter when spherical (drawn on a scale of 1-12th to

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais. 101

1-5600th of an inch): a, with cell-wall; 4, without cell-wall; c,

imaginary section of spherical form, more magnified, to show the

relative position of cell-wall, vesicles, and albuminous sphere; ¢,

spherical form of ditto without cell-wall, showing the vesicles

still adhering to the albuminous sphere, also the nucleus.

Fig. 6. Testes, so-called, magnified, containing bundles of spermatozoa (a)

and granules (e): a', bundle more magnified; 5, single spermato-

zoon; ¢, sperm-cells from testes containing the characteristic

brown matter (on same scale as fig. 5); d, globular masses of

granules bearing spermatozoa from ditto, of which the component

parts are proportionally magnified, each mass about 3-5600ths of

an inch in diameter (on same scale as fig. 5); e, loose granules.

Fig. 7. Floating-cells, magnified (on same scale as fig. 5): a, with cell-

wall; 6, without cell-wall; ¢, after the bursting of the vesicles,

showing nucleus (fig. 5 c,d, are also equally characteristic of the

composition of this cell).

Fig. 8. Portion of intestine magnified, to show the layer of hepatic cells

(the larger dark spots represent the bile-globules) : a, two hepatic

cells still more magnified.

Fig. 9. Ovisae with spermatozoa and groups of ova in first stage of deve-

lopment: a, sperm-cells (identical in appearance with floating-

cells), about 2-5600ths of an inch in diameter; /, granular masses

surrounded respectively by spermatophorous vesicles (see a more

magnified view of one of these masses, isolated, fig. 14); c, two

groups of ova, each about 10-5600ths of an inch in diameter, of

which the ova are about 2-5600ths of an inch in diameter each.

Fig. 10. Ovisae with ditto ditto in second stage of development: a, sper-

matic cells unaltered, or with a little brown matter in their inte-

rior, as before. (From the constant ingress of floating-cells, even

to the end of the development of the spermatozoa, there are

always some of these in their primary stages present at the mouth

of the sac, and therefore some are frequently found here in all

stages of development; but with each impregnation, the ovisac

appears to be cleared of everything except the remaining ova.)

b, granular masses surrounded by the spermatophorous vesicles,

now become conical (see fig. 16); c, single group of ova; d, single

ovum with germinal vesicle, more advanced in development than

the rest.

PuiaTE III.

Fig. 11. Ovisae with group of ova and spermatozoa in third stage of deve-

lopment: a, spermatic cells unaltered; ), granular masses sur-

rounded by vesicles now pedicelled (see fig. 17); ¢, group of ova;

d, ovum more advanced; e, another, less advanced; f, more mag-

nified view of germinal vesicle, showing nuclei or points in endo-

lasm.

Fig. 12. Bae with spermatozoa fully developed: a, sperm-cells unal-

tered; 4, spermatozoa developed and separate from the granular

masses (see fig. 19); c, group of ova; d, ovum just previous to

the disappearance of the germinal vesicle; e¢, effete granular

masses; f, germinal vesicle more magnified, showing the nuclear

points surrounded by cells, and the nucleus or germinal spot

rishing or in progress of dissolution.

Ree cells from the ovisac (on same scale as fig. 5): @, spherical

form ; ), diffluent form ; c, undergoing fissiparation in the mother-

eell (the only instances of this kind that I have observed have

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3, Vol. ii. 8

Fig. 13.

102 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of a new species of Nais.

Fig. 14.

Fig. 15.

Fig. 16.

Fig. 17.

Fig. 18.

Fig. 19.

Fig. 20.

Fig. 21.

Fig. 22.

Fig. 23.

Fig. 24.

Fig. 25.

Fig. 26.

Fig, 47.

been in the ovisac, never in the peritoneal cavity); d, agglome-

merated, presenting the “brown matter” (represented by the

dark shades) and isolated groups of vesicles in different parts ;

e, caudate form, also containing a little of the “ brown matter ;”

f, single spherical sperm-cell presenting the “ brown matter” in

its interior.

Granular mass with vesicles, in the first stage of development,

4-5600ths of an inch in diameter (on same scale as fig. 5). This

is the smallest “granular mass” that I have met with, though

probably not the smallest that exists, as there must be some not

larger than the albuminous sphere of the floating-cell (see fig. 27).

Ditto, ditto, 15-5600ths of an inch in diameter (on the same scale).

These two figures show the relative difference in size of the

granular masses which compose the sperm portion of the contents

of the ovisac.

Granular mass (11-5600ths of an inch in diameter) with vesicles in

second stage of development, 7. e. when the latter become conical,

and the matter of the granular mass coarser: a, vesicles.

Granular mass (10-5600ths of an inch in diameter) with vesicles

in the third stage of development; granular matter still coarser.

Granular mass (5-5600ths of an inch in diameter) with sperma-

tozoa still further developed, and attached in two groups.

Granular mass with spermatozoa fully developed and separate,

though still retamimg the vesicles at their ends (and probably

over their whole bodies, for it is so delicate that the spermatozoa

can hardly ever be said to be out of the vesicle until no appear-

ance of it is left).

Granular mass contracted after long exposure to water, showing

that sometimes there is a thin pellicular cell left in contact with

the developed spermatozoa, though it probably amounts to no-

thing more than a surface-condensation, and not a real cell.

Five figures showing the progressive formation of the spermato-

zoon, from the daughter-cell in the vesicle (according to Kolliker)

to the common form under which the spermatozoon presents

itself both in the testes and ovisac: a, vesicle with daughter-cell,

according to Kolliker; 4, spermatozoon with both extremities

extruded from the vesicle, which is kept distended in the centre

by the elasticity of its coils.

Granular mass (8-5600ths of an inch in diameter) with sperma-

tozoa attached in four groups.

Granular mass with spermatozoa attached in one group.

Granular mass with spermatozoa attached all over the mass, but,

by a current of water, all drawn in one direction, showing how

they may become “ bundled” under these circumstances.

Granular mass covered with vesicles, through some of which the

caudal ends of the spermatozoa are projecting.

Granular mass (7-5600ths of an inch in diameter) covered with

vesicles of the largest size, viz. 2°5-5600ths of an inch in dia-

meter; on the same scale as fig. 5, A few only of the vesicles

are figured here, for the purpose of showing that the material of

the granular mass is always extremely fine when surrounded by

the larger vesicles. a, vesicle more magnified; b, after long ex-

posure to water, showing that when its refractive contents become

contracted, they assume a granular form, accompanied by a

nucleus.

Nais albida, natural size.

Mr. H.J. Carter on the Spermatology of anew species of Nais. 103

Fig. 48.

Fig. 49.

Fig. 51.

Fig. 27.

Fig. 28.

Fig. 29.

Fig. 30.

Fig. 31. G

Fig. 32.

Fig. 33.

Fig. 34.

Fig. 35.

Fig. 36.

Fig. 37.

Fig. 38.

Ditto, magnified: a, cesophagus surrounded by glandular masses ;

a’, ditto, covered with hepatic cells; 6, testes, so-called; c, so-

called fallopian tubes; f, oviducts; d, vaginal openings of ovi-

ducts; e, €, ovisacs, each consisting of several bunches of ova in

a string, in each of which bunches one ovum is more developed

than the rest, and the posterior in each string the largest;

g; 9, intestine; h, segmental organs, double, one on each side;

z, continuation of the worm; k, floating-cell, more magnified.

Cirrus and setz: a, cirrus; 4, sete.

Large yelk-granules (3-5600ths of an inch long), magnified, to

show apparent budding.

PLATE IV.

Group of three cells, each of the same size as the sperm-cells,

viz. 2-5600ths of an inch in diameter (on the same scale as fig. 5),

bearing spermatozoa almost fully developed, attached to their

periphery.

Granular mass (4-5600ths of an inch in diameter), bearing abunchof

spermatozoa enclosed in a common membrane ; on the same scale

as fig. 5. This membrane, which may be part of the plastic cell-

walls of the agglomerated sperm-cells forming the granular mass,

was hardly perceptible, im its natural position, from its extreme

tenuity and closeness to the spermatozoa ; it is here placed at a

distance, to show that there was one. See also in this figure the

* abortive vesicles”’ (?) which appear as granules in the hepatic

cell, and another instance of the way in which the spermatozoa

become bundled.

Nucleated cell 4-5600ths of an inch in diameter (one of the large

vesicles of fig. 26?), containing several daughter-cells, each bear-

ing a single spermatozoon (on the same scale as fig. 5).

Ditto, ditto, with the spermatozoa liberated and in the parent-

cell.

I am not quite certain of the facts which these two figures ap-

pear to substantiate, because the contents of a cell on becoming

contracted are apt to mislead. My impression, however, is, that

these cells did really contain spermatozoa in the two stages of

development represented.

ranular mass from the testes of Nais albida, surrounded by

vesicles, through which the tails of the spermatozoa are pro-

jecting.

Ditto, ditto, more advanced (the vesicles of the centre not intro-

duced, that the granular mass may be shown).

Ditto (4-5600ths of an inch in diameter), from ditto, with the

spermatozoa nearly developed, showing that it is the head which

is attached to the granular mass.

Spermatozoon of Nais albida, fully developed ; 8-5600ths of an

inch long.

Granular mass (5-5600ths of an inch in diameter) from the testicle

of Ampullaria, bearing, at the same time, spermatozoa, a bile-

lobule (a), and abortive granules (4).

Ditto (6-5600ths of an inch in diameter), from ditto, bearing two

bile-globules. ‘

Sperm-cell of Ampullaria, bearing a bundle of spermatozoa with

the tails extruded; 1°5-5600th of an inch in diameter (on the

same scale as fig. 5).

Spermatozoon of Ampullaria, 8-5600ths of an inch long.

104 Rey. L. Jenyns on the smaller British species of Pisidium.

Fig. 39. Egg of Nais albida (ad nat. del.), showing—a, shell; 6, chalaza;

c, yelk-bag; d, d, two yelks, each of which is now triglobular.

Fig. 40. Ditto, ditto, with one division only fissurating, and small cells

without apparent fissuration appearing in the other two, which

have become united.

Fig. 41. Ditto, ditto, ditto, more advanced. a

Fig. 42. Ditto, ditto, ditto, with the two unfissurating lobes undistin-

guishably united, and forming one-half of the embryo, while the

other lobe forms the other half, and is still further advanced in

fissuration.

Fig. 43. Ditto, ditto, ditto, with fissuration complete, and the halves still

united, but foreshadowing the line of separation, which extends

from the notch inwards.

Fig. 44. Ditto, ditto, with the two embryos fully developed.

Fig. 45. Ditto, ditto, showing the development of sacs in the yelk, and

subsequent production of monads: a, a, sac filled with granular

matter passing into monads; 8, 4, sacs with fully developed mo-

nads leaving them; ¢, ¢, ¢, sacs from which all the monads have

escaped; d, tubular form, in which the sac appears outside the

shell of the ovum; e, e, effete contents of the yelk.

Fig. 46. Monads, more magnified (less than 1-5600th of an inch in dia-

meter): a, just after exit; 0, after loss of the cilium and com-

mencement of tubulation.

Fig. 50. Filaria frequently found simgly, or in more or less plurality, in the

peritoneal cavity of Nais albida: a, cesophagus in a sheath;

6, intestine enclosed in the hepatic sheath; c¢, anus; d, vulva;

e, e, double ovisac.

X.—WNote on the smaller British species of Pisidium.

By the Rev. L. Jenyns, M.A., F.L.S. &c.

Srvce the publication of my monograph on the British species

of Cyclas and Pisidium in 1832*, I have received at different

times, through the kindness of correspondents, many specimens

of the smaller species of the latter of these genera, from various

localities, for identification and comparison. Having lately had

occasion to re-examine some of these more closely, I am induced

to offer a few remarks respecting them for the benefit of those

naturalists who interest themselves with these little mollusks.

Pisidium Henslowianum.—F ine specimens of a shell, measuring

nearly 23 lines in length, and exactly agreeing with this species,

except in being entirely destitute of the lamelliform projection

on the umbones, have been sent me from Ackworth, near Pon-

tefract, and others from Ambleside, by Mr. J. W. Watson of the

former place. From the absence of the appendage alluded to,

I was for some time doubtful whether I was right in referring

these shells to the P. Henslowianum, or whether they ought not

more properly to be considered as large imdividuals of P. pul-

chellum. But on lately giving them a closer inspection, I per-

* Camb. Phil. Trans. vol. iv. p. 289.

_) are

Rey. L. Jenyns on the smaller British species of Pisidium. 105

ceived that one of the smaller specimens from Ambleside did

possess the appendage in question, though not quite so much

developed as in the Cambridgeshire ones in my collection. This

satisfies me that the appendage is not an essential character ;

and there being scarcely any other character, except greater size,

by which the P. Henslowianum can be distinguished from the

P. pulchellum, 1 am inclined to the opinion that these two con-

stitute but one species, the former being only one of the nume-

rous forms which this variable shell is liable to assume. There

is no difference in the animal, nor in the habits of the two kinds

respectively. If the P. Henslowianum, from any other yet to be

discovered characters, be really distinct, I conceive that the

normal form is rather the variety without appendages than the

one with them, as the former seems the more plentiful of the

two, and includes the largest specimens I have seen. Possibly

the appendages are liable to wear off with age, especially in

running water, where they are necessarily exposed to more

friction.

Pisidium pulchellum.—There are three principal varieties of

this species described by me in my monograph. For the first of

these,—under an idea expressed formerly by myself, that it

might constitute a distinct species, —Dr. Gray, in his edition of

Turton’s ‘Manual of the Land and Freshwater Shells of the

British Islands,’ did me the honour to propose the name of

Jenynsu. But I do not believe now that this variety is any

more distinct from the var. 8 of my monograph, than both these

varieties, as well as others not calling for any particular notice,

are distinct from the P. Henslowianum. And as the latter name

is of prior date to pulchellum, in respect of publication, I should

propose that it be the one in future adopted as the general name

for this species with its many varieties, more especially as it is

to Professor Henslow that we owe the original discovery of both

the species now brought together.

The variety which Dr. Gray has termed Jenynsii differs from

the more ordinary form of pulchellum by the strie bemg more

deeply cut, aud the shell being broader in proportion to its

length. But, as regards the variation of the striz, we have a

somewhat parallel case in the two varieties of P. amnicum noticed

in my monograph, and formerly considered by Dr. Leach as two

distinet species, under the respective names of Pera fluviatilis

and Pera Henslowiana. There can be no doubt that these last,

of each of which I have specimens from the identical streams

from which Dr. Leach received his, are mere varieties; nor is

there any more doubt, in my opinion, that Jenynsii and pulchel-

lum are likewise mere varieties of one species, dependent upon

water and other local circumstances.

106 Rev. L. Jenyns on the smaller British species of Pisidium.

As I have here proposed to unite Pisidium Henslowianum and

P. pulchellum of my monograph under one species, giving it the

name first mentioned,—if it be thought desirable still to retain

a name for that variety which is so peculiarly distinguished by

the umbonal appendages,—it might be called var. appendiculata,

which was the name given to it by Dr. Leach, after he had

transferred that of Henslowiana to the variety of the P. amnicum

above alluded to.

Pisidium pusillum.—My. Watson of Ackworth sent me, along

with the P. Henslowianum, specimens of a shell from that neigh-

bourhood, not to be distinguished from P. pusillum, except by

their far greater size, some of the individuals measuring 24 lines

in length. [have received others from Suffolk of the same size,

but rather more tumid, and nearly 14 line mm thickness; form

exactly similar.

Other specimens sent me from Preston Moor by Mr. Gilbert-

son agree likewise exactly in form with the P. pusi/lum of my

monograph, but have the striz deeper cut in proportion to their

larger size, which exceeds that of even the Ackworth and Suffolk

specimens, some being 23 lines in length, but they are not quite

so tumid as the latter.

Specimens from Guisborough, hkewise sent by Mr. Watson,

are nearly 2? lines in length, but are slightly more compressed

in proportion to their size than those from Preston Moor, though

in other respects similar; and some of these Guisborough ones

are scarcely to be distinguished, either in form or colour, from

the P. cinereum of Alder (judging from a series of specimens

kindly sent me, some years back, by that gentleman himself),

except that the P. cinereum is rather more compressed still.

From all the above, I am inclined to think that the P. pusil-

lum and P. cinereum are not distinct ; though never having seen

the animal, or noticed the habits of the latter, I would not wish

to be considered as speaking positively on this pomt. I observe,

too, that Forbes and Hanley, in their ‘ British Mollusca,’ men-

tion a variety of P. cinereum which is “rather more ventricose,

and produced at the umbones,” whereby the species is brought

ito close approximation with some of the varieties of P. pusil-

lum above alluded to.

Pisidium obtusale and P. nitidum.—Of these two species I

have never received specimens from any of my correspondents,

unless a few doubtful individuals, sent from Aberdeen by the

late Prof. Macgillivray, be referable to the P. obtusale. Hence

I conclude that they are much less generally distributed than

the other species of this genus. Having, however, occasionally

had shells sent me which were erroneously supposed to belong

to the species in question, I must again caution collectors against

Mr. P. H.Gosseonthe Sub-basal Membrane of Adamsia palliata. 107

deciding hastily on any of these small bivalves, without seeing

the living animal. This remark applies especially to the P. ni-

tidum, which in general form is so similar to the P. pusillum,

and in which, when the animal has been suffered to die in the

shell, a dark stain arises on the upper part of the valves near

the hinge, rendering the umbonal striz, one of the most distin-

guishing characters of this species, very difficult to perceive.

June 29th, 1858.

X1I.—On the Nature of the Sub-basal Membrane of Adamsia

pallata. By Puitie Henry Gosss, F.R.S.

Tue clear brown membrane which covers the greater part of

those shells on which the Adamsia palliata is adherent was long

ago carefully described by Dr. Coldstream*. Its chemical com-

position and its nature were, however, still left undetermined ;

and its very origin was, only as a probability, attributed to the

Adamsia. It has since been suggested,—though, so far as I

know, only conjecturally, no evidence having been adduced to

confirm the supposition,—that the membrane in question is an

incipient corallum, in which case it might be expected to show

traces of a calcareous formation.

A specimen just sent me from the Clyde has afforded me an

opportunity of setting the question at rest. The Adamsia, a

mature specimen, was attached to an old worn shell of Trochus

ziziphinus. When I obtained it, life had ceased; and though

decomposition had not set in, yet the base was beginning to

separate from the support. When this separation had proceeded

a little further, I found that the basal surface of the body was

covered with a thin film of the clear yellow membrane, where it

had been adherent to the outer lip of the Trochus. This film

was easily detached from the animal; and this I subjected first

to microscopical examination.

Under a power of 600 diameters, with transmitted light, the

membrane showed the manifest characters of an epidermic slough,

—a clear, structureless layer, with a multitude of irregular mi-

nute granules, a few oil-globules, a good many scattered Cnida,

and some Diatomacee of various species, some of which were

alive and moving actively. Exposed to a red heat, this epidermic

membrane became charred, without the slightest shrivelling, or

shrinking, or change of form or dimensions.

The film above described seems to have been a newly-forming

structure. When the decomposition of the animal had some-

* Johnston’s Brit. Zooph. ed. 2. p. 208 et seq.

108 Mr.P. H.Gosseon the Sub-basal Membrane of Adamsia palliata.

what advanced, I easily removed it from its attachment entire,

revealing the form of the shell. Of this I found that there

existed only the middle whorl, the apical whorls having been

broken off, apparently a long time since, and the whole of the

body-whorl being deficient. The portion that remained of the

shell was closely invested with the membrane, of a translucent,

dark-greenish horn-colour; and this was projected from the

broken edge of the shell, and continued alone, as a new body-

whorl, formed wholly of membrane. This adventitious whorl

had followed the general course of the shell-spire, but was looser

and more elongate, resembling the spire of a Vermetus; it was

projected for a full ich beyond the broken termination of the

shell, and ended in a wide, irregularly-rounded mouth, with the

inner lip greatly receding.

The substance of this membrane was firmer and tougher than

that of the film above described ; but under the microscope it

agreed with it in structure, except that it was denser. I then

proceeded to examine it chemically.

A large piece cut out, and laid on a plate of thin glass, I first

dried, and then exposed to a red heat : 2¢ charred, without losing its

form. Ithen cut out other portions, and tested them successively

with the following reagents :—alcohol, water, solution of potash,

acetic acid, Pettenkofer’s test, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid.

Of these, alcohol, water (cold and boiling), solution of potash

(cold and boiling), acetic acid (cold and boiling), produced only

a negative result, the membrane remaining perfectly unaffected

by each. Pettenkofer’s test evolved no colour. Nitric acid

(boiling) at once caused the membrane to dilate and thicken,

and in a few minutes quite dissolved it, without any colour, except

the yellowish tinge produced by the liberated colouring matter

of the substance. Hydrochloric acid (boiling) reduced the mem-

brane to a yery thin film, but did not quite dissolve it: no colour

was evolved with this test.

The boiling was performed in a watch-glass over a flame.

Not the least effervescence was discernible from the immersion

of the membrane in either of the acids while cold; nor any in

the heated state, except what was due to the ebullition.

From all these tests, it is perfectly evident that the membrane

is not of a calcareous nature, and that it is composed of chitine.

Neither in its source (the epidermic layer), therefore, nor in its

composition, does it present the slightest homology with a true

corallum.

Torquay, July 21, 1858,

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracee. 109

XII.— On the Winteraceze. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e.

[Continued from p. 48.]

2. TASMANNIA.

THERE appears to be little difference between this genus and

Drimys, the principal distinction being in its sometimes poly-

gamous or moncecious flowers, and in its having occasionally, by

abortion, only one or two ovaries; there is, however, a marked

difference in the form of its stigma. The calyx is at first entire,

and closed as in Drimys, and becomes divided into two equal

hemispherical valves, which soon fall away. Endlicher erro-

neously describes the calyx as consisting of two flat sepals. One

species has eight or ten petals, a second five or six, while in the

third their number is sometimes reduced to two. The stamens

are seated upon a short cylindrical gynophorus, in four rows, of

which the outer series are shortest ; the oval anther-cells, sepa-

rated by an interval, are adnately fixed and partly immersed in

the margin of the filament, and they burst by a lateral fissure.

The ovaries, sometimes solitary, often two or four, are seated in

the centre of the stamens; they are suborbicular, somewhat

gibbous, with a sessile stigma in the form of a crenated crest,

which runs from the apex down the inner side ; they are uni-

locular, with a single longitudinal parietal placenta, which in

the male flower is often sterile, but which in the female bears

several ovules arranged biserially as in Drimys. The fruit is a

berry, about the size of a large pea, with a furrow upon two

opposite sides ; it contains from fifteen to eighteen small reni-

form seeds, with a polished black exterior, and which in general

structure appear to correspond with those of Drimys.

The species hitherto assigned to this genus are natives of

Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, where they form evergreen

trees, the bark and leaves of which generally abound in an aro-

matic principle, as in Drimys. I have no hesitation in referring

hither the Drimys piperita of Dr. Hooker, from the island of

Borneo, where it is found at an altitude of 8000 feet. It agrees

with Yasmannia in its flowers sometimes having no stamens,

with a solitary carpel; and we often meet with hermaphrodite

flowers, sometimes having only one, but more generally having

four ovaries. Its fringed stigma, decurrent to the bottom of

the ovary, corresponds with 7asmannia, and is quite at variance

with that of Drimys: in like manner, the form and position of

the anthers upon more elongated filaments differ from that

genus.

The following is offered as an emendated character :—

Tasmannta, R. Br.—F/ores monoici, polygami, aut hermaphro-

110 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

diti. Calyx in alabastro clausus et indivisus, ovato-globosus,

summo apiculatus, demum lacerato-partitus in lacmus 2,

rarius 3, concavis membranaceis parallele nervosis pellucido-

punctatis reflexis, denique circumscissus, et deciduus. Petala

5-10, lineari-oblonga, 3-nervia, pellucido- -punctata, expansa,

2- serialia, estivatione parallela, apicibus quincuncialiter im-

bricatis. Stamina plurima, gynophoro subgloboso inserta,

4-seriata, quorum exteriora breviora, interiora gradatim lon-

giora ; filamenta longiuscula, lorfornane ; anthere parve, 2-lo-

culares, loculis oblongis, sejunctis, fere parallelis, margine

filamenti utrinque subextrorsim adnatis, rima longitudinali

dehiscentibus. Pollen globosum, obscurum, sulcis 3 signa-

tum. Ovaria sepe solitaria, aut imterdum dua vel quatuor,

staminibus 2-4-plo breviora et superposita, oblonga aut glo-

bosa, gibbosa, 1-locularia, in ¢ paullo minora et sterilia,

in $ pluriovulata : ovula reniformia horizontalia m placentam

parietalem longitudimalem ventralem biseriata. Stylus nullus.

Stigma sessile, e summo introrsim decurrens, undulato-crena-

tum. acca solitaria (rarius plures), carnosa, globosa aut

oblonga, l-locularis. Semina plurima, reniformi- cochleata,

angulata, apice affixa; tunica externa dura, nitida, atra, ery-

stallino-crustacea, fragilis; tunica intermedia raphigera, bul-

lata, carnosula ; raphe t immersa, simplex, e summo ad chalazam

sinu proximam ‘percurr ens; integumenta interiora bina, tenuis-

slime membranacea, distincta, sed ad chalazam crassiusculam

inter se coalita, Albumen copiosum, cylindricum, in formam

virgule curvatum, extremitate basali (chalaza tecta) hine su-

perne spectanti, apicali recta; embryo in verticem valde mi-

nutus cylindricus, radicula supera, cotyledonibus minutissimis

centripetis.

Frutices sempervirentes in Australasia, insulis Nove Zelandie et

Borneo indigent, monticol, glaberrimi, plerumque oleo aromatico

repleti; folia sparsa, integerrima, pellucido-punctata, petiolata ;

pedunculi ¢erminales aut axillares brevissimi aut obsoleti; pe-

dicelli plurimi, umbellatim aggregati, graciles, folio multo bre-

viores.

1. Tasmannia aromatica, R. Br., DC. Syst. 1.445; Prodr. i. 73 ;

Del. Icon. i. tab, 84; Bot. Reg. 2 ser. xvii. tab. 43 ; Hook. Fl.

Tasm. i. 11. Winterania lanceolata, Poir. Dict. Méth. viii.799.

—In Australasia et Insula Van Diemen.

2. Tasmanma insipida, R. Br., DC. Syst. i. 445; Prodr. i, 78;

Bot. Reg. 2 ser. xvu. tab. 43. TT. monticola, "A. Rich. Sert.

Astrol, 50. tab. 19.—In Australasia, Port Jackson.

3. Tasmannia piperita. Dyimys piperita, Hook. fil.; Hook. Icon.

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 111

896 ;—arbuscula glaberrima ; ramulis novellis, glaucis ; foliis

concoloribus, oblongo-lanceolatis, utrinque attenuatis, inte-

gerrimis, undique glaberrimis, valde reticulatim venosis, imo

in petiolum canaliculatum anguste decurrentibus; pedicellis

2-3, unifloris, e pulvino axillari ortis, floribus monoico-poly-

gamis; calyce 2-partito; petalis 8-10, lineari-oblongis, ob-

tusis ; stamina circiter 30, aut nulla; ovaria 1 ad 4.—Borneo ;

v.s. in hb. Hook.

I have already stated some of my reasons for referring this

plant to Tasmannia rather than to Drimys. The latter genus

has been found only in the western world and im the islands of

Juan Fernandez and New Zealand, the plants of which latter

country present so many curious analogies with the extratropical

flora of the South American continent. Dr. Hooker has given

an admirable figure of this species ; and in describing it he ac-

knowledges its close alliance to the genus Tasmannia, on account

of its unisexual flowers and its few carpels, which are two of the

principal characters that serve to distinguish this genus from

Drimys. I have already alluded to the shape of its stigma,

which has quite the peculiar form of that of Tasmannia, and to

its stamens, which also correspond to that genus; and to these

features may be added, that its leaves are deficient of the pecu-

liar glaucous under surface that universally marks those of Dri-

mys; they are, on the contrary, concolorous, extremely reticu-

lated, and the petiole is shghtly winged, as in 7. insipida. I

have observed, in the same specimen, female flowers with no

stamens, and only a single ovary; and hermaphrodite flowers

with thirty stamens in four rows, and one ovary: others have

four ovaries ; and in all three cases I found eight petals in two

series.

3. ILLIcIUM.

This genus is too well known, and its relation to Drimys and

Tasmannia is too well established, to require much notice; but

I will offer a few observations upon its seed, which in its struc-

ture is quite analogous to that of the genera just mentioned.

The best details of the generic features of ///icium are given in

the admirable work of Dr. Asa Gray, ‘ The Genera of the United

States,’ where, in plate 21, there is an excellent analysis of J/h-

cium Floridanum, from which we may conclude that there is no

essential difference in the structure of the American and Asiatic

species ; all that may be noticed is, that in the latter I have ob-

served that the stamens are not introrse, as there seen, but that

the anther-cells are imbedded laterally on each side of the fleshy

filament, and that the three rows of stamens are fixed upon the

outside of a very short gynophorus, in the summit of which the

112 Mr. J. Miers on the Winteraceze.

verticillated ovaries are partly sunk. Dr. Gray describes the

external brittle tunic of the seed as loosely adhering to the

“obscurely sculptured surface of the spongy membranaceous

inner integument.” According to my observations on I/icim

anisatum, the single seed, found in each of its follicles, is of an

oval form, laterally much compressed, very hard and polished,

and lies with its longest diameter horizontally and its transverse

diameter vertically within the radiating pericarp, where it is

attached to the axile placenta by its hilum, which there forms a

large hollow cavity closed by a fungous substance: along its

upper margin is a somewhat prominent ridge, which has been

described as the raphe; but this is not correct, although the

cord of the raphe exists below it, but in no way connected with

it: this ridge is formed merely by the pressure of its growth

against the corresponding sutural line of the pericarp. This

outer shell of the seed is hard, crystalline, and somewhat brittle,

consisting of a number of hexagonoid cylinders, which, under

the microscope, appear formed of radiating spicula subsequently

filled towards the external face with solid crustaceous matter ; it

is uniform in thickness and texture, except round the open

mouth of its large basal aperture, which is closed by the fungous

hilum; it is there somewhat thicker; it is lined throughout

with a thin, pellicular, loosely adherent membrane with very

distinct, large, oblong reticulations, and which 1s easily scraped

off. Between this and the next coating is a layer of very elon-

gated oil-cells or glands, in three or four adhering layers, which

do not always run parallel with one another, but often cross, so

as to form cancellated bands, thus producing the bullate and

“sculptured surface” mentioned by Dr. Gray: these oil-cells

are coloured, translucent, with a minutely dotted surface; and

they dry into a brittle furfuraceous stratum, quite free from the

surrounding integuments. The next tunic is very thick and

fleshy, and may be detached in an entire state; it appears to be

a continuation of the more solid or fungous hilar portion, near

which it becomes gradually and considerably thickened: within

the fleshy tissue of this integument is found the simple cord of

the raphe, consisting of spiral and other vessels, which, origi-

nating in the hilum, runs along the upper margin, and termi-

nates near the other extremity in the chalazal disk. The nucleus,

which completely fills this sac, is considerably smaller, of an

oval shape, somewhat less compressed, and a little rostrated

where it points towards the hilum, which has a corresponding

hollow for its reception ; this is covered by two distinct mem-

branes, of which the outermost or third integument is reticulated

with long polygonoid areoles, while the next or fourth integu-

ment, which immediately invests the albumen, is somewhat

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteraceze. 113

thicker than the former, and has very minute hexagonal reticu-

lations, the areoles of which are smaller than the cells of the

albumen: these two membranes are homogeneous throughout,

and are easily separable from one another at all points, except

at the chalaza, where, together with the second fleshy tunic, all

three are intimately confluent. The albumen is fleshy ; and im-

bedded in its substance, close to the rostrated point before men-

tioned, we find the embryo, which is extremely small and shortly

cylindrical, the radicular end pointing to the hilum, the opposite

extremity being cleft mto two very minute gaping cotyledons.

From these facts I infer that the outer testaceous shell is an

arillus, developed probably from the placenta, and that the

whole of the fleshy spongy coating (together with its included

raphe and its fungous hilum) is a growth or expansion of the

placentary sheath of the ovule, thus forming an investing entire

sac, and assuming the peculiar condition which I have called an

arilline* or fleshy development of the primine of the ovule.

The generic character, from my observations, may be thus

defined.

Inuic1um, Linn.—Filores hermaphroditi. Sepala 3 vel 6 peta-

loidea, membranacea, estivatione imbricata, caduca. Petala

9 ad 30, patentia, 3-pluri-serialia, interiora angustiora et

minora, «stivatione imbricata, decidua. Stamina indefinita

(12 ad 40), pluriserialia, hypogyna, patentia ; filamenta brevia,

carnosula; anthere adnatz, loculis segregatis margine fila-

menti semi-immersis, sublateraliter dehiscentibus. Ovaria

5-15, compressa, sessilia, libera, suberecta, serie unica gyno-

phoro brevi insidentia, 1-locularia; ovula solitaria, ex angulo

basali adscendentia, anatropa. St ylus subulatus, recurvus,

latere ventrali stigmatosus. Folliculi plurimi (5-15), coriaceo-

lignosi, compressi, rostrati, liberi, circa gynophorum centralem

stellatim adnati et horizontaliter radiantes, sub-2-valves, rima

superiore hiantes, 1-loculares, monospermi. Semen oblon-

gum, compressum, hilo majusculo excavatum et hine ad axin

centralem horizontaliter affixum; tunica externa crustacea,

dura, ore calloso incrassata, extus vitrea et nitidissima, intus

structura hexagonoidea reticulata, et crystalloidea; tunica se-

eunda crassiuscula, superficie bullata, extremitate hilari crassa,

raphigera, raphide simplici hilo orta per marginem superiorem

protensa et chalazam attingente percursa; tunica tertia hya-

lina, tenuiter membranacea, areolis elongatis reticulata, versus

angulum superiorem chalaza majuscula incrassata; tunica

quarta pellucida, paullo crassior, areolis minutissimis hexa-

gonis reticulata, ad albumen arcte adherens. Albumen co-

* Linn. Trans. xxi. 89.

114. Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez.

plosum, carnosum, hexagonoideo-cellulosum, ovale, paullo

compressum, versus hilum rostratum, hinc embryonem mini-

mum claudens, radicula cylindrica, hilum versus spectante, et

in cotyledonibus obtusis brevissimis centripetis fissa.

Arbuscule Indice, Chinenses, Japonice, et boreali- Americane

sempervirentes ; folia alterna, oblonga, integerrima, glabra, co-

riacea, pellucido-punctulata, sepe conferta ; flores axillares vel

in ramulis annotinis terminales, tandem ramuli novelli elonga-

tione laterales, pedunculis solitarivis aut ternis 1-floris, petalis

purpureis aut flavescentibus, capsulis aromaticis vel insipidis.

1. Illicitum anisatum, Linn. Sp. 664; Gaertn. Fr. 1. 338. t. 69;

Dict. Méth. 1.351; Lam. Ill. t. 498. f.2; DC. Syst. 1. 441 ;

Prodr. i. 77; De Vriese et Hoeven, Tijd. 1. 31-45. t. 2.—In

Japonia et China*.

2. Lllicium religiosum, Sieb. et Zuce. Fl. Jap. i. 5. t. 1; Bot. Mag.

t. 3965 ; Walp. Rep. 1. 74.—In Japonia.

3. Illicium Griffith, Hook. f. & Th. Fl. Ind. i. 74.—In montibus

Khasia.

4. Illicium Floridanum, Ellis, Phil. Trans. lx. 524. t.12; Dict.

Méth. i. 852; Lam. Ill. t. 493. f. 1; Gaertn. Fr. 1.8389; Bot.

Mag. t. 489; DC. Syst. i. 441; Prodr.i. 77; Gray, Gen.

Un. St. 1. 56, t. 21.—In Florida.

5. Illicium parviflorum, Mich. Fl. Bor. Amer. i. 826 ; Vent. Cels.

t.22; Hb. Am. t.3830; DC. Syst. 1. 442; Prodr. 1. 77.—In

Florida.

4, TEMUS.

Of this genus nothing is known beyond the very imperfect

description given by the Abbé Molina in his ‘ History of Chile ;’

and as no plant corresponding with it has since been found by

any of the numerous collectors who have visited that country,

the genus must be considered a very doubtful one. It was

placed by DeCandolle between J/hcium and Drimys, although

the character ascribed to it by Molina was incompatible with

them; but he considered that character to be, in all probability,

erroneous, because a dicoccous berry is hardly consistent with

the previous condition of two ovaries. It is described as a tree

with alternate, thick, polished, oval, smooth, and bright green

leaves, that emit a strong smell of nutmegs; terminal aromatic

flowers, with a 3-fid calyx, eighteen linear petals, twenty-six sta-

mens, two ovaries, and a dicoccous berry ; the petals are linear,

* Analytical details of the fruit and seed of this species are shown in

the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ plate 27 c.

Mr. J. Miers on the Winteracez. 115

flesh-coloured, two or three inches long; the filaments are seta-

ceous and above half the length of the petals, with globose an-

thers ; the seeds are arillate, with the flavour of those of coffee,

only more bitter. This kind of fruit ill accords with the features

of the Winteracee. Until further evidence of its existence, and

better characters of its structure be ascertained, it ought to be

restored to the list of the “ genera incerte sedis,” in which it was

placed by Jussieu. I cannot help thinking there must have

been some confusion in the original notes of Molina: he de-

scribes his Temus moschata as furnishing an excellent and yery

hard wood, which cannot be of rare occurrence, as he says it is

much used in Chile in various manufactures. The Luma Cruck-

shanksu, A. Gray (Eugenia Cruckshanksii, Hook.), which is abun-

dant in the midland proyinces of Chile, is known among the

natives by the name of Temu; and it possesses a wood that

answers the above description.

5. TROCHODENDRON.

This genus, established by Siebold and Zuccarini for a plant

which the former botanist brought from Japan, has been fully

described and figured in the ‘Flora Japonica.” It has been

referred to the neighbourhood of J/licitum; but its characters

seem quite irreconcileable with those of the Winteracee. The

features which appear to me incompatible are—its verticillated

leaves, which are serrated; its peculiar mode of budding; its

flowers destitute of both calyx and corolla; its single pluri-

locular ovary; and its capsular fruit, opening by five to eight

thick coriaceous valves; to which may be added, the different

sort of integument by which its seeds are invested. On the

other hand, in the habit of the plant, its serrated leaves, its

numerous stamens, its many-celled ovary, with divided style,

its capsular many-valved fruit, and the form and texture of

its seminal integument, it approaches far nearer to the Tern-

stremiacee ; and it has several features in common with Trocho-

stigma, also of Japanese origin (Actinidia, Lindl.), placed by

some botanists in Ternstremiacea, by others in Dilleniacee ; but

perhaps it comes still nearer to the Tasmannian Carpodontos

(congeneric with Eucryphia from Chiloé), a genus of doubtful

position placed between the Chlenace@ and Ternstramiacee. In

the latter genus the corolla is very deciduous, and its opercular

calyx at the period of zstivation falls off by a circumscissile line,

—a character approximating to the seemingly achlamydeous

flowers of Trochodendron.

116 Dr. J. E. Gray on the genera Camptonyx and Tanysiphon.

XIII.—Observations on the Genera Camptonyx and Tanysiphon

of Benson. By Dr. J. B. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.8. &e.

In a preceding Number of the ‘Annals’* I have pomted out the

affinity of the genus Camptonyx to Otina, simply from the de-

scription of the animal; but, now I have had the opportunity of

seeing the figures, I am convinced of the soundness of the com-

parison, and indeed [ am almost induced to believe that Cam-

ptonyx is only a very slight modification or subsection of that

genus, as the lateral groove is much slighter than I had expected,

and the shell is an O¢zna as well as the animal.

I may further add, that the South American genus Chilina,

which has been referred to Awriculade and Lymneade, if the

figures and description of the animal by D’Orbigny and Dr.

Gould are correct, is evidently another genus of the same family.

The figure of the teeth of Camptonyx does not justify the

assertion of their similarity to those of Ancylus, as may be

proved by comparing the figure in the ‘ Annals’ with those of

Ancylus given by Dr. Otto Goldfuss and others, or the description

of the teeth of Ancylus and Velletia given by Mr. W. Thomson

in the ¢ Annals.’

All that can be said is, that they have the normal teeth of the

Pulmonata, with certain generic or specific peculiarities.

In the same Number of the ‘ Annals,’ Mr. Benson described

an interesting genus of freshwater bivalve mollusk found living

in the slaty clay banks of the River Jumna.

I cannot understand how any conchologist could have doubted

its distinctness from Novaculina, either malacologically or con-

chologically. It appears to me equally extraordinary how a

shell with external cartilage and diverging cardinal teeth can be

placed in Myacide, unless the latter family is to have a much

more extended sense than I am willing to give toit. It appears

to agree with Mya, as far as I can discover by the description,

only in two particulars, for the number and extension or non-

extension of the gills in the siphon are not noticed :—

First, that the siphons are united; and secondly, that the

apex of the siphons near the aperture is surrounded with a

ring of tentacles, and the aperture of the branchial siphon is

bearded. The union and non-union, and the extent of the union

of the siphons, have been proved, by the examination of a number

of animals, not to be of much importance, certainly not afford-

ing a family character: indeed, very nearly allied genera of the

same family frequently vary in these particulars; several genera

besides Mya, with united siphons, have a ring of tentacles

round the base of the two apertures.

* Ann. Nat. Hist. 3 ser. vol. i. p. 406.

le,

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 117

So far as I can judge from the description of this genus, it

appears to be very nearly allied to Glauconome, which is found in

the rivers of Asia, and it is chiefly separated from the known

species of that genus by the siphons of the animal being united

to the end, while in the animal of the only species of Glauco-

nome which has been observed, they are only united at the base ;

but the siphons of different species of several genera vary in the

extent to which the siphons are united.

Mr. Benson observes, “the branchial siphon is ciliated in

Solecurtus.” Perhaps Mr. Benson intends by “cilia” tentacles

or beards; for I am not aware that any of the conchiferous Mol-

Jusea have the siphons destitute of cilia. But the question is,

what does Mr. Benson mean by Solecurtus? as that name has

been given to a number of different animals. Novaculina is

evidently most nearly allied to “ Tagel” of Adanson (Solen

Guinensis, Gmelin), to which I have given the name of Tugelus

in my list of genera, so long ago as 1848, when I placed Nova-

culina as a subdivision of that genus; and Mr. Benson’s figure,

now first published, justifies that position in all particulars, and

is very different from the So/ecurtus of De Blainville (1824), which

has S. strigillatus for its type.

Since the above was in type, Mr. Benson has kindly sent to

the British Museum a specimen of each of these genera. They

confirm the opinions above stated. Tanysiphon is evidently very

nearly allied to Glauconome, but is distinct in the teeth being

more conical and less compressed, the hinder one shorter and

less oblique, and especially in the cartilage and ligament being

very short, and placed obliquely close behind the cardinal teeth ;

while in Glauconome the cartilage and ligament are elongate and

parallel with the cardinal edge, which is swollen into a well-

developed fulcrum.

XIV.—Gleanings in British Conchology.

By J. Gwyn Jerrreys, Esq., F.R.S.

[Continued from vol. i. p. 48.]

[With a Plate. ]

Stnce the publication of my former paper on this subject, several

additions to the lists, both of species and localities, have occurred

to me; these I will now take this opportunity of recording.

They have been chiefly derived from the northern and southern

extremities of the British Isles; and I have to express my best

thanks to my friends Mr. Barlee and Dr. Lukis in particular, as

well as to Mr. M‘Andrew, Mr. Waller, Dr. Battersby, the Rev.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 9

118 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

A. M. Norman, and Mr. Spence Bate, for their valuable co-

operation.

Some conchologists entertain a doubt whether the Channel

Isles can be properly considered part of Great Britain for natural-

history purposes, because their geographical situation places

them nearer to the French than our own coasts; but the Sarnic

fauna and flora (although peculiar) have always ‘been considered

British by our chief naturalists ; and our continental neighbours

have never, I believe, appropriated or claimed them as their own.

Although this part of our sea-coast had been for several years

past diligently explored by Mr. Hanley, Mr. Metcalfe, Mr. Bar-

lee, and several other collectors, many species new to Great

Britain have now turned up; some of them (e. g. Triton nodi-

ferus and cutaceus, Cardium papillosum and Argiope decollata)

being not only of a conspicuous size, but meluding one of the

largest known European shells. The zeal and intelligence of

Dr. Lukis will doubtless increase our knowledge of the Testacea

in this district ; and it is to be hoped that he may be induced

to publish a special account of that branch of the Sarnic fauna.

I have never myself had the good fortune to visit the Channel

Isles; but through his kindness I have had and examined a

quantity of shell-sand which was dredged up, by his directions,

at a considerable distance from land, and at a depth of from 15

to 20 fathoms, and I have been thus enabled to form some idea

of the conchological wealth and variety which appear to abound

in this part of our seas. The shells from this district are prin-

cipally of a Mediterranean character.

Mr. Waller also kindly sent me some shell-sand which he has

lately dredged up from the Turbot Bank off the coast of County

Antrim, at a depth of about 25 fathoms; and although I have

not yet had time to examine it carefully, the contents (so far as

a superficial view enables me to judge) deserve, in my opinion,

special notice. What have been hitherto regarded as northern

and southern forms are here found to be closely associated to-

gether. Buceinum Holbélliui, Scalaria (?) Hschrichti, Natica clausa,

Margarita cinerea and Trophon scalariformis (which are decidedly

Arctic species), Crania anomala, Trichotropis borealis and Punc-

turella Noachina (according to the late Professor Edward Forbes,

“ Boreal” types), Terebratula caput-serpentis, Lima subauriculata

and Fissurella reticulata (‘ Atlantic”), Argiope cistellula, Trochus

Montagui and Pecten tigrinus (“ British”), Astarte sulcata, Buc-

cinum undatum and Venus casina (“ Celtic”), Artemis lincta, Cor-

bula nucleus aud Tirochus cinerarius (“ Kuropean”), and Rissoa

striatula (“ Lusitanian”’), all in the same fresh and apparently

recent condition, are found to be collected in the same locality, as

if on purpose to confound or perplex the theories of geographical

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 119

distributionists. As, however, few of these shells were taken ina

living state, it may be said that some of them were fossil, or had

been carried by submarine currents to the spot. Now, although

no chemical or other test has yet been discovered for distinguishing

what are called fossil from recent shells, whose cavities or tissue

are not permeated by mineral matter, the general appearance of

all the specimens in question, and their hyaline texture, instead

of the dull aspect and opacity of fossil shells from even the

newest strata of the Tertiary system, sufficiently make out a

primd facie case of their recent origin ; while it is highly impro-

bable that various currents would set in quite opposite directions

for many hundred leagues, and bring shells from the very bottom

of the sea to this particular locality. It is, on the contrary, as

I submit, a fair inference, that all the Mollusca whose remains

have been thus brought to light, lived and died within a few

miles of the place of their ultimate sepulture. How far their

continued submersion in the sea for many ages, beyond the

reach of atmospheric influence, may have prevented any change

in their composition, and given them a recent appearance, in-

stead of that of true fossils, is another question, which I am not

prepared to answer.

[Since the above was written, I have received from Mr. Waller

a very interesting paper of his on the above subject, which has

just been published in the ‘Transactions of the Royal Dublin

Society,’ and to which I beg to refer my readers for an exposi-

tion of his views. I may observe, that the fragments of a shell

which I at first supposed to belong to a Turritella allied to

T. polaris, and which Mr. Waller has provisionally named

“ Hibernica,” I have since ascertained to be the Scalaria Esch-

richti of Holboll and S. borealis of Beck. The results of this

dredging exploration are reserved for the next meeting of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science, under whose

auspices it was partly conducted; and I therefore abstain from

making any further allusion to it. ]

While mentioning shell-sand, it may not be amiss to remark

that it ought to be carefully passed through sieves of various

degrees of fineness before examining it ; for otherwise the eye

will be distracted by the unequal size of the objects submitted

to it, and some of the smaller shells may be concealed from view

by larger and coarser ones. If by chance this suggestion is

adopted by French conchologists, | hope they will not ‘be led by

an accident of mistranslation into a similar error to that which

I noticed in a recent number of the ‘ Journal de Conchyliologie,’

in which I was said to recommend using the dredge to get up

sea-weed from different depths of the sea, for the purpose of

collecting minute shells !

120 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

With respect to the operations of my old friend and partner,

Mr. Barlee, in the “ ultima Thule,” T regret to say that they have

not this year been so successful as heretofore. \ With a view to

greater results (the expenses being also much greater), we took

into the firm Mr. Damon, the well-known and enterprising shell-

dealer, who was to have the duplicates; but I fear his share of

the spoil will much exceed ours. Yerebratula cranium, Cerithium

metula, Mangelia nana, Aporrhais pes-carbonis, Trochus alabas-

trum, and Tellina balaustina (all of them northern treasures)

may be enumerated as the chief products of this expedition, so

far as it has hitherto proceeded. The variable, and often tem-

pestuous, state of the winds and sea, even during the height of

summer, will always render the Shetlands an uncertain and un-

satisfactor y dredging-ground; although its high northern posi-

tion, and the innumerable voes and fiords by which it is inter-

sected on every side, afford unusual prospects of rarities, as well

as shelter to the molluscous tribe. Mr. Barlee informs me that

our dredger, Angus M‘Nab, whom he took with him, has been

most indefatigable, honest, and intelligent im performing his

part of the work

A frequent inspection of the cabinet of Mr. M‘Andrew (who

has been most liberal in the use of it) has enabled me to correct

one or two mistakes which I had made im the identification of

Mediterranean and British species, his collection of the former

being perhaps unrivalled. It is impossible to define and distin-

guish with sufficient accuracy the shells of any isolated district

without regard to those of other districts in the same geographical

province ; ‘and my recent investigation of the Testacea of the

Piedmontese coast satisfied me as to the importance, if not the

necessity, of extending the area of observation for the above

purpose. Mr. M‘Andrew’s collection of shells from the coasts

of Upper Norway (which is also very rich) was likewise of great

service to me; and it confirmed my former opinion, that, in

general, the size of specimens increases in a ratio inverse to their

northern, and converse to their southern, point of latitude, of

which Tellina balaustina, Cardium minimum (Suecicum), Rissoa

pulcherrima, Trochus undulatus, and Arca raridentata may be

cited as examples. Colour appears to depend on different laws,

and is generally more vivid in southern than in northern climes ;

for instance, Cardium papillosum, Pecten furtivus, and many

others. In great depths it is indeed wanting, or nearly so, as

may be seen ‘by comparing specimens of Venus ovata and Turri-

tella communis obtained from the coralline zone, and a depth of

100 fathoms.

Iam indebted to the skilful and experienced pencil of my

friend Mr. Alder for figures to illustrate this paper, as welf as

Mr. Jeffreys on British AG Thiet 121

for his assistance in determining many of the species now pro-

posed to be added to the British fauna.

Acephala Lamellibranchiata.

Teredo Norvegica, Forbes § Hanl. Brit. Mell. vol. i, p. 66.

Guernsey, in piles (Dr. Lvkis).

Pholas parva, i. 111. Guernsey, with P. dactylus, in submarine

wood and peat (Dr. Lukis).

P. candida, i. 117. Guernsey, with the last two (Dr. Luks).

Saxicava arctica, i. 141. Guernsey, with S. rugosa; but I am

not satisfied as to the distinctness of the two species.

S.? fragilis (Wyst), Wood’s Crag Moll. p. 288. tab. xxix. figs. a-e.

S. rugosa, juv.?, B. M. i. 149. pl. 6. f. 1-3, and iv. 248. In trawl-

refuse from Plymouth; and I have it also from the Hebrides and

Aberdeen. Mr. Searles Wood, who is now satisfied as to the identity

of his fossils with the recent species, has mentioned that several dead

valves were obtained from the beach on Stone Point, at Walton-on-thee

Naze; and Mr. M‘Andrew dredged it in Vigo Bay,—so that it has

an extensive range. There can be no question of its being quite

distinct from S. rugosa, if indeed it belong to the same genus.

Panopeea Aldrovandi, i. 178. A pair of this magnificeut shell

was brought to me many years ago, as having been taken in a trawl-

net off the Cornish coast; and I have no reason to doubt the possi-

bility of its being a British shell, any more than the Triton cutaceus

and nodiferus, which (as will be presently seen) are now satisfactorily

proved to be inhabitants of our southern coast.

Neera costellata, i. 199. Shetlands (Mr. Barlee).

Thracia villosiuscula, i. 224. Guernsey.

T. convexa, i. 29. Part of a valve in dredged sand from Skye.

Solecurtus candidus, i. 263. Herm and Guernsey, in sand, at half-

tide mark (Dr. Lukis).

Psammobia vespertina, i. 271. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G.J.).

P. Ferroensis, i. 274. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G.J.).

Diodonta fragilis, i. 284. Guernsey. Only part of a valve, but

sufficiently characteristic for distinction.

Tapes decussata, 1. 379. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

T. aurea, i. 392. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

Cytherea chione, i. 396. Guernsey; rare (Dr. Lvkis).

Cyprina Islandica, i. 441. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

Circe minima, i. 446. Plymouth.

Astarte arctica, i. 464. The single valve, which was dredged by

Mr. M‘Andrew in the outer haaf-grounds, Zetland, and recorded in

the ‘ British Mollusca,’ is evidently fossil ; and Mr. M‘Andrew agrees

with me as tothis. The late Professor Macgillivray’s specimen was

taken with valves of Pecten Islandicus, and has also the same Ter-

tiary origin. My specimen, which was presented to me by the late

Dr. Fleming, from St. Andrew’s Bay, is in the same condition ; and

there is no satisfactory evidence of this species haying been found on

our coasts in a fresh or recent state.

122 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

Cardium aculeatum, ii. 4. Guernsey (Dr. Ivhis).

C. rusticum, ti. 11. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis). ! :

C. punctatum, Brocchi, Foss. Subapenn. ii. 666. tav. xvi. f. 11;

Philippi, Test. Sic. ii. 38. C. nodosum (Turton), B. M. ii. 22. This

species is not uncommon at Guernsey, and individuals are sometimes

found there of a beautiful pink colour. Mr. M‘Andrew has taken a

variety of it in Vigo Bay. The punctures in the interstices of the

ribs are more apparent towards the beaks, and may be easily observed

under a moderate magnifying power. Philippi has, in his second

volume, separated it from C. papillosum, and pointed out, with his

usual discrimination, the differences which exist between the two

species. I had also erroneously considered them identical in my

paper on Piedmontese Testacea. Brocchi’s name, being prior in

point of date, must therefore be restored.

C. papillosum, Poli, Test. Sic. t. 16. f. 2-4; PAil.i.51. This

beautiful and very distinct species was first discovered in Guernsey by

Dr. Lukis, and I have since detected it in shell-sand dredged off St.

Martin’s Port. It seems to be tolerably diffused on this part of our

coast, though as yet rare. The largest specimen found, and for

which I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Lukis, measures upwards

of half an inch in length and breadth. The one figured in Pl. V.

fig. 1 a, 6, is smaller, but of a milk-white colour. Other specimens

are mottled with the same rosy hue that distinguishes those obtained

from the Mediterranean.

C. fasciatum, il. 25. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G. J.)

Lucina divaricata, ii. 53. Besides the locality mentioned for this

rare shell by Messrs. Forbes and Hanley, where I obtained by

dredging two single valves, I found another valve many years ago in

shell-sand dredged from the Cornish coast for manure.

L. flexuosa, 1. 54. Plymouth and Guernsey.

Clausina Croulinensis, Jeffreys, Aun. N. H. xx. 19. Lucina

Serruginosa, var., B. M. ii. 62. If such a thing as a species exists in

nature, there can be, I think, no question that this is distinct from

C. ferruginosa, both as regards form and texture and dentition.

Figures of it are given in Pl. V. fig. 2 a—-c. Mr. Barlee has lately

found it in the Shetlands, together with C. ferruginosa.

With great deference to Mr. Searles Wood’s opinion, I cannot

agree with him in considering his Cryptodon ferruginosum specifically

identical with the Lucina ferruginosa of Forbes and Hanley. His

specimens (which I have examined carefully and compared with ours)

appear to differ essentially in form, as well as in the hinge and mode

of dentition ; and I should be inclined to place his species generically

with LZ. flexuosa instead of with Clausina.

Diplodonta rotundata, ii. 66. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G.J.).

Montacuta ferruginosa, ii. 72. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

M. substriata, i. 77. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis). A more solid and

opake variety, in which the radiating striz or ribs are obliterated,

has been taken by Mr. Barlee, at a depth of 110 fathoms, in the

Shetlands.

M.? Donacina, var. cylindrica, Wood’s Crag. Moll. part ii. p. 131.

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 123

I found a single valve of this remarkable shell by dredging at Fal-

mouth in 1839; and it is (as Mr. Wood says) impossible to mistake

it for any other species, or even satisfactorily to allocate it generically.

In form it somewhat resembles a miniature Zetatia.

Turtonia minuta, ii. 81. In dredged sand from Guernsey I found

a shell which apparently belongs to this species or to a variety of it.

It is, however, of an oblong rather than an oval form, is more than

double the size of ordinary specimens, and has dark streaks of pur-

plish brown radiating from the hinge to the margin. The teeth also

are conspicuous, and appear to agree with Lovén’s description of

northern specimens. It may be specifically different from J. minuta;

8 “i specimens will probably be discovered, so as to clear up the

oubt.

Lepton nitidum, var.feonvexum, ii. 102 and iv. 255 (Kellia nitida).

Plymouth and Guernsey.

L. squamosum, ii. 98. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G.J.).

L. Clarkiz, iv. 255. Plymouth, Torbay, and Guernsey.

Cyclas caliculata, ii. 115. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

Pisidium pusillum, ii. 123. Guernsey and Jersey (Dr. Luwkis).

M. Bandon, in a recent and elaborate essay on the French Pisidia,

unites P. cinereum of Alder and P. pulchellum of Jenyns as varieties

of P. Casertanum (Cardium Casertanum of Poli); and he doubts the

specific distinction of P. Recluzianum (Bourguignat), which is stated

to have been found at Belfast, and which M. Moquin-Tandon regards

as a variety of P. Henslowianum.

Modiola phaseolina, ii. 186. Guernsey, rather common (Dr. Lukis

& J.G.J.). Falmouth (Mr. Webster).

Crenella rhombea, ii. 208. Not uncommon in the coralline zone,

Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G. J.); Torbay (Dr. Battersby & J. G.J.).

Nucula radiata, ii. 220. Guernsey, with N. nucleus (Dr. Iukis &

J.G.J.).

Pectunculus Glycimeris, ii. 245. A curious monstrosity has been

taken by Mr. Barlee in the Shetlands. The hinge-plate is flattened,

and wants every vestige of the usual cardinal teeth; but, as a sub-

stitute, it has a rather strong lamina on each side locking into corre-

sponding grooves in the opposite valve. This peculiarity would, in

the opinion of some systematists, warrant the formation of a new

genus. The specimen, which is young, is also distorted in form.

Pecten furtivus, (Lovén) Ind. Moll. Scand. p. 31. P. striatus,

var., ii. 284. I found a single valve of this unquestionably distinct

species in dredged sand from Guernsey ; and Mr. M‘Andrew has also

taken it on the coast of Spain. It is intermediate between P. striatus

and P. tigrinus, having the form of the first and sculpture of the last.

Southern specimens are much larger than those hitherto found in the

North.

Acephala Palliobranchiata, or Brachiopoda.

Terebratella (D’ Orbigny ; Megerlea, King) truncata. Terebratula

truncata, Lamarck, vi. 1. p. 247. Anomia truncata, Chemn. viii.t.77.

f. 70La,6. Orthis truncata, Phil. ii. 69. Having examined Dr.

124. Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

Turton’s specimen in my cabinet, which he is said to have procured

from Torbay, and which is refer red to in the foot-note at p- 362. vol. 11.

of the ‘ History of the British Mollusca,’ I am enabled to state con-

fidently that it belongs to the above species, and not to Terebratula

detruncata or decollata, as therein supposed. M. Collard-Descherres

records Terebratula truncata as having been taken on the coast of

Finisterre (Journal de Conchyliologie, tome ii. p. 393), and there is

no reason to doubt the possibility of its being a British species. It

isnot uncommon in the Mediterranean. Chemnitz cites the dnomia

truncata of Miiller’s Prodromus to the ‘ Zoologia Danica’ as a syno-

nym, but I think hastily ; for Miller separates, characteristically as

well as generically, 7" erebratula from Anomia, and his diagnosis of

Anomia truncata (‘testa suborbiculata, obsolete striata, cardine

truncato’’) may equally apply to a variety of 4. patelliformis:

Argiope decollata. Anomia decollata, Chemn. viii.t.78.f.705. A.

detruncata, Gmelin, 2347. Orthis (changed from Terebratula) de-

truncata, Phil. ii. 69. Of this fine and interesting species I found a

few perfect specimens, of different ages, and two single valves in

dredged stuff from Guernsey. The size of my largest specimen is

nearly one-third of an inch square. These have not the normal form

of the species, and resemble a horse’s hoof in shape, being longitudi-

nally oval, instead of transversely oblong (as in Mediterranean exam-

ples); and the ribs are much fainter and do not extend to the front

margin. Specimens in Mr. M‘Andrew’s collection from Madeira

(though smaller than ours) have the same form and sculpture.

These may therefore belong to a distinct and undescribed species.

A representation will be found at Pl. V. fig. 3a-e. The specific

name of decollata, given by Chemnitz, has priority over that of de-

éruncata, which Philippi adopted from Gmelin, the latter author

having erroneously cited Chemnitz as the authority for his name.

The species was first indicated by Gualtier ; but he did not designate

it by any specific name, although his description is not bad com-

pared with his drawing, which is abominable.

A. cistellula, 1. 361 (Megathyris) and iv. 257. Not uncom-

mon in the coralline zone at Guernsey, Dr. Lukis haying taken

upwards of 200 specimens from a single stone. I erroneously re-

ferred this species in my paper on Piedmontese Testacea to the

Orthis Neapolitana (seminulum, olim) of Philippi; but having since

had the opportunity of examinmg a great number of specimens, I

ain satisfied that the two species are distinct. ‘The Orthis Neapoli-

tana difiers from our species in being longitudinally instead of trans-

versely oval (although individuals vary considerably in this respect),

in the foramen being smaller, and in the hinge-plate being contracted,

and not (as in 4, cistellula) extending the whole breadth of the

shell; in the papillae which encircle the ‘interior margin of each valve

being much less numerous and more prominent; as well as in the

internal rib of the under or flat valve being strongly serrated. It

also attains to twice the size of 4. cistellula. I have little doubt

that Philippi’s species will be found in the Channel Isles or on the

south coast of England. Mr, Davidson (in his excellent monograph on

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 125

the British Tertiary Brachiopoda, p. 10) seems to question its being

an Argiope.

A very minute Brachiopodous shell (th of an inch in length,

and -3,th in breadth) has been found by Mr. Norman in shell-sand

from Plymouth, which he received from Mr. Webster; and it is so

peculiar in form as to deserve special notice. It is egg-shaped and

slightly compressed towards the sides and front margin, and is sub-

opake and rather solid for its size. Foramen rather small. Auricles

or lateral prolongations indistinct. The surface is closely punctured

and quasi-tuberculated as in A. cistellula. It is of a horn-colour.

Being so excessively small as to defy any attempt to examine the

internal structure without danger of breaking or injuring the speci-

men, it is impossible to say whether it is an Argiope; but having

carefully compared it with analogous examples ot 4. cistellula,

which, as I before mentioned, vary greatly in form, I am inclined at

present to consider it an extreme variety of that species. Nearly a

similar variation of form, dependent on growth, occurs in specimens

of A. decollata. The discovery of more and adult examples will

probably clear up the doubt. By the kind permission of Mr. Nor-

man and the assistance of my friend Mr. Alder (who concurs with me

in the allocation of this specimen), I have given a representation of

it at fig. 4 a, 6, in the plate attached to this paper.

Pteropoda.

Spirialis Flemingii, 11.384. Guernsey (Zdyar Macculloch, Esq.),

and in trawl-refuse from Plymouth.

S. Jeffreysii, ii. 386. The true locality for this species as British

is Tenby; that given by Forbes and Hanley (“shores of the British

Channel”) not being quite correct. The mistake is probably owing

to a misprint of the word “ British” for ‘“ Bristol.”

Gasteropoda Prosobranchiata.

Patella vulgata, ii. 421. The shell, in its very young state, has

an excentrie spire, which afterwards becomes absorbed, as in demea

and other genera. The importance of embryology in determining

the laws of growth and classification is now fully admitted. With

respect to the habits of the animal, Dr. Lukis informs me that in

taking up the common Limpet, while in the act of crawling, he has

noticed young ones attached to the grooves of the foot or sustenta-

culum ; and he infers that the parent carries its offspring about with

it for protection. I had heard of an oyster being ‘ crossed in love,”

but I was not prepared for this wonderful instance of molluscan

oropyn.

Trochus millegranus, ii. 502, var. conica. Guernsey and Ply-

mouth.

Margarita (Trochus) pusilla, ii. 584. Guernsey. Mr. M‘Andrew

has taken it in the Mediterranean.

M. exilis. Tvrochus ewilis, Phil. i. 156. t. xxv. f. 15. Shenea

Cutleriana, iii. 164, and (Trochus) iv. 270. In dredged sand from

126 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

Skye and Guernsey, and Mr. M‘Andrew has it from the Mediterra-

nean. A specimen, larger than usual, confirms the idea I entertaimed

from the first, that this is Philippi’s species.

Paludina vivipara, iii. 11. A young specimen occurred to me in

the Guernsey dredgings ; but how it got there isa marvel. Dr. Lukis

assures me that there is no river in any of the Channel Isles, nor

indeed any piece of water in which such a shell is likely to exist ;

and he has never found a Paludina, after many a diligent search

for freshwater shells in that district. The specimen above mentioned

may possibly have been transported by some river from the opposite

coast either of England or France ; the specific gravity of fresh water

being less than that of the sea, its motion might buoy up such

triflmg substances for a long distance.

[In a letter which I have received from Dr. Lukis since writing the

above, he offers a more probable solution of the problem, in suggesting

that the shell may have been brought in ballast; and he says that

some years ago, certain individuals, who were more adventurous and

speculating than wise, opened a vein of black oxide of manganese in

tue neighbourhood of the dredging-ground, conceiving it to be a vein

of plumbago, and that vessels came, no doubt in ballast, to remove

the supposed treasure, and possibly left the shell in question to puzzle

future speculators. I may remark, in confirmation of this idea, that

I found, with the Paludina, some Foraminifera (species of Rotalina

and Nummulina) which are evidently fossil, and may have been also

brought from Sheppey or the Isle of Wight. |

Lacuna erassior, ii. 67. In dredged sand from Guernsey.

Rissoa Beanii, ili. 84. With the last.

R. eimicoides, Forbes, Augean Invertebrata in Brit. Assoc. Rep.

for 1843, p. 189. &. seulpta, B. M. ii. 88 (not of Philippi). Guern-

sey, with #. calathus. A comparison of typical specimens of J. cz-

micoides, in Mr. M‘Andrew’s collection, with our shells and the

author’s description, induces me without any hesitation to refer the

R. sculpta of the authors of the ‘ British Mollusca’ (founded on my

specimens) to the above species. Philip)i’s species is evidently dif-

ferent, the longitudinal ribs and caneellation being more remote, and

the inner lip smooth, in his shell. On this last character he indeed

lays particular stress in comparing it with other species; and it is

very distinct in our shell,

R. punctura, iii. 89. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G.J.).

R. rufilabrum, i. 106. In dredged sand from Guernsey.

R.. inconspicua, iii. 113. With the last.

Rt. vitrea, ii. 125. Torbay and Plymouth.

R. proxima, ii. 127. With the last ; thus affording a corroborative

proof that the two species are distinct.

R. pulcherrima, ii. 129. Paignton, at the rocks of Corallina

oficinalis. 'This cannot easily be mistaken for any of the numerous

varieties of R. inconspicua (which is also found in the same locality),

being so very different in form and markings.

R. soluta, 1. 131. In dredged sand from Guernsey, not uncom-

mon; and in trawl-refuse from Plymouth.

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 127

R. Alderi, n.s. Pl. V. fig. 5 a—e.

Testa ovato-conica, solidula, nitida, lutea, strigis transversis creber-

rimis subflexuosis exilibus insculpta; anfractibus 5, convexis, sen-

sim increscentibus ; sutura profunda ; apertura subrotunda, superne

acutangulata; labio fere continuo, columelle adnato; umbilico

- parvo, angusto; long. 4, lat. 5 unc.

Only three specimens have occurred to me, in dredged sand from

Skye, which was procured by Angus M‘Nab, and in which I also

found the two species of Proteonina described and figured by Prof.

Williamson of Manchester in his elaborate and valuable monograph

on the British Foraminifera. R. A/deri differs from R. soluta of the

British Mollusca (with which it was found) in being more than twice

the size, in the conical form of the spire, and in the peristome not

being continuous.

__R. ventrosa, var. muriatica, ili. 140. Guernsey, in abundance on

Ulva lactuca (Mr. Lukis, sen.).

Jeffreysia diaphana, iii. 152. Paignton.

J. opalina, ui. 158. With the last.

Skenea nitidissima, iii. 158. With the last two.

Aporrhais pes-carbonis, iii. 186. Mr. Barlee says that the animal

of this species differs from that of 4. pes-pelecani (both of which he

has examined and compared together) in the following particulars.

The entire snout and tentacula of 4. pes-pelecani are of a dull brick-

eolour, while the snout of 4. pes-carbonis is bright scarlet, with

a snow-white opake line running all down the centre, and termi-

nating thus | ,—the tentacula being of the same colour as the rest of

the animal (viz. watery-white), with an opake snow-white line down

the centre to the very tip of each. The snout of this last species is

also flatter and narrower than that of 4. pes-pelecani ; and its foot is

long, narrow, and almost pointed when extended on the march.

Cerithium reticulatum, iii. 192. var. sine varicibus et spira bre-

viore. From deep water, Guernsey ; the ordinary form being littoral.

Cerithium Metaxa. Murex Metaxa, Delle Chiaje, Mem. (1823)

vol. iii. p. 222. t. 49. f. 29-31. Cer. Metaxva(!), Wood’s Crag

Moll. part 1. p. 71. Cer. angustissimum, Forbes, Rep. on Aig.

Inv. 190. Specimens, though rare, and in a more or less imperfect

state, have been found at Guernsey by Mr. Norman, Mr. Barlee, and

myself. Mr. M‘Andrew has taken it by dredging off Teneriffe, and

Pantellaria in Sicily ; and I also obtained it by the same mode in the

Gulf of Spezzia. Having examined Mr. Searles Wood’s specimens

of what he doubtfully considered Delle Chiaje’s species, I am satisfied

as to the specific identity of the fossil and recent shells. Delle

Chiaje notices the four transverse ribs, which is one of the charac-

teristics of this species. It is the Cerithium creperum of Mr. Wood’s

earlier Catalogue of Tertiary Fossils. The accompanying repre-

sentation (Pl. V. fig. 6 a,b) is taken from a Piedmontese specimen,

which is much more perfect than any other that I have seen.

Sealaria Turtonis, iii. 204. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

S. communis, iii. 206. In dredged sand from Guernsey.

128 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

Aclis ascaris, iii. 219. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J.G.J.). Ply-

mouth.

A. supranitida, iii. 220. With the last. Guernsey specimens

vary as to the number and disposition of the transverse strize, which

are sometimes wanting altogether, and at others are only present on

the upper whorls, although their total or partial absence has evidently

not been caused by friction.

A.(?) unica, iii. 222. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & Mr. Barlee).

Stylifer Turtoni, iii. 226. I found a specimen, with the (dead)

animal in it, among some trawl-refuse from Plymouth, which con-

tained some of the Echinus sphera; and I am informed that several

specimens have been taken in the same locality.

Eulima stenostoma, n.s. PI. V. fig. 7a, 6. #. subulata, var. ?

ii. 236.

Testa acuminata, hyalina, alba, fragilissima, glabra; anfractibus 9,

teretibus, gradatim increscentibus, ultimo reliquos zquante, supe-

rioribus duobus obtusis, fascia pellucida ultimwm prope medium,

superiores juxta suturam, cingente; sutura vix distincta ; apertura

pyriformi, contracta, subtus effusa, superne acutangulata ; peri-

stomate in columellam subreflexo; columella arcuata; long. 4,

lat. si; une.

Mr. M‘Andrew having obligingly presented me with one of his

Zetland specimens, I am enabled to offer the above description. He

has also taken specimens on the coast of Norway, which confirm the

idea of this proving to be a distinct species, as was surmised by the

authors of the ‘British Mollusca.’ It has somewhat the appearance

of a large Achatina acicula.

Chemnitzia simillima. Turbo simillimus, Mont. Test. Brit. Suppl.

p- 136, and Laskey, Mem. Wern. Soc. 406. t. Villa dey a oe

pusilla, Phil. ii. 224. t. xxviii. f. 21. Odostomia lactea (3, Jeftr.

Ann. N. H. vol. ii. n.s. p. 348. Ch. elegantissima, var., B. M. iii.

243. Torbay and Guernsey. Specimens from the last-named loca-

lity are sometimes toothed, as in Odostomia proper. It is very

distinct conchologically from any of the varieties of C. elegantissima,

and also malacologically, as Mr. Clark has observed. Montagu’s

description of Turbo simillimus, that it resembles elegantissimus, but

is less slender, and has fewer and more distant ribs, that are not

slanting or oblique, but straight and more arched, as well as larger

than the interstices, seems exactly to distinguish the two species.

C. rufa, iii. 247 and iv. 276. Plymouth.

C. indistincta, iii. 255. In dredged sand from Guernsey.

C. clathrata, iti, 258. Mr. M‘Andrew obtained a single specimen

at Orotava. It has a closer affinity to Odostomia interstincta than

to O. indistincta, but is evidently distinct from any of the varieties

of either of those species.

Odostomia conoidea, iii. 260. Plymouth.

O. conspicua, ii. 263. I found a couple of fresh specimens in

dredged sand from Guernsey; and Mr. Barlee procured another

from the same source. It is by far the largest of our Odostomia.

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 129

O. acuta, ii. 269. Mr. M‘Andrew has taken this species in Nor-

way with O. insculpta.

O. plicata, ili. 271. Guernsey.

O. Eulimoides, iii. 273. A comparison of fresh specimens just

received from Mr. Barlee, of what I considered at first a distinct

species, and named O. notata, has satisfied me that the latter is only

a variety of this Protean species.

O. dubia, iii. 276. Guernsey.

O. alba, iii. 278, var. gracilior et scalariformis. Guernsey, Skye,

and Zetland (Mr. Barlee & J. G.J.). ; :

O. cylindrica, iii. 287. Torbay.

O. insculpta, ii. 289. Guernsey.

O. Warrenii, iii. 292. With the last.

O. truncatula, ii. 294. Adult specimens have a prominent and

sharp tooth on the columella ; but it is scarcely visible from the out-

side of the aperture.

O. decussata, iii. 303. With the last.

Eulimella Scillze, ii. 309. Torbay (Dr. Battersby).

E. acicula, iii. 311. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G. J.).

E. affinis, ii. 313. Torbay (Dr. Battersby). Mr. M‘Andrew

has taken it in Norway with &. acicula.

Otina otis, ii. 321. var. alba. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis). Dr. Gray

has very properly placed this genus in the family of Auriculade, to

which it has conchological as well as malacological relations.

Cerithiopsis tubercularis, iil. 365, (tuberculare) var. alba. Ply-

mouth (Mr. Barlee).

C. Clarkii, iii. 368. Another (being the second) specimen of this

remarkable shell has occurred to me in dredged sand from Guernsey

with C. tubercularis, which is not uncommon there ; and it confirms

the suggestion of the authors of the ‘ British Mollusca,’ that it might

prove to be a distinct species. Besides having only two rows of

tubercles, the volutions are scalariform, and the suture is much deeper

than in C. tubercularis.

C. pulchella, n.s. Pl. V. fig. 8 a-e.

Testa cylindrica, solidula, rufescente, costis longitudinalibus 18-20,

transversis 4, cancellata, quarum 2 medize longinque prominent et

infima carinam simulat, ad juncturam tuberculos efformantibus ;

anfractibus 7, convexis, ultimo reliquos subzquante ; sutura pro-

funda ; apertura ovata ; canali brevissimo ; operculo membranaceo ;

long. 5, lat. 3 unc.

Falmouth, Plymouth, and Guernsey; but rare. Although the

C. tubercularis is very variable in size, this species has a peculiar

aspect, which is unmistakeable for that of any variety of the last-

named species. Specimens of that species, of the same size as C.

pulchella, have no less than twelve volutions ; and the cancellations

are invariably closer, and the transverse rows of tubercles equally

prominent.

Murex rudis. Fusus rudis, Phil. ii. 180. t. xxv. f. 30. A single

130 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

specimen of this very distinct species. has been in my eabinet for the

last twenty years, and was found at Tenby by my late friend, Mrs,

Richard Smith. Mr. Hanley considered it to be the young of Fusus

rostratus ; but, as Philippi justly remarks, his F’. rudis differs from

that species in its much less slender form and far shorter spire. Its

nearest congener is Murex corallinus. To.

Buccinum Humphreysianum, iii. 410. Mr. Barlee says that the

tentacula of the animal, instead of being flat and long (as in B. un-

datum), are peculiarly round and obtuse.

Fusus, iii. 433. pl. ciii. f. 4, 5. The fragment of a Fusus, de-

scribed and figured as above, and which I examined in the cabinet of

Mr. M‘Andrew, clearly belongs to the variety carinatus of F. anti-

quus; and Mr. M‘Andrew is of the same opinion.

Trophon scalariformis. Fusus sealariformis, Gould, Inv. Mass.

p- 288. f. 203. Trophon clathratus, var.?, B. M. ii. 438 (foot-note).

The large fragment mentioned by Forbes and Hanley (and which was

presented to me by the late Professor Macgillivray) has every ap-

pearance of being recent, and it still contains the remains of a hermit-

crab. In dredged sand from Belfast Bay I found a perfect, though

younger specimen, with 7’, clathratus, which is common there. The

two species are, I think, distinct.

Triton cutaceus, iii. 446. Dr. Turton’s collection, as well as the

British Museum, contains specimens (though in the latter they are

in a worn and imperfect state) from Padstow and Guernsey; and

Mr. Lukis, sen. and Mr. Macculloch have found several from time to

time in the Channel Isles. But all doubt of the indigenousness of

this species may, I think, be considered as set at rest by mentioning

that Dr. Lukis and Mr. Barlee dredged, last autumn, off the Guernsey

coast, a half-grown and living individual. This I have seen, with

the operculum preserved ; and I am quite satisfied (as a lawyer!)

with the proof of its being a British shell. I noticed specimens in

the collection of M. d’Orbigny (pére) at La Rochelle, in 1830, from

the Gulf of Gascony; and it is rather a common Mediterranean

species.

T. nodiferus. 7". nodiferum, Lam. vii. 179. Three specimens of

this truly magnificent shell have been taken in the Channel Isles at

intervals, from 1825 to 1847; and two of them are now in the cele-

brated collection of Guernsey shells formed by Mr. Lukis, sen. I give

in his own words the following account of these captures :—

“Three specimens have been dredged off the shores of Guernsey.

In the year 1825, August 25th, the largest was brought to me by one

of our island fishermen, named Charles Ozanne, of Paradis, in the

Vale parish. He had a few days previously dredged it alive, and,

in order to extract the fish, had boiled the shell. Some years after,

a second was dredged by another fisherman, and was also alive. This

was obtained in a living state by the late Admiral Sir Thomas Man-

sell. In the year 1847, a third specimen was brought to me alive,

and I kept it in sea-water for a fortnight. It was very active, and

repeatedly was found to have crawled out of the bucket on the floor?’

The largest specimen now measures nearly 9 ‘inches in length,

Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca. 131

although the tip has been broken since it was taken. This specimen

is partly incrusted with Lepralia coccinea, which, besides the northern

habitat, first recorded by Miiller in his ‘ Zoologia Danica,’ is only

found, according to Busk, on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland.

Through the kindness of Mr. Lukis, I have examined all the three

specimens ; and he has since most obligingly presented me with one

of them. Mr. Hanley, to whom I lately mentioned this discovery,

thought that the fisherman whom he had employed in dredging

(Jean Tussaud) might have palmed the shells as native on Mr. Lukis,

and that the specimens came from the coast of Spain; but this ap-

pears to be a mistake. There is therefore, I think, no reasonable

doubt as to the admission of this interesting species into the list of

British Mollusca. It has been found by M. Martin on the coast of

Provence, and is not uncommon in the Mediterranean.

Mangelia purpurea, var. Philberti, ii. 460. In dredged sand from

Guernsey.

M. cancellata. Fusus cancellatus, J. Sowerby, Min. Conch.

t. 525. f. 2. Clavatula cancellata, Wood’s Crag. Moll. part 1.

p- 61. pl. 7. f. 9. Fusus asperrimus, Brown, Ill. Br. Conch. p. 8.

pl. vi. f. 2. M. purpurea, var., B. M. iii. 467. With the last. This

beautiful species is quite distinct from any of the varieties of M.

purpurea, and approaches nearer in the mode of cancellation to the

Pleurotoma reticulatum of Bronn and Philippi. One of Mr. Barlee’s

specimens from the Shetlands measures 2ths of an inch in length.

The fossil shells are specifically identical with ours.

- M. scabra. Pleurotoma scabrum, Jeffr. in Ann. N. H. vol. xix.

p- 311. M. linearis, var., B. M. ii. 470. Guernsey and Plymouth,

with M. linearis, which is certainly a different species. Mr. M‘Andrew

has taken both in the Mediterranean and Norway. I have added a

representation of M. scabra at Pl. V. fig. 9 a—-c. What Forbes and

Hanley called the “purple-tipped”’ variety is this species in a worn

and scarcely distinguishable state.

Gasteropoda Opisthobranchiata.

Ovula patula, iii. 498. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G.J.). Mr.

Horace Marryat informs me that he took several of these beautiful

creatures alive, at a very low tide, off Aleyonia and Sponges from the

roof of the famous Gouliot cave in Sark,—the absence of light proba-

bly compensating for depth of water, as this species usually inhabits

the coralline zone.

Amphisphyra hyalina, iii. 521. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis & J. G. J.).

Bulla dilatata. Haminea dilatata, Leach, Brit. Moll. p. 43. I

have a specimen of this very distinct species from the collection of

Mr. J. D. Humphreys mixed with B. Hydatis in a tray labelled

* Cork Harbour ;” and I found a couple of specimens in 1830 on

the Ie de Rhé in the Gulf of Gascony. Mr. M‘Andrew has also

taken it off the Grand Canary.

Scaphander lignarius, iii. 536, var. alba. Spa: (Dr. Lukis).

Philine punctata, iii. 547. In dredged sand from Guernsey.

132 Mr. Jeffreys on British Mollusca.

Gasteropoda Pulmonifera.

Helix aperta, iv. 43. Dr. Lukis thinks the specimen recorded as

having been found in Guernsey by the late Professor Forbes was

accidentally imported ; and he adds that he has searched for the

species in vain. It is rather a common article of food in the south of

France and in Italy, and makes a dainty dish for snail-eaters.

H. aspersa, iv. 441. Mr. Barlee states, in answer to my inquiry

as to the existence of this species in the Shetlands, that he has not

been able to find it there. This common pest of our gardens does

not appear to be known in the north of Europe or in Germany.

H. Pisana, iv. 561. On the western and southern shores of Jer-

sey (Dr. Lukis).

H. ericetorum, iv. 61. Dr. Lukis says this species has been taken

in Jersey, but is not now to be found there.

H. globularis, Jef. Linn. Trans. vol. xvi. p. 507. H. sericea,

B.M. iv. 71 (not of Draparnauvd). Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

H. umbilicata, iv. 81. I found a specimen in trawled stuff from

Plymouth, which had been taken at a distance of several miles from

the shore.

Pupa alpestris. Vertigo alpestris, Alder, Trans. Nat. Hist. Soe.

North. vol. u. p. 340. Pupa Shuttleworthiana, Charpentier in

Zeitschr. fiir Malak. for 1847, p. 148. P. pygmea, var., B. M. iv.

106. Mr. Norman informs me that this species has been lately

taken, rather abundantly, by Miss Sarah Bolton in the neighbourhood

of Ambleside, on slate; and he adds that the recent notices of its

rediscovery in the south of England and the neighbourhood of Dublin

(as respectively recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1850, vol. viii. p.2743,

and the Nat. Hist. Rev. vol. i. p. 94) are erroneous,— Mr. Bridgman’s

specimens from Norwich (judging from one which is in the British

Museum, labelled “Vertigo alpestris’”) belonging to P. pygmea

(which I can confirm), and an example of the Dublin shell sent to

Mr. Norman by Mr. Hogan as ‘“‘ Pupa alpestris,”” being quite a dif-

ferent species. I found specimens of P. alpestris at Zermatt and in

the valley of the Dranse, in 1855, and they were named by the late

M. Charpentier “‘ Pupa Shuttleworthiana.” Mr. Alder’s name has,

however, the precedence of publication. Specimens which I have

received from Mr. Norman agree with those I found in Switzerland,

as well as with the description of Mr. Alder, who has recognized

them as his species. It is unquestionably distinct from P. pygmea

or any of its varieties.

Planorbis lacustris, iv. 162. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

Limneus acutus, Jef. Linn. Trans. xvi. 373. L. auricularius, var.,

B.M.iv.170. Neighbourhood of Oban ( Capt. Bedford) ; Bloomfield,

Kent. Although all the species of Limneus are especially subject to

variation of form, I much doubt if this is not distinct from DL. auri-

cularivs. It is certainly not an ‘immature variety” of the last-

named species, as stated by Forbes and Hanley, for I have found

specimens of all ages agreeing in a common character.

L, glaber, iv. 178. Guernsey (Dr. Luhis).

M. O. A. L. Morch on Conchological Nomenclature. 133

Ancylus oblongus, iv. 188. Guernsey (Dr. Lukis).

Conovulus denticulatus, var. reflexa (Turton), iv. 194. Cary-

chium personatum, Michaud, Suppl. to Drap. p. 73. Guernsey

(Dr. Lukis). In crevices of rocks above high-water mark, Golding-

ham Bay, near Paignton. The colour of the animal is yellowish

white, and that of the tentacula light grey. Each whorl in young

individuals is encircled with a coronet of spines or bristles, as in the

ical form. A representation of this well-marked variety is given

at Pl. V. fig. 10 a, 6.

Cyclostoma elegans, iv. 201. Dr. Lukis informs me that this

species is found in Alderney, but not in Guernsey.

1, Montagu Square, London,

July 1858.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.

Fig. 1. Cardium papillosum, var.: a, natural size; b, magnified.

Fig. 2. Clausina Croulinensis: a, natural size; b, magnified; ¢, hinge,

magnified.

Fig. 3. Argiope decollata, var.: a, natural size; b, front view, magnified ;

c, back view, magnified ; d, interior of lower valve; e, imterior of

upper valve.

Fig. 4. A. cistellula, var.?: a, natural size; 6, magnified.

Fig. 5. Rissoa Alderi: a, natural size; 6, front view, magnified; c, back

view, magnified.

Fig. 6. Cerithium Metaxa: a, natural size; 6, magnified.

Fig. 7. Eulima stenostoma: a, natural size ; 6, magnified.

Fig. 8. Cerithiopsis pulchella: a, natural size; 4, front view, magnified ;

ce, back view, magnified.

Fig. 9. Mangelia scabra : a, natural size ; b, front view, magnified; c, back

view, magnified.

Fig. 10. Conovulus denticulatus, vay. reflexa: a, natural size; 6, magnified.

XV.—Observations on Conchological Nomenclature.

By M. O. A. L. Morcu.

In the ‘Annals of Natural History’ for January 1857, there

appeared a review of the ‘ Genera of Recent Mollusca,’ by Messrs.

H. and A. Adams, which has only very recently come under my

notice, and which appears to me to call for a few observations,

both on the general principles adopted by the reviewer, and on

the individual errors indicated in the review.

The state of conchology has in many respects been for a long

time far behind that of most other departments of Biology.

The genera of the Testacea of Linnzus scarcely correspond in

value to the Orders in his classification of the higher animals ;

and the genera established by Lamarck, now commonly in use,

hardly possess the rank that should be given to families. The

want of a better systematic arrangement in this branch of natural

history has for a considerable period been felt by many naturalists ;

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser, 3, Vol. ii. 10

134 M.0O.A.L. Morch on Conchological Nomenclature.

and numerous attempts at a better elassification (chiefly mono-

graphic) have been made by writers of different countries, which,

however, have been neglected by the great majority of concho-

logists, who prefer following in the path of an antiquated cele-

brity to availing themselves of modern research and independent

investigation. Gray, Agassiz, and Herrmannsen were the first who

directed attention to the subject generally ; and to Swainson and

Gray we are indebted for the earliest attempts at forming more

reasonable divisions of the genera.

The ‘Genera’ of Messrs. Adams must be regarded as a great

advance in the same direction by all who have specially devoted

themselves to the study of Mollusca, although their work may

not prove the most useful to be consulted by pupils and students

of Conchology. By the united critical labours of different con-

chologists it will perhaps be possible, at no very distant period,

to produce a work that shall be more complete. Before, how-

ever, a standard nomenclature can be obtained, the fundamental

principles of nomenclature must be settled. The errors of Lin-

nzeus we must believe would have been corrected by the immortal

founder of the existing school of naturalists himself, had he been

acquainted with the present development and state of Biology.

It appears strange in the present day to find it deliberately

maintained, as in the review in question, that genera have no

foundation in nature, but are purely artificial, and only “ useful

in a few great collections,” or “convenient in special or elabo-

rate monographs,” and that “for ordinary purposes a much

smaller number of divisions is sufficient.” It seems not less

strange to find the reviewer expressing wonder at the number of

genera contained in the work, which must be regarded as small

in comparison with those in entomology or ornithology, or even

possibly with what may be found to exist when the Mollusca

now known are more closely examined. Such considerations as

the number of genera, and the ability to retain their names in

the memory, are foreign to real science, and can only find a

place in treatises of a popular character.

Some names, it is objected, “are taken from works published

before the time of Linnzus.””? The claim to be the first to esta-

blish genera was never made by Linneus, neither did he request

his successors to ignore the works of his predecessors, which

would have been contrary to the practice he himself pursued.

“Nomina generica, quamdiu synonyma digna in promptu sunt,

nova non eflingenda*.” ‘ Nomen genericum antiquum antiquo

generi convenitt.”

Let us inquire what is meant by ante-Linnean? The Com-

* Phil. Botan. 247. p. 190, and Fund. Botan. 1736.

+ Linn. Fund. Botan.

M. QO. A. L. Morch on Conchological Nomenclature. 185

mittee of the British Association has advanced the doctrine that

no name older than the twelfth edition of the ‘ Systema Nature’

can be recognized ; but it is evident that Linnzeus fully established

his binomial nomenclature in the tenth edition,—a work which

would have been sufficient for the introduction of that system even

if the twelfth edition had never appeared. In 1756, species were

for the first time distinguished by a word instead of a phrase.

The specific names of Linnzus could not, however, have existed

without genera to which they could be referred, “ uti campana

sine pistillo ;” and generic divisions and names had in fact been

in use long before. In 1735 appeared the first edition of the

‘Systema Nature,’ in which all organic nature was divided into

Classes, Orders, and genera, in accordance with the laws pub-

lished by the author in the following year, 1736, in his ‘ Funda-

menta Botanica,’ the soundness of which has since been gene-

rally acknowledged. The Linnean zra commences therefore

with that year, and not with the date of his last work, because

it is the spirit of his system that we adopt, and not his nomen-

clature, which is now entirely changed. His method was im-

mediately followed by several naturalists (Hill, Patrick Browne,

Adanson, &c.) long before the twelfth edition of the Systema

Nature’ appeared. Ray and Willughby were the first who in-

troduced good genera, as Linnzeus himself acknowledges. In

the works of these authors names were introduced, such as Felis,

Leo, Tigris; but these names are not truly generic, but verna-

cular; and for that reason also the names of Aristotle, Pliny,

Gesner, Buonanni, &c., cannot be adopted.

Again, it is objected that some genera “were never charac-

terized.” If a generic character is required as a sine gud non,

it is necessary that such a character should be a true one; but

this character will always be changing according to the different

views of authors at different periods. The generic character is

a good guide, but not a necessity, for the professional zoologist,

who must be able to judge among the specific characters which

are of generic and which of specific value. The first process in

establishing a genus is to select those speeies which possess

characteristics not found in other genera ; and from these, again,

to choose the most characteristic as the type. No definition at

all is better than one that is inaccurate. The genera Ranella

and Triton are established upon the position of the varices of

their shells; and although many species have since been dis-

covered without any varices, the genera must nevertheless be

considered as established. The genus Cylindrella now contains

many species differing from the original definition.

What is the type of a genus ?—The Committee of the British

Association maintains that the species first mentioned must be

10*

136 M.0O,A.L. Morch on Conchological Nomenclature.

regarded as the type; and this view appears generally to be the

most natural. Linneeus directs that, if a genus must be divided,

the most common species shall preserve the old name. This course

can scarcely, in the present day, be considered as very scientific.

The author who establishes a genus alone has the right to decide

which species he wishes to be regarded as the type, and to in-

terpret the meaning of his generic name. In such authors as

Klein and Hill, who illustrated their genera by figures, it is

most natural to regard the species selected for illustration as

the type. In Adanson, the species which bears the same name

as the genus must be regarded as the type. It is thus erroneous

for an author to consider ossar to be the type of the genus

Natica, because it is the first in order and the only one of which

the animal is described. On the contrary, the second species,

la Natice, must be regarded as the type. Thus of Halotis,

P? Ormier is the type; of Yetus, Yet; of Porcellana, Porcellame ;

of Cerithium, Cerite; of Vermetus, Vermet. If no species is

named in the genus, it 1s because none is found in Senegal.

What is required for a generic name ?—Linneus gives many

rules for the correct application of names, but the only condition

he imposes is that the name shall be a single word of Latinized

form, and not composed of two distinet terms, as Radix Bryonie,

Solen anguinus. Barbaric words are admitted as generic names,

as Coffea, Thea, Chara, Pothos, Jambolifera; and why not also

retain hybrid names, of which the Lat language itself affords

many examples? It is then unnecessary to change Cvrroteuthis

to Bostrychoteuthis or Sciadephorus. Nearly all the genera

adopted by Linnzeus are in opposition to his own rules, as Conus,

Mactra, Venus, Trochus, Turbo, Arca, Buccinum, Patella, &c.,

because Linnzeus considered the historical right of a name to be

of greater importance than the correctness of its formation,—

not, however, in justice to the author, but to history, for Linnzeus

never added the author’s name.

On the Genera of Klein.—Wang was the first (1722) who pro-

duced a systematic Manual of Conchology, divided into genera

which approach nearly to those of Linnzeus at present in use ;

but, unfortunately, most of his names were composed of two

words, and cannot therefore be recognized by naturalists of the

Linnean school. Fischer of Kénigsberg, in 1732, published a

revised system with an improved nomenclature ; and a list of the

names appeared in Klein’s ‘ Echinodermata, in 1733. The

descriptions were first published by Klein im 1752, who must,

however, be regarded only as the editor and commentator, as

appears by the introduction. If we take into consideration that

Klein’s ‘Tentamen Methodi Ostracologicee’ was published at

the time when Linneus divided all univalve shells into five

M. O. A. Li. Morch on Conchological Nomenclature. 137

genera only, and all bivalves into one Class (Concha), we must

regard Klein’s as a classical work. Many of his genera were not

inferior to those now in use; and those in which there exists the

greatest intermixture of species are certainly not worse than the

Linnean, which are now generally adopted: for instance, Bulla

of Linneus includes Ovula and Physa; Turbo includes Clausilia;

Littorina, Turb. marmoreus ; and Naulilus, Planorbis and Fora-

minifera. In the republic of science all are equal, and have the

same claims upon the justice of posterity. As conchologists,

Klein and Fischer were perhaps superior to Linneus, although

in their nomenclature they were inferior to him; and with re-

gard to Klein, we possess this advantage,—that in most cases

there can be no doubt as to the type, of which a figure is always

given. Shuttleworth, for instance, will not adopt the genus

Pseudotrochus (a name as good as Pseudachatine, Albers) because,

in addition to the figured type (Bulla virginea, Linn.), it includes

Cerithium telescopium, although these forms do not differ more

than the species in the genus Helix, Linn., adopted by the same

author. The genus Chersina, Humphrey, is preferred to Liguus,

Montfort, although the former is composed of the heterogeneous

species, Bulla virginea, Bulla achatina, Linn., and a Tornatella.

It must be a matter of indifference how much the species referred

to a genus differ from the type, if they are not congeneric

with it.

I will now offer a few observations on the assumed errors

indicated by the reviewer.

Nerita, Klein, cannot be used, because Lister’s name adopted

by Linnzus, but more accurately defined than by the original

author, has priority.

Garagoi, a name as good as Muscari, Tournef., or Gari, Schu-

macher, is a generic name borrowed from Buonanni, who used

it as a vernacular name for Spaniard. It is very likely a mis-

spelling of Caracol. I am not able to identify the figure ; per-

haps it is Littorina ziczac.

Cophinosalpine (compounded from xogwos, corbis, and cad~

mye, tuba) does not contain any Pleurotoma, but aMangelia, seve-

ral Nass@, and Phos senticosus ; but;the type belongs to Ricinula !

Buccinum, Klein, is the name of a Class, and not of a genus,

Buecinum, Browne, is Triton, Montfort.

Saccus, Klein, is Turbo of Cuvier, which contains many dif-

ferent species. The type selected for illustration is Turbo mar-

moreus.

Ficus, Klein (1752), Bolten, Humphrey, Rousseau, is pre-

occupied by Linnzus for a plant. Gray has introduced Browne’s

name Sycotypus, but, I believe now, erroneously, because Browne

mentions a hairy epidermis, which is not found in any species

of that genus. Perhaps it may be a young Triton. It is also

138 M.O.A.L. Morea on Conchological Nomenclature.

strange that Browne has not quoted any figure of Lister, who

gives several of this genus, of which only one species was known,

from the West Indies. Lamarck’s name Pyrula (1799 and 1801)

must be retained for Ficus and Ficula, Swainson.

Argobuccinum is a name as good as Pholadomya, Volutomitra,

&e. The type is Ranella Argus.

Auris, Klein, 1753, was already used by Linnzeus in the first

edition of the ‘Systema Nature,’ 1735.

Haliotis was first described by Lister, and named by him

Auris marina.

Auris Mide, Klein, is composed of two words, and therefore

cannot be used.

Cavolina was established by Gioeni, 1783, in his ‘ Deseriz. di

una nuova famiglia, &c., and Abildgaard re-described the genus

in 1791, one year before Bruguiére published the name Cavolina,

without description, in the plates of the ‘ Ene. Méth.’

Clio, Browne (1756), was adopted by Linneus, although he

had never actually seen it. ‘Clionis genus mihi non visum e

Cl. Brownio mutuatus sum.” Linnzeus has only added specific

names to Browne’s descriptions. Linnzeus here affords an ex-

ample of founding species upon figures and descriptions,—a

practice for which Gmelin has been often censured. Browne

mentions in his specific description “vagina triquetra,” which

proves clearly that he meant a Cleodora, of which a species is

figured. The name given by Peron and Lesueur was therefore

unnecessary, and cannot be acknowledged.

Cassidea, Brug. (1792), is a synonym of Cassis, and cannot be

used for Oniscia, which is the sixteenth species in the list of

twenty-one enumerated as belonging to that genus.

Cassidula, Humphrey (not Cassidulus), is distinet from Cassi-

dula, Lam. (= Echinanthus, Breyn).

Bursa of Petiver and Buonanni is a vernacular name, and

cannot be used generically.

Thais of Bolten is not a synonym of Monoceros, as the only

species of the latter genus is the last in order among the eight

species mentioned.

Cylindrus is only mentioned by Breyn as an example of mono-

thalamous shells.

Operculatum, Linn. The binomial nomenclature was first

employed by Linnzeus in the ‘ Mus. Tessinianum,’ 1753, where

the shells are described in the same manner as in the tenth and

twelfth editions of the ‘Systema Nature’ :—

lingulata......... 1. Pinna linguiformis subfaleata.—

MACETH isiinais sce obs 2. Arca striis membranaceis laceris.

lave ............ 3. Operculatum, tab. vi. f. 5. Testa fere lapidea,

orbiculata a latere, superne magis gibba, ab in-

feriore plana, punctis elevatis. Jgnoti generis.

Bibliographical Notice. 139

It seems clear to me that Linnzus regarded it as a new genus

like Arca and Pinna. None of the shells here described are

mentioned in any of his later works.

Tectura, Aud. and M.-Edw., is named and described in the

‘Compt. Rend.’ for 1824. In the ‘ Hist. Nat. du littoral de la

France,’ it is characterized by the gills as a new genus, but not

named.

I will conclude with a few bibliographical observations.

The name of the person who writes a work is a matter of

perfect indifference to science, and is only necessary for the pur-

pose of distinguishing the work. ‘To the public, each work or

edition is as it were a different person.

The ‘Museum Boltenianum’ was originally written by the

possessor of the collection, a pupil of Linnzus, with additions

and corrections by P. F. Roding and Dr. Schultze, as appears

from the preface furnished by Ant. Aug. Hy. Lichtenstein.

I. C. Fabricius mentions, in the ‘ Mem. of the Nat. Soc. of Copen-

hagen,’ 1793, vol. ii. p. 153, that the most important work of

Schultze was the arrangement of Bolten’s collection, but which

he would probably never be able to complete. Bolten’s work

was subsequently much used by Link, Lichtenstein in the Du-

plicate Catalogue, and Schumacher. The work, of which there

are two editions, is far from rare.

Link’s ‘ Verzeichniss’ was burnt either by accident, as Herr-

mannsen (on the authority of Beck) states, or by the author ;

but a copy was preserved at the University of Rostock, which

copy has been recently brought to light by the researches of

conchologists. The author would not, according to Troschel,

acknowledge his work; but no author has a right to repudiate

that which has been once published.

Copenhagen, June 3, 1858.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.

The Aquarian Naturalist : a Manual for the Sea-side. By Tuomas

Rymer Jones, F.R.S. &e. London, Van Voorst, 1858, 12mo,

pp. 924.

ConsipERING the number of guides who have within the last few

years endeavoured to lead our sea-side pleasure-seekers to find a purer

and more intellectual enjoyment than that presented by the ordinary

course of existence at watering-places, in the investigation of the

wonders which Nature has lavished with a prodigal hand on every

shore, it must be confessed that the apparent effect produced is very

140 Bibliographical Notice.

small indeed. Books ofall qualities and all prices,—from the beautiful

but rather eostly volumes of Gosse down to the little work in which

the “‘Common Objects of the Sea-shore”’ are reduced to the level of

the lowest capacity at the correspondingly low price of one shilling,—

books, good, bad, and indifferent, meet one’s eye at every turn; and

if all visitors to the sea-side do not acquire some knowledge of marine

zoology, it certainly is not the fault of our natural-history writers.

In fact, we are almost surfeited with works published with this ob-

ject. Mr. Thackeray, when enjoying the hospitality of the amiable

Ponto family, found that there was a sameness about a continued

pork diet, and considered their beginning upon a sheep an incident

worthy of record ; and when we look back upon the numerous books

that have appeared since 1850 on the Aquarium and kindred sub-

jects, we are quite ready to sympathize with the illustrious snob-

ographer.

Surely in this, if in any similar case, we might entertain a reason-

able dread of the production of the effect proverbially attributed to

the cooperation of too many cooks. Nevertheless there was one of

the chefs of the natural-history euisine, if we may be allowed to

make use of such a term, a very Soyer in his line, who had not yet

contributed any production of his art to the entertaimment,—one

whose scientific attainments and literary power render his popular

writings the most attractive of any that have appeared in our lan-

guage. Tis long-promised work on the Aquarium has at length made

its appearance ; and although it comes, let us hope, in the very last

course of the aquarian banquet, it is so savoury in its nature, so deli-

cately seasoned, and so admirably concocted, that, surfeited as we

were already, we fall-to upon it with renewed relish, and devour its

charming pages with avidity.

Indeed, considering the inspiration under which it was written, it

would be astonishing were Professor Rymer Jones’s book otherwise

than charming ; he tells us in his preface, that in its composition he

has endeavoured to comply, as far as possible, with the requisi-

tions of his lady-friends, to whose very efficient protection he seems

to confide it; sparkling eyes and fairy fingers appear to have been

his constant assistants in his investigations of the wonders of the

shore; and in his treatment of the subject we trace much of the

brilliancy of the eyes and much of the delicacy of the fingers.

But independently of all charms of style, and of the accessories,

such as descriptions of scenery and anecdotes, scattered here and

there in its pages, the ‘Aquarian Naturalist’ is undoubtedly the best

of all the sea-side books which have come under our notice. Com-

mencing, as in duty bound, with directions to the intending “ aqua-

riist’? upon the establishment and management of his vivaria,—

directions which, although occupying only twenty-six pages of the

work, contain all the necessary information, — Professor Rymer

Jones proceeds to the consideration of the various forms of marine

animals, with especial reference to those which may be conveniently

introduced into the aquarium. Starting from the lowest animals,

Bibliographical Notice. 141

the Sponges and Rhizopods, he works his way upwards through

the different classes and orders, describing a few of the most striking

species in each, in such a way as to furnish his readers not merely

with a desultory sketch of a few animal forms, but with a very

finished picture of the zoology of the sea. Thus we not only find

in his pages striking and elegant descriptions of the various species

of marine animals which are adapted for the purposes of the aqua-

riist, but exceedingly graphic accounts of their habits, mode of life,

and especially of their development; and what renders the work

of particular value in this respect is the introduction of a feature

which we have long thought to be a desideratum in books of the

same nature, namely that in addition to information as to what is

known upon the creatures referred to, the author has also furnished

his readers with an indication of the point at which our present

knowledge stops, and of the direction in which further observations

should be pursued, so that the keeper of aquaria, who may have the

opportunity of observing some animal the history of which is still

imperfect, may learn at once from its pages to what to direct his

attention.

Of the numerous passages which we had marked for extraction, our

space will only allow us to furnish one or two. Here is a specimen

of the mode in which our author elevates one of the commonest ob-

jects of the shore :—

«The naturalist who confines his attention to the larger and more

conspicuous forms of marine productions, neglecting those which,

from their minuteness, require the aid of a microscope for their ex-

amination, would be but little able to appreciate the scene exhibited

upon the exterior of many ordinary shells, when, freshly imported

from their home beneath the waves, they are perused attentively with

a magnifying-glass. The wonderful variety of animal life that crowds

every portion of the surface of some of them, affords a spectacle well

calculated to astonish any observer who for the first time contem-

plates such a scene ; and when, upon closer inspection, we perceive

how actively employed they all appear, how all find room for life and

for enjoyment on the little stage that forms their world, unknowing

all beyond, as if creation was confined to them, a reflection by no

means unnatural will sometimes steal across the mind, that we our-

selves are imaged in their condition, and in their ignorance of what

is passing in surrounding nature beyond the sphere of their immediate

neighbourhood.

** Six thousand years have passed since man was placed upon tbis

sublunary scene—ages untold have rolled away since these little zoo-

phytes began to live, and toil, and die, and leave behind inscribed in

every stone the record of their industry ; and yet two centuries have

not elapsed since man for the first time suspected their existence—

since man first became aware that such things ave, much less that

such things had been, and had perished. Surely the sage was not

far wrong who said, that science was a little boy employed in picking

up pebbles upon the shore, as specimens of the vast wealth concealed

beneath the limitless expanse of ocean.”

142 Bibliographical Notice.

The interesting history of the discovery of the animality of Zoo-

phytes is enlarged upon in a most lively and interesting manner at

. 135 :—

Pa Little more than a century has elapsed,” says Professor Rymer

Jones, “since . .. . zoophytes were considered the undoubted sub-

jects of the vegetable kingdom. .... The zoologist claimed none of

them, if we except the Actinie, for his province and study, but left

them, without dispute, to botanical writers ; and if any of these, in

reference to a very few zoophytes of less arborescent character than

the rest, hazarded a whispered conjecture that they were wrongly

classed, it died away in the utterance, and raised no echo to awaken

further inquiry.

‘««The only opposition to the botanical theory came from the mine-

ralogists, who, some of them, questioned the vegetability of such of

these productions as were of a hard and stony nature, contending

that they were rather rocks or stones formed by the sediment or ag-

glutination of a submarine general compost of calcareous and argilla-

ceous materials, moulded into the figure of trees and mosses by the

action of the waves, by crystallization, by the incrustation of real fuci,

ov by some imagined vegetative power in brute matter.

“Tt was only somewhere about the year 1730 that Peyssonnel, a

physician residing at Marseilles, whose opportunities of observing

these organisms entitled him to give an opinion upon the subject, first

ventured to maintain, that what had previously been described as the

‘blossoms’ of the coral, were true animals (‘insects,’ he thought

proper to call them), analogous to the Actinize or Sea-Anemones ;

that the coral was secreted in a fluid form by the inhabitant Actinie,

and became afterwards fixed, hard, and changed to stone; and that

all other stony plants, and even sponges, are the work of different

‘insects’ peculiar to each species of these marine productions, which

labour uniformly according to their nature, and as the Supreme Being

has ordered and determined.

“* Jussieu, whose eyes had been opened to the real nature of the

zoophytic races by the arguments of Peyssonnel, although, truth to

say, he seems to have been convinced sorely against his will, at last

declared his complete faith in the animality of these creatures, and

his conviction that a numerous list of productions, hitherto unex-

amined, would be found to be of the same nature: in fact, he seems

to have revelled in the enjoyment of the prospect thus revealed before

him. ‘All that we have said,’ he thus concludes, ‘of the polyps

of the sea is merely a sort of advertisement, which, however, cannot

fail to produce the effect which we promise ourselves from it ; it will

doubtless direct the curiosity of naturalists who reside by the sea to

animals so worthy of being better known. They will seek out dif-

ferent species ; they will delight to describe to us the varieties pre-

sented in their forms, which are never but remarkable ; they will

study the figure and disposition of the cells of various species, their

manner of growth and reproduction, and wherewithal they are nou-

rished ; they will place in a clear light everything that has reference

to the different polypidoms and their formation, so that a department

Bibliographical Notice. 143

of uatural history so interesting, so new, and as yet only sketched in

outline, may be rendered as perfect as it merits to be.’ They will ;—

but here we must fancy the enthusiastic old gentleman, in the exu-

berance of his delightful anticipations, flinging his hat and spectacles

into the air; and could he but have added, ‘they will have aquaria

wherein to keep them alive,’ his well-powdered peruke would, as we

may imagine, have speedily followed them in his frantic exultation.”

Where ail the descriptions are equally admirable, it is difficult to

select any example of the descriptive powers displayed by our author ;

but the following account of the appearance and manners of Cydippe

pomiformis will furnish the reader with a fair specimen of the style

in which this department of the work is executed :—

«* Amongst all the elegant forms of the Medusze none can compete

with the Beroé (Cydippe) pomiformis, or emulate the wonderful

machinery whereby it frolics in the glassy water. In the bright sun-

shine, on the level sand, just where the gentle ripples ‘kiss the

shore, then sleep in silence,’ the observant eye may sometimes see a

pearl—for such it looks to be—worthy of being a pendent to the

one dissolved by Cleopatra,—but so frail, so delicate, so evanescent,

that it must be taken up with tenderest care by those who would

survey its beauties, and at once transferred into a vessel filled with

its own element. Its body is then seen to be a little globe of clearest

erystal, tinted with the hues of Iris, and, moreover, fringed from

pole to pole with eight transparent bands of active cilia rapidly at

work, by the aid of which it glides along, advancing like a meteor

through the water.

‘It is, however, when the Beroés have just been taken from the

sea that they exhibit in the highest perfection their locomotive

powers, and display in the bright sunshine the splendid iridescence

of colouring caused by the action of their cilia to the greatest ad-

vantage. As they wheel onwards, rising and falling at pleasure, and

ereating in their course the glory by which they are encircled, they

seem indeed

“en erry. ‘ gay creatures of the element,

That in the colours of the rainbow live.’

“The variety of their evolutions constitutes one of their principal

charms. Sometimes they will ascend from the bottom of the jar to

the surface of the water with a slow and regular moyement resembling

that of a balloon, and descend at the same rate of progression. Again,

they will rise more rapidly, and turning their mouth downwards,

descend with equal rapidity. At other times, without rising or fall-

ing, they will revolve on the transverse axis of their body—then,

abandoning all these modes of progression, they will revolve on their

longitudinal axis, holding the body vertical, and in this position

twirl round and round the glass like graceful waltzers. When the

movements of the animal are thus varied, how great must be the

variety of motion in the cilia by which the body is propelled! Never

for more than a second or two do the cilia cease to vibrate. Even

then it is not a total suspension, but a slower and alternant action,

that is exhibited; the cilia on one or two contiguous bands remain

144 Zoological Society :—

stationary, while the adjacent ones on either side are in motion—

then those which have been still begin to play, and those that were

previously moving remain still: no regular succession of procedure

is observable; but some portion of the bands of cilia are kept

constantly in action, all seeming to perform their duties quite irre-

spective of the rest.

“The tentacula of these beautiful animals are, next to their cilia,

the most interesting portions of their structure. These organs are

not always apparent, but remain enclosed in the creature’s body.

They are seldom displayed immediately after the Beroés have been

captured, nor when the glass vessel in which they are kept is too

much crowded. When, however, not more than five or six are

placed together, the tentacula may be seen developed to their fullest

extent, frequently extending above six times the length of the body

of the animal. The tentacula are often projected from their tubes to

their full extent by one impulse, and the slow uncoiling of the slen-

der serpentine filaments from their margin is then very beautiful.

Indeed it is scarcely possible to convey by any description an idea of

the elegance and diversity of their forms. They seem endowed with

exquisite sensibility, which, however, is not always equally delicate.

At times, the slightest touch will cause a tentaculum to be drawn

back into its sheath with a sudden jerk ; at other times it is apparently

unfelt. The Beroés never seem to be poised or supported in the

water by the assistance of these remarkable organs ; but sometimes,

when they are extended to the bottom of the vessel, they seem to act

as suckers, aud to form fixed points whence the animal rises and

falls at pleasure, appearing as if moored by these delicate and novel

cables.”

But our space warns us of the necessity of bringing this notice toa

conclusion, which we do in the hope that the samples of the quality

of Professor Rymer Jones’s work which we have here given, will in-

duce our readers to gratify themselves by a perusal of the whole. We

may add, that it is illustrated by eight plates, well executed in chromo-

lithography by Mr. Tuffen West, and containing excellent represen-

tations of nearly all the objects referred to in the book.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

January 26, 1858.—P. L. Sclater, Esq., F.L.S., in the Chair.

On new Species or Brrps rrom THE Rio Napo, In THE Re-

puBLic or Ecuapor. By Puariiie Lutiey Scuarer, M.A.,

F178; ETc:

ANABATES MELANOPEZUS.

Supra saturate umbrino-brunneus, uropygio rufescente, cauda

pure rufa: subtus pallide cinerascenti-brunneus, medialiter

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 145

dilutior ; gula albicantiore sed rufo lavata; crisso rufescente ;

tectricibus subalaribus cum remigum intus nigricantium parte

vicina lete rufis: rostro nigro, gonyde pallescente; pedibus

nigricanti-plumbeis.

Long. tota 7°0, alee 3-2, caude 3:0.

This species is very closely allied to Tschudi’s 4. ochrolemus,

with which it has been identified by M. de Lafresnaye. But as I

have in my collection one of Tschudi’s original specimens (of 4.

ochrolemus), | am enabled to affirm that the two birds, though much

resembling one another, cannot be considered as of the same species.

Their upper surfaces are much alike; but beneath, the present bird is

of a very pale ashy-brown, while 4. ochrolemus is nearly as dark

below as above. In 4. melanopezus the bill is shorter, stouter, and

nearly all black, and the feet are blackish lead-colour ; in 4. ochro-

lemus the bill is thinner and more elongated, yellowish, with the

culmen horn-colour, and the feet are pale brown.

ANABATES PULVERICOLOR.—Synallazis pulvericolor, Lafr. MS.

Terricolori-brunneus, interscapulio saturatiore, subtus dilutior ;

alis extus et cauda omnino rufis: rostro brevi, paulum incurvo,

albo ; pedibus robustis, plumbeis.

Long. tota 6°2, alee 2°6, caudse 2°8; tarsi 0°8; rostri a fronte 0°5.

A single bad specimen of this species belonging to M. de Lafres-

naye, and kindly lent to me by him along with other specimens

selected from this collection, bears the MS. name Synallazis pulveri-

color. It appears, however, to me to be better placed with Ana-

bates, and more nearly resembles the figure given in Buffon’s Pl.

Enl. of Anabates guianensis, which is the type of the genus, than

anything I have yet seen. Had it been from Guiana instead of the

Rio Napo, I should have thought it was probably referable to that

long-lost species.

It certainly is not a typical Anadbates, speaking of the set of birds

commonly so called, the bill being shorter, straighter, and smaller

than in these birds generally, though not very different from that of

Anabates erythrophthalmus, but it is more nearly allied to Anabates

than to any species of Synallaxis with which I am acquainted.

SYNALLAXIS BRUNNEICAUDALIS. — Synallazis brunneicauda,

Lafr. MS.

Supra olivaceo-brunnea, alis extus et pileo castaneis, subtus

obscure cinerascens, lateribus olivaceo indutis: caude rectri-

cibus decem, colore saturate purpurascenti-brunneis, plumarum

seapis nigris: tectricibus subalaribus ochraceo-flavis: rostro

nigro, gonydis basi albicante: pedibus brunneis.

Long. tota 6°5, alee 2°4, caude 2°7, rostri a fronte °6, tarsi ‘95.

A fine large Synallazis, for which I have employed M. de Lafres-

naye’s MS. name. The only adult specimen is in bad condition.

Both the examples belong to M. de Lafresnaye’s collection.

146 Zoological Society :—

SyNALLAXIS ALBIGULARIS.—Synallawis albigula, Lafr. MS.

Supra murino-brunnea ; cauda concolore ; pileo postico et tectri-

cibus alarum extus rufis: lateribus capitis et corpore subtus

cinereis : loris albidis : gula et ventre medio pure albis, lateri-

bus et crisso brunnescenti-cinereis : rostri nigricantis gonyde

albicante : pedibus clare brunneis.

Long. tota 5:5, ale 2°3.

A short-tailed species of Synallaxis, as I should judge from the

only specimen under observation, in which, however, the medial ree-

trices are absent. It is very nearly allied to Temminck’s S. albescens,

but differs sufficiently in its white throat and belly, as far as I can

judge from the unique specimen.

MaLacocicHLA MACULATA.

Catharus maculatus, J. Verreaux, MS.

Supra nigricanti-schistacea, pileo toto cum capitis lateribus niger-

rimis: subtus ochracescenti-albida, lateraliter schistacea: gula

et pectore summo triangulariter nigro maculatis, maculis quoque

in ventris lateribus rotundis, obsolete schistaceis: tectricibus

subalaribus nigro-schistaceis: rostro et pedibus flavis.

Long. tota 7-0, alee 3°6, caud 2°8, rostri a fronte ‘6, a rictu ‘85,

tarsi 1°4.

This interesting bird is a close ally of Gould’s Malacocichla Dryas

from Guatemala, and I have therefore placed it in the same genus.

It may be distinguished from that species by the dark slaty colour

of the back, which in M. Dryas is greenish olive. Whether these

birds will be ultimately separable from the genus Catharus is, I

think, questionable; and M. Jules Verreaux is therefore quite as

likely to be correct in his appellation of this species as I am in mine.

Besides M. Dryas from Guatemala (P. Z. S. 1854, p. 285, pl. 75),

Prince Bonaparte has described a Mexican species—M. mexicana

(Compt. Rend. Aug. 2, 1856). The Prince also informed me (after

a visit to M. de Lafresnaye’s collection, which he made shortly before

his decease) that Myioturdus fuscater, Lafr. R. Z. 1845, p. 341,

belongs to this same genus—so that this is probably the fourth

species known.

THAMNOPHILUS ZTHIOPS.

3. Ater unicolor ; campterio et tectricibus subalaribus albo

variegatis: rostro et pedibus nigerrimis.

2. Castaneo-brunneus unicolor, alis intus obscurioribus, maculis

quibusdam tectricum superiorum majorum apicalibus cum camp-

terii margine et tectricibus subalaribus flavicanti-rufis : cauda

nigra: rostro et pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 6-0, alee 2°8, caudee 2°5, rostri a rictu *85, tarsi *9.

This species is in colour like 7’. immaculatus, of a uniform black ;

but, whilst that has only a very insignificant white patch on the

bend of the wing, the 7’. e¢hiops has the under wing-coverts as well

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 147

as the upper coverts close to the bend varied with white. Besides,

the bill is much shorter and stouter, and the whole bird is smaller

in its dimensions. Of 7. immaculatus I make the corresponding

measurements :—Long. tota 7°0, alee 3°3, caudze 3:0, rostri a rictu

1-0, tarsi 1°3.

THAMNOPHILUS CAPITALIS.

do. Cinereus, alis intus obscurioribus ; pileo nigro: subtus dilu-

tior, tectricibus subalaribus et marginibus remigum interioribus

ochracescenti-albidis : cauda nigricante : rostro et pedibus

plumbeo-nigris.

2. Umbrino-brunneus ; pileo rufo ; subtus dilutior, gula albican-

tiore: rostro pedibusque plumbeis, illius mandibula inferiore

pallidiore.

Long. tota 5*7, alz 2°5, caudee 2-0, tarsi *75.

This Thamnophilus belongs to the typical division of the group

which contains 7’. nevivs and its allies. It is easily distinguishable

by its uniform cinereous plumage and black head, and by the absence

of all markings on the wings and tail. M. Verreaux’s collection

contains a male not quite adult and two females of this species.

DysiTHAMNUS LEUCOSTICTUS.

Supra umbrino-brunneus, pileo rufescentiore, pennis omnibus in-

terne cinereis: subtus cinereus, capitis lateribus cum gula et

pectore guttis elongatis albis, pennas medias occupantibus, ma-

culatis: ventris lateribus et crisso olivaceo tinctis: cauda ob-

secure nigra, extus brunneo marginata: rostro et pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 5°2, alee 2°75, caudee 2:0, tarsi 1°85.

This species is noticeable on account of the clear white elongated

shaft-spots on the throat and breast, which distinguish it from other

birds of the group. In two younger specimens in MM. Verreaux’s

collection these spots are hardly yet apparent, and the rich brown

edging of the upper plumage is only partly assumed, leaving these

parts of a brownish cinereous.

PyRIGLENA SERVA.

3. Nigra, subtus magis ardesiaca : macula magna interscapula-

rium interna et tectricum alarium superiorum marginibus apica-

libus cum campterio albis ; rostro et pedibus nigris.

2. Olivascenti-cinerea, macula interscapularium interna alba:

subtus saturate ferruginea ; alis caudaque fuscis, tectricum

alarium superiorum marginibus et tectricibus subalaribus rufes-

centibus ; rostro superiore nigro, inferiore flavido: pedibus

cis.

tine, tota 5°3, alee 2°5, caudze 2°3, rostri a rictu 0°8, tarsi 0°9.

Distinguished from Pyriglena domicella and P. atra by its smaller

size. Sir William Jardine recently lent me some specimens of For-

micariide from Quixos, among which were examples of both sexes of

this same species. I do not know Lanius funebris, Licht. (Doubl.

p- 47), from Cayenne, but as far as 1 can judge from his short cha-

racters, it can hardly be identical with the present bird.

148 Zoological Society :—

HETEROCNEMIS ALBIGULARIS.

Brunnescenti-olivaceus, plumis omnibus nigro obsolete marginatis,

alis caudaque nigricantibus ; fascia alarum duplici alba: sub-

tus pallide cinerascens, gutture albo, ventre nigricante trans-

versim lineato : rostro nigro, mandibule inferioris basi albido :

pedibus fuscis.

Long. tota 4°2, alee 2°35, caude 0:9, rostri a rictu 0°9, tarsi 1-0.

Obs.—Affinis H. Bamble ex Cayenna, sed crassitie paulo majore,

rostro longiore et gula alba dignoscenda.

CoNOPOPHAGA TORRIDA.

Clare brunnescenti-olivacea, dorsi plumis nigro partim variegatis ;

capite supra, alis et cauda ferruginescenti-brunneis : tectricibus

alarum et secundariis extus macula apicali fulvo-flavida orna-

tis: plumarum fasciculo postoculart albo: subtus clare ferru-

ginea, gula et ventre medio albicantibus, hypochondris et ventre

imo magis fulvis : mandibula superiore nigra, inferiore cornea :

pedibus pallidis.

Long. tota 4°6, alze 2°8, caudee 1:2, tarsi 1°0.

M. Verreaux’s collection contained a single specimen of this ap-

parently new Conopophaga, not in very good plumage. A more

perfect example in the British Museum, which is from Chamicurros

in Eastern Peru, has furnished my specific characters.

This is a typical species of the genus somewhat allied to C. lineata

of South-eastern Brazil.

GRALLARIA FLAVIROSTRIS.

Brunnescenti-olivacea, loris et capitis lateribus rufescentibus :

subtus alba, pectoris medi et lateralis plumis pallide rujis,

utrinque nigro late limbatis, quasi squamatis; gule laterum

plumis rufo tinctis, fascia nigricante intus marginatis; tec-

tricibus subalaribus pallide rufis ; rostro flavo ; pedibus clare

brunneis.

Long. tota 4°2, alee 2°7, caudze 1°1, tarsi 0°9, rostri a rictu 0°7.

This diminutive Grallaria is very like the Venezuelan bird which

I described in the Proceedings for last year (P. Z. 8. 1857, p. 129)

under the name of G. loricata. Like that, it has a pectoral band

formed by the black margins of the pale rufous feathers ; but in the

present species the band is much narrower, and the head is not

chestnut.

GRALLARIA FULVIVENTRIS.

Olivaceo-brunnea, pileo obscuriore, alis extus magis rufescentibus,

loris albidis: subtus gula et abdomine medio albis, pectore,

ventris lateribus et crisso cum tectricibus alarum inferioribus

saturate fulvis, pectore lineis quibusdam migris variegato :

rostro superiore nigro, inferiore, nisi apice, flavo: pedibus

pallide brunneis.

Long. tota 5°5, alee 3:2, caudee 1°4, tarsi 1°5, rostri a rictu 0°95.

This Grallaria seems to belong to a species distinet from anything

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 149

yet described. The bird most resembling it of those I have met

with, is G. macularia, of which there are specimens in the Leyden

Museum; but that is rather a peculiar species, remarkable for its

denuded orbits and short, strong hind-nail, while this bird has the

hind-nail slender and rather long, and is in every respect a typical

member of the genus.

Genus novum AGATHOPUS.

Rostrum modice longitudinis, brevius quam caput, subulatum,

culmine recto, ad apicem paulum incurvo, gonyde ascendente,

mandibula superiore ad apicem dentata, naribus, prout in om-

nibus hujus familie generibus, coopertis: ale brevissime, ro-

tundate, remige septima sextam et quintam paulo excedente et

longissima, tertia secundarias equante: pedes validi, tarsis

longis, antice scutellis novem regularibus, postice scutellis mi-

nutis, tectis ; unguibus curvatis, acutis ; cauda modice longi-

tudinis, multum rotundata, rectricibus duodecim, extimis di-

midio brevioribus, ceteris gradatim longioribus ; tectricibus

supra-caudalibus densissimis.

AGATHOPUS MICROPTERUS.

Obscure nigricanti-schistaceus, dorso postico cum ventre imo, late-

ribus et crisso saturate brunneis, radiis transversis nigris, in

tergo vir apparentibus, subobsolete variegatis : vostro nigro,

pedibus clare brunneis.

Juvenis.—Radiis transversis nigris omnino obtectus, gula magis

cinerascente, et colore toto magis brunneo.

Long. tota 3°3, alee 2°3, caudz 1°9, rostri a rictu *7, tarsi 1:0.

This curious bird, of which the collection contains two examples,

seems intermediate in form, as in size, between Meru/azis atra and the

Scytalopodes. From the former it differs in the shape of the bill,

which is shorter, has the gonys curved upwards, and wauts the ele-

vated feather-tufts on the front; from Scytalopus it is distinguished

by its thicker, stronger and larger bill, longer tail, and longer tarsi.

These genera, along with Pteroptochus and its allies, appear to me to

constitute a well-distinguished group, for which I propose to use the

term Pteroptochide, deduced from the oldest and best-known genus

(instead of Lafresnaye’s name Rhinomydee) according to the orthodox

rule for forming the names of families. The distinctions of these

birds as a group are well pointed out in the Ornithology of D’Orbigny’s

Voyage (p. 192), and their most essential character, as is there stated,

consists in the covered nostril, only a narrow longitudinal aperture

being left, which occurs in every species. They must certainly be

arranged next to the Formicariida, within the limits of which they

have been placed by Cabanis and other writers; and I am not myself

certain that it may not be possible to consider them only as a sub-

family belonging to that series.

TopIROSTRUM PICATUM.

Supra nigrum, loris et secundariarum trium ultimarum pogonits

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. ii. ll

150 Zoological Society :—

externis cum macula rectricis une utrinque extime apicali

albis, his flavicante tinctis ; subtus album, tectricibus sub-

alaribus et margine campterii flavicanti-albis : rostro superiore

nigro, inferiore albo ; pedibus pallide fuscis.

Long. tota 3°5, alee 2°1, caudee 1-3, rostri a fronte 6-0, tarsi 6°5.

This peculiar Todirostrum is quite unlike any other known mem-

ber of the genus in colouring. In structure it is generally typical,

but with the bill not quite so broad towards the apex as in some

others.

CYCLORHYNCHUS ZQUINOCTIALIS.

Clare olivaceus, remigibus alarum nigricantibus flavicanti-viridt

late limbatis ; cauda fusca, rectricum marginibus dorso con-

coloribus: subtus flavicans, gula grisescente ; pectore et late-

ribus cum crisso olivaceo perfusis ; tectricibus subalaribus sul-

phureis ; rostro superiore nigro, inferiore albo; pedibus carneis.

Long. tota 6:0, alee 2°6, eaudee 2°3, rostri a rictu 0°8, tarsi 0°7.

This bird is a close ally of the Brazilian Cyclorhynchus olivaceus,

but may be distinguished by its shorter wings and tail, and by the

pure yellow of the middle cf the abdomen.

March 9, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

A MonoGRAPH OF THE GENUS MINIOPTERIS.

By Rosert F. Tomes.

Perhaps there is no order of Mammalia in which there is so great

a diversity in the forms of the different species as in the Cheiroptera.

On examining the genus Vespertilio in the extended form in which

it is given by M. Temminck, and more recently by M. Wagner, the

naturalist will find an assemblage of creatures which he will have

great difficulty in making out to his satisfaction. But in endeavour-

ing to separate them into groups or genera for the purpose of de-

scription, he will be equally puzzled. An examination of the British

species merely, will illustrate the nature of the difficulty to which I

refer. Take, in the first place, the common Noctule Bat, and the

equally common Whiskered Bat, the one exhibiting a heavy mus-

cular body, and strong wings capable of vigorous and sustained

flight, and with jaws and teeth of sufficient size and power to masti-

cate a Cockchafer whilst on the wing with perfect ease; and the

other species having a slight and feeble body, with very slender

wing-bones supporting a membrane of equal delicacy, suited only for

flight in sheltered spots, and with a muzzle and teeth of such small

size as to be fitted only for taking minute food in such situations.

The difference between the two is quite sufficient to justify generic

separation, and the work is easy so far as these two species are con-

cerned ; but unfortunately a whole host of species come in between

them, and bring such a series of small modifications as to reduce

the distinction to one of degree only ; so that in attempting to separate

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 151

them the results are anything but satisfactory. And it is scarcely

necessary to go beyond the European list to meet with an unbroken

series from the one to the other. Under these circumstances, any

character which could be found sufficiently marked to show a differ-

ence apart from that of degree, however small it might be, would

be valuable as a means of classification.

In default of any single character which might be considered suf-

ficient for this purpose, a certain combination of characters, not in

themselves sufficiently distinctive taken separately, might neverthe-

less, if taken collectively, answer the desired end; and further, the

decision would be strengthened if we were to find that these cha-

racters were so precisely uniform in degree, as to afford no specific

differences beyond those of the size of the animal and the quality and

colour of the fur.

Such is literally the case with the group which I have now to

consider. Although inhabiting widely separated localities—Europe,

Asia, Africa and Australia, —its several members scarcely exhibit any

greater differences than those above noted, viz. colour and size.

The genus Miniopteris was first proposed by Prince C. L. Bona-

parte in his fine work on the Fauna of Italy, for a species which was

there described as Miniopteris Ursinii, being regarded as new. It has

however been subsequently shown by MM. Keyserling and Blasius,

that this species is identical with the one described a long time pre-

viously by Naiterer, in Kuhl’s ‘Memoir on the Bats of Germany,’

under the name of Vespertilio Schreibersii. The specific name

given by Natterer is the one now generally admitted, whilst the ge-

neric one given by Prince C. L. Bonaparte is refused or adopted

according to the opinion respecting the generic distinctions.

In the following monograph the generic peculiarities will first be

pointed out; and this will be followed by a detailed description of

the earliest-described and best-known species—the European one,

after which the points of dissimilarity in the other species will be

adverted to *,

Genus Miniopreris, Bonap.—Trilatitius, Gray (in part).

Top of the head much elevated; face very short, concave in its

longitudinal direction ; muzzle obtuse, not much depressed ; nostrils

near together, with their upper and inner margins slightly project-

ing, the space between these projecting parts being slightly emar-

ginate. This notch between the nostrils does not, however, pass

downward through the upper lip, which is entire and rather pro-

minent. The nostrils themselves are crescent-shaped and open sub-

laterally. From the outer side of each is a vertical notch or groove

passing through the lip, but leaving its central portion entire and

* I am aware that some zoologists regard the Asiatic and African representa-

tives of the genus as referable to the European one, an opinion in which I par-

tially concur. The African one, Vespertilio dasythrix of Temminck, is I believe

identical with Miniopteris Schreibersii; but the Asiatic ones occurring in the

islands of the Indian Archipelago and in Australia, 1 believe to be perfectly

distinct species.

Lis

152 Zoological Society :—

slightly projecting*. Lateral parts of the lip thick and overhang-

ing.

re lip with a distinct and clearly defined reflex central portion,

as in Natalus, but of much less extent.

Ears angular-round, very short ; tragus short, of uniform breadth,

round at the end, and curved inwards. ‘Tail as long as the head

and body. Wing-membranes extending to the extremity of the

tibie. Os calcis short. Cutaneous system ample; middle pha-

lange of the second and third finger very short. Fur very thick

and soft.

Skull with the bony palate extending backwards as far as the

molar series only. Intermaxillary bones nearly meeting in front,

so as to allow space for a considerable interval on each side between

the outer incisors and the canines, and leaving only a small interspace

between the two inner incisors. Incisors placed across the opening

between the canines.

1. MInIoprERIS SCHREIBERSII.

Vespertilio Schreibersii, Natt.in Kuhl, Wetter. Ann. iv. 41,1817 ;

Desm. Mamm. p. 138, 1820; Fisch. Synop. Mamm. p. 104, 1829 ;

Temm. Mon. Mamm. il. p. 174, 1835-41; De Selys-Longch. Etude

Micro-mamm. p. 138, 1839; Wagn. Supp. Schreb. Saugth. 1. 508,

1841.

Miniopteris Schreibersii, Keys. et Blas. Wiegm. Arch. v. 323,

1839; Die Wirbelthiere Europ. p. xiii. et 44, 1840; Less. Nouv.

Tab. Régne Anim. p. 27, 1842.

Miniopteris Ursinii, Bonap. Faun. Ital. fase. 21. fol. 106, 1832-

42 ; Gray, Mag. Zool. & Bot. 1. 497, 1838 ; De Selys-Longch. Etude

Micro-mamm. p. 139, 1839; Less. Nouv. Tab. Régne Anim. p. 27,

1842.

Vespertilio Ursinii, Temm. Mon. Mamm. ii. p. 179, 1835-1841.

Vespertilio dasythriz, Temm. Mon. Mamm. ii. p. 268.

Vespertilio Natalensis, Smith, South African Quart. Journ. new

ser. Vell 1832:

Miniopteris dasythrix, Smith, Ill. Zool. S. Africa, no. 27. pl. 52,

1848 ; Schinz, Synop. Mamm. i. p. 166, 1844.

The crown of the head is very much elevated, and the face so

much depressed as to give the appearance of a deep hollow across

its middle. The muzzle is very short and round, but it is not itself

much depressed, as in the flat-headed species such as the Noctule.

From the great concavity of the middle part of the face, the muzzle

appears to have an upward direction. The nostrils are small, near

together, and in the specimens preserved in spirit are directed nearly

* This projecting part of the upper lip is somewhat singular. Separated by

the two vertical grooves above mentioned, it is well and clearly defined, and has

somewhat the appearance of the cartilaginous fore part of the palate of some Ru-

minants, as that of the Sheep. Its surface is conspicuously granular, and in size

it exactly corresponds with the naked reflex portion of the lower lip, so that

when the mouth is closed the two parts fit closely together.

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 153

straight forward ; but in dried specimens they have a sublateral di-

rection,

The ears are very short, somewhat quadrangular in form, with

the angles rounded, and have their outer margin brought forward

along the face in the form of a very narrow strip of membrane to

near the corners of the mouth. The inner margin rises from the

side of the head in a perpendicular direction for a very short distance,

and then making an angle, which if not rounded off would be a right

angle, proceeds outwards in nearly a straight line, and forms another

similar rounded angle with the outer margin. About the middle of

the outer margin is a slight hollow.

The tragus reaches fully halfway up the ear, and in actual mea-

surement nearly equals it in length, both being viewed as simple

projections and measured along their central lines. Its form is

somewhat similar to that of the tragus of the common Pipistrelle ;

but it is relatively longer and narrower, of absolutely uniform breadth,

and with the tip more regularly rounded. It curves inwards for

the whole of its length, but most strikingly so about oné-fourth of

the distance from the end.

The wings are long in relation to the size of the animal, and the

longest finger is fully twice the length of the fore-arm. The middle

phalanges of the two longest fingers in the wing are very short, but

the relative lengths of the same parts in the other fingers are not

remarkable. In the relative proportions of these bones to each other,

they closely resemble the same parts in Furipterus, but in no other

group that I have had the opportunity of examining. Thumb of

medium length and size, with the terminal phalange a little longer

than the basal one ; its claw rather strongly hooked.

The wing-membranes are attached as far as to the extremity of

the tibiee.

The hinder limbs are of medium proportion ; but the feet are rather

large, and have the toes of about one-half of their entire length. The

claws, although of moderate size, are strongly hooked.

The tail is long, and is composed of nine vertebra, and is fully

equal in length to the head and body. It is wholly enclosed by the

interfemoral membrane, which has about thirteen transverse dotted

lines, which are very near together on its basal portion. All the

membranes are somewhat diaphanous, but present no great pecu-

liarities of reticulated or other markings.

The fur is soft and thick, of medium length, and rather faintly

bicoloured, both above and below. That of the upper parts is dark

brownish grey at the base, its terminal half paler and strongly

tinged with brown. Beneath it has similarly coloured roots, with

palish grey-brown tips. Such is the colour of the European ex-

amples. Those from Algeria are characterized by a strong ashy

tinge over the whole of the fur, and in some specimens the pubal

region is wholly ash-coloured. Examples from Lake Ngami have all

the upper parts of the body of a deep brownish grey (similar in co-

lour to the roots of the hair in the European specimens), with the

extreme tips of the hairs slightly paler, but not browner. Beneath,

154 Zoological Society :—

the fur is nearly black at its base, and tipped with ash colour; and

the latter colour prevails around the region of the pubes. The

specimens from this locality represent the Vesp. dasythriz of M.

Temminck, and correspond pretty accurately with his description ;

but specimens from the Cape are described by Dr. A. Smith as having

the upper par ts “‘ intermediate between chestnut-brown and yellowish

brown,” and the under parts “dull pale brownish red, tinged with

wood-brown and yellowish brown, in places strongly tinted with

pale reddish orange.” I have seen no African example of this

colour.

The cerebral region of the skull is very much elevated, almost as

much so as in Furipterus, the evenness of its convexity being interfered

with only by a narrow transverse depression occupying the position

of the suture uniting the occipital with the parietal bones, by a

moderately developed sagittal ridge, most conspicuous on the frontal

region, and by an occipital crest of similar degree of development.

The facial part of the cranium is very much depressed, and it is

also considerably compressed. The intermaxillary bones are, as in

Furtpterus, more developed than is usually the case among the

Vespertilionidae, affording sufficient space for the incisors to be in-

serted in a nearly perpendicular position, and at the same time to

leave a considerable interval between them and the canines. It is

worthy of remark, that in this, as in the crania of the other species

of the genus, the antorbital foramina are placed more forward than

usual, only just behind the canines. The nasal opening is rather

small, and the corresponding notch in the front of the palate pro-

portional to it in size. The orbit is small, and the zygomatic arches

have a very moderate lateral curvature. As in other species having

a dome-shaped cranium, the condyloid fosse are in aline high above

that of the teeth, and the zygoma in consequence starts at an angle

from the line of the dental series and passes upwards and backwards

to the condyle. In those species which, like the common Noctule,

have a flat cranium, with both the facial and cerebral surfaces in

one continuous line, the dental series and the zygoma are in nearly

a continuous line also.

The bony palate presents one peculiarity, viz. that it scarcely ex-

tends posteriorly beyond the last molar, whereas in the generality

of the Vespertilionide it reaches as far backwards as halfway be-

tween the last molar and the condyles, and in some instances reaches

even so far back as to the latter.

The lower jaw does not present any great peculiarities of structure.

It has a rounded posterior angle, to adapt itself to the elevated po-

sition of the cranial condyles, and a distinct and well-marked poste-

rior process, about halfway between the angle and the condyloid

process. The coronoid process is of ordinary form and on a level

with the condyle.

Viewed in front, the upper incisors are seen to be in two pairs,

which are separated by a moderately wide opening in the centre, and

by another of less extent on each side, between them and the canines;

but the teeth in each of these pairs are placed close together. In

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 155

direction, their tips point a little inwards. Seen laterally they are

nearly vertical.

In form they present no remarkable deviation from what is com-

mon in the genera Vespertilio and Scotophilus: they are of nearly

equal length, the two nearest the canines simple in form and some-

what blunt, the inner ones more pointed and with a kind of basal

cusp or point near to the outer ones. The canines are of medium

size, and conical, with but little angularity, and possessed of a mode-

rately developed cingulum. ‘The first pre-molar is small, and has a

central pointed cusp, surrounded by a flattish space, from the centre

of which it projects. Its general appearance is that of a diminutive

canine having an exceedingly broad cingulum. Succeeding to this,

and contiguous to the first true molar, is a tooth which may be re-

garded as taking the place of the sectorial tooth of the Carnivora ;

it is rather long and pointed, with an imer basal ring, which is con-

siderably developed in the direction of the palate.

The true molars have nothing remarkable either in number or

form.

In the lower jaw the incisors exhibit a slight deviation from the

usual type. The four central ones are small and trilobed; but the

two outer ones are conspicuously larger, and instead of having a thin

lobated edge, have a roundish flattened crown with a transverse cleft

through its centre, for the reception of the point of the outer upper

incisor when the jaws are closed.

The lower canines are of the ordinary form ; but it is worthy of

remark, that the basal ring or collar is considerably developed,

running off into a flat basal space in the direction of the first pre-

molar, but rising up into a kind of blunt accessory cusp near to

the large incisor already mentioned.

This form of canine cannot, however, be instanced as peculiar to

the genus, since I find that the additional cusp occurs more conspi-

cuously in some other species, as the common Noctule Bat, and the

equally common Long-eared Bat; whilst in some others, as the

Kerivoula picta and the Barbastelle, it appears as a mere ring of

enamel around the base of the tooth.

The three following teeth are of a very simple form, conical and

pointed, surrounded by a cingulum which is rather more developed

on the inside of the teeth than on the outer. They increase in size

evenly and rapidly, so that the one contiguous to the molars is the

highest tooth in the jaw, excepting the canine, and even to that it

is not greatly inferior.

The only peculiarity I am able to note respecting the true molars

is, that the first has its anterior inner cusp so much produced as to

be nearly even with the outer anterior one, usually much the highest.

The numeration of the teeth may be thus stated :—

In. =; Can. —; Prem. -—; Mol. ———

The dimensions in column 1 of the following table are those of a

specimen from the Bannat; 2, those of one from Sicily: both pre-

served in spirit. Column 3 contains the dimensions of the mutilated

156 Zoological. Society :—

skeleton, which is all that remains of the type of Prince Bonaparte’s

Miniopteris Ursinii ; whilst column 4 refers to a specimen collected

in Algeria in 1856 by the Rev. H. B. Tristram, and very kindly pre-

sented to me; and columns 5 and 6 refer to specimens from Lake

Ngami, collected by Mr. Anderson. The three last-mentioned spe-

cimens are all preserved in skin, and their dimensions are therefore

less to be depended on than those of the specimens in spirit.

ie 2: ieaas 4, 5. 6.

in. lin.jin. lin.in. lin.jin. lin.jin. lin.jin. lin.

Length of the head and body.... 2 3 | 2 3 |... 2" an a nes

Olsthertail ee sce .ceroner: 22S 2 eh Oe

Of the head!......20sssee- \O> 85)00) Sz) nJcccke: 0 83! 0 82/0 8

—— of the ears ......seecceeee |) Oi Bice Os orb lecpeene ee 0 3/0 310 3

— of the tragus ............ 0 2 |.0- 23) nsuvs--- 0, 2 n0y 2 FOr

— of the fore-arm ......... 19°) 1 9.) 0 Selly “Seis oe les

——— of the longest finger... 3 6/3 5/3 3/3 4/3 5/3 3

——— of the fourth finger 2° 2°) 2-0) 2) 0) 20S a 22 eee

— of the thumb ............ |}0 4;0 3/0 32/0 34) 0 33)0 33

of the tibia ....c0s<0+ss.- /0 9|0 83/0 730 83 0 83/0 82

of the foot and claws.... 0 5315 0/0 490 5/0 43/0 43%

Expanse Of Wings ............00 }14 0 [13 0 [13 6 {12 9 {13 0/12 6

2. M. BLEPOTIS.

Vesp. blepotis, Temm. Mon. ii. p. 212, 1835-41; Miller, Over.

Zoog. d. Ind. Archiv, p. 23, and table; Schinz, Synop. Mamm. i.

p- 172, 1845.

Miniopteris blepotis, Blasius, Wiegm. Arch. Bd. 6. p. 4, 1840.

Pipistrellus blepotis, Less. Nouv. Tab. Régn. Anim. p. 30, 1842.

Trilatitius blepotis, Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. v. 10. p. 258, 1842;

Cat. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 26, 1843; Zool. Voy. Samar. p. 8, 1849.

Scotophilus Morio, Gray, App. Greg’s Narrat. p. 405, 1841 ; Cat.

Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 29, 1843 ; Wiegm. Arch. Bd. 8. p. 339, 1842;

Schinz, Synop. Mamm. i. p. 192, 1844.

Vesp. Eschscholtzii, Waterh. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 4.

Noctulinia ? Eschscholtzii, Gray, Zool. Voy. Samar. p. 9, 1849.

The following comparison of this species with the last has been

made between a great number of examples of both, most of those of

M. blepotis being preserved skins, whilst the greater part of those

of M. Schreibersii have been preserved in spirit. It is necessary to

make this statement before proceeding further, as the foregoing de-

scription of the latter species was drawn up from the specimen in

spirit, whereas the stuffed specimens of both species have been re-

sorted to in the following comparative description. Unfortunately

I have not yet obtained a sufficient number of M. dlepotis in spirit

to be able to give as many details as I could desire.

Compared with M. Schreibersii, the tace of the present species

appears more elongated, although still very short; and it is rather

more pointed, and has the nostrils more prominent. ‘The ears, too,

are relatively somewhat longer.

In quality the fur is pretty similar, from whatever locality the

animal may have been obtained. That of the upper parts is uni-

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 157

coloured, sometimes having the tips of the hairs a little paler. In

M. Schreibersii it is bicoloured. The general colour is very dark

brown, varying slightly in its hue according to the locality from

which the examples have been obtained. Beneath it is bicoloured

in both species. In the present one it is dark brown at the base,

tipped with a paler tint of the same colour, which latter occupies the

whole length of the hairs on the pubal region.

Examples from Japan have for the most part a rich umber tinge

in the colour of the fur; in others from Amboyna a black-brown is

the prevailing colour, still however with a reddish tinge, whilst the

majority of those from Australia have the fur of a very deep brown

colour without such tinge. There is, however, a remarkable variety

sometimes met with in the latter country, which may be.thus men-

tioned :—The fur of the head and fore part of the back is of the

ordinary sombre colour, but that of the loins and rump is on the

contrary of a bright chestnut-brown, very silky and shining, and the

change from one colour to the other is not effected by a regular gra-

dation, but takes place almost abruptly, a wavy irregular line across

the loins marking the confines of the two. But in one or two spe-

cimens which I have seen, the chestnut colour extends up the middle

of the back in a narrowish line, almost to the shoulders, and pro-

duces a very marked and beautiful variety *. In these specimens

the region of the pubes also is lighter in colour than in the ordi-

narily coloured individuals.

I have not been able to examine examples of this species taken at

different periods of the year, so as to follow out the notes given by

M. Temminck of the seasonal changes in the colour of the fur.

Some differences are observable in the crania of this and the last

species, which deserve mention. From the greater length of the

muzzle, as already noticed, it might be expected that the cranium

also would exhibit some corresponding elongation of its anterior

part, and accordingly that is seen to be the case. On comparing

the two skulls, that of M. Schreibersii, besides being altogether the

smaller one, has the facial portion more compressed immediately in

front of the orbits, and is less depressed. The posterior part of the

palate also is narrower, so that the zygomatic arches spring at once

outwards from the maxillary bones; whilst in 4/epotis, where this

part of the skull is relatively broader, the zygoma passes off in a

backward direction, scarcely making an angle with the outer surface

of the maxillary bones.

Another very apparent difference consists in the much greater

* Somewhat the same style of colouring occurs in the Scotophilus Gouldii, also

from Australia, and in some examples there is a slight tendency towards the same

peculiar division of the two colours. Scotophilus tuberculatus also, from New Zea-

Jand, is very similarly coloured ; but the gradation from the dark fore parts to the

more rufous hinder parts is very slight and uniform. .

Mr. Blyth has remarked of many of the Indian Bats, that they are subject to

what he calls a rufous phase: perhaps this remark may be extended to the Au-

stralian examples of the present species, although why this should not equally

take place with those inhabiting the islands of the Indian Archipelago, is rather

difficult to decide.

158 Zoological Society :—

length and substance of the teeth, especially the canines in M, 6le-

potis. Inthis species the upper canines are so long as to pass, when

the jaws are closed, almost to the lower margins of the lower jaw,

whilst in M. Schreibersii their points reach only to about the middle

of the ramus. It is also deserving of notice, that the singularly

formed outer incisors of the lower jaw exhibit the peculiarity already

alluded to in a much greater degree in this species than in M. Schrev-

bersii, or indeed than im any other species appertaining to the genus.

Columns 1, 2 and 3 in the following table of dimensions refer to

specimens from Japan, 4 and 5 to specimens from Amboyna, and 6

to the specimen in the collection of the British Museum, from which

Mr. Waterhouse took his deseription of V. Hschscholtzit.

lor)

igs |e ; : ; :

in. lin.|in. cals lin.jin. lin.jin. lin.jin. lin.

Length of the head and body... 2 6|2 9/2 6/2 5|]2 6|2 1

of the tail ...ssesseeeeees 2 0 2-2 lniens 1 91s 9) em

Ofsbhe-head..2.. ceca ss0s 0 8.0 9) 0 9.1.0 TS) cOmon ROmese

ot UL CTE AUS oecicaseccnes aes 0 .3.)|-0.3 | 0 3380 Sor tOioe ners

— of the tragus ............ 0 2/0 23/0 23)0 23/0 23)0 22

of the fore-arm ......... 1 9) 19) 1 (9) bea ee eee

—— of the longest finger ...|3 6|3 6|3 7/3 3|)3 8|)3 7

——— of the fourth finger ...}2 0/2 1/2 2}2 0|)2 2/)2 4

——— of the thumb ............ 0 4/0 4/0 4/0 330 33,0 33

of the tibia ............... 09/0 8310 910 8/0 9/0 8z

of the foot and claws | 0 4/060 43)/0 4310 4/0 43/0 4

Expanse of WingS..........0....... \l4 0 4 0 Ind 0 {12 6 {14 0]13 6

The specimens, the dimensions of which are given in the next

table, formed part of Mr. Gould’s Australian collection, and were

obtained at several localities. They have been selected from a con-

siderable number as fair representatives of the so-called Scotophilus

Morio.

if 2. 3.

in. lin. in. lin. in. lin.

Length of the head and body.. 2 8 2 9 2 8%

Of: the tals sy. 1. ohio. vata Pile 2 3

——— of the head.......... 0 9 0 9 0 8?

of the ears... win aea” | ees 0 32 0 31

of the tragus +. <5... .« 0 21 0 2 0 gi

of the fore-arm ...... 1 10 1 94 ro

of the longest finger 3 6 3 6 3 6

of the fourth finger.... 2 2 2 3 ce

of the thumb ........ 0 34 0 4 0 4

Obthe COIN 2... <6 bos 2 0 9 0 9 0 832

of the foot and claws... O 5 Oh ye 0 42

Expanse of wings............ 13 10 14 0 13 6

3. M. TRISTIS.

Vespertilio tristis, Waterhouse, Proc. Zool. Soc. pt. xiii. p. 3,

1845; Gray, Zool. Voy. Samar. p- 31, 1849.

The muzzle of this species is relatively broader and more obtuse

than in any other species of the genus ; and this peculiarity, together

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 159

with its superior size, is sufficient at once to distinguish it from the

last species, which it otherwise resembles. The peculiarity pointed

out by Mr. Waterhouse of having the nostrils directed sublaterally,

whilst in the allied species M. b/epotis they open almost in front,

does not, I think, furnish a very valuable character in any of the

species which have the glands of the upper lips much developed.

When these glands are large, they often advance so far forward as to

thrust the outer margins of the nostrils forward also, or at any rate

to close up the vertical notch already mentioned as separating the

lips from the nostrils. This gives the latter the appearance of open-

ing directly in front, whereas in the same species when examined in a

dry state, when the lips have shrunk and produced a more pointed

muzzle and prominent nostrils, the latter are found to open more or

less laterally. And as it is not uncommon to meet with different

individuals of the same species (in this genus) having these glands

developed in a slightly different degree, so it is common to observe

a corresponding difference in the nostrils. A good number of

examples will alone supply the necessary materials by which to

distinguish truthfully the characters of allied species. It remains

therefore, as I think, to be proved by the examination of a greater

number of examples, that this species differs essentially in what

may be called a generic peculiarity from the so-called Vesp. Esch-

scholtzii, or that the latter differs from the Vesp. blepotis of M.

Temminck.

I can detect no difference in the distribution or quality of the fur

from the species last described. It is unicoloured, and the general

colour is very deep brown, as in the Australian specimens of M.

blepotis. When seen in spirit, it appears to be sooty black.

As far as is at present known, this species is confined to the Phi-

lippine Islands.

in. lin.

Length of the head and body ........ 2 6

eet NIE UHI. 5. te ee ee os 2 5

— ofthe head ................ 0 10}

———— of the ears........... ...... 0 4

BUGME TAPHS.. 2. se os oe ee 0 22

—w— of the fore-arm.........-..... 2 1

of the longest finger.......... 4 3

— of the fourth finger .......... 2 35

—— of the thumb................ 0 3}

ah te v0 10

—— of the foot and claws ........ 0 5}

Expanse of wings ............---+0- 15 6 or 16in.*

* It will be observed, that the dimensions I have given differ a little from those

given by Mr. Waterhouse, both taken from the same specimen. But the differ-

ence is very trifling in all respects save in the expanse of the wings, and here a

good deal depends upon the measurer. I have usually taken this dimension by

means of a thread extended along the bones of the wings to the shoulders, and

then taken the breadth between them with a pair of compasses.

If the expanse be taken in a straight line between the tips of the open wings,

160 Zoological Society :—

4, M. AUSTRALIS, n. 8.

This species differs from M. dlepotis in having the face more

hairy, the ears relatively smaller, and the thumb much smaller, and

in being itself much smaller. The fur too of the under parts en-

croaches somewhat on the membranes, whilst in M. dlepotis the

latter are quite free from fur.

M. Temmincek, speaking of the latter species, says, “ La femelle

n’a guére plus de 3 pouces 4 lignes (of length) ; envergure a-peu-

prés 10 pouces ; antibrachium 1 pouce 6 lignes ;”’ which statement

of dimensions appears to apply with moderate accuracy to the pre-

sent species. It is not, however, the female of M. dlepotis, as I

have examined specimens of both sexes, adult and immature ; and

if neither age nor sex will explain the great difference in size, it must

be regarded as a very remarkable variety or as a distinct species.

The fact of its occurrence over a very considerable range of country

—the Indian islands and Australia, inhabiting alike island and con-

tinent without manifesting any difference im appearance, is very

strong evidence against its being a mere variety, and in my opinion

fully establishes it as a distinct : species.

The general colour of the fur is very similar to that of M. blepotis;

but the generality of specimens have a more decided rufous tinge,

which is given by the tips of the hairs being paler and redder than

the base. But this is not perceivable in some individuals, and thus

they are of the ordinary sombre colour of the Australian examples

of M. blepotis.

In the following Table of Dimensions, columns 1 and 2 refer to

adult males, 3 to an adult female in young, 4 to a youngish male

with the wing-joints imperfectly ossified, all of them being preserved

in spirit inthe British Museum ; and column 5 to a specimen in skin

in the same collection,—the whole of them having been collected in

Australia by Sir G. Grey, K.C.B., and presented to the National

[i de Ue eee) aamres 4. 5. 6.

in. lin. in. lin. in. lin.|in. lin.jin. lin./in. lin.

Length of the head and body...|} 1 11|1 9/1 8)/1 8/1 7/2 0

Otstheltail’ Me scacereone sr: 1°90) D8) 2 98 Gal een oes ea

of the head's. 250). nets. 0 8;0 73/0 73,0 73/0 740 7

—~— of the ears .......00....8- eeu Betaracio: 0 33/0 340-370 3

—— of the tragus ............ GO), 2hlsewecsere | Ov 2):cO) 22 OR 2 IOs 2

—— of the fore-arm ......... 1.7 |.1 .63)57 25) iGe) DiS eee

—_ of the longest finger ...| 3 0 |......... 2° 8 | 2) 085) 209s eee

——w— of the fourth finger ...| 1 10 |......... 118 | Pe eee

——— of the tibia ............... | OMFS alscannceee O70 78 tO Gr tO rae

- of the foot and claws...) 0 4#)......... 0 3% 0 33/0 4)0 3%

Expanse of Wings .........sc0ee 11 8 |11 0|10 6/10 7 ]11 0 (10 6

Collection. The dimensions in column 6 have been taken from the

specimen of M. dblepotis mentioned in Dr. Gray’s ‘Catalogue of

it must be evident that the length of this line will depend on their complete or

partial expansion, and in dried specimens it is almost impossible to have them all

with the wings in an exactly similar position. It is on this account that I have

adopted the method just stated.

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Miniopteris. 161

the Mammalia of the British Museum,’ as having been received from

the Leyden Museum, its country being Timor. It is probable,

therefore, that this may have been mistaken by M. Temminck for

the female of that species. Be this as it may, the specimen in

question is certainly a male, and the perfectly ossified condition of

the wing-joints indicates that it is adult.

The name under which I have described this species was given

under the impression that it was exclusively a native of Australia.

It was not until after I had arranged and named the specimens in

the British Museum and in some other collections, that I found it

to be an inhabitant of Timor (and probably of other islands of the

Indian Archipelago) as well as of Australia, and that the name of

australis was not strictly appropriate. But to avoid the confusion

which might possibly arise from a change of name, I have thought

it desirable that it should remain unaltered.

Of the two following species I am unable to give as complete an

account as I could wish.

The first is exhibited in the Leyden Museum with the name of Vesp.

tibialis affixed, but I am not aware that any description of it has

appeared. In that collection there are four specimens, all from

Amboyna. A single specimen in my own collection, received also

from Amboyna by MM. Verreaux, although in a somewhat muti-

lated conditicn, will nevertheless furnish a sufficiently complete de-

scription by which to recognize the species, if species it really is.

In general appearance it closely resembles M. b/eoptis, but is a

trifle smaller, and moreover appears to differ remarkably in all the

specimens, in having the extremity of the tibia perfectly free for

nearly a third of its length. The wing-membranes do not extend

beyond two-thirds of the length of the tibia, and the os calcis ad-

heres closely to it up to the same point, and then starts from it at

nearly a right angle, so that the extremity of the limb is completely

unencumbered, and appears like a slender shank.

If this peculiarity is persistent, and not due to the state of pre-

servation, it would mark out a very distinct and good species ; but

it is very desirable that other specimens be examined that have been

preserved in spirit, in which state they show these parts in a more

natural condition. It is worthy of note, however, that all the speci-

mens present precisely the same appearance ; that is, the leg is free

for the same length, and this would hardly be the case were it due

to the state of the preservation merely. On the other hand, the

species so closely resembles in all other respects the M. blepotis,

that one may well hesitate and view with suspicion a species having

only a single point of difference.

The following are the dimensions of the specimen in my own col-

lection :—

in. lin.

Length of the head and body, about .... 2 6

emer the head : 00...) S Lae 0.7

Gees OF Pe Cars... ais Sed eet OW BY

162 Miscellaneous.

a oling

Length of the traguse« sce}. sya eres) oes 44 2

of the fore-arm -......... 63 or 7 lin.

of the longest finger .. 11

eS Cos. ae

of the fourtly finger’; <0. .<sace a) GELS

of the tibia... .ntm oc de See ens 7

of the tibia, free part.......... 7

of the foot and claws .......... 34

Eixpanse .Of WANS. 6. Gren wjerra akey eR ekyee)s 11, (6

The other species to which I have alluded bears considerable re-

semblance to the one I have called M. australis. A single specimen

in the British Museum, received from the Stockholm Museum with

the name of Vesp. scotinus affixed, furnishes all the information I

possess respecting it, excepting that it is also labelled “ Port Natal.”

I am not aware that any description has been published.

The fur of the upper parts is fuliginous-brown, with the tips a

little paler and greyer in hue. Beneath similar, but with the tips

of the fur paler, especially about the pubes. The general colour

more nearly resembles the darker examples of M. Schreibersii, which

have been described as V’. dasythrix, than any other species; and

possibly it may prove to be a small example of that species.

The examination of a single specimen does not, amongst allied

species, afford sufficient evidence for a satisfactory decision ; and I

prefer therefore to leave undecided the claims of the present so-

called species, until further information afford more ample means

of deciding.

The following are the dimensions :—

in. lin

Length of the head and body, about .... 1 10

of-the head! 2+... 3, ae ee OF ie

of thevearss 220008, (Se ee ee os

of ‘the ‘frapmsye 35) 0. 20 ees Om tz

of the -fore-ariiy 2) 4 SS ea ee

of the longest finger............ 2 4

of the fourth finger ... 2 ./°).02" 1 11, nearly.

of the titwimb:. 2. |) ee eee

uf the tibia). 0/2) ee 0 si

of the foot and claws .......... Ons

Expanse of wings, about ............. . 12S

MISCELLANEOUS.

Further Observations on the Genus Teredina, Lamarck.

By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.

Wuen I sent my paper on Teredina (p. 85), I was not aware that

M. Deshayes had written a long article on this genus, illustrated with

several most instructive figures, in the new edition of his ‘ Coquilles

Fossiles de Paris,’ p. 122. t. 3 & 4.

Miscellaneous. 163

He sums up his conclusions thus :—

** Nous connaissons actuellement tous les caractéres extérieurs des

Térédines. Une coquille de Taret, portant l’écusson d’une Pholade,

est constamment soudée & l’extrémité d’un tube analogue & celui du

Taret, mais dont l’extrémité est plus semblable A celle des Gastro-

chénes,” p. 122.

After reading M. Deshayes’s observations with care, I am still of

opinion that the real explanation of the genus is, that the tube

of the Teredina has no affinity with the tubular sheath of the Teredo,

as M. Deshayes continues to believe, and that it is only the fleshy

siphons of the animal which have been lined with shelly matter by

the process of fossilization ; and I think this fact is further proved

by the manner in which the cavity of the shell is lined with calca-

reous laminz like the siphons, as figured in M. Deshayes’s plate,

tab. 4. f. 8, 9, and also by the form of the end of the tube figured

in the same work, tab. 3. f. 17, 18.

On the Variation of the Form of the Upper Mandible in a Rapacious

Bird. By Puirie Lurvey Scuarer, M.A.

Mr. J. H. Gurney has called my attention to the great variation

in the form of the upper mandible of Urubitinga unicincta, as ob-

servable in some specimens which form part of his collection. I

have seen the same sort of thing in the case of other Accipitres,

but never carried to such an extent as in the present instance. In

one of these birds (fig. 1) the lateral margins of the upper man-

dible are strongly festooned, and project far down over the edges

of the lower. In a second specimen (fig. 2)—apparently of about

Fig. 1. Fig. 2.

the same age, both being in immature plumage—the commissure is

very nearly straight. In other examples there is merely a slight

festoon. As the formation of the edges of the upper mandible is

much in use as a generic character—rightly enough, I believe, and

not generally liable to lead to error—the present abnormal variation

seems worthy of notice.—Proc. Zool. Soc. March 23, 1858.

164 Miscellaneous.

On the Metamorphosis of Praniza into Anceus.

In a recent Number (No. 6 of the present Series) we gave a very

brief notice of the reported discovery by M. Hesse of Brest, that the

Pranize are the larval forms of dnceus. At the meeting of the

Academy of Sciences on the 28th of June, 1858, M. Milne-Edwards

presented a report upon the memoir of M. Hesse, containing some

further information as to the extent of the observations made by the

latter. From this it appears that M. Hesse found some Pranize

upon the fins of Gurnards and some other fishes, and kept them alive

in sea-water. After they had passed a few days in captivity, he saw

them become transformed into Ancei. In another series of observa-

tions M. Hesse followed the development of the ova deposited by

Ancei, and saw Pranize hatched from them. ‘‘The fact of the

specific identity of the Pranize and Ancei,” says M. Miine-Edwards,

‘appears to us therefore completely established. The Pranize are

Ancei in the state of larvee, just as the tadpole is the young of the

Frog, and the silkworm the first state of the Bombyz.’ This memoir

of M. Hesse, with another by the same author upon the Caligide and

Lerneade, will be printed tn extenso in the ‘ Mémoires des Savants

Etrangers. —Comptes Rendus, June 28, 1858, p. 1258.

On the Power of Dissolving Shells possessed by the Bernard Crab

(Pagurus). By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.

In a note to my paper ‘‘On the Formation and Structure of

Shells,’’ in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for 1833, I stated it is

probable that some Bernard Crabs have also the faculty of dissol-

ving shells, for it is not unusual to find the long fusiform shells

(such as Fusus fasciolanus and turbinella) which are inhabited b

these animals, with the inner lip and great part of the pillar on the

inside of the mouth destroyed, so as to render the aperture much

larger than usual.

Having continued my observations on these shells, I am convinced

that certain species of Bernard Crab (Pagurus) have this power, some

possessing it to a much greater degree than others.

Lieut. Burnaby lately brought a number of Crustacea to the

British Museum from the South Seas, amongst which there were

several specimens of Paguri in shells, and these shells were more

destroyed than any I had before observed. One, a specimen of

Persona tuberosa, not only had the whole of the thickened rounded

inner lip, but the whole of the septa between the whorls up to the

apex of the shell also destroyed, so as to convert the shell into

a simple conical cavity ; andthe greater part of the substance of the

outer lip was also removed from the inner surface, so as to render

the outer part of the shell very thin—indeed so much was removed,

that the series of pits on the outer surface, just above the marginal

varix of the outer lip, was entirely destroyed, converting the pits

into a series of apertures. The other shells inhabited by these

Crustacea were similarly destroyed. The internal surface of the

shell has the appearance of being ground away by a file or other

rough surface.—-Proc. Zool. Soc. March 9, 1858.

————

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[THIRD SERIES.]

No. 9. SEPTEMBER 1858.

XVI.—On Praniza and Anceus, and their Affinity to each other.

By C. Srence Barz, F.L.S. &c.

[With two Plates. }

Tue small Crustacea known by the names of Anceus and Praniza

have long been objects of interest to naturalists. The peculiarity

of their form and our ignorance of their habits have not only in-

duced carcinologists to consider them as forming distinct genera,

but even to group them in separate families.

Colonel Montagu described the first specimens in the seventh

and eleventh volumes of the Linnzan Transactions, among other

marine animals taken on the coast of South Devon. Dr. Leach

believed that they might ultimately be found to be but different

sexes of the same species, and this has been the opinion of many

other naturalists.

There has been a mystery attendant upon their habits also.

Praniza has frequently been taken associated with parasitic Crus-

tacea: not so Anceus. Hence Colonel Montagu, Mr. Westwood,

and M. Otto have considered Praniza to be a parasite upon certain

animals. It has been taken, by Colonel Montagu, attached to the

Father Lasher (Cottus Scorpius). On the other hand, it has been

found quite as frequently, along with Anceus and other non-

parasitic Crustacea, in the crevices of rocks and in shore-pools,

as well as in deeper water. In the first of these positions it

has been taken on the clayey shores of Strangford Loch by

Mr. Haliday, who, I believe, is among those who hold most

strongly the opinion that it is a separate species of animal from

Anceus, his conclusion being based upon the structure of the

oral organs. Here hypotheses have rested, until facts of greater

or less importance should assist us in arriving at a correct con-

clusion.

On the 26th of November, 1856, a paper by M. Hesse of

Brest was read by M. Coste before the Academy of Paris, in

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 12

166 Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Affinity of Praniza with Anceus.

which it is stated that Praniza and Anceus are but two ages of

one and the same animal; that, after having lived during a cer-

tain time under the form of Praniza, it assumes that of Anceus,

and in this latter stage gives birth to young Pranize. The

reverse of this appears to have been the idea of Mr. A. White,

when he prophesied, in his recent ‘ Manual of the British Crus-

tacea,’ “that there is some likelihood that Anceus may prove to

be one of the stages of Praniza.”

M. Hesse’s statements rest upon no hypothesis. They are the

result of facts that he himself has witnessed, drawings of which

accompany his memoir. The whole are now being submitted

to a commission composed of MM. Duméri, Milne-Edwards,

and Coste*.

In studying the smaller forms of Crustacea, I have obtained

many specimens of each of the animals in question ; and though

I have hitherto confined myself to the study of the Amphipoda,

L am induced not to allow the data I possess upon the question

to remain any longer concealed.

Before entering upon a discussion of the subject, it will be

desirable to have a clear idea and just appreciation of the forms

of the separate parts as well as of the general structure of both

animals. I shall therefore commence by an examination of the

adult Praniza.

The cephalon is quadrate. The eyes, sessile and prominent,

are situated upon each side of the head. The antenne are four,

nearly equal. Posterior to the cephalon are two distinct segments,

each supporting a pair of legs directed anteriorly. Then follow

three membranous segments fused into one large oval division.

This, together with the two preceding segments, and one, too

insignificant to be observed by unassisted vision, form the pereion.

It consists of six segments only. So also the pleon, which is

much narrower than the pereion, and laterally carries two pairs

of foliaceous appendages upon each of the six segments.

The general outline of the head appears to converge to a

point anteriorly. This has universally been the accepted form

of the animal,—a form that is due, not to the shape of the

cephalon, which is, as I before observed, square, but to the shape

and position of the /abium and organs of the mouth.

The labium (PI. VI. fig. 7 d") in Praniza is an important organ.

It is large, and projects horizontally forwards. The anterior

margin is concave, and considerably narrower than the posterior.

From the centre of the anterior edge, after having traversed the

inferior surface of the organ, projects a small siphon.

* Since this paper has been in the press, the report confirming M. Hesse’s

views has been presented to the Academy by M. Milne-Edwards. See

Annals, 3rd series, No. 8. p. 164.

Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Affinity of Praniza with Anceus. 167

The mandibles (d) originate from the inferior base of the

labium and project horizontally forwards, lying immediately

beneath and parallel with that organ; the tips of the former ex-

tend beyond the extremity of the siphon. The anterior half of

the inner margin of each mandible is strongly denticulated.

The mazille (e, f) originate posteriorly to the mandibles, are

lanceolate in form, slightly curved, and serrated upon the inner

margin.

The mazillipedes (g) consist of four or five articulations, from

the anterior inner margin of each of which a long lanceolate

process is produced.

There is but a single pair of gnathopoda (h); these consist of

six articulations,—the core probably being fused, as is the case

with all the other limbs, into the body of the animal. The dac-

tylos of the gnathopoda is developed into a powerfully formed

hook, both the limbs being directed horizontally forwards. This

pair originates apparently from the ventral surface of the poste-

rior part of the cephalon; but close observation, particularly in

a lateral aspect, discloses a small segment behind, and distinct

from the cephalon (P1.VI. fig. 8H). It is from this segment that

the pair of gnathopoda originates.

The two next pairs of legs are homologous with the two anterior

pairs of perciopoda in Amphipoda. ach is laterally attached to

a distinct segment, and directed forwards. It is chiefly upon

this fact that Professor Dana has constituted his group Aniso-

poda. In this respect Anceus agrees with Praniza.

The three posterior pairs of legs are the three posterior pereio-

poda, and are attached to one inflated membranous segment, the

result of a fusion of the three posterior segments of the pereion.

The pleon is much narrower than the pereion. It consists of

six distinct segments, each of which is furnished on each side

with a pair of ciliated foliaceous appendages attached to a uni-

articulate peduncle. The posterior segment terminates in a

point.

This description is taken from Praniza caruleata. It is to be

regretted that the name should have been adopted from the

colour of the animal. I have received them of a bright grass-

green from Mr. Loughrin of Polperro; blue, from the crevices in

the slate in Plymouth Sound ; and dredged them of an ash-grey,

as well as transparent and a dirty-white, in five or six fathoms of

water in the same locality. There can be no doubt, moreover,

as stated by M.-Edwards, that P. fuscata of Johnston, which is

described to be of a reddish-brown colour, is the same animal.

That we have more than one species is certain. Besides

ceruleata, two specimens of a different species have been sent to

me by Mr. Edwards of Banff. This species, to the eye, differs in

12*

168 Mr.C. Spence Bate on the Affinity of Praniza with Anceus,

the more continuous and less graceful outline from the anterior

part of the head to the posterior part of the pereion, the short-

ness of the pleon, and the smallness and more equal size of the

pereiopoda ; and in the less easy to be detected, but not less im-

portant facts, that the mandibles do not extend beyond the labium,

and the gnathopoda have but four articulations and terminate

in a rudimentary form. The powerful hook is wanting. One

of this latter species, which I shall name Edwardsii, after its

finder, who has been a valued correspondent during my researches

in this class of animals, was charged with young. Itisa remark-

able fact, that in the young the organs eenerally bear a closer

resemblance to those of P. eeruleata than to those of their own

parent species.

In the young the mandibles project beyond the labium. The

gnathopoda are furnished at the extremity with powerful hooks.

The siphon is prominent and well formed. The five conspicuous

segments of the pereion correspond in their relation to each

other, the centre one being the largest, and the posterior and

anterior being equal and the smallest: no fusion exists between

any of them. On the ventral surface of the four posterior seg-

ments is pendent a membranous sac. It is the monstrous enlarge-

ment of this sac in the development of the animal, fusing into one

segment and separating widely apart the three posterior pereio-

poda, that gives to this animal its most remarkable and peculiar

feature.

In an examination of Anceus we find some points that assi-

milate and others that are widely distinct from the structure of

Praniza. The eyes are sessile and placed anteriorly upon each

side of the head. The cephalon is quadrate, depressed from the

centre to the anterior margin; the lateral edges are raised like

walls on each side.

The antenne (PI. VII. fig. 3 b,c) are subequal, placed, as in

Praniza, at the anterior lateral angles of the cephalon, and one

immediately above the other.

The Jabium is absent or rudimentary.

The mandibles (d) ave prominent and powerful ; they originate

at the anterior extremity of the cephalon, and extend horizon-

tally in advance of the head.

The mavillipedes (g) consist of five articulations, a projecting

process arising from the basal one.

The gnathopoda (h) consist of two articulations, one large and

the other very small. The large one is straight on the exterior

and convex on the interior margin ; the latter is ciliated and laps

over the corresponding margin of the opposite gnathopod. The

whole forms a squamiform and efficient operculum to the organs

of the mouth.

Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Affinity of Praniza with Anceus. 169

The succeeding segments are as broad as the cephalon.

The three posterior segments of the pereion are slightly nar-

rower, and imperfectly fused together.

The pereiopoda bear a close general resemblance to those of

Praniza, though somewhat more tuberculated.

The pleon is much narrower than the pereion, and consists of

six segments, each of which is furnished on each side with a pair

of ciliated foliaceous appendages attached to a uni-articulate

peduncle. The posterior segment terminates in a point.

Upon comparison, therefore, of Praniza with Anceus, we find

differences as important as those which usually exist between

genera or even families. Hence their classification by naturalists

into separate genera, as Anceus and Praniza, each of which has

been taken as the type of a particular group or family.

Other observers, knowing the frequent distinction that exists

between the forms of the different sexes of the same species,

have assumed that the distinction between Anceus and Praniza

is one of sexonly. To this idea I had a considerable inclination.

Examination of the details of both animals shows us no di-

stinction that is not reconcilable with this idea. The mandibles

resemble each other in form and position, and differ only in size

and strength. The /abium is absent in Anceus, and developed

into a siphon in Praniza,—a distinction, I am informed by Pro-

fessor Kinahan, that was first pointed out by Mr, Haliday. But

that this may be only a sexual distinction, we may infer from

the fact that the males of parasitic Isopods differ in a similar

respect from their sedentary females.

I have hitherto been inclined to believe that all Pranize were

females ;—that the great membranous enlargement which is

separated into four divisions upon the ventral surface was a

pouch for the development of the ova, and the homologue of the

poueh that is carried upon the ventral surface of the pereion in

all the Edriophthalmous Crustacea.

There is certainly nothing in the young of Praniza from

which we could assume that an Anceus might not be deve-

loped. This appears still more correct when the larva has grown

a little, as may be seen in fig. 3. Pl. VI., where the form is

intermediate between Praniza and Anceus.

Recently M. Hesse has astonished us by the statement that

Anceus is the adult animal, and that Praniza is the young ;—

that he has, if I understand correctly from the short notice in

the ‘Comptes Rendus*,’ witnessed not only the change of the

former into the latter, but, moreover, the reproduction of the

latter from Anceus.

* March 22, 1858, p. 568.

170 Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Affinity of Praniza with Anceus.

The experience of M. Hesse is quite at variance with my own

observations. The larva which I have figured in PI. VI. fig. 2 is

one of about twenty that I obtained from the Praniza I have

given in fig. 1. It appears therefore that some fallacy must

have crept into the researches of M. Hesse, since Praniza is

evidently an adult animal. The mysterious law governing repro-

duction under the phase of alternation of generations can scarcely

account for the discrepancy, since the young of Praniza bear to

the parent as close a resemblance as is found usually to exist

between the old and young. They differ only in the relative

proportion of certain parts; and others, which are not required

until the age of puberty, are necessarily in abeyance.

M. Hesse says that Anceus bears young. This fact being dis-

covered by him, proves that there are female Ancet. This, to-

gether with the fact that I have stated relative to Praniza,

demonstrates the error of M. Hesse’s hypothesis, “ that Praniza

is the early stage of Anceus,” and goes far to establish the fore-

gone conclusions of previous naturalists, that the two animals

belong to distinct genera.

M. Hesse says not only that Anceus bears young, but that

these young are Pranize. We know, from experience in obser-

vation, that the larvee of any given tribe of Crustacea are gene-

rically similar: as [ have previously shown, there is a considerable

resemblance between the young of Praniza and the adult Anceus ;

so therefore we may infer that the general resemblance of the

larva of Anceus to the larva of Praniza is considerable,—a cir-

cumstance that may account for M. Hesse’s assumption that

the former are Pranize.

I thmk we may, from what is known, deduce the following

conclusions :—

That (upon M. Hesse’s observation) Anceus is an adult animal.

That (upon our own observation) Praniza is an adult animal.

That Praniza consequently cannot be developed into Anceus.

That Anceus is a distinct genus from Praniza.

That the males of both genera have yet to be discovered.

The males of both Anceus and Praniza have to be made out ;

but it is not rash to infer that they may so nearly resemble the

females, as to make it a test of considerable difficulty.

I have recorded that in Praniza Edwardsii the gnathopoda

have an immature character, while in P. ceruleata they possess

the appearance of an efficient organ. It 1s not improbable that

this may be a sexual distinction in every species of Praniza: to

this inference I am led by the fact that all the larve of Pra-

mza Edwardsii possess the powerful hook seen in P. ceruleata,

while it is absent in the parent. I have elsewhere expressed

a conviction that the -larvee of Crustacea possess at an early

Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Affinity of Praniza with Anceus. 171

stage the rudiments of both sexes,—a circumstance which, if

correct, would account for the gnathopoda being different in the

larva from the same organs in the adult female. I hope to be

enabled to set this point at rest before it is embodied in the

work I have in hand.

With regard to Anceus, I have as yet no experience to lead

me to any conclusion.

There is a mystery in the production of the ova of Praniza that

would well repay the embryologist for studying. I have before

observed that they are occasionally taken transparent, white,

ash-grey, green, blue, and red-brown. These varieties of colour

appear to be dependent upon the progress made in the advance-

ment towards spawning, or in some way connected with the

development of the ova.

When the animal is blue, I have observed a double line of ova

traversing the length of the enlarged segment, as seen in fig. 4

Pl. VI., and figs. 7, 7", Pl. VII. This I presume to be the ovary

or the oviduct previous to the escape of the ova into the incuba-

tory pouch, which they ultimately fill, to the apparent annihila-

tion of the other contents of this part of the animal.

I have watched specimens in a glass, and perceived, after a few

days, that the blue mass, which at first appeared to fill and distend

the large segment of the pereion, gradually diminished, apparently

deteriorating. It recedes first from the margin. Tn 80 doing,

it displayed a series of layers, placed one before the other, lying

across the animal. There were indications also of these layers

being divided by cross-sections. It is from one so depauperized

that fig. 4 in each plate is taken. The ova ultimately fill the

pouch, first as seen at fig. 6. Pl. VII., and ultimately as shown

in fig. 8, where the embryo has considerably advanced towards

completion.

The blue appearance is now changed to a brown,—a circum-

stance that is due to the reddish pigment-cells which mark the

pereion of the young animal.

The nervous system is similar to that of other Isopoda. The

ganglia of the three posterior fused segments are distinct, and an

intermediate branch is given off on each side from the nervous

cord, between each ganglion. One cord only appears to be given

off on each side of every ganglion except the one preceding the

last three of the pereion; this appears to give off three upon

each side. Those within the cephalon I could not distinctly

make out; but, without being fused, two ganglia appeared to be

brought close together. Possibly the ganglion belonging to the

suppressed gnathopoda may be present.

The animal is small, but the nervous system is readily detect-

able along the ventral surface of the undissected creature.

172 Dr. G. Lawson on Lepas anatifera.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

Puare VI.

Fig. 1. Praniza Edwards: 1g, maxilliped; 1h, gnathopod.

Fig. 2. Larva of ditto.

Fig. 3. Ditto, older, of ceruleata?

Fig. 4. Praniza ceruleata: 4 6, upper antenna; 4 c, lower ditto;

4 f, maxilla; 4g, maxilliped; 4, gnathopod.

Fig. 5. Cephalon and appendages (dorsal surface): 5, superior antenna ;

c, inferior ditto; d”, labium; 4, gnathopod; 5 a, part of the eye

enlarged.

Fig. 6. Labium enlarged (from below): d", siphon; d, mandible; 4, an-

tenna (inferior).

. Cephalon and appendages (ventral aspect): a, eye; d, mandible

(turned back); d”, labium and siphon; e, f, maxille; g, maxilli-

ed; h, gnathopod.

Fig. 7 d". Ditto, lateral view.

Fig. 8. Lateral view of head and anterior part of perecon.

Fig. 9. Ditto of pleon and posterior part of pereion.

Fig. 10. Nervous system.

Fig.

PLATE VII.

|The four lines at the top of Plate VII. represent the natural sizes of

the larva at the time of bemg hatched, and a little later, of Anceus

maxillaris and Praniza ceruleata respectively. |

Fig. 1. Anceus mawillaris.

Fig. 2. Cephalon, lateral view.

Fig. 3. Ditto, seen from below: 6, upper antenna; c, lower ditto; d, d,

mandibles; h, gnathopod; 3 g, maxilliped; 3 h, gnathopod ;

h", cilia enlarged.

Fig. 4. Ventral aspect of body of Praniza.

Fig. 5. Ditto of Anceus.

Fig. 6. Ova of Praniza (early stage).

Fig. 7. Pereion of Praniza with ova: 7", ova of same.

‘ig. 8. Pereion of Praniza with ova; 8", ova of same.

Plymouth, July 20, 1858.

XVIL.— Remarks on Lepas anatifera, Linn.

By Greorce Lawson, Ph.D.

On the 9th July, 1858, while the steam-ship ‘ Dundalk’ was

passing through Banff Bay, on her passage from Inverness to

Granton, the attention of the crew and passengers was attracted

by aremarkable object floating in the water, which was at first

supposed to be a huge fish. A closer examination proved it to

be a squared log of fir-timber, somewhere about thirty feet in

length, comp/etely covered throughout its entire lower surface with

a dense crop of barnacles.

The log was brought to Granton Pier, whence I obtained a

supply of specimens for examination. The species is Lepas

Dr. G. Lawson on Lepas anatifera. 173

anatifera, Linu.*, a species which appears to have been much

confounded with the equally common L. Hi/lii of Leach, but

which is readily known from its allies by the right-hand scutum

being furnished internally with a prominent umbonal tooth,

while the left one is without any trace of this appendage.

The specimens were densely crowded together over the whole

lower surface of the log, and are of variable size, from two to

seven or eight inches in total length. The valves are of a pearly

white, with a bluish-grey tinge from the underlying corium,

their surface marked with faint radiating strie. The edges of the

scuta, &c., are of an orange-colour. The carina is slightly, but

obtusely, “barbed.” The peduncle is smooth, with encircling

wrinkles, and of a white, yellowish, or pale brick-red hue, ac-

cording to age and size of specimens,—becoming dark, almost

black, towards the apical or neck portion, where it unites with

the capitulum. The remarkable “filamentary appendages” de-

scribed in books as occurring at the bases of the first pair of

cirri in this genus, without any very special functional office

being assigned to them, were found to be present in all the

specimens I examined, and their number was constant,—two on

each side. Mr. Darwin quotes the following synonyms for this

species :—Anatifa engonata, Conrad ; A. dentata, var., Bruguiére ;

Pentalasmis dentatus, var., Brown.

During the few days that the log remained on Granton Pier,

large quantities of the barnacle were carried away for the purpose

of being cooked and used as an article of food. Some foreign

sailors, I was told, recognized them as forming a delicacy on

which they had feasted on former occasions. Mr. Darwin does

not notice the use of any species of Lepas for food, but enume-

rates two species of Pollicipes and one of Balanus that are so

used. 1am informed (he says) by Mr. L. Reeve, that Pollicipes

nitella is eaten on the coast of China; and Ellis states+ that

this is the case with P. cornucopia on the shores of Brittany. It

is well known that the gigantic Balanus psittacus, on the Chilian

coast, is sought after as a delicacy.

The exhibition of the Lepas log on Granton Pier soon gave

opportunity for observing that the old tradition of the origin of

barnacle geese is by no means extinct.

The occurrence of this species in such quantity in a living

state on a drift-log in Banff Bay is not without interest; and I

have thought a record of the fact might be useful to some readers

of the ‘ Annals.’

Mr. Peach records two instances in which, after gales of wind,

this species, of nearly full size, adhering to apparently freshly

broken-off Laminaria, has been cast upon the coasts of England

* Darwin, Cirripedia, vol. i. p. 67. tab. 1. fig. 1. ¥ Phil. Trans. 1758.

174 Dr. G. Lawson on Lepas anatifera.

and Scotland. There is certainly a belief among mariners that

it occurs on the shores of the north of Scotland.

Now that attention is being devoted to the phenomena of

ocean currents, to an extent commensurate in some measure

with the scientific interest and importance of the subject, it is

desirable that observers on different parts of our coasts, as well

as the captains of ships, should record any facts of interest rela-

tive to drift-timber, seeds, and other land productions from a

distance, as well as floating Cirripedia, &c., which may be thrown

ashore or picked up,—the careful observation of all which, in

connexion with concurrent meteorological conditions, is likely

to afford useful facts for interpreting many phenomena that are

as yet very imperfectly understood.

I could not ascertain any circumstances that served to indi-

cate the original source of the fir log above referred to. Judging

from the perfectly fresh appearance of the timber, even close to

the surface, and the strong resinous odour which that part exhi-

bited when scraped with a knife, I conclude that the log could

not have been long exposed to the action of the sea-water. In

fact, the log presented on the surface a cleaner and fresher

appearance than the ordinary new timber which we see floated

down our rivers. In some parts, however, there were burrows

of apparently a small mollusk, of which I could not obtain

specimens.

The above circumstances are easily explained if we keep in

view the fact, that the Pedunculate Cirripedia develope them-

selves very rapidly.

Mr. Darwin observes that “all Cirripedia grow rapidly: the

yawl of H.M.S. ‘ Beagle’ was lowered into the water, at the

Galapagos archipelago, on the 15th September, and, after an

interval of exactly thirty-three days, was hauled m. I found on

her bottom a specimen of Conchoderma virgata, with the capitu-

lum and peduncle each half an inch in length, and the former

zoths in width. This is half the size of the largest specimen I

have seen of this species: several other individuals, not half the

size of the above, contained numerous ova in their lamelle,

ready to burst forth,”

The floating habits of many of the Pedunculated Cirripedes

necessarily prevent any very definite limits being placed to the

geographical range of species. ‘The Pedunculated Cirripedes

extend over the whole world, and most of the individual species

have large ranges, more especially, as might have been expected,

those attached to floating objects....... Of all the Lepadide,

nearly half are attached to floating objects, or to animals which

are able to change their positions.” Of those attached to fixed

* Darwin, Cirripedia, vol. i. p. 63.

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 175

objects, by far the greater number are limited to tropical seas.

A notion seems to prevail that the floating species are also

almost entirely natives of the warmer-temperate and tropical

regions of the ocean, and that specimens picked up in northern

regions are wanderers that have been carried beyond their

proper range. It is desirable to ascertain to what extent this is

the case.

Edinburgh, July 17, 1858.

XVIII.— Descriptions of new Ceylon Coleoptera.

By Joun Niztner, Colombo, Ceylon.

[Continued from vol. xx. Ser. 2. p. 375.]

Family CARABIDA.

Tribe TRIGONOTOMIDA.

Tue Trigonotomide with an elliptic terminal joint of the palpi

are abundantly represented amongst the Ceylon Carabidae, thus

making amends for the want of other tribes of the section to

which they belong. I have now before me a great many indi-

viduals of different species which I have endeavoured to distri-

bute mto genera, after the works of Lacordaire, Dejean, and

others of less importance. A single glance almost convinced me

that they must belong either to Abacetus, Distrigus, or Drimo-

stoma,—genera closely allied, and whose principal, in fact only

essential, distinction would appear to consist in the shape of the

mentum-tooth. If it is a well-established fact, as cannot be

doubted from the above authors, that this tooth is pointed in

Drimostoma,—large, rounded, equalling the lateral lobes in Aba-

cetus, and large and truncated in Distrigus, the species described

below could not, as to their genera, be distributed otherwise than

I have done,—namely five to Distrigus and one to Drimostoma,

The species which I have drawn to the former genus have a

large, more or less square tooth, slightly rounded at the anterior

angles. It is impossible to call this tooth pointed in any of the

five species; they cannot therefore belong to the genus Drimo-

stoma; nor can any of them be drawn to Abacetus, which genus

is, moreover, apparently exclusively African. As to the insect

which I have placed in the genus Drimostoma, its mentum-tooth

is not exactly pointed, but it is altogether narrower than in

Distrigus, and might well be called “assez aigue,” as Dejean

describes it. This insect differs, moreover, very materially in

general appearance, as well as in its details, from my Distrigi ;

and I feel sure that it belongs to the genus in which I have

placed it, although it does not quite agree with Lacordaire’s

176 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

description, the labrum being emarginated in front, the second

joint of the maxillary palpi exhibiting nothing unusual, &e. As

to the species which I have established, I feel very certam that

they are new and good ones, as it would appear, from the quo-

tations in Lacordaire, ‘Gen. des Col.,’ that, since Dejean’s de-

scriptions, no new ones of Indian species have been published.

These insects live in the manner of the European Feronide,

but appear to affect rather damp localities; some of them take

freely to their wings, and fly commonly into houses in the even-

ings during the rainy weather.

58. Distrigus costatus, N.

D. nigerrimus, nitidus, subtilissime parce punctulatus, ore pedibus-

que piceis, tarsis antennisque castaneis, palpis brunneo-testaceis.

Long. corp. 43 lin.

Capite, clypeo fronteque leviter excavatis, hac impressionibus 2 la-

teralibus semilunaribus profundissimis rugulisque nonnullis trans-

versis ; mandibulis fortiter sulcatis; menti dente magno excavato ;

thorace longitudine parum latiore, breviter obcordato, lateribus ro-

tundato, basin versus angustato, basi truncato medio leviter emar-

ginato, antice lateribus fortiter deflexo, dorso posticeque plano, basi

longitudinaliter profunde 2-impresso, inter impressionibus leviter

transversim rugoso, ad marginem ant. et post. obsolete sulculato, dorso

rugulis nonnullis transversis subtilibus, linea med. longitud. subtili

extremis profundis diviso; elytris profunde striatis, interstitiis fere

planis, puncto ad striam 2™ medio obsoleto; ¢arsis dorso fortiter

3-costatis ; prosterno plano.

Sub quisquiliis in ripis lacus Colombensis communis.

Apparently closely allied to D. impr essicollis, Dej. However,

if the description given in the ‘Spee, Gen.’ embraces all the

characteristics of this latter species, mine is undoubtedly dif-

ferent from it. Dejean says nothing about the cost on the

back of the tarsi, which are the principal characteristic In my

species ; nor are such cost of general occurrence or of so little

importance that it could be supposed they had been left un-

noticed by Dejean for these reasons. I cannot possibly call the

thorax of my D. costatus ‘“ subquadrate ;” it is rounded at the

sides, narrowed behind, and cut away at the base. The striz of

the elytra of my species are not punctured in the bottom, as

those of the D. impressicollis ave stated to be. In mentioning

the inter-antennal impressions, Dejean would certainly not have

overlooked the depression in the centre of the forehead, nor that

of the elypeus, which distinguish my insect, had they existed in

the one he described. The former is round, the latter trans-

verse. I further fail to discover in my species the “reflet un

peu changeant” of the elytra, and that the base of the thorax is

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 177

“assez fortement ponctuée et que les points se confondent sou-

vent ensemble ;” nor do I consider the interstices of the elytra

“relevés, presque arrondis,” or the head “un peu rétrécie pos-

térieurement ;” the head is of the same breadth from the an-

tennze to the occiput.

59. Distrigus submetallicus, N.

D. supra niger zneo-micans, nitidus; subtus piceus, pedibus, ore

antennisque obscure castaneis, tarsis brunneo-testaceis. Long.

corp. 3 lin.

Capite preecedentis, sed fronte haud excavato; mandibulis stri-

gosis ; menti dente mediocri; thorace breviter rotundato-obcordato,

precedente lateribus magis rotundato, antice magis deflexo, postice

fortius quadrato, hic 3-impresso, impressione media lateralibus minus

profunda ad apicem prolongata, inter impressionibus punctato longi-

tudinaliterque ruguloso ; scutello excavato ; elytris striatis, ad striam

2™ ante medium utrinque puncto impresso, interstitiis deplanatis ;

tarsis leevibus ; prosterno profunde canaliculato.

Ubi preecedentem specimen singulum m. cepi.

60. Distrigus rufo-piceus, N.

D. rufo-piceus, nitidus; pedibus, thoracis elytrorumque margine

testaceis, antennis brunneo-testaceis, mandibulis brunneis. Long.

corp. 3 lin.

Capite inter antennas profunde longitud. 2-impresso, fronte medio

leviter depresso, labro quadrato-rotundato, mandibulis infra medium

sulcatis, menti dente mediocri, excavato, apice subrotundato ; thorace

D. costati, sed parum brevior, basi 2-impresso, linea media longitud.

fere obsoleta, rugulis nonnullis transversis subtilibus ; scutello, ely-

tris pedibusque przecedentis, sed elytris puncto ad striam 2™ infra

medium obsoleto ; prosterno leviter canaliculato.

In ripis lacus Colombensis specimen singulum legi.

61. Distrigus eneus, N.

D. supra zeneus, subtus piceus, pedibus dilutioribus, antennis palpis-

que rufo-piceis. Long. corp. 23-3 lin.

Capite ante oculos profunde oblique 2-suleato, rugulisque nonnullis

transversis, clypeo fronteque szepius leviter depressis, mandibulis

leviter sulcatis, menti dente mediocri; thorace rotundato-obcordato,

basi quadrate truncato, 3-impresso, impressione media minus pro-

funda in lineam subtilem ad apicem prolongata, inter impressionibus

profunde punctato, antice leviter strigoso, dorso subtiliter trans-

versim ruguloso; elytris striatis, ad striam 2™ medio distinctius

puncto impresso ; prosterno sat fortiter canaliculato.

Prope Colombo in arenis subhumidis et nocte ad lumen commu-

nissimus.

178 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

62. Distrigus Dejeani, N.

D. piceo-niger, subtus szepius rufo-piceus, nitidus, capite seneo-

micante, pedibus, elytrorum margine antennisque rufo-piceis, pal-

pis testaceis. Long. corp. vix 23 lin.

Capite inter antennas 2-impresso, fronte leviter excavato, mandi-

bulis subtiliter sulculatis, mento preecedentis ; thorace robustiore,

ut in precedente sculpto et signato, sed antice non strigoso ; elytris

pedibusque preecedentis, illorum tamen puncto minus distincto ;

prosterno fere plano,

Cum preecedente communissime occurrit.

63. Drimostoma Ceylanicum, N.

D. nigro-piceum, nitidum, pedibus piceis, tarsis, antennis oreque

dilutioribus, palpis testaceis. Long. corp. 22-3 lin.

Capite ante oculos profunde 2-impresso, labro antice leviter emar-

ginato, mandibulis elongatis, rectis, acutis, leevibus, menti dente sat

acuminato, antennis art. 2-4 gradatim longioribus* ; thorace obcor-

dato, postice fortius angustato, quadrato, leevi, basi 2-impresso, linea

longitud. med. diviso, antice impressione semilunari (impressionibus

his omnibus profundioribus) ; elytris striatis, interstitiis parum ele-

vatis ; prosterno sat fortiter longitud. impresso.

In proy. occid. non frequenter occurrit.

64. Casnonia punctata, N.

C. supra subtusque (occipite abdomineque exceptis) dense profunde-

que punctata, brunneo-picea, elytrorum margine maculisque 2

apicalibus longitudinalibus cum margine contiaeuniont brunneo-

testaceis, pedibus flavis, trochanteribus, geniculis tarsisque obscu-

rioribus, ore dilute brunneo, antennarum art. 1° palporumque art.

2° basalibus flavis. Long. corp. 3 lin.

Specimina nonnulla mens. Decemb. prope Colombo nocte ad lumen

cepi.

Smaller than the Ophionia cyanocephala. The head is robust,

with two impressions between the antenne, and a third just

above them, somewhat of the shape of an inverted V. Oc-

ciput less narrowed than in O. eyanocephala, smooth. The

anterior part of the head deeply punctured. The labrum is

slightly produced in the middle. Thorax much plumper than

in O. cyanocephala, hardly as long as the head, not much

narrower, conic, considerably narrowed and cylindric at the

base, densely and deeply punctured, especially at the base.

Elytra with the shoulders straighter than in O. cyanocephala,

impressed with rows of deep punctures growing smaller and

shallower towards the apex, with a few small hairs near the

* In the Distrigi just described, joints 3 and 4 are subequal.

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 179

latter part; in the 3rd and 5th interstices three setigerous

punctures, in the 3rd and 4th interstices a longitudinal apical

macula, of yellowish colour, coalescent with the margin, which

is of the same colour; two shallow impressions on either

side, one below the shoulders, the other near the apex. Legs

shorter than in O. cyanocephala.

65. Casnonia pilifera, N.

C. glaberrima, nitidissima (quasi lacca obducta), pilis longis sparsis

vestita, nigra, ore (labro excepto) antennisque brunneis, his apicem

versus dilutioribus, elytris maculis 2 subapicalibus argenteis, pedi-

bus piceis, femoribus basi albis, trochanteribus obscurioribus, tibiis

tarsisque brunnescentibus. Long. corp. 32 lin.

Specimina nonnulla cum preecedente cepi.

This elegant species is of the same size as the O. eyanocephala,

but, with the exception of the elytra and abdomen, which are

shorter and plumper, still more slender and graceful. Head

large, very narrow and prolonged behind, much more so than in

O. cyanocephala, with two large shallow impressions between the

antennz, and another small one just above them. Occiput

slightly transversely rugose. Thorax very slender, half as broad

as the head, of hardly the same length, obconic, constricted

below the apex, then gradually increasing in size to below the

middle; the base abruptly narrowed, cylindric, and impressed

with three deep annuliform wrinkles. Elytra about as long as

thorax and occiput together, increasing very sensibly in breadth

to below the middle. The apex is much more obliquely cut

away than in O. cyanocephala or the preceding species. The

shoulders are full, and hide the margi; just below them the

elytra are deeply excavated, showing, moreover, three deep lon-

gitudinal impressions in the bottom of either excavation, and a

slight yellowish spot, hardly to be distinguished, at the outer

part of it. A round spot of silvery appearance adorns the hind

part of either elytron. There are two rows of long thin hairs,

placed at considerable distances from each other, on the back of

either elytron, and a third just within the margin; the same

thin hairs are scattered about the thorax, femora, and elsewhere.

The legs are longer and more slender than in O. cyanocephala.

The Ophionia cyanocephala is not scarce in this part of the

island; it affects rather damp, grassy localities, where it mounts

upon the stalks of the plants; this agrees with what Helfer has

observed of some species in Bengal, but is quite different from

the observations Lacordaire has made with regard to the American

species of the genus. However, it is much more frequently

taken about the light at night. The two species just described

180 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

are much scarcer. M.C.A. Dohrn of Stettin writes to me that

he has received another species from me (C. Cypris, D.), which,

however, I do not recollect ; it would appear to be smaller than

either of the former, black, with white tips to the antenne.

Tribe FERONID2.

Symphyus, un. g., N.

Corpus robustum, oblongo-ovatum, subdepressum. Caput mediocre

postice haud angustatum, oculis mediocribus, sat prominulis, globosis.

Mentum semicirculare, profunde emarginatum, dente forti spiniformi,

lobis haud breviore, ligulee connato (hine n. g. Symphyus), profunde

excavato. Ligula subcoriacea, inverte trigona, dorso elevato, para-

glossis magnis connatis, eam sat longe superantibus, apice cylindricis.

Palpi art. 4° ovato, apice truncato; maxillares art. 3° elongato. La-

brum parvum, profunde angulate emarginatum. Mandibulee validis-

simee, subtrigonze, porrectee, una 1-, altera 2-dentata. Antennee fili-

formes, humeros parum superante, art. 1° mediocri, 2° parvo, 3° se-

quenti paulo minore, 4—11° subeequalibus, 5-11° depressis. Thorax

subquadrato-cordatus, lateribus rotundatus, basi angustatus, quadra-

tus, angulis posticis leviter oblique truncatis. Elytra ovata, parallela,

apice rotundata et leviter utrinque sinuata. Pedes mediocres, tibiis

ant. leviter dilatatis, profunde emarginatis ; intermed. fortiter spi-

nosis; tarsi art. 1° cylindrico-trigono, 2° et 3° trigonis, 4° obcordato,

unguiculis simplicibus. (Mas latet.)

66. Syinphyus unicolor, N.

S. niger, nitidus, glaber, pedibus oreque piceis. Long. corp. 8+ lin. ;

lat. 3 lin.

Capite inter antennas 2-foveolato, mandibulis sulcatis; thorace

antice haud, postice vix emarginato, hic 2-impresso, linea longitud.

media diviso, ad marginem posteriorem longitud., dorso subtiliter

transversim ruguloso; scutello leviter excavato ; elytris striatis, in strus

punctatis, interstitiis vix elevatis, cum thorace anguste marginatis.

Specimen singulum f. prope Colombo mens. Decembr. nocte ad

lumen cepi.

This description is made after a single female individual; but

I have little doubt that the insect belongs to the numerous tribe

to which I have referred it, in which it ought perhaps to he

placed near Hecoptogenius, Chaud. I am, however, not sure

whether the shape of its ligula does not entitle it to a place

amongst the Anchonoderide. 1 may add to the above deserip-

tion, that the accessory stria of the elytra is present, but that

the puncture usually found upon the 3rd interstice 1s wanting.

The general appearance of the insect presents nothing whatever

particular ; however, upon further inspection, the deeply notched

labrum and the strong, porrected mandibles are very striking.

The labium appears to me of extraordinary construction: the

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 181

mentum is large and of a semicircular shape, deeply emarginated,

which renders the lobes heavy, rounded outside, and pointed at

the tip. In the bottom of this emargination stands a pointed,

spine-like tooth, as long as the lobes. This tooth is deeply

excavated or grooved, and is clearly seen to be to its full length

soldered together with the basal part of the ligula; probably

the entire mentum is in this manner connected with the adjoin-

ing part of the ligula, but in the other parts it is not so clearly

observable as in the tooth, and I have not dissected the labium.

The ligula itself is of a leathery consistence, of the shape of an

elongated inverted triangle with an elevated back ; the anterior

margin is straight, and somewhat prolonged beyond what would

be the sides of the triangle. The paraglosse are of membrana-

ceous texture, very broad, adhering to the sides of the ligula to

its full length, taking then a slender cylindric form, and reach-

ing considerably beyond it, being at the same time slightly bent

inwards.

Tribe Harparip2.

Calodromus, n. g., N.

Corpus robustum, ovatum, subconvexum. Caput mediocre, sub-

quadratum, postice haud angustatum ; oculis minoribus sat promi-

nulis. Mentum profundius sublunate emarginatum, edentatum, lobis

obtusis. Ligula oblonge quadrata, apicem versus dilatata, apice

medio leviter producta, libera, paraglossis robustis eam parum super-

antibus, apice obtusis. Palpi art. 4° elliptico, apice leviter truncato.

Labrum subtransversum, autice emarginatum, angulis rotundatis.

Mandibulz validze, una 1-, altera 2-dentata. Antenne robustz,

thoracis basin attingentes, art. 1°, 3°, 11° et 4—10° inter se subzequa-

libus, 1-2° cylindricis, 3° basi angustato, 4—11° ovatis, leviter de-

pressis. Thorax transversus, lateribus leviter rotundatus, basi parum

angustatus, quadratus, antice leviter emarginatus. Elytra thorace

parum latiora, apice rotundata. Pedes robusti, ant. tibiis apice leviter

dilatatis, profunde emarginatis, tarsis art. 1—4° gradatim minoribus,

1° subtrigono, 2~4° transversim trigonis, unguiculis validis, simplici-

bus, mas art. 14° leviter dilatatis, subtus squamulis 2-seriatim mu-

nitis ; pedes intermed. et post. tibiis fortiter spinosis, tarsis simpli-

cibus.

67. Calodromus exornatus, N.

C. glaber, nitidus, supra lte viridis, thoracis margine lato elytro-

rumque fascia inframarginali testaccis, capite viridi-brunneo, an-

tice brunneo, scutello cum sutura brunneis ; subtus brunneus,

pedibus testaceis. Long. corp. 44-42 lin.

Capite inter antennas 2-impresso, thorace capitis quarta parte

longitudine, duplo latiore, basi 2-impresso, leviter rugoso-punctato,

Ami. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. ii,

182 My. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

linea longitud. media diviso, cum elytris anguste marginatis ; his

profunde striatis.

Specimina nonnulla mens. Nov. et Decemb. prope Colombo nocte

ad lumen cepi.

Very pretty insects, apparently closely allied to the African

genus Bradybenus, Dej., from which, however, they differ in the

structure of the ligula and in other minor points. They are

quite of the shape of a Harpalus, and I have no doubt that their

habits are those of the latter. Joints 4-11 of the antenne have

very much the appearance of grains of rice strung together.

The metallic green colour with which the insect is adorned on the

back is very rich ; on the elytra it forms a pattern of two triangles

with their tips downwards, that of the upper one being immersed

sn the base of the lower one, and the apex of the latter being

divided ; these triangles are flanked on either side by a broad

longitudinal belt of yellowish colour. The margin is again

green, with the exception of the apex, which is occupied by the

yellowish belt. The thorax is green in the centre and yellowish

along the sides. The head is more or less brownish green,

lighter in the middle; the mouth is brown.

68. Zophium pubescens, N.

Z. rufo-testaceum, oculis nigris, occipite nigrescente, elytris pubes-

centibus fuscis maculis 2 subhumeralibus, et 1 apicali communi

testaceis ornatis. Long. corp. 33 lin.

Antennis art. 1° capitis vix longitudine ; labro integro ; palpis art.

ultimo trigono; menti dente magno, obtuso, profunde canaliculato ;

thorace elongato-cordato, capitis latitudine, duplo longiore, medio

leviter longitudinaliter depresso; elytris subtilissime dense pubes-

centibus, obsolete striato-impressis, humeris obsoletis.

Specimina nonnulla in prov. occid. nocte ad lumen cepi.

This description does not quite agree with Lacordaire’s

diagnosis of the genus Zophium; the labrum and the tooth of the

mentum are not what they ought to be according to this author.

However, Schmidt-Goebel, in his ‘ Col. Birm.,’ has already de-

parted from Lacordaire’s formula by describing six species of

Zophium with an entire mentum-tooth, which, according to the

former author, would make them Polystichi rather. The fact

is, that this part of the labium appears to be variable. In all

other respects the insect agrees with Lacordaire’s description of

the genus.

The labrum is entire; the first antennal jomt is hardly as

long as the head, slightly curved, and increasing in thickness

towards the tip; the second joint is very small and rounded,

the rest are subequal, filiform ; the tooth of the mentum is very

Mr. J. Miers on a new species of Lardizabala. 183

large, almost equalling the lobes, entire, and deeply grooved at

the apex; the maxillary palpi are porrected ; the second joint is

as long as the two following together; the fourth, in both the

maxillary and labial ones, is triangular or slightly securiform,

being obliquely truncated at the tip; the thorax is elongated

cordiform, truncated at the base; the back is elevated, divided

down the middle by an impression ; the commencement of the

elevation forms two knobs at the base; the first tarsal joint is

as long as the three following together.

[To be continued. ]

ose ee ee ee, ee

XIX.—On a new species of Lardizabala, and on the Structure of

the Seed in that genus. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e.

Tue structure and affinities of the genera of the Lardizabalacee

were scarcely known before the publication of the excellent

monograph of M. Decaisne above twenty years ago, when the

family was first established. Since that time little has been

added to our knowledge of the order, except the interesting

remarks of the authors of the ‘ Flora Indica,’ who have described

the Asiatic species, and have added a new and remarkable genus,

which they have gracefully dedicated to the very eminent bota-

nist before mentioned, the type being the Decaisnea insignis, a

native of the Himalayas. M. Decaisne considered the family to

be intermediate between Schizandracee and Berberidacee 3 and

Prof. Lindley indicated its nearer affinity with the Menispermacee,

at the head of which order it had long previously been placed as

a distinct tribe by DeCandolle (Lardizabalea, Prodr. i. 95). in

my memoir upon the Winteracee I have pointed out the inti-

mate relationship existing between those two families.

It has been generally understood that the numerous ovules

in the ovaries of the Lardizabalacee are scattered indiscriminately

over the whole internal surface of the cell; but Drs. Hooker

and Thomson show that in Decaisnea the ovules are confined to

two regular lines of placentation, which they notice as an excep-

tional case, contrary to the condition which has been considered

the chief characteristic of the order. In Lardizabala, a genus

belonging exclusively to Chile, I have found that the ovules, in

a similar manner, originate in six distinct parallel parietal pla-

centz, running from the base to the apex; and in the fruit, the

seeds are likewise arranged in as many parietal lines. The

distinguished botanists just mentioned also state that in Decaisnea

the ripe fruit is filled with a cellular pulp, which is developed

from the whole surface of the growing wall of the pericarp, thus

forming a complete homogeneous mass, without leaving any

13*

184 Mr. J. Miers on a new species of Lardizabala,

cavity; and although this pulp firmly embraces the seeds, they

observed no real adhesion except at the hilum, where there is a

broad organic attachment between it and the external tunic:

vessels originating from all parts of the surface of the pericarp

ramify through the pulp, but do not meet in the axis of the

fruit. A very similar development exists in Lardizabala, where

the internal space of the fruit is filled with an edible gelatinous

pulp: as the fruit dries, this pulp contracts imto a pellicular

covering that closely invests the black external tunic of the seeds,

and within the substance of which numerous spiral vessels are

distributed. It appears to me that this pulp is a secretion

originating from the funicular point of attachment of each seed

to the placenta, rather than an emanation from the entire

surface of the cell; for round the hilar foramen in the seed of

Lardizabala there exists a light-coloured annular cicatrix, which

probably indicates the organic point of connexion of the puipy

envelope with that part of the external tunic, as described in

the manner above-mentioned in Decaisnea, and which also forms

the point of its junction with the placenta; for it will be shown

that within a cavity of the external tunic there exists an expan-

sion of the funicular mass, which evidently maintains that con-

nexion through the hilar foramen before alluded to.

There are some peculiarities in the structure of the seed in

Lardizabala that are worthy of attention. The seeds are ovoid,

unequally gibbous, always more or less compressed, somewhat

angular by the force of mutual pressure, and straighter upon

the face next to the pericarp. The hilum, situated below the

middle upon this face, consists of a rather small and somewhat

oval aperture, which is filled with a fungous substance that be-

comes fleshy when moistened, and which is continuous with

a mass of similar substance fillmg a large cavity within the

tunic. This outer tunic, usually considered as the testa, 1s

dark-coloured, thin, and somewhat chartaceous; and within it

is found an inner coating consisting of two distinet adherent

integuments. The albumen forming the enclosed nucleus is

somewhat corneous, with a large hollow chamber on the side

next the hilum; the two integuments last mentioned closely

invest the inner surface of this chamber, as well as the ex-

ternal face of the albumen, but the outer shell is im no way

inflected into the cavity. If we cut through a seed longitu-

dinally across the line of the hilum, the albumen in this sec-

tion appears of a gibbously hippocrepical form, with a large

ovoid hollow space towards the centre; the two extremities of

this horse-shoe are widely apart, the space in the form of a broad

plate being filled with the fungous mass before mentioned. If

we now cut through another seed in a transverse direction across

and on the Structure of the Seed in that genus. 185

the hilum, we find the hollow space deep and narrow, the albu-

men appearing in the shape of a more compressed horse-shoe,

of which the crura are parallel; and in the vacuity is seen the

same fungous substance in the form of a flattened plate, between

which and the integuments lining the cavity there exists a very

narrow space, showing that it is quite free from them in all

parts, except at the periphery of the flattened plate, where it is

attached to them by means of a very distinct cord or raphe filled

with numerous spiral vessels. This raphe is observed both in

the vertical and transverse sections, where it forms a broad

hollow tube partaking of the nearly circular shape of the cavity,

the inner surface of the tube being lined with a close web of

white spiral vessels ; it is seen to originate at one of its extremi-

ties in the hilar foramen of the outer tunic, and after making

nearly an entire circuit, it returns close to its starting-point,

where it disappears in the chalaza of the ner integument, over

the nidular place of the embryo. The embryo is very small, and

is best seen in the longitudinal section, where it is found im-

bedded in the albumen in the extremity of the lower leg of the

horse-shoe, or that nearest the hilar foramen of the outer tunic:

it lies somewhat obliquely, with its radicle pointing outwards to

a small external prominence of the albumen, and with the coty-

ledons directed towards the centre of the seed: the radicle is

terete, short, obtuse, and of the length and breadth of the coty-

ledons, which are pointed and much compressed, its whole length

being twice its own diameter, and about 5th of the total length

of the seed.

On examining this evidence, we readily discern the nature of

these several parts: the inference that the outer tunic, which

has hitherto been denominated the testa, is of extraneous origin,

and therefore of the nature of an arillus, is supported by four

reasons :—1. Because it is not likely that the fungous plate, or

large funicular expansion found within the cavity of the seed,

could have found its way from the exterior into the hollow space

through the small hilar foramen of the outer coating; on the

contrary, it is more reasonable to conclude that this outer tunic

must have been a subsequent formation after the ovule had

become convoluted round that excentrically expanded support.

2. Because, had this tunic been the testa, that is to say, a simple

development of the primine of the ovule, it would have exhibited

some trace of its organic connexion with the other integuments,

especially about the region of the chalaza, and would have par-

taken of the same form, and have been drawn along with them into

the cavity. 3. Because this outer tunic is not only completely

free from all contact with the raphe, but is far remote from and

exterior to it, and therefore it must necessarily have been of a

186 Mr. J. Miers on a new species of Vardizabala,

growth posterior to the curvature of the ovule. 4. Because the

integument resulting from the growth of the primine is indicated

beyond all doubt by the presence of the cord of the raphe within

its substance: it is the more fleshy and exterior of the two

integuments which immediately invest the albumen, follow-

ing it in its excentric curvature, and adhering along the

Ime of the raphe to the peripherical margin of the funicular

plate. It would certainly be very incorrect to call this fleshy

coating a ¢esta: indeed it was for a similar reason that I pro-

posed for the analogous coating in Clusia and Magnolia the

term “arilline,” in order to distinguish it from another more

internal testaceous tunic, which is destitute of vessels of any kind.

In fine, any one who will take the trouble to reflect on the con-

secutive changes that must take place in the development of the

seed, and will k keep his attention fixed upon the continuity and

movement of the coats of the ovule during their excentrice deve-

lopment and subsequent growth, must perceive how absolutely

impossible it is that the external shell, cireumstanced as we find

it in this instance, can have derived its origin from the mere

imcrement of the primine.

If we examine this external shell, we find it to be a thin,

black, chartaceous or coriaceous entire crust, easily separable

from the rest of the seed, owing to the deposition between it

and the proper seminal integuments of a quantity of loose cel-

lular tissue, mixed with coloured glands, which adhere to one

as well as the other, and give to both a furfuraceous appearance.

The coating which immediately invests the entire surface of the

albumen in all its curvatures is composed of two distinct tunics,

which, though adhering together, are separable. The outer one

is soft, opake, and somewhat fleshy, containing numerous di-

stinct cells, apparently filled with oily matter ; it is much thicker

around the region of the large hollow raphe: the imner mntegu-

ment is thin and membranaceous, and closely invests the albu-

men: both are also thickened around the chalazal point, which

is situated in the lower part of the cavity near the site of the

embryo.

It is said that in some of the Lardizabalacee (Akebia and

Allbellia) the ovules and seeds are partly imbedded in the fleshy

walls of the pericarp ; but in Lardizabala the reverse of this takes

place; for here there is a protrusion of a part of the placenta, form-

ing an expanded funicular support, about which the ovule bends

itself, and becomes peltately convex around it,—the whole, as I

have above shown, becoming subsequently enveloped by a com-

plete arillus emanating probably from a growth of the placenta,

or of its funicular extension. A metamorphosis of an analogous

kind, that is to say, an excentrie replicature of the ovule round

and on the Structure of the Seed in that genus. 187

its funicular support, occurs in the seeds of the tribes Hetero-

cliniee and Anomospermee of the Menispermacee, only that in

these cases there is no extraneous growth of any enveloping aril-

leeform tunic, such as we find in Lardizabala : in the former cases,

where the carpels are always unilocular and uniovular, and where

the growth of the pericarp is constantly upon its dorsal face,

while that of the ventral face is more or less stationary, it is

easy to conceive how the ovule in its growth partakes of a similar

kind of increment, and becomes moulded round the stationary

fulcrum of its placentary attachment. But in Lardizabala, where

the ovaries are multiovular, the partial protrusion of the placenta

is not accompanied by an expansion of the walls of the pericarp.

Something more analogous, however, occurs in the Myrsinacee,

where the ovules often become moulded round the globular free

placenta, and an arillus, im the shape of an inflated entire

membranaceous sac, generated from the root of the placenta,

encloses the seed together with its support *.

There is, however, a close analogy in the structure of the

seed of Lardizabala with that of the Winteracee and Canellacea,

if we except the circumstance of the deep cavity in the albumen,

which does not occur in the two latter families. We find in all

these cases a correlative, peculiar outer crustaceous shell; in the

next place we see the same corresponding intervening layers of

loosely aggregated oleiferous cells; then a similar fleshy tunic

enclosing the cord of the raphe, and a still inner integument

investing the albumen,—all bearing a striking analogy to the

structure I have described in J/licium+. This structure shows

the very close affinity that exists between the families last men-

tioned and the Lardizabalacee ; and in discussing the question

of these affinities with other orders of the Polycarpice, I have

already suggested the place that the Lardizabalacee should

occupy, relatively to them, in the systemf.

Ruiz and Pavon, who founded the genus Lardizabala, men-

tion (Syst. i. 286) two species, both natives of Chile, the one

with biternate oblong leaflets unequal at their base, the other

with triternate ovate leaflets. DeCandolle (Syst. i. 512) am-

plified these brief characters by fuller details founded on his

observation of dried specimens, adding at the same time the

feature of the peculiar petiolar leaflets, which he termed bracts,

and which he described as being round and cordate in the former

case, and oblong in the other: he observed respecting the latter,

that he found the leaves always biternate, as in the other species,

not triternate, as mentioned by Ruiz and Pavon. L. 3-ternata

* | will at some future time describe the observations I have made on

this singular structure.

T Ante, p. 112. t Ante, p. 36.

188 Mr. J. Miers on a new species of Lardizabala,

was subsequently figured in Delessert’s ‘ Icones,’ i. 24. tab. 91,

where the leaves are all divided biternately, and the leaflets are

represented sometimes inequilateral at base, or partially lobed

and mucronate, more or less regularly oblong or ovate, and sub-

obtuse or acute. We find, moreover, in the same specimen the

petiolar leaflets either cordate or rounded at base, orbicular or

ovate, entire or denticulated. I cannot, therefore, perceive any

permanent characters corresponding with the two species above-

mentioned, and certainly all the specimens I have seen are

referable to one species. From the marked manner in which

some of the leaflets in L. biternata are lobed, it is not unreasonable

to suppose that the leaflets may sometimes become further sub-

divided; but that must be considered as a very exceptional fea-

ture. The specimens grown in this country, from which Sir

Wm. Hooker made his drawing in Bot. Mag. tab. 4500, bear a

rather different aspect, with the leaves somewhat modified in

form and texture, from those of native specimens ; but that pro-

bably is the result of garden cultivation. The plant there

described was brought from Concepcion, where it is stated to

grow abundantly, and is no doubt identical with the specimens

in our herbaria collected in the same neighbourhood.

The small leaflets at the base of the petiole have always been

considered as bracts, but they appear to me to partake more of

the character of stipulary leaves, for the followimg reasons :—

The peduncle, both of the male and female inflorescence, springs

out of the middle of a bud-like verticil of small, erect, squama-

ceous, hairy bracts, similar in size and shape to those found at

the base of the pedicels; this cluster of bracts grows out of the

middle of a conspicuous gland-like prominence, seated on the

stem, a little above the petiole; and it is from the margin of

this prominence that these leaflets emanate: this difference in

the place of their origin shows that they should be considered

as stipules rather than bracts. They occur both in the floriferous

and barren axils, and therefore appear to have nothing to do

with the inflorescence; the real bracts are always hairy, while

these leaflets are smooth and veined, with a texture exactly re-

sembling that of the leaves. I have occasionally seen a verticil

of three of these leaflets at the base of a petiole.

During my residence at Concon, about twenty miles from

Valparaiso, now thirty-five years ago, I found growing in its

neighbourhood a species of Lardizabala in flower and in fruit,

specimens of which I still possess. Concluding it to be a plant

well known and described, I did not then bestow any particular

attention upon it; and it was only by comparison with other

specimens in different herbaria, after my return to England

above twenty years afterwards, that I found it to differ essen-

and on the Structure of the Seed in that genus. 189

tially from L. diternata. I do not remember to have seen the

male flower, at least I have no fragment or note of it: the

flowers in my specimen are female, with sterile stamens, and

they appear to me larger than in the other species. In the

ordinary species the leaves, as before stated, are always biter-

nate, or ternarily divided into nine leaflets, the lateral ones

being mequilateral and sessile, generally very glabrous and

polished ; all the leaflets are more or less acuminated at base,

and often at their summit, are at least twice as long as broad,

triplerved, the lateral nervures springing at some distance

from the petiole, are thicker in texture, opake and somewhat

coriaceous, while the primary and secondary petioles are longer

in proportion. On the other hand, in my plant the leaves are

simply trifoliate or divided into only three leaflets, as in Boquila ;

the leaflets are much larger im size, nearly as broad as long,

conspicuously cordate and broadly truncated at base and obtuse

at their summit, with a terminal mucro; they are all equila-

teral, quintuplinerved, the nervures originating at the base ; they

are very reticulated, much thinner in texture, more transparent,

aud are deeply sinuated on the margin, the nervures in each

salient angle (of which there are six or eight on each side) ter-

minating in a long cuspidate excurrent point: the lateral leaflets

are both petiolulated ; the main petiole and three petiolets are

comparatively shorter, and they, as well as the nerves and veins

beneath, are all pubescent. In another specimen gathered at

the same spot, and accompanying the fruit, the leaves are much

smaller, also simply 3-foliate, the leaflets being more regularly

obovate, slightly cordate, very opake, coriaceous, quite smooth,

with thickened mar gins, which are almost entire or finely crenu-

lated ; in other respects it corresponds with the above-mentioned

specimen, and is evidently taken from the end of a branch, as

its stem is thin and very twining.

In L. biternata the stipulary leaves are large, orbicular, and

sessile; in my plant only one remains, which is very small,

linear, and attenuated at its base. The fruit is similar in size

and shape to that of L. diternata, as figured in the Prodromus

of the ‘ Flora Peruviana.’ The plant I have described is known

at Concon as the Coguil, being the same name as that given in

Concepcion and the southern provinces of Chile to the plant of

Ruiz and Pavon. ‘Coguil’ is properly the name of its edible

fruit, ‘Coguil-boqui’ that of the plant, the word ‘ boqui’ being

applied alike to all scandent shrubs: the names attributed to it

of ‘ Aguilboquil’ and ‘ Guilboquil’? by Dombey and La Perouse

are certainly typical errors. In most botanical works, L. tri-

ternata is said to be a native of Peru, at Arauco; but this is a

mistake common to most of the specimens collected in Chile by

190 Mr. J. Miers on a new species of Lardizabala,

Dombey. Arauco is a province bordering on that of Concepcion,

and separated from it by the river Biobio.

The following is offered as an amended character of the

genus :—

LarpizaBALa, R. & P.—Flores polygamo-dioici. Mase. Se-

pala 6, alternatim biseriata, carnosula, exteriora ovata, zsti-

vatione valvata, interiora angustiora, spathulata, acuminata.

Petala 6, biseriata, oblongo- vel lmeari-lanceolata, acutiuscula,

exteriora paullo latiora. Stamina 6; filamenta in tubum

monadelphum coalita ; anthere extrorse, adnate, 2-loculares,

connectivo breviter apiculate. Ovaria 3, rudimentaria, plus

minusyve attenuata. Fem. Sepala 6, biseriata, crassiuscula,

campanulatim expansa, exteriora oblonga, versus basin at-

tenuata, concava, interiora alternantia angustiora, imo spathu-

lata. Petala 6, sepalis triplo breviora, biseriatim alterna,

lineari-lanceolata, utrimque attenuata. Stamina 6, libera,

hypogyna, eynophoro brevi inserta, petalis dimidio breviora ;

filamenta teretiuscula; anthere eorundem longitudine ob-

longee, 2-loculares, connectivo apiculate, effeetee. Ovaria 3*,

teretia, ¢c cylindrica, medio extus gibbosa, unilocularia: ovula

numerosissima, ad placentas 6 longitudinaliter, parietales pro-

minentes horizontaliter affixa, campylotropa. Stylus brevis,

obtusus, ovario continuus. Stigma sessile, glandulosum.

Bacce 3, majuscule, cylindric, torulose, stylo apiculate,

polysperme. Semina subovata, gibba, compressa, fusca, im

pulpam mucilagineam nidulantia, Ai/o mfra medium margi-

nali, parvulo, foramine pertuso: tunica externa testacea, fra-

erilis ; integumenta propria dupla, subadherentia (exteriori

subcarnoso raphigeri, interiori submembranaceo), albumen

profundissime excavatum arcte vestientia, et circum podo-

spermium magnum internum fungosum compresso-ovatum

raphide tubuloso annulari Giultdaa configurata: albumen

huic modo hippocrepice et profunde excavatum, acetabuli-

forme, magnum, carnosum: embryo marginem versus infe-

riorem acetabuli oblique inclusus, parvus, subteres, radicula

cylindrica, infera, cotyledonibus compressis centripetis zqui-

longa et eequilata.

Frutiees Chilenses scandentes, foliis alternis, ternatis vel biter-

natis, petiolatis, foliolis integris, vel sinuato- dentatis, coriaceis,

nitidis, ¢ glabris, vel parce pubescentibus, petiolo refracto, imo

stipulis foliaceis, sepe rotundatis et majusculis donato ; pedun-

culo glabro e gemma squamiformi axillart orto, in masculis

plurifloro, floribus breviter pedicellatis, racemosis, bracteolatis,

* Interdum 6 secundum DeCandolle, Syst. 1. 512, sed dubia.

and on the Structure of the Seed in that genus. 19]

bracteolis acutis, ciliolatis ; in femineis unifloro, flore majort

ebracteato ; floribus omnibus purpureis.

1. Lardizabala biternata, R. & P. LL. triternata, R. & P. Prodr.

Fil. Peruv. 143. tab. 37 ; Syst. i. 286; DC. Syst. 1.512; Prodr.

1.95 ; Delessert, Icones, i. tab. 91 ; Decaisne, Archiv. Mus.i. 187.

tab. 11; Hooker, Bot. Mag. tab. 4501.—Chile (Concepcion et

Quillota).

2. Lardizabala sylvicola, nov. sp. 2 ;—ramulis volubilibus, striatis,

glabris ; foliis 3-foliolatis, foliolis basi zequalibus, ample ovatis,

late truncatis et subcordatis, obtusis, submembranaceis, mar-

gine cartilagineo, hinc inzequaliter sinuatis, angulis cuspidatis,

5-nervus, valde reticulatis, omnibus petiolulatis, petiolulis

lateralibus petiolo subzquilongis, intermedio 2-plo longiori,

omnibus summo et imo incrassatis nervisque pilosulis, petiolo

e basi subito refracto; stipulis axillaribus parvis, lineari-

spathulatis, glabris, venosis, mucronato - denticulatis ; foliis

terminalibus multo minoribus, glaberrimis, coriaceis, fere in-

tegris, margine cartilagineo crenulatis; floribus speciosis,

violaceis, axillaribus, solitariis, pedunculo elongato, summo

incrassato, e fasciculo bractearum orto, et paullo supra basin

bractea unica donato, bracteis parvulis, acutis, margine ciliatis ;

sepalis amplis in campanulam dispositis; fructibus magnis,

toruloso-cylindricis, edulibus.—Chile (apud Concon).

I found this plant at Concon, midway between Valparaiso and

Quillota, in a wood that surrounds a small valley well sheltered

by hills, called “ Potrero del Peral.””? The short portion of the

stem of the branchlet in my specimen is of the thickness of a

goose-quill, somewhat flattened, and probably of a first year’s

growth, as it has a pithy medulla; the petiole, suddenly re-

fracted backwards, is about 9 lines long, and much thickened

at its base; the two lateral petiolets are 7 lines long, while the

intermediate one measures 18 lines ; the terminal leaflet is

3 inches long, and 3 inches wide at its broadest part, whence it

is somewhat narrower towards the summit, which is round and

emarginated, with a mucronate point; the lateral leaflets are

2% inches long and 2} inches broad; the stipules are minute,

compared with those of the other species, and instead of beng

orbicular, cordate, and sessile, are linear and tapering to a small

point at base ; they are 3 lines long, barely a line broad, strongly

reticulated, with a mucronately dentate border. The peduncle

is 1} inch long, somewhat slender below, and thickened towards

its summit ; about half an inch above its base it has a small,

single, acute bract, which has ciliated margins, and it bears at

its base a fascicle of similar bracts which rises out of a warty

192 Mr. P.H. Gosse on some new British Sea-Anemones.

prominence situated just above the petiole, and it is upon the

margin of this prominence that the stipules originate. The

flower is expanded into a broad bell, with a reflected margin,

which is 1 to 14 inch in diameter; the three outer sepals are

10 lines long and 5 lines broad, somewhat obtuse at their sum-

mit, and narrower toward the base; the three inner sepals are

9 lines long, 3 lines broad, more acute at the summit, and still

narrower at base. The six petals are shorter, almost linear,

obtusely acuminate at the summit, attenuated at the base, and

nearly equal in size, 5 lines long and | line broad in the widest

part; the stamens are 3 lines long, the filaments being slender

below, swelling above into a thick, fleshy, fusiform connective,

in which the two sterile anther-cells are extrorsely imbedded,

the connective terminating in a curved excurrent pomt. The

three ovaries are 7 lines long, 14 line in diameter, 1-locular,

with six projecting parietal parallel placentz, each bearing a

number of minute, almost peltate ovules, supported upon a short

prominent funicle, with a horizontal or sub-ascending direction.

The fruit is cylindrical, torulose, six-grooved, apiculated by the

persistent style, 12 inch long, | inch in diameter; the peri-

carp is thin and coriaceous, extremely friable and of granular

texture when dry ; it is unilocular, and filled with a mucilaginous

pulp, of a pleasant, sweet, and subacid taste, which dries into a

thin epidermis that invests the seeds, and leaves a vacuity nm the

centre, without the vestige of any division. This is contrary to

the statement of Ruiz and Pavon and other authors, who de-

scribe the fruit of L. biternata as bemg 6- or 8-locular. The

seeds are very numerous, ovate, somewhat compressed, often

subangular by mutual pressure, and are attached to the wall of

the pericarp in a somewhat horizontal position by a small hilum ;

they are arranged in six very distinct series; they are about

5 lines long, 4 lines broad from the hilum to the more convex

side, and 3 lines broad in the other transverse direction. Their

structure has been already fully described*.

XX.—Characters and Descriptions of some new British Sea-

Anemones. By Puture H. Gossn, F.R.S.

Fam. Sagartiade.

Genus Puevuia (mihi).

Column pillar-like in expansion ; margin tentaculate, without

parapet or fosse. Surface smooth, pierced with loop-holes, partly

* A drawing of this species, with full details of the structure of its

flower and seeds, is given in the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ plate 28.

Mr. P. H. Gosse on some new British Sea- Anemones. 193

clothed with a tough epidermis, rough externally, firmly adherent

to the skin. Name from ¢eAXos, the cork-tree ; also its bark.

Sp. 1. Phellia murocincta (mihi). Epidermis free and tube-

like at the upper part; its surface not warted.

General Description.—F orm. Base adherent to rocks, slightly

exceeding column.

Column cylindrical, pillar-like when expanded, slightly grooved

longitudinally, smooth, but partly clothed with a dense, rough,

membranous skin, which is firmly adherent from the base about

halfway up, but there becomes free, forming a loose firm sheath

or tube, from which the animal protrudes its fore parts in exten-

sion, and into which it retires, at will, more or less completely.

Surface of epidermis rough, but not warted. Height, in full

extension, double the diameter.

Disk a deep cup, bounded by the thick feet of the inner

tentacles.

Tentacles twenty-four, in two rows, twelve in each; those of

the first row twice as large as the others, with which they alter-

nate: variable in form, sometimes strongly conical, stout at the

foot, and pointed; at other times nearly cylindrical and obtuse :

they have a tendency to assume a knotted appearance : they are

generally carried hanging over the margin with a double curve,

hike the branches of a chandelier; but sometimes those of the

inner row stand erect.

Mouth not raised on a cone.

Acontia (not observed).

Corour. Column: exposed portion having a mealy appear-

ance produced by a number of whitish longitudinal lines and

dashes, more or less speckled and interrupted by the ground-

colour, which is pellucid yellowish grey. Of these lines, twelve

are broader, and between these are about four slender lines in

each interspace. The margin becomes deep buff, producing a

depression of that hue, when in the button-state.

Epidermis pale buff, studded with dirty foreign matters.

Disk dull buff, marked with a white star, which is formed by

a forked line proceeding from the front of each primary tentacle

towards the mouth. A broad white gonidial band on each side.

Tentacles dark brown, pellucid, crossed by three narrow remote

rings of white. Where the foot of the tentacle unites with the

disk, its radius has a white patch, succeeded by two parallel,

longitudinal, black dashes.

Mouth rich buff.

Size. Diameter of column one-eighth of an inch; height

one-sixth ; expanse of flower one-sixth.

Locauity. Overhanging rocks and sides of caverns near low-

water mark, around Torquay.

194 Mr. P. H. Gosse on some new British Sea- Anemones.

Specrric NAME. From the manner in which the edge of the

epidermis encircles the summit of the animal when contracted,

as if protected by a wall.

Sp. 2. Phellia gausapata (mihi). Epidermis firmly adherent

throughout ; warted.

General Description.—F¥orm. (My observations on this spe-

cies are as yet very imperfect, and insufficient for a proper dia-

gnosis ; my specimen having never expanded since it came into

my possession, I have never seen its disk or tentacles.) Surface

of column smooth, but by contraction becoming coarsely corru-

gated, so as to present large irregularly rounded knobs or warts.

To this the epidermis is firmly adherent throughout, having no

free margin ; and being modelled on it, it is covered with coarse

warts or bosses.

Acontia protruded from basal region of column, on irritation.

Cotour. Yellowish brown.

Size. Diameter of column half an inch; height three-fourths.

Locatiry. A rock on the coast of Caithness, whence it was

obtained and sent to me by Mr. C. W. Peach.

SPECIFIC NAME. From the gausape, or rough frieze coat, which

the Roman soldiers wore in cold weather.

Fam. Bunodide.

Genus BuNODEs.

Sp. 3. Bunodes coronata (mihi). Warts in lines, and irregu-

larly scattered, subequal, small: body scarlet.

General Description.—Form. Base adherent to shells, scarcely

exceeding column: its outline often irregularly lobulate.

Column cylindrical in expansion, much higher than wide:

covered on the upper two-thirds with moderately numerous small

warts, neither perforate nor excavate ; they are arranged in twelve

longitudinal rows, with irregularly scattered ones between. Skin

between the warts smooth, and when distended having a satiny

lustre. Whole column invested with a thin drab epidermis,

deciduous in ragged shreds, but adhering pretty firmly. A

distinct parapet, with a smooth sharp edge, but no appreciable

fosse.

Disk circular, flat, but often protruded so as to be convex, or

to form a low cone; radii distinct.

Tentacles in four rows, of which the first contains 12; the

second, 12; the third, 24; the fourth, 48; =96. They are

submarginal, the first row springing at about three-quarter

radius; they are shorter than radius, diminishing outwardly,

conical, subacute.

Mr. P. H. Gosse on some new British Sea-Anemones. 195

Mouth large, protrusile: lip sharp: throat evertile, coarsely

furrowed.

Cotovr. Column a rich orange, or orange-scarlet, with the

warts either paler or darker than the ground-colour. Edge of

parapet cream-white, immediately below which the margin is

marked alternately with square patches of dark purplish choco-

late, and narrower spaces of whitish (twelve marks of each

colour in adults, six of each in young); these, from the fine

contrasts of colour, when the button is not quite closed, have

a very striking and characteristic effect, as if the animal were

surmounted by an elegant coronet. Hence I have selected the

nomen triviale.

Disk red, varying from pellucid scarlet to a reddish chocolate ;

each radius bearing a longitudinal central streak of white, which

does not reach either tentacle or lip, and bounded by a very fine

white line on each side; thus is produced a pattern of fine

radiating lines of white on red. Sometimes the lines are irre-

gularly blotched and dilated, with ragged edges.

Tentacles pellucid, nearly colourless, crossed by three dim

subopake white bars, of which the middle one is most distinct ;

near the base are two chocolate bars, generally divided by a

central longitudinal line of pellucid white, giving the appearance

of four dark spots set in square. Sometimes one bar is nearly

or quite obliterated.

Lip whitish. Throat rich orange-scarlet ; the furrows darker

than the ridges.

Sizz. Diameter of column in button, one and a quarter inch ;

height two inches; expanse of flower one inch.

Locatiry. Off Berry Head, Devon; im twenty fathoms.

Several specimens dredged, adhering to the shells of living

Turritella terebra.

A very fine and showy species.

Fam. Tlyanthide.

Genus HAaLcAamPA.

Sp. 4. Haleampa microps (mihi). Tentacles papillary, without

markings.

General Description—Form. Column cylindrical ; 8-invected,

the tegumental imsertions of the septa being the boundaries of

the swellings; hinder extremity inflatable, protrusile, adhesive :

skin minutely granular, enveloped in a thin mucus which entan-

gles foreign matters; ordinarily covered with minute, close-set,

transverse wrinkles. ;

Disk the rounded anterior extremity of the column, around

196 Mr. T.V. Wollaston on a Coleopterous Insect from the Canaries.

which the tentacles are planted in two contiguous circles (though

those of each row are remote inter se). Sometimes this rounded

form is not observed, and then the disk is flat.

Tentacles in two rows; the first of eight, about ‘014 inch

long, and ‘0045 inch in medium diameter; the second also of

eight, marginal, remote, alternate with the former, papilliform,

their length not exceeding their diameter, or ‘005 inch. When

expanded, those of the first row either stand erect, or arch

slightly outward: their movements are rather sudden; their

form quite cylindrical, with round ends; their walls thick, appa-

rently imperforate ; a few cnidz scattered in their substance.

Mouth elevated on a small abrupt papilla.

Coxour. Pellucid yellowish white, positive in the ratio of

opacity of the parts; without markings.

Size. Column when moderately extended about ‘025 inch in

diameter, to a point about halfway down its length; diameter of

posterior inflation at the same time, ‘065 inch. Total length

in this condition *8 inch. The smallest Anemone known.

Locauity and Hasrrs. I found it in much eroded limestone

from a cavern at Oddicombe, Devon, associated with Edwardsia

carnea, i June 1858. Having chiselled off many fragments of

the rock, I put them into glass jars of sea-water; and in a day

or two found Halcampa microps crawling up the side of the jar,

adhering by its inflated skin. In the course of a day or two

more, another and another appeared, until five or six had come

under my notice, most of them adhering to the glass. They

were active and locomotive, moving along the surface with ease

and comparative quickness (at least ten times their length in a

night), adhering by any part of the hinder moiety of the column.

Very frequently they threw the anterior portion suddenly round,

like an irritated caterpillar ; and almost continually constrictions

were passing down in succession from head to tail.

SPECIFIC NAME. From xpos, small, and dy, the face.

XXI.—Description of a Coleopterous Insect from the Canary

Islands. By T. Vernon Wo xtaston, M.A., F.L.S.

Fam. ELATERIDA.

Genus Corrosretuus ?, Woll.

Coptostethus ? canariensis.

C. elongato-oblongus nigro-brunneus dense cinereo-villosus, pro-

thorace magno valde convexo subtilissime et densissime punctu-

lato, in medio lato necnon ad latera rotundato, elytris profunde

M. Coste on the Habits of some Marine Animals. 197

crenato-striatis, plus minus (preesertim circa humeros) dilutioribus,

antennis, palpis pedibusque testaceis.

Variat immaturus colore fere testaceo.

Long. corp. lin. 2}~32,

Habitat in insulis Canariensibus sub pedibus truncisque arborum

prolapsis, hine inde haud infrequens.

C. elongate-oblong, blackish brown (when immature, pale),

and more or less densely clothed with a cinereous pile. Pro-

thorax most closely and minutely punctulated all over; very

large ; exceedingly convex on the disk ; widest about the middle,

and with the sides regularly rounded; with the hinder angles

produced and acuminated ; and with the extreme front margin

more or less rufescent. Hlytra more or less diluted in colouring,

—especially about the shoulders, which are sometimes almost

rufescent ; rounded at the sides (being widest about the middle) ;

and regularly and deeply crenate-striated. Antenne, palpi and

legs testaceous.

The present beetle I conceive to be identical generically with

the Porto-Santan Coptostethus femoratus (Ins. Mad. 240. tab. iy.

f. 8); and it is the only member of the Elateride which I have

been able to detect during a six months’ research in the Canary

Islands. It differs slightly, however, even in its structural cha-

racters, from that insect, and it is just possible therefore that

it may prove eventually to be the type of a separate, though

closely allied, genus; but I defer the consideration of its affini-

ties until a future opportunity (when I shall have had leisure

for dissecting the parts of its mouth), contenting myself now

with simply securing the species, which I believe to be unques-

tionably new. Should it prove to be a true Coptostethus, it will

be of the greatest interest geographically, as establishing a

powerful connecting link (like many others hereafter to be no-

ticed) between the Madeiran and Canarian groups; for whilst

the C. femoratus is the only representative of the Elateride

which I have hitherto observed in the former, the present insect

(which has precisely similar habits) would seem, singularly

enough, to be the sole exponent of that immense family in the

seven large islands of the latter.

XXII.—On the Habits and Reproduction of some Marine Animals.

By M. Costr*,

By the generosity of the Emperor, and the kindness of the

Minister of Public Works, I have been enabled to place the

pilot Guillou in a position to organize, in the shed which covers

* Translated from the ‘Comptes Rendus,’ July 12, 1858, p. 45.

Ann. & Mag, N, Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 14

198 M. Coste on the Habits of some Marine Animals.

his lobster reservoirs on the Quay of Concarneau, an observa-

tory, if I may be allowed to use the expression, for the investi-

gation of the living products of the sea,—an observatory i

which each species may be enclosed in a distinct cell, like the

domestic animals nourished in the stalls of our stables.

A pump raises sea-water to the roof of this establishment, and

accumulates it in a basin of supply, from which it falls in a con-

tinuous cascade in artificial channels, of 50 centimetres in width,

arranged in gradations upon four stages, resembling, on a large

scale, the hatching apparatus of the College of France. They

are applied against the surrounding wall of the shed, and sup-

ported upon it by frameworks, occupying altogether a length of

about 80 metres, over the lobster vivaria.

These artificial brooks, constructed of strong planks coated

internally with a layer of Roman cement, are divided into ninety-

five cells by partitions furnished with evatings, which afford a

free passage to the current, without allowing the imprisoned

species to communicate with each other. The greater part of

the species thus separated in these compartments receive their

nourishment like the terrestrial animals in our gardens of

acclimatation, and thrive under this treatment as well as if

they were in full liberty. They propagate there, and exhibit

all the marvels of their instincts. We may watch their copu-

lation, the deposition of their eggs, the development of their

embryos, and all their metamorphoses, with as much facility as

in the case of domestic animals ; so that in a laboratory of this

kind most of the animals inhabiting the sea might pass by turns

under the eyes of the naturalist who is engaged in studying the

laws of their organization, and reveal its mysteries to him.

Natural history, as understood by Réaumur, Huber, and

Buffon, will find in this investigation, made in the midst of new

conditions, inexhaustible subjects for pictures; and comparative

embryogeny will extend its domain into regions from which it

appeared to be interdicted.

Whilst waiting until my assistant, M. Gerbe, has executed

the numerous plates belonging to our first investigations, and

until I can present in his name a great work, completed under

my directions, upon the metamorphoses of the Crustacea, the

Academy will allow me to inform it of some of the results of our

observations. I shall refer, in the first place, to the habits and

the domestication of a dozen species of marine fishes, the imves-

tigation of which has enabled us to prove the accuracy of the

acts related by the historians of antiquity.

Amongst the species isolated and fed in the cells of the esta-

blishment, some, such as the Old Wife (Labrus bergylta, Asc.),

the Fifteen-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus Spinachia, Linn.),

M. Coste on the Habits of some Marine Animals. 199

the Spotted Gunnell (Gunnellus vulgaris, Cuy. & Val.), the Grey

Mullet (Mugil Cephalus, Linn.), and the Five-bearded Rock-Ling

(Gadus Mustela, Linn.), come up to the surface of the water

when we approach to give them something to eat, follow the

movements which we make around them, allow themselves to

be conducted towards any points to which it is desired to attract

them, solicit their prey in the same way as tamed birds, and even

come to seek it in the hand. The Rock-Lings are so familiar,

that they may actually be captured, taken out of the water, re-

placed and recaptured, without attempting to make their escape.

~ The Gobies (Gobius niger, Linn., and Gobius minutus, Penn.)

and the Sea-Scorpion (Cottus Scorpius, Cuv. & Val.), although not

so familiar as those just mentioned, are nevertheless very atten-

tive to all that takes place around them, and also come to take.

their food from the hand when it is presented to them.

The Turbot (Rhombus mazimus, Cuv.), which from its phy-

siognomy would be supposed destitute of expression, becomes

animated nevertheless at the sight of the bait which is held out

to him, and comes, agitating his broad fins, to take it from the

hand; and when he is pressed by hunger, he will even float on

the surface until his desires are satisfied, if he be made to wait.

He swims with ease, and changes colour when he is irritated.

The spots which are scattered over his body become paler and

browner under the influence of the impression to which he is

subjected. But the most striking point about him, is to see

him, with apparently a narrow mouth, swallow, at once, fishes

proportionally of enormous size. We have seen a young indi-

vidual, not more than 25 centimetres in length, swallow sardines

of the largest size without any difficulty.

The Pipe-fishes (Syngnathus Typhle, Linn.) present two curious

peculiarities in their habits. They group themselves by inter-

lacing their tails in such a way as to form tufts, and remain

immovyeable in a vertical position with the head upwards. When

food is given to them, they move towards the prey as it is fall-

ing, follow it in its descent, and, as they approach it, perform a

movement of rotation upon their axis, so as to turn the back

downwards and the belly upwards. In this reversed position

they precipitate themselves upon the prey, and do not resume

their normal attitude until after they have seized it. This strange

maneeuvre is imposed upon them by the peculiar position of

their mouth, which is cleft vertically at the extremity of a turned-

up beak. The young animals, in which the buecal aperture has

not this arrangement at the moment when they issue from the

ineubatory pouch, are not under the necessity of performing

any such evolution. They seize their food in the same way as.

other fishes.

14*

200 M. Coste on the Habits of some Marine Animsis.

The results of these first observations are sufficient to prove

the veracity of the historians of antiquity as regards the marvel-

lous stories which they have transmitted to us of the spectacles

furnished by the nomenclators in the marine piscine of Lucullus,

Pollio, and the orator Hortensius. They prove that these state-

ments, far from being fables, as people have been disposed to

think, are really the simple expression of the truth.

The Crustacea enclosed in the compartments of the vivarium

have also furnished us with interesting observations upon their

mode of copulation, their oviposition, and their metamorphoses.

In all the Brachyurous Decapods which we have been able to

observe, such as the common Shore Crab (Cancer Menas, Linn.),

the Xantho floridus of Leach, the Arched-fronted Swimming-Crab

(Portunus Rondeleti, Risso), the Marbled Swimming-Crab (Por-

tunus marmoreus, Leach), the hairy Porcelain Crab (Porcellana

platycheles, Penn.), the Spider-Crab (Maia Squinado, Herbst), the

common edible Crab (Cancer Pagurus, Linn.), the minute Porcelain

Crab (Porcellana longicornis, Lat.), &e., we have seen the male,

by the agency of his copulatory styles, and through the sternal

apertures, deposit the semen in a dilatation of the oviduct, a

dilatation situated at the lower extremity of that canal.

In the Shore Crab (C. Menas) the semen accumulated

in this place of deposit becomes solidified and moulded there,

acquiring the consistence of coagulated wax. It remains in this

state for about a fortnight, after which it slowly becomes lique-

fied, in order that the spermatozoids, which are then disaggre-

gated and suspended in the fluid resulting from this liquefac-

tion, may ascend to the ovaries,—a phenomenon which lasts not

less than two months. ‘The ovarian eggs, which at the moment

of copulation were still in the microscopic state, Increase in pro-

portion, but do not arrive at complete maturity until long after

the complete disappearance of the seminal fluid. We are ob-

serving, in closed cases, specimens which copulated three months

since, and which have not yet deposited their eggs. The dis-

section of some of these has shown us that the eggs are far from

having attained the degree of development required for their

expulsion. This fact proves two things:—1l. That im these

species the fecundation is ovarian; and 2. that when submitted

to the influence of the male element, the ova are far more distant

from the period of their maturity than is the case in any of those

observed in other classes.

In the Long-tailed Decapods (Macrura) the semen is not in-

troduced into an internal pouch, but it is poured out upon the

sternum in the vicinity of the orifices which lead to the oviducts.

In some, such as the Lobsters and Spiny Lobsters, it is spread

M. Coste on the Habits of some Marine Animals. 201

out in irregular plates upon a surface of considerable extent 3h

others, such as the Prawns and Shrimps, the semen is emitted

in the form of spermatophora, which are attached to the plas-

tron or to the base of the feet of the females. In these species,

therefore, the spermatozoids must become disaggregated exter-

nally to reach the oviducts, without their being introduced there

by the males. But the fecundation is not less ovarian than in

the preceding, although it approaches more nearly to the period

of oviposition. There are even species in which it only precedes

the expulsion of the eggs by a few hours. Thus, for example,

we have seen a Prawn (Palemon serratus, Leach) copulate on one

day and deposit its eggs on the next.

As all the Crustacea carry their eggs under the tail, or upon

some other part of the body where the incubation takes place,

and as this incubation is generally very slow (it does not last

less than five or six months in the Lobsters and Palinuri), it

follows that the animals of this class, in casting their shells,

would have been liable to lose their progeny, unless, by an ad-

mirable combination, the periods of the oviposition had not been

calculated in relation to those of the moults to which these spe-

cies are annually subjected until they have acquired their defi-

nitive size. Thus, to obtain all the time necessary for incubation,

nature has chosen that fecundation should take place immediately

after the mothers have thrown off their old skins, in order that

the new ones may be a sufficiently lasting protection.

We have seen a striking proof of this fact in the common

Shore Crab and the Prawn of our coasts. he male of the

former species selects a female, holds her tightly with the right

foot of the second pair, carries her with him, whether he walks

or swims, and seizes her again if they be separated. Some days

after this union, the female, still held by the male, throws off

her old covering; and immediately after this moult is effected,

she turns to receive the Semen,—an operation which lasts one,

two, or three days.

In the Prawn (Palemon serratus, Leach), the male does not

take possession of the female before the moult, as in the com-

mon Shore Crab; but as soon as she has moulted, he pursues

her, darts upon her back, clings there, and allows himself to be

carried about without making any attempt at copulation as long

as the female swims; when she stops, he glides under her by

inverting the right side, deposits a double spermatophore upon

her plastron in a few seconds, and then resumes his former posi-

tion, to recommence the same manceuvre a moment afterwards.

There are some species which have two broods between

each moult, and in which the copulation fecundating the first

generation appears also to fecundate the second; of this w

202 Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

believe we have a proof in twelve females of Maia Squinado, iso-

lated in a basin, all of which have produced eggs a second time

without another copulation, at the very moment when the last

eges of the preceding gestation had been hatched.

Such, amongst the numerous facts which we have observed,

are those which I have thought it advisable to communicate at

present to the Academy. At a subsequent meeting we shall

present the general results of our observations upon the first

metamorphoses of the Crustacea. From these observations it

results that all the known Zoéas described by various authors

are the larvee of Brachyurous Decapods, and that it is not de-

monstrated that the typical Zoéa of Bosc is, as usually supposed,

an embryo of the Edible Crab of our coasts, and still less of the

Lobster.

In order that the mvestigations which have furnished us with

these facts may not be interrupted durimg our absence, the pilot

Guillou keeps a register, in which, in conformity with instruc-

tions drawn up beforehand, and which he follows with sagacity,

he inscribes, at the number corresponding to each cell, whatever

bears upon the experiments carried on therem. As soon as an

interesting fact is exhibited, he mforms us of it; and if the fact

be of a nature capable of verification in Paris, he sends us the

animals presenting it; in the contrary case, one of us goes to

Concarneau to study the phenomenon on the spot.

XXIII.—Characters of some apparently undescribed Ceylon In-

sects. By F. Watxmr.

Order COLEOPTERA.

Fam. Cicindelide.

CICINDELA DISCREPANS. Atra, elytris guttis duabus humeralibus

vittisque duabus postice macularibus flavis, femoribus cupreis.

Long. 63-8 lin.

TRICONDYLA FEMORATA. Nigra, transverse rugulosa, prothorace

sublineari antice coarctato, femoribus piceis, tibiis tarsisque cya-

neis. Long. 10 lin.

Kam. Carabide.

CyMINDIS RUFIVENTRIS. ter, nitidus, antennis piceis, thorace

sulcato, abdomine subtus rufo, elytrorum sulcis parallelis punctatis

bene determinatis, pedibus piceis, femoribus crassis. Long. 4 lin.

Dromius MARGINIFER. Niger, mitidus, subtus piceus, palpis an-

tennisque fulvescentibus, thoracis lateribus rufescentibus, elytro-

rum maculis duabus magnis humeralibus duabusque minoribus

posticis discalibus rufescentibus. Long. 2% lin.

Mr. F, Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects. 203

Lesra srpars. Rufa, thorace subsulcato sat angusto, elytris atris

sat latis tenuiter sulcatis. Long. 3 lin.

Carascorus REDucTUS. Viridi-niger, capite magno sulcis duobus

lateralibus, thoracis sulco dorsali distincto, sulco brevi transverso

antico arcuato, elytrorum sulcis punctatis bene determiatis.

“gr:

Long. 4} lin.

ScaRITEs OBLITERANS. Niger, nitens, thorace subcordato, sulco

tenui antice abbreviato, elytris subconvexis marginatis, sulcis pau-

cis vix conspicuis, tibiis anticis fortiter bidentatis. Long. 6 lia.

ScariITEs supsiGNans. Niger, nitidus, capite bisuleato, thorace

subquadrato subsulcato, elytris subconvexis marginatis, sulcis sex

distinctis, tibiis anticis fortiter bidentatis. Long. 63 lin.

ScARITES DESIGNANS. Niger, nitidus, capite bisulcato foveis dua-

bus transversis, thorace quadrato sulcato, elytris convexis, sulcis

quinque distinctissimis, pedibus anticis incrassatis, tibiis fortiter

tridentatis. Long. 7-8 lin.

Curvina REcTA. Nigro-picea, linearis, antennis pedibusque piceis,

thorace sulcato, elytrorum sulcis distinctis. Long. 35 lin.

Morio rrocosiroipes. Niger, depressus, vix nitidus, capite bi-

suleato, thorace subcordato sulcato postice bifoveolato, elytrorum

sulcis distinctissimis, tibiis anticis fortiter bidentatis. Long.

63 lin.

Mortio cucusorpes. Niger, depressus, nitidus, corpore subtus

pedibusque rufis, capite bisulcato, thorace subcordato sulcato pos-

tice bifoveolato, elytrorum sulcis distinctissimis, tibiis anticis for-

titer bidentatis. Long. 5} lin.

Leistus? tinearis. Niger, nitidus, capite antico, corporis disco

subtus, antennis pedibusque testaceis, thorace subcordato bifoveo-

lato, elytris sulcatis. Long. 3 lin.

CarpIADERUs scitus. Niger, nitidus, antennis ferrugineis, thorace

suleato transverse foveolato, elytris subnitidis, sulcis scitis approxi-

matis, pedibus testaceis. Long. 23 lin.

ANCHOMENUS ILLocatus. Niger, nitidus, thorace suleato, ely-

trorum sulcis distinctis, pedibus rufescentibus. Long. 23 lin.

Aconum pPLAcipuLuM. Nigrum, nitidum, thorace foveis duabus

posticis, elytrorum sulcis distinctis, pedibus piceis. Long. 2} Jin.

PanaG&us RETRACTUS. Niger, subtus fulvus, thorace subcordato

suleato postice contracto, elytris luteo quadriplagiatis, pedibus

testaceis. Long. 3 lin.

Genus MARAGA.

Caput transversum, subleeve, planum. Oculi magni. Palpi breves,

subsecuriformes. Antenne capite thoraceque paullo longiores,

articulis longiusculis. Thorax transyersus, postice latus angulatus,

antice rotundatus, lateribus subconvexis. Elytra marginata, apice

204 Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

truncata, thorace latiora, sulcis optime determinatis. Pedes validi,

breviusculi, femoribus crassis, posticis bidentatis, tibiis subsetosis.

MaraGa PLANIGERA. Niger, capite antico corporeque subtus ful-

vis, antennis, pedibus necnon thoracis et elytrorum margimibus

piceis, coxis et femoribus testaceis, femoribus posterioribus nigro

vittatis. Long. 4 lin.

ARGUTOR DEGENER. Niger, nitidus, thorace subcordato sulcato,

elytris tenuiter sulcatis, pedibus ferrugineis. Long. 25 lin.

ARGUTOR RELINQUENS. Niger, nitidus, thorace subrotundato,

elytris sulcatis, pedibus ferrugineis. Long. 2 lin.

Harpauus strotipus. Niger, nitidus, thorace subpunctato, elytris

sulcatis nigro-viridibus, pedibus ferrugineis. Long. 23-3 lin.

Curronotus compositus. Niger, nitidus, antennis piceis, thorace

subsuleato, elytris sulcatis subobscuris, pedibus rufescentibus.

Long. 3} lin.

SELENOPHORUS INFIxuS. Niger, nitidus, thorace utrinque apud

marginem posticum impresso, elytris nigro-eeneis sulcatis, pedibus

piceis. Long. 2 lin.

AcuPALPuS DEROGATUS. Niger, nitidus, elytris sulcatis, pedibus

rufescentibus. Long. 14 lin.

AcupALrus ExTREMUS. Niger, nitidus, thorace subrotundato,

elytris non sulcatis, pedibus piceis.. Long. 3 lin.

BEMBIDIUM FINITIMUM. Niger, nitidus, thorace subrotundato,

elytris postice fulvo bimaculatis. Long. 1 lin.

Fam. Dytiscide.

DyTiscus EXTENUANS, mas. ter, nitidus, capitis margine antico

et thoracis lateribus luteis, elytris vitta submarginali postice attenu-

ata et apices non attingente. Long. 8 lin.

Hypaticus piscinpEns, mas. Ater, nitidus, capite antico thoracis-

que lateribus latissime luteo marginatis, elytris linea submarginali

apud medium dislocata, fascia antica utrinque flexuosa, lineolis

exterioribus postmediis guttaque utrinque postica luteis. Long.

6 lin.

Hypaticus rRACTIFER, mas. ter, nitidus, capite antico thoracis-

que lateribus latissime luteo marginatis, elytrorum fascia guttulari

antica lineolisque marginalibus luteis. Long. 52 lin.

CoLYMBETES INTERCLUsUs. Ater, capite antico, thoracis lateribus

latis, elytrorum fascia lata basali et vitta marginali postice attenu-

ata luteo-ferrugineis. Long. 5} Jin.

HyDROPORUS INTERPULSUS. Niger, crassus, capite, thoracis fascia

latissima et elytrorum margine tenui luteo-ferrugineis. Long. 14 lin,

Hyproporvus INTERMIXTUS. Niger, latus, thoracis lateribus, ely-

trorum fascia lata basali et margine tenui postice dilatata luteo-

ferrugineis. Long. 15 lin,

Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects. 205

Hyprororus Ltatasitis. Luteus, elytris nigris, fasciis duabus

abbreyiatis luteis, 1* lata interrupta, 2* integra. Long. 1 lin.

Fam. Gyrinide.

Drnevtes rnpicans. Chalybeus, subtus ferrugineus, capitis lateribus

subcupreis, elytris extus impressis, apice truncatis et angulatis,

tibiis anticis spinosis. Long. 7 lin.

GyRINUS OBLIQUUS. neo-chalybeus, elytrorum carinis sulcisque

alternis bene determinatis, pedibus ferrugineis. Long. 3 lin.

Fam. Staphylinide.

OcyPuUs LONGIPENNIS. Niger, punctatissimus, subtus piceus, an-

tennis pedibusque piceis, thorace carinato, elytris longiusculis.

Long. 4 lin.

Ocypus coneruvus. Cyaneo-niger, subpunctatus, subtus piceus,

antennis, pedibus elytrisque piceis, thorace e punctis: bilineato,

abdomine nigro, segmentorum marginibus posticis piceis. Long.

5 lin.

Ocyrus puncTILINEA. Nigro-eeneus, capite et thorace glabris ni-

tentibus, capite punctis lateralibus, antennis pedibusque piceis,

thorace e punctis bilineato, elytris punctatissimis, abdomine nigro,

Long. 43 lin.

XANTHOLINUs cCINCTUs. Niger, capite thoraceque nitentibus, an-

tennis piceis, pedibus piceo-ferrugineis, elytris lividis basi nigris.

Long. 23 lin.

P#DERUS ALTERNANS. Ater, thorace et abdominis bis triente basali

rufis, elytris nigro-cyaneis. Long. 3 lin.

PRoGNATHA bDeEcisA. Atra, plana, capite thoraceque nitentibus,

capite lato, thorace obcordato, elytris testaceis, apud marginem

interiorem apice excepto nigris. Long. 2 lin.

OxyTeLus rupis. Niger, sat latus, antennis pedibusque ferrugineis,

thorace elytrisque punctatissimis, thorace unisuleato subcordato.

Long. 23 lin.

OxyTELus Propuctus. Niger, longiusculus, sat angustus, ore

pedibusque ferrugineis, thorace elytrisque punctatissimis, thorace

unisuleato subcordato. Long. 2 lin.

OMALIUM FILIFoRME. Nigrum, nitens, longum, planum, per-

angustum, antennis validis, pedibus fulvis. Long. 14 lin.

Axrocuara postica. Nigra, nitida, 4. fuscipedi <a thias pedi-

bus ferrugineis, abdominis apice piceo-ferruginea. Long. 24-3 lin.

Fam. Scydmenide.

Genus ERtnevs.

Corpus convexum, rude punctatum, dense pubescens. Caput postice

maximum, subdilatatum. Palpi clavati. Antenne subclavate,

206 Myr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

geniculate, pilosze ; articulus 1"5 longus, 2"S et sequentes oblongi,

subeequales. Thorax subquadratus.. Elytra oblonga. Pedes

validi, pilosi.

Ertneus Monstrosus. Piceus, subtus nigricans, capite antico

femoribusque nigricantibus. Long. 3 lin.

Fam. Phalacrida.

PHALACRUS CONJICIENS. Piceus, nitens, subelliptieus, thorace

leevi, elytris striatis. Long. 4 lin.

PuHaLacrus conrectus. Testaceus, suborbicularis, nitens, thorace

levi, elytris subtilissime striatis. Long. 3 lin.

Fam. Nitidulide.

NITIDULA CONTEGENS. Nigra, elytris basi (margine excepto) et

apud suturam (triente apicali excepta) testaceis. Long. 19 hn.

NiriDULA INTENDENS. Parva, testacea, elytris subtomentosis

truncatis. Long. 2 lin.

NITIDULA SIGNIFICANS. Parva, testacea, nitens, elytris nigro

quadrimaculatis. Var. elytrorum maculis subobsoletis. Long.

3 jin.

NiripuLA? TOMENTIFERA. Fusca, capite thoraceque cinereo-pu-

bescentibus, elytrorum fasciis interruptis cano-tomentosis. Long.

12 lin.

Genus NrTipULopsis.

Nitidule valde affinis, Anthobio simillima. Abdomen elytris duplo

longius.

NirrpULOPSIS QUALIS. Picea, depressa, subtus ferrugineo-picea,

elytris testaceis, pedibus pallide testaceis. Long. 14 lin.

RuyYZOPHAGUS PARALLELUS. Niger, linearis, capite sulcis duabus

lateralibus, thorace nitente postice retracto et bisulcato, elytris

striatis et carinatis, carinis apud latera magis determinatis. Long.

2-24 lin.

Fam. Colydiade.

Lycrus pispuTANS. Ferrugineo-piceus, thorace suleato oblongo

subquadrato, elytris scite subsulcatis. Long. 23 lin.

Lycrus reTrActus. Ferrugineus, subtus rufescens, thoracis late-

ribus flexis angulatis, elytris subtilissime punctatis et sulcatis.

Long. 2-23 lin.

Diroma ruGicouuis. Picea, thorace sulcis quatuor rugosis, elytris

quinque-carinatis, carinis serratis bene determinatis. Long. 1 lin.

Fam. Trogositide.

TROGOSITA INSINUANS. Picea, subtus rufescens, capite thoraceque

subsuleatis scite punctatis, elytris punctato-suleatis. Long. 3 lin.

Mr, F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.. 207°

Fam. Cucujide.

SILVANUS RETRAHENS. Ferrugineus, capite piceo, elytris subtilis-

sime suleatis. Long. 1} lin.

Fam. Lathridiade.

LATHRIDIUS PERPUSILLUS. Piceus, minimus, thorace subrotundato,

elytris rude tricarinatis. - Long. 4 lin.

MonoToMA CONCINNULA. Testacea, elytris apud medium nigro

_ bimaculatis. Long. | lin.

Fam. Dermestide.

ATTAGENUS!? perectus. Niger, pubescens, elytris subtilissime

punctatis apice ferrugineis. Long. 1 lin.

TRINODES HIRTELLUS. Ater, minutus, elytris apices versus sub-

hispidis. Long.-} lin.

Fam. Histeride.

PLATYSOMA DESINENS. Atrum, elytrorum suleis tribus exterioribus

completis, 4* 5*-que valde abbreviatis, 5* paullo longiore. Long.

13 hin,

PLATYSOMA RESTORATUM. Rufescenti-piceum, elytrorum sulcis

quingue bene determinatis, tribus exterioribus completis, 4? 5*-

que abbreviatis eequalibus. Long. 13 lin.

Fam. Aphodiade.

APHoDIUS RoBUsTUS. Piceo-ferrugineus, capite utrinque impresso,

thorace vage punctato, elytris conferte punctato-sulcatis, femoribus

crassis. Long. 23 lin.

APHODIUS DYNASTOIDES. After, antennis piceis, capite subglabro,

thorace conferte punctato, elytrorum sulcis subpunctatis bene

determinatis. Long. 23 lin.

APHODIUS PALLIDICORNIS. Niger, capitis margine antico piceo,

antennis testaceis, thorace vage subpunctato, elytrorum sulcis

punctatis bene determinatis, pedibus ferrugineis. Leng. 2 lin.

ArHopius MuTANS. Niger, subtus luridus, thorace vage punc-

tato, lateribus late margineque postico tenuiter luridis, elytrorum

margine lato lurido, vittis discalibus luridis plus minusve distinctis

aut obsoletis, pedibus testaceis. Long. 24-24 lin.

ApnHopius sEquens. Niger, capite maculis duabus luridis, tho-

racis margine late lurido, elytris luridis, disco fuscescente, pedibus

testaceis. Var. capite lurido. Long. 14-14 lin.

PsamMopius rnscirus. Niger, capite rugoso apud marginem

piceo, antennis ferrugineis, thorace rugis quinque transversis non

parallelis, elytrorum sulcis plurimis bene determinatis, carinis

subtuberculatis. Long. 1+ lin.

208 Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

Fam. Trogide.

Trox 1ncLusus. Niger, capite subtuberculato, antennis testaceis,

thorace trisulcato, lateribus impressis, marginibus subangulatis,

elytris tuberculoso-tricarinatis, pustulis intermediis minoribus.

Long. 4—5 lin.

Fam. Copride.

GYMNOPLEURUS SMARAGDIFER. Smaragdino-viridis, subtus ob-

scurior, capite exciso, thorace quadri-i -impresso, sulco antice obso-

leto, elytrorum lineis vix conspicuis. Long. 7 lin.

StsypHUs sETOosuLus. Niger, capite dentato, thorace elytrisque

setosis, thorace scaberrimo, elytrorum carinis plurimis tuberculosis

indeterminatis, tibiis anticis fortiter tridentatis. Long. 3 lin.

SISYPHUS SUBSIDENS. Niger, capite dentato, thorace elytrisque

subsetosis, thorace sublzevi, eee carinis paucis indecisis,

tibiis anticis subtridentatis. Long. 2 lin.

Copris CRIBRICOLLIS. Ater, capite thoraceque confertissime verru-

cosis, thorace sulco tenui dorsali antice obsoleto, elytris glabris,

lineis octo impressis bene determinatis. Mas. Capitis cornu recto

thoracem paullo superante, thorace carinis duabus dorsalibus ab-

breviatis, spatio posteriore glabro. Fam. Capitis carma trans-

versa subconica. Long. 7 lin.

Copris REPERTUS. Ater, capite verrucoso, thorace subleevi, sulco

dorsali antice obsoleto, elytris glabris, lineis octo impressis bene

determinatis. Mas. Capitis cornu subarcuato thoracem non su-

perante, thorace ruga transversa quadridentata. em. Capitis

carina transversa brevi elevata bidentata, thoracis carina transversa

non dentata. Long. 8 lin.

Corris sopALis, mas. Ater, capite thoraceque conferte punctatis,

capite inter oculos tuberculo transverso, thorace carina transversa

subobsoleta, sulco dorsali antice obsoleto, elytris glabris, lineis

octo impressis bene determinatis. Long. 53 lin.

Corris s1GNatus, fem. Ater, capite, thorace elytrisque confer-

tissime punctatis, capite inter oculos tuberculo transverso, thorace

carina nulla transversa, sulco dorsali vix conspicuo, elytrorum

lineis octo impressis bene determinatis. Long. 43-5 lin.

Copris DIMINUTIVUS, mas. Ater, pubescens, conferte punctatus,

capite cornubus duobus posticis brevissimis, thorace plano, elytro-

rum lineis impressis indistinctis. Long. 14 lin.

ONTHOPHAGUS PROLIXUS. Cupreus aut eneo-aiiiiee punctatus,

thorace antice utrinque excavato, sulco dorsali, elytris luridis

lineatis, fascia media lata angulata maculaque antica nigris. Long.

23-3 lin.

ONTHOPHAGUS GRAVIS, fem. Niger, parum nitens, capite thorace-

: exact 5 Silda se hse sa

que planis punctatissimis, elytrorum linels impressis planis non

bene determinatis. Long. 3} lin.

Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects. 209

OnTHOPHAGUS DIFFICILIS. Ater aut nigro-viridis, capite antice

rude punctato, thorace nitidissimo vage punctato, Jateribus macu-

lisque duabus posticis nonnunquam obsoletis testaceis, elytris testa-

ceis, lineis impressis punctatis bene determinatis, fasciis sex abbre-

viatis nonnunquam connexis nigris. Long. 24-3 lin.

ONTHOPHAGUS LUCENS. Viridis, capite antice rude punctato, tho-

race elytrisque confertissime punctatis, elytris testaceis, lineis im-

pressis sat determinatis, fascia media maculari maculisque duabus

anticis duabusque posticis nigris. Long. 14 lin.

ONTHOPHAGUS NEGLIGENS. Viridi- aut cupreo-niger, capite antico

rude punctato, thorace punctatissimo, elytris punctatis, lineis im-

pressis non distinctis, maculis duabus apicalibus testaceis. Var.

Elytris testaceo plus minusve marginatis, pedibus testaceo variis.

Long. 13-23 lin.

ONTHOPHAGUS M@RENS, mas. Ater, subpunctatus, capite carina

media transversa arcuata, cornubus duobus posticis erectis vix

arcuatis, thorace antice utrinque impresso, elytrorum lineis impressis

punctatis bene determinatis. Long. 3 lin.

OntuopHacus TuRrBATUs. Nigro-viridis, punctatissimus, capite

carina media transversa arcuata, thorace sulco dorsali subobsoleto,

elytrorum lineis impressis sat determinatis. Mas. Capite cornu

lanceolato postice subobliquo, thorace antice excavato. Fam. Ca-

pite carina transversa postica, thorace carina transversa antica

brevissima. Long. 3 lin.

Fam. Spheridiade.

SpHZRIDIUM TRICGLOR. Nigrum, nitens, thorace elytrisque testa-

ceo marginatis, elytris antice rufo bimaculatis, spatio apicali testaceo

maculas duas nigras subincludente. Long. 1# lin.

Fam. Hydrophilide.

PHILHYDRUS ESURIENS. Lividus, subtus niger, capite nigro, tho-

racis macula transyersa discali fuscescente. Long. # lin.

Hyprosivs struttrus. Niger, subtilissime et confertissime punc-

tatus, subtus vix nitens, pedibus piceo-nigris. Long. 12 lin.

Genus Dastarcus.

Corpus longiusculum. Prothorax sulcatus, punctatus, angulis anticis

porrectis acutis, pectoris foveis duabus obliquis. Metascutellum

subtus maximum, vix sulcatum. Elytra sulcata, punctata. Pedes

crassi, breves.

Dasrarcus rorosus. Niger, subtus nitens, rude punctatus, pro-

thorace elytrisque rude punctatis carinis ferrugineo-tomentosis,

prothoracis carinis duabus undulatis. Long. 4 lin.

[To be continued, |

21D « Bibliographical Notices.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China

Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853 and 1854,

under the command of Commodore M. C. Perry, United States

Navy. By order of the Government of the United States. Vols.

I. and II., with Illustrations. Washington, 1856. London,

Triibner & Co.

Tue second volume of Commodore Perry’s Narrative of the cele-

brated ‘“ Japanese Expedition” contains, amongst a number of com-

munications in relation to other topics from different members of

the Expedition, several articles on natural history, which those who

are interested in the zoology, botany, or geology of the Western

Pacific should not neglect to consult. The smallest contributions

towards a knowledge of the natural productions of ground so seldom

trodden by Europeans as Japan, Formosa, or the Loo Choo Islands,

is acceptable. It would be well if our own Government would take

the hint, and insist upon the members of our numerous expeditions

making their discoveries immediately available to the student.

The first part of the second volume of the present book is occupied

by several articles upon the botany, agriculture, and geology of the

Loo Choo archipelago. This is followed by Reports upon the agri-

culture of Japan and China and the coal-formation of Formosa, and

an interesting account of the small settlement upon Peel Island, one

of the Bonin group, with a copy of the short ‘‘ Articles of Agree-

ment”? which constitute the laws of this primitive republic. Next

come the papers on natural history, with which we are more imme-

diately concerned. ‘Two articles by Mr. Cassin upon the birds col-

lected (principally by Mr. William Heine, the artist of the Expedi-

tion) are worthy of much attention, though they contain few novelties

in the way of undescribed species. The first of these relates to the

birds collected in Japan, most of which have been already noticed

in Temminck and Schlegel’s volume of the magnificent ‘Fauna

Japonica’ devoted to the “Aves.” But as Nangasaki in the southern

island of Kiusiu is the only place to which the Dutch naturalists

have had access, and the present collections were formed in Niphon

and Jesso (the two northern and principal islands), the collection is

still one of high interest. We may call particular attention to the

details given of Mr. Heine’s pheasant-shooting expeditions. He is

certainly the first ‘‘of any cultivated nation’? who has had the good

fortune to beat up the native haunts of Phasianus versicolor and

Phasianus Soemmeringii. We are not at all surprised at his missing

the latter bird, or ‘‘at least only shooting off his two long tail-

feathers ;”” for even an ordinary cock pheasant (Phasianus colchi-

cus 3) rising near (with a tail only one-third as long) is sufficient

to agitate one not a little. But let us give Mr. Heine due credit for

having preserved examples of these fine birds, and thus fixed their

real locality. Our countryman Mr. Atkinson, in the steppes of Tartary

—a region still more inaccessible—seems to haye shot and eaten

Bibliographical Notices. 211

many brace of the still rarer Phasianus mongolicus without the

slightest compunction.

Mr. Cassin’s second article upon the ‘birds collected in China,

the Loo Choo Islands, Singapore, Ceylon, and California,” is accept-

able, as giving exact localities to many species of the correct habitat

of which we were not hitherto very certain. There are also nice

figures of Garrulax perspicillatus, Heterornis sericea, and the true

Ivos hemorrhous of China. Only four birds are noticed from the

Loo Choo Islands, which, curiously enough, are, with one exception,

identified with European species : Ardea cinerea, Alcedo bengalensis,

Fulica chloropus, and Sterna minuta. Mr. Brevoort’s notice of

Japanese fish, or rather, of the drawings of them made by members

of the Expedition (for it appears that no specimens were brought

home), accompanies a series of plates made from these drawings..

We decidedly object to the practice of describing new species of

fishes (or, in fact, of any animals) from drawings, particularly when

made, as these are confessed to have been, without a “ close attention

to the specifie characters.” But the discovery that Ditrema Tem-

mincki probably belongs to the singular viviparous family Hmbzoto-

cide, recently discovered in California, is certainly of great interest.

Mr. Jay has contributed a report upon the “ Shells”’ collected by

the Expedition, and Professor Asa Gray and others an essay on the

dried plants.

There is also a very interesting account of the “Gulf-stream” and

cyclones of the Western Pacific; and the volume closes with a fac-

simile of the Japanese version of the celebrated treaty of Kan-a-ga-wa,

the ‘‘first formal instrument of the kind ever negotiated by the

empire of Japan with any Christian nation.”

The Angler in the Lake District ; or Piscatory Colloquies and Fishing

Excursions in Westmoreland and Cumberland. By Joun Davy,

M.D., F.R.S. &. Longmans.

Sir Humphry Davy was the author of two delightfully desultory

works, one, the ‘Salmonia,’ and the other, ‘Consolations in Travel,

or the Last Days of a Philosopher.’ Dr. Davy, the brother of the

ereat chemist, is also an accomplished man, who has been engaged

in the army medical service from his early manhood. Dr. Davy

resided long in Ceylon and the West Indies, traversed many parts of

the world, and in mature age has retired to the Lake country. He

lives not far from another distinguished medical officer, well known to

our readers as the friend and companion of Sir John Franklin, who did

what he could, -brave man! to find that arctic hero on the dreary

North American coast. He is the author of the ‘Fauna Boreali-

Americana,’ and many a goodly memoir and work on Exotic Fishes ;

while his new edition of Yarrell’s ‘ British Fishes,’ expected this year,

will have a scientific exactness which the worthy Waltonian disciple,

who wrote ‘British Birds’ and ‘British Fishes,’ never affected to

possess, to say nothing of its many additions. Dr. John Davy and

Sir John Richardson are resting (not on their oars) amid the calm

212 Bibliographical Notices.

scenery of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland, and still

think and work and publish. Here is a book by Dr. Davy, full to

the brim of natural-history notes, in the wide—the Linnzean—sense

of the term. The ichthyologist may derive much valuable informa-

tion on the breeding and embryology of fish of the family Salmo-

nide ; see pages 165-183, where the author shows himself to be a

keen observer and an accurate as well as pleasing writer. Turn to

page 209, where he shows how the smo/¢ loses in great measure the

transverse markings of the parr,—the very silvery scales of the smolé

having much lustrous matter deposited on their inner surface, and

thus hiding the markings in the true skin.

But, besides Fish, Dr. Davy enlightens his readers on many other

points of natural history.

Sir Emerson Tennant might derive an excellent anecdote for the

inimitable monograph, Biography of the Elephant, still unpublished,

but eagerly expected in his great work on Ceylon, were he to turn to

p- 23, where Dr. Davy gives a striking proof that the Elephant can

submit, without flinching, to a painful operation as well as many a man.

Dr. Davy introduces anecdotes of dogs ;—of poultry in the West

Indies, see p. 26;—the swan’s nest, and how and by whom con-

structed, at p. 281. Ulpha Kirk and the beautiful lines of Words-

worth lead him to the wilds of Ceylon, and the pleasure he experienced,

after a long journey, on coming in sight of a cocoa-nut palm,—as he

remarks that it is never met with in the wild woods, but, by its pre-

sence, always marks out human dwellings (p. 245).

Meteorology and geology are treated most interestingly, in cer-

tain aspects that come before “ Piscator’’ and “Amicus” as they

wander amidst the scenery where William Wordsworth lived, ob-

served, and wrote. What naturalist loves not to read and quote

Wordsworth, particularly if wild flowers and gentle birds be his sub-

jects? This pleasant book contains much to interest him, and indeed

every reader of that great poet who sung the praises of the March

Celandine, and in one line fixed, for ever, the Swan, that ‘‘ queen of

our lakes” and calmly flowing rivers. At this autumn season, the

hills have a quiet soothing melancholy pleasure in their contempla-

tion; and should any of our readers visit the hills and lakes of

Westmoreland, they would thank us for recommending them to take,

in addition to their guide-book, be it Adam Black’s or Miss Marti-

neau’s, this prettily got-uwp green cloth pocket volume, full of facts

and records of the wanderings and observations of an accomplished

physician. The book is pervaded by a quiet religious and poetic tone,

and is also full of kindly views of man and every lower creature.

The Practical Naturalist’s Guide, containing Instructions for Col-

lecting, Preparing, and Preserving Specimens of all Departments

of Zoology. By JaAmMrs Boyp Davies, Assistant Conservator in

the Natural History Museum, Edinburgh. Maclachlan and

Stewart, Edinburgh. 1858, 12mo.

In this little book of about 80 pages Mr. Davies has furnished

the student of Zoology with an excellent manual of directions for

Royal Institution. 213

collecting and preserving specimens of the various sections of the

Animal Kingdom. The instructions given are most sensible, and we

think Mr. Davies has exercised a sound judgment in excluding all

descriptions of the mode of stuffing the Mammalia and Birds, as

this, which usually occupies a considerable space in similar manuals,

can scarcely be taught by any written instructions. We think,

however, that he should have found some means of indicating

this upon his title-page,—the setting-up of such specimens is un-

doubtedly one branch of “ preparing” animals; and the country

naturalist who might buy this book in the hope of getting informa-

tion upon the subject, would feel justly aggrieved at finding no in-

structions in stuffing in its pages.

In recommending the ‘ Practical Naturalist’s Guide’ to our readers,

we must not omit to notice one section of it, which, although occu-

pying only three or four pages, will render it a handy book even to

the experienced naturalist. We allude to the “‘ Recipes”’ for arsenical

soaps, preservative fluids, &c.,—details which are very liable to slip

out of the memory, whilst manuscript memoranda are frequently

mislaid.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

May 21, 1858.—The Duke of Northumberland, K.G., F.R.S.,

President, in the Chair.

“On the Phenomena of Gemmation.” By Thomas H. Huxley,

F.R.S., Fullerian Professor of Physiology, Royal Institution, and

Professor of Natural History, Government School of Mines, Jermyn

Street.

The speaker commenced by stating that a learned French natu-

ralist, M. Duvau, proposed, many years ago, to term the middle of

the eighteenth century “‘l’époque des Pucerons,’”’ and that the im-

portance of the phznomena which were at first brought to light by

the study of these remarkable insects renders the phrase “ epoch of

Plant-lice,” as applied to this period, far less whimsically inappro-

priate than it might at first sight seem to be.

After a brief sketch of the mode of life of these Plant-lice, or

Aphides, as they are technically termed,—of the structure of their

singular piercing and sucking mouths, and of their relation to

what are called “ blights,’ the cireumstances which have more par-

ticularly drawn the attention of naturalists to these insects were fully

detailed.

It was between the years 1740 and 1750, in fact, that Bonnet,

acting upon the suggestions of the illustrious Réaumur, isolated an

Aphis immediately after its birth, and proved to demonstration, that

not only was it capable of spontaneously bringing forth numerous

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii.

214 Royal Institution :—

living young, but that these and their descendants, to the ninth

generation, preserved a similar faculty.

Observations so remarkable were not likely to pass unheeded ; but

notwithstanding the careful sifting which they have received, Bon-

net’s results have never been questioned. On the contrary, not only

have Lyonnet, Degeer, Kyber, Duvau, and others, borne ample testi-

mony to their accuracy, but it has been shown that, under favourable

conditions of temperature and food, there is practically no limit to

this power of asexual multiplication, or, as it has been conveniently

termed, “ agamogenesis.”

Thus Kyber bred the viviparous d4phis Dianthi and Aphis Rose

for three years in uninterrupted succession ; and the males and true

oviparous females of the 4. Dianthi have never yet been met with.

The current notion that there is a fixed number of broods, “ nine or

eleven,’ is based on a mistake.

As, under moderately favourable conditions, an Aphis comes to

maturity in about a fortnight, and as each Aphis is known to be

capable of producing a hundred young, the number of the progeny

which may eventually result even from a single 4phis during the six

or seven warm mouths of the year is easily calculated. M.'Tougard’s

estimate, adopted (and acknowledged) by Morren, and copied from

him by others, gives the number of the tenth brood as one quintillion.

Supposing the weight of each Aphis to be no more than ;755th of a

grain, the mass of living matter in this brood would exceed that in

the most thickly populated countries in the world.

The agamogenetic broods are either winged or wingless. The

winged forms at times rise into the air, and are carried away by the

wind in clouds; and these migrating hordes have been supposed to

be males and females, swarming like the ants and bees! During the

summer months it is unusual to meet other than viviparous Aphides,

whether winged or wingless ; but ordinarily, on the approach of cold

weather, or even during warm weather, if the supplies of food fall

short, the viviparous dphides produce forms which are no longer

viviparous, but are males and oviparous females. The former are

sometimes winged, sometimes wingless. The latter, with a single

doubtful exception, are always wingless.

The oviparous females lay their eggs, and then, like the males, die.

It commonly happens also that the viviparous Aphides die, and then

the eggs are left as the sole representatives of the species; but, in

mild winters, many of the viviparous Aphides merely fall into a state

of stupor, and hybernate, to re-awake with the returning warmth of

spring. At the same time, the eggs are hatched, aud give rise to

viviparous Aphides, which run through the same course as before.

The species Aphis, therefore, is fully manifested, not in any one being

or animated form, but by a cycle of such, consisting of—lIst, the

egg; 2nd, an indefinite succession of viviparous Aphides ; 3rd, males

and females eventually produced by these, and giving rise to the egg

again.

If, armed with the microscope and scalpel, we examine into the

minute nature of these processes (without which inquiry all specu-

Prof. Huxley on the Phenomena of Gemmation. 215

lation upon their nature is vain), we find that the viviparous Aphis

contains an organ similar to the ovarium of the oviparous female in

some respects, but differing from it, as Von Siebold was the first to

show, in the absence of what are termed the colleterial glands and

the spermatheca,—organs of essential importance to the oviparous

form.

In the terminal chambers of this “ pseudovarium,” ovum-like

bodies, thence called “pseudova,” are found. These bodies pass

one by one into the pseudovarian tubes, and there gradually become

developed into young, living 4phides. As Morren has well said,

therefore, the young Aphides are produced by “ the individualization

of a previously organized tissue.”

The only organic operation with which this mode of development

can be compared is the process of budding or gemmation, as it takes

place in the vegetable kingdom, in the lower forms of animal life,

and in the process of formation of the limbs and other organs of the

higher animals. And the parallel is complete if such a plant as the

bulbiferous Lily or the Marchantia, or such an animal as the Hydra,

is made the term of comparison.

Thus agamogenesis in Aphis is a kind of internal budding or gem-

mation. If we inquire how this process differs from multiplication

by true ova, or “ gamogenesis,” we find that the young ovum in the

ovarium is also, to all intents and purposes, a bud, indistinguishable

from the germ in the pseudovarium of the agamogenetic Aphis.

Histologically, there is no difference between the two; but there is

an immense qualitative or physiological difference, which cannot be

detected by the eye, but becomes at once obvious in the behaviour of

the two germs after a certain period of their growth. Dating from

this period, the pseudovum spontaneously passes into the form of an

embryo, becoming larger and larger as it does so; but the ovum

simply enlarges, accumulates nutritive matter, acquires its outer in-

vestments, and then falls into a state of apparent rest, from which it

will never emerge, unless the influence of the spermatozoon have

been brought to bear upon it.

That the vast physiological difference between the ovum and the

pseudoyum should reveal itself in the young state by no external

sign, is no more wonderful than that primarily the tissue of the brain

should be undistinguishable from that of the heart.

The phzenomena which have been described were long supposed

to be isolated ; but numerous cases of a like kind, some even more

remarkable, are now known.

Among the latter, the speaker cited the wonderful circumstances

attending the production of the drones among bees, as described by

Von Siebold; and he drew attention to the plant upon the table,

Ceelobogyne ilicifolia, a female Euphorbiaceous shrub, the male

flowers of which have never yet been seen, and which, nevertheless,

for the last twenty years, has produced its annual crop of fertile seeds

in Kew Gardens.

Not only can we find numerous cases of agamogenesis similar to

that exhibited by Ap/is, in the animal and vegetable worlds, but if

15*

216 Zoological Society :—

we look closely into the matter, agamogenesis is found to pass by

insensible gradations into the commonest phzenomena of life. All

life, in fact, is accompanied by incessant growth and metamorphosis ;

and every animal and plant above the very lowest attains its adult

form by the development of a succession of buds. When these buds

remain connected together, we do not distinguish the process as any-

thing remarkable ; when, on the other hand, they become detached,

and live independently, we have agamogenesis. Why some buds

assume one form and some another, why some remain attached and

some become detached, we know not. Such phzenomena are for the

present the ultimate facts of biological science; and, as we cannot

understand the simplest among them, it would seem useless, as yet,

to seek for an explanation of the more complex.

Nevertheless, an explanation of agamogenesis in the Aphis and in

like cases has been offered. It has been supposed to depend upon

“the retention unchanged of some part of the primitive germ-mass,”’

this germ-mass being imagined to be the seat of a peculiar force, by

virtue of which it gives rise to independent organisms.

There are, however, two objections to this hypothesis: in the first

place, it is at direct variance with the results of observation; in the

second, even if it were true, it does not help us to understand the

phenomena. With regard to the former point, the hypothesis pro-

fesses to be based upon only two direct observations, one upon Aphis,

the other upon Hydra; and both these observations are erroneous,

for in neither of these animals is any portion of the primitive germ-

mass retained, as it is said to be, in that part which is the seat of

agamogenesis.

But suppose the fact to be as the hypothesis requires; imagine

that the terminal chamber of the pseudovarium is full of nothing

but “unaltered germ-cells,’’ how does this explain the pheenomena?

Structures having quite as great a claim to the title of “unaltered

germ-cells’’ lie in the extremities of the acini of the secreting

glands, in the sub-epidermal tissues and elsewhere; why do not

they give rise to young? Cells, less changed than those of the

pseudovarium of Aphis, and more directly derived from the primi-

tive germ-mass, underlie the epidermis of one’s hand ; nevertheless,

no one feels any alarm lest a nascent wart should turn out to be an heir.

On the whole, it would seem better, when one is ignorant, to say

so, and not to retard the progress of sound inquiry by inventing

hypotheses involving the assumption of structures which have no

existence, and of ‘forces’? which, their laws being undetermined,

are merely verbal entities.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 23, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

List oF Species oF MAMMALIA SENT FROM THE ARU ISLANDS

BY Mr. A. R. Wauuace to THE Britiso Museum. By

Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., Pres. Ent. Soc., etc.

Mr. A. R. Wallace has lately sent to Mr. Samuel Stevens a col-

Dr. J. E. Gray on species of Mammalia from the Aru Islands. 217

lection of Mammalia and Birds from the Aru Islands, referred to in

his paper on the Natural History of those islands in the ‘ Annals and

Mag. Nat. Hist.’ vol. xx. p. 473, 1857, which has been transferred

to the British Museum, and forms a most important addition to the

collection of that establishment.

His list does not contain a single Bat.

In the ‘ Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Samarang’ I gave alist

of the Mammalia which had up to that period been found in New

Guinea (p. 31); and in Dr. Miiller’s ‘ Verhandlingen’ is a similar

list.

Besides the animals sent home by Mr. Wallace from the Aru

Islands, there are recorded in these lists—

1. DENDROLAGUS URSINUS.

Dendrolagus ursinus, S. Miller, Verh. 131, 141. t. 19. f. 22, 23.

Hypsiprymnus ursinus, Temm. Faun. Japon.

2. DENDROLAGUS INUSTUS.

Dendrolagus inustus, 8. Miller, Verh. 131, 143. t. 20, 22, 23,

3. Dorcoprsis ASIATICUS.

Dorcopsis Brunii, Miller, Verhand. 131.

Dorcopsis Asiaticus, Gray, Voy. Sam. 32.

Filander or Kangaroo, Le Brun’s Voyage, i. 347. t. 213, 1714.

Didelphis Asiaticus, Pallas, N. A. Petrop. 1777, 228. t. 9.

D. Brunii, Gmelin.

Halmaturus Bruni, Wliger, Prod.

Hypsiprymnus Bruni, Miller, Verh. 63. t. 21-23.

Island of Aru.

It is curious that this animal, described as specially inhabiting

the island visited by Mr. Wallace, was not sent home by him. It

is to be hoped that he did not neglect it, thinking it a common Kan-

garoo, as it is a desideratum in most museums in Europe.

The specimen of this animal in the Leyden Museum is said to be

from the continent of New Guinea, where the two species of Den-

drolagus and the Antechinus melas were also found.

4. PHascoGaLe (ANTECHINUS) MELAS.

Phascogale (Antechinus) melas, Miller, Verhand. t. 25. f. 1-3.

From New Guinea.

Differs, according to the figure, in having the hair of the tail rather

more elongated and spreading than the Australian species of the

genus ; the dentition is more nearly allied to the Antechinus than

to the new genus Myoictis sent home by Mr. Wallace.

5. Haxticore AUSTRALIS.

Halicore Australis, Owen in Jukes’s Voyage of the Fly, ii. 323.

f. 135, 1847; Gray, Voy. Samarang, 33.

Hab. Timor Straits.

218 Zoological Society :-—

6. Sus PaArpuEnsIs.

Sus Papuensis, Lesson, Voy. Coquille, t. ; Miller, Verh. t.

Hab. New Guinea. Called ‘ Bene.’

A species which has not yet reached England.

The following animals sent home by Mr. Wallace do not occur in

the list ; indeed it does not contain a single Bat: viz.—

1. Hipposideros Aruensis.

2. Pteropus argentatus.

3. Dactylopsila trivirgata.

4. Myoictis Wallaci.

VESPERTILIONID.

1. Preropus ARGENTATUS.

Back white, with scattered black hairs ; beneath yellowish ; face

grey, nakedish ; head deeper yellow-grey, with black interspersed

hairs ; collar broad, bright red-chestnut, darker brown at the sides

and under side, where the hair is longer, forming a kind of ruff ;

ears and membranes (when dry) black.

Hab. Aru Island. Female.

«Back of a silky or silvery shining white, very beautiful in the

freshly killed animals.” — Wallace.

HiprosiIDEROs.

As M. Bonaparte has given the name of Phyllorhina to the Euro-

pean Horse-shoe Bats, I am inclined to restrict the genus Hipposi-

deros to those species of the larger genus which have a large cavity

opening with an expanding pore on the forehead behind the trans-

verse hinder part of the nose-leaf; they have distinct pubal teats ;

thus restricting Phyllorhina to those which have a simple forehead

without any pore.

2. HiprostpEROS ARUENSIS.

Sooty-brown ; the lower half of the hairs of the back paler; the

hairs of the under side more uniform, or with rather paler tips ; the

ears large, broad, rounded at the ends, with two hairy lines on the

inner side of the front edge; face and chin rather bristly, without

any membranaceous ridges on the sides outside of the nose-leaf.

Hab. Aru Islands. ‘‘ Male.”—Wallace.

Length of head and body 2"; tail 2; expanse of wings 51;

length of upper arm bone 13; length of shin bone 2 inch.

The ears sooty-black ; the front margin of the ears is broad, with

a rounded lobe on the basal part near the forehead ; wings broad,

thin, sooty-black, bald; thumb slender, of two subequal joints; the

interfemoral membrane broad, truncate at the end; the hind legs

slender, rather elongate ; feet slender, enveloped in the membrane

to the base of the slender equal compressed toes; the heel-bones

elongate, longer than the foot; tail elongate, slender, attached and

Dr. J. E. Gray on species of Mammalia from the Aru Islands. 219.

extending a little beyond the end of the truncated interfemoral mem-

brane.

Cutting teeth —— ; upper large, chisel-shaped, separated by a

small space from each other and from the canines ; the lower small,

crowded, three-lobed ; canines conical ; grinders

The specimen is unfortunately rather injured about the face ; but

it appears quite distinct in form from any of the Horse-shoe Bats I

have hitherto observed.

This species appears to be quite distinct from Hipposideros

speoris of Timor, which is described as being a little larger than the

larger English Horse-shoe Bat, Phyllorhina bifer ; it has the follow-

ing synunyma :—

Vespertilio speoris, Schneid. in Schreb. Saugth. t. 59 B.; Shaw,

Zool. i. 147.

Rhinolophus marsupialis, Geoff. Cour. 1805.

Rhinolophus speoris, Geoff. Ann. Mus. xx. 261. t. 5. 266; Desm.

N. D. H. N. xl. 368; Mam. 126; Fischer, Mam. 139.

Rhinolophe cruménifere, Péron & Lesueur, Voy. aux Terres Aust.

Atlas. 4. 62.35.

Hab. Timor (Péron and Lesueur).

It is certainly distinct from Hipposideros insignis, Gray, Mag.

Zool. & Bot. ii. 492, the Rhinolophus insignis, Horst. Java, Vesp.

cyclope, Deschamps, MSS., from Java, which Fischer confounded

with the former, and which has acute ears on the sides of the face,

numerous lamelle under the front part of the nose-leaf, and is

133 inches in expanse of wings.

Fam. Macropopip.

3. CuscUs MACULATUS.

Phalanger, male, Buffon, H. N. xiii. t. 11.

Phalangista maculata, Desm. N. D. H. N. xxv. 473; Quoy &

Gaim. Voy. Astrol. t. 7.

Cuscus maculatus, Lesson & Garnot, Voy. Coq. Zool.

Cuscus macrourus, Lesson & Garnot, Voy. Coq. Zool. 150. t. 4.

Grey or black and white, variegated, without any dorsal streak.

Haé. Aru Island.

Two skulls, male.

The specimen sent is white, with scattered black spots, more

abundant on the middle of the back and sides.

4. Cuscus ORIENTALIS.

Cuseus Quoyii, Lesson, Mam. 220.

2 Phalangista Quoyii, Quoy & Gaimard, Voy. Uranie, Zool. 38

t. 62 72).

( P. maculata, part., Waterhouse, Mamm. i. 274.

P. Papuensis, Desm. Supp. 341.

Brown, grizzled, with a few white-tipped hairs, with a narrow black

dorsal streak.

Hab. Aru Island. ‘‘ Female,” young.

220 Zoological Society :—

5. Bevipeus ARIEL.

Belidea Ariel, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, x. 11.

Petaurus sciureus, Miller, Verhand. tabl.

Hab. Aru Island.

Female adult, with one young in the pouch.

DACTYLOPSILA.

Tail elongate, slender, depressed, densely clothed with fur, with

the exception of the under side near the tip, which is bald and cal-

lous, the end rather bushy. Ears elongate, rounded, bald, except

at the outer sides of the base. Pupil round? The fore-feet elon-

gate; toes very slender, compressed, very unequal in length, quite

free; the outer and third or middle toe nearly equal, the second

much the longest, the fourth and fifth short, the fifth or innermost

the shortest. The hind-feet slender, toes compressed, the two outer

toes elongate, nearly equal, the two inner about half the length and

united.

Skull (figs. 1, 2,3) depressed, very broad, with very large expanded

zygomatic arches ; the face narrow, compressed and nearly erect on

the sides, tapering in front ; the palate narrow, concave. The cutting

teeth pet ; the upper front elongate, projecting in front, rather taper-

ing and truncated at the tip ; the second and third compressed, chisel-

shaped, close together and to the front; the second small, the third

larger ; the fourth separated from the others by a small space and

placed on the intermaxillary suture, compressed, curved rather like

a canine; the lower front very long, projecting in front, curved,

rather tapering at the tip; the second, third and fourth small, trun-

cated, separated from each other ; the second largest, close to the base

of the front tooth ; the third small, separated from the second by a

small space; the fourth very small, far from the other; and at the

base of the front edge of the first grinder; in the space between the

Dr. J. E. Gray on species of Mammalia from the Aru Islands. 221

third and fourth on the right side of the jaw, is a cavity which

appears to have been filled with a tooth like the third one, but

there is no appearance of the tooth or cavity on the other side.

Canines? (—, upper small, compressed, conical, tapering like, but

smaller than, what I have called the hinder cutting teeth (fig. 3).

Grinders =, small, in two nearly straight lines parallel to each

other, and the hinder ones in each jaw rather smaller than the

front ones ; the front upper small, triangular ; the others four-sided

and square, with four tubercles, the outer front tubercle of the

second tooth being rather larger than the rest, which are nearly

equal among themselves, and the front lower grinder has only one

larger tubercle in the place of the two in the others (figs. 4, 5),

This genus is very distinct from the other genera of Phalangistina,

in the elongated and depressed form of the tail, the formation of the

fore-feet, and especially in the disposition and form of the teeth, as

well as in the broad depressed skull.

The following observations may assist in showing the value of

these characters.

In Cuseus the fingers are rather longer than in Hepoona, and the

third or middle finger is the longest, the others becoming gradually

shorter on each side.

In Phalangista proper (that is Trichosurus of Mr. Waterhouse) the

fingers are moderatelylong, the second and third are the longest and

equal, the fourth longer than the first, and the fifth or inner one

the shortest.

The hand of the Hepoona is very like that of Phalangista, both in

the proportion and form of the fingers; but the two inner fingers are

rather separated and opposable to the other three.

The tail, though covered with hair, is very unlike those of the

genera Hepoona and Phalangista, and is more like that of a squirrel,

but not so bushy; in Hepoona it is tapering and covered with

shortish hair, and has a slender tip ; in the more perfect specimen

222 Zoological Society :—

of Phalangista it is cylindrical and equally covered with hair on all

sides.

In Hepoona and Phalangista the grinders are placed in arched

series, and they are much larger compared with the size of the skull

than in this genus, and the hinder grinders are larger than the front

ones; the front grinder in the upper jaw is larger, more elongate,

and compressed.

6. DACTYLOPSILA TRIVIRGATA.

White; three broad black stripes on the back, the outer ones

commencing on the side of the nose, enclosing the eyes, and con-

tinued along the side of the back ; the central one commencing on

the crown and continued to the end of the tail, bemg narrower at

the base of the tail: a large black square spot on each side of the

chin, separated by a narrow central line ; a large spot on the upper

surface of each leg; the sides of the throat greyish, and the sides

of the body rather greyish from the dark colour of the base of

the fur on that part of the body; the tip of the tail whitish,

and the under part of the upper surface near the tip, with a nar-

row streak ending some way down the middle of the under side

of the tail, black; the under side of the tip of the tail is bald,

put scarcely callous ; the feet flesh-coloured, with few scattered short

whitish hairs; the ears nakedish, black when dry.

Hab. Aru Island.

A female : lives on fruit. ‘“ Teeth = (Wallace.)

Myoictis.

Head tapering; nose acute; whiskers strong. Tail depressed,

tapering, clothed with rather elongated hairs above and on the sides ;

the under side flat, nakedish. Feet moderate; soles bald to the

heel ; toes 5°5, free, compressed ; claws acute ; first and fifth front

toes equal ; second, third and fourth toes equal, longer ; hinder toes

free, weak, distinct, clawless ; thumb of hind-foot larger. Ears

roundish, nakedish. Scrotum pendulous.

Cutting teeth =; the upper with a central space in front between

them, in a close series on each side, and with a small interspace be-

tween them and the canines ; the first tooth very small, hidden in the

gums, the others all equal, lancet-shaped, rather crowded; the lower

forming a continued series, shelving forward, all lancet-shaped, sub-

equal; the front rather the longest and narrowest ; the hinder rather

broader.

Canines =) conical ; the upper not quite developed, only slightly

produced above the level of the other teeth ; the lower small, conical,

scarcely raised above the other teeth (figs. 8, 9).

False grinders, —, conical, compressed ; the lower with a very

obscure, the upper with a rather more distinct, conical tubercle on

the front and hinder edge (figs. 8, 9).

True grinders = the upper large, triangular, acutely lobed ;

Dr. J. E. Gray on species of Mammalia from the Aru Islands. 228

the lower compressed, very acutely lobed; the middle one in each

jaw the largest.

The angle of the lower jaw is produced, elongate and strongly in-

flexed, as is usual in Marsupialia.

Skull: length, 1 inch 3 lines ; width, all the zygomatic arch, 9 lines;

length of the tooth-line 9 lines. Length of the lower jaw 114, of

symphysis 41, of tooth-line 73 lines (figs. 6-9).

This genus is peculiar, because, as far as the dentition is concerned,

there is no character by which we should have determined that it

was a Marsupial animal; but the form of the angle of the lower

jaw at once shows its true affinity to that group. It was not until a

most careful examination of the space between the front upper cut-

ting teeth, that I could find any indication of the front pair of cut-

ting teeth found in the allied genus Antechinus.

This genus is evidently allied to the genus Antechinus of Australia;

but it is known at once by its external form, which is just that of a

small Indian Herpestes or Ichnewmon, having like that genus a de-

pressed tail with long spreading hair, broad and depressed at the

base, tapering to an acute tip which bears a pencil of hairs.

7. Myorctis WaLLACIt.

Rusty-brown, with interspersed black longer hairs; head redder ;

throat, chest and belly pale reddish ; side of the neck at the base of

the ears bright reddish ; ears, and the greater part of the tail bright

red-brown ; tip of the tail black.

Hab. Aru Island.

Male.

“In houses as destructive as rats to every thing eatable.

“Teeth 34:—Inc. 2; C. =; Prem. ==; M. =.” Wallace.

1 2—2? 3—3

8. Perame.tes (EcatmiperA) DoreyAnus.

Perameles Doreyanus, Quoy & Gaimard, Voy. Astrol. Zool. i. 100.

t. 16. f. 1-5; Waterhouse, Mamm. i. 386.

Echymipera Kalulu, Lesson, Régne Anim. 192.

Tail naked, rugose, squamose, wrinkled below. Toes 3:5: the

224 Zoological Society :—

two inner front large, equal; the outer small; the inner hind toe

short, clawless; the two index fingers small, united, clawed.

Hab. Aru Island.

Female.

«‘The skin is very thin and friable.

8 Ny 3—3 4—4

“Teeth 46:—Inc. 5; C. 4; Prem. 3-3; M. —.’— Wallace.

This enumeration agrees with that given by MM. Quoy and Gai-

mard, being two cutting teeth in the upper jaw less than are found in

the other species of the genus ; hence Lesson considered it as forming

a distinct genus.

The outer and inner toes of the fore-feet are very small, rudi-

mentary and clawless.

9, PARADOXURUS HERMAPHRODITA.

Hab. Ké Islands.

Is in the collection: it only appears to be a variety of the very vari-

able and extensively distributed Paradoxurus hermaphrodita.

On Apnrocatustes, A New Genus or SPONGIADZ FROM

Matacca. By Dr. Jonn Epwarp Gray, F.R.S., VEPCES:

In 1842 we received from Captain Sir Edward Belcher a Sponge

which he obtained in Malacca, which evidently forms a new genus

nearly allied to the Huplectella of Professor Owen. I therefore have

ereat pleasure in bringing a description of it before the Society.

APHROCALLISTES.

The sponge cylindrical, tubular, branched ; the end of the main

tube closed with an open network formed of spicula ; branches

cylindrical, simple, rarely bifid, rounded and closed at the end; the

simer surface of the tube with large unequal-sized concavities placed

in longitudinal series, having a large roundish oscule near its lower

edge.

The sponge hard, calcareous, with uniform, close, equal, regular

hexangular pores on the surface, and larger round ostioles in series

on the sides of the main tube. The outer surface formed of inter-

tangled transparent spines, which inosculate and unite with each

other at their intersections, forming a hard, rather brittle crust. The

inner surface lined with a coat of fusiform transparent spicula, which

are placed in bundles parallel to each other in the spaces between

the roundish internal apertures of the crowded small superficial

ores.

i This genus is very like Huplectella of Professor Owen in its ex-

ternal form, and especially in the upper part of the tube being closed

with network.

It differs from that genus in being more irregularly formed and

branched, and in the structure and calcareous composition of the

sponge itself.

In that genus the basis of the tube is formed of ropes of elongated

spicula placed at right angles longitudinally and transversely to the

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 225

axis of the tube, and covered with a more or less thick coat of smaller

spicula. In this genus the mass of the sponge is formed of small

spicula, which inosculate and are united together, forming a rather

hard mass pierced with numerous closed, small, uniform hexangular

pores, lined internally with a thin layer formed of elongate fusiform

spicula placed parallel in bundles in a more or less longitudinal

direction round the inner mouth of the pores.

The main tube is smaller at the base, gradually enlarges upward,

and is then subcylindrical and irregular on the surface.

When examined externally, eight or ten longitudinal ridges are

observed, between which are placed a more or less regular series of

unequal-sized squarish concavities ; at the lower edge of each is to

re observed a large round oscule, commencing with the outer sur-

ace.

APHROCALLISTES BEATRIX.

Hab. Malacca.

We have in the British Museum an imperfect specimen of Euplec-

tella, which was brought home by Capt. Sir Edward Belcher at the

same time as the above.

March 9, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

On some NEW OR LITTLE-KNOWN SPECIES OF ACCIPITRES,

IN THE COLLECTION OF THE NorwicH Museum. By

Puaitie Lutuey Scuater, M.A.

At the request of Mr. J. H. Gurney, I exhibit to the meeting

some interesting birds belonging to the fine series of specimens of

the order Accipitres, which that gentleman has collected for the

Norwich Museum. Among them appear to be several new or little-

known species, concerning which I beg to offer the following

remarks :—

1. URUBITINGA SCHISTACEA.

Asturina schistacea, Sund. Ofv. Af. K. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1849,

p- 132.

Faico ardesiacus, Licht. in Mus. Berol.

Morphnus schistaceus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 261.

3g adultus. Totus nigro-cinerascens : cauda nigra, fascia media

angusta margineque apicali albis: orbitis subnudis: rostri

apice nigra, huyjus basi cum pedibus fiavis.

Long. tota 16:0, alze 11°0, caudee 7:0, rostri a rictu 1°4, tarsi 3°3.

Sundeval has given an excellent description of this bird, which

does not appear to have been recognized by any other writers except

Prince Bonaparte. By this author it is alluded to in an article en-

titled ‘‘Revue générale de la classe des Oiseaux,’’ in the ‘ Revue et

Mag. de Zool.’ for 1850, p. 474, and again in the ‘ Comptes Rendus ’

for 1855, under the specific name ardesiacus, the synonym “ Falco

ardesiacus, Licht. in Mus. Berol.’’ being said to refer to it.

226 Zoological Society :—

Of the two examples of this species belonging to the Norwich

Museum, one was procured by Mr. H. W. Bates* on the Rio Ja-

varri—a branch of the Upper Amazon; and the other, I have no

doubt, from the ticket with which it is labelled, is from the interior

of Bolivia. So we may conclude that the interior wood-region of

Peru and Bolivia is the natural habitat of this species.

There are at least three birds of this group which are in their

adult plumage slaty-black or blackish, with a white bar across the

tail. The first of these and largest in size is the Falco urubitinga

of the older authors. Lesson in 1839 proposed to convert the term

Urubitinga into a generic name, and it was so adopted by Lafres-

naye in 1842, before the creation of Cabanis’s genus Hypomorphnus

for the same type. See M. de Lafresnaye’s remarks on this subject

in the ‘ Revue Zoologique’ for 1848, p. 240. With regard to the

specific name to be employed for this bird, we cannot use Brisson’s

** brasiliensis,” as is done in Strickland’s ‘Ornithological Synonyms,’

because Brisson’s+ names are not to be employed in a binominal

system of nomenclature. Nor is it proper to adopt Illiger’s MS.

term ‘‘ longipes,”’ as proposed in Prince Bonaparte’s ‘ Conspectus,’

while there are many other names for this bird already published.

So the earliest specific name available seems to be Shaw’s zonurus

(Falco zonurus, Shaw’s Zool. vii. p. 62), and this species should

stand as Urubitinga zonura. It appears to have an extensive range,

extending from Paraguay, all over Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Guiana and

New Granada into Southern Mexico, where specimens were obtained

by M. Salle.

The second allied species of Uruditinga is the * Falco anthra-

cinus, Licht. in Mus. Berol.,”’ under which name it is described by

Nitzsch in a note to his ‘ Pterylographie’ (p. 83). This is the

same as Du Bus’s Morphnus mezicanus (Bull. Ac. Brux. 1847).

See M. de Lafresnaye’s observations in the ‘ Revue Zoologique’ for

1848 (p. 240), where he clearly points out the differences between

this bird and the Urubitinga zonura. The Urubitinga anthracina

inhabits the northern portion of South America, Guianat and New

Granada§, Guatemala and Southern Mexico||, where MM. Botteri

and Sallé both procured it, and M. Du Bus’s types were collected.

The third species is Urubitinga schistacea as characterized above,

which is distinguishable at once from the preceding by its inferior

size and narrower tail-band. The following diagnoses are sufficient

to point out the differences between these three species 4] :—

1. U. zonura. Major, caude dimidio basali et margine apicali

albis.

* See P..Z..S:,1857, p..261.

t See British Association’s Report on Zoological Nomenclature, rule 2, p. 5.

~ Schomburgk, Reisen in Brittisch Guiana, iii. p. 740.

§ MM. Verreaux have received examples from Santa Martha.

| See P. Z. S. 1857, pp. 211 & 227.

“| A fourth black Urubitinga, allied to U. anthracina, has lately been described

by Cabanis from Cuba under the name Hypomorphnus Gundlachii. See Cab.

Journ. f. Orn. 1854, Erinnerungs-heft, p. Ixxx.

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 227

2. U.anthracina. Media, caude fascia lata et margine apicali

albis.

3. U.schistacea. Minor, caude fascia angusta et margine apicali

albis.

Such are these birds in their adult plumage: in their immaturity

they are quite different. I have not yet seen the young of U. schis-

tacea, as I now think the specimen in one of Sallé’s Mexican col-

lections called Morphnus schistaceus, juv. (P. Z. 8. 1857, p. 227)

does not really belong here; but the other two species in their im-

mature state are both irregularly flammulated on the lower surface

and back, and have numerous buffy-white cross-bars on the tail and

under tail-coverts. Specimens of U. zonura in this state are in the

British Museum, and we have a fine example of a similar bird now

alive in our Gardens.

I have hitherto used for these birds the generic term Morphaus,

following Mr. G. R. Gray and other writers ; but on considering that

the true type of Morphnus is the Falco guianensis of Daudin—a bird

of different structure and more nearly allied to Thrasaétus—I think

they stand better disconnected. But the Falco unicinctus of Tem-

minck and Falco meridionalis of Latham—two allied species—for

which Kaup’s term Spizigeranus may be employed subgenerically—

ought, as M. de Lafresnaye* has observed, to come close to the true

Urubitinge ; and Buteogallus with its two species (equinoctialis and

nigricollis) follows next. <A bird more closely corresponding to the

Urubitinge in its changes of colouring is Urubitornis solitaria, of

which M. Jules Verreaux has described the several stages of plu-

mage in the Society’s ‘ Proceedings+;’ but it is distinguishable by its

shorter and much more robust tarsi.

2. BuTEO ZONOCERCUS, Sp. nov.

Schistacescenti-niger unicolor, alis extus brunnescente tinctis:

remiguin pogoniis interioribus albo obsolete transfasciatis :

cauda nigra; vitta inferiore lata, et alteris duabus superiori-

bus angustioribus et imperfectis cum margine apicali albis :

rostro nigro, cera aurantia, pedibus flavis.

Long. tota 17:0, ale 14°7, caudz 7°5, rostri a rictu 1°3, tarsi 2-9.

Hab. Guatemala.

In plumage this bird is very much like the typical Urubitinga,

being of a nearly uniform ashy-black, tinged with brown on the sea-

pularies and secondaries, and with a broad white band across the

tail. Above this are two other bands, much narrower and not quite

complete, and the tail is likewise tipped with white. The colour of

these bands is pure white on the under surface; on the upper sur-

face it is cinereous on the outer webs of the intecal rectrices, and on

both webs of the medial pair, but pure white on the inner webs of

the lateral tail-feathers. The lowest band is about 13 inch in

breadth, the second not half an inch, and the highest is quite nar-

row. ‘There are distinct traces of white cross-bands on the inner

* Rev. Zool. 1848, p. 240. + See P. Z. S. 1856, p. 145.

228 Zoological Society :-—

webs of the wing-feathers. The wings are, however, much more

elongated than in the Urubitinge, the third primary (which is

longest) extending 4 inches beyond the secondaries. The fourth

and fifth primaries are only slightly shorter than the third, the first

being nearly of the same length as the longest secondary. The

general form seems to be that of the Buteones appertaining to the

subgenus called Tachytriorchis, and the nearest ally of the present

species among the specimens of the British Museum appears, as has

been pointed out to me by Mr. G. R. Gray, to be his Buteo albono-

tatus (Cat. Accipitres [1848], p. 36). This latter bird does not

appear to me to differ from Cabanis’s Buteo abbreviatus, described

in Schomburgk’s ‘ Reisen in Brittisch Guiana,’ vol. ii. p. 739, and I

should be inclined to consider the two names as synonymous.

3. SYRNIUM ALBITARSE, Sp. Nov.

Syrnium albotarse, G. R. Gray in Mus. Brit.

Supra brunnescenti-nigrum, plumis omnibus pallido rufo semel

aut pluries late transfasciatis; pileo unicolore nigricante,

plumis subtus pallide rufis : alis caudaque nigricantibus ; remi-

gum pogonits exterioribus quinque sive sex maculis quadratis

pallide rufis marginatis; rectricibus vittis quinque et altera ter-

minali latiore supra pallide rufis, subtus magis albidis apparen-

tibus transfasciatis : facie, loris, mento et plumis supra-ocula-

ribus albis : subtus pure album, rufescente mixtum, plumarum

terminationibus latis interdum etiam scapis saturate brunneis ;

tibiis et tarsorum parte superiore rufis, horum parte inferiore

albis : rostri plumbet apice flava, pedibus fuscis.

Long. tota 15:0, alee 11°0, caudze 6°5, tarsi 1°9.

The name of this Owl was imserted in the list of specimens of Ac-

cipitres in the collection of the British Museum published in 1848 ;

but no description of it has yet appeared. The type in the British

Museum is immature, and nearly agrees with one in my own collec-

tion. Mr. Gurney’s specimen, from which my description is taken,

appears to be nearly adult. All these three examples were received

in collections from Bogota, and they are the only individuals of this

species that I have yet met with. The face of this bird is white ;

the head above brownish-black outside, with the bases of the fea-

thers bright rufous. The whole upper surface is brownish-black

varied with this rufous colouring, every feather being crossed with a

broad subterminal band of rufous, sometimes with a second, and

these bands being occasionally incomplete in the middle across the

shaft. The primaries and secundaries are marked externally with

rather square-shaped rufous spots, four or five in number. The tail

has five cross-bands besides the terminal one formed in the same

way, which bands appear whitish on the lower surface. Below,

the colouring is creamy-white tinged with pale rufous, the breast-

feathers, particularly on the sides, having broad terminations of

black-brown, the belly-feathers narrower terminations and also

lateral margins of the same colour. The tarsi are creamy-white with

Mr. W. Thompson on the British Actiniade. 229

a yellowish tinge in both my specimens, more nearly pure white in

that in the British Museum. They are thickly feathered down to

the fissure of the toes. The form is that of other South American

Syrnia, the fourth and fifth wing-feathers being equal and longest,

only slightly exceeding the third. The specimen which I take for

the younger bird only differs in having the head varied like the back,

and being generally more rufous.

4. Scops usTA, sp. nov.

Supra saturate castaneo-brunnea, plumis omnibus nigro subtilis-

sime vermiculatis: facie et gula pure castaneo-brunneis, hac

pallidiore: linea post regionem auricularem, cornuum capitis

extantium marginibus latis et pileo supero nigris : alarum

pennis pallide castaneo-brunneis nigro punctulatis, intus autem

ochracescenti-albidis, quinque aut sex fasciis latis in pogonio

externo, maculas quadratas efficientibus, nigris transvittatis ;

cauda ex eodem coiore sed fasciis nigris pene obsoletis : subtus

clarius brunnea, lineis angustis longitudinalibus, scapas pluma-

rum occupantibus, nigris parce notata: tectricibus alarum in-

ferioribus sordide albis: tarsis pallide fulvis: rostro et pedi-

bus flavis.

Long. tota 8°5, alee 7:0, caudee 4:0, tarsi 1:2.

Hab. Ega on the Upper Amazon (H. W. Bates).

This species is distinguishable from every other South American

member of the genus, as far as J am acquainted with them, by its

rich brown colouring above and below, and by the longitudinal lines

below not being crossed as in Scops choliba and S. atricapilla.

REMARKS ON THE Britisu ACTINIADA, AND RE-ARRANGEMENT

Or THE GENERA. By W. Tuompson.

Observations extending over many years, on the characters and the

habits of the British species, clearly proved to me that the genera of

British Actinie required great alterations ; and I submit the present

classification as an improvement on those hitherto adopted.

It is well understood that the principal generic characters are de-

rived from modifications and differences existing in the tegumentary

system and in the tentacula. Dr. Johnston, in his ‘ History of

British Zoophytes,’ published in 1847, made but one British genus,

Actinia of Linnzeus, and in this he included all known British spe-

cies; but he divided it into two sections or subgenera, the one cha-

racterized by having the skin smooth, the other by having the skin

covered with porous warts. Mr. Gosse, in a paper read before the

Linnean Society in the early part of 1855, divided the family into

three genera; namely, SaGarriA, destitute of warts, and emitting

filaments from pores; Bunopes, studded with warts, and without

pores and filaments; and ActrntA, having a perfectly smooth skin,

and destitute of warts, pores or filaments. The character arising

from the presence or absence of filaments is not of very great weight,

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 16

230 Zoological Society :—

inasmuch as the presence of filaments depends entirely on the pre-

sence of pores in the skin, and through which they are extruded ;

consequently, when there are no pores ; there are no filaments.

These genera comprised species possessing characters so different

from each other, and so well established, that I found they must not

remain united. For instance, the genus Sagartia included, amongst

others, 4. dianthus, A. bellis and A. parasitica; but although the

characters were useless as generic distinctives, yet they appear to

me to be of sufficient importance to be used as characters for the

division of the Actiniade, and I have accordingly used them for that

purpose.

On examining Milne-Edwards’s ‘ Histoire des Coralliéres,’ I was

pleased to find that my views on this point were in accordance with

those of that naturalist, he having divided the family into three sec-

tions, which he calls respectively Smooth Actinia, Warty Actinia, and

Perforated Actinia, or with pores, each being equal to one of Mr.

Gosse’s genera and my subdivisions. The true generic characters

of the Actiniade are to be found (as I have already mentioned) in

the integuments and in the tentacula; these latter, although varying

with age, are yet constant in form and number in adults of the same

species. From these characters amongst others, I had divided the

family into eight genera (exclusive of Anthea and Adamsia), of

which the types were Actinia equina, A. gemmacea, A. clavata, A.

bellis, A. viduata, A. dianthus, A. parasitica and A. coriacea ; and

these I named respectively Actinia, Bunodes, Cyrtactis, Heliactis,

Sagartia, Actiniloba, Aster, and Cribrina. My divisions and genera

were formed from examinations of British species only, and I was

not a little surprised to find that they so closely accorded with

Milne-Edwards’s labours, founded as they are on an examination of

all described species. The only genus containing a British species

that I have not verified is his genus Dysactis, m which he includes

A. biserialis. This species, however, was described by the late

Professor Forbes as occurring plentifully on the shores of the island

of Herm; I have therefore admitted it as a genus on the authority

of Milne-Edwards. The British species are distributed amongst six

of his genera, namely, Metridium, Actinia, Paractis, Dysactis, Oerena.

and Adamsia ; of these, Actinia is the same as mine, Paractis I have

used in lieu of Sagartia, and Dysactis I also admit unaltered—they

are represented by detinia equina, Actinia viduata, and Actinia bise-

rialis. My genus Actinilobais the same as his genus Metridium, and

includes oti dianthus. Tretain Actiniloba, as being the most cha-

racteristie name. His genus Cereus includes A. coriacea, A. gemmacea,

A. clavataand A. bellis ; these species, it was quite evident, could not

be included in one genus; indeed M.-Edwards divides his genus Cereus

into several sections, 4. coriacea being in one section, 4. gemmacea

and 4. clavata in a second, and A. éel/is in the third. Restricting,

therefore, his genus Cereus to 4. gemmacea, instead of retaining Mr.

Gosse’s name Bunodes, I retain my division of the remainder of the

species under the generic names of Cribrina, Cyrtactis and Heliactis.

His genus ddamsia includes Actinia parasitica and Adamsia pallhata,

Mr. W. Thompson on the British Actiniade. 231

two very dissimilar species. No one, I am sure, who has ever seen

these Polypes would imagine for an instant that they can possibly

belong to the same genus; and indeed the fact that ddamsia palliata

secretes a horny base, an incipient polypidom, induces me to suggest

the necessity of forming on its characters a distinct family. I have

therefore constituted a genus for the reception of Actinia parasitica,

and withdrawing the suggested name Sagartia from the genus that

will now stand as Paractis, I have transferred it to this genus. The

genus Adamsia I at present retain under the family Actiniade ; and

without entering into the question in this paper as to its proper

position, 1 would suggest that it will eventually be placed between

the Polypes that secrete a polypidom and those without a poly-

pidom.

Of late years ddamsia palliata has so decreased in this locality,

that I have seen but one since the severe winter some three or four

years ago; this was given me in September last by my friend Mr.

Busk, and is still alive and well in one of my tanks, but too valuable

to submit to the dissecting knife. I trust this summer to obtain

other specimens, when I hope to settle its proper position amongst

the Anthozoa.

As regards species, I refrain from touching on that point in the pre-

sent paper, but purpose doing so at an early period, when a careful

examination of a larger number of individuals shall enable me to

speak with authority as to which are bond fide species and also those

that are merely varieties. The rage for marine vivaria has thrown

many useless workers into the field; and I much fear that what

may possibly tend to a love of nature does not always as a matter

of course advance science. The improper multiplication of species

is a serious injury to the well-being of Natural History ; and, I must

admit, I should like to see a council formed of five, ten, fifty, or any

number of the most celebrated naturalists, and that no new species

or arrangement should be published without their consent being first

obtained. This would effectually prevent varieties and deformities

creeping in as species, and objects already described and known

being reproduced as new species, or, may be, even as new genera.

Proposed rearrangement of British Actiniade, with a revision of

the genera :—

ANTHOZOA, Owen.

Body soft, contractile, in every part symmetrical. Tentacles

hollow, possessing thread-cells, and in most with pectinated margins,

in uninterrupted circles or groups. Stomach suspended by radiating

mesogastric folds in an abdominal cavity. No intestine ; mouth and

vent generally one, placed in the centre of the upper disk, very dila-

table. With or without polypary ; when present usually internal.

Without polypary.

ACTINIADE.

Free and solitary, or gregarious. Tentacles simple, rarely branched

16%

232 Zoological Society.

or clavate, more than twelve, often in more than one row in wnin-

terrupted circles. Body single, fleshy, elongate or conical, fixed

by its base, and generally with the power of locomotion. Base

broad and adherent.

A. Body without warts or pores ; skin smooth.

ANTHEA, Johnston.

Body adherent, cylindrical, smooth, without tubercles on the

edge of disk. Tentacles numerous, elongated, taper, flaccid, scarcely

retractile, longer than diameter of disk.

Type, Anthea cereus.

ActintiA, Linneus.

Body smooth, conoid or cylindrical. Tentacles numerous, in one

or more uninterrupted circles, conical, undivided, subequal and en-

tirely retractile, shorter than diameter of disk; margin of upper

disk furnished with a row of tubercles.

Actinia mesembryanthemum.

Paractis, M.-Edw.

Body smooth, conoid or cylindrical. Tentacles few in number,

in one or more uninterrupted circles, conical, undivided, subequal,

filiform, very long. No tubercles on the edge of the upper disk.

Actinia viduata.

Dysactis, M.-Edw.

Tentacles forming two distinct circles, continuous at their base,

those of the inner row three times as long as the outer row, nume-

rous, short and subequal. Margin of disk without tubercles.

Actinia biserialis.

B. Body studded more or less with verruciform tubercles or

sucking-glands.

Crisprina, Ehrenb.

Body studded with glandular warts irregularly placed, suctorial,

distributed over the whole surface of the body. ‘Tentacles short,

thick, obtuse, subequal, very numerous.

Actinia coriacea.

Cereus, M.-Edw.

Body with glandular warts placed in vertical lines and unequal.

Tentacles not numerous, chiefly marginal, much spread and bent,

conical, rather stout ; length about equal to diameter of disk.

Actinia gemmacea.

CyrtTactis, mihi.

Body rough, with sucking-glands in close-set perpendicular ridges

or vertical rows, and all equal, the whole height of the body. Centre

Miscellaneous. 233

of disk much more raised than the edges. Disk greater in diameter

than the pillar of the body. Tentacles long, moderately slender,

generally horizontal to the disk, mostly marginal, their tips con-

stantly curled back.

Actinia clavata.

HEttiactTrts, mihi.

The glandular warts placed only on the upper portion of the body.

Tentacles very numerous, short, varying in length, crowded towards

the edge of the disk, and of moderate thickness ; oral disk much

expanded.

Actinia bellis.

C. Body without glandular warts, and with pores for the

passage of thread-cells.

AcCTINILOBA, Blainv.

Skin soft; disk very large. Tentacles very numerous, short, vary-

ing but little in length, and forming a thick filamentous fringe ;

margin of disk lobed.

Actinia dianthus.

SAGARTIA, Gosse.

Skin coriaceous, occasionally wrinkled, firm to the touch. Ten-

tacles numerous, not particularly long, retractile, having great power

of elongation. Base broad and circular. Body cylindrical. Pores

situated near the base, and varying in size. Parasitic.

Actinia parasitica.

ApamsiA, Forbes.

Skin soft. Tentacles scarcely retractile, short. Base when young

circular, afterwards expanding laterally until the extreme points

meet, and form a circle. Disk circular or oblong according to

the form of the base. Base secreting a horny membrane. Body

much depressed, not cylindrical.

Adamsia palliata.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Animals of Millepora are Hydroid Acalephs, and not Polyps.

By Prof. Acassiz (from recent letters to J. D. Dana).

“‘T HAVE seen in the Tortugas something very unexpected. Mille-

pora is not an Actinoid polyp, but a genuine Hydroid, closely allied

to Hydractinia. This seems to carry the whole group of Favositidee

over to the Acalephs, and displays a beautiful array of this class

from the Silurian to this day.”

The drawings of Professor Agassiz which have been sent us for

examination are so obviously Hydractini@ in most of their characters,

that no one can question the relation. With regard to the reference

of all the Favositidz (a group including Favosites, Favistella, Pocil-

234 Miscellaneous.

lopora, &c., as well as the minuter Millepora, Chetetes, &c.) to the

Acaleph class, direct evidence is not yet complete, as the animal of

the Pocillopora has not been figured by any author on Zoophytes*.

On this point Professor Agassiz states in a subsequent letter, after

observing that the Sideropore obviously are polyps :— :

“There are two types of radiating lamellee, which are not homo-

logous. In true Polyps (excluding Favositidee as Hydroids) the

lamellee extend from the outer body-wall inward, along the whole

height of that wall, and the transverse partitions reach only from

one lamella to the other, so that there is no continuity between them,

while the radiating lamelle are continuous from top to bottom in

each cell. In Milleporidz the partitions are transverse and con-

tinuous across the cells, and so are they in Pocillopora and in all

Tabulata and Rugosa ; while the radiating lamelle, where they exist,

as in Pocillopora and many other Favositidee, rise from these hori-

zontal floors, and do not extend through the transverse partitions ;

indeed they are limited within the spaces of two successive floors, or

to the upper surface of the last. A careful comparison of the coral-

lum of Millepora and Pocillopora with that of Hydractinia has

satisfied me that these radiating partitions of the Favositidee, far

from being productions of the body-wall, are foot-secretions, to be

compared to the axis of the Gorgonia, Corallium, &e., and their

seeming radiating lamelle to the vertical grooves or keels upon the

surface of the latter, which, reduced to a horizontal projection, would

also make the impression of radiating lamelle in the foot of the

polyp. If this be so, you see at once that the apparent radiating

lamellee of the Favositidee no longer indicate an affinity with the

true Polyps, but simply a peculiar mode of growth of the corallum ;

and of these we have already several types,—that of Actinoids, that of

Halcyonoids, that of Bryozoa, that of Millepora and other Corallines,

to which we now add that of the Hydroids. Considering the sub-

ject in this light, is there any further objection to uniting all the

Favositidee with the Hydroids,—Sideropora and Alveopora being of

course removed from the Favositide? It is of great importance

in a geological point of view, and for years I have been antici-

pating some such result, as you may see by comparing my remarks

in the ‘ American Journal,’ May 1854, p. 315. If all the Tabulata

and Rugosa are Hydroids, as I believe them to be, the class of Aca-

lephs is no longer an exception to the simultaneous appearance of all

the types of Radiata in the lowest fossiliferous formations, and the

peculiar characters which these old Hydroid corals present appear in

a new and very instructive aspect.”’—Stliman’s Journal, July 1858.

* From the specimens of the species of this genus which I procured in

the Pacific, I never obtained a clear view of the polyps, and hence made

no figure. The brief description on page 523 of my Report may be rea-

sonably doubted until confirmed by new researches. The much larger size

of the cells in Pocillopora, Favosites, and Favistella than in Millepora,

and the frequently distinct rays in these cells, are the characters I had

mentioned to Prof. Agassiz as suggesting a doubt as to their being Aca-

lephs, and to this what follows above relates.—J. D. D.

Miscellaneous. 205

On new species of Birds from the Rio Napo, in the Republic of

Ecuador. By Pitre Luriey Suarer, M.A.

ELZNIA LUTEIVENTRIS.

Supra fusca unicolor, alis caudaque paulo saturatioribus ; gut-

ture griseo, abdomine medio et crisso cum tectricibus alarum

inferioribus sulphureo-flavis, pectore et lateribus oleagineis ;

rostro et pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 5:3, alee 2°8, caudee 2-3, tarsi 0°6.

A typical El/enia of the same form as E. pagana, the type of the

genus, but of smaller size, and differing in colouring from all mem-

bers of the group with which I am acquainted.

CreurGops*, genus novum, Lanioni et Trichothraupidi affine, sed

rostro diverso. Rostrum breve, crassum, culmine versus apicem

incurvo, gonyde vix ascendente, commissura modice arcuata,

mandibula superiore dente mediali distincto et altero finali

instructo ; vibrissis rictalibus nonnullis: ale modice, caude

tertiam partem attingentes, remigibus secunda, quarta et quinta

e@qualibus et longissimis, prima his paulo breviore: cauda

longa, apice quadrata.

CREURGOPS VERTICALIS, J. Verreaux, MS.

Supra fuscescenti-schistacea, pileo semicristato saturate ferru-

gineo, hujus lateribus cum fronte nigricantibus: alis caudaque

Jusco-nigris ; subtus ferruginescenti-ochracea : rostro nigri-

cante, gonydis basi albida, pedibus fuscis.

Long. tota 6-2, alee 3-2, caudex 2°5, rostri a rictu 0-7, tarsi 0°85.

This peculiar Tanager seems to belong to the neighbourhood of

Lanio, Tachyphonus and their allies, and, like the former, has a very

sharply defined notch about two-thirds of the distance along the edge

of the upper mandible. But the bill is otherwise very different from

that of Lanio, being much shorter, broader, thicker, and more swollen,

with the culmen much arched towards the tip. The single specimen

which I have examined is not in very good condition, but its perfect

distinctness from every known species of Tanager is obyious at first

sight.—Proc. Zool. Soc. Jan. 26, 1858.

On the Genera Orbulina and Globigerina of D’ Orbigny.

By L. F. Pourra.es.

Hitherto the two genera of Foraminifera established under the

names of Orbulina and Globigerina by D’Orbigny had been widely

separated in the classification; he had even put them in different

orders, although he had remarked the similarity in the structure of

the shell. Ehrenberg also places them in different families (the

former under the name of Mi/iola), but marks the two genera of

Miliola and Gromia as doubtful, and appends to the characteristics

* kpeoupyos lanius, et OW facies.

236 Miscellaneous. :

of the family of Miliolina the query, “ An status juvenilis reliquo-

rum?” M.S. Schultze makes of Orbulina a family among his

Monothalamia, whilst Globigerina is included in a subfamily of the

family of Turbinoida among the Polythalamia.

I think I am now able % show, by numerous preparations, that

these two supposed genera are only different stages in the cyclical

or alternate generation of the same species. Having had an oppor-

tunity of examining large numbers of well-preserved specimens ob-

tained from the bottom beneath the Gulf Stream by the U.S. Coast

Survey, and entrusted to me for examination by Prof. Bache, Super-

intendent, I have found in nearly one-half of the Orduling examined,

young Globigerine more or less developed, and attached to the inside

of the Orbulina by numerous very slender spicules. Only one Glodz-

gerina is developed in an Orbulina, whose cavity it gradually fills

up, and whose shell it finally bursts to make its escape. At that

time the Globigerina has already nearly attained its full size, and I

have counted as many as sixteen cells in a specimen having yet room

for several more before filling up the parent Ordulina.

How the Orbulina-form is reproduced I have not yet traced out.

None were noticed of very small size among those examined. Large

individuals are frequently found containing a smaller one filling the

cavity exactly ; the old shell is finally cast “off, and appears to remain

attached in fragments to the young one for some time. I am un-

able to say as yet whether this is to be considered as an act of re-

production, or merely as a renewing of the shell. It is not rare to

find Orbuline with this double shell containing already a young

Globigerina.

I hope to be able to follow out the whole chain of development of

these beings; but the above facts have appeared to me interesting

enough to be at once communicated.—Silliman’s Journal, July 1858.

On the Anatomy and Development of the genus Myzostoma, Leuckart.

By C. SEMPER.

The discovery of a new species of Myzostoma, living, like the three

others already known, parasitically upon Comatule, has afforded

M. Semper opportunity for renewed studies on the affinities of this

singular genus. The systematic position of the Myzostome remains

as problematical as before. ‘These parasites remind us, by their

suckers, of the Entozoa, Annelida, and Crustacea; their feet are

formed like the rudimentary extremities of the setigerous Amnelida ;

their digestive apparatus allies them either to the Entozoa and the

Annelida, or to the Arachnida; and their hermaphroditism has its

analogue among the Entozoa, Annelida, Arachnida (Tardigrada),

and Crustacea. As to their nervous system, it is unlike that of any

other animals. The form of very young individuals has some simi-

larity to that of the Tardigrada.—Zeitschr. fur wiss. Zoologie, ix.

p- 48, 1857.

THE ANNALS

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

(THIRD SERIES.]

No. 10. OCTOBER 1858.

XXIV.—On Fecundation in Kudorina elegans and Cryptoglena.

By H. J. Carter, Esq., H.C.S. Bombay.

[| With a Plate. |

For the last four years, just about the end of May and beginning

of June, when the water in the tanks becomes very low, and.is

reduced to two or three pools, or a shower of rain makes such

pools in those which are already dry, and when, in both instances,

a development of Euglena has taken place, I have seized these

opportunities, which are but of short duration, as the develop-

ment soon becomes expended, to study, not only the Euglene,

but Eudorina, Gonium, and Chlamydococcus, which all make

their appearance at the same time, more or less together, and in

such numbers as to give a deep-green tint to the water in which

they are generated.

This year my attention has been more particularly directed to

Eudorina ; for in one pool I found it undergoing fecundation,

which bemg similar to that described by Dr. F. Cohn in Volvox

globator*, an account of it will serve not only to confirm what

that eminent Infusorialist has stated, but also to furnish a fresh

instance of this process in another and closely allied organism.

Before, however, going to the fecundation, it is desirable that

we should trace the development of Hudorina up to this point ;

but not having been able to recognize this organism in its sim-

plest form, that is, as a solitary single cell, nor any stage of its

segmentation prior to the third degree of duplicative subdivision

(that is, into 16 cells, when the mother-coverings have dropped

off), I must begin from this period.

At this time, which we will call the first stage, the Hudorina

* Comptes Rendus, t. xlii. p. 1054, Nov, 24, 1856.

Ann. & Mag, N. Hist, Ser.3, Vol. ii. 17

238 Mr. H. J. Carter on Feeundation

consists of an ovoid green body, partially divided into the num-

ber of cells just mentioned, each of which is provided with a

pair of cilia which project through a thin gelatinous envelope that

surrounds the whole mass. It is now in its smallest size, about

5-5400ths of an inch long, that is, not more than the diameter

of the Chlamydococcus-cell, fig. 9. Pl. VIIL., and swims by means

of its cilia, with the small end foremost, and with a rotatory

motion on its longitudinal axis, as often from right to left as

from left to right. An eye-spot is also present in each of the

four anterior cells, but seldom visible in the rest at this period.

As the development progresses and the Hudorina increases in

size, the division becomes complete, and each cell, in addition to

the granular mucus and chlorophyll which line its interior, may

now be seen to be provided internally with a spherical trans-

lucent utricle (which is the nucleus), an eye-spot situated peri-

pherically and midway between the cilia and the opposite end of

the cell, a contracting vesicle* at the base of the cilia, and the

pair of cilia themselves. Each pair of cilia passes out through a

single channel in the gelatinous cell or envelope, which has now

become much thickened—and thus their movements are limited

up to this point,—while a defined line internally marks the

boundary of the original cell-wall, through which, of course, the

cilia also pass (Pl. VIII. figs. 1, 2).

During the second stage, each of the cells again undergoes

duplicative division (the nuclei having been doubled previously),

and the whole organism becoming larger, they are separated

from each other, and, being no longer subject to the compression

which, with the lines of fissiparation tending towards the

centre of the ellipse (see section, fig. 2), and their confined posi-

tion, induced a more or less conical and polygonal shape, now

become spherical and enclosed respectively within distinct trans-

parent capsules (fig. 3). The Hudorina is now 80-5400ths of

an inch long, and contains thirty-two green cells, which are

evidently situated between two large, ovoid, colourless, trans-

parent cells, one of which bounds a similarly-shaped cavity in

the centre of the Hudorina (fig. 2c), and the other is the original

cell-wall (a), round which again is the newly secreted envelope

(4),—while the green cells are further fixed in their respective

positions by the passage of their cilia through the two latter,

both original cell-wall and envelope (fig. 2 2 and fig. 8 e). Thus

we see that the Hudorina is derived from a simple (daughter-)

cell, and that its green cells have resulted from a duplicative

subdivision of the green matter which lined the cavity of this

* Gonium has two “ contracting vesicles,’ unless, as in Huglena, one is

a reservoir to the other.

ott =

tn Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 239

eell*. Arrived at this state, which we shall presently sce is that

of maturity, we also observe that the posterior part of the enve-

lope becomes crenulated, apparently from flaccidity (fig. 3 9).

After this, however, it again presents another phase, which

may be called the third or last stage of development. Here

each cell again undergoes a rapid duplicative subdivision into

sixteen or thirty-two cells, which, in the group, assume a more

or less oblong figure respectively ; and thus the Hudorina’s length

is increased to 50-5400ths of an inch. The internal structure

now gradually breaks down before the external envelope, when

for a short time the groups may be seen swimming about the

cavity thus formed, till at last the envelope bursts and they

become liberated. What becomes of them afterwards, I can-

not state from observation; but the green cells having been

greatly reduced in size by the latter subdivisions, it is probable

that many of the groups, if they do not form new individuals,

sooner or later become disintegrated, and the Hudorina thus

eventually perishes +.

When, however, the process of impregnation takes place, the

division stops at the second stage, that is, when the Hudorina

consists of thirty-two cells of the largest kind, each of which is

about 1-1866th of an inch in diameter within its capsule, which

is therefore a little larger. The process is as follows :—

At a certain period after the second stage has become fully

developed, the contents of the four anterior cells respectively

present lines of duplicative subdivision which radiate from a

point in the posterior part of the cell (and this distinguishes

this subdivision from that (fig. 1) which took place in the ori-

ginal cell from which the Hudorina was derived, and that which

takes place in the third or last stage of development just de-

scribed, where the lines of fissiparation tend towards the centre

of the ellipse or ovoid cell). These lines, which ultimately

divide the green contents of the cell into sixty-four portions,

where the division stops, necessarily entail (from their radiating

from a point and terminating a little beyond the centre of the

cell) a pyriform shape on the segments, from whose extremities

a mass of cilia may be observed waving in the anterior part of

the cell of the parent, while yet her own pair of cilia are in

active motion, and her eye-spot still exists in sifu on one side of

her progeny,—thus showing that the latter may be almost fully

* It is assumed that the green contents get their cell-wall through in a

lag state, before the segmentation commences, as will be seen here-

after.

+ For good illustrations of this stage, see Prof. Henfrey’s description

and plate of Pandorina Morum, Quart. Jown. Microscop. Soe. vol. iv.

p. 49, 1856.

17%

240 Mr. H.J. Carter on Fecundation

formed before the parent perishes (fig.4a). At length, how-

ever, this takes place, and the progeny, which we shall henceforth

call ‘spermatozoids,’ separate from each other, and finding an

exit, probably by rupture, through the effete parent-cell and her

capsule, soon become dispersed throughout the space between

the two large ovoid cells mentioned, where they thus freely come

into contact with the capsules of the twenty-eight remaining or

female cells (Pl. VIII. fig. 5).

The form of the spermatozoid now varies at every instant,

from the activity of its movements and the almost semifluid

state of its plasma; and therefore, if we had not seen it in the

parent-cell (fig. 6), it would be very difficult to define what

this form really is. Its changes in shape, however, are confined

to elongation and contraction, like those of Huglena viridis (fig.7),

and not polymorphie, like those of Ameba ; hence it is sometimes

linear-fusiform or iunular, at others pyriform, short, or elon-

gate. The centre of the body is tinged green by the presence of

a little chlorophyll, while the extremities are colourless (fig. 7) ;

the anterior one bears a pair of cilia, and there is an eye-spot a

little in front of the middle of the body, also probably a nucleus.

Thus we have a product widely different from the common cell

of Hudorina. It is about 1-2700th of an inch long, and

1-10,800th of an inch broad.

Once in the space mentioned, the spermatozoids soon find their

way among the female cells, to the capsules of which they apply

themselves most vigorously and pertinaciously, flattening, elon-

gating, and changing themselves into various forms as they glide

over their surfaces, until they find a point of ingress, when they

appear to slip in, and, coming in contact with the female cell, to

sink into her substance as by amalgamation (fig. 5¢,c). I say

“ appear,” because, the female cells as well as the spermatozoids

being so small, so numerous, and so nearly grouped together, and

there being no point like a micropyle that I could discover, and

the Ludorina continually undergoing more or less rotation, I do

not feel so certain of having seen the act of union take place as

if there had been only a female cell present with a fixed point

for the entrance of the spermatozoids, as in the resting-spore of

(idogonium. But the act itself does not require to be seen; for

the constancy of this form of Hudorina, the way in which these

little bodies are produced, their plastic nature, and their beha-

viour towards the female cells are quite sufficient to convince

those who have given their attention practically to such subjects

that they are spermatozoids, and that there can be no other ob-

ject in their congregating about the female cells than impregna-

tion. If this be not sufficient, their number may frequently be

seen to diminish as they pass backward among the female cells,

zn Eudorina elegans aad Cryptoglena. 241

when their disappearance can only be accounted for by their

having become incorporated with the green cells. Eudorina in

this stage also may frequently be seen with all the four anterior

cells absent, and only a few spermatozoids left, most of which are

motionless and adherent to the capsules,—indicating that the rest

have disappeared in the way mentioned. Lastly, many Eudorine

in this stage may be observed with not only the four anterior

cells absent, but with hardly a single spermatozoid left,—indi-

cating that the whole had passed into the female cells, or had

become expended in the process of impregnation. T have never

Seen any spermatozoids in the central or axial cavity (fig. 2 ¢),

nor do I think that there is a means of their escaping externally

without rupture; so that their being confined to the space be-

tween the two ovoid cells of the Hudorina, where the green cells

are situated, is another reason, if any more be needed, for con-

sidering them fecundating agents.

What changes take place in the Eudorina after this, I have

not been able to discover. At the time, the female cells appear

to become more opake by the incorporation of the spermatozoids,

and the crenulated state of the posterior part of the envelope in

this stage seems also to indicate an approach to disintegration.

I have also observed that those Hudorine which are undergoing,

or apparently have undergone impregnation, are less active than

the rest,—that is, those in which the spermatozoids are scattered

throughout the interspace mentioned and applying themselves

to the capsules of the green cells, and those in which there are

only a few spermatozoids left. But even if they did become dis-

integrated, the latter, when free, would so closely resemble those of

Chlamydococcus (fig. 9), which was also abundantly present, that

unless the Hudorina could be found undergoing impregnation

by itself, or apart from this organism, there appears to me no

chance of distinguishing the two, and therefore no other means

of completing this part of its history. It is true that the im-

pregnated cells may undergo some change in form similar to

those of Volvox globator after impregnation*; but I think I

should have seen this among the numbers which came under

my observation, if it had been the case.

While undergoing impregnation, the female cells always con-

tain from two to four nuclei, as if preparatory to the third stage of

development (Pl. VIII. figs. 34 and 4.6), into which they are

sometimes actually seen passing, with the spermatozoids present

and scattered among them; but the effect of impregnation ge-

nerally seems to arrest this stage, and thus save the species from

* See Ehrenberg, tab. 4. figs. 2&3; also Busk, Quart. Journ, Microe

scop. Soc, vol. i. p. 38 and pl.; and Cohn, J. c,

242 Mr. H. J. Carter on Fecundation

that minute division which leads to the destructive termination

of Kudorina already noticed.

Sometimes all the cells together undergo the spermatoid

fissuration, when the Hudorina passes into Pandorina Morum,

Ehr.; but in this case the development does not stop at the

pyriform spermatozoids, but goes on to the development of

thirty-two larger globular cells in each group, similar to those

produced in the third stage of Hudorina above described, when

they assume respectively a dome-shaped form, held together by

a membrane which is fixed to the point in the posterior extremity

of the cell from which the lines of fissiparation first radiated

(fig.8). As the groups, however, progress in development, this

dome appears to become flatter, and, the Mudorina breaking up,

as in the third stage, these groups, when liberated, finally appear

to pass into the form of Goniwm, when I think they perish, like

the corresponding groups of the third stage. I did not observe

this development (in which may be included some abnormal

states, where one or two of the spermatic cells fail, and one or

more of the female cells take on this mode of fissiparation

irregularly) until the normal one of impregnation ceased to ap-

pear. Ehrenberg was wrong in giving the cells of Pandorina

and Hudorina single cilia, as has before been stated ; and partly

wrong in leaving out the eye-spot ; both of which, though dis-

appearing ultimately, indicate the continued life of the parent-

cell, as in the development of the spermatozoids, long after the

formation of her progeny.

Thus the process of impregnation in Hudorina agrees closely

with that described by Dr. F. Cohn in Volvox globator, in which

organism I had seen some of the cells of the interior undergoing

a spermatoid development exactly like that above described, and

also that previously figured by Mr. Busk*, and alluded to by

him as one of “ microgonidia + ;”’ and therefore the moment I

perceived it in Ludorina, in connexion with Dr. Cohn’s announce-

ment, I felt convinced that the latter was right, and that I had

before me Eudorina also undergoing a similar process of fecun-

dation.

So much for the spermatoid development; let us now return

to that of the Hudorima in totality, concerning which there is

still an interesting question for our consideration, bearing on the

early development of this organism, which I have already stated

my inability to supply, viz. how does the sixteen-division of the

cell in the third stage of development take place, so as to allow

the cilia to become external? It will be remembered that this

cell in the second stage, before it passes into the sixteen-division

of the third stage, consists of its capsule or cell-wall and the

* Loc, cit, pl. 5. fig. 14. + Id. p. 45.

in Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 243

green contents ; and it should also be remembered that, although

these contents have now no other covering distinct from the

protoplasm but the capsule, yet in all algal cells, whenever

the green contents take on a new form, such as that of a spore

or group of cells, a second more delicate covering is separated

from them, for which I have heretofore used the term “ proto-

plasmic sac*”; these two coverings, then, are the parental divi-

sion of the mass, and become caducous as the rest takes on its

new form and developes on iés surface a cell-wall. Thus we get

the sixteen cells separated from their capsule, &c., and sur-

rounded by their proper cell-wall and the external envelope,

which may be a still further thickening of the former, or a new

secretion ; but, be this as it may, the cilia are seen outside it.

And at first it might be thought that they were formed before

either the cell-wall or envelope, so as never to have been enclosed

by either ; but if this were the case, the cilia of the sixteen cells,

which are added by duplicative division to the first stage of

Eudorina to form the second stage, should be inside these

coverings, or protrude through the original sixteen channels

with the other sixteen pairs of cilia. However, neither is the

case ; for these sixteen cells have their channels respectively as

well as the other sixteen cells, in which case they must have

been made by the sixteen new cells themselves, unless the thirty-

two diyision is formed before the pellicle, which subsequently

forms the cell-wall, is supplied; and our first stage does not

pass into the second stage, but both forms are produced at once

and separately from the beginning,—a point which can only be

determined by following the development of the Hudorina from

the spore itself, and that, too, alone, since it is impossible to say

whether the sixteen-division groups, when previously mixed up

with all the other forms of Eudorina, are or are not derived direct

from the spore, or from the third stage of development of this

organism. That the sixteen-division or second stage may pass

direct into a similar form to the third, that is, into a form of

Hudorina consisting of sixteen groups of sixteen cells each, I

have occasionally seen; but then this form has been globular

(only 30-5400ths of an inch in diameter), and not ovoid, although

the groups have possessed the latter form: perhaps this is the

spore, and the sixteen groups the young Eudorine, if not a dif-

ferent species. Again, the robust individuals of the sixteen-

division one would think to be direct from the spore, and to pass

into the robust individuals of the second stage or thirty-two

division,—while the puny, meagre individuals one would think

to come from the third stage, and, as before conjectured, end in

disintegration and death. But all this, as I have just stated,

* Annals, vol. i, 1858, p. 31, &c.

244. Mr. H. J. Carter on Fecundation

can only be determined by following the development of the

spore from the commencement. One fact I might add, how-

ever, viz. that the robust forms about the size given in fig. 1

have the power of withdrawing their cilia and protruding them

again; this happens when they are transferred, from the vessel

in which they may be contained, to the slide for examination :

many may just at this time be seen to be motionless, with the

channels for the cilia empty; but gradually the cilia are _pro-

truded through them, and as gradually the EHudorina evinces

increasing power of motion, until they are fully protruded, and

it swims away.

Chlamydococcus undergoes the same kind of changes in deve-

lopment as Hudorina, from which it only differs in structure in

being smaller, and globular stead of ovoid, in the absence of an

external envelope, and in the cilia of the daughter-cells being

included within the parent-cell; hence it also differs in being

motionless, though the compartments of the daughter-cells are

sufficiently large for them to turn round and move their alia

freely therein, which they are continually doing (figs. 9, 15).

The primary cell of Chlamydococcus, like that of Eudorina, di-

vides up into two, four, eight, or sixteen cells, and those of the

eight- and sixteen-divisions again into groups of sixteen or

thirty- two each (fig. 14), so as to resemble the third stage of

Hudorina. Wence we may perhaps infer that its fecundating

process is similar to that of Hudorina; but this remaims to be

discovered. Chlamydococcus has also a great tendency to stop

at the two- and four-division, from which it may pass into the

“ still” or Protococcus-form, and, floating on the water in a kind

of crust, present cells of all kinds of sizes undergoing “ still”

division. In all its multiplications, partial and entire, however,

it generally maintains its primary or spherical form, and does

not become ovoid or oblong, like the groups of Hudorina, the only

exceptions being in the two- and four-division, where the green

cells are sometimes ovate (probably from want of room in the

parent capsule, fig. 11), as represented by Ehrenberg in C. Pul-

visculus*,—to which I should refer it, had he not also given an

ovate form to the type-cell of this species}; nor can I refer it

to C. pluvialis, for im all the changes I have yet seen it un-

dergo, the red colour has not increased beyond the minute eye-

spot, while this also disappears, and the cilia too, when this spe-

cies passes into the “still” form (fig. 15). Here it undergoes

the same kind of division that it does in the active state ; but the

parent-cell, instead of becoming distended by imbibition, remains

closely attached to the daughter-cells, so as to give the group a

* Tab. 3. fig. 10.

T There is an ovate species, common in Bombay; but this has four cilia.

an Kudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 245

mulberry shape (figs.16,17). How long it remains in the “ still”

form I am ignorant; but having only seen it in the active state

during the months of May, June and August, and throughout the

rest of the year in the “still” one, I am inclined to think that it

only comes into the active state during the summer months,

and then for the purpose of fecundation.

Does not the disappearance of the eye-spot in the “still”

form thus seem to point out its analogy with the bright colours,

especially the red, presented by plants in their flowers durmg

the season of fecundation, rather than with the eye of animals ?

In several instances, also, where I have found this Chlamydo-

coceus with Hudorina, they have been accompanied by long

Closteriform cells. It was the case in that above mentioned,

where the latter was undergoing impregnation. Some of these

have an eye-spot, which, with the nature, arrangement, and

general aspect of their internal contents, show that they belong

to the class of organisms with which they are associated. Their

cell-wall also is more or less plastic, or was so when they were

assuming this spicular form; for many have one or more diver-

dicula extending from them, some are bifid, and a few irregularly

stellate. What they are, I know not; but Dr. Cohn has figured

the same kind of cells, in company with Spheroplea annulina,

under impregnation *.

Trachelomonas, Ehy., also appears to me to undergo multi-

plication in a similar way to Hudorina and Chlamydococcus ; for

I have often seen the largest Trachelomonad of a pool divided

up into a group of apparently sixteen cells within the lorica;

and this may account for the myriads of three to four smaller

sizes that are frequently found together in this way. The latter

certainly appear in a green form first, that is, without the lorica,

which gradually becomes supplied afterwards. Thus, impreg-

nation also in the Trachelomonads may take place like that

already mentioned in Eudorina, after the parent-cell has under-

gone division within the lorica. At first I thought that the first

form of Eudorina arose in this way, and that when the division

of the Trachelomonad arrived at sixteen, the lorica burst, and

thus liberated a Eudorina; also that the cells into which the

Eudorina ultimately divides formed the small Trachelomonads ;

but im the pools where I found the Huwdorina undergoing im-

pregnation there was not a single Trachelomonad, so that this

theory does not hold good.

How Euglena viridis and the Euglene generally become im-

pregnated, I have no conception. There is no doubt that EZ. vi-

ridis becomes distended with the cells which I have heretofore

* Ann, des Se. Nat. t. v. pl. 12. fig. 3. Bot. 1856,

246 Mr. H.J. Carter on Fecundation

described, and thought to be ovules or embryonic cells *, and

that during this time the chlorophyll passes into red grains and

subsequently disappears, while the organism is secreting a cap-

sule round itself, and its original cell-wall passes into a tough

spherical ovisac, so to speak, But what becomes of this if it

be the result of impregnation, or what the process of impregna-

tion is like, or when it takes place, is for future discovery to

determine. #H. viridis does not become capsuled in this way,

and is found floating on the water aggregated into layers one

cell deep, or buried singly in the mud of tanks, after the capsu-

lation has thus taken place.

It now only remains for me to state that my observations on

Euudorina this year have been chiefly confined to two pools with

two hundred yards of each other, one of which, viz. No. 1, is in

a clean quarried excavation in the trap-rock, and the other, viz.

No. 2, in an excavation in the soil. In both, which were pre-

viously dry, the rain fell on the 31st of May, so as to form small

pools of water about two feet deep; and in both, on the 3rd of

June, the water was tinged green with Hudorina, &c.

In No. 1, Eudorina elegans, Chlamydococcus, Euglena viridis,

and an elliptical unicellular Alga abounded, to the exclusion of

almost every other organism of the kind. The Huderima was

undergoing the process of fecundation, and the Chlamydococcus

the transformations above described, respectively. On the 8th,

the specimens of Hudorina ander fecundation began to get scarce ;

and on the 18th the Pandorina-form made its appearance. By

the 14th all organisms of the kind except the Hudorina and

Chlamydococcus had disappeared, and the Pandorina-form was

also rarely seen. The Chlamydococcus then began to float on the

surface in the Prodococcus-form above mentioned, and at length

this sunk to the bottom, when, by the 19th of June, the remains

of Hudorina and Chlamydococcus were but sparsely scattered

through the water, which had now lost its green tint; indeed,

it was evident that the development of all the green organisms

had become exhausted. Up to this time there had been only a

few more drops of rain; but the next morning the storms of the

monsoon commenced,

In No. 2, Hudorina elegans, Euglena viridis, and Trachelomonas

abounded, to the exclusion almost of every other organism of the

kind; thus it contained no Chlamydococcus, while No. 1 con-

tained no Trachelomonas. Corresponding changes took place in

the Hudorina to those above described, with the exception of the

impregnatory one.

Out of a dozen instances in which I haye watched the deve-

* Annals, vol. xx. p. 36, pl. 1. fig. 16, 1857.

in Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 247

lopment of Hudorina during the past four years, I have thus

only once met with it under fecundation.

As regards the effect of iodine (both by itself and assisted

by sulphuric acid) upon Eudorina, I could never obtain a blue

colour in the cells at any time; but it was distinctly visible in

the transparent structures between them, perhaps in their cap-

sules and the cellulose material which supported the rest of the

organism. The contents of the cells always assumed a brown

colour. The same was the case with the Chlamydococcus, though

I see by my sketches that the solitary dividing still-cell, in the

autumn of 1855, became blue throughout under the action of

iodine and sulphuric acid.

Since the above was written, I have had the good fortune to

meet with a Cryptoglena undergoing fecundation, of which the

following is a description, both of the organism and the pro-

cess :—

Cryptoglena lenticularis, nov. sp. Pl. VIII. figs. 18, 19.

Lorica lenticular, compressed, emarginate, uniformly and mi-

nutely granulated, transparent, colourless by transmitted,

brownish by reflected light; margin of a deeper colour than

the rest, probably from the proximity of the sides ; presenting

on the edge a notch anteriorly, one lip of which projects be-

yond and slightly overlaps the other, from which it is sepa-

rated by an oblique fissure. Internal cell lenticular, com-

pressed, one-fourth less in diameter than the lorica, lined

with green chlorophyll and granular protoplasm, provided

with a pair of cilia which pass out at the notch in the margin

of the lorica, a single contracting vesicle at their base, a red

eye-spot median and peripheral, and a nucleus. Lorica split-

ting into halves during fissiparation. Long diameter 1-13850th

of an inch.

Found in most of the tanks and many of the wells in the island

of Bombay. Active throughout the year.

Obs. This is the little Thecamonadina to which I have before

alluded, as being associated with a species of Uidogonium, and

which I wrongly conjectured to be a spore of this Alga*. It

resembles Cryptomonas lenticularis, Ehy., in the compressed form

and thickness of the lorica, while the bilabiate notch and oblique

fissure in the margin ally it to Huglena, but not to Trachelo-

monas or Lagenella, which have a round aperture respectively for

the exsertion of their cilium. It approaches Chlamydococcus in

having two cilia, aud in its mode of fissiparation, whilst it re-

sembles Schizochlamys, Braun, in the splitting of the lorica.

* Annals, vol, i. 1858, p. 35.

248 Mr. Hi. J. Carter on Fecundation

Perhaps Ehrenberg’s Cryptomonas lenticularis, being without

eye-spot or cilia, is a “still” form of it; but it approaches

nearest of all to his genus Cryptoglena.

I found this little Alga (for such in the end it must be con-

sidered) on the 2nd of July, in company with another heart-

shaped Cryptoglena, which will be described presently, in great

numbers in a little portion of shallow water connected by the

rain with a pit into which the drainings of a buffalo-shed were

received. With them were also Huglena Acus, Eudorina elegans

(undergoing the process of fecundation above described), Uvella

Bodo, Ehr,, and here and there Huglena viridis; but the bulk of

the organisms present consisted of the two first-mentioned ; the

rest, with the exception of Huglena Acus, were only now and

then seen.

While examining some of this water, I was struck with the

number of deciduous loricee present, some of which were split

into halves which were separated, while others only adhered

together anteriorly, and presented a pair of cilia attached to their

point of union (figs. 25-27); and on looking round for their

origin, it was soon found that they belonged to the Cryptoglena

above described, for the internal cell of that organism was in

several instances seen escaping from them, not only singly, but

after having undergone duplicative subdivision into two, four,

eight, sixteen, thirty-two, or sixty-four gonidia (figs. 20-24).

Moreover, it was observed that cach of these groups came forth

in a delicate cell (the protoplasmic sac*), which, by imbibition

of water, became distended, in some instances, to two or three

times the diameter of the lorica, and, thus assuming a globular

form in the four-, eight- and sixteen- divisions, were undistinguish-

able from Chlamydococcus under similar forms (figs. 22, 23),—a

point which still more nearly allies these organisms.

Still seeking for more of these varieties, it was observed that

the first division, viz. that in which the internal cell came forth

with only two gonidia, was mvariably surrounded by a swarm of

from ten to twenty much smaller gonidia (figs. 26, 27), which,

on turning to the sixty-four division, were found to be identical,

to all appearance, with the gonidia of this degree, of which there

were numerous instances present, not only where the lorica was

as yet unruptured, but where the internal cell had been liberated

and the group were swarming within it, and where this cell had

also become ruptured, and the gonidia were issuing one after

another through the opening (fig. 25).

Now, the only organism present which was undergoing this sub-

division being this Cryptoglena, and this, therefore, bemg the only

* See “Feeundation of Gidogonium,” Annals, 3 ser, vol. i. p. 31, note.

in Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 249

one which could furnish the double spore-cell and smaller gonidia

in large numbers, while in most instances the split lorica still

adhered to the internal cell as a mark of identification, no doubt

could be entertained that both the large and the small gonidia

belonged to the same organism, that their coming together

under such circumstances could only be for the purpose of

fecundation, and that they therefore were the female cells and

spermatozoids of this species.

I therefore watched the motions of the spermatozoids so situ-

ated, in two or three instances for more than half an hour to-

gether, during which time they dashed themselves against the

cell, adhered to it, retreated from and advanced upon it, with

unabated rapidity, but without penetrating it,—when, having

little time left, comparatively, for such observations, I sought

out group after group quickly, without watching it long at a

time, until I had the good fortune to find one in which, after a

moment’s watching, one of the spermatozoids appeared within

the cell, and, fixing itself to one of the spores or female cells,

gradually became incorporated with it (fig. 26). This was suf-

ficient to convince me of the fact I had anticipated ; but it would

have been more satisfactory to have seen it repeated, and pro-

bably I might have done so had the fecundating process in the

colony been prolonged: but it only lasted three days after I

first discovered it, and during that time I had little leisure

to devote to the subject; for to be successful in researches of

this kind requires uninterrupted observation for long periods

together. However, had I not even seen the incorporation, no

other interpretation could be given to the facts mentioned than

that they were connected with the process of fecundation.

I have stated that the cell containing the two gonidia was the

one invariably surrounded by the spermatozoids ; but it was not

the only one, for in two or three instances a few were found

around and adhering to the inner cell of the four- division (fig. 21)

after liberation, indicating that the gonidia of this division were

also sought after by the spermatozoids, if even in the end they

did not become reproductive. It was also observed that the two-

division did not always come forth in one cell, but that some-

times this was also divided, so that each gonidium had its proper

cell (fig. 27).

The form of the macrogonidia or female cells did not differ

from the internal cell of the parent, except in being a little

smaller,—while the microgonidium, which was not more than

1-7th of the diameter of the macrogonidium, and therefore very

small, appeared, though equally green and provided with an

eye-spot, to have only one cilium. I cannot help thinking,

however, that, with a higher power, I might haye seen two.

250 Mr. H. J. Carter on Fecundation

What changes took place in, and what became of, the macro-

gonidia after impregnation, | am unable to say; but it will be

remembered that the only other organism present in equal num-

ber with the Cryptoglena above described, and to the exclusion

almost of all other organisms, was one with a heart-shaped lorica.

In this, however, no fissiparative changes like those above men-

tioned took place ; but on the third day after the water contain-

ing them and the other Cryptoglena had been placed in basins,

all other organisms disappeared but this, which had taken on

the form of a resting-spore ; that is to say, the cilia had shrunk

up or had dropped off, the internal cell had become encapsuled

within a thick cell externally and a thin one internally, within

which, again, the chlorophyll had passed from a green into a

light brick-red colour, and the granular protoplasm into a

number of larger granules presenting a more or less uniform

size and oleaginous refractive aspect (fig. 29). Whether these

were the impregnated spores of Cryptoglena lenticularis or not,

I have now no means of determining; for instead of collecting

a few of them immediately and drying them for future experi-

ment, this was deferred for a day or two, during which time

some other organism (probably Coleps, the usual aggressor under

these circumstances) ate them all up. All therefore that remains

favourable to the inference is, that this spore, in its active state,

was almost exclusively associated with C. lenticularis, and in

equal number, and that it did not undergo fissiparation like this,

but, on the contrary, passed into the form of a resting-spore.

Against this, again, is the form of the lorica, and its having

four cilia instead of two; hence, in ease it should be a different

species, it is desirable to give it a name and description, which

may stand as follows :—

Cryptoglena cordiformis, noy. sp. Pl. VIII. fig. 28.

Lorica heart-shaped, round, transparent, emarginate anteriorly,

round posteriorly. Internal cell globular, lined with chloro-

phyll and granular protoplasm, provided with four cilia, which

issue through the notch in the lorica, an eye-spot median

and peripheral, and one to three nuclei or utricles of a circular

form. Swimming with its cilia forwards, and a rotating mo-

tion on its longitudinal axis. Length of lorica 1-933rd of an

inch; diameter of internal cell 1-1350th of an inch.

Found only in one instance, in company with Cryptoglena lentt-

cularis, when undergoing the process of fecundation above

described.

Having thus established another mode of fecundation in an

organism closely allied to the simplest of all vegetable forms,

in Kudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 251

viz. the unicellular Algze, it becomes interesting to inquire how far

the same process is likely to occur in the other families to which

it is allied. I have stated above, that, from Chlamydococcus un-

dergoing a similar duplicative subdivision to Hudorina, it is not

improbable that it undergoes a similar mode of impregnation

also; but in the fissiparation of Cryptoglena lenticularis we find

such a resemblance to the compound groups of Chlamydococcus,

that it now seems more likely that it should resemble that of

Cryptoglena lenticularis. Again, I have stated that Trachelo-

monas, which is also a Thecamonadina, presents an appearance

of fissiparation in its internal cell, which might enable it to

undergo a fecundating process like Hudorina; but Trachelo-

monas, being loricated, is closely allied to Cryptoglena lenticularis,

and therefore might rather be expected to undergo a fecundating

process like the latter. The notch and oblique fissure also ally

Cryptoglena lenticularis to the Euglene: but then the spiral-

fibre coat of this family could not give way for the elimination

of an internal cell with gonidia, like the lorica of the former ;

hence this fecundating process seems to throw no light on that

of Euglena, which has yet to be discovered, and no doubt will

be, sooner or later. But it is necessary to find out the time of

the year when these processes are likely to take place, and where

the organisms which are likely to be undergoing them make

their appearance annually,—after which the water should be

examined daily, immediately after the rain-falls ; otherwise those

which are required will be very likely to appear and go through

the fecundating process (just as fast as some plants flower and

seed) before their presence is even noticed. Hence, a place where

there is rain occurring regularly only once a year is best fitted

for these researches ; and I feel convinced that, had I had better

health and more leisure at the beginning of this “rains,” I

should have been able to have done much more in this subject

than is above communicated.

August 7th.

P.$.—I have to-day seen the incorporation of the spermato-

zoid with the macrogonidium of Cryptoglena lenticularis take

place several times, and once so satisfactorily that I am able to

assert the fact without reservation. The former, after having

fixed itself upon the latter, assumes a conical or peg-top shape,

and thus gradually appears to squeeze itself into the macro-

gonidium. I have also ascertained that this spermatozoid has

two cilia, as I had before supposed.

I would also notice here, that, in rating my micrometer, I

have just found out that the 5600th and 1900th divisions should

be 5400th and 1880th of an inch respectively. The reader is

252 Mr. H. J. Carter on Fecundation

therefore requested to make this correction in all my previous

measurements where these divisions are mentioned, and to allow

for this generally, indeed, in all my measurements.

[The necessary alterations have been made in the present paper.—EbD. ]

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII.

N.B. All the figures in this Plate have been delineated as nearly after

nature as the circumstances of the case would allow; and in order that

their relative size may be seen, all, with the exception of figs. 6, 7 and 8,

have been drawn on a scale of 1-12th to 1-5400th of an inch.

Fig. 1. Eudorina elegans, in its first stage of development, 9-5400ths of

an inch long, composed of sixteen cells, surrounded by a gelati-

nous envelope, through which their cilia project : a, four anterior

cells in which the eye-spot is visible; 6, gelatinous envelope.

Fig. 2. Section of ditto, showing—a, gelatinous envelope; 6, original cell-

wall; c, internal cell enclosing axial cavity ; d, interspace between

original and internal cell-walls, in which the green cells are situ-

ated; e, nucleus; f, eye-spot; g, cilia; /, canals through gela-

tinous envelope for the passage of the cilia.

Fig. 3. Eudorina elegans in second stage of development, 30-5400ths of

an inch long; composed of thirty-two green cells, each of which

is 3-5400ths of an ich in diameter, exclusive of the capsule in

which it is enclosed: a, a, a, a, spermatic cells, now undistin-

guishable from J, 5, b, the female cells; ¢, shaded cell; d, nucleus;

e, eye-spot; f, contracting vesicle; g, crenulated form of poste-~

rior extremity; h, nuclei in plurality.

In this, as well as in many other of these figures, the principal

part of the cells and detail connected with them, as well as the

shading, has been omitted, to save trouble, one or two complete

ones being sufficient to show what the rest would be if all were

properly filled in.

Fig. 4. Ditto, ditto, ditto, with the contents of the four anterior or sper-

matic cells transformed into tufts of spermatozoids respectively,

—the presence of the eye-spot and movements of the cilia of the

parent-cell indicating that she is still alive, though the cilia of

her progeny are already waving in her interior: ¢, c, shaded

female cells.

Fig. 5. Ditto, with three of the spermatic cells burst, and their spermato-

zoids scattered throughout the interspace between the outer and

inner cell-walls, where they are vigorously applying themselves

to the capsules of the green cells: a, spermatozoids apparently

within the capsule; 6, unruptured spermatic cell.

In this and in the foregomg figure, several of the green-cells

are omitted, to avoid confusion.

Fig. 6. Single spermatic cell with tuft of spermatozoids more magnified,

showing—a, capsule; b, mother-cell; c, eye-spot.

Fig. 7. Spermatozoids more magnified, to show the power they have of

elongating themselves.

Fig. 8. A single cell of Eudorina in the second stage of development, but

under the Pandorina-form, that is, where the contents of all the

cells have undergone the spermatic mode of duplicative subdivi-

sion, but stop at sixteen or thirty-two, and pass into small cells

of the ordinary form arranged in a tabular manner, like Goniwm ;

in Eudorina elegans and Cryptoglena. 2538

a, cells; 6, gelatinous envelope; ¢, canal through the latter for

the passage of the cilia.

The third stage, in which Eudorina is 50-5400ths of an inch

long, has not been represented, as the reader can supply this for

himself by increasing the second stage to the length mentioned,

and substituting for each of the cells in this stage a group like

that of fig. 1, but a little smaller; the cells smaller, and the

shape of the group more or less oblong.

Fig. 9. Chlamydococcus ? in the “active” state ; largest size 5-5400ths

of an inch in diameter: a, nucleus; 5, eye-spot; e, contracting

vesicle.

Fig. 10. Ditto, in the two-division. 11. The same with the cells ovate

and the cilia of the mother-cell remaining. This resembles

Ehrenberg’s figure of Ch. Pulvisculus.

Figs. 12, 13. Ditto, in four- and eight-division respectively.

Fig. 14. Ditto, in eight-division, with the cells undergoing further divi-

sion successively up to the sixteen-division.

Fig. 15. Ditto, “ still’? form, largest size 5-5400ths of an inch in diameter,

without eye-spot or cilia: a, cell-wail.

Figs. 16, 17. Ditto, ditto, in four- and sixteen-division respectively. Ob-

serve that the mother-cell here is not distended into a spherical

shape, as in the active form, but contracted round the cells, so

as to give the whole a mulberry character: a, a, mother-cell-

wall.

All the varieties of division which take place in the “active ”

also take place in the “still” form, and vice versd.

Fig. 18. Cryptoglena lenticularis, noy. sp., vertical view, 4-5400ths of an

inch in diameter: a, lorica; 4, internal cell; c, nucleus; d, eye-

spot; e, contracting vesicle.

Fig. i9. Ditto, horizontal view.

Figs. 20, 21. Ditto, in two- and four-division within the lorica.

Fig. 22. Ditto, in four-division, with the split lorica still adhering to the

internal cell, which is 8-5400ths of an inch in diameter.

Fig. 23. Ditto, in eight-division; internal cell 6-5400ths of an mch in

diameter.

Both these figures are undistinguishable from the correspond-

ing forms of Chlamydococcus in the “active” state.

Fig. 24. Ditto, in the sixty-two- or spermatic division, 4-5400ths of an

inch in diameter.

Fig. 25. Ditto, with the lorica effete, and adhering to the internal cell,

which contains a number of active spermatozoids, some of which

are issuing from a ruptured opening in the cell-wall.

Fig. 26. Ditto, ditto, with the inner cell containing two macrogonidia or

female cells, and surrounded by active spermatozoids, one of

which has passed into it and is adhering to one of the macro-

gonidia. Macrogonidium about 3-5400ths of an inch, and micro-

gonidium or spermatozoid about half 1-5400th of an inch in

diameter.

Fig. 27. Ditto, ditto, ditto, with the internal cell divided into two, and

thus affording a separate cell for each gonidium.

Fig. 28. Cryptoglena cordiformis, nov. sp., in the “active’’ state. Sup-

posed impregnated spore of C. lenticularis.

Fig. 29. Ditto, after transformation into a resting-spore.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 18

254 Dr. J. E. Planchon on the Parasitism of Osyris alba.

XXV.—On the Parasitism of Osyris alba,

By Dr. J. E. Phancuon*.

In 1847, an English botanist, Mr. Mitten, detected that the

roots of Thesium adhere by means of suckers to the roots of

various plants. A fact like this was very surprising in plants

with green leaves; for M. Decaisne had not then made known the

similar parasitism of the Rhinanthacez. The species of Thestum

belonging, as is well known, to the family Santalacee, analogy

would lead to the supposition of a similarly parasitic life im

Osyris alba, which represents in the south of Europe the most

highly developed type of this order. Urged by M. Decaisne,

Dr. Planchon sought to verify this presumption; but, for

two years, his attempts were vain. The fragile roots of Osyris

alba \eave attached to the nourishing roots the organs of suction

which alone could reveal their parasitic character. This year,

more fortunate, he has been able to make numerous observations

on this subject, the most striking results of which he communi-

cates to the Academy.

Osyris alba lives parasitically upon numerous herbaceous or

woody plants (all perennial) belonging to different families of

the class Dicotyledons. It implants its suckers upon the roots

or the rhizomes which it meets with, not sparing even its own

species. Ailanthus, Rhus Coriaria, Ulmus campestris, Jasminum

fruticans, Pinus halepensis, Rosa canina, Silene italica, Lychnis

dioica, Rubia peregrina, all the inhabitants of hedges or copses,

are subject to its attacks.

The roots of Osyris arise scattered upon the long rhizomes

which creep in the soil at a small depth. They consist of slightly

branched fibres, the diameter of which does not exceed 2 milli-

metres. Their organs of suction are a kind of hemispherical or

conical cup, the dimensions of which vary from the size of a

pin’s head to that of an acorn cup. The same radical fibre may

furnish one, two, three, or a whole series of cups. These em-

brace closely with their circumference the nourishing root.

They implant themselves there, moreover, by means of a fleshy

process or papilla, of cylindrical or discoid form, which penetrates

the foreign root, sometimes stopping’ short in the thickness of

the cortical parenchyma, sometimes insinuating itself between

the bark and the wood, sometimes, but more rarely, penetrating

as far as the ligneous tissue.

The papilla of suction is formed in all cases by a cellular

tissue, which is separated into two zones by a sheath of monili-

form pitted vessels. The interior is a medullary zone, the exte-

rior the cortical parenchyma. The contact of the papilla with

* Translated from the Comptes Rendus, July 26, 1858.

Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire, 255

the tissue of the nourishing root is established by a simple layer

of cells forming the inferior surface of the papilla.

Osyris presents, both in its adult rhizomes and its stems, a

pith, medullary rays, and bundles of liber-fibres, which are

absent from the roots. There is not, however, that difference

between the rhizomes and the stems which M. Chatin supposed

he found, doubtless because he examined only rhizomes of the

year at the commencement of their evolution. The author could

find no true trachee in these organs. All the wood-cells, as

well as those of the medullary parenchyma, are riddled with

pits.

The intimate affinity connecting all the Santalacez would lead

to the supposition that most, if not all, the types of this

group, are parasites. The same may be said of the true

Olacineze (Olax, Ximenia, Heisteria, Liriosma, Opilia, &c.),

which scarcely differ from the Santalaceee. The black colour

assumed by most of these plants on drying, and their absence _

from gardens, plead in favour of this idea.

Dr. Planchon regrets that he has hitherto been unable to trace

the phenomena of germination either in Osyris or Santalum.

This study, which he proposes to make at the proper season,

will enable him to settle beyond doubt in what degree these

plants are parasitical. Do they take part of their nourishment

from the soil? Do all their radical fibres produce suckers ?

What is the duration of the suckers? <A prolonged study is

required for the solution of all these questions. It may be stated

meanwhile, that the subjects attacked by Osyris do not appear

to suffer much from its presence, and fulfil as usual the vegeta-

tive and reproductive functions.

XXVI.—On some Sections of the Upper Lias recently exposed at

Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. By Joun Lycerr*.

So few opportunities are afforded for examining the Upper Lias

of the Cotteswolds, so small are the artificial exposures of the

stage occasionally made, so limited their extent and depth, that

its fossils are almost unknown, and even the thickness of the

stage has been very variously estimated. During the author’s

experience of more than twenty years, the Upper Lias has only

been known to him by small sections in clay-beds used for brick-

making, and these are usually quite destitute of fossils; some

cuttings, therefore, recently made, which exposed the entire

thickness of the stage and many of its fossils, have induced him

to prepare the present brief notice.

* Presented to the Cotteswolds Naturalists’ Club, July 21, 1858.

18*

256 . Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire.

The only authorities for the Upper Lias of the district are—

‘Outlines of the Geology of England’ by Conybeare and Phillips,

1822; ‘Outline of the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Chel-

tenham,’ by Sir R. I. Murchison, 1834; the enlarged edition of

the latter work by J. Buckman and H. E. Strickland, 1845 ;

‘Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain ;’ ‘The

Geology of the Country around Cheltenham,’ by E. Hull, Esq.,

1857. In the first of these works the Upper Lias is only dis-

tinguished from the other members of the same formation by a

useful section given at page 252, exhibiting the succession in the

beds upon the western slope of the Cotteswolds at Painswick

Hill, by the late Mr. Halifax of Standish ; but their thickness 1s

not given. The following is the section, to which figures are

here added to mark the superior divisions :—

[Inferic? Oolite’)......4...: 000 1

/ a

/ Very micaceous sand, «<;...%+ .- 5. «6 see: eee 2

/; Sand, with beds of unctuous, slaty, bluish clay ...... 3

AS OB ae

/ Blue clay with septaria.\..<i (54 - +4 01s) ei 4

/Thin beds of grey Lias-like marlstone.........-...... 5

Lenticular balls of indurated marl with Ammonites and

parts of Fishes»... ..-. ../.i+.0..0 «eee oe 6

Marly sandstone, a yellowish-brown sandstone, spangled with

mica, blue at the heart, abounding with large Belemnites,

Pectems,) 860. .)0,s:«.0s « o/s: :0 jo) swle ietalfoye, «/o7 ayes eh nero nee 7

/Clay, with veins of foxy earth containing ferrugmous nodules

concentrically formed round a nucleus of Lias................ y

coarse, calcareous, shelly gritstone, more or less tinged with

oxide of iron.

2. The sands of the Cynocephala-stage, with a shelly band at

the top, some flaggy argillaceous sandstones in the middle, and

a shelly band at the bottom.

Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire. 257

3, 4, 5, 6. Upper Lias; no fossils visible in this section.

7. Marlstone or Middle Lias.

8, 9, 10. Lower Lias; but little exposed.

In Sir R. I. Murchison’s little sketch of the ‘ Geology of Chel-

tenham,’ the thickness of the Upper Lias is estimated at 60 or

70 feet ; and the following fossils were collected by him from a

road-side cutting near Sandywell Park :—Ammonites bifrons,

A. undulatus, A. annulatus, Belemnites acutus, B. tubularis, B.

penicillatus, Inoceramus dubius, Plicatula spinosa, Trochus bisectus,

Arca, Gervillia, Lucina, ? Modiola, Nucula, Nautilus, Pholadomya.

In the second and enlarged edition of the same work, the authors

estimate the general thickness of the Upper Lias at 100 feet ;

to the fossils given in the former edition are added the follow-

ing:—Ammonites falcifer, A. Strangwaysii, Belemnites Bru-

guierianus, Trochus bisertus, Nucula rostralis, Aischna Brodiei,

Astacus, Hippolita, Cidaris minuta. In the memoir by Mr. Hull,

the Upper Lias is stated to be upwards of 230 feet thick at

Leckhampton Hill; it is estimated to be 300 feet at Cleeve

Cloud ; in the hills further northwards, at from 80 to 100 feet ;

it constantly declines in thickness towards the Oxfordshire

boundary of the county, so that at Burford its thickness is only

6 feet. In the southern portion of the Cotteswolds it is stated

to be only 10 feet thick at Wootton-under-Edge, and about

30 feet at Stroud; but I shall have to show that at Nailsworth,

a spot situated between the two latter places, the thickness

of the Upper Lias is upwards of 105 feet. The only additional

fossils mentioned by Mr. Hull are Nautilus inornatus and Belem-

nites abbreviatus.

The sections upon which the present remarks are founded

were made in forming several deep drains and a cutting for a

carriage-drive upon a steep hill-side preparatory to building a

villa and laying out the surrounding ground for ornamental

purposes, upon the western side of the valley, and immediately

adjoiming the village of Nailsworth; it also happened about the

same time that a cutting was made along the whole course of

the turnpike road in the same valley, towards Stroud, for the

purpose of laying down gas-pipes ; another small section was

also afforded by some alterations made in the mill-stream at

Holcomb Mills, about half a mile higher up the valley. The

deep-drain sections afforded a view of the higher beds of the

stage, even to their junction with the micaceous marly sands of

the Cynocephala-stage ; the other cuttings exposed the lower

beds, but less perfectly than the upper ones, and also some por-

tion of the Marlstone series. But although a portion of nearly

the whole of the beds was uncovered, the entire area from which

258 Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire.

fossils could be procured was very inconsiderable. In descend-

ing order occurred—

Several feet of blue clay, with intercalated thin layers of dark-

coloured shale.

A thin stratum of grey, finely laminated shale, with clusters

of valves of Poszdonia Bronnii.

Brown and blue clays and marly bands containing some irre-

gular layers of hard shale, and of thin bands of blue argil-

laceous limestone.

Fossils were moderately abundant in the bands of limestone.

Ammonites bifrons was the most conspicuous ; A. communis was

in much smaller numbers; the few other Ammonites obtained

consisted of A. falcifer, A. heterophyllus, A. cornucopia, A. cras-

sus, A. Lythensis, A. Jurensis, and a new species near to A.

Humphriesianus ; a few fragments occurred apparently of Nau-

tilus sinuatus, and a single specimen of N. fatidorsatus. Belem-

nites were comparatively few, as were also Gasteropoda and Con-

chifera; the latter included two undescribed species, one of

Tancredia and one of Placunopsis.

In the lower beds bluish-grey clays predominated; but the

sections were insufficient to expose an unbroken sequence of the

lower beds, although the entire thickness of the stage was ascer-

tained with a near approach to accuracy ; the measurement gave

a thickness of 105 feet, the beds bemg free from disturbance.

Some few layers of limestone nodules occurred, but their amount

was not comparable with those obtained from the Upper Lias of

Somersetshire. To the same general deficiency of lime, as

exemplified in the paucity and thinness of the limestone bands,

may probably be attributed the general scarcity of fossils when

compared with the Upper Lias of Somerset ; here the chief mass

of the deposit consisted of brown and blue clays which were

quite destitute of fossils; no remaims of Saurians or of Fishes

were observed. These conditions present a remarkable contrast

to the same stage at Ilminster, with its pale yellow limestone

charged with Saurians, Fishes, and a multitude of Mollusca of

all classes, numbermg probably more than 150 species, notwith-

standing that the entire thickness of the stage is only a few feet

at that place. To study these, the extensive collection of Mr.

Moore, in the Bath Museum, should be visited.

The occurrence at Nailsworth of finely laminated shales with

the little Postdonia Bronnu in the upper portion is interesting,

as identifying the stratum with the continental representative of

the same shale: this fragile bivalve appears to be limited to the

single stratum indicated,

The large Tancredia is the first recorded example in the Lias

Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire. 259

of England, although upwards of eleven species are distributed

throughout our Lower and Upper Oolites; in France and Ger-

many, on the other hand, nearly all the recorded species are

Liassic. It is probable, however, that some, or even all of the

shells referred to Tellina in the “ Ktage Bathonien” of D’Orbigny

belong to the genus Tancredia, excluding the two species in his

“‘ Ktage Bajocien,” which belong to the genus Quenstedtia.

The following is the limited list of Upper Lias Testacea pro-

cured at Nailsworth :—

Cephalopoda. Gasteropoda.

Pleurotomaria.

Ammonites bifrons, Brug. Turbo eapitaneus, Uiinst.

faleifer, Sow.

—— communis, Sow. Conchifera.

— heterophyllus, Sow. Astarte lurida, Sow.

cornucopie, Y. & B. Lucina?

— Jurensis, D’Orb. Tancredia leviuscula, n. sp.

— Lythensis, Y. & B. Posidonia Bronnii, Miinst.

crassus, Phil. Placunopsis sparsicostatus, n. sp.

annulatus, Sow. Nucula Hausmanni, Rem.

—— Ilminstrensis, n. sp. Pecten.

Belemnites compressus, Voltz. Gresslya gregaria, Rem. sp. (G. An-

tripartitus. glica, Ag.)

Nautilus latidorsatus, D’ Orb. Lima gigantea, Sow.

sinuatus, Sow. bellula, Mor. & Lye.

Notes on the Testacea.

Ammonites bifrons. A variety with compressed sides, in which

the falciform ribs are but little prominent. A few examples

occurred of the ultimate condition of growth, in which state it

may readily be mistaken for a distinct species, and probably

constitutes the A. Hildensis of Simpson. The costz have dis-

appeared upon the whole of the last volution, which presents

only densely arranged fine falciform lines which pass over the

back and the keel; the lateral sulcation has become indistinct

through the flattening of the sides of the volution ; the back has

lost its rectangular figure and become rounded, sloping obliquely

upon each side from the keel, and the two dorsal grooves have

disappeared ; the keel itself has become more elevated and con-

spicuous. The inner or smooth portion of each volution over-

wraps and conceals the costated portion of the preceding volu-

tion, so that the entire aspect of the shell is smooth, and it is

only by breaking away a portion of the last volution near to the

suture that the ribs of the next volution can be exposed and

the identity of the species proved. It occurred abundantly.

A. communis. Specimens were indifferently preserved, but

exhibited some of those varicties in the arrangement of the dor-

sal ribs, and in the general figure, which perplex collectors who

260 Mr.J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire.

desire to separate them into the forms named A. commums,

A. Hollandrei, and A. Braunianus,—a perplexity which is in ne

degree lessened by the study of numerous specimens. Further

investigations into these forms are desirable.

A. heterophyllus. Badly preserved examples, and few.

A. cornucopie (A. fimbriatus, Sow.). A single fine example

in one of the higher beds. Some casts of young forms, appa-

rently of this species, have been procured m the lower zone of

the Cynocephala-stage at Nailsworth.

A. Jurensis. Fragments only in the higher beds.

A. crassus (A. Raquinianus, D’Orb.). Evidently the same

shell as in the lower zone of the Cynocephala-stage at Nails-

worth and in the Upper Lias of Yorkshire.

Ammonites Ilminstrensts, n. sp.

In its general figure it is scarcely to be distinguished from

Ammonites Humphriesianus; the style of its ornamentation is

also very similar to that of the latter species; there are, how-

ever, some well-marked differences. In 4. Humphriesianus the

lateral costee form, with the dorsal, a curvature more or less

marked ; in the Lias shell, the mbs pass from the suture straight

over the sides and back. Usually two, but sometimes three,

dorsal ribs unite with one lateral mb. In 4. Humphriesianus the

number of dorsal ribs is somewhat greater; but the most con-

spicuous distinction consists in the form of the dorsal ribs, which

in the Lias shell are much more narrow, elevated, and acute, so

that there is a wide space left between each rib. In the young

shell the lateral ribs are likewise much elevated and acute, so

that they are little larger than the dorsal ribs; there is also

some little distinction in the figure of the volutions, and conse-

quently of the aperture, the portion near to the suture over-

hanging the preceding volution more than in the Inferior Oolite

shell.

The septa consist of three large principal lobes, much pro-

duced, and of two small accessory lobes. The dorsal lobe is

much lengthened, with a single, terminal, very elongated and

pointed digitation upon each side of the mesial line; there are

two smaller iateral digitations ; all the digitations are indented.

The superior lateral lobe has its termination trifurcate, the me-

sial digitation being pointed, and of immense length ; but the lobe

altogether is less lengthened than the dorsal lobe. The inferior

lateral lobe is similar in figure to the superior lobe, but is much

smaller and shorter. The two accessory lobes are very small and

simple, the second being nearly concealed by the convexity near

to the suture. The dorsal saddle is of great width, consisting

of two principal divisions, of which the outer is much the larger ;

Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire. 261

each division has two principal branches with numerous inden-

tures. The lateral saddle has two principal portions, of which

the outer is the smaller; the indentures are smaller and less

conspicuous than in the dorsal saddle. The accessory saddles

are small and simple, almost without indentures.

Ill-preserved specimens occurred rather abundantly at Hol-

comb, associated with A. bifrons and Astarte lurida. My

friend Mr. Moore has favoured me with fine specimens from

the pale-yellow bed of the Upper Lias at Ilminster, and smaller

forms of the same species occur in the lower shelly zone of the

Cynocephala-stage at Nailsworth. The largest specimen in my

possession has a diameter of 2} inches; the height of the aper-

ture is 6 Imes, the opposite diameter 10 lines.

A. falcifer. A few specimens. At Stroud, when the railway

was being constructed, a thin band of pale grey limestone was

crowded with fine specimens, to the exclusion of all other species.

A. annulatus, Sow. Few, and ill-preserved.

A. Lythensis, Y. & B. Smaller forms than occur at Whitby.

It is not the A. Lythensis of Quenstedt ; the latter is a very

different Ammonite.

Belemnites compressus, Voltz. Large specimens in the upper

bed, associated with B. tripartitus.

B. tripartitus, Schl., agrees with specimens in the Cynocephala-

stage at Nailsworth and at Frocester Hill.

Nautilus latidorsatus, D’Orb. (N. Toarcensis, D’?Orb.; N. Ju-

rensis, Quenst.). A single fine specimen.

N. sinuatus, Sow. Fragments only.

Pleurotomaria. Species undetermined, with elevated spire,

narrow convex volutions, mesial siphonal rib, and fine, densely

arranged, equal encircling lines.

Turbo capitaneus, Miinst. Its aspect agrees with specimens

from the Cynocephala-stage in the neatness of the ornamen-

tation.

Gresslya gregaria, Reem. A large tumid species, well sepa-

rated from congeneric forms. A single specimen.

Tancredia leviuscula, n. sp.

A large elongated species, with an oblique dorsal angle and

the posterior border nearly closed. Compared with allied forms,

it is more lengthened and less convex than 7. donaciformis ; the

anterior extremity is more rounded; the umbo is but little

elevated, the posterior side being much extended and its extre-

mity pointed ; the height being only equal to ;°,ths of the length.

It is distinguished by the same features from 7. Deshayesea and

T. compressa. A single fine specimen.

262 Mr. J. Lycett on the Upper Lias of Gloucestershire.

Lima gigantea, Sow. This well-known shell oceurs both in

the Lower and Upper Lias of Gloucestershire. D’Orbigny has

separated the older form under the name of L. edulis. 1 do not

perceive that the latter possesses any sufficient specific distinction.

Lima bellula, Mor. & Lye. Delicately preserved, and exhi-

biting the finely ornamented surface, which is rarely seen m

Inferior Oolite specimens. Some of the latter attain larger

dimensions and have a somewhat shorter figure, but do not

possess any other distinguishing feature.

Placunopsis sparsicostatus, n. sp.

Shell flattened, suborbicular, oblique ; umbo raised, submar-

ginal, the surface with numerous irregular, unequal, concentric

plications, and a few raised, equal, linear, distant, undulating

and radiating ribs, sometimes slightly knotted where they pass

over the plications. Diameter 12 lines. A single good specimen.

Nucula Hausmanni, Roem. Nearly allied to Nucula Erato,

D’Orbigny, an Inferior Oolite shell both of Yorkshire and

Gloucestershire; but the latter species is less angular, less pomted

at the extremities, or more ovate and smaller. A single fine

specimen.

Posidonia Bronnii, Mist. A delicate papyraceous and some-

what irregular shell, usually indifferently preserved, but occurring

throughout a thickness of about two inches in tender, thinly

laminated shale. Impressions are abundant, but the test is

rarely preserved.

Astarte lurida, Sow. So numerous are the Jurassic species

of Astarte, and in many instances so nearly allied are they to

each other, that the utmost care and precision is necessary, both

in descriptions and figures, to convey clear and correct ideas of

them in the absence of the fossils; nor under any circumstances

can the varieties of aspect which they assume, and the bounda-

ries between species, be in every instance sufficiently defined.

The figure of Astarte lurida in the ‘ Min. Conch.’ accurately re-

presents a short specimen in the young state, before the arrests of

erowth had produced irregularity and inequality in the encircling

ribs, the verbal description appended being very concise. The

following description is the result of an examination of a multi-

tude of specimens in every stage of growth :—

Shell oblique, ovate, moderately convex; umbones anterior,

pointed, and incurved ; anterior side very short ; lunule large,

striated, elliptical, excavated, its margin slightly rounded ; liga-

mental margin lengthened, its outline somewhat curved, forming

with the other valve a lengthened, smooth, but not deeply exca-

Mr. J. MacGillivray on a new species of Grass Finch. 263

vated area with acute borders ; lower margin elliptically curved,

internally crenulated. Surface with elliptical cost, regular in

the young shell, subsequently degenerating into irregular and

unequal elevations, more especially when the surface exhibits

arrests of growth; the coste are not much raised, rounded, and

fully equal in breadth to the interstitial spaces (about thirty-two

in a full-grown specimen) ; the entire surface has fine striations,

which follow the direction of the coste.

Specimens vary much in their length and obliquity ; but none

are comparable to the Oxford Clay shell figured in the ‘ Illus-

trations of the Geology of Yorkshire’ under the name of Astarte

lurida: the large anterior side and the small lunule mark the

latter as a distinct species.

Several examples of Astarte /urida were obtained in the upper

portion of the Upper Lias in a mill-stream cutting at Holcomb;

it has also occurred very abundantly a little higher in the geo-

logical scale, in the lower zone of the Cynocephala-stage at

Nailsworth. ’Orbigny (‘ Prodrome’) places it in his “ Etage

Bajocien,” which is probably an error; the English localities

cited by him (Fox Hill and Taunton) are not Inferior Oolite ;

nor does it appear that the latter formation, although so rich in

the genus Astarte, has ever produced A. lurida.

XXVII.—Description of a new species of Grass Finch from New

Caledonia. By Joun MacGittrvray, F.R.G.S.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Port de France, New Caledonia, May 18, 1858,

During my short residence at this portion of New Caledonia,

I have had the opportunity of collecting and preparing a few

specimens of birds, one of which is of sufficient interest to induce

me again to become a contributor to the ‘ Annals and Magazine

of Natural History,’ by sending you a brief notice of a new

Finch, which I propose to name Poéphila Paddoni, in honour of

Capt. James Paddon,—not because he has done so much in pro-

moting civilization among the islands of the S.W. Pacific, but be-

cause he has at all times cordially assisted Botanists and other

Naturalists who, like myself, have visited his stations at Aneiteum ;

Tana, the Isle of Pines, and New Caledonia. This Poéphila

interests me especially as being a member of a genus hitherto

considered as exclusively Australian as Hopsaltria, Tropidorhyn-

chus, Ptilotis, Acanthiza, and Zosterops, now for the first time

recorded as being found in New Caledonia. The Finch in ques-

tion more resembles the Australian P. mirabilis (of Hombr. and

264: Mr. A. White on some apparently unrecorded

Jacq. in ‘Voy. of Astrolabe and Zélée’), which also I believe

to be specifically identical with P. Gouldiz, than any other

described species, especially in the scarlet and green of its beau-

tiful plumage.

Poéphila Paddoni, J. M°G. Rostro nigro; fronte, sincipite, gula,

pectoreque pheeniceis; uropygio pennisque duobus centralibus

eaudse supra rnbro-pheeniceis; loris czeruleo-viridibus ; caeteris

partibus corporis metallico-viridibus ; tarsis, digitis et unguibus

atro-fuscis.

Mas. Rostro 0°3, ala 2°25, cauda 2:0; toto corpore 4’1 in long.

uncize Anglice.

Hab. in Nova Caledonia, preesertim apud insulam “ Nu”’ dictam.

By publishing the above contribution, you will oblige,

Gentlemen, your most obedient Servant,

JoHn MacGi.iivray.

XXVIII.—Descriptions of some apparently unrecorded species of

Longicorn Beetles, belonging to the genera Phrissoma, Nyphona,

&c. By Apvam Wuire, Assistant, Zool. Dept. Brit. Mus.

Phrissoma amycterowdes, n. s.

Ph. glabrum, nigrum; thorace- medio tuberculo magno postice fur-

cato; elytris singulis lineis tribus spinarum crassarum ; tibiis apice

brunneo-pilosis.

Smooth, black, shining; last eight joints of antenne with

short brownish pile; lateral spines of thorax sharp, placed for-

ward; between them, in the middle, is a high tubercle, rounded

in front and on the top, forked behind; elytra slightly scabrous,

each with three longitudinal lines of sharp spine-like tubercles,

those of the outer row the smallest; elytra at the widest part

not much broader than between the tips of the thoracic spines ;

tibiee at the end covered with short light-brown hairs.

Length 8 lines.

Hab. Port Natal. (Coll. Gueinzius, in Mus. Brit.)

This longicorn beetle has much resemblance, at first sight, to

some of the spined species of the Australian Curculionidous

genus Amycterus.

Phrissoma Hipporhinus, nu. s.

Ph. pilosum, fuseum, nigro variegatum; thorace medio tuberculo

magno postice emarginato; elytris thorace multo crassioribus,

tuberculatis, singulis lineis tribus tuberculorum czeteris paulo ma-

jorum.

Pale brown, not very thickly pilose, with small scattered black

spectes of Longicorn Beetles. 265

patches devoid of hairs; body large and wide in proportion to

the head and thorax ; first jomt of antennz rugose; thorax in

the middle with a highly elevated tubercle, which is deeply

emarginate, almost forked behind; elytra very convex, with the

surface more or less thickly covered with small tubercles, with

three longitudinal lines of slightly larger tubercles, which do

not reach the apex; abdomen beneath blackish, segments inter-

ruptedly margined with pale brown; legs thickly clothed with

pale brown hairs, of a rich yellowish brown at the tips of the

tibize.

Length 12+ lines.

Hab. Port Natal. (Coll. Gueinzius, in Mus. Brit.)

This species is allied to the Ph. denticulatum, De}., according

to M. Chevrolat. Its specific name is in allusion to a fanciful

resemblance it has to a species of Hipporhinus.

Phrissoma umbrinum, nu. s.

Ph. pilosum ; thoracis spinis lateralibus basi latis ; elytris, spatio sutu-

rali levi, singulis carinis tribus cristatis, interna mediana breviore,

externa longissima.

Of a deep umber-brown, densely pilose; head in front

smoothish and punctured ; thorax wide, the lateral spines broad

at the base; in the middle there is a tubercled elevation con-

sisting of four short rays; elytra somewhat emarginate at the

end, the sutural space smoothest ; each elytron has three ser-

rated ridges; the shortest has a rather high spine at the base,

and reaches only to the middle; the central keel is a little

longer than the inner one, while the outer is the longest of all ;

the antenne and the legs have some scattered bristly grey

hairs.

Length 8 lines.

Hab. Port Natal. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Phrissoma terrenum, n. s.

Ph. pilosum, pallide fuscum ; thorace supra quadri-tuberculato, tuber-

culis fossis profundis separatis; elytris profunde et scaberrime

punctatis, singulis tricarinatis.

Densely covered with a pale brown sponge-like clothing of

short hairs; head with the brow swollen and deeply grooved

down the middle; thorax above with four tubercles, separated

from each other by a transverse and a longitudinal groove, two

on the fore margin, two in the middle; the back part is irre-

gularly and deeply pitted ; the surface of the elytra is irregularly

and very deeply punctured, each elytron having three keels,

slightly crenated on the ridge, the innermost the shortest ;

266 Mr. A. White on some apparently unrecorded

abdomen on each side with two rows of paler-coloured spots ;

antennee with the second, third, and fourth joints thickened.

Length 10 lines.

Hab. 8. Africa (Dr. Andrew Smith). In Coll. Brit. Mus.

Leprodera morimotdes, n. 8.

LZ. scabra et subtuberculata, fusco-brunnea ; oculis angustis; cervice

nigro transversim quadrimaculato ; elytris singulis basi quadratis,

plagis duabus nigris ochraceo marginatis, una ad basin, altera ma-

jore ad latus postice emarginata.

Rough, subtuberculated, and of an earthy-brown; eyes nar-

row; head with the surface irregularly pitted; the back part

with four small black spots arranged transversely, a yellow spot

between the outer and the inner; thorax scabrous, and deeply

punctured and wrinkled, with a transverse impressed line a little

behind the fore margin; elytra tuberculated, tubercles small,

posterior part smoothish, the shoulder squarely angled; each

elytron has two black, smooth, velvet-like spots slightly margined

with ochreous, one a little behind the base, neither touching the

side nor the suture; a larger black spot behind the middle,

notched behind, its outer side on the margin of the elytron ;

elytra when closed having a notch between them.

Length 10-12 lines.

Hab. Silhet. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Nyphona theracica, n. s.

N. latiuscula, griseo-subfuscula; capite antice emarginato; mandibulis

antice planis et politis; thoracis dorso tuberculis duobus magnis,

supra apicibus tribus, inter tubercula linea brevi profunde impressa ;

scutello lateribus albis ; elytris singulis medio basi pilorum crista

elongata, medio late sed obscure pallido fasciato, maculis punctis-

que paucis fuscis ; elytris apice et lateribus postice ciliatis ; pedi-

bus et corpore infra subrubidis ; abdominis segmentis medio basi

obscuris ; tibiis apice late fuscis ; omnibus rectis et simplicibus.

Rather broad, of a griseous brownish hue, very densely covered

with hairs; the mandibles in front flattened, black, polished ;

the head between the antennee widely notched ; thorax narrower

than the elytra; back of the thorax with two large tubercles

occupying most of the upper part of the thorax, each with three

smaller tubercles ; between the tubercles is a short deeply im-

pressed line; the scutellum has the sides white; each of the

elytra has near the base a longitudinal crest of longish hairs,

with one or two other small obscure tufts, and the shoulders as

well as base are rather deeply punctured; across the middle

there is a very wide but indistinct palish band, traversed by

three or four reddish longitudinal lines; the end of the elytra

species of Longicorn Beetles. 267

and the hind part of the margin are ciliated; the legs and the

under parts have a kind of pinkish hue; the tibiz at the end

are widely tipped with brown; the abdomen has the segments

brown in the middle at the base.

Length 94 lines.

Hab. N. India. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

A more obscure specimen from Silhet, seemingly of the same

species, is 2 lines shorter.

Nyphona plagiata, n. s.

N. grisea, punctata ; elytris macula magna subtriangulari fusca antice

albido cincta ; elytris singulis medio lineis duabus brevibus nigro-

fuscis, apice truncatis confertim ciliatis ; thoracis lateribus leevibus.

Griseous, punctured; antenne with the third and fourth

joints punctulated with white; greater part of the thorax above

rugose and deeply punctured, front margin smooth, lateral mar-

gin without tubercles ; elytra in the middle at the base with an

elongated tubercle, covered above with short hairs; about the

middle of the elytra and on the suture there is a largish brown

mark, triangularly pointed in front and margined with whitish ;

the side of it, about the middle of each elytron, with two short

deep brown lineolets, the outer one the widest; the tip of each

truncated, thickly covered with cilia; under side cinereous, sides

ochraceous ; inside of the legs greyish, outside ochraceous.

Length 7} lines.

Hab. E. Indies. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Nyphona parallela, n. s.

N. grisea ; elytris fuscis, sutura late et margine anguste griseis ; ely-

tris fusco punctatis ; thoracis lateribus subtuberculatis.

Griseous, elongated, somewhat parallel; head with a narrow

line down the middle devoid of hairs; thorax rugose, deeply

punctured ; down the middle is a slightly raised keel, which has

an impressed line down it behind; the sides of the thorax are

somewhat tubercular ; the elytra are punctured and deep brown,

the suture is widely margined with griseous, the sides are nar-

rowly bordered with the same; down the middle of each are

three slight keels ; the apex of each is bimucronate and hairy ;

under side and legs griseous, and somewhat dotted with brown.

Length 6 lines.

Hab. N. India. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Nyphona laterals, un. s.

N. rubido-grisea, punctata; elytris singulis ad marginem ante me-

268 Mr. A. White on some apparently unrecorded

diam partem macula rotundata alba; thorace medio fossis duabus

profundis postice subdivergentibus, lateribus simplicibus.

Griseous, with a pinkish hue, rather roughly punctured, some

of the punctures brown; antenne with the jomts at the base

cinereous, at the tip brown; thorax in the middle with two deep

longitudinal fossee not reaching the fore margin, and slightly di-

verging behind ; sides of thorax simple ; elytra punctured, covered

with pinkish-grey short hairs ; on the side margin, just before the

middle of each elytron, is a large roundish white spot ; elytra at

the tip truncated, suture and margin mucronate; middle of

abdomen and inside of legs grey; under side of thorax, margin

of abdomen, and outside of legs tinged with pinkish.

Length 8 lines.

Hab. Silhet. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Nyphona delicatula, n.s.

N. leviuscula, punctata ; thorace subtuberculato; elytris basi obscuris,

punctatis, medio tuberculatis brevi piligeris; elytris fuseo subma-

culatis, apice rubido subreticulatis ; antennis pedibusque subrubidis

fusco annulatis.

Smoothish, the upper surface grey, mottled with different

shades and markings of brown and pink; sides of the head and

two spots on the crown pinkish; antennz with the first joint

brown at the base and pinkish at the tip, the other jomts pinkish

at the base and brown at the tip; the thorax punctured, slightly

tuberculated, with three indistinct brownish bands down the

middle; elytra each with a brown band at the base, with four

short pinkish lines behind it, and a pinkish spot near the scu-

tellum ; the base in the middle 1s somewhat tubercled, with

shortish hairs; the general surface is greyish, spotted here and

there with brown; the apex of each elytron is somewhat reticu-

lated with pinkish; the tip and hind part of the margin are

ciliated; the legs are pinkish, and ringed with deep brown; the

abdomen beneath down the middle is spotted with black.

Length 84-9} lines.

Hab. Silhet. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Nyphona cylindracea, n. s.

N. angustata, cylindracea, canescens; antennarum articulis fusco

punctatis, articulo tertio subarcuato; thorace lato, supra, medio

excepto, tuberculato, lateribus singulis bidentatis; medio linea

brevi impressa ; scutello fere leevigato, apice medio impresso ; ely-

tris singulis humero fusco foveolato, medio basi fasciculato ; elytris

apice trimucronato ; femoribus anticis inerassatis, supra subcris-

tatis ; tibiis anticis curvatis et infra ad apicem uni-spinosis.

Narrow, cylindrical, hoary ; thorax nearly as wide as the ely-

species of Longicorn Beetles. 269

tra ; upper surface, except in the middle, irregular and tubercled ;

each side with two teeth, the anterior the larger; down the

middle is an abbreviated impressed line; the scutellum is

smoothish, and with an impressed point at the apex and a line

at the base; the elytra at the shoulder are brown and somewhat

foveolated, and have a widish tuft of hairs, with two or three

smaller tufts; the general surface is indistinctly foveolated, and

there are two indistinct paler bands across each ; the tip of each

is somewhat trimucronated and rather thickly ciliated; the an-

tenn are punctured with brownish, the third joint is somewhat

arcuated ; the femora of fore-legs are considerably thickened,

somewhat crested above; the tibia are incurved, and have a

spine on the lower side near the tip; the sides of the body be-

neath are somewhat ochraceous.

Length 83 lines.

Hab. K. Indies. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Sympheletes subtuberculatus, n. s.

S. griseo-cinereus ; thorace medio supra subtuberculato ; elytris basi

tuberculis paucis parvis nudis ; antennis postice subciliatis.

Covered with ashen-grey hairs; the margin of the elytra with

a palish mark behind the shoulder and an obscure irregular band

behind the middle, and with a few small tubercles arranged in

two lines; thorax in the middle above with a few slight tubercles

covered with hairs.

Length 7} lines.

Hab. Australia. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

There is a variety of this, tinged with an ochreous hue, in which

the transverse band of the elytra is quite invisible ; the tubercles

of the elytra also are nearly concealed among the hair.

Sympheletes humeralis, n. s.

S. griseus, ochraceo punctatus; elytris subtuberculatis, tuberculis

nudis, humeris nigro-fusco plagiatis, apice truncatis ; capite tho-

raceque punctatis.

Rather thickly covered with greyish hairs, and varied with

small ochreous spots; head rather deeply punctured; antennze

cinereous, joints behind rather thickly bordered with blackish

hairs ; thorax punctured ; elytra with the base more thinly fur-

nished with grey hairs, and a deep brown naked patch below the

shoulder ; the surface of each elytron with several small scattered

brown tubercles, the apex truncated; under side rather thickly

covered with yellowish-grey hairs, the posterior margins of ab-

dominal segments being thickly ciliated.

Length 71-83 lines.

Hab. Australia (Port Essington). (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 19

270 Mr. A. White on some apparently unrecorded

Nyphona asperata, n.s.

Lamia asperata, Burchell, MSS.

N. obseure grisea; thorace medio subsulcato; elytris fasciculis

plurimis parvis lineatim ordinatis ; corpore subtus cinerascente.

Of a dull griseous ; thorax with two distant tubercles on each

side; they are greyish above ; the middle of the thorax is irre-

eular, and down the middle is a slight longitudinal groove ; the

elytra are punctured, and have many small tufts of brown hairs

arranged in interrupted lines; the under surface is paler than

the upper part, and is of a cinereous colour; the antennee are of

a dirty brown, minutely speckled with greyish dots.

Length 94 lines.

Hab. S. Africa (Dr. Burchell).

Phryneta buphthalmus, n. s.

P. thorace supra quadri-tuberculato; elytris vage villosis, fusco-

ochraceis, plagis variis fuscis, apice rubris; antennarum articulo

basali rubro, articulis czeteris nigro-fuscis, articulis secundo ad

quintum postice ciliatis; abdomine subtus miniaceo-rubro, medio

nigro-plagiato, latere nigro-maculato.

Eyes very large; head covered with vermilion-red pile; an-

tenn with the basal joint covered with short vermilion-coloured

down, the joints from the second to the fifth behind ciliated ;

thorax above with four depressed tubercles, two above each spine ;

elytra with long scattered black villous hairs, ochreous-brown,

with large patches of brown; across the middle these constitute a

nearly continuous band; the apex is vermilion-red ; the shoulder

and the sides of the elytra at the base punctured ; tibize brown ;

femora covered with vermilion-coloured pubescence ; a pointed

tubercle between the fore-legs; under side of abdomen vermi-

lion; each joint in the middle at the base with a large black

mark, the side with a smaller black spot.

Length 11-124 lines.

Hab. Sierra Leone. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

This species, in markings and general appearance, has a con-

siderable resemblance, at first sight, to the Lamia molator, Fabr.

I am not certaim that my description of this curious insect has

not been anticipated by Mr. Thomson, in a number of the ‘ Ar-

chives’ which I have not seen, as he once pointed it out to me

as an insect he was about to publish. I described it some years

ago. Perhaps this ought to be referred to anew genus; but as

Mr. Thomson may have formed a name for its reception, I ab-

stain from describing it as such. Mr. Thomson’s descriptions

seem sometimes to be drawn from very imperfect specimens ;

and this species may be distinct from his.

species of Longicorn Beetles. 271

Phryneta fortificata, n. s.

P. pallide fusca; vertice lineis duabus pallidis cruciatis ; thorace

medio tuberculis mediis; elytris basi et in latere usque ad me-

diam partem fossulato-punctatis, medio ochraceo oblique bili-

neatis, apice subrotundatis; abdominis apice subtus linea longi-

tudinali impressa.

Pale brown ; head darker ; crown with two pale lines crossing

each other between the eyes; the palpi ferruginous; antenne

brown, with cinereous reflexions; thorax in the middle with

three rounded tubercles, two of them transverse, and one behind

the other two, variegated with ochreous and brown; scutellum

with a pale V-shaped mark in the middle; elytra with the base

and the side for half the length of each elytron covered with deep

fossulated punctures ; a short ridge in the middle, with a tubercle

at the base; about the middle two short oblique ochreous lines,

the innermost with a sudden hook at the end furthest from the

suture; elytra somewhat rounded at the tip; legs and under

side varied with brown; a pale mark on the thorax below the

shoulder of the elytra; the apical segment of the abdomen

beneath with a longitudinal impressed line; basal segments of

abdomen with a pale spot on each side.

Length 10 lines.

Hab. W. Africa. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Phryneta cinereola, nu. s.

P. pallide cinerea, fusco variegata ; oculis parvis; thorace medio sex-

tuberculato, tuberculis quinque in arcu ordinatis ; elytris basi sca-

briusculis, maculis variis fuscis, maculis basi maculisque ad mediam

partem fascias fere formantibus; corpore subtus, pedibus et an-

tennis cinereis.

Pale ash-coloured ; eyes small; thorax in the middle with six

tubercles, five of them arranged in an arcuated line, the other

one triangular and notched behind; elytra at the base and with

the space about the shoulder deeply punctured and somewhat

tuberculated, with brown spots almost forming a band behind

the shoulder; the spots about the middle almost form a band;

before the tip of each elytron is a brown spot ; the apex of each

elytron is somewhat rounded; the body beneath, the legs, and

the antenne are ash-coloured, and obscurely marked with ferru-

ginous.

Length 9 lines.

Hab. Port Natal. (Gueinzius, in Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Phryneta? velutina, n.s.

| ig Se brannes, sericeo-velutina ; antennis fusco-brunneis ; thoracis

tubereulis lateralibus supra carinatis ; elytris fasciis quinque un-

272 Mr. A. White on some apparently unrecorded

datis nigro-fuscis alternatim latioribus, apice singulis subrotun-

datts ; corporis lateribus singulis lineis tribus punctorum canorum ;

pedibus nigro-fuscis ; sterno gibbo.

Of a deep brown, with a golden hue and a velvety lustre ;

antennee of a dark brown; thorax with the lateral tuberculated

angle keeled above, the keel extending over the back of the

thorax; elytra at the base excised, each with five transverse

deep brown undulating bands, the second and fourth the widest,

the first and fifth interrupted, each elytron at the tip somewhat

rounded ; the under side of the body spotted with cinereous, the

spots on the abdomen arranged on each side in three rows; legs

of a deep blackish brown; sternum very prominent.

Length 7} lines.

Hab, Congo. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

This, with other African species, may form a new genus. The

genera of Longicorns are very difficult to define.

Phryneta lugens, un. s.

P. nigra, cinereo variegata; antennarum articulis tribus basalibus

nigris, 8 ultimis flavis ; thorace supra medio gibbo; elytris cine-

rascentibus, nigro creberrime punctato et plagiato, singulis apice

sinuato-emarginatis ; tiblis postice apice ferrugineo ciliatis, tarsis

subtus ferrugineis ; sterno gibbo,.

Black and cinereous; antennze with the three basal joints

black, the other eight yellow; face with short dark cinereous

hairs; thorax above gibbous in the middle, the lateral spines

blunt; elytra with the ground dark cinereous, very thickly

marked and spotted with black, a greyish band across the mid-

dle; each elytron somewhat notched at the apex; tibize behind

ciliated with ferruginous hairs on the apical half; tarsi beneath

ferruginous; sternum prominent; under side dirty cinereous,

thickly spotted with black.

Length 7} lines.

Hab. Congo. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Coptops leucostictica, n. s.

C. cinereo-fuscula, maculis plurimis vagis albidis ; antennarum arti-

culis apice nigris ; tibiis apice nigris, femoribus posticis extus medio

nigro maculatis ; abdomine subtus medio nigro fasciato, fascia den-

tata.

Covered with a brownish cinereous pile, which, when rubbed,

leaves the surface beneath blackish; it is sprinkled with many

small, scattered, whitish spots; the tips of the joints of the

antennze are black ; the tibie are black at the tip, and the femora

of the hind-legs have a blackish spot on the outside in the middle ;

species of Longicorn Beetles. 273

the abdomen beneath has a black band down the middle, which

is dentated on each side.

Length 10-103 lines.

Hab, Assam. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Coptops abdominalis, n. s.

C. griseo-fusca, rubido variegata; abdominis segmento basali flavo

distincte marginato, segmentis sequentibus ochraceo submarginatis.

This is a small species, of a griseous brown, varied with small

reddish-ochreous patches of hairs; the basal segment of the abdo-

men is very clearly margined with yellow, the other segments

are slightly margined with ochraceous.

Length 5} lines.

Hab. Port Essington.

Agelasta bifasciana, n. s.

A. ochraceo et griseo variegata et nigro punctulata; elytris singulis

basi unituberculatis et fasciis duabus nigris undatis, antice et pos-

tice ochraceo-cinctis ; antennis articulis basi cinereis, apice nigris,

articulo primo nigro punctato.

Variegated with greyish and ochreous hues, and dotted over

with black ; each of the elytra at the base with a black tubercle,

and two black waved bands, one before, the other behind the

middle, and margined in front and behind with ochraceous ;

two or three black marks between the last band and the tip; on

the suture, in some specimens, are a few black spots; antennz

with the joints cinereous at the base, black at the tip, the first

joint ash-coloured, spotted with black; under side of body

ochreous, spotted and dotted irregularly with black.

Length 8-10 lines.

Hab. Silhet.

Crossotus Natalensis, n. s.

C. griseus, ochraceo subpunctatus; elytris singulis basi fasciculis

tribus fuscis, uno humerali, post medium fasciculo altero, et ante

apicem subfasciculatis ; antennis articulis tribus basalibus postice

a basi ad apicem nigro longe ciliatis, articulis quarto quintoque a

medio ad apicem longe ciliatis; pedibus, tibiis preesertim, fusco

subpunctatis.

Griseous, somewhat pointed with ochraceous; each of the

elytra has three fascicles of dark brown hairs, one on each shoul-

der, another fascicle behind the middle, and before the tip there

are two or three indistinct fascicles; antennz cinereous, joints

darker at the tips, the three basal joints with long darkish cilia

behind from the base to the tip, the fourth and fifth joints are

ciliated with long blackish hairs from the middle to the tip ;

274 Mr. A. White on some apparently unrecorded

legs, but especially the tibiee, punctulated with brown ; front of

head and under side of body ochraceous.

Length 6-7 lines.

Hab. Port Natal. (Gueinzius, in Coll. Mus. Brit.)

Pelargoderus Guerinii, n. s.

P. capite cinereo, vittis quatuor nigris ; thorace nigro, vittis quinque

albis, transversim strigoso; elytris singulis apice subemarginatis

cinereo-pulverosis maculis plurimis nigris ; abdomine subtus medio

nigro, lateribus cinereis nigro maculatis.

Head cinereous ; a trefoil-shaped black spot above the mouth ;

four black vitte, two behind each eye; thorax black, rather

closely transversely striated, with five longitudinal white bands,

—a wide one down the middle, a narrow white one on each

side of it, and a wide white band on the thorax above the base

of the first pair of legs; scutellum white; elytra cinereous, with

the ferrugimous base shining through, with many scattered black

spots, the apex somewhat emarginated; under side of meso-

thorax whitish cinereous, with two or three black spots on each

side ; abdomen beneath in the middle black, the sides cinereous

and spotted with black; antenne blackish brown; legs black,

with a cinereous hue,

Length 9-134 lines.

Near P. tessellatus, Guér.

Hah. Silhet. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Cerosterna Indiator, n. s.

C. nigra, capite vittis duabus albis ; thorace supra vittis duabus latis

albis; elytris singulis dorso subplano leevi, lateribus punctatis, ma-

culis magnis variis irregularibus ornatis ; corpore subtus pilis albidis

tecto.

Black ; head slightly grooved down the middle, slightly pune-

tured; antennze with the joints cinereous at the base, black at

the tip; back part of the head with two oblique white vittee ;

thorax above with two wide white bands, the central yitta smooth,

black, its sides slightly punctured; the scutellum with some

whitish hairs; the elytra have the back somewhat flattened,

smooth, with scattered, nearly obsolete punctures, except where

they bend over the sides, the punctures there being deep and

more frequent; the tip is white, and there are various large

spots or interrupted bands over the general surface ; the under

side is covered with whitish adpressed hairs.

Length 12 lines.

Hab. India (Maj.-Gen. Hardwicke). (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

The specimen is somewhat rubbed.

species of Longicorn Beetles. 275

Hammoderus albiplagiatus, n. s.

H. elytris apice subacutis (non spinosis) ; thoracis dorso, lateribus

singulis, vittula nivea pone spinam, et puncto parvo ; elytris cinereo-

fuscis, punctatis, ad basin subtuberculatis, singulis macula nivea

basali; plaga laterali irregulari ante mediam partem, plaga altera

nivea post mediam, et macula nivea ante apicem, punctulisque

paucis niveis, preesertim ad marginem posticam; mesothoracis

latere albo unimaculato ; abdominis segmento primo lateribus uni-

maculato.

Of a cinereous brown ; the back of the thorax with three small

transverse tubercles; on each side behind the spine there is a

short snow-white vitta, and a white dot behind the middle tu-

bercle; the elytra are punctured, and at the base are slightly

tubercled ; they are without punctures on the white spots; the

base of each elytron has a largish snow-white spot, neither touch-

ing the scutellum nor the shoulder; before the middle and near

the lateral margin is a large white mark, the edge of which is

somewhat lobed; behind the middle, and with the sides about

equally distant from the margin and the suture, is another

irregular white mark, and before the apex there isa smaller one;

there are a few small white dots, especially on the hind part of

the margin of the elytra; when any of the spots are dotted,

around the dot there are no hairs; the under side of the meso-

thorax has a white spot, and there is also a small white spot on

each side of the basal segment of the abdomen; the front tibize

are somewhat sinuated on the inside.

Length 94 lines.

Hab. Mexico. (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

Hammoderus thoracicus, n. s.

H. fuliginoso-fuseus ; vertice suleato lineis duabus albis antice con-

vergentibus ; thoracis dorso scabriusculo lineis tribus albis, mediana

subobsoleta, alteris supra spinas laterales, margines anticas nec

posticas tangentibus ; elytris ad basin subtuberculatis, apice singulis

unispinosis ; maculis variis irregularibus niveis, abdominis lateri-

bus albido submaculatis.

Of a fuliginous brown; the crown of the head grooved, and

with a whitish line on each side of the groove, the two lines

converging in front ; the back of the thorax somewhat scabrous,

with three longitudinal snow-white lines, the middle one nearly

obsolete, the side ones thicker, one above each lateral spine,

neither reaching to the front nor the hind margin; elytra with

the shoulder and the base somewhat tubercled, the tip of each

spined ; there are some scattered, snow-white, irregular marks,

three of them larger than the rest; one of these is before the

middle, the second is behind the middle, and the third is before

276 Mr. P. H. Gosse on Sarcodictyon catenata.

the tip; each segment of the abdomen below has on the sides

a small obscure whitish spot.

Length 11 lines.

Hab. 8. America ? (H. G. Harrington, Esq.) (Coll. Brit. Mus.)

XXIX.—On Sarcodictyon catenata (Forbes).

By P. H. Goss, F.R.S.

[With a Plate. |

THE possession of a specimen of Sarcodictyon catenata in the

highest health and vigour enables me to add a few particulars

to what is known of its economy, and to give a figure of its

appearance. I should premise that I have not by me the original

account of the animal as published by the late Kdward Forbes,

but only the poaon of it by Dr. Johnston im his ‘ British Zoo-

phytes, ed. 2. p. 179, and the figures in plate 33. figs. 4-7,

which, he Btntee, were copied from “Forbes’s drawings.

My specimen was obtained on the 8th instant, at Ilsam, in

this neighbourhood. Having chiselled off several pieces of the

perpendicular sides of a sub-cavernous rock at extreme low-

water, spring-tide, and plunged them, when brought home, into

sea-water, my little son found, while examiming them the next

morning, several expanded polypes on one of the fragments,

which seemed to him new, and to which he called my attention.

On examination, I found that they belonged to this interesting

species.

The creeping band is about half an inch in length and half a

line in diameter, running in an irregularly smuated direction.

Within this space are five polypes, and there are three or four

more scattered on the stone, close to the band, but whose con-

nexion with it I cannot trace, nor with each other: they appear

isolated. The colour of the band, which has a fibrous texture,

is pellucid red; and that of the polypes, when contracted, is

opake pale red. Not one of Forbes’s figures (in Johnston)

bears more than the most remote and rude resemblance to what

I see, with the exception of the right-hand polype im fig. 5 (op.

cit.), which is a tolerable representation of the contracted con-

dition; too conical, however.

The individual polypes, when in this state, bear a very close

resemblance to a minute Sagartia: they are invested with a

pellucid epidermis, which is thrown by contraction into annular

folds. These folds are seen encircling the lower part of the

column alone when the animal is fully extended (see PI. 1X. fig. a).

Expansion takes place in the ordinary mode, the animal gradu-

ally taking a columnar form, and at length attainmg a height

Mr. P. H. Gosse on Sarcodictyon catenata. 277

of rather more than one-fourth of an inch, with a thickness of

about one-sixteenth (see fig. 0).

The disk is surrounded by eight marginal tentacles, which

often extend to one-fifth of an inch in length: their bases are

thick and contiguous; their figure that of a cone much pro-

duced, and terminating in an exceedingly attenuate point. Each

tentacle is fringed along each of its two lateral faces with a row

of pinne, about fourteen in number in each row. These are

conico-cylindrical processes, of extreme delicacy, longer in the

middle of the row, and diminishing to each extremity.

The pine are holiow throughout, with very thin parietes:

their cavities communicate freely with that of the tentacle, of

which they may be considered as cecal appendages. They are

composed, like the tentacles, of contractile tissue, doubtless

muscular, and are capable of great elongation, or, at pleasure,

of reduction to mere warts. The exterior surface of the pinne

is studded with oblong tubercles, which are set on in a spiral of

about five whorls, the extreme tip being invariably crowned by

one of globose shape (see fig.c). Under the pressure of the

compressorium, with a magnifying power of 600 diameters,

these tubercles were seen to be composed of granular tissue,

enclosing moderately few cnide, pointing outwards, and bearing

on minute eminences of their surface the fine appendages which

my friend Dr. T. Strethill Wright has named palpocils* (see

fig. 2). The enide are ovate, arcuate, and very minute, averaging

‘0004 inch in length and ‘0001 inch in thickness. The tubercles

have a decidedly spiral arrangement on the pinna, though the

pinnee are strictly bifarious on the tentacle.

Interiorly the pinne are richly ciliated ; and corpuscles in the

peritoneal fluid are seen forcibly driven to and fro by the con-

flicting currents. The epithelial liming of the tentacles is simi-

larly clothed with cilia; but the currents here are chiefly mani-

fest in the basal region, and their course 1s regularly downward

into the interseptal cavities.

The disk presents nothing remarkable ; it is smooth and trans-

lucent. The mouth is encircled by a thin lip, which is capable

of protrusion in the form of a low circular wall. A good micro-

scopic observation, obliquely down into the stomach, showed me

that (on that side, at least ; I can say nothing of the other) there

is one gonidial groove, of which the edges were sometimes brought

temporarily into mutual contact for a portion of their length,

forming thus a tube, and at other times were widely separated—

forming a broad and shallow channel. I could see no appear-

ance of gonidial tubercles. The groove thus seen coincides with

one of the extremities of the line which a transverse section

* Edinb. New Phil. Journ. for April 1857.

278 Mr. P. H. Gosse on Sarcodictyon catenata.

would present; for the form of the stomach here, as in Aleyo-

nium and the Actinioids, is that of a flattened sac, or that which

a pillow-case would take, supposing it to be suspended longitu-

dinally, and both ends to be unsewed. The inferior extremity

of this long sac, which hangs down in the centre of the column,

sustained in place by the eight septa, which connect it through-

out its length with the column-wall, is entirely open, without

the slightest constriction or appearance of a sphincter. It is

in fact a little dilated, and runs off into eight produced points,

coinciding with the septa, which pass off thence downward to-

ward (and probably to) the bottom of the visceral cavity. The

free edges of the septa, below the termination of the stomach,

are thickened and much convoluted, each forming doubtless a

craspedum ; but the distinct sight of their structure is speedily

lost in the swollen masses, of an opake pale-red hue, into which

they merge, and which nearly fill the cavity,—doubtless the

ovaries.

It is remarkable that the most careful scrutiny failed to detect

even a single spiculum in the texture. In Aleyonium these depo-

sits are found by hundreds around the neck of the polype and

running up into the tentacles, as well as in the skin of the co-

lumn. But in my expanded Sarcodictyons none could be detected

in the tissues of the living animal ; and examination of the

dead proved equally fruitless: for I separated one, pressed it to

actual flatness between the plates of the compressorium, and

allowed it to dry; then I treated it with a solution of caustic

potash (Brandish’s) ; finally I boiled the remains in the potash

over a flame for some minutes ; but with the most careful search,

under a magnifying power of 600, and subsequently of 800 dia-

meters, not a single spiculum appeared. I may observe, by the

way, that after these processes the form of the pressed animal,

and particularly of the tentacles with their pinne, remained

perfect, whence I infer that the integument is of a chitinous

nature.

On the other hand, the spicula were conspicuous enough in

a dried specimen of Sarcodictyon similarly treated. Dr. Battersby

had kindly given me a fine specimen of this species in the

dry state, which he had dredged this summer on the coast of

Galway. From this I cut off a small portion of the band in-

cluding a single polype; and having macerated it in water and

subjected it to boiling potash, I found the spicula conspicuous,

though not very numerous. They were, in fact, distinctly iden-

tifiable with a power of 65 diameters, being on an average ‘003

inch in length, and some attainmg to ‘0055. These spicula

were of a transparent light-red hue, and of that pattern (though

varying indefinitely m detail) which I have represented, in my

Mr. P. H. Gosse on Sarcodictyon catenata. 279

‘Devonshire Coast,’ pl. 3. figs. 3 and 4, as possessed by the

spicula of Alcyonium, resembling “ very gnarled branches of oak,

with the branchlets broken off, leavmg ragged ends.” The

figure given by Johnston, after Forbes—that of a four-rayed

star, with minutely serrated margins—must surely have been a

fancy portrait.

The whole of the expanded polype is transparent and colour-

less **, except the stomach, the craspeda of the septa, and the

ovaries, which are opake and light red. When the animal is

contracted, these parts give their hue to the whole then visible,

with the exception of the whitish, pellucid epidermis.

My specimens were (and are; for they still survive, after nearly

three weeks’ captivity) by no means “sluggish and shy.” They

expand very freely in pure water, and remain in full blossom

almost the whole of their time. If touched rudely, they withdraw,

but do not at all regard the movement of the vessel in which they

are kept, nor the pushing hither and thither of the fragment of

rock to which they are attached, nor a shock or jar given to the

table, nor even a slight touch,—all of which would induce our

more coy Anemones to veil their beauties from public gaze. And

when they have retired, a very short time—perhaps a quarter of an

hour, or less—sees them blossoming again as jauntily as ever.

Their manners during expansion are sprightly, as almost every

instant one or other of the tentacles, which move quite inde-

pendently of each other, is bent mward toward the mouth, or

jerked hither or thither, or suddenly shortened, or more slowly

lengthened. These organs are usually carried arching outward

and upward in sigmoid curves, like the branches of a candela-

brum (see fig. a), imparting a most elegant appearance to this

beautiful Zoophyte. The pinne, too, are continually changing

their position and figure by their independent contractions;

ordinarily they bend downward and outward from the plane of

the tentacle.

After one or two attempts I succeeded in feeding the polypes.

The difficulty was in presenting the food in sufficiently mmute

morsels. I selected the flesh of the earthworm, having found

that this is generally agreeable to zoophytic taste, and cut a

piece of the integument into very minute atoms. One of these

I then passed down on the point of a needle to the Sarcodictyon,

watching it at the same time through a pocket lens. As soon —

as contact occurred, the tentacle grasped it, took it from the

needle-point, and bending inward, passed it to the disk. Here

one and another of the tentacles bent in towards it, all of them

* This is, however, due to distension ; for when partially contracted, the

septa, and even the skin of the column and tentacles, are seen to have a

slight tinge of the same carneous hue.

280 Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

by turns touching it, and as it were testing it. In the course

of a few minutes the lips had closed upon the atom, and it was

seen dilating the stomach as it slowly made its way downwards.

Sarcodictyon appears to me to approach very closely to the

Helianthoid type. This genus on the one hand, and Zoanthus

on the other, are probably the links by which the two suborders

Alcyoniaria and Actiniaria are united. I have never had an

opportunity of examining Zoanthus, but think it probable that

isolated calcareous spicula will be found scattered in its tissues.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX.

Fig. a. Sarcodictyon catenata: a single polype expanded. Magnified

12 diameters.

Fig. b. The same, of the natural size.

Fig. c. A tentacular pina. Magnified 85 diameters.

Fig. d. A pinna contracted and crushed flat between the plates of the

compressorium. Magnified 250 diameters.

Sandhurst, Torquay, Sept. 27th, 1858.

XXX.—Characters of some apparently undescribed Ceylon In-

sects. By F. WaLxkeEr.

{Continued from p. 209.]

Fam. Buprestidae.

CHRYSOBOTHRYS SUTURALIS. Cupreo-purpurascens, subtus cyaneo-

viridis aureo nitens, frontis lateribus thoracisque margine antico

auratis, elytris basi auratis, sutura cyaneo-viridi. Long. 4 lin.

AGRILUS suULCICOLLIS. Nigro-zeneus, thorace transverse suleato,

elytris punctatis foveolatis, lateribus antice emarginatis. Long.

12 lin.

Fam. Elateride.

CaRDIOPHORUS HUMERIFER. Niger, capite, thorace et elytris basi

rufis, elytris punctato-lineatis, luteo bifasciatis. Long. 3 lin.

CoRYMBITES DIvIDENS. Rufa, capite, antennis, thoracis vitta pos-

tice abbreviata, elytrorum triente apicali abdominisque apice nigris.

Long. 3} lin.

CoryMBITES pivisA. Rufa, pubescens, capite, antennis, elytrorum

dimidio fere apicali abdomineque nigris. Long. 43 lin.

Aruovus punctosus. Niger, dense pubescens, capite thoraceque

confertissime punctatis, antennis pedibusque piceis, elytris punctato-

lineatis, Long. 6 lin.

Arnovus 1napertus. Niger, ferrugineo sordido dense tomentosus,

capite thoraceque subtilissime punctatis, elytris punctato-lineatis,

pedibus rufescentibus. Long. 4 lin.

Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects. 281

ArHous pecretus. Niger, capite thoraceque subtilissime punc-

tatis, antennis piceis, thorace latiusculo, angulis posticis peracutis,

elytris scitissime punctato-lineatis postice attenuatis, abdomine

pedibusque rufescentibus. Long. 43 lin.

ATHOUS INEFFICIENS. Ferrugineus, pubescens, capite thoraceque

piceis subtilissime punctatis, antennis nigris serratis, elytris scite

lineatis vix punctatis. Long. 33-4 lin.

Genus Leena.

Caput antice excavatum. Labrum extensum. Palpi breves, clavati.

Antennze ramis septem sat longis ; articulus penultimus intus pro-

ductus; ultimus breviusculus. Elytra subparallela, postice vix

angustiora. Tibize subclavatee, subsulcatz, vix dilatatze.

Leena 1poneA. Rufo-ferruginea, nitens, antennis, tibiis tarsisque

nigris, capite thoraceque fere glabris, elytris rufis, scite sulcatis,

sulcis subtilissime punctatis. Long. 9 lin.

Genus HaRMATELIA.

Colophotie affinis. Antenne maris ramis longis verticillatis.

HarMArTELIA Discauis. Testacea, antennis, capite thoraceque ni-

gris, thoracis margine testaceo, elytris nigro quadrivittatis. Long.

23 lin.

HARMATELIA BILINEA. Testacea, antennis pedibusque nigricanti-

bus, thorace rufescente sulcato subdilatato, elytris nigro bivittatis.

Long. 3 lin.

Fam. Lampyride.

Lycus Geminvus. Ater, thoracis marginibus dilatatis incisis elytris-

que apud medium dilatatis sanguineis, antennis dilatatis serratis.

Long. 5-6 lin.

Lycus astutus. Ater, thorace elytrisque sanguineis, thorace cari-

nis tribus dorsalibus (duabus postice) carimaque transversa undu-

lata, elytris inter costas punctatis, triente apicali atra. Long.

43-5} lin.

Lycus MELANopTERUvs. Ater, thorace elytrisque sanguineis, antennis

latissime serratis, elytris pubescentibus linearibus inter costas punc-

tatis, triente apicali atra, alis nigris. Long. 4 lin.

Lycus FALLAx. Ater, thorace elytrisque sanguineis, antennis latis

non serratis, elytris postice latioribus vix costatis, fascia lata sub-

apicali atra. Long. 4 lin.

Lycus pusicornis. Ater, thorace, scutello elytrisque sanguincis,

antennis pubescentibus latissime pectinatis, elytris linearibus pu-

bescentibus inter costas punctatis, triente apicali atra, costis plu-

rimis. Long. 33 lin.

Lycus pupLtex. Ater, thorace, scutello elytrisque sanguineis, an-

tennis latis serratis, elytris linearibus pubescentibus inter costas

punctatis, triente apicali atra, costis paucis. Long. 33 lin.

282 Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

Lycus cosTiFER. Ater, capite piceo, thorace elytrisque pallide

sanguineis, thorace carinis tribus postice duabus, elytris linearibus

reticulatis, costis paucis. Long. 3 lin.

Lycus Revocans. Ater, thorace, scutello elytrisque pallide sangui-

neis, antennis pubescentibus latissime pectinatis, elytris lmearibus

pubescentibus inter costas punctatis apices versus atris. L. pubt-

corni affinis at distinctus. Long. 33 lin.

Lycus pIspELLENS. Ater, antennis latiusculis, elytris testaceis

angustis linearibus inter costas punctatis apices versus atris. Long.

3 lin.

Lycus ExpANsicornis. Ater, capite, thorace elytrisque sanguineis,

antennis dilatissimis valde serratis corpore multo longioribus, di-

midio basali sanguineo, thorace marginato antice angusto, elytris

linearibus inter costas punctatis, costis paucis. Long. 3} lin.

Lycus prvisus. Luteo-testaceus, antennis nigris latis breviusculis

basi testaceis, thorace latiusculo utrinque impresso, tibiis nigris,

elytris cribratis quadricostatis extus subarcuatis apud apices ob-

lique atris. Long, 4 lin.

Lycus PLANICORNIS. Coccineus, antennis nigris compressis basi

testaceis, thorace carinato bisulcato lateribus subdilatatis, elytris

vix dilatatis apice nigris, tibiis tarsisque nigris. Long. 5 lin.

DicryorprERA INTERNEXA, mas. Atra, thorace abdomineque san-

guineis, antennis subserratis, thorace postice latiore, elytris sub-

linearibus cribratis quadricostatis apice atris. Foem. Lutescens,

antennis breviusculis, thorace angustiore, elytris extus subarcuatis.

Long. 4-5 lin.

LAMPYRIS TENEBROSA. Fulvescens, subtus ferruginea, oculis maxi-

mis nigris, thoracis disco nigro, elytris subtilissime cribratis. Long.

7+ lin.

LaMpyris pDIFFinis. Testacea, oculis maximis nigris, thoracis disco

nigro, elytris nigris subtilissime cribratis basi apiceque testaceis.

Long. 6 lin.

LAMPYRIS LUTESCENS. Lutescens, oculis maximis atris, thorace

fascia antica vitrea, antennis, tibiis, tarsis abdomineque (apice ex-

cepto) nigris. Long. 7 lin.

CoLoPHoOTIA HUMERALIS. Fulvo-lutescens, capite ferrugineo, ocu-

lis atris, antennis tarsisque nigricantibus, elytris basi apiceque

piceis. Long. 4—4} lin.

CoLOPHOTIA PERPLEXA. ‘Testacea, capite, oculis elytrisque apice

atris, abdominis apice pallido, antennis tarsisque nigricantibus.

Long. 4-43 lin.

CoLopnHotia tnTRIcATA. Testacea, abdominis apice pallidiore,

capite ferrugineo, oculis atris, elytris apice piceis, antennis tarsis-

que nigricantibus. Long. 3 lin.

CoLornoria ExTRICANS. Testacea, capite, antennis, thoracis plaga

subquadrata, seutello, elytrorum triente apicali, pectore postico,

Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects. 288

abdomine pedibusque posterioribus nigris, abdominis apice albido.

Long. 3-3 lin.

Fam. Telephoride.

TELEPHORUS DIMIDIATUS, Fabr.? Testaceus, elytris dimidio apicali

nigro-cyaneo, antennis tibiisque posticis nigris basi testaceis, abdo-

mine tarsisque nigris. Long. 4—4} lin.

TELEPHORUS MALTHINOIDES. Ater, nitens, antennis subserratis,

thorace luteo. Fam. Elytris non nitidis. Long. 2 lin.

Fam. Melyride.

Mauacuius? ptaciatus. Ater, elytris rufis cribratis, basi, apice

plagisque duabus cyaneo-atris. Long. 1} lin.

MALTHINUS PROFICIENS. Niger, capite, antennis basi, thorace

pedibusque testaceis, thorace nonnunquam nigricante. Long.

1 lin.

Enicorus? rusirormis. Ater, nitens, subfusiformis, dense pubes-

cens, elytris punctato-lineatis. Long. 13 lin.

Fam. Cleride.

NecRoBIA ASPERA. Purpureo-cyanea, dense pubescens, antennis

rufis apice nigris, pedibus rufis, elytris rude punctato-costatis.

Long. 2 lin.

Fam. Ptinide.

Prinus LeMorpes. Fulvus, subpubescens, antennis nigricantibus,

dimidio basali testaceo, thorace piceo. Long. 1} lin.

Fam. Diaperide.

Diaperis veLtutTina. Nigra, velutina, ore fulvescente, antennis

piceis basi ferrugineis, corpore subtus pedibusque piceis aut ferru-

gineis. Long. 23-3 lin.

Fam, Tenebrionide.

ZopHoBAS CLAvirEs. Ater, capite linea transversa arcuata impressa,

thorace subtilissime et confertissime punctato, elytrorum lineis

impressis bene determinatis, rugulis transversis. Mas. Thorace

vix nitente, tibiis anterioribus apice dilatatis et angulatis, posticis

arcuatis. «em. Thorace opaco. Long. 7-8 lin.

Zoruopas? sotipus. Ater, oblongus, capite subtilissime punctato,

thorace conferte punctato, elytris tuberculato-lineatis. Long.

3% lin.

Upts impressa. Atra, nitens, capite punctato, thorace subobsolete

unisulcato, elytris e punctis sat magnis octo-lineatis, femoribus

clayatis. Long. 8 lin.

TENEBRIO RETENTA. Atra, thorace subnitente subtilissime punc-

tato, elytrorum lineis impressis bene determinatis. Long. 5 lin.

284 Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects.

Fam. Opatride.

OPATRUM CONTRAHENS. Nigrum, supra subtilissime punctulatum

et fusco tomentosum, elytrorum lineis impressis sat bene determi-

natis. Long. 4 lin.

OpaTRUM BILINEATUM. Nigrum, precedente angustius, supra

subtilissime punctulatum et fusco tomentosum, thorace foveis dua-

bus parallelis, elytrorum lineis impressis sat bene determinatis.

Long. 33-4 lin.

OpaTRUM PLANATUM. Nigrum, precedente angustius, supra sub-

tilissime punctulatum et fusco tomentosum, elytrorum lineis im-

pressis sat bene determinatis. Long. 3 lin.

OPATRUM SERRICOLLE. Piceo-nigrum, thorace scabro, lateribus

denticulatis, elytris subpunctatis, costis quatuor bene determinatis.

Long. 23 lin.

ASIDA HORRIDA. Ferrugineo-fusca, subtus nigra, thorace elytrisque

cribratis tuberculatis et cristatis, marginibus serratis, thorace

utrinque profunde inciso. Long. 23 lin.

CrypTicus DETERSUS. Niger, subopacus, ore tarsisque subtus

ferrugineis, thorace levi postice utrinque subimpresso, elytris

distincte punctato-lmeatis. Long. 33 ln.

CrypTicus LONGIPENNIS. Niger, nitens, thorace subtilissime

. . . 5° ? . . .

punctato, elytris subopacis, lineis punctato-lineatis postice bene

determinatis. Long. 3 lin.

PHALERIA RUFIPES. Nigra, nitens, ore antennisque piceis, thorace

subtilissime punctato, elytris apice piceis, lineis bene determinatis,

pedibus rufis. Long. 23 lin.

Toxicum oppuGNans. Atrum, subopacum, thorace subleevi, ely-

tris distincte punctato-lineatis. Mas. Capite cornubus duobus

porrectis longis aut breviusculis. Fam. Capite bituberculato.

Long. 33-4 lin. ;

Toxicum BILuNA. Mas. Atrum, cribratum, tuberculoso-scabrum,

thorace cornubus duobus porrectis arcuatis scabris. Long. 3 lin.

Uxoma scrta. Badia, nitens, thorace subtilissime punctato, ely-

trorum lineis punctatis scitissime determinatis. Long. 33 lin.

Mas. 'Thorace antice impresso.

ALPHITOPHAGUS suUBFASCIA. Ater, nitens, antennis ferrugineis,

elytris impresso-lineatis, fasciis duabus angulatis luteis, 1* antica

interrupta, 2* apicali. Long. 1} lin.

Fam. Helopide.

Genus OspDARA.

Spheroto similis. Corpus subovatum, crassum, convexum. Caput

transverse impressum. Palpi securiformes. Antennze subcla-

vatee, corporis dimidio breviores, articulis apices versus breviori-

Mr. F. Walker on some undescribed Ceylon Insects. 285

bus. Thorax subrotundatus, lateribus incisis. Elytra latiora,

scabra. Pedes longiusculi.

Ospara Picipes. Nigra, thorace subnitido subtilissime punctato,

pedibus piceis, elytris rufo-ferrugineis, tuberculis plurimis et variis

nigris. Long. 4 lin.

STRONGYLIUM VARIABILE. Rubro-cupreum, aut cyaneo-viride, aut

zeneum, thorace conferte punctato, elytrorum lineis bene determi-

natis rude punctatis apices versus scitissime punctatis. Long.

6-9 lin.

STRONGYLIUM PARABGLICUM. Eneum, thorace scitissime punc-

tato, fovea dorsali, elytrorum lineis impressis distinctis rude punc-

tatis apices versus vix punctatis. Long. 6 lin.

STRONGYLIUM L&vIUSCULUM. Nigro-zneum, subtus lete zeneum,

capite thoraceque subtiliter punctatis, elytrorum lineis tenuissimis

subtilissime punctatis. Long. 6 lin.

HELOPS EBENINUS. Ater, opacus, capite trisulcato, ore ferrugineo,

thorace subsericeo, elytrorum lineis impressis optime determinatis

strenue punctatis. Long. 3-33 lin.

AMARYGMUS CHRYSOMELOIDES. /Eneus, levis, subtus niger, pe-

dibus nigro-piceis, elytris eeneo-viridibus, lineis octo e punctis bene

determinatis. Long. 33-4} lin.

Fam. Lyttide.

EPICAUSTA NIGRIFINIS. J. testacee F. affinis. Testacea, sub-

levis, capite, antennis, elytris apice pedibusque nigris, femoribus

testaceis apice nigris. Long. 5} lin.

MyLasris HUMERALIS. Atra, elytrorum strigis duabus humerali-

bus, maculis duabus basalibus fasciisque duabus angulosis luteis.

Long. 9-11 lin.

MYLasris ALTERNA. Atra, elytris luteis, macula basali, fascia

media, puncto apud suturam fasciaque apicali extus producta ni-

gris. Long. 33-5 lin.

ATRACTOCERUS DEBILIS. ‘Testaceus, capite thoraceque nigro uni-

vittatis, antennis nigris, abdomine ferrugineo, alarum venis testa-

ceis. Long. 10-14 lin.

ATRACTOCERUS REVERSUS. Niger, thoracis vitta lutea, tarsis tes-

taceis, tibiis posticis testaceo fasciatis, alarum venis nigris. Long.

11 lin.

Fam. Edemeridz.

ALLECULA FusirormMis. Nigro-picea, longi-fusiformis, capite fer-

rugineo, elytrorum lineis impressis punctatis, antennis pedibusque

fulvis, femoribus apice nigris. Long. 5 lin.

ALLECULA ELEGANS. Fulva, subfusiformis, thorace subtilissime

seabro subtus nigro, vitta dorsali nigra, elytris cribratis et costatis,

vittis duabus indistinctis nigricantibus. Long. 3} lin.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. u. 20

286 Bibliographical Notices.

CisrELA ConGRUA. Testaceo-flava, laevis, elytrorum lineis impressis

scitis tenuissime punctatis. Long, 43 lin.

Fam. Mordellide.

ACOSMIUS LANGUIDUS. Piceus, cinereo-tomentosus, autennis basi

fulvis, thoracis plagis et elytrorum fasciis duabus non tomentosis,

Long. 5 lin.

Morpetta composita. Atra, tomento albo varia, thoracis mar-

gine lineolisque duabus transversis angulatis, elytrorum maculis

decem et abdominis segmentis ventralibus basi albo-tomentosis.

Long. 35 lin.

Fam. Cisside.

Cis CONTENDENS. Niger, subpubescens, latiusculus, subtilissime

punctatus, elytris vix lineatis, pedibus rufis. Long. 1-1; In.

Fam. Tomicide.

Apatr supmepraA. Atra, scabrosa, subtus picea, capite ferrugineo

piloso, elytrorum costis tribus subobsoletis apice bene determinatis.

Long. 63-8 lin.

Bosrricuus mMuTitatus. Ater, capite ferrugineo piloso, thorace

scabro, elytris punctatis apice bituberculatis et oblique truncatis,

antennis piceis, femoribus rufis. Long. 3 lin.

PLATYPUS MINAX. Piceus, cylindricus, subleevis, subtus ferrugi-

neus, capite obliquo, elytris subtilissime punctatis et lneatis, apice

truncatis et dentatis, pectore maximo, abdomime brevi, femoribus

latissimis. Long. 24 lin.

PLAtypus soLipus. Ater, nitens, angustus, thorace vix sulcato,

elytris lineis impressis tenuissimis, apice subacuminato. Long.

13—2 lin.

[To be continued. |

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Weeds and Wild-flowers ; their Uses, Legends, and Literature. By

Lady Witxinson. London, Van Voorst, 1898.

Any one seeking an elegant gift-book, especially for a young lady

friend, will be happy to alight upon the volume whose title we give

above. Printing, binding, &c., in the fashion of the ‘ Annuals’ of

former days, adorn matter far more suited to excite or sustain a

healthy appetite for reading than the namby-pamby sentiment which

used to shine in the beauties of crimson and gold. At the same

time, Lady Wilkinson’s book is strictly a readable book ; it does not

deal with the “’ologies” in the ew cathedrd style. The abundance

Sit

es:

Bibliographical Notices. 287

of interesting information about common plants is given in the un-

affected manner of a lady, too sensible to be a pedant, contributing

the results of a more than usually extensive reading to a circle of

educated friends.

Poets, of various temper and of various countries, are made to confess

their worship of Flora; antiquarianism from most diverse sources,

with home and outlandish folk-lore, lend a curious interest to these

pages,—while ‘useful information’ finds a due place in the polished

piece of ‘inlaid-work’ which a refined taste and good sense have

united to produce. Quotation with a view to give a specimen of

such a work is out of the question, since everything depends upon

the skilful and harmonious blending of the subject-matter, drawn

from an infinity of sources.

The work is illustrated by twelve very pretty and faithful coloured

drawings of British wild-flowers and twenty-four good woodcuts.

It is a volume we gladly see added to Mr. Van Voorst’s list, as an

addition to the rather small number of meritorious productions which

stand between special scientific works and the science-made-easy trash

of the cheap-book manufacturers.

How Plants Grow: a simple Introduction to Structural Botany,

with a Popular Flora; or an Arrangement and Description of

Common Plants, both Wild and Cultivated. By Asa Gray, M.D.

New York, Ivison and Finney, 1858.

If Botany is to be taught to the million, there need be no long

search for suitable means. Three of our English Professors have

written A-B-C books on the subject ; and here Prof. Asa Gray per-

forms a corresponding service for our American brethren. This

work differs somewhat, and for its purpose favourably, from any of

our native books,—being as it were a combination of the plans of

Henslow’s or Henfrey’s rudimentary books and Lindley’s School

Botany, worked-out, however, in a perfectly original manner. The

first Part, treating of structural, and, to some extent, of physiological

botany, is very skilfully written, and we think must prove an excel-

lent teaching book. The second Part relates of course to the fami-

liar forms of the North American Flora. Here, as in his other works,

Prof. Gray uses the Natural System, with an analytical Key, and is

quite independent of the Linnzan System. In some of the more

important Orders, such as Cruciferee and Umbellifere, only the

genera are given; and in Composite, Grasses, and Sedges, not even

these,—as being too difficult for beginners. On the other hand, the

common plants of the gardens of the United States are described with

the native species, being distinguished by proper marks.

20*

288 Royal Society :—

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

March 11, 1858.—Dr. Hooker, Vice-President, in the Chair.

_“ Description of the Skull and Teeth of the Placodus laticeps, Ow.,

with indications of other new species of Placodus, and evidence of the

Saurian nature of that extinct genus.” By Prof. Richard Owen,

F.R.S. &c.

The author premises a brief sketch of the history of the discovery of

the fossils referred by Count Minster, and Professors Agassiz, Bronn,

and Meyer to the Pyenodont family of Ganoid Fishes, under the

generic name of Placodus; and then enters upon the anatomical

grounds on which he concludes that the P/acodus is a Saurian reptile.

These are stated to be, principally,—-1, distinet external bony nostrils,

divided by an ascending process of the premaxillary, and bounded by

that bone, the maxillaries and nasals; 2, orbits circumscribed below

by the superior maxillary and malar bones; 3, temporal fosse of

great size and width, bounded externally by two zygomatic arches,

the upper formed by the postfrontal and mastoid, the lower formed

by the malar and squamosal ; 4, the tympanic bone formed by one

bony piece, with a trochlear lower articular surface ; the limitation of

the teeth to the premaxillary, maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid

bones, in the upper jaw, with a demonstrated absence of a median _

vomerine series, such as exists in the true Pyenodonts. With these

proofs of the reptilian nature of the Placodus, Prof. Owen combines

others exemplifying its affinities to the Lacertian order, and more

especially with that modification of Lacertia exemplified by the

extinct genus Simosaurus, from the Muschelkalk.

The author then describes the dentition of the upper jaw of the

specimen of Placodus, demonstrating the foregoing characters. It

includes two premaxillary and three maxillary teeth, forming an

outer or marginal series, and two teeth of larger size, forming an inner

or palatal series, the last of which is described as the largest grinding

tooth in proportion to the size of the head, hitherto known in the

animal kingdom.

From the cranial and dental characters the author deduces the

specific distinction of his specimen from previously described Placodt,

and proposes for it the name of Placodus laticeps, im reference to the

great breadth of the skull, which equals the entire length, each

measuring about 8 inches. All the teeth are implanted in distinct

sockets, according to the thecodont type of the Lacertian order. The

relation of the large temporal fossze and of the wide span of the

zygomatic arches, to the enormous muscular force required to work

the crushing machinery of the jaws, is pointed out.

The structure of the bony nostrils, the orbits, the palate, with other

particulars of the cranial anatomy of the Placodus, is next described

in detail, and compared with the same characters in Nothosaurus,

Simosaurus, Pistosaurus, and other Muschelkalk reptiles. The

dentition of these Saurians, although, like P/acodus, thecodont in

Prof. Owen on the Saurian nature of Placodus. 289

respect of implantation, is of the ordinary crocodilian type in

respect of form, adapted to the prehension of fishes; and there are

no palatal teeth. But the author remarks that such teeth exist in

the triassic Labyrinthodonts, with a disproportionate magnitude of

certain teeth which offers a certain analogy with the dentition of

Placodus. An account of the microscopic structure of the dentine,

enamel, and osseous tissue of the Placodus is then given.

The extreme and peculiar modification of the teeth, in respect to

form and size, adapting them to the crushing and pounding of hard

substances, and the association of the Placodus with conchiferous

mollusks in such abundance as to have suggested the terms ‘ Muschel-

kalk,’ ‘ Terebratuliten-kalk,’ and the like, for the strata containing

them, concur in evincing the class whence the Placodi derived their

chief subsistence ; and the author points out the relation of a con-

stant disposition of the teeth, in all the known species, to the readier

eracking of shelly substance. A single row of teeth in the lower

jaw is always opposed to a double row in the upper one, playing,

with its strongest line of force, upon their interspace. Thus the

crushing force below presses upon a part between the two points of

resistance above, on the same principle on which a stick is broken

across the knee; only here the fulcrum is at the intermediate point,

the moving powers at the two parts grasped by the hands. It is

obvious that a shell pressed between two opposite flat surfaces might

resist the strongest bite ; but, subjected to alternate points of press-

ure, its fracture is facilitated.

Certain Australian lizards present teeth with large rounded obtuse

crowns, like those of certain Placodi, and have on that account

received the name of Cyclodus, for their genus.

The author next proceeds to describe certain specimens of the

mandible or under jaw of the genus Placodus. The first of these he

refers to a species for which he proposes the name of Placodus

pachygnathus. The second may probably be the lower jaw of the

Placodus Andriani, Ag. ; but should it prove to belong to a different

species, the term Jombidens would best express the specific pecu-

liarity in the shape of the grinding surface of the teeth. A third

species is named Placodus bathygnathus, in reference to the great

vertical extent of the mandibular ramus.

All the above-described fossils are from the Muschelkalk member

of the triassie series, near Bayreuth, Germany, and have been

recently acquired for the Palzontological Series in the British

Museum.

June 17, 1858.—The Lord Wrottesley, President, in the Chair.

“ Description of some Remains of a Gigantic Land-Lizard (Mega-

lania prisca, Ow.) from Australia.” By Prof. Richard Owen, F.R.S.

The subject of this communication forms part of a collection of

fossil remains from Australia, recently acquired by the British Mu-

290 Royal Society :—

seum, and demonstrates the former existence in that continent of a

land-lizard considerably surpassing in bulk the largest species now

known. The characters are chiefly derived from vertebree, partially

fossilized, equalling in size those of the largest existing Crocodiles ;

they are of the ‘proccelian’ type, but present lacertian modifica-

tions, and closely agree with those in the great existing ‘ Lace-lizard

of Australia (Hydrosaurus giganteus, Gray), of which individuals

upwards of six feet long have been taken. A generic or sub-

generic distinction is indicated by the comparatively contracted area

of the neural canal, and by the inferior development of the neural

spine, of the fossil vertebrae, which have belonged to an indivi-

dual not less than twenty feet in length, calculated from the vertebree

and proportions of the body of the existing Hydrosauri. For this,

probably extinct lizard, the name of Megalania prisca is proposed.

The results of an extended series of comparisons of its vertebrae _

with those of recent and extinct Sauria are also given.

** Researches on the Foraminifera. — Part III. On the Genera

Peneroplis, Operculina, and Amphistegina.” By W. B. Carpenter,

M.D., F.R.S. &c.

In his preceding memoirs, the author has shown that two very

dissimilar types of structure present themselves among Foraminifera,

one characterized by its simplicity, the other by its complexity. In

the former, of which Orditolites, Orbiculina, and Alveolina are typi-

cal examples, the calcareous skeleton does not present any definite

indications of organization, but seems to have been formed by the

simple calcification of a portion of the homogeneous sarcode-body

of the animal; that sarcode-body is but very imperfectly divided

into segments, the communications between the cavities occupied

by these segments being very free and irregular; the form of the

segments themselves, and the mode of their connexion, are alike in-

constant ; and even the plan of growth, on which the character of

the organism as a whole depends, though preserving a general uni-

formity, is by uo means invariably maintained. In the latter, to

which Cycloclypeus and Heterostegina belong, the calcareous skele-

ton is found to present a very definite and elaborate organization.

The several segments of the body are so completely separated from

each other, that they remain connected only by delicate threads of

sarcode. Each segment thus isolated has its own proper caleareous

envelope, which seems to be moulded (as it were) upon it; and this

envelope or shell is perforated with minute parallel tubuli closely

resembling those of dentine, except in the absence of bifurcation ;

the partition-walls between adjacent segments are consequently

double, and are strengthened by an intermediate calcareous deposit,

which is traversed by a system of inosculating passages that seems

properly to belong to it. The form of the segments, their mode of

communication, and consequently the general plan of growth, have

a very considerable degree of constancy; and altogether the ten-

dency is strongly manifested in this type to the greater individuali-

Dr. Carpenter on Peneroplis, Operculina, and Amphistegina. 291

zation of the parts of the composite body, which in the preceding

must be looked upon rather as constituting one aggregate whole.

In the present memoir this contrast is fully carried out by a de-

tailed comparison of two characteristic examples from these types

respectively, each of them having its own features of peculiar in-

terest.

In Peneroplis we find, both as to the simplicity of the structure

of the shell, and the general disposition of the segments of the

animal, a close resemblance to the spiral forms of Orbiculina; the

only difference being the absence of the transverse or secondary

divisions of the chambers. In what is considered its typical form,

the shell is a flattened spire, opening out widely in its last whorl ;

and the chambers communicate with each other (as does the last

chamber with the exterior) by single rows of isolated pores disposed

at regular intervals along the septa. But the spire is occasionally

found to be more turgid, and the rows of apertures to become

doubled ; and instead of opening out in the last whorl, it is fre-

quently prolonged in a rectilineal direction. In tropical seas there

are found minute shells resembling those of Peneroplis in their

very characteristic external markings, but having a very turgid

spire, and having the row of pores in each septum replaced by a

single large orifice with irregularly radiating prolongations. This

type of structure has been characterized by M.d’Orbigny as a

separate genus, under the name of Dendritina; and when its spire,

as in many forms of Peneroplis, is continued rectilineally, it has

been distinguished as a third genus under the name of Spirolina. The

author shows, by an extensive comparison of individuals, that the

single dendritic orifice is to be regarded as formed by the coalescence

of separate pores; and that the extension of these into a single

line, or their aggregation into a cluster, is related to the form of

the septal plane, as determined by the degree of flattening or of

turgescence of the spire. Consequently in his view Dendritina and

Spirolina are but varieties of Peneroplis; the former, which are by

far the largest and the most highly developed, being of tropical

growth, whilst the most flattened forms of the latter are the com-

paratively stunted inhabitants of the Mediterranean and other seas

of less elevated temperature.

In Operculina, on the other hand, we find the shell presenting

the minutely tubular structure which was first shown by the author

to exist in Nummulites; to which genus Operculina is so closely

allied in structure, that the only positive difference between them

seems to lie in the tendeney of Operculina to open out widely in the

last whorl, whilst Nwmamulites (according to MM. d’Archiae and

Haime) tends to close in. The author minutely deseribes the struc-

ture of Opereulina, which presents a very remarkable development

of the canaliferous system; he also enters into a detailed inquiry

into the relation of the numerous strongly-marked varieties of form

which it presents,—a question of much importance in regard to the

value of the characters of the reputed species among Nummulites ;

and shows that the range of individual variation in form and surface-

292 Zoological Society :—

markings is so wide (as is proved by the gradational transitions

which present themselves between what at first sight appear to be

widely-separated types), that only where some very decided and con-

stant difference of internal conformation presents itself, will it be safe

to assume a specific diversity. In one case, in which he had thought

that a certain series of specimens was sufficiently distinguished

by its peculiar physiognomy from the rest, residual forms presented

themselves which could not be with certainty assigned to either

type, so completely do they link together the two by the softening

down of the peculiarities of each. And a yet more remarkable link

of connexion is established by examples collected on the coast of

Japan by the American expedition to that country, in which the

most distinctive characters of each type are curiously combined.

Closely related to Operculina is another genus, Amphistegina,

which bears an equally near resemblance to Nummulites, though it

has been completely separated from both in the classification of

M. d’Orbigny, who has placed it in a distinct order, Entomostegues,

on account of the unsymmetrical form of its shell and the alternating

disposition of its chambers. But the author has found, from an

extensive comparison of individuals, that this want of symmetry is so

little constant, as to be altogether valueless in a systematic point of

view, many specimens being perfectly symmetrical, whilst others

are very far from being so, and every gradation presenting itself

between these two extremes. The most common among existing

species is the dmphistegina gibbosa, which is very extensively dif-

fused through the tropical ocean, and which, though generally of

small size, acquires in the Philippine region dimensions nearly equal

to those of the fossil Amphistegina of the Vienna and other tertiary

deposits. But Mr. Cuming’s Philippine collection contains another

and far larger species, which is distinguished by the extraordinary

thinning-out of the last whorl; and it is remarkable that. in this

species the canal-system is highly developed, although completely

absent in A. gibbosa,—a difference of structure, which, being asso-

ciated with a very close resemblance in external aspect and general

conformation, seems only to be accounted for on the supposition that

the difference in size requires a difference in the arrangement of the

nutrient apparatus.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

March 9, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

PROPOSAL TO SEPARATE THE FaMILY OF SALAMANDRIDA,

GRAY, INTO THREE FAMILIES, ACCORDING TO THE FORM OF

THE SkuLL. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., Pres.

Ent. Soc., ETC.

In the Catalogue of Amphibia in the British Museum I placed

all the Salamanders which have teeth on the inner side of the hinder

edge of the palatal bone together in a single family, under the name

of Salamandride.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Salamanders. 293

Having lately procured the skulls of several of the genera so

united, and also examined M. Gervais’ and M. Dugés’ papers in the

* Annales des Sciences Naturelles,’ in which the skulls of several other

genera and species are figured, I am now induced to propose to di-

vide the genera into three sections or families as follows.

In a group which offers so few permanent characters for the

separation of the genera and species, and which presents such differ-

ent varieties in the form of the dermal appendages, and in the colour

of the body at different seasons of the year, one is very glad to

seize on any part which appears to offer a permanent and tangible

character.

Fam. I. SEIRANOTIDZ.

Seiranotina, Gray, Cat. B. M. 1850, 29.

Skull very depressed, broad ; the fronto-temporal arch distinct

and united to the bones of the skull (figure 1). Tongue large,

hinder half free. Body granular. Palatine bones with a longitu-

dinal series of teeth forming two diverging series, angular in front.

Ribs well developed. Vertebree crested above. Limbs and feet well

ossified. Toes 4°4.

1. SEIRANOTA.

Lateral line none. Skin closely and equally granular, granules

oblong.

SEIRANOTA PERSPICILLATA (skull, fig. 1). B.M.

Fig. 1. Fig. 3.

Seiranota Spelerpes Calotriton

perspicillata. rubra. punciulatus.

Fam. Il. PLEURODELID&.

Skull depressed, broad, with a distinct fronto-temporal arch,

formed by the union of a process of the frontal and temporal bone

(fig. 2). Tongue moderate, attached ; hinder and side edges scarcely

free. Body granular. Palatine bone, with a longitudinal series of teeth

forming two diverging series, angular in front. Ribs well developed.

Vertebree crested above. Limbs and feet well ossified. Toes 4°5.

294: Zoological Society :—

a. Fronto-temporal arch complete. Lateral lines of pores distinct,

low down between the axilla and groin.

1. PLEURODELES.

Ribs exserted, forming a series of spines along the sides. Head

and skull depressed, broad. Paratoids distinct.

1. P. Warts.

Skull, Erp. Gén. t. 101. f. 2.

* Bradybates ventricosus, Tschudi, t. 2. f. 1, is perhaps the

young.” —Duméril. It only differs in the tail being short, perhaps

injured.

2. GLOSSOLIGA.

Ribs enclosed. Head and skull very depressed. ‘‘ Fronto-tem-

. Pa ae .

poral arch with a separate central bone.”’"—Gervais. Paratoid none ;

lateral pores small, single, in a continuous line.

1. GLossoLiGaA Porrett. B.M.

Erp. Gén. t. 107. f. 1. Skull, Gervais, Ann. Sci. Nat. 1853, xx.

t. 15. f. 9, & Erp, Gén. t. 102.f. 5, 6.

Forehead flat, with small scattered brown-tipped tubercles. Eye-

lids distinet, valvular.

N. Africa.

3. NOTOPHTHALMA.

Ribs enclosed. Head and skull rhombic. Forehead with two lon-

gitudinal ridges. Tongue oblong. Paratoids none. Cheek with

three pits. Hind feet flattened. Tail compressed, keeled, often

slightly finned above and below in breeding season.

N. America.

1. N. MINIATA. B.M.

Skull, Erp. Gén. ix. t. 107. f. 2,

2. N. VIRIDESCENS. B.M.

Vent in summer produced, truncated, with a rounded series of

fringed filaments.

4. Cynops.

Tubercular. Head and skull very depressed, broad. Paratoid

large, compressed ; pores of lateral line small, distant, more distinct

near the limbs. Fronto-temporal arch broad, distinct. Ribs

enclosed.

1. C. PYRRHOGASTER. B.M.

Skull, Tschudi, t. 2. f. 5, cop. Schlegel, Fauna Japon. t. 5.f, 7,8;

Cat. Batrach. B.M.t. 3. f. 13.

Japan.

La ry’

5. TARICHA.

Tubereular, Head and skull depressed, broad. Paratoid large,

Dr. J. H. Gray on the Salamanders. 295

compressed. Pores of the lateral line small, indistinct, far apart.

Vent small. Fronto-temporal arch broad. Skin with conical tu-

bercles. Ribs enclosed.

1. TARICHA TOROSA. B.M.

Skull, Esch. Zool. Atlas, t. 21. f. 15.

California.

b. Fronto-temporal arch complete. Lateral line indistinct,

marked with a vessel ; ribs enclosed.

6. CALOTRITON.

Hemitriton, part., A. Dugés.

Head and skull rhombic. Eyelids distinct. Skin smooth, with

small black-topped conical warts. Tongue oblong. Paratoids none.

Toes free ; tips black, rather claw-like. Vent conical,

1. CaLorRiTon PUNCTULATUS (skull, fig. 2). B.M.

Hemitriton punctulatus, A. Dugés, Ann. Sci. Nat. xvii. 265. t.113.

f.1,2; skull, Dugés, J. c. f. 3 & 18.

Triton puncticulatus, Erp. Gén. ix. 152. t. 106. f.3; skull, t. 102.

f. 4.

7. Euproctus.

Hemitriton, part., A. Dugés.

Head and skull rhombic, depressed. Tongue oblong. Paratoids

none. Skin smooth, with scattered small rounded black conical warts.

Cloaca produced, conic. Lateral lines of pores none.

1. Euvreroctrus Rusconit. B.M.

Hemitriton asper, skull, A. Dugés, Ann. Sci. Nat. xvii. t. 113.

fet D2:

HI. cinereus, skull, Dugés, J. c. f. 14, 15; H. rugosus, skull, U. c.

t. 1. f. 16, 17, and H. Bibronii, skull, t. 1. f. 19, 20, are evidently

very nearly allied, if not all the same species.

8. LopaInus.

Body smooth. Palatine teeth in two separate series. Orbit in

palate small. Fore toes slender, very unequal ; the hind toes broad,

webbed on each side, the two inner conic. Back three-ridged.

Crest of male continued. Lateral lines with distant single pores.

Tail of male suddenly truncated before the apex, ending in a fila-

ment.

1. LopHinus PALMATUS. B.M.

Selys-Longch. Faun. Belg. t. 5. f. 1, 2, good ; skull, Dugés, J. e.

Peli? /, 20;

Triton, Wooley ; Baker & Deby, Zoologist, 1848, 2149, &e.

Triton minor, Higginbottom, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1853, xii. 382.

til6rk: 8,9.

Lissotriton palmatus, Bell, British Reptiles, second edit. 1849,

p. 154 (not of first edition).

296 Zoological Society :—

“In the season of reproduction the tail of the male is suddenly

truncated before the apex and terminated ina slender filament 3 lines

in length. The hind feet perfectly palmated, all the toes united by

a membrane (t. 16. f. 8). When the breeding season is over, the

slender filament is absorbed, and the truncated portion of the tail

becomes obtusely rounded off with a slight indurated dark tip at the

end, and the web of the hind feet is wholly absorbed, leaving the

toes free (t. 16. f. 9).” —Higginbottom.

Mr. Bell admits and figures this species in the second edition of

his ‘ British Reptiles,’ 1849, p. 154. The figure is not characteristic,

as the crest of the male is not sufficiently high, and the coloration

is differently disposed from any specimen which has come under my

observation.

9, OMMATOTRITON.

Body smooth. Palatine teeth in a crowded series. Orbits in

palate large, convex. Crest of male interrupted over the loins. Legs

with a membrane on the inner edge. Hands with a subulate tu-

bercle. The hind toes free, very slightly fringed with membranes.

Lateral line of pores distinct, single.

1. OMMATOTRITON VITTATUS. B.M.

Triton vittatus, skull, Dugés, /. ce. t. 1. f. 29, 30.

England ; North of France; Belgium.

Mr. Bell, in his ‘ British Reptiles,’ gives a good figure of one of my

specimens of this species, which he is convinced ‘‘is to be considered

as avariety only of Lissotriton palmipes.” The osteological cha-

racter, as well as the form of the dorsal crest and the disposition

of the colours, show that this is not the case, and that it is not

only a distinct species but a very distinct genus, as is further proved

by M. Dugées’ figure of the skull.

c. Fronto-temporal arch incomplete, ligamentous behind.

10. PyRonicia.

Hemisalamandra, Hemitriton, et Triton, part., Dugés.

Body slightly tubercular. Hinder toes fringed with a membrane.

Back smoothish. Males with a crest. The skull with only a frontal

process directed backwards and outwards, the temporal apophysis

in the other genera being replaced by a tendinous cord.

1. PyRONICIA MARMORATA. B.M.

Skull, Erp. Gén. t. 106. f. 1.

Hemisalamandra marmorata, Dugés, Ann. Sci. Nat. xvii. t. 1.

Lol0; BL:

Back marbled, vertebral line pale. Pores of the lateral line di-

stinct, in pairs. Skin smooth, punctulate, subtuberculous.

Oporto.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Salamanders. 297

2. PyRONICIA PUNCTATA.

Triton punctatus, Dugés, l.c. t.1. f. 25, 26; Bell, Brit. Rept. ed. 2.

Triton levis, Higginbottom, Ann. & Mag. N. H. xii. 380. t. 16.

f. 6, 7.

Iassotriton punctatus and L. palmatus, Bell, Brit. Rept. ed. 1,

1839 (not Latr.).

Pupils circular, rather larger than those of 7’. cristatus.

The figures of the Smooth Newts (Lissotriton) in Mr. Bell’s

‘ British Reptiles’ (1839) are so destitute of character, that it is

impossible to refer them to the known species with certainty. The

figures of L. punctatus at pp. 132 and 135, appear to be that species

in its winter state; and the figures of L. palmipes at p. 139 appear

to be intended for the same species in summer, if we regard the dis-

position of the spots, and the height of the dorsal fin: but the fin

is not dentated, as it always is in that species, and the toes are

not proper for it in its crested state ; at the same time it bears no

resemblance to the true 7. palmatus, which has an entire crest ;

nor has it the filament at the end of the tail, which is always found

in the crested form of that species.

In the second edition (1849), Mr. Bell has referred all these

figures to Lissotriton punctatus, and places the figure which he for-

merly called L. palmatus at the head of the species, p. 143; but

it is not characteristic of it, as wanting the dentation on the crest

and the broad rounded end fringe of the toes, which are so charac-

teristic of the crested state of the species.

Mr. Bell, believing that the form of the upper lip afforded a good

character for the distinction of the species of these animals, divides

them into two species, thus—‘‘1. Lissotriton punctatus, upper lip

straight, not overhanging the lower (p. 132, 138, fig. 2). Lissotriton

palmipes, upper lip pendulous at the sides, overhanging the under

in a distinct festoon as far as the base of the lower jaw. Toes of

hinder feet fringed with a short membrane at all seasons.” I may

observe that the latter is not the T. palmipes of Latreille, which

has the hind feet of the male in the breeding-season webbed ; and

that I believe it only differs from the former by being in the fully-

developed state at the season of reproduction ; and I am borne out

in this idea by the observations of Messrs. Higginbottom, Hogg,

and many others.

The former observes: ‘“ Some 7’ritons have been distinguished by

the upper lip overhanging the lower. I have observed that in the

first year of Triton asper the upper lip overhangs the under consider-

ably at the sides ; in the second it overhangs less ; between the se-

cond and third year it becomes straighter, and in the fourth it over-

hangs again as much as in the first year. This is also very evident

in the Triton levis, in which the same changes take place.”—dAnn.

§ Mag. N. H. 1853, xii. 375.

‘Neither kind of Triton is found in the water during the winter

months; but they (the brick-makers) discovered great numbers of

them in holes in the clay, and sometimes ten or twelve coiled to-

298 Zoological Society :—

gether. I have observed that either a very wet or very dry situa-

tion is fatal to the Triton during its state of hibernation, and that

a moderately damp one is always chosen for that state of existence ;,

and further, that the Triton can live in a solid mass of ice without

injury.

About the last week in March the perfect Triton leaves the land

and becomes aquatic. It has then acquired all those appearances

which exist only during the breeding-season. They are absorbed

rather rapidly, and the animal leaves ‘the water in August.

“The Tritons of the third and fourth year are found during the

cold season in the earth under stones, in clusters of the magnitude

of a cricket-ball ; those of an earlier period are often found singly

at a greater depth under the earth, as before stated.” —p. 381.

11. HemiIrrRirTon.

Body tubercular. Males with a slightly-produced vent. Lateral

line none.

1. HemMITRITON ALPESTRIS. B.M.

Hemitriton alpestris, Dugés, J. e.t. 1. f. 23, 24; Fauna Ital. t. 8.

Fam. II]. SALAMANDRID.

The skull narrow, without any dilatation of the frontal or temporal

bone to form a fronto-temporal arch. Palate with a longitudinal

series of teeth, arched in front. Tongue moderate, attached, hinder

and side edges scarcely free. Body granular. Vertebree rounded.

Ribs and bones of limbs and feet imperfectly ossified. Paratoids

large, glandular.

* Lateral lines of pores high up the back, elevated, wart-hke.

1. SALAMANDRA.

Palatine teeth extending before the internal nostrils. Tail round-

ish. Back not crested.

1. SALAMANDRA ATRA. B.M.

Skull; Dugés, /.c. t. 1. f. 8, 9.

2, SALAMANDRA MACULOSA. B.M.

Skull, Dugés, /. c. t. 1. f. 6, 7.

3. SALAMANDRA CORSICA.

Mouth, Bonap. Fauna Ital. ii. t. 53 (cop. Dugés, /c.t.. 1. f. Ayo

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Salamanders. 299

** Lateral line of pores on lower part of side between axilla

and grown.

2. TRITON.

Granular. Tail compressed. Back of male crested. Toes free,

simple.

1. TRITON CRISTATUS. B.M.

Hemisalamandra cristata, skull, Dugés, J. c. t. 1. f. 12, 13 (Erp.

Geén. ix. t. 102. f. 2, 3, not sufficiently broad for our specimens).

Triton marmoratus, Bibron, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, 23 (not Latr.).

Triton cristatus & T. Bibronii, Bell, Brit. Rept. pp. 129, 131, figs.

Pupil small, circular. Tail with a broad pale-bluish longitudinal

streak rather below the centre.

M. Bibron, when in London, on observing a specimen of the

Warty Newt with straight lips, in the Collection of the Zoological

Society, named it Triton marmoratus, probably thinking that it was

Triton marmoratus of Latreille, a species of the South of Europe.

Mr. Bell, in his work on British Reptiles, figures the specimen,

and gives it the name of Triton Bibroni (pp. 129 & 131, figs.), ob-

serving, “nt as the same as Tr. cristatus, excepting that tlie upper

lip is perfectly straight.”

After examining various specimens in different states, I am con-

vinced that the form of the lip depends on the season, the male in

the breeding-season having the most overlapping lip.

The same change in the form of the lip in the different seasons is

to be observed in Lissotriton punctatus.

Mr. J. Higginbottom observes : “‘ The two species of Triton (found

in the Midland Counties) present 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 in-

habitants of the land, breathing atmospheric air, active in the sum-

mer and hibernant in the winter, to being denizens of the water,

reproducing their kind in the months of March, April, May, June and

July, that I think they have been regarded by naturalists as present-

ing too great a number of distinct species.”— Ann. §& Mag. N. H.

1853, xu. 370.

The skulls and skeletons of all the genera of Molgide, Pletho-

dontide, Protonopside and Amphiumide I have been able to exa-

mine, or which are figured in any works that have occurred to me,

resemble those of the family Salamandride.

Considering the very important characters which the examination

of the skulls has shown them to possess for the distinction of the

European and Japanese species, it is very desirable that the American

species should be carefully examined for the same purpose. Up to this

time even the description of the palatine teeth of the American spe-

cies is involved in great uncertainty, the descriptions of Harlan,

Holbrook and Baird: being often at issue on this important point.

It is but just to observe, that when I have had the opportunity of

300 Zoological Society :—

comparison, I have generally found the descriptions of Dr. Baird the

most accurate and trustworthy.

To facilitate this object, I have added a list of the species the

skulls of which have been figured.

Fam. Moieip2.

Motce striata, Gray, Cat. Batr. p. 31. t. 3. f. 111; Schlegel,

Fauna Japon. t. 5. f. 9, 10.

Fam. PLETHODONTID.

ONYCHODACTYLUS JAPONICUS, Gray, Cat. Batr. p. 33. t. 3. f. 1;

Fauna Japon. t. 3. f. 6.

AmByosToMA opacum, Dum. et Bibr. Erp. Gén. ix. t. 10. f. 6.

PLETHODON GLUTINOSUM, Tschudi, Batr. t. 2. f. 4.

DESMOGNATHUS FUSCUS.

Plethodon fuscum, Dum. et Bibr. Erp. Gén. t. 101. f. 3. B.M.

SPELERPES RUBRA (skull, fig. 3, p. 293).

** Bolitoglossa rubra, Cab. B.M.” from Paris.

GEOTRITON Fuscus, sp., Dum. et Bibr. E. G. ix. 112. t. 102. f.1.

CEDIPUS VARIEGATUS.

Bolitoglossa mexicana, Dum. et Bibr. Erp. Gén. ix. p. 3. t.101. f. 4.

Ensatina Escuscuoutzil, Esch. Zool. Atlas, t. 22.

March 23, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

DeEscrRIPTION OF A NEw GeEnvs or Boip& From Op Ca-

LABAR. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., etc.

Mr. Logan has kindly sent to me for examination a number of

Snakes and other reptiles which had been collected by the mission-

aries in Old Calabar.

Among several very interesting species I observed a new genus of

the family Botde, which I have great pleasure in laying before the

Society, more especially as it appears to be the indication of a new

tribe in that curious family.

This animal belongs to the second section of the family, which is

thus characterized :—

il. Tail very short, not, or only very slightly, prehensile. Head

indistinct, short.

It is entirely distinct from the tribes Cylindrophina, Carinina,

and Tortricina, and therefore I propose to form for it a tribe (Cala-

barvina) by itself, having the same characters as the genus.

Dr. J. Kaup on Nemophis. 301

CALABARIA.

Head small, short, rounded in front, the same size as the body.

Muzzle depressed, rounded; labial shields flat, 53 the hinder

small, front moderate ; rostral shield high, large, triangular ; frontal

shields three pairs, band-like, subsimilar, followed by a band-like

shield continued from side to side, which has behind it a small sub-

trigonal shield on each side, with a central large triangular shield

between them on the crown. Eyes surrounded by scales on the

upper edges of the upper labial shields and the outer edges of

the fourth and fifth frontal plates, and with one ocular shield in front

and two smaller behind the eyes; loreal shield single, small. Pupil

circular. Nostril lateral, between two small nasal shields. Body

cylindrical. Scales broad, triangular, polished, rather sunken and

subrugose in the centre. Ventral shields very numerous, band-like,

transverse, about half as wide as the diameter of the body. Vent

small, with a single preanal shield. Spurs large, distinct. Tail short,

as thick as the body, blunt and rounded at the end. Subcaudal

shields broad, band-like, one-rowed like the ventral shields.

I think it is probable, when some other specimens have been exa-

mined, that the band-like shield extending across from the upper

edge of each eye wiil be found to be composed of three shields, lke

the band behind it, which are here united into one band ; and then

the head-shields will lie thus :—three pairs of band-like frontal, two

smaller triangular superciliary shields over each eye, having in the

middle between them two triangular parietal shields.

CALABARIA FUSCA.

Dark brown, some of the scales yellowish, scattered singly or in

groups on the back and sides ; ventral shields greyish; sides of the

belly with a few unequal yellow spots.

Length 36 inches, diameter | inch.

Hab. Old Calabar, W. Africa (W. Logan, Esq.).

Since this paper was read, I have discovered a young specimen of

this Boa among the specimens obtained from the Zoological Society,

which they had received from Fernando Po. It is about half the

length and diameter of the specimen from Old Calabar. It has the

head-shields more uniform, and as I supposed they might be when

I described that specimen.

It has three pairs of band-like frontal shields over the forehead,

a rather large parietal shield behind them on the crown of the head,

and two small subequal superciliary shields between the outer edge

_ of the parietal and the eye, on each side a narrow transverse band-

like central shield behind, and rather broader than, the parietal

shield, with a small scale-like shield, like those on the neck, behind

and on the sides of it.

On Nemopuis, A New Genus or RiBAND-SHAPED FiIsuHeEs.

By Dr. J. Kaur.

In the collection at the Museum of Natural History in Paris I

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 21

302 Zoological Society :—

found, some years ago, when I was describing the order of Hels, this

interesting genus, in which the form and function of the canine teeth

are extremely remarkable.

Two specimens of this rare fish were received at the Museum, from

MM. Lesson and Garnot, without any note: as they were obtained

in the expedition of M. Duperrey, I presume they were captured in

the South Sea.

One of the specimens being in a half-spoiled condition, I was en-

abled, but in this specimen only, to observe the paradoxical arrange-

ment and formation of the canine teeth.

From the smallness of the mouth, no one would have expected to

find at the end of the small incisors such large sightly-curved canine

teeth in the lower jaw. These canine teeth pass through a canal in

the flesh round the eye, and have an opening near the eye. These

teeth, which caunot be used as true canine teeth on account of the

smallness of the mouth, have certainly only the function of fixing

and giving the lower jaw a certain direction,

I call this paradoxical form

NEMOPHIs.

Without ventral fins. Mouth small; upper and lower jaw with

minute incisors. Small canine teeth in the upper jaw, longer and

curved ones in the lower jaw, which are placed, when the mouth is

closed, in acanal going round the eyes and opened on the surface near

the eyes. Eyes large. Cavity of the gills with a small round opening

placed very high. The dorsal fin commences near the eyes, and is

connected with the caudal and anal as in the Eels. Pectoral fin de-

veloped. Anus at the end of the first cighth of the total length.

Nemopuis Lesson, Kp.

It has a length of 255 mm. or 9 Par. inches. Colour silver-white,

with black points on the head and end of the tail. Dorsal and anal

fins blackish,

Diameter of the eye 5, length of the head to the gill-opening 15,

from the muzzle to the anus 32 millimetres.

M. W. Meves on the Humming of the Snipe. 303

This genus forms a distinct group among the Riband-shaped

Fishes, and is perhaps the type of a different family, which we may

call Nemophide.

April 13, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

On THE SNIPE’S “‘NEIGHING’’? OR HUMMING NOISE, AND ON

irs TAIL-FEATHERS SYSTEMATIC VALUE. By W. MEvEs,

oF StTockHoLM. TRANSLATED AND COMMUNICATED BY

JOHN WOLLEY, JuN., Esa., F.Z.S.

On the origin of the neighing sound which accompanies the Common

Snipe’s (Scolopax gallinago, L.) play—flight during pairing time—

opinions are various. Bechstem thought that it was produced by

means of the beak ; Naumann and others, again, that it originated

in powerful strokes of the wing: but since Pralle * in Hanover ob-

served that the bird makes heard its well-known song or cry, which

he expresses with the words “ gick jack, gick jack!,” at the same

time with the neighing sound, it seemed to be settled that the latter is

not produced through the throat. In the meantime I have remarked

with surprise, that the humming sound could never be observed

whilst the bird was flying upwards, at which time the tail is closed ;

but only when it was casting itself downwards in a slanting direction,

with the tail strongly spread out.

The peculiar form of the tail-feathers in some foreign species

nearly allied to our Snipe (for example, S. avensis) encouraged the

notion, that the tail, if not alone, at all events in a considerable de-

gree, conduced to the production of the sound. On a closer exa-

mination of the tail-feathers of our common species, I found the

first (outer) feather, especially, very peculiarly constructed; the shaft,

uncommonly stiff, sabre-shaped ; the rays of the web strongly bound

together and very long, the longest reaching nearly three-fourths of

the whole length of the web, these rays lying along (or spanning from

end to end of the curve of) the shaft, like the strings of a musical

instrument (fig. 1). On blowing from the outer side upon the

broad web it comes into vibration, and a sound is heard, which, though

fainter, very closely resembles the well-known neighing.

But to prove clearly that it is the first feather which produces

the peculiar sound, it is only necessary carefully to pluck out

such a one, to fasten its shaft with fine thread to a piece of steel

wire a tenth of an inch in diameter and a foot long, and then to fix

this at the end of a4-foot stick. If now the feather be drawn, with

its outer side forward, sharply through the air, at the same time

making some short movements or shakings of the arm so as to re-

present the shivering motion of the wings during flight, the neighing

sound is produced with the most astonishing exactness.

If we wish to hear the humming of both feathers at once, as

must be the case from the flying bird, this also can be managed by

a simple contrivance. Taking a small stick, and fastening at the

* Naumaunia.

21*

304 Zoological Society :—

side of the smaller end a piece of annealed steel wire in the form of

a fork, a side tail-feather is bound to each point, and the wire is bent

so that the feathers receive the same direction which they do in the

spreading of the tail as the bird sinks itself in flight ; with this ap-

paratus the feathers are drawn through the air, as before.

Such a sound, but in another tone, is produced when we experi-

ment with the tail-feathers of other kinds of Snipe. But in 8. major,

capensis, and frenata four humming-feathers (surr pennor) are found

on each side, which are considerably shorter than in the species we

have been speaking of. Scolopax javensis has eight on each side,

which are extremely narrow and very stiff.

Since in both sexes these feathers have the same form, it is clear

that both can produce the humming noise ; and by means of experi-

ment I have convinced myself that it is so. But as the feathers of

the hen are generally less than those of the cock bird, the noise also

made by them is not so deep as inthe other case. Professor Nilsson

announces, that in the female of the Single Snipe a neighing noise

has been already observed.

It would be interesting if travelling ornithologists would in future

make observations on the foreign species in a state of nature. It

ought to be found that these also have aneighing or humming noise,

but differing considerably from that of our species.

Besides the significance which these tail-feathers have as a kind of

musical instrument, their form may give a very weighty character

in the determination of species standing very near one another, which

have been looked upon as varieties.

To call attention to this subject, I have caused to be drawn the

tail-feathers of several species. They are the following :—

Fig. 1. Scolopax (Telmatias, Boie) gallinago, L.

M. W. Meves on the Humming of the Snipe. 305

Fig. 4. Seolopax (Telmatias) javensis.

Fig.

The structure of the tail-feathers in the last-named species differs

considerably from that of the others; it gives upon experiment no

humming sound ; and all the feathers of the tail are, as in Scolopax

rusticola, formed pretty much like one another.

If it be considered desirable to divide the Linnzean genus Scolopax

into subgenera, I should propose to class those together which have

musical feathers in the tail, under the name Odura.

The interesting discovery recorded in the above paper was first an-

nounced by M. Meves in an account of the birds observed by him-

self during a visit to the island of Gottland in the summer of the

year 1856, which account appeared in a publication of the Vetens-

kaps Akademi at Stockholm the following winter.

In the succeeding summer M. Meves kindly showed me his expe-

riments. The mysterious noise of the wilderness was reproduced in

a little room in the middle of Stockholm. First the deep bleat now

shown to proceed from the male Snipe, and then the fainter bleat

of the female, both most strikingly true to nature, neither producible

with any other feathers than the outer ones of the tail.

I could not resist asking M. Meves the impertinent question, how,

issuing forth from the town for a summer ramble, he came to dis-

cover what all the field-naturalists and sportsmen of England and

other countries had, for the last century at least, been in vain trying

to make out, straining their eyes, and puzzling their wits? He freely

explained to me how, in a number of ‘ Naumannia,’ an accidental

misprint of the word representing tail-feathers instead of wing-fea-

306 Zoological Society.

thers—a mistake which another author took seriously, and ridiculed

—first led him to think on the subject. He subsequently examined

in the Museum the tail-feathers of various species of Snipe, re-

marked their structure, and reasoned upon it. Then he blew upon

them, and fixed them on levers that he might wave them with

greater force through the air; and at the same time he made

more careful observations than he had before done of the living

birds in the breeding season. In short, in him the obscure hint was

thrown upon fruitful ground, whilst in a hundred other minds it had

failed to come to life. At my invitation, M. Meves wrote for the

Zoological Society of London the paper which I have here trans-

lated.—Joun Wo.tey, April 1858.

Description oF Two New Species or ENTOZOA.

By W. Barrp, M.D., F.L.S., etc.

In 1821 Nitzsch established a new genus of Nematoid Worms in

Ersch and Gruber’s Encyclopedia. This genus he named Hedruris,

from the two Greek words édpa, seat, and ovpa, tail,—a name by

which he intended to indicate the peculiar manner in which the

female is attached to the stomach of the animal in which it was

found. As yet there has been only one species described, Hedruris

androphora, which was first discovered in the stomach of the fresh-

water Newts, Triton cristatus and Lissotriton punctatus. The fe-

male is distinguished by having the caudal extremity swollen and

terminated by a suctorial apparatus, by means of which, and with

the assistance of a horny claw like the claw of a cat, it adheres

firmly to the coat of the stomach of its host. The tail of the male

terminates in a sharp curved point, provided with five or six papillee

disposed in a longitudinal series along the under surface. It is

always found spirally twisted round the body of the female, and

it is no doubt by means of these suctorial papillee that it keeps it-

self attached to the female. Dujardin, in his ‘ Hist. Nat. des Hel-

minthes,’ hesitates where to place this genus, and arranges it in an

Appendix along with several others, the true position of which he had

not satisfactorily ascertained. Diesing, in his ‘Systema Helmin-

thum,’ places it in the same section with, and immediately following,

the genus Ascaris, and considers, like Nitzsch, that the species

androphora is identical with the Ascaris leptocephala of Rudolphi.

In the Collection of Entozoa in the British Museum are several spe-

cimens of a small Nematoid Worm, sent under the name of Ascaris

leptocephala to the National Collection by M. Siebold. If these are

correctly named by this last-mentioned naturalist, the species Ase.

leptocephalais a true Ascaris, and quite distinct from the species from

which Nitzsch formed the genus Hedruris, a very good figure of

which may be seen in the ‘ Allgemeine Encyclopédie’ of Ersch and

Gruber, vol. vi. p. 48.

A short time ago I received, through the kind attention of Sir W.

Jardine, a specimen of an Entozoon which he took from the abdo-

minal cavity of an Amphibian which has rarely found its way to

this country, the Siredon mexicanus. Upon examination I ascertained

Miscellaneous. 307

it to be a female of a new species of this rare genus Hedruris. In

size it is about four times longer than the androphora; it has a

larger head, and the body more distinctly striated across. This

species I have named Hedruris Siredonis; but as only the female

has been as yet discovered, I am unable to give a very detailed de-

scription of it.

HEpDRURIS SIREDONIS.

Female. Body 13 millimetres long, $ millimetre broad, strongly

striated across, narrower at the anterior than the posterior extre-

mity, this latter terminating in an obtuse point furnished with what

Diesing calls a suctorial papilla, by which it adhered to the coat of

the stomach of the Siredon. Male ?

Hab. Stomach of the Siredon mexicanus from Mexico. British

Museum Collection.

Along with this interesting species, and in the abdominal cavity

of the same animal, were three specimens of another Nematoid Worm

of a very different form. I consider it to belong to the family

Strongylide, and to a genus which Dujardin established under the

name of Leptodera, so called from the long narrow neck (Xemros,

narrow, dépn, neck) which distinguishes the species upon which the

genus was founded. Only one species of this genus has as yet been

described,—the Leptodera flexilis of Dujardin, which was found

parasitic in the vas deferens of one of the Common Slugs (Limax

cinereus). This species is only from 24 millimetres (male) to 4 mill.

(female) im length, whilst the new species from the Siredon mea-

sures from 16 to 25 mill.

LEPTODERA ELONGATA.

Female. 25 millimetres long. Body filiform, neck long and

slender ; tail terminating in a long sharp point. Vulva situated

about the middle of the length of the body.

Male. 16 millimetres long. Body filiform, neck long and slen-

der, tail sharp-pointed. Spicula double, proceeding from a swelling

near the commencement of the tail, and accompanied by two short

membranous expansions like wings.

Hab. Abdominal cavity of Siredon mexicanus. B.M. Collection.

MISCELLANEOUS.

On the Flowering of the American Aloe. By W. Sowersy.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park, Sept. 20, 1858.

As the American Aloe (Agave Americana), although a very com-

mon plant, is seldom seen in flower, at least in England, perhaps a

few notes on the growth, &c., of the one now in bloom in these

Gardens may interest some of the readers of the ‘ Annals.’

308 Miscellaneous.

The familiar fable of the “plant that only flowers once in a hun-

dred years’’ has originated, no doubt, from the fact that some of the

specimens that have produced flowers in England may have seen the

years of a century, while many die without flowering before they

attain that age; but this is quite the exception to the natural habit

of the plant, which in its native country (South America) sometimes

flowers at the age of eight, or even five years, the average being

about ten. Loudon mentions a specimen that flowered in Devonshire

at the age of twenty years, and another in Cornwall fifty-six years

old: both of these were grown in the open air; and he thinks that

the Agave, if grown under the same treatment as a Pine-apple, would

no doubt flower as soon, or in about four or five years. I have known

some plants of American Aloe, when well cultivated, increase more

in two years than other neglected or starved individuals in ten. Not

only Aloes, but many other plants, especially succulents, when ex-

posed to cold and allowed very little nourishment, remain for years

in an almost stationary position with regard to growth, although

alive. The Chinese take advantage of this fact in producing their

pigmy trees.

In Mexico, Spain, Sicily, and various parts of India, the Agave is

largely cultivated, not so much as an ornament as for its valuable

commercial products. ‘ Pulque,’ the national beverage of the uative

Mexicans, is prepared from the sap, which flows in great abundance

from the flower-stem, which is cut off for this purpose as soon as it

appears, from among the leaves, the supply being about seven or

eight quarts per day. The ligneous fibre called ‘ Pita’-thread is also

very valuable, especially for ropes and cordage, and exceedingly

strong. Roofs of houses are often covered with the leaves, in place

of tiles or thatch. The plants set in rows make excellent and im-

penetrable fences ; and in Jamaica the expressed juice of the leaves,

when evaporated, has served as a substitute for soap.

In the year 1839, a specimen of Agave Americana flowered in

these Gardens, being one of three plants the property of a gentleman

at Highgate, who stated that they had been in the possession of his

family for seventy-five years, and also that the plants were twenty or

twenty-five years old when they first obtained them. In 1841 the

Society purchased the two remaining plants, they being about the

same size as the one that flowered: one of these threw up a flower-

spike in June 1845, in a greenhouse; and now, thirteen years later,

the last remaining of these old friends is finishing its long and dreary

life, at the age of 115 or 120 years. It has scarcely increased in size

for the last ten years, and has probably been waiting since 1848 for

some slight alteration in its treatment to induce it to flower. Early

in May the plant was removed from the conservatory to a sheltered

nook in the open garden, and permitted to enjoy the influence of sun-

shine and genial showers; on the 12th of June the flower-spike first

made its appearance, the average growth for a few weeks being about

3 inches in 24 hours, the daily register varying from 1 to 10 inches,

according to the temperature and state of the weather; the rate of

increase gradually became less till the 28th of August, when the up-

Miscellaneous. 309

ward growth of the spike terminated, it having reached exactly 24 feet.

Some time before this, the scape began to throw out its lateral

branches ; these extend 6 inches to 2 feet from the main stem, to

the number of forty-six, aiid branch out from all sides in graceful

curves in the form of a candelabrum, which, indeed, the whole plant

much resembles; at the extremities of these laterals are seated three

to seven bunches of from twelve to fifty flowers, the total number of

flowers being about 3500. The first bud expanded on the 8th of

September, since which a great number have rapidly opened. It is

searcely correct to make use of the term opened; for the corolla does

not expand. The stamens and style being protruded from among the

upper points of the petals, and having a bright yellow colour, give a

somewhat gay and light appearance to the plant, the petals them-

selves being of a yellowish-green hue. Some few months before the

seape made its appearance, the leaves began to wither ; and as the

flower-spike rapidly increased, in the same ratio the leaves decayed

and shrivelled, the juices they contained having evidently been stored

up for the express purpose of supplying the nourishment required

by the flower; and only by this means could the large amount of

vegetable matter contained in the flower-scape have been collected in

so short a time, as the roots of the plant are very inconsiderable.

The whole plant dies immediately it has perfected its flowers, so that

it can only flower “once”’ in its lifetime, be this ten or a hundred

years.

Believe me, Gentlemen,

Yours sincerely,

W. Sowersy.

On a variety of Chorda filum. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.

The base and apex of Chorda filum (Sea-traces) are usually attenu-

ated and acute. Mrs. Gray observed, in the specimens growing in

Swanage Bay, that some individual fronds of a group from the same

root had the apex largely dilated into a broad, ovate, hollow club,

with a few minute, compressed, transparent spines near the more or

less blunt top of the club. This club, which is often 4 or 5 inches

long and an inch in diameter, is formed by a dilatation of the frond ;

and, like the usual state of the frond, it easily divides across and

separates into a spiral band, as the common form of the frond is

represented as becoming unrolled in fig. 3 of pl. 107 of Dr. Harvey’s

‘Phycologia Britannica,’ and as described and figured by Dr. Gre-

ville, ‘ Algze Britannicz,’ p. 48. t. 7. f. 2.

I do not recollect having observed this variety noticed in any

work on British Algze, which is the more remarkable, as the club,

bobbing up and down on the surface of the sea like an angler’s

float, makes a very conspicuous object in the smooth water of that

beautiful bay. I find it is noticed in Lyngbye’s work on the Alge

of Denmark as “ Chorda filum [3. inflata fronde simplicissima majori

apice inflata,” p.73 (1810), found in the ‘Sinu Otheniensi ;”’ and

he states that it is also described as a Ceramium by Roth, 1797; see

Cat. Bot. i. 174.

310 Miscellaneous.

This variety is not noticed by Agardh in his ‘Synopsis Algarum

Scandinaviee,’ p. 13, where he describes the frond as “e fibris spi-

raliter tortis constructee,”’ nor in his ‘Species Algarum,’ p. 161, nor

in any other work I have at hand.

Swanage, Sept. 1858.

On the Influence of the Moon's Light upon Plants.

By Prof. ZANTEDESCHI.

The Abbé Tessier having made a great number of experiments

upon etiolated plants, which had become white or yellow from bemg

kept in the dark, observed that those exposed to the light of the

moon, and kept in the dark during the day, were evidently less

yellow or white than those kept in the dark day and night. (Acad.

des Se. de Paris, 1781; Bertholin, 1783; Giuseppe Toaldo, Vin-

cento Padova, 1797.)

The Abbé Antonio-Maria Vassalli, Professor of Physies at Turin,

relates that the Sensitive-plant is susceptible of the influence of

moonlight. ‘‘ Having,”’ he says, ‘‘ procured some sprouted seeds of the

Sensitive-plant, twelve days after their germination I transplanted

them into earth contained in glass bottles, and into other vessels

filled with earth.

“I observed that their sleep had a regular periodicity. Exposed to

the east two hours before sunrise, their leaves, which were perfectly

closed at 1 a.m., began to open at dawn, and unfolded completely

some little time after sunrise, more or less quickly according to the

state of the air. If they are carried during the day into a dark

place, or covered with an opake vessel, the leaves close, but not so

exactly as during the night. Exposed afresh to the light, they open

again slowly. In making these observations i was careful to shake

all the pots equally, without covering them, in carrying them, in

order that the variations might not be attributed to these shocks.

After repeating the various observations, for greater certainty, I

exposed the pots to the light of the moon.

“*T did not remark any variation in the leaves when the exposure,

commencing at 1 a.m., had lasted one hour; but after three hours

the leaves were less closed, though still not open.

“Having one evening exposed the pots to the rays of the moon

until midnight, when the leaves were not completely closed, I found

them very well opened about 1 a.m.

“1 attempted to arrange a lens so that its focus should fall on a

closed leaf’; but I could not detect any variation in the short space

of time during which the light of the moon was condensed.’’ (Opus-

coli scelti di Milano, 1794.)

These observations have been renewed in our own time on vetches,

by Prof. G. Giulj: he caused vetches to germinate and spring up in a

cellar entirely shut up from the light both of the sun and moon; and

the little plants were very white. Some of them were exposed for

several nights to the action of the moon’s rays, while others, also in

full growth, were kept in complete darkness: the former acquired a

Miscellaneous. 31]

green colour like that of the same plants exposed in the open air,

and even to the sunlight; those, on the contrary, kept constantly

protected from the light of the sun and moon were not at all coloured,

and ultimately rotted. More than this: Prof. Giulj ascertained by

direct experiment that the light of the moon falling upon certain

plants, or certain leaves, has the property of causing the liberation

of oxygen (Dei Lavori della Reale Accadem. delle Scienze, 1844).

I have successfully repeated the experiments of Tessier and Giulj

on the power possessed by the rays of the moon in developing the

colours of the leaves of plants, and I took the greatest precautions to

maintain the pots in all the conditions which were necessary to avoid

the objections which might be founded upon the influence of hu-

midity or any other atmospheric variation. They were kept in the

dark during the whole day ; when the days preceding the full moon

arrived, they were carried, after 3 a.m., always to the same place to

be exposed to its rays: but two of the pots were uncovered, and two

protected from the rays by an opake body; the others were freely

exposed to the open air and all its influence.

After six nights’ exposure, the difference in the coloration was

very marked: the little plants constantly protected from the influence

of light were white; and those exposed to the lunar rays had a yel-

lowish tint, which appeared to be changing to the green colour,

I desired to repeat also the experiment of Vassalli. I have only

made observations upon leaves perfectly closed, and little shoots, of

no vigour, drooping over the edges of the pots wherein they had ger-

minated. After that, I tried exposing various specimens of Mimosa

pudica to the action of the moon’s rays for an hour during full moon.

I was delighted to see the little shoots rise after a quarter of an hour’s

exposure ; the plants were at the distance of a few millimetres from

the edge of the pot; in half an hour the stems were still straighter,

and in an hour and a half they had attained the height of more than

2 inches; but I could not detect any sensible opening of the leaves.

This experiment appeared necessary in order to confirm what has

been said of the influence of the rays of the moon upon the growth

of the Mimosa, because this fact, more or less established by Vassalli,

has not been received with entire confidence by other authors; and

in this last experiment I took the precaution of placing near the

Mimosa exposed to the lunar rays another of the same plants covered

with an opake body, which shielded it from the light: in this no

movement was produced. The experiment was repeated six times

with constant results. We may therefore believe that the growth of

the little stems of the Mimosa is to be attributed solely to the influ-

ence of the moon’s rays.

I made these experiments in the summer of 1847; and I have

thought it necessary to enter into details, because I was able to make

certain, by a great number of observations, frequently repeated, that

‘the difference of temperature, of the movement of the air, and ex-

posures to different degrees of light, had an influence upon the more

or less prompt and more or less perfect manner in which the leaves

of the Mimosa open and close.

312 Miscellaneous.

One morning in the month of July, about 5 o'clock, in the Botanic

Garden of Venice, two plants of Mimosa pudica, kept in 4 conserva-

tory (perfectly expanded), presented an aspect of luxuriant vegeta-

tion. Another, exposed in the open air, had its leaves entirely closed

and the stems bent. A fourth, placed in another part of the garden,

was half-closed ; and another, in a separate place, was quite closed.

On the day preceding, the gardener had, at my orders, shut up the

last in a dark place three hours before sunrise.

I took care also to verify the influence exerted upon the Mimosa

by the artificial light of a lamp, and I found the growth was from

3 to 5 centimetres.—La Lumiere, July 17, 1858.

General Examination of the Group Kuphorbiaceze.

By M. H. Barttion.

The great number of facts met with in the study of about fifteen

hundred species, cultivated at Paris or preserved in the collections,

have compelled the author to divide into two series his ‘ Etude géné-

rale du groupe des Euphorbiacées.’ In the first part he combines

the matters relating to the search for types, the natural affinities,

classification, descriptions of genera, and organography, based as far

as possible upon organogenic studies.

It is only in the adult state that the existence of compound leaves

can be regarded as exceptional in this order. Very frequently they

are compound at their first appearance ; but the terminal lobe only

becomes developed, the lateral being abortive. They then become

lamellee of variable form, and very often true glands, which occupy

the base of the blade. It is simply by such an arrest of development

that a Cremophyllum differs from a Dalechampia ; but the two genera

cannot be otherwise separated. There are also often lobes of abortive

leaves, destitute of parenchyma, and reduced to their nervures ter-

minating in a glandular thickening, which have been regarded as

branched hairs.

The structure of the male flower presents every possible modifica-

tion, from the diplostemonous type of the andreecium to the indefinite

arrangement of a variable number of naked stamens. Consequently,

the only fixed characters that can be resorted to in the Euphorbiacese

lie in the female flower, and, in this, in the gyneecium.

Hence the extent of the researches relating to this organ. Its

development has been followed in all the plants cultivated in the

Paris gardens and hot-houses, from the appearance of the carpellary

leaves upon a common, central, isolated axis, up to the time when

the ovules developed higher up on the same axis have acquired their

double integuments. ,

It is the outer integument that forms the caruncle of the Euphor-

biaceze, by a thickening of the exostome, and this in a constant

manner. Its origin can no longer be attributed to the cellular cap

which arises from the placenta and advances to meet the ovule.

There is always a period when these two structures are completely

independent, and their perfect contact takes place at the time when

Miscellaneous. 313

the flower expands. If this cap is not at that time in perfect contact

with the nucleus by means of a prolongation which it inserts into the

exostome, the nucleus itself acquires a sudden and excessive develop-

ment, and sends out to the cap a long slender process, varying much

in form in different genera.

As the direction and structure of the ovule and seed alone consti-

tute fixed characters in the Euphorbiacez, the limitation of this

order must be modified, both by the addition of new genera hitherto

regarded as distinct, and by the exclusion of several others. The

species of Buawus, and with them Tricera, Sarcococca, and Pa-

chysandra, are in the latter category. The development of their

placentation is centripetal ; their ovules are anatropous in the direc-

tion opposite to those of the Euphorbiacez, with the raphe exterior,

the micropyle superior and interior. The fleshy production which

crowns their seeds is not a micropylar caruncle, but proceeds from

the funiculus. On the same grounds, the Stylocerez, separated

from the Euphorbiaceze, form a small separate group near the

Buxeze.

The Antidesmeze, on the contrary, and the Scepaceze reduced to

the genus Aporosa, cannot be separated from the Euphorbiacee, for

they all have the gynzecium of this order at a certain epoch. Their

fruit is unilocular and monospermous only through consecutive abor-

tions. The number of loculi, of the seeds, the direction and struc-

ture of the latter, present no difference at the outset.

The study of the organogeny has demonstrated the same fact in

Callitriche, the ovary of which is bilocular and the cells bi-ovulate at

first. This arrangement is merely disguised, subsequently, by the

appearance of a false septum comparable to that of Linum, which

produces an ovary with four half-cells, each with one seed.

The order Euphorbiaceze, as sketched by the author, is therefore

enriched by the Scepaceze, Antidesmez, and Callitrichaceze, while

it loses the Buxaceze proper.—Comptes Rendus, July 26, 1858.

On ‘Hautlé, or Animal Bread, of the Mexicans.

By M. Gurerin-MENEVILLE.

In the ‘Bulletin de la Société Impériale Zoologique d’ Acclimatation,’

M. Guérin-Méneville has published a very interesting paper on a

sort of bread which the Mexicans call ‘ Hautlé,’ and which is made

of the eggs of three species of Hemipterous insects belonging to the

group of Water-bugs.

According to M. Craveri, by whom some of the Mexican bread,

and of the insects yielding it, were brought to Europe, these insects

and their eggs are very common in the fresh waters of the lagunes of

Mexico. ‘The natives cultivate in the lagune of Chalco a sort of

Carez called ‘ Toulé,’ on which the insects readily deposit their eggs.

Numerous bundles of these plants are made, which are taken to a

lagune (the Tezeuco), where they float in great numbers in the water.

The insects soon come and deposit their eggs on the plants; and in

314: Miscellaneous.

about a month the bundles are removed from the water, dried, and

then beaten over a large cloth, to separate the myriads of eggs with

which the insects had covered them. These eggs are then cleaned

and sifted, put into sacks like flour, and sold to the people for making

a sort of cake or biscuit, called ‘ Hautlé,’ which forms a tolerably good

food, but has a fishy taste, and is slightly acid. The bundles of

Carex are replaced in the lake, and afford a fresh supply of eggs,

which process may be repeated for an indefinite number of times.

Moreover, says M. Craveri, the Mexicans collect quantities of these

insects from the surface of the water by means of hooped nets, and

these are dried and sold as food for birds. In Mexico these dried

insects are sold in the streets and markets, the dealers crying ‘‘ Mos-

chitos, Moschitos,’’ just as in Europe they ery “Food for your

singing birds.”

It appears that these inseets have been used from an early period ;

for Thomas Gage, who sailed to Mexico in 1625, says, in speaking

of articles sold in the markets, that they had cakes made of a sort

of scum collected from the lakes of Mexico, and that this was also

sold in other towns.

Brantz Mayer, in his work on Mexico (‘ Mexico as it was and as

it is,’ 1844), says, “On the lake of Tezcuco, I saw men occupied in

collecting the eggs of flies from the surface of plants, and cloths

arranged in long rows as places of resort for the insects. These

eggs, called ‘Agayacath,’ formed a favourite food of the Indians long

before the conquest, and, when made into cakes, resemble the roe of

fish, having a similar taste and appearance. After the use of frogs

in France, and birds’-nests in China, I think these eggs may be con-

sidered a delicacy ; and I found that they are not rejected from the

tables of the fashionable inhabitants of the capital.”

The more recent observations of Messrs. Saussure, Sallé, Virlet

d’ Aoust*, &e., have confirmed the facts already stated, at least in the

most essential particulars.

The insects which principally produce this animal farina of Mexico

are two species of the genus Corixa of Geoffroy, Hemipterous insects

of the family of Water-bugs. One of these species has been described

by M. Guérin-Méneville as new, and has been named by him Coriva

Jemorata. "The other, identified in 1831 by Thomas Say as one of

those sold in the markets of Mexico, bears the name of Corixa mer-

cenaria.

The eggs of these two species are attached in innumerable quanti-

ties to the triangular leaves of the Carex forming the bundles which

are deposited in the water. They are of an oval form, with a protu-

berance at one end and a pedicel at the other extremity, by means

of which they are fixed to a small round disk, which the mother

cements to the leaf.

Among these eggs, which are grouped closely together, and some-

times fixed one over another, there are found others, which are larger,

of a long and cylindrical form, and which are fixed to the same leaves.

‘

* Ann, Nat. Hist. 3 ser. vol. i. p. 79.

Miscellaneous. 315

These belong to another, larger insect, a species of Notonecta, which

M. Guérm-Meéneville has named Notonecta unifasciata.—Pharma-

ceutical Journal, Sept. 1, 1858.

New Experiments on Zgilops triticoides. By Dr. Gopron.

Observations made at Montpellier on the awned and awaless forms

of Zgilops triticoides, which are met with there in a wild state, led

the author to regard this plant as a hybrid of Zygilops ovata ferti-

lized by the pollen of wheat (‘‘ Quelques Notes sur la Flore de Mont-

pellier,” Besancon). Desirous of confirming or negativing this sup-

position by direct experiment, Dr. Godron tried, in 1853, to repro-

duce this vegetable form by artificial fecundation, and in 1854 he

obtained plants of 4yilops triticoides (‘‘ De la Fécondation des Aigi-

lops par des Triticum,” Ann. des Sc. nat. sér. 4. Botanique, ii. p. 218.

See also Comptes Rendus, 17 July 1854, and Ann. Nat. Hist. 2nd

ser. xiv. p. 394). These facts were confirmed, in 1856 and 1857,

by the experiments of MM. Regel in Germany, Vilmorin and

Greenland at Paris, and Planchon at Montpellier. gilops triti-

coides is therefore a hybrid plant. The author considers that no

doubt can remain on this question. (See Journal of the R. Agric.

Soc. of England, xix. part 1. p. 103, 1858.)

Aiigilops triticoides is most frequently sterile; but sometimes,

though rarely, it affords fertile seeds ; and it is these seeds which, in

the hands of M. Fabre of Agde, have produced Aigilops spelteformis.

As Dr. Godron could not doubt the exactitude of the facts reported

by this skilful and conscientious observer, and was on that account

quite convinced that Ayilops spelteformis arose from Ayilops triti-

coides, he at first sought to explain this transformation on the foun-

dation of a law accepted by almost all the authors who have studied

the physiological phenomenon of hybridity, namely that fertilehybrids

return to one of their original types after a certain number of genera-

tions. Aigilops triticoides seemed to present a new confirmation of this

law; Aigilops spelteformis is, in fact, more nearly approximate to

wheat than 4yilops triticoides ; and, supposing the law in question

to be true, the natural conclusion was, that dyilops spelteformis

reverted insensibly to Triticum vulgare. The author now doubts

much whether that law is solidly established. On the one hand,

this return of 4gilops triticoides to its male type, through Ayilops

spelteformis, is so long in coming to pass, that it may be despaired

of. On the other hand, the experiments he has made upon hybrids

in general, and especially hybrids of Verbascum and Digitalis, have

led him to think that fertile hybrids are ordinarily only produced

when they are fecundated anew by one of the two specific types

which have given birth to them. All the hybrid plants he has

hitherto obtained by artificial fecundation have been sterile, with the

exception of flowers which he has fecundated with the pollen either

of the male or female parent; he has then mostly obtained fertile

seeds, and the product of this new fecundation then approached

nearer to the male type.

316 Miscellaneous.

Might it not be the same with Agilops triticoides when it is fer-

tile? Dr. Godron was desirous of making certain of this by the

experimental method ; and for this purpose it was necessary to pro-

duce this Agilops anew at Nancy, as*he had previously done at

Montpellier. He obtained several plants of it, some of which were

fecundated with wheat in the summer of 1857. This new fecunda-

tion by the male type afforded nine seeds, which germinated per-

fectly. They were sown in autumn, and protected from excessive

cold in a frame. These plants flowered, and produced Agilops spel-

teformis, resembling that which Dr. Godron had eultivated for four

years, and which was derived from seed from the Paris Garden.

Dr. Godron compared the two plants in a fresh state: they were

sown at the same time, but separately ; they flowered in the same

week, and he could not detect any difference between them. Finally,

he adds that the ovaries of this 4yilops spelteformis obtained arti-

ficially have already (June 29th) acquired their normal size, and

appear well developed: he has reason to think that they will furnish

fertile seeds, like the 4gilops spelteformis cultivated by M. Fabre.

Aigilops spelteformis is, then, a new hybrid plant resulting from

the fecundation of 4igilops triticoides by Triticum vulgare; it is a

true guadroon, if we may use here a term by which is designated

one of the degrees of crossing between the Negro and the Caucasian

race.

The author anxiously invites botanists interested in this question

to repeat his new experiments; and they will be convinced. This

same year, however, experiments similar to the above, the results of

which are as yet unknown to him, will serve to check the author’s.

They have been made by MM. Vilmorin and Greenland. Lastly,

M. J. Gay brought from Beziers last year a seed of the wild Zgilops

triticoides, which has germinated. This learned botanist will doubt-

less make known the result which it will produce.—Comptes Rendus,

July 19, 1858.

On a new species of Platyrhynchus from the Rio Napo, in the

Republic of Ecuador. By Puttre Lutiey Scrater, M.A.

PLATYRHYNCHUS CORONATUS, Verreaux, MS.

Brunnescenti-olivaceus, alis caudaque fuscis, piler cristati parte

mediali flavissima laterali utrinque castanea ; linea superciliari

et altera a rictu descendente nigris ; loris et corpore subtus

cum tectricibus subalaribus sordide flavicantibus ; rostro supe-

riore nigro, mferiore albicante ; pedibus pallide fuscis.

Long. tota 3:8, alee 2°4, caudze 1°2, rostri a.rictu *55, tarsi °55.

This is a typical species of the genus Platyrhynchus with the

bill nearly of the same breadth and shape as in P. eaneroma, and

of the general size and form of that species; but it is easily re-

cognizable by its bright yellow crest bemg broadly margined with

deep chestnut, and by the shorter and more slender tarsi. These

two birds and Platyrhynchus rostvatus ave the only members of the

group with which I am aequainted.—Proc. Zool. Soc. Jan. 26, 1858,

Pit ACN N A LS

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

(THIRD SERIES. }

No. 11. NOVEMBER 1858.

XXXI.—On Permian Entomostraca from the Fossiliferous Lime-

stone of Durham. By J. W. Kirxsy.

[With a Plate. ]

Mr. Rurert Jones first noticed the occurrence of Entomostraca

in the Permian System of England. In Prof. King’s Monograph

of the Permian Fossils of England, he (Mr. Jones) describes

several species, which were principally obtained from the upper

beds of the Durham Permians*. With the exception of the

notice of a single species by Prof. King, from a Permian deposit

near Tullyconnel in the county of Tyrone, Ireland 7, no additional

observations have been published on Permian Entomostraca in

Britain.

In 1851-53 Dr. Reuss described ten species from the Perm-

ians of Germany, which were found in the Unter Zechstein of

Bleichenbach and Selters, in the Wetteraut. Some of the species

he considered to be new, others to be identical with forms found

in the upper beds of Durham.

From the Permian rocks of Russia, six new species were de-

scribed by Alex. Graf Keyserling, in 1854§.

In 1855, M. Richter noticed the occurrence of eight species

in the Unter Zechstein of Saalfeld. Among them was one new

form ; the rest were referred to species that had been previously

described by Jones and Reuss).

* Monograph of Perm. Foss. of England, pp. 58-66.

+ Journal of the Geological Society of Dublin, vol. vii. p. 78.

{ Jahresbericht der Wetterauer Gesellschaft, 1851-1853, pp. 65-70.

§ Reise durch dieTundren der Samojeden, Dorpat, 1854, pp. 111-113. pl.4.

Permian Entomostraca were observed in Russia previous to this date ; but

the notices of them merely mention the fact of their occurrence, without

specific details. See Table of Formations of the Government of Simbirsk

of Jaaykow, 1844, Petersb. Miner. Gesellsch.

|| Zeitschr. der Deutsch. Geol. Gesells. vol. vii. pp. 526-533.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 22

318 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

These, I believe, comprise all the Permian Entomostraca which

have been noticed up to the present time.

The following remarks refer to the Entomostraca belonging

to the fossiliferous or shell-limestone of the Permian System of

Durham. This deposit lies below the beds whence the species

described by Mr. Jones were procured. It occupies a central

position in the calcareous beds of the system, being situated

between the lower or compact limestone and the various beds of

the upper members. Consequently the Entomostraca of this

deposit belong to a period antecedent to that of the previously

described Durham species. In Britain they have not yet been

observed in Permian rocks of an earlier date; but in Germany

they occur, as before stated, in the Lower Zechstein, which is

equivalent to our compact limestone. This proves their exist-

ence during the deposition of the first calcareous beds of the

Permian series of Western Europe, and gives them a place in

the fauna of each of the three members into which this series of

rocks has been divided. Although they appear to have existed

throughout the period during which the whole of the calcareous

beds were accumulated, it is evident that their distribution was

not at all general: otherwise their absence in the compact lime-

stone of Durham, in the Zechstein Dolomit, Stinkstein, and

Rauchwacke of Germany, would not have been observed; nor

would they have been so rare, in respect to localities, in those

members in which they do occur. In the upper beds of Durham

they are only found in one locality (Byers’ Quarry)*. In the

fossiliferous limestone they are only found at Tunstall, with the

exception of a stray example occasionally met with at Humbleton

Hill. At Tunstall Hill they are not generally dispersed through-

out the locality ; it is only at one particular spot that they occur

in any abundance,—or rather, in which they have occurred, for

the spot seems already exhausted. In this place they were very

plentiful, some hundreds of specimens having been obtained

from a few cubic feet of matrix.

In the limestone of Tunstall Hill, there oceur cavities which

are filled with brown or yellow calcareous dust. Sometimes they

contain yellow or brown dust, and nothing more; at others,

groups of very finely preserved fossils are mixed with the dust.

These cavities have already been noticed by Mr. Howse, who

long ago detected the richness of their contents}. It was in one

of these that I found the various forms of Entomostraca to be

noticed in this paper. It is questionable whether a better matrix

* See Jones in Mon. Perm. Foss. p. 60.

t Catalogue of Fossils of Perm. Syst. of Northumb. and Durham, p. 9.

Mr. Howse has also observed similar cavities in the fossiliferous limestone ‘

of Silksworth.

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 319

for the preservation, and subsequent extraction, of microscopic

organisms, than this in which these Entomostraca occurred, can

be conceived. It has preserved the specimens which it encloses

so perfectly, that they almost rival the productions of recent

zoology. In some instances a brush will remove the investing

matrix, without the use of other tools. Occasionally the dust

occurs in a state of semi-coherency, with nodules or fragments

of limestone intermixed. In this state the imbedded fossils are

also easily extracted without much assistance from palzonto-

logical instruments. Some of the finest specimens ever taken

from the Durham Permians have been got from these cavities ;

and they have also yielded some of the rarest species. An ana-

lytical examination of the contents of some show very curious

results. For instance, in one I found about one hundred and

fifty perfect and imperfect spines of Archzocidaris Verneuiliana,

King, and with them but one or two fragments of the plates of

the same species. In another I got more than four hundred

dorsal valves of young individuals of Strophalosia Goldfussi,

Minst., which were accompanied by only fifteen ventral valves.

Of course, in both cases other species were associated ; but those

mentioned were the most prevalent, and by their abundance and

peculiar mode of occurrence formed the characteristic feature of

the contents of each cavity. Such facts are very puzzling, and

would almost seem indicative of a drifting of specimens prior to

fossilization,—an idea which is scarcely tenable when the general

evidence of the whole fauna is considered.

The majority of the specimens of Entomostraca which were

found belong to species of Bairdia, with scarce, but good, exam-

ples of a Leperditia-like species, previously noticed in the upper

members by Jones, and provisionally referred by him to the

genus Dithyrocaris of Scouler*. The Bairdie generally occurred

with united valves, though single valves were not uncommon.

Specimens of the latter species were nearly always in a detached

state, only three or four per cent. occurring with valves connected.

The valves of Bairdia possess a stronger hinge than the latter,

one valve overlapping the other along the dorsal margin, while

the valves of the other appear to have been merely united by

membrane. This difference in the mode of hingement seems to

explain their manner of occurrence. None of the specimens are

worn, nor show indications of drifting. The acute extremities

of several of the species, and the delicate margins of the detached

Valves, never present traces of attrition; so that it may be in-

ferred that these Entomostraca were original residents in the

area where they have become imbedded and fossilized.

* Mon. Perm. Foss. of England, p. 64, and the remarks on this species

in the present paper.

22*

320 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

In the calcareous dust which contained the Entomostraca were

also a number of specimens of a curious Foraminifer, apparently a

species of Miliolina*. Several species of Mollusca also occurred,

as Productus horridus, Spiriferina multiplicata, Camarophoria

Schlotheumi, Crania Kirkby, Monoiis speluncaria, Pleurotomaria

nodulosa, &c. The convex valve of the conchifer appears to

have been a popular place of resort with the Bairdie. Out of

one I procured some dozens of individuals.

It is also worthy of remark, that in close vicinity to the Ento-

mostraca there occurred some of the rarest Permian fossils, and

others that were previously unknown; also an abundance of

specimens belonging to species hitherto rare in the limestone of

Tunstall: so that the evidence deducible from the fossils asso-

ciated with the Entomostraca, and from those in their immediate

neighbourhood, may imply some peculiarity of conditions per-

taining to this ‘particular area during the deposition of the fos-

siliferous limestone.

During the Permian period, the prevailing forms of Ento-

mostraca seem to have belonged to two groups,—to Bairdia, and

to an undetermined genus, of which Dithyrocaris? Permiana,

Jones}, and Cythere? Roessler, Reuss{, are members. Bairdia

is the most characteristic of the Permians of Western Europe ;

in fact, it is unknown as yet in the Permian rocks of Russia.

In Germany it is represented by several species, and by a greater

number in Durham; a singie species occurs in the Yorkshire

Permians ; and Prof. King has observed another(?) in the Permian

deposit of Tullyconnel. In the fossiliferous limestone of Durham

the Entomostraca almost exclusively consist of species of this

genus, from which it may be inferred that the conditions prevail-

ing during the accumulation of that deposit were highly suitable

for their development. Bairdia seems to represent the Mesozoic

element in this section of the Permian fauna, it bemmg more pro-

perly a Mesozoic group, although it is first met with in Palzeozoie

beds. As a connecting link with the older rocks, the generic form

typified by the above species, D. Permiana and C. Roessleri, may

be noticed as a representative of its more ancient prototypes, the

Beyrichia and Leperditia of the early Paleeozoics. This form

predominates in Russia; three species occur there§. Another is

found in Germany, and two in Durham. According to our pre-

sent knowledge, these species are all that belong to this genus,

no similar forms having, as yet, been found in other rocks ; con-

* It is the same fossil as Geinitz’s Serpula pusilla and the Spirillina

pusilla of Jones.

+ Mon. Perm. Foss. p. 66.

{ Jahres. Wetter. Gesell. 1851-1853, p. 70.

§ Reise durch die Tundren der Samojeden, 1854, p. 112.

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 321

sequently it is pre-eminently characteristic of Permian deposits.

Associated with the species belonging to the above groups are a

few forms which have been referred to Cythere, Cythereis, and

Cytherella, all of which, with one exception, are found in the

upper Permian beds of Byers’ Quarry, and some of which also

occur in the Lower Zechstein of Germany. In the former beds

these forms are in the ascendant, being seven in a list of twelve

species found therein. The difference in generic affinity observed

in the species of these beds from those found in the fossiliferous

limestone, which almost occupies the same area of distribution,

may be indicative of peculiar conditions. It is generally assumed

by geologists of Permian repute, that the upper beds of Durham

originated in comparatively shallow water; nor is it an unwar-

rantable assumption, as some of the beds are ripple-marked*,

and in others there are found occasionally the remains of Alget,

—facts which certainly do not imply any great depth of water.

So, supposing littoral conditions to have prevailed during their

period of deposition, the differences observed in the generic

relations of the species may, in some measure, be due to them;

and the Byers’ Quarry group of Entomostraca may represent

some of those species which loved a habitat of shallow depths in

this Permian age; while in those found in the fossiliferous

limestone, which belong so exclusively to Bairdia, we may possess

a group of pelagic species which dwelt in the waters of a Permian

ocean. Although this is advanced as a mere suggestion, so far

as evidence is derivable from the species in question, yet it is an

idea which is supported by many collateral facts that may be

deduced from the general fauna of this deposit.

The list of Permian Entomostraca is now rather extensive.

Twelve species were described by Jones in 1850. In this paper

six new forms will be noticed, besides three previously dis-

covered in Germany, but new to Durham; so that, in all, the

Permians of Durham will possess a list of twenty-one species,

thirteen of which are peculiar to them. LEight species appear

to be common to the deposits of Germany and Durham, some of

which have existed from the deposition of the Lower Zechstein,

the equivalent of our compact limestone, until the last of the

Permian beds were accumulating. Five species are peculiar

to Germany; and six have been found in Russia, which are as

yet unknown in the West. These, with the British species,

make thirty-two species of Entomostraca belonging to the

Permian strata of Europe.

* Prof. King observed ripple-marks in the upper yellow limestone on the

site of the South Docks, Sunderland; and I have also seen slabs marked

with them in the Fulwell Quarries.

+ From the upper limestone beds between Hawthorne Hive and Black

Hall Rocks on the Durham coast.

522 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

For the convenience of those who may find fossil Entomos-

traca, or other small organisms, in a similar matrix to that m

which the Tunstall specimens occurred, it may be well to add a

word or two as to the mode I adopted for extracting the Permian

specimens from the calcareous dust. I first sifted the dust of

all the coarser particles—of everything larger than the tenth of

an inch; and from what was left I took all the very fine dust

with another sieve, leaving a residue among which everything

organic could easily be distinguished. In picking out the or-

ganisms, a piece of polished slate—a common school slate, for

instance—is a good area on which to strew a portion of the

residue for examination. It is much better to adopt this method

than to pick the specimens out of a mass of material; for by

sprinkling a small portion over the slab, every individual particle

can be recognized, and the organic forms separated from the

inorganic with very little trouble. A pair of blunt forceps with

broad points are exceedingly useful for picking up the specimens.

Some care is necessary, or injury may result to the specimens ;

but, with caution and a little skill, the forceps can be used with

a great delicacy of touch, and with less risk than the fingers.

Dr. Carpenter recommends the use of the moistened tip of a

camel’s-hair pencil in similar cases; and in instances where the

objects sought are extremely delicate, it will be the more prefer-

able instrument: but when the specimens, like the Permian

Entomostraca, possess a moderate degree of firmness, they may

be extracted with greater ease and celerity as above indicated ;

and when an extensive series of examples is needed, expedition

is of some value. With the assistance of a common lens and a

pair of moderately good eyes, nothing more is required. It is

perhaps best to pick out a quantity of specimens “in rough,”

and separate the specific forms afterwards.

Genus Cythere, Miiller.

Subgenus Barrpra [M‘Coy], Jones, Entomostraca of the Cre-

taceous Formation of England.

Syn. Genus Bairdia, M‘Coy, 1844, Syn. Char. Carb. Foss. of Ireland.

This group was instituted by Prof. M‘Coy in 1844 for the

reception of two species of Entomostraca from the carboniferous

rocks of Ireland, which he considered to differ generically from

any existing genus*,

Mr. Rupert Jones, in his Monograph of the Entomostraca of

the Cretaceous Formation of England, 1848, proposed its adop-

tion as a subgenus of Cythere, giving a good definition of its

* Synopsis of the Characters of the Carboniferous Fossils of Ireland,

page 164,

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 323

subgeneric characters, which had scarcely been done by M‘Coy*.

I attach to it a similar value in these remarks.

Dr. Baird has placed it, as modified by Jones, among his

synonyms of Cythere. He states that no anatomical difference

exists in the animal of those recent species referred to it by

Jones, from the animal of Cythere proper+. This is certainly a

strong point in support of its near affinity with Cythere; but

still, with its marked peculiarity of carapace, I think it may be

fairly entitled to a distinctive term to distinguish it from the

typical forms of Cythere. At least, whether it really be a natural

subgenus or not—supposing such to exist—it is a very convenient

group in paleontology, as it serves to mark a number of fossil

Entomostraca of peculiar character, which have repeatedly held

no unimportant position in the economy of ancient faunas.

The subgeneric characters of Bairdia have already been given

by Mr. Jones. The Permian species add little that is new to

them, though I will recapitulate the generic features of these

forms. They are all smooth. The general form of the majority

is somewhat triangular or subpentagonal, though species of a

different contour occur. The posterior extremity of all is more

poimted than the anterior, and it is generally rostrated. The

anterior extremity is usually rounded, but in one or two instances

it is subangulated ; it is also much wider than the former. The

ventral margin is always the straightest, though often somewhat

sinuated. The dorsal margin is more or less convex centrally,

and generally sinuated towards the posterior extremity. In lateral

contour { they are lenticular, variously modified, being sometimes

almost exactly lenticular, at others, by the extreme position of

greatest diameter, subcuneiform. Perhaps the most important

generic character of Bairdia is its hingement, which is a lapping

of the left valve over the right along the dorsal margin, and

which was first noticed by Mr. Jones. In some Permian species

the folding of the valves is great (B. plebeia and B. ventricosa

may be cited as examples) ; and in most cases the folding is much

greater in the centre than near the extremities. In general this

character does not vary much in Permian species. A central

third of the ventral margin of the left valve overlaps an equiva-

lent portion of the right, giving the contact-line of the ventral

margins a sinuated appearance. The mode of its overlapping is

this :—from each extremity, until approaching the central por-

* Entomostraca of the Cretaceous Formation of England, p. 22.

+ Natural History of the British Entomostraca, p. 163.

{ The term “lateral contour”’ is used for the outline which is seen by

viewing the carapace ventrally. ‘‘ Ventral aspect’ is used in similar in-

stances by others; but as it is chiefly the contour of the sides of each valve

of the carapace that is referred to when using the term, I think the former

better expresses the meaning attached to it.

324 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

tion of the ventral margin, the extreme edges of each valve are

somewhat produced, and lie against each other in close juxta-

position, like the valves of a conchifer ; towards the centre, how-

ever, the edges become flattened and bent inwards, formmg

slight horizontal ledges or flanges, that of the right valve being

rather smaller than the other which overlaps it. In no instance

does the whole margin of one valve overlap that of the other ; m

no species is more than a third overlapped, sometimes less. The

length of margin overlapped, and its width, are of use as specific

characters, as is also its position, which is not constant, being

sometimes nearer one extremity than the other.

Although nearly all the species of Bairdia possess a contour

more or less resembling those species which may be considered

typical of the group, such as B. curta (Carboniferous), B. plebeia

(Permian), and B. subdeltoidea (Cretaceous), there are others which

show a great aberration in outline from these types, and, so far

as their general form is concerned, have a much nearer resem-

blance to Cythere than to Bairdia; their hingement, however,

being that of Bairdia, leaves no doubt of their true affinity.

Among the Permian species, B. reniformis, B. Berniciensis, and

B. Jonesiana are the most aberrant in this respect.

1. Bairdia plebeia, Reuss. PI. X. figs. 1, 2, & 2a.

B. plebeia, Reuss, Jahresbericht der Wetterau. Gesell. 1851-1853, p. 67.

Pras B curta, M‘Coy, Jones, Mon. Perm. Foss. of England, p. 61. tab. 18.

g. 3.

Length ;'; inch; height 54, inch.

Carapace subtrigonal, somewhat inflated centrally, surface

smooth. Dorsal margin prominently convex, sometimes rather

flatly convex ; posterior slope abrupt, slightly concave; anterior

slope \ess abrupt, straight, or slightly concave. Ventral margin

straight centrally, more or less convex towards each extremity.

Anterior extremity rounded, and rather produced. Posterior

extremity acute, rostrated. Lateral contour regularly lenticular ;

greatest diameter (of lateral contour, or width of carapace) two-

thirds of the height. The flange, or overlapping portion of the

ventral margin of left valve, short, subcentral. Hinge with the

left dorsal margin overlapping the right extensively.

Mr. R. Jones has identified a very similar form, found in the

upper members of the Durham Permians at Byers’ Quarry and

in the fossiliferous limestone of Humbleton Hill, with the B.

curta of M‘Coy. I think it very probable that the former is

identical with the present species, although the figure and de-

scription of Jones are somewhat different,—a difference, how-

ever, which is most likely due to the state of preservation in which

his specimens occurred, being casts. His figure represents the

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 325

posterior extremity much shorter, and not so acute as the same

member in perfect examples of B. plebeia; the anterior extremity

is also angulate dorsally,—a character unknown to the latter

species, whose anterior extremity, though sometimes a little

produced, is always more or less rounded. These characters,

with a slight sinuosity in the ventral margin, are the only points

in which it differs from the present species; and as the speci-

mens from which they were obtained were, as above stated, casts,

I think they may be assumed to be accidental, and of little spe-

cific value. This being the case, the identification with B. curta

is probably erroneous; for, according to M‘Coy’s description

and figure of that species, its general form is more elongate, and

its extremities are more acutely rostrated, especially the anterior,

than those of plebeia ; it also possesses a deep sinus in its ventral

margin, and shows a marked difference in lateral contour, being

subcuneiform, while the other is lenticular. It has other pecu-

hiarities ; but those mentioned appear sufficient to demonstrate

its being specifically distinct from B. plebeia.

B. plebeia occurred very plentifully along with the other En-

tomostraca found in the fossiliferous limestone at Tunstall Hill,

also rarely at Humbleton Hill, and not unfrequently in the

upper beds at Byers’ Quarry.

It is found in the Lower Zechstein at Bleichenbach, Selters,

and probably at Saalfeld in Germany.

Var. elongata. Plate X. figs. 4 & 4a.

Length inch; height 5. inch.

This is a more elongate form than the preceding. Its pos-

terior and anterior slopes are more gradual, and its anterior ex-

tremity is more produced and more compressed laterally than

in that form.

Var. compressa. PI. X. figs. 7 & 7 a.

Convexity of dorsal margin regular; sinus of posterior slope

nearly obsolete ; posterior extremity less acute than the typical

form. Valves compressed laterally, the greatest diameter being

only a little more than half the height; position of greatest

diameter in posterior half.

Var. Neptuni. Pl. X. figs. 5 & 5a.

The form to which I have attached the name Neptuni shows

several peculiarities, which might almost be considered of specific

importance had they been constant; but when a series of spe-

cimens is examined, it is seen to approach, by gradations, the °

typical forms of B. plebeia, so that it seems necessary to include

it along with other varieties of that species.

326 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

It differs in having the greatest convexity of the dorsal margin

posteriorly situate, consequently in possessing an abrupt poste-

rior slope and a very gentle anterior depression; in the blunt

but beaked posterior extremity, and in its more compressed

lateral contour.

2. Bairdia ventricosa, nu. sp. Plate X. figs. 8 & 3a.

Length 1, inch; height 7, inch.

Carapace subrhomboidal, ventricose, smooth, rather protu-

berant ventrally im anterior half. Dorsal margin flatly convex ;

posterior slope abrupt, descendig three-fourths of the height,

deeply sinuate close to posterior extremity ; anterior slope steep.

Ventral margin slightly sin ious, rising rapidly anteriorly. Ante-

rior extremity rather acute, the dorsal and ventral margins almost

forming a right angle at their juncture. Posterior extremity

prolonged into a narrow bluntish point. Lateral contour almost

lenticular, ventricose, sinuated anteriorly. Dorsal margin of

left valve strongly overlapping that of the right, especially m the

centre. The flange of left ventral margin short, situate a little

beyond the centre and in posterior half.

The principal characteristics of this species are its ventricosity,

its blunt produced posterior extremity, its angulated anterior

extremity, and its slightly sinuous ventral margin.

It frequently occurred in the fossiliferous limestone of Tun-

stall Hill.

3. Bairdia Reussiana, n. sp. Pl. X. figs. 6 & 6a.

Length 1, inch; height ;5 inch.

Car apace ae reniform, flatly convex, smooth. Dorsal

margin flatly convex ; posterior slope abrupt, deeply sinuate near

its juncture with the ventral margin; anterior slope gentle.

Ventral margin with a deep sinus near the centre, becoming

rapidly convex posteriorly ; towards posterior extremity margins

of valves produced. Anterior extremity rounded. Posterior

extremity beaked. Lateral contour sublenticular, with a flat cen-

tral region, slightly concave and produced posteriorly ; greatest

diameter one-fourth of length. Flange of left ventral margim

anteriorly situate. Hinge with the left dorsal margin overlappmg

the right, more so centrally than towards extremities.

B. Reussiana rather resembles some of the forms of B. plebeia.

I have been induced to separate it from that species on account

of its having a sinuate ventral margin, a comparatively blunt

‘and high beak, a less prominent dorsal margin, consequently a

greater length compared with its height, and a compressed len-

ticular lateral contour.

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 327

It is dedicated to Dr. Reuss, who has contributed a valuable

paper on the Entomostraca of the Permians of Germany.

Found rarely in the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall Hill.

4. Bairdia Kingit, Reuss. Pl. X. figs. 8 & 8 a.

B. Kingii, Reuss, Jahresbericht der Wetterau. Gesell. 1851-1853, p. 67.

Length 4 inch; height 4; inch.

Carapace subpentagonal, smooth. Dorsal margin arched.

Ventral margin sinuate, becoming rapidly convex at each extre-

mity. Anterior and posterior extremities almost alike, subangu-

late, the posterior a little less pointed than the anterior. Lateral

contour lenticular, slightly concave posteriorly ; greatest diameter

one-fourth the length, centrally situate.

Although I have identified the form just described with B.

Kingii, Reuss, there exists a little difference in the general out-

lime. MReuss’s figure represents the anterior extremity more

pointed, and the posterior wider and rounder, than the same

features in the Durham form. In other respects they agree ; so

that it is perhaps better to consider those slight variations to be

of little importance, than to risk creating a synonym.

B, Kingii was first observed by Dr. Reuss in the Lower Zech-

stein of Bleichenbach. It is a rare species in the fossiliferous

limestone of Tunstall Hill.

5. Bairdia mucronata, Reuss. Pl. X. figs. 9, 10, & 11?

B. mucronata, Reuss, Jahresbericht der Wetterau. Gesell. 1851-53, p. 67.

Length 5 inch; height 4, inch.

Carapace subcuneiform, smooth, ventricose centrally, com-

pressed towards extremities. Dorsal margin convex centrally ;

anterior slope slight, only one-fourth of height, somewhat con-

cave, joining the ventral margin almost at a right angle ; poste-

rior slope deeply sinuate, falling three-fourths of height, more

or less abruptly. Ventral margin almost straight, or slightly

sinuate. Anterior extremity wide, subangular, sometimes angu-

lar. Posterior extremity acutely rostrated, very much produced,

and occasionally curved upwards. Lateral contour nearly lenti-

cular, slightly concave at each extremity ; greatest diameter rather

more than one-fourth of length, centrally situate. Flange of

left ventral margin long, but narrow, posteriorly situate. Hinge

with left dorsal margin rather largely overlapping the night.

This fine species is subject to modifications of outline. Figs.

9, 10, and 11? represent the most common forms. Its sharp,

produced posterior extremity, which is the characteristic fea-

ture of the species, varies in length; fig. 10 gives the most pro-

duced form. Some individuals have the anterior extremity

3828 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

angulated ; others more rounded, though of a subangulated out-

line. The sinus of the ventral margin is scarcely indicated in

some specimens. The contour of the dorsal margin undergoes

shght variations.

In identifymg this species with B. mucronata of Dr. Reuss, I

have allowed a little for probable imperfection in his material,

or for slight modification of form which may have been induced

by some unknown causes. It is the first reason, however, that

has influenced me most; for all the specimens of Entomostraca

which I have seen from the locality whence Dr. Reuss procured

this species are in a very unsatisfactory state, and not at all to be

relied on for exactness of original form ; so that it is not unlikely

that the specimen or specimens from which he described, and

which he figured, were in some measure imperfect. Should this

not be the case, and should his figure represent a perfect indi-

vidual, then our Durham form, with which I have identified it,

must be made a distinct species.

Found rather commonly in the fossiliferous limestone of

Tunstall Hill. It is rare in the Lower Zechstein of Bleichen-

bach, and occurs in the same deposit at Saalfeld, Germany.

6. Bairdia ———? PI. X. figs. 12 & 12a.

Length #4, inch; height ;4, ich.

Carapace subrhomboidal, attenuate, smooth. Dorsal margin

arched ; anterior slope moderately steep, descending one-third of

height ; posterior slope gradual, descending two-thirds of height.

Ventral margin with a central sinus, convex near extremities.

Anterior extremity angulate at the juncture of dorsal and ven-

tral margins, which almost form aright angle ; ventral curve of

extremity rather convex. Posterior extremity pointed, convex

ventrally, somewhat concave dorsally. Lateral contour very at-

tenuate; greatest diameter central, less than one-fifth of the length.

I have only found a single example of this form, and it is

scarcely so well preserved as I could wish: and there exist some

doubts in my mind as to the propriety of describing it as a spe-

cies ; for it may be but a variety of B. mucronata, and the some-

what imperfect condition of the specimen rather invalidates the

authenticity of the specific characters which appear to distin-

guish it. Of this, however, there can be no certainty until other

and better specimens are procured. The evidence deducible

from this single example seems to favour the idea of its beimg a

species. Its attenuate form, and other peculiarities already

noticed, seem to point to specific distinction; and, relymg in

some measure on these characters, I have thought it advisable

to keep it separate from any of the preceding species, and to

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 329

describe it provisionally as one that is new, to which, however,

I forbear adding a name, which may be attached when its spe-

cific identity is more firmly established.

7. Bairdia reniformis, n. sp. Pl. X. figs. 13 & 13 a.

Length =. inch; height +4 inch.

Carapace subreniform, flatly convex, obtuse marginally, smooth.

Dorsal margin almost straight centrally, but slightly inclined

towards the anterior extremity; anterior slope short, convex;

posterior slope abrupt, convex, falling two-thirds of height. Ven-

tral margin sinuous, convex towards extremities, with a rather

deep sinus anteriorly situate. Anterior extremity rounded. Pos-

terior extremity obtusely pointed. Lateral contour sublenticular,

compressed, convex towards extremities, more so posteriorly than

anteriorly ; greatest diameter central, rather more than one-fourth

of length. Hinge with left dorsal margin moderately and regu-

larly overlapping the right.

B. reniformis has some resemblance to B. Reussiana, and also

to B. Schaurothiana. It may be distinguished from the former

by its more Cythere-like form, by its more depressed dorsal

margin, its convex posterior slope, its unrostrated posterior, and

the greater width of the anterior extremity; it also differs in

lateral contour, its extremities being convex and comparatively

blunt. B. Schaurothiana has straighter dorsal and ventral mar-

gins than the present species; it is more produced anteriorly,

and its posterior extremity is angulate; in lateral contour it

differs in the acuteness of its extremities and in the position of

its greatest diameter.

At first I was inclined to refer this species to Cythere*, its

general resemblance to that genus causing me to consider it to

belong to it rather than to Bairdia; but I found its mode of

hingement like that of Bairdia, so that there can be little doubt

of its belonging to the same group.

Bairdia Schaurothiana, n. sp. Pl. X. figs. 14 & 14a.

Length 4; inch; height 4, inch.

Carapace subhexagonal ; dorsal half convex, ventral less so,

protuberant about one-third from posterior extremity. Dor-

sal margin straight centrally ; anterior slope convex, gradually

descending rather more than one-third of height ; posterior slope

very abrupt, descending two-thirds of height in a right line.

Ventral margin straight, rising abruptly to meet dorsal margin

posteriorly, and very convex anteriorly. Anterior extremity

regularly rounded, prominent. Posterior extremity angulate,

* To the recent forms C. reniformis and C. albo-maculata, for instance.

330 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca.

the dorsal and ventral margins forming a right angle. Lateral

contour irregularly lenticular; greatest diameter one-fourth of

height, posteriorly situate. Hinge strong. Flange of left ven-

tral margin small, subcentral.

It is with great pleasure that I name this species after Baron

von Schauroth of Coburg, to whose assiduous researches in the

Permian rocks of Germany paleontologists are greatly indebted.

Found rarely in the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall Hill.

Bardia? Berniciensis,n.sp. Pl. X. figs. 15 & 15 a.

Length 1; inch; height => inch.

Carapace subrhomboidal, moderately convex, smooth. Dor-

sal margin convex ; anterior slope descending rather more than

one-third of height; posterior slope rather abrupt, descending

about half of height, very convex. Ventral margin convex.

Anterior extremity obliquely truncate. Posterior extremity

rounded or bluntly pointed. Lateral contour sublenticular ;

greatest diameter posteriorly placed, more than two-sevenths of

length.

This scarce form rather resembles the recent Cythere acuta in

marginal outline.

Not being able to make out the hingement of this species,

some doubts may exist as to its really belonging to Bairdia; but

I place it in that group provisionally, until its true affinities be

determined.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE X.

ig. 1. Bairdia plebeia, Reuss: right valve; magnified 23 times.

Fig. 2. Ditto: left valve of another variety ; magnified 23 times : 2a, lateral

contour, with contact-line of ventral margins.

Figs. 4 & 4a. Ditto, var. elongata: left valve; magnified 23 times.

Figs. 5 & 5a. Ditto, var. Neptuni: left valve; magnified 30 times.

Figs. 7 & 7 a. Ditto, var. compressa: right valve; magnified 25 times.

Figs. 3 & 3a. Bairdia ventricosa, n.sp.: right valve; magnified 28 times.

Figs. 6 & 6a. Bairdia Reussiana, n.sp.: right valve ; magnified 26 times.

Figs. 8 & 8a. Bairdia Kingii, Reuss: right valve; magnified 34 times.

Figs. 9, 10, & 9a. Bairdia mucronata, Reuss: right valves; magnified

28 times.

Figs. 11 & 11a, Bairdia mucronata? : left valve; magnified 28 times.

Figs. 12 & 12a. Bairdia ,n. sp. ?: right valve ; magnified 29 times.

Figs. 13 & 13a. Bairdia reniformis, n.sp.: right valve; magnified 40

times.

Figs. 14 & 14a. Bairdia Schaurothiana, n. sp.: left valve; magnified 28

times.

Figs. 15 & 15 a. Bairdia Berniciensis, n. sp.: right valve; magnified 33

times.

[The whole of these are from the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall Hill.]

['To be continued. |

Mr. J. Blackwall on new species of Araneidea. 331

XXXII.— Characters of a new genus and Descriptions of three re-

cently discovered species of Araneidea. By JouHN BuackWaALL,

F.LS.

Tribe Octonoculina.

Family CInIFLONID.

Genus OrituytA, Blackw.

Eyes disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two

transverse, slightly curved, parallel rows whose convexity

is directed forwards; the intermediate eyes of the anterior

row are seated on a tubercle, and, with those of the posterior

row, form a trapezoid whose shortest side is in front; the

anterior eye of each lateral pair is placed on a minute tu-

bercle, and is the smallest of the eight.

Mazille short, straight, powerful, gradually increasing in breadth

from the base to the extremity, which is truncated and

somewhat produced and rounded on the inner surface.

Lip small, triangular, and pointed at the apex.

Legs long and robust, with the exception of the metatarsi and

tarsi, which are disproportionally slender; the first pair is

much the longest, then the fourth, and the third pair is the

shortest ; each metatarsus of the posterior pair is provided

with a calamistrum situated on its upper surface, in a slight

curve of the joint.

Spinners eight ; those constituting the inferior pair are united

throughout their entire length.

Orithyia Williamsii.

Length of the female {th of an inch; length of the cephalo-

thorax ;/,; breadth =4,; breadth of the abdomen }; length of

an anterior leg ;=% ; length of a leg of the third pair t.

The cephalo-thorax is slightly compressed before, rounded on

the sides, convex above, and has an indentation in the medial

line; its colour is dark brown, both extremities and the lateral

margins having a yellow-brown hue; it is sparingly clothed with

short whitish hairs, which are most abundant in the region of

the eyes. The falces are strong, conical, vertical, and of a red-

brown colour. The maxille, lip, and sternum, which is heart-

shaped, with small prominences on the sides, opposite to the

legs, are of a yellowish-brown hue, the sternum being the

darkest. The legs are provided with hairs and a few spines, and

their colour is pale dull yellow, with irregular spots and annuli

of a dark brown hue, the annulus at the extremity of the tibie

being the broadest and most perfect ; each tarsus is terminated

332 Mr. J. Blackwall on new species of Araneidea.

by three claws ; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated,

and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi are

short, and resemble the legs in colour, but are only slightly

marked with brown; they have a curved and minutely pecti-

nated claw at their extremity. The abdomen is oviform, thinly

clothed with hairs, very convex above, projecting over the base

of the cephalo-thorax ; it is pointed towards the spinners, and

has a bold conical prominence in the medial line of the upper

part, at about one-third of its length from the anterior extre-

mity; its colour is brown obscurely freckled with yellow-brown,

the under part being somewhat the palest ; and a fine brownish-

black line, which is broadest immediately before the conical pro-

minence, extends along the middle of the upper part; the sexual

organs are moderately developed, and present two minute glossy

protuberances.

I have named this very remarkable spider im compliment to

Eyton Williams, Esq., of Denbigh, to whom I am obliged for it

and for numerous highly interesting specimens of Arachnida

and Insecta captured by him in Pernambuco. By its external

structure it appears to be most nearly allied to the species be-

longing to the genus Ulsborus, more especially to the Uloborus

zosis of Walckenaer ; but, as it 1s provided with a calamistrum

and a fourth pair of spinners, which must exercise an important

influence on its ceconomy, it is evident that it should occupy a

place in the family Ciniflonide ; I have therefore proposed a new

genus for its reception, to which Uloborus zosis may be trans-

ferred should it possess a calamistrum and a fourth pair of spin-

ners, which I strongly suspect to be the case ; indeed Walckenaer

had thought of constituting a genus of it, but ultimately placed

it in that of Uloborus.

Family ToHeriprip2&.

Genus Artema, Walck.

Artema convexa.

Length of the female ;5ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-

thorax +; breadth }; breadth of the abdomen 2; length of an

anterior leg 1;°,; length of a leg of the third pair 12.

The legs are very long, slender, provided with hairs and fine

spines, and are of a pale yellow-brown colour; a dark brown

annulus occurs near the yellowish-white extremity of the femora

and tibiz, and the genual joint has a dark brown hue; the first

pair is the longest, then the fourth, and the third pair is the

shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two

superior ones are curved and deeply pectinated, and the inferior

Mr. J. Blackwall on new species of Araneidea. 333

one is inflected near its base. The palpi are short and of a

yellowish-white hue; the radial is greatly longer than the cu-

bital jomt; and the digital joint, which tapers to a point, is

without a claw at its extremity. The eyes are seated on the

anterior part of the cephalo-thorax, which is rather prominent ;

three are grouped on each side in the form of a triangle, but not

so closely as in the spiders of the genus Pholcus, and between

these groups two smaller ones are placed transversely. The

cephalo-thorax is circular, glossy, somewhat convex, with de-

pressed lateral margins, and a large indentation in the medial

line; it is of a pale yellow-brown colour, with a dark brown

band extending along the middle, which is broadest in the me-

dial indentation and bifid at its anterior extremity ; a few rather

obscure brown spots oceur on the sides, and the middle of the

long and prominent frontal margin has a brown hue. The

falces are small, vertical, conical, united at the base, armed with

a short, slightly curved fang, and have a single long tooth at

their extremity, on the inner surface; they are of a red-brown

colour. The maxille are long, somewhat enlarged where the

palpi are inserted, slightly so towards the extremity, which is

truncated on the inner side and terminates in a point; they are

strongly inclined towards the lip, the extremities being in con-

tact, and are of a yellowish-white colour. The lip is very large,

diminishing in breadth towards the apex, which is somewhat

pointed ; its colour is yellowish-brown ; the middle of its base

has a brown hue, and a curved transverse line of a deeper shade,

whose convexity is directed forward, occurs near its extremity.

The sternum is broad, glossy, heart-shaped, with small promi-

nences on the sides, opposite to the legs ; it is of a pale yellow-

brown colour, that of the posterior part being dark brown. The

abdomen is short, thinly clothed with hairs, remarkably convex

above, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of

a pale yellow-brown colour, obscurely freckled with dull white ;

in the medial line of the upper part there is a series of large

brown-black spots, and on each side of them there are oblique

streaks of the same hue, which extend to the sides ; the spinners,

which are small, are tipped with black, and a fine black line

encircles the upper part of the coccyx, on which there are two

black spots placed transversely; the sexual organs are highly

developed and prominent ; the colour of the anterior part is dark

reddish-brown, and that of the posterior part pale red-brown.

An immature male, which had to undergo its final change of

integument, closely resembled the female in colour, but was

rather paler and less distinctly marked.

Mr. Eyton Williams took this new species of Artema in Per-

nambuco in 1858. By the disposition of its eyes and the abso-

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ir. 23

334 Mr. J. Blackwall on new species of Araneidea.

lute length of its legs, as compared with those of its congeners,

it is closely allied to the spiders of the genus Pholeus, and to

Pholcus pallidus 1 particular.

Tribe Senoculina.

Family Dysprrip2.

Genus DyspEra, Latr.

Dysdera obscura.

Length of the female 4rd of an inch; length of the cephalo-

thorax +; breadth ;1,; breadth of the abdomen 7; length of an

anterior leg ;°,; length of a leg of the third pair ;%.

The eyes are round, pale amber-coloured, and are grouped in

pairs on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax, those of each

pair being almost in contact ; the lateral pairs are seated obliquely

on asmall tubercle, and the eyes of the intermediate pair, which

are rather the smallest of the six, are in a line with the posterior

eye of each lateral pair, but are separated from them by rather

wide intervals. The cephalo-thorax is long, compressed before,

slightly rounded on the sides, truncated in front, convex, glossy,

with a small indentation in the medial line: the falces are short,

conical, rather prominent, and armed with a short, slightly curved

fang at the extremity, but without teeth on the mner surface.

These parts are of a dark reddish-brown colour, the falees being

much the darkest. The maxill are straight, greatly dilated at

the base, where the palpi are inserted, and somewhat enlarged

at the extremity : the lip is long, and truncated at the apex : the

sternum, which has an oblong-oval form, is broader at its pos-

terior than at its anterior extremity, and has small prominences

on the sides, opposite to the legs. These parts have a red-brown

hue, the base of the lip being the darkest, and the extremity of

the maxille whitish. The legs are robust, provided with hairs

and sessile spines, two parallel rows of the latter occurring on

the inferior surface of the tibice and metatarsi of the first and

second pairs; the first and second pairs have a red-brown hue,

and there is a small black spot at the extremity of their meta-

tarsi, on the upper side; the colour of the third and fourth pairs

is dull yellow faintly tinged with red, and the small spot at the

extremity of their metatarsi has a red-brown hue; the first pair

is the longest, the second slightly surpasses the fourth, and the

third pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three

claws; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the

inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi are short,

strong, of a red-brown hue, the radial and digital joints being

Mr. H. Seeley on two new species of Chalk Starfishes. 335

the darkest, and have a plain, curved claw at their extremity.

The abdomen is short, oviform, hairy, convex above, and projects

a little over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; the upper part is of

a sooty-brown colour; the anterior extremity, contiguous to the

cephalo-thorax, the sides, under part, and spinners have a dull

yellowish-white hue; the colour of the branchial opercula and

tracheal stigmata is also dull yellowish-white, the former having

a tinge of brown, and in the space between them there is an

irregular whitish spot.

This spider, which had not arrived at maturity, was taken in

Pernambuco in 1858 by Mr. Eyton Williams.

XXXIII.— Description of two new species of Chalk Starfishes.

By H. Seezey, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, 45 Great Ormond Street, Sept. 3, 1858.

The fragmentary condition of the specimens described might

seem to render the accuracy of the descriptions doubtful; but

no one can doubt that the essential specific characters of a

Goniaster are nearly as well exemplified in a single side as they

would be in a whole Starfish, the only danger being that in

specimens so imperfect you might have an abnormal form, a

monstrosity, or a made-up fossil: but all these possibilities have

been fully discussed, and the subjects of them submitted to an

exceedingly careful examination, the result of which has been

that the evidences of both specimens being new species have so

increased, that it would be useless longer to delay their publica-

tion. Neither species is likely to be mistaken for any yet

described.

Truly yours,

Henry SEELEy,

Hon. Sec. to the Museum, W.M.C.

Goniaster (Goniodiscus) Forbes, S.

Body? Sides very gently curved outwards. It has two ob-

long, convex, rather swollen superior intermediate marginal

plates, each bearing two rows of laterally-

oblong, proportionately large protube-

rances. The inner edge of the ossicles

is slightly rabbeted ; this appears to the

naked eye as possibly caused by the two

protuberances there placed being greatly

developed ; but a lens shows the margin

as a flat field, out of which the cushioned

Upper. Under.

23%

336 Mr. H. Seeley on two new species of Chalk Starfishes.

surface, bearing the hill-like prominences, rises. The superior

oculars are greatly developed, and more swollen than the imter-

mediate bones; they are one and a half times as large as the

latter, and, in size and shape, look as though formed of an

ordinary marginal and the half of another divided diagonally ;

they carry three rows of prominences, and have a rabbet on the

inner edge similar to that on the others. The superior plates are

steep and deep, compared with the inferior plates, over which they

slightly project, so that when the under surface is seen, the margm

appears step-like. The under-plates on a side were im all six in

number, one being under each intermediate marginal, and two

under each of the eye-plates ; they are flat, smooth, and rounded-

off at their outer edge. The margin of each inferior ossicle is bor-

dered by a slight rabbet, the walls of which are connected by a

number of partitions which give it the look of a line of little pits.

The fragment consists of one complete side, wanting only a ter-

minal inferior ocular plate. It measures in length 4ths of an inch.

This species is easily distinguished from every other by the

number of its superior marginals. In size it comes nearest to

rugatus, Forbes, which it is not unlike in the markings on its

dorsal marginal ossicles.

Chalk of Hertford.

Goniaster (Goniodiscus) Furnivalli, S.

Body pentagonal, with sides gently curved outwards. When

perfect, having on the dorsal sur-

face, in each side, ten oblong, con-

vex, rather finely-granulated mar-

ginal ossicles, all steep or abrupt,

and deep. Of these the oculars

are not preserved, but must have

been small and triangular, and

have projected slightly over the

inferiors. Of the four imterme-

diate marginals the two middle

ones are slightly the shorter ; this

arises from the imner side of the

outer intermediate marginals

sloping towards the outer side, and

so, with the ossicles between, form-

ing a gentle curve; but all four

are of the same width, and rather

wider than the others. Theinferior

ossicles are eight, flat, finely punc-

tate, all of nearly the same width

(the two middle being slightly

Upper surface.

ot ee

Mr. T. V. Wollaston on a new genus of European Coleoptera. 337

the narrowest), broader than the superior, and slightly concave at

the meeting of the two exposed sides. The inferior eye-plates are

wedge-shaped. Ossicles of inferior (?) surface of disk punctate.

Length of a side 1} inch.

This species is well distinguished from every other unmar-

gmed form, except rectilineus, M‘Coy, by its finely-granulated

superior marginals; and from that, to which it approaches

nearest, by the punctations on its inferior plates, and by its

wedge-shaped inferior oculars. About the size of uncatus.

Chalk of Gravesend.

Both specimens are in the Collection of the London Working

Men’s College, Great Ormond Street.

XXXIV.—On a new genus of European Coleoptera.

By T. Vernon Wotxaston, M.A., F.L.S.

Fam. Melyride.

Genus ANTIDIPNIS.

Corpus minutum, ovatum, in utroque sexu (nisi fallor) apterum :

capite antice angustato, c/ypeo brevi membranaceo; oculis promi-

nentibus. Antenne longe ante oculos inserte, filiformes, distincte

11-articulate ; articulo 1™° reliquis longiore, paulo robustiore, leviter

subclavato ; 2% brevi; inde ad decimum longitudine subeequalibus ;

11™° ovato. Labrum transversum, autice truncatum, apicem versus

membranaceum. Mandibule triangulares, corneze, basi late, apice

inecurvee acutze, necnon (in una saltem) fisse. Mazille bilobe ;

lobis membranaceis, apice obtusis pubescentibus. Palpi maaillares

in sexu masculo valde diversi quam in foemineo : in maribus longissimi

(fere articulum antennarum septimum attingentes), articulo 1™° mi-

nuto, 24° huic paulo crassiore elongato, 3"° 4'que maximis valde

incrassatis (illo ovato apice truncato, superne intra apicem externum

eroso, hoc inzequali subquadrato, ad apicem ipsum spongioso); in

feminis multo breviores (haud ultra articulum antennarum tertium

extendentes), articulo 1™° minuto, 2% 3%°que huic paulo crassioribus

(hoe illo vix breviore), 4'° elongato (2% 3%ique conjunctim longitu-

dine zequali), leviter crassiore, fusiformi. Palpi labiales in utroque

sexu fusiformes ; articulo 1™° parvo, 24° longiore crassiore, subclavato

apice truncato, ultimo huic longitudine subzequali sed paulo tenuiore,

fusiformi basi truncato. Ligula a me vix distincte observata. Pedes

longiuseuli, graciles, valde cursorii: ¢2bcis ecalearatis, posticis basi

leviter subcurvatis: ¢arsis elongatis filiformibus, articulo 1™° longi-

usculo, anficis in sexu masculo 4-articulatis : waguiculis simplicibus.

Ab avzi pro, et deirvor ccena (se. ccenz loco).

The curious little beetle from which the above generic characters

have been compiled was captured by myself, near Lisbon, on the

17th of last July, i stercore arido humano (a somewhat remark-

able habitat for a Malachian, and one I suppose which it must

338 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on anew genus of European Coleoptera.

have taken to as a last resource, everything in the surrounding

country being completely burnt up), on the low maritime hills

above Bellem. Believing it, at the time, to constitute the type

of a new genus, I have transmitted it, since my return, to

Dr. Schaum of Berlin; and he agrees with me in regarding it as

allied to Colotes of Erichson, but unquestionably distinct. It is

apparently the Colotes rubripes of J acquelin-Duval (published in

the 10th volume of the French Annales, New Series). At any

rate, it agrees exactly, except im structural details, with the m-

sect there described; and I may add that I have received from

M. Dert of Bordeaux the se/fsame species as my own, under the

name of “ Colotes rubripes, Jac.-Duval,” and, moreover, taken at

La Teste beneath dry sea-weed,—thus coming from the actual

locality, and captured under precisely similar circumstances, as

those from which M. Duval’s diagnosis was drawn out. I con-

clude, therefore, without the slightest hesitation, that my Lisbon

insect and M. Jacquelin-Duval’s are, even specifically, identical.

But, now, as regards the genus, it is quite clear—unless in-

deed (which is not at all likely) M. Dert’s msect from La Teste

was wrongly referred to the Colotes rubripes —that M. Duval

was entirely mistaken in identifying it with Colotes of Erichson,

from the published characters of which (vide ‘ Entomographien,’

p. 129) it presents abundant and most obvious differences. If,

however, M. Duval did really examine the two sexes, which he

professes to have done, it is an anomaly how he could possibly have

overlooked the extraordinary distinctive characters of the maxillary

palpi of the males: whilst, on the other hand, if he possessed only

the males—which I believe to be the case, for he expressly men-

tions the largely-developed terminal joint of those organs in the

six individuals he described from (though he gives it the wrong

shape, and says nothing about the penultimate one being also

equally enlarged, thus foreing the insect, as it were, into Hrich-

son’s Colotes, at the eapense of facts)—it is no less mysterious

how he could have seen five joits in the front tarsi of any of his

specimens, for (being all males) they could only have had four.

Thus, if I am right in my premises—viz. that M. Dert’s insect

was correctly determined (which, judging from the description

of Colotes rubripes, and its exact locality and habits, 1 believe to

be the case)—it appears pretty evident that M. Duval had only

males to work from (for, otherwise, how could he have overlooked

the wonderful differences of palpi ?), and that therefore, in order

to gain them admission into Colotes, he must, in the first place,

have merely imagined the anterior feet of some of his examples

to be pentamerous, and must, secondly, have altogether zgnored

the marvellous dilatation of the penultumate jomt of their maxil-

lary palpi!

Mr. T. V. Wollaston on a new genus of European Coleoptera. 339

Be this, however, as it may, it will be sufficient to state that

the present msect differs, in its structural details, from Colotes

(judging from the diagnosis of that genus as given in the ‘ Kn-

tomographien’), first and foremost, in the immense development

of the maxillary palpi of the males. Thus, whilst in Colotes

the first and third joints are (according to Hrichson) small, m

Antidipnis the first only is small, the third being in the male

sex enormous, and even in the female scarcely shorter than the

second. Then, the fourth (according to the same author) is, in

both sexes, strongly hatchet-shaped, whereas in the present

genus it is securiform in neither, being in the males immensely

enlarged (like the penultimate one) and subquadrate (with the

apex spongiose), and in the females not much thicker than the

one before it, but elongated and strictly fusiform. . Moreover,

the very great difference in the entire length of the maxillary

palpi in the two sexes (they being twice as long in the males as

they are in the females) should be especially noticed. These

wonderful sexual differences of the palpi (so anomalous in the

Melyride) will be more than sufficient, even of themselves, to

establish Antidipnis as a new and interesting genus ; nevertheless

minor characters, likewise, are not wanting. Thus, the basal

joint of its antennve is apparently less thickened, and the second

one shorter, than is the case in Colotes. In Colotes, too, Erichson

states that the first and second joints of the feet are of equal

length, whereas in Antidipnis the basal one (in both sexes, and

in all the feet) is longer than the second.

Although the specific characters have been accurately described

by M. Duval, I subjoin the following diagnosis, as it is just

within the range of possibility that M. Dert’s insect may, after

all, have been wrongly identified, and that so his species and

mine (which are certainly the same) may be new. In that case,

I would propose for it the trivial name of palpalis; but, as

already stated, I regard such a contingency as most improbable.

I would therefore record it thus :—

Antidipnis rubripes.

Ebeus rubripes, Perris, ined.

Colotes rubripes, Jacq.-Duv., Ann. de la Soc. Ent. de France (2itme série),

x. 707 (1852).

A. piceo-niger nitidulus, ore, antennis pedibusque rufo-testaceis ;

capite prothoraceque minute (oculo armato) punctulatis et densis-

sime subtilissimeque alutaceis ; elytris densius et rugose punctatis

et pube depressa albida parce irroratis. Long. corp. lin, 2-1.

Habitat in stercore arido humano, a meipso prope urbem Ulyssip-

ponensem, mense Julio a.p. 1858, sat copiose repertus.

340 Mr.A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar.

XXXV.—List of Coleoptera received from Old Calabar, on the

West Coast of Africa. By AnpRew Murray, Edinburgh.

[Continued from vol. i. ser. 3. p. 135. ]

Chleniide (continued).

Ecrenoenatuvs, mihi (é«revijs and yvaos).

Mentum dente medio simplice. Palpi tenues, elongati et sub-

cylindric (articulis ultimis adhuc

ignotis). Mandibuli valde proji-

cientes, elongati, fortiter arcuati

et apice acutissimo. Maxille

spinis paucis armate. Labrum

subquadratum, postice parum an-

gustatum, levissime emarginatum.

Antennee filiformes, articulo ter-

tio ceteris longiore. Prothorax

subcordatus, antice emargmatus,

postice truncatus, margine re-

flexo. Elytra prothorace latiora,

quadrato-ovalia, parum convexa.

Tarsi marium ignoti, foemimarum

ut in ceteris generibus Chleni-

darum.

1. E. Dryptoides, mihi.

Supra nigro-virens et satis opacus, subtus niger et politus ;

capite antice, ore, gula, suture apice et pedibus testaceis ;

capite postice leviter granuloso, antice impunctato; thorace

fortiter et dense punctato, margine late et profunde reflexo ;

elytris opacis, leviter punctato-striatis, interstitiis transversim

papillose punctatis atque transversim levissime aciculatis ;

subtus prosterno leviter punctato, mesosterno et metasterno

fortiter punctatis.

Long. 61 lin., lat. 24 lin.

Rather narrow; greenish black and opake above, black and

polished below; the anterior part of the head, the basal joimt of

the antenne, the parts of the mouth, the throat, the extreme

margins of the sides of the thorax, the reflexed margin of the

elytra, particularly towards the apex, and a narrow margin on

their sides and suture near their apex, and the legs, testaceous.

Head finely granulose behind, smoother on the vertex, which is

somewhat raised; front smooth and impunctate, with a trans-

verse shallow depression in the middle opposite the anterior

part of the eyes, an irregular depression and some granulose

punctures on cach side close to the base of the antennz; the

Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar. — 341

greenish colour of the head advances in the centre as far for-

ward as the front of the eyes, but the testaceous colour passes

backward on each side as far as the middle of the eye; the apex

of the mandibles and of the joints of the palpi is darker than

the rest; clypeus rather broad; labrum quadrate, somewhat

broadest in front, with a large shallow depression in the centre

(but I am doubtful whether this is not owing to an accidental

crushing in my specimen); antenne dark fuscous, the basal

joint, and possibly the second, which is the shortest, more or less

testaceous; eyes moderately prominent. Thorax subcordate,

not without resemblance to the thorax in Agonum, coarsely and

granulosely punctate, so as to appear opake; margins rather

broadly reflexed, especially behind, with their edges narrowly

semitranslucent and testaceous; dorsal line well marked, but

reaching neither to the front nor back; a depression across

the base, and a sinuate fovea on each side within the reflexed

margin, deepest and widest behind, following the outline of the

margin for two-thirds of the length of the thorax. Scutel-

lum small, triangular, finely granulose, elongate-oval, some-

what quadrate towards the shoulders and apex. Elytra opake,

flattish on the disk, convex on the sides and apex, punctate-

striate, the striz and punctures fine; the interstices flat, trans-

versely rugosely punctate, giving the appearance of the elytra

in Drypta; under a powerful lens, the rugosity of the punc-

tation is seen to be caused by the punctures having been made

as it were from behind, so that in front of each there is a slight

papillose elevation: besides this punctation, there is a very fine

transverse aciculation ; and there is a fine short pubescence pro-

ceeding from the punctures along the sides, which probably in

fresh examples will extend over the whole elytra; the scutellar

stria extends nearly a fourth of the length of the elytra, and the

narrow edging of testaceous along the suture at the apex, which

scarcely goes beyond the first stria, extends forwards about the

same length. Under side polished, shining ; prosternum very

sparingly and faintly punctate; mesosternum and metasternum

roughly and rather closely punctate ; segments of abdomen faintly

rugose, particularly at the sides.

I have only received a single specimen of this interesting spe-

cies, and, unfortunately, the last jomts both of the palpi and

antenne are wanting; but there remain sufficient characters of

generic importance to enable me to allot it a place as a new

genus of the Chlenide.

Oopes, Bon.

1. O. obesus, mihi.

Latus, convexus, niger, subnitidus, impunctatus, levis ; antennis

342 Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar.

palpisque piceis; mandibulis piceis, planis, margine exteriore

reflexo ; thorace marginibus (preecipue antice) depressis, lmea

sublaterah arcuata; elytris punctato-striatis, mterstitiis con-

vexis ; tarsis piceis, anticis pallidioribus.

Long 53 Iin., lat. 33 lin.

Broad and convex; black, smooth, and impunctate, with a

dull, somewhat silky lustre, occasioned by a very fine aciculated

punctation, scarcely visible except under the compound micro-

scope. Head smooth, with a slight depression along the front, and

with two small pits between the eyes ; middle tooth of the men-

tum with a tendency to become bifid ; antennee piceous, first three

joints shining, the rest pubescent and more dusky ; palpi piceous;

mandibles piceous, flat, rather thin, circular exteriorly, straight

interiorly, except at the point, which has a rounded tooth;

exterior margin slightly raised and reflexed posteriorly ; clypeus

slightly emarginate, with a deep square depression in the middle

of the anterior margin, and two large fovez in each of the

anterior angles. Thorax convex, without marginal line, except

a very faint one on each side in front, with a lmear depression

from each anterior angle reaching almost to the basal margin,

curved inwards, deepest in front, and leaving a broad marginal

space widest behind: the appearance of this line reminds one

of a bridle lying on the neck of a horse; it is, however, very

faintly recurved near the base : dorsal line faint, reaching neither

to the anterior nor basal margins. Scutellum large. LElytra

punctate-striate ; interstices convex; the short scutellar stria

along with the sutural stria converging to meet the third and

fourth striz at the base; the second stria straight; the stric

deepest towards the apex, which is slightly sinuate. Under side

with the episterna and sides of the metasternum punctate; sides of

abdomen slightly punctate; the prosternum slightly prolonged

behind, with the prolongation margied. Tibi short; anterior

tibize broad and triangular; anterior tarsi piceous, in the male

with the first three joints very broad and transverse, and the

fourth very small.

The most striking character in this species is the form of the

mandibles and the projecting prosternum; the former might

perhaps justify its establishment as a subgenus, and the latter

would seem to approach it to the genus Lonchosternus of Laferté,

of which the only character differentiating it from Oodes is the

prosternum prolonged as in Hydrophilus. The projection here

has no pretensions to such an extensive prolongation, but it

may be viewed as the passage leading to it. The species is

readily recognized by these characters, “and by the bridle-shaped

depression on the thorax.

Pt. om

Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar. 3.483

2. O. politus, mihi.

Niger, nitidus, impunctatus, politus; antennis fuscis, ad basin

ferrugineis ; mandibulis ferrugineis, acutis, supra haud con-

vexis ; capite et thorace levissimis, ‘hoe stria mar ginali tenui

laterali et anteriori; elytris politis, leviter striato-punctatis,

interstitiis planis, spatio marginali opaco, ad apicem latiore.

Long. 4 lin., Jat. 3 lin.

Black, shining, impunctate, and polished. Head smooth, with

scarcely any depressions ; antenne with the first three joints fer-

ruginous, rest dusky ; palpi piceous ; terminal joint of maxillary

palpi elongate and ovato-cylindric (rest wanting in my specimen) ;

mandibles ferruginous, darker at tip, not convex, triangular,

making the muzzle sharp, nearly straight on the outer “side,

slightly curved and without teeth on the muner ; clypeus large,

transverse, scarcely emarginate ; mentum with a strong middle

tooth, and the lateral lobes large, acute, and with a conical out-

Ime; hgula as in the rest of the Chlaniida, free at its extremity,

and cut straight. Thorax smooth, convex, ‘and with a faint thin

stria along the lateral and anterior mar gins, none on the basal.

Scutellum rather large. Elytra delicately punctate-striate ; inter-

stices flat and shining; the scutellar stria along with the first and

second converging at the base to meet the fourth, the third

straight ; a marked opake and rugose marginal space surrounding

the sides and apex of the elytra, widest at the apex; the margin

of the rest of the elytra touching this space sharply defined, so

that the polished disk seems to lie on the top of an under opake

layer ; the apex slightly simuate. Under side with scattered punc-

tures, except along the middle; the prosternum somewhat pro-

jecting and slightly grooved, as in last species. Legs piceous

(the anterior legs are wanting in my specimen).

I have only received one imperfect specimen of this species ;

and the want of its anterior legs, combined with the somewhat

different form of the mentum and terminal joint of the palpi,

prevent me referring it with absolute certainty to this family ;

but I have no doubt, from its general facies, taken along with

the other characters which remain, that I have placed it correctly.

Cratoceridz.

Diatyrvs, mihi.

(From dvatu7ow, alluding to its being the representative in

Africa of the genera Daptus, Geopinus, Agonoderus, &c.)

Mentum breve, profunde emarginatum, dente medio curto et

obtuso, lobis lateralibus latis, fortiter extus rotundatis. Ligula

parva, ad basin coarctata, ad apicem truncata. Paraglossze

344 Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar.

dilatate, rotundate. Articulus ultimus palporum maxillarium

ad basin cylindricus, in medio tumidus, ad apicem acuminatus ;

articulus ultimus palporum labialium similis, sed minus tu-

midus et minus acuminatus et truncatus. Mandibuli fortes,

densi, dexter intus bidenticulatus, sinister unidenticulatus.

Labrum quadratum. Caput mediocre, haud retro coarctatum.

Oculi satis promimentes. Antenne ad instar capitis et pro-

thoracis longitudine ; articuli primus, tertius et quartus longi-

tudine eequales, cateris longiores, et, eum secundo (breviore),

obconici, quintus et sequentes parum depressi. Prothorax

subquadratus, parum retro coarctatus; anguli antice rotun-

dati, postice distincti. Elytra prothorace paullo latiora,

parum elongata, parallela, ad apicem sinuata. Pedes medi-

ocres: tibize anteriores parum dilatate et versus apicem extus

denticulate ; tibize mtermedic et posteriores haud denticu-

late; tarsi subtus fortiter ciliati, anteriores et mtermedii

maribus dilatati, articulis quatuor primis triangularibus, primo

longiore, quarto bilobato in omnibus tarsis, posterioribus haud

dilatatis. Corpus satis elongatum.

In general appearance the species composing this genus ap-

proach nearer to the American genus Geopinus than to any other

which I have seen, but are readily distinguished from it by the

possession of a median tooth to the mentum, besides the other

characters above mentioned ; their form also is less convex, and

approaches more nearly to Anisodacty ylus. The place of the

genus seems to be next to Dejean’s and S chmidt-Goebel s Indian

genus Batoscelis, as defined by Lacordaire, from which it differs

in the following respects :—its mentum is deeply, instead of

being feebly emarginate; its ligula is small, stead of bemg

“assez grande ;” its paraglosse are rounded instead of beng

truncate, and can scarcely be called arched. In other respects

the characters seem almost the same. The bilobed fourth joint

of the tarsi is not noticed in Lacordaire’s description. Probably

it would have been better for me to have widened the characters

of the genus Batoscelis, so as to have admitted the following

species, instead of making a new genus for them; but the dif-

ference of their native country has induced me to separate them.

1. D. Dohrnii, mihi.

Fusco-virescens ; antennis, clypeo, mandibulis palpisque ferru-

gineis ; capite polito, foveis duabus inter oculos linea antica

transversa junctis; thorace leviter marginato, lateribus de-

pressis, angulis posticis foveolatis, disco leviter, lateribus for-

tius punctato; scutello impresso; elytris levissime punctatis,

striatis, strils impunctatis, interstitiis leviter convexis ; subtus

Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar. 3.45

fuscus, lateribus (episternis et epimeris) leviter et irregulariter

punctatis, medio et abdomine impunctatis ; pedibus pallidis.

Long. 5 lin., lat. 24 lin.

Above fuscous with a virescent tinge. Head polished and

sparingly punctate behind the eyes, the rest impunctate, or

nearly so; a deep angular fovea on each side near the inner cor-

ner of the eyes, united by a deep impunctate transverse line, in

front of which the epistome is marked by a broad, transverse,

somewhat rugose depression ; antennz, clypeus, palpi, and parts

of the mouth more or less ferruginous ; clypeus with a row of

depressions in front, from each of which springs a hair. Thorax

rather convex, with a broad well-defined depression along the

margins and angles, broadest at the posterior angles, and bordered

all round with a slight raised edging; slightly punctate on the

disk, more deeply so on the depressed margins ; the dorsal line is

feebly punctate-striate, and reaches only to the anterior semi-

lunar depression, which is well marked ; the base is very slightly

but broadly emarginate ; in front of the emargination is a sinuate

transverse depression, on each side of which is a fovea; the an-

terior angles are broadly rounded, the posterior are obtuse.

Scutellum ferrugineo-fuscous, rugosely impressed. Elytra with

a greater virescence than the head and thorax, very faintly punc-

tate; striate, but without punctation in the striz; the inter-

stices slightly convex; two or three slight fovee on the outer

side of the second stria, one about a third from the base, the

next about a third from the apex, and the last about a sixth from

the apex; a number of pits are placed at irregular distances

along the marginal space. Under side fuscous, paler than above,

and not virescent ; the middle and the abdomen are not punc-

tate, but the side-pieces (episterna and epimera) are all faintly

and irregularly punctate. The legs are pale testaceous.

I have named this species after Herr Dohrn of Stettin, an

entomologist of world-wide reputation, whose great attainments

as a man of science are only equalled by his genial and endearing

qualities as a friend.

2. D. Smithii, mihi.

Precedenti similis, sed major; niger et haud virescens; ca-

pite linea transversa antice multo minus profunda; thorace

disco impunctato, angulis posticis minus obtusis, ad mucro-

nem fere rectis ; elytris interstitils impunctatis, striis profun-

dioribus quam in D. Dohrn; subtus vix punctatus ; ceteris

ut in D. Dohrnit.

Long. 6 lin., lat. 24 lin.

Closely allied to the preceding, but differs from it in the fol-

346 Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar.

lowing particulars. It is black instead of virescent fuscous.

The head is wholly impunctate ; the angular depressions in front

are shallow, and united by a faint transverse line instead of a

deep groove, and the epistome has scarcely any depression. The

thorax is impunctate on the disk; the dorsal line 1s scarcely

punctate, and it reaches wholly to the front, the posterior angles

are less obtuse than in D. Dohrnii, and somewhat sinuate, so as at

the very point to be almost right-angled for a short space. The

elytra are more deeply striate, and the mterstices more convex

and impunctate. The under side has scarcely any punctation

at ail, either on the sides or middle. In other respects the same

description will apply to the two species.

I have named this species after my friend Mr. Frederick Smith

of the British Museum, whose kindness places the extensive in-

formation he possesses at the disposal of all who desire to profit

by it.

Anisodactylide.

OrtHocontius, Dej.*

1. O. rugiceps, mihi.

Latus, depressus, niger, subnitidus ; antennis, palpis, abdomine

tarsisque piceis ; ; capite punctato- rugoso, bi-1 -Impresso ; thorace

leviter et sparsim transversim rugoso, interstitiis levissime et

perparce punctato, sine punctis ‘majoribus in rugis; elytris

lepidissime et subtilissime transversim aciculatis, striato-punc-

tatis, interstitiis parum convexis, hic et illic leviter punctatis ;

subtus subopacus ; abdomine subtiliter aciculato, preecipue

lateribus.

Long. 8 hn., lat. 34 lin.

Depressed, broad, black, with something of a silky gloss.

Head rugosely punctate, with two longitudinal depressions be-

tween the antennz united by a transverse line; antennee, palpi,

and parts of the mouth piceous. Thorax transversely rugose,

lightly and sparsely on the disk, more coarsely on the depressed

sides and base, the spaces between the rugosities on the disk

faintly and sparingly punctate, no larger punctures in the ruge;

* Notwithstanding the high authority of M. Lacordaire, to which I have

deferred for the sake of uniformity, I cannot bring myself to think that

this is the proper position of this genus. Sometimes trifling distinctions,

which are yet found constant in a group, help one to discover the true

affinities of a species when more prominent characters fail. In this instance

the pectination of the claws of the tarsi, the acicular microscopic sculpture

on the elytra, along with their truncation, lead me to look for the proper

place of the genus in the neighbourhood of Calathus, Pristonychus, &c.,

in which exactly the same characters are found.

Mr. A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar. 3.47

a triangular fovea on each side of the base united by a somewhat

bisinuate transverse line; dorsal line distinct, reaching from this

basal line to the anterior margin ; semilunar depression in front

distinct and somewhat triangular, not more punctate or rugose

than the neighbouring parts; posterior angles obtuse, not

rounded, approaching a right angle at the very point for a very

short space. Scutellum rather elongate, impunctate. Elytra

broader than the thorax, two and a half times the length of the

thorax; shoulders prominent, marked with the finest transverse

aciculations, which are not visible except under a powerful mag-

nifying glass; punctate-striate; the interstices sparingly and

faintly punctate here and there; slightly convex, wider at the

base than the apex, the space between the third and fourth and

fifth and sixth striz widest, the latter with a rugose marking at

the base ; the marginal space wide, widest towards the apex. The

under side of the body black, impunctate ; abdomen dark piceous,

with a silky opake lustre ; more strongly aciculate than the elytra.

Thighs with papillary punctures along the sides and near the

joint ; tibize and tarsi dark piceous.

This species seems to come nearest to Hope’s O. latus, or his

O. longipennis, described in these ‘ Annals,’ 1st series, vol. x.

p- 92; but the somewhat larger size, and the sulcation of the

elytra, instead of striation, with the deep punctation of the sulci,

*‘sulcis fortissime punctatis,’ which he gives as a character of

the former, sufficiently distinguish it from this species ; and the

relative proportions of the elytra and thorax in O. longipennis,

the former being stated at four times the length of the latter,

prevent its being confounded with this, which has the elytra only

two and a half times the length of the thorax.

2. O. Clarkui, mihi.

Niger vel nigro-piceus, nitidus, precedente angustior et convexior;

antennis trophisque, corpore subtus pedibusque ferrugineo-

piceis; capite sparsim profunde punctato, bi-impresso ut in

O. rugicipite ; thorace fere ut in O. rugicipite, sed levior et cum

punctis sat profundis in rugis positis ; elytris multo minus di-

stincte aciculatis quam in O. rugicipite, minus profunde striato-

punctatis, interstitiis fere planis, sparsim punctatis preecipue

lateribus et apice, et cum lepidis lineis hic et illic irregulariter

transversim ductis ; subtus ut in O. rugicipite, sed episternis

metathoracicis oblique rugosis ; femoribus pallidioribus.

Long. 73-8 lin., lat. 3 lin.

Black or dark piceous, shining, narrower and more convex

than O. rugiceps. Head not rugose, but covered with large, deep,

scattered punctures; an angular depression united by a traus-

348 Mr.A. Murray on Coleoptera from Old Calabar.

verse groove between the antennee. Thorax nearly as in O. rugi-

ceps, but smoother and with a few large punctures irregularly

dispersed in the wrimkles or scratches which extend irregularly

over the disk, but principally in a transverse direction; the

dorsal line is well marked, but does not reach to the anterior

margin ; posterior angles obtuse. Elytra three times the length

of the thorax, broader than the thorax, but not so much so as

in O. rugiceps ; much more finely aciculated than in that species,

so that they are more shining and have less of a silky gloss;

they are less deeply punctate-striate ; the interstices almost flat,

sparsely punctate, but more closely and deeply towards the sides

and apex; these punctures are larger than the similar ones in

O. rugiceps; there are also a number of delicate scratches or

wrinkles, which extend here and there more or less transversely

or obliquely across the different interstices; the space between

the sixth and seventh stric is narrowest, widening a little towards

the base, and more so towards the apex ; in other respects nearly

as in O. rugiceps. The under side is ferrugineo-piceous, the

sides of the body with an occasional puncture, and the meta-

thoracic episterna deeply wrinkled obliquely ; the abdomen very

finely aciculated, with two punctures on each segment in the

middle and two on each side. Legs dark piceous, thighs lighter.

I have named this species after my able and amiable friend,

well known to all British entomologists, the Rev. Hamlet Clarke.

3. O. pinguis, mihi.

Latus, niger, nitidus; antennis, trophis, corpore subtus pedi-

busque ferrugineo-piceis; capitis vertice et fronte profunde

punctatis ; thorace ut in O. Clarkii, sed rugis magis reticulatis,

linea dorsali profunda; scutello polito; elytris lepidissime

aciculatis, leviter striato-punctatis, interstitis fere impunctatis

sed sparsim et leviter punctatis inter strias quintas et sextas,

sine lineis transversis lepidis; subtus politus; abdomine fere

ut in O. Clarkii.

Long. 5} lin., lat. 2¢ lin.

Broader for its size than either of the two preceding species ;

black, shming. Head coarsely and deeply punctate on the vertex

and in front, not punctate on the sides behind the eyes; a some-

what quadrate smooth patch also in front.in the centre behind the

epistome ; a fovea on each side in front, between which is a trans-

verse line, which forms the anterior margin of the smooth space ;

in front of this line is the epistome, which is impunctate, except

by four deep punctures in a transverse groove which traverses

it; antenne and parts of the mouth ferrugineo-piceous. Tho-

rax nearly as in O. Clarkii, except that the wrinkles are not so

Mr. P. H. Gosse on a new living British Madrepore. 349

transverse as in it, some of them running longitudinally or ob-

liquely, so as in parts to form faint wide-meshed reticulations; the

dorsal line is rather deeper, and reaches to the anterior margin.

Scutellum polished. Elytra nearly three times the length of the

thorax; very delicately aciculated, though scarcely so finely as

in O. Clarkii ; finely punctate-striate ; the interstices without the

transverse scratches which occur in O. Clark; with scarcely a

single famt puncture, except on the interstice between the fifth

and sixth striz; the interstices somewhat convex, especially to-

wards the sides, where the striz are deepest ; the space between

the sixth and seventh striz narrowest, and nearly as in O. Clarkii,

but almost without any widening at the base. Below ferru-

gineo-piceous ; some faint scratches on the episterna, but nothing

like the deep oblique wrinkles on the metathoracic episternum

in O. Clarkit ; abdomen nearly as mit. Legs ferrugineo-piceous ;

thighs rather paler.

This species comes near Dejean’s description of O. brevithoraz ;

but the latter is described as having the interstices on the elytra

all punctate, which is certainly not the case here.

XXXVI.—On Phyllangia, a new living British Madrepore.

By Purp H. Gossz, F.R.S.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

With much pleasure I announce the discovery of an interesting

living Madrepore, new to the European seas, if not new to

science.

About six weeks ago, Mr. G. H. King, of this town, dredging

in Weymouth Bay, brought up a piece of the bottom, about a

foot square, evidently the edge of one of the oolite ledges, torn

off by the dredge. On this were from fifty to a hundred spe-

cimens of a little Madrepore, which was considered to be our

common Cyathina Smith. The group was broken up and dis-

persed ; but a fragment having fallen under my notice, I imme-

diately saw in it characters which distinguished it from Cyathina,

It proves to be of the genus Phyllangia of Milne-Edwards

(Hist. Nat. des Corallaires), and agrees in the most minute par-

ticulars (with one or two slight exceptions) with the P. americana

of the same author.

The exceptions are—lst. That whereas P. americana is de-

scribed and figured as reaching half an inch in diameter, none

of the specimens procured at Weymouth attained (as I was told)

quite half those dimensions, those which fell under my own

notice not exceeding one-sixth of aninch. 2ndly. That whereas

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. ii. 24

350 Mr. P. H. Gosse on a new living British Madrepore.

in P. americana the summits of the primary septa are described

as arched, in our Weymouth specimen that character exists

only in some of them, others, of the same cycle, being obliquely

truncate, the outer part being the higher.

These differences are too slight to constitute distinction of

species; and hence I conclude that we have on our southern

coasts a Phyllangia now living, in some abundance, which has

hitherto been recognized only as inhabiting the Caribbean Sea.

I was not so fortunate as to see the animal alive, my specimen,

though in the flesh, being in an advanced state of decomposition

when I obtained it ; but Mr. King, who is familiar with Cyathina

Smithii, speaks of the living Phyllangia as having a general

resemblance to that species, and tells me that he observed white

and green hues. He noticed numerous tentacles, but did not

observe whether they were knobbed.

It may be fairly expected that more specimens will be obtained

of this interesting little Coral; and to facilitate the search for

it, I may mention that this colony was taken just under White-

nose.

The following diagnosis may assist in its recognition :—

MADREPORARIA.

Tegumentary structure solidified so as to form a proper corallum.

APORA.

Visceral chamber free, or subdivided transversely by irregular

projections. Septa well developed. Sclerenchyma compact.

Astreide.

Intersepts more or less divided transversely by projecting

plates. Visceral cavity not obliterated, but only subdivided.

No coenenchyma. Walls imperforate.

ASTRAINA.

Septa toothed.

ASTRANGIACEX.

Increasing by buds, which spring from stolons, or from creep-

ing basal expansions. Polypary always remaining very short.

Phyllangia.

Wall naked, ribbed. No false coonenchyma. Primary septa

with the upper edge untoothed. Columella rudimentary.

P. americana. Four cycles of septa. Primary septa with the

outline of their summits arched.

Mr. C. C. Babington on Arctium. 351

May I be permitted to add that if any naturalist, under whose

eye this notice may fall, possesses, or should at any future time

possess, a living specimen of this Madrepore, I should esteem it

a particular favour to be allowed an opportunity of figuring it

in my ‘ Actinologia Britannica.’

I am, Gentlemen,

Yours respectfully,

P. H. Gossx.

Sandhurst, Torquay, Oct. 20, 1858.

XXXVII.—On Arctium. By Cuartes C. Bazrneron, M.A.,

F.R.S. &c.

At the Meeting of German Naturalists in 1857, Herr Can-

didat Nitzchke made a communication concerning the genus

Lappa of Tournefort ; and as he takes especial notice of my

paper upon Arctium (A. N. H. ser. 2. xvii. 369), some reference

to it seems desirable. He informs us that L. major, L. minor,

and L. tomentosa are usually distinguished in Germany, and also

that the L. intermedia of Lange has been observed several times,

and does not seem to be scarce in Silesia. He arrives at the

opinion that the three first-named are true species, but that

there are frequent hybrids between them, such as L. minor.

tomentosa, corresponding with my A. pubens, and L. major-

minor, synonymous with Lange’s A. intermedium. He gives no

proof of the fact, except that the plants are often found in each

other’s company. Unfortunately there is a tendency amongst

German botanists to declare everything a hybrid which is of

difficult determination and nearly allied to other species. Agree-

ing with Fries, and with the great body of zoologists, in thinking

that plants and animals very rarely hybridize in a wild state, I

am not prepared to accept M. Nitzchke’s view concerning the

Arctia. It is not a mere statement of opinion which will deter-

mine such a question. He allows that his supposed hybrids

produce seed which is apparently perfect. Let these seeds be

sown and the results remarked for a few years. If they are

fertile hybrids, I believe that the progeny will gradually revert

towards one of the parent species until they become undistin-

guishable from it.

M. Nitzchke remarks that “these questionable species appear

but seldom, and isolated, as is generally the case with hybrid

plants.” Such is probably their condition in Germany, and may

be the fact with A. intermedium in Britain ; but certainly this

does not describe the mode of occurrence of A. pvbens in Ireland.

Until the summer of 1858, I should have been unable to state

24%

352 Mr. C. C. Babington on Arctium.

anything more definite relative to the latter than to the former

plant; but now I am able to say that A. pubens is abundant

throughout a great part of the south of Ireland, where I could

not find A. majus, and only saw one specimen of 4. minus. This

is conclusive against the hybrid origin of A. pubens. Whatever

may be ultimately determined concerning A. intermedium, a plant

with which I am very imperfectly acquainted, no doubt remains ~

upon my mind of the existence of the other four plants as well-

marked species, notwithstanding Mr. Bentham’s remark “ that

no certain limits can be ascribed even to the three more gene-

rally recognized varieties.” His success in finding intermediate

forms surprises me; for, after an examination of hundreds of

living individuals, I have failed in discovering them. The more

I examine the plants, the more convinced I become of their

distinctness. Each of them varies considerably, but within de-

finite mits. During the last autumn, the radical leaves have

attracted my special attention ; and the plants seem to be quite

distinguishable by them, as indeed I had long before been told

by my acute friend the Rev. W. W. Newbould. Two of the

species have their radical petioles hollow ; and in the other two

they are constantly solid. This hollowness is not the result of

the stretching of the tissue from over-vigorous growth ; for it 1s

always well defined in outline, forms a tube with smooth sides,

and may be found im all stages of the growth, from the younger

leaf to one that is verging upon decay. If the slightest hollow

is found in the petioles of the other species, it is manifestly the

result of rupture, has no defined outline, nor smooth interior,

nor constancy, and is very rare.

‘A. tomentosum has solid roundish petioles with seven very

prominent angles and a deep furrow between the upper pair.

The limb of the leaf broadly cordate-ovate, rather acute, but

little longer than broad, broadest close to its base, which is

truncate with two notches rather than truly cordate.

A.majus has solid rather quadrangular petioles, with the angles

less prominent than those of A. tomentosum; and the furrow,

although similar, is rather less deep. The limb of the leaf

broadly cordate-ovate, with its broadest part at about one-third

from the base, blunt, very little longer than broad. The leaf of

A. tomentosum narrows pretty uniformly from its broadest part

to its tip; that of A. majus is very slightly narrowed until about

two-thirds of its length is attained.

I do not know the radical leaves of A. intermedium.

‘A. minus has roundish petioles with a hole in their centre,

which is usually, perhaps constantly, small and nearly round,

—slightly prominent angles, and a very shallow broad furrow.

The leaf is deeply cordate-ovate, with its broadest part at about

Mr. A. White on Telocera Wollastoni. ooo

one-third from the base, whence it narrows pretty uniformly to

an acute tip. Its base is very deeply notched with lobes nearly

parallel to the petiole, and parallel-sided.

A. pubens has roundish, or more usually oval petioles with a

large hole, which is usually also oval, in their centre ; five of the

angles reduced to rather prominent ribs; the two upper ones,

which are only slightly more conspicuous, have a very broad

shallow furrow between them. The leaf is deeply cordate-ovate,

with its broadest part near the base, whence it narrows, with

much uniformity of curve, to the bluntish tip. Its base is

less deeply notched than that of A. minus; and its lobes are

rounded.

XXXVIII.—Spicrzecia Entomonoeica. I.—Description of

Telocera Wollastoni, an apparently unrecorded species of

Longicorn Beetle from Australia. By Avam Wuirz, Assistant,

Zool. Dept. Brit. Mus.

THERE is no part of the external structure of an insect more

variable im different genera than the antenne. Look at the

Neuroptera for example. Take the short, few-jointed antennz

of those great-eyed Dragon-flies, with their bristle-ending last

joint, and compare them with the long, many-joimted antenne

of an Ascalaphus, with the terminal joimts expanded into a knob,

so that Scopoli, whose writings White of Selborne often studied

and quoted, looking to that character alone, described one of

these strange Neuroptera as a butterfly.

Look, again, at Beetles; compare the filiform antenne of a

Tiger-beetle with the many-plated antenne of a male Cock-

chafer, or with the strangely distorted antenna of a male Melvé

or Cerocoma, or the wondrously expanded joint of a Paussus,—

and how truly marvellous must be the diversity of uses and pur-

poses for which these antennz were made! The uses of the an-

tennz would form a magnificent subject of research ; and the

results, if recorded by an able pen, would make one of the

finest, the most attractive, and the most imteresting of books,

particularly if illustrated with enlarged and accurate drawings.

But, to restrict oneself to Longicorn Beetles, the antennz

in this great group must always afford to the systematist the

most easily detected zoological characters. Nowhere, except in a

few Anthribide, which resemble Longicorns at first sight, are

there longer antennz than those of the males of some of the

genera of this group; take, for example, the Acanthocinus adilis,

or Macronemus. And yet you will find Longicorns with very

abbreviated antenne ; and in numerous sets, such as Clyéi and

354 Mr. A. White on Telocera Wollastoni.

Callidia, the antennz are by no means conspicuous for length.

Again, if we restrict ourselves to Australian Longicorns, how

strange are the curiously lamellated antenne of the beautiful

genus Petalodes of Newman, of which a second species exists in

the Museum Collection, which I have named P. plagiatus*, from

the long pale-yellow smooth spot so conspicuous on each ely-

tron from the middle to near the tip,—the basal half of the elytra

being strongly punctured, a yellow punctured patch before the

smooth patch, and only separated from it by a narrow stripe, of

the general pale brown of the elytra! How different must be the

economy of this insect, so far as the male uses these finely lamel-

lated antennee, from the economy of the Scolecobrotus Westwoodu

of Hope, whose antenne have their fore-edges strangely ser-

rated! and yet the insects are not very distantly related. Then,

again, the dilated antennee giving Telocera somewhat of a Lan-

guria appearance, or of a Triplax, must have a purpose and use

different from the simple linear antennz of the Callidia and

Pytheus, to which it is allied.

The genus which I describe under the name of Telocera is

allied to Pytheus of Newman, one species of which only is known,

the Pytheus jugosus from Sydney. As the genus Brachytria,

close to Pytheus, varies in its coloration, and apparently im the

different sexes, I thought that Pytheus and Telocera might pos-

sibly be sexes of one genus, and even of the same species, in that

country of anomalies in structure, where the female of Disticho-

cera, for instance, is totally unlike her partner. It would be

very rash, in our present state of knowledge, to regard Telocera

as such. There were three specimens of this pretty beetle in the

collection bought by Mr. Stevens. One of these only I have

seen. It is in the British Museum ; the other belongs to Mr.

Pascoe; while Mr. Thompson of Paris procured the third for

his noble collection, during his late passage through London,

on his route from America to the French capital. The figure,

carefully drawn on the block by Mr. Ford, but much magnified,

shows its curious form.

TELOCERA.

Antenne \ong ; first joint thickened, at base curved; second as

usual small, somewhat globular at apex; third and fourth

* Petalodes plagiatus, White.

P.brunneus ; antennis longe lamellatis pedibusque subpallidioribus ; tho-

race scabroso-punctato, lateribus pilis brevibus densis flavidis ornatis ;

elytris apice subtruncatis, basi punctatis, post medium levibus, plaga

elongata prope suturam pallido-flava, altera plaga minore propius basin,

sutura apice subspinosa; metathorace lateribus albo-pilosulis ; abdominis

lateribus albo-pilosis uninotatis. Long. lin. 8 3.

Mr. A. White on Telocera Wollastoni. 355

longer, and about equal in length; fifth, sixth, seventh and

eighth joints about equal

in length, each longer than

the fourth; ninth, tenth

and eleventh dilated, and

forming a distinct club;

the ninth triangular, trun-

eated at tip; the tenth

somewhat cup-shaped; the

eleventh somewhat globose,

rounded at the tip; these

last three joints slightly flat-

tened.

Thorax longer than wide, broadest about the middle, where it

bulges but is not tubercled, narrower than elytra at the base.

Scutellum large, somewhat sunk, pointed.

Elytra narrow, elongated; shoulders prominent.

Eyes largish, very much emarginate in front, near the insertion

of antenne.

Femora strongly clavate.

Telocera Wollastoni, nu. s.

T. capite, antennis, abdomine pedibusque nigris, thorace fasciaque

elytrorum transversa postmediana miniaceo-rubris, elytris cseruleo-

viridibus. Long. lin. 4.

Hab. Australia (Moreton Bay? Sydney ?).

Thome Vernon Wollaston, Entomologo preestantissimo, auctori operis

eximii, ‘ Insecta Maderensia,’ viatori indefesso, in scientia literisque

humanioribus erudito, coleopteron hoc pulchrum dedicatur.

Antennz, head, abdomen and legs black. Thorax vermilion-

red, punctured, and thickly clothed with erect hairs. Elytra

at apex rounded, bluish green, with a broad red band across

them behind the middle, and colouring the suture and sides of

the elytron ; apex of elytra blackish blue; the green before the

red band is tinged with blackish blue; the shoulders are some-

what protuberant; elytra deeply punctate-striate, with erect

hairs. Scutellum black, with deeply grooved lines. Legs black,

with longish hairs ; tibiz, especially on the inside, clothed with

dense, silky, short hairs with a brownish tinge.

Note.—The Teniotes Pazii of Rojas, from Venezuela, described and

figured in the Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1856. t. .f. 2, is synonymous with

Lamia (Plectrodera) quadriteniator, White, described in the Ann. & Mag.

Nat. Hist. 1846, p.48. The Museum specimen was from Guayaquil.

356 M. H. Jekel on new Curculionidous Beetles.

Sprceitecia Entomoxnoeica.—I]. Descripiions of new Curcu-

lionidous Beetles collected on the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald.

By M. Henri Jexet, of Paris. With Notes by Apam Wuire.

M. Jexet of Paris has kindly furnished me with descriptions of

four new species of Rhynchophorous Beetles, collected on the

voyage of H.M.S. Herald, when commanded by Capt. Henry

Kellett, C.B., who entrusted them to me for description. The

grant for the publication of the zoological results of that voyage

was exhausted before the Annulosa were reached. The collec-

tions were formed chiefly on the Pacific shore of Central America ;

a few specimens were brought from more northern parts. I

intend to give a list, with brief descriptions, of some of these.

Dr. Berthold Seemann, whose fine work on the Botany of the

Voyage has given him a great name among modern Aetna,

was the chief collector.

I cannot pretend to give the detailed descriptions of M. Jekel,

nor his micrometrical admeasurements, which must often be

rather individual than specific. The care, however, and the de-

tail displayed in the descriptions drawn up by Jekel and Dr.

Horsfield are very evident to those who know and have thoroughly

studied the subject. But never was the saying truer than in these

days of railroad travellmg and electric telegraph, “vita brevis,

ars longa.” The descriptions of Erichson, Germar, and Guérim-

Méneville, of all modern entomologists, seem to me to be models,

especially for species. —A. W.

Arrhenodes xanthozonatus, Jekel.

A. elongatus, niger, subnitidus, antennis (artic. 4 prim. exe.) tho-

raceque opacis ; rostro basi cum capite canaliculatis, dein bifariam

crenatis, apice rude punctatis; thorace pone medium ampliato,

angulis anticis spinosis, medio canaliculato, impunctato ; elytris

antice scrobiculatis, postice profunde punctatis, interstitiis alternis

costatis, fascia lata ochracea pone medium ornatis; femoribus

omnibus tibiisque anticis HOA ( SP

Long. tot. 16, Pes 3545 25 f5, elytr. 7445 aie

Latit. bas. rostr. 54, bas. cap. 135; thor. ap. 1585 pone med. 2,5,

bas. 2, elytr. 3, truncat. apic. 1,2, mill. (¢)

Allied to, and of the same group as Arrh. lineatus, Sch.* Ros-

trum somewhat longer and narrower from the insertion of the

antennze to the apex than from that part to the base. Head sub-

* Arrhenodes lineatus, Sch. (Gen. et Spec. Cure. v. 476). The specimen

described in that work by Gyllenhal is a9: the ¢ being unknown to him,

he could not indicate the character belonging to that sex, of having the

anterior angles of the thorax spinose. One such ¢ specimen may be seen

in Mr. Bowring’s Collection. No doubt the 9 of the above-described spe-

cies has the angles of the thorax unarmed, like that of the Arrh. lineatus.

M. H. Jekel on new Curculionidous Beetles. 357

quadrate, transversely incised posteriorly, where it forms a very

short neck. Thorax subpulvinate, impunctate. Elytra parallel

to beyond the middle, then narrowed to the apex, which is

truncate. Ochreous fascia broadened towards the margin, its

average breadth being 14 millim. Body beneath impunctate ;

the two anterior rings of the abdomen deeply canaliculate in

their middle. Tooth of the anterior thighs strong; there is,

besides, a very small one, half-distant from the apex. Tibi

curved at their base; tooth of the anterior very strong.

Prepodes Jekelianus, White.

P. oblongo-ovatus, piceus, squamulis viridibus metallico-micantibus,

in lineis duabus thoracis maculisque elytrorum letius condensatis

tectus ; rostro tricarinato, carinis lateralibus versus basin subcon-

vergentibus ; thorace subconico, inequaliter punctato-foveolato,

medio subcanaliculato; elytris punctato-substriatis, apice acumi-

natis ; pedibus purpureo-ceeruleis.

$ Angustior; thorace magis conico; elytris ultra medium parallelo-

angustatis, apice singulatim acuminatis.

2 Latior; elytris versus medium subparallelo-ampliatis, apice con-

junctim acuminatis.

Long. tot. 15, rostr. 1,5, cap. 1,%,, thor. 2,3,, elytr. 9 millim.

Lat. bas. rostr. 1,2,, bas. cap. 1,8, ap. thor. 2, bas. thor. 3, humer.

455, med. elytr. 5 millim.(@). (H. Jekel.)

Hab. Choco, Celumbia, as I have ascertained from a poor speci-

men bought at the Entomological Society’s sale of imsects. It

was given to the Rey. W. Kirby by Mr. Bennett, who sent the

Phrenapates Bennettii, which the venerable Rector of Barham

named after him.—A. W.

Rostrum somewhat ampliate and incrassate at the apex; me-

dian carina reaching the front, the lateral ones obliquely con-

vergent towards the base, which they do not reach. Head some-

what narrower in front, slightly depressed between the eyes.

Thorax slightly flattened on the disk, apex truncate, base sub-

sinuate. Scutellum small, somewhat rounded, subtransverse,

covered with a bright, light metallic green squamulation. Elytra

obtusely rounded at the base; shoulders obliquely subangular ;

rows of punctures regular, at the base hardly, posteriorly slightly

striate. In the 9, the interstices between the strie 1-2, 3-4,

5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11 and margin, are adorned with spots of a

bright, light metallic green hue, lighter than the ground squa-

mosity. In the gonly one of these rows of maculz is evident

—that between strize 5-6, the others more or less rubbed away,

and forming here and there a confused lighter condensation*.

* On the probable causes of that rubbing-away of the squamulation in

the g, 1 have already given my opinion in ‘ Fabricia Entomologica,’ 1.

vi. 6.—H. Jekel.

358 M. H. Jekel on new Curculionidous Beetles.

One 2 from the Collection of the ‘ Herald ;’ but I have seen

two ¢ in the Collection of the British Museum, labelled “S.

America.” There is another ¢ in Mr. Saunders’s, without indi-

cation of locality, probably from the same source.

I have named this insect after my friend M. Henri Jekel, the

very scientific and accomplished entomologist, who has studied

and collected the species of the great division Rhynchophora

so long and so indefatigably, and the author of that unique

work, ‘ Fabricia Entomologica,’ the descriptions, primting, &c.,

of which are all by M. Jekel. His part of the ‘ Insecta Saun-

dersiana,’ and his other memoirs on Curculionide, are all highly

appreciated. This species may be known from all its congeners by

its bluish-purple legs, the femora, especially of the fore-legs, being

ornamented in front and at the base with metallic green scales.

The squamulation of the head, thorax, and elytra is most deli-

eate and varied, green being the predominating hue, blue on the

sides of body and elytra, while the orange or golden-coloured

scales mingled with them set-off these green scales in a very

striking manner. A jeweller lately took a design for a pair of

ear-drops for a lady, from a specimen of the species called Prepodes

vittatus, a beautiful dark-coloured species with bright longitu-

dinal bands of white and rich red on its elytra: the insect was

represented hanging from an orange-blossom, while rubies and

other jewels formed its body.—A. W.

Genus Synosomus*, Jekel.

Antenne fractee, subtenues, thoracis medium parum superantes ;

scapo recto versus apicem subclavatum sensim incrassato, ocu-

lum attingente; funiculo scapo longiore, articulis sabconicis,

apice truncatis, 1° latitudine apicali subtriplo, externis subduplo

longiore, 2° primo paulo breviore, 3° secundo breviore, sequen-

tibus subdimidio longiore, 4°-7° subzequalibus, magis conicis,

latioribus, latitudine apicali parum longioribus; clava breviter

ovato-acuta, 4-articulata.

Rostrum capite dimidio angustius et longius, apice modice ampliatum

et incrassatum, basi utrinque subcompressum supraque trans-

versim leviter impressum; scrobe laterali, obliqua, primum

Imeari, profunda, dem mox ante partem inferam oculi evanes-

centim ampliata et terminata.

Caput breve, valde transversum, subconicum ; oculis breviter ovatis,

subperpendicularibus, deplanatis ; fronte latitudine rostri.

Thorax amplus, antice subrectim, postice oblique truncatus, infra

oculos obsolete lobatus, prope apicem parum constrictus.

Scutellum nullum.

Elytra subovata, basi conjunctim emarginato-truncata, thorace arcte

applicata, exhumerata, h. e. extra thoracem non extensa, ibique

* Sov, pariter: copa, corpus.

M. H. Jekel on new Curculionidous Beetles. 359

angulata, subconstricta, ab angulo ad medium sensim rotundato-

ampliata, lateribus ad marginem inferam latam compressiuscula,

preesertim postice ; subperpendiculariter declivia.

Pedes mediocres ; coxis sat magnis, subglobosis ; femoribus modice

clavatis, inermibus ; tibiis apice ampliatis, intus unco mediocri

armatis, anticis paulo incurvis, reliquis rectis ; articulo tarsorum

penultimo lato, profunde bilobo, ultimo biunguiculato, ungui-

culis basi liberis, divergentibus, simplicibus.

Corpus suboblongum, exscutellatum, exhumeratum, squamosum,

mediz magnitudinis.

This genus bears a striking resemblance to the Mediterranean

species of Geonemus (G. murinus, Sch., from Algiers) ; the forma-

tion of its rostrum and scrobs, of its exhumerate elytra, and the

absence of scutellum, place it in the second subdivision of the

Cleonidee of Schénherr, near Megalometis, &e.—H. Jekel,

Synosomus geonemoides, Jekel.

S. oblongo-ovatus, niger, squamulis lete virescentibus submetallicis

tectus ; rostro leviter tricarinato, basi subimpresso compressoque ;

thorace amplo, latitudine breviore, prope apicem transversim, me-

dio et basi utrinque, obsolete impresso ; elytris punctato-striatis,

interstitiis alternis postice convexis, mox pone medium ad suturam

elevato-carinatis, dein perpendiculariter declivibus.

Long. tota 14, rostr. 2,%,, cap. 1,2, thor. 34, elytr. 8 mill.

Latit. rostr. 1,55, bas. cap. 2,8, ap. thor. 3, med. thor. 4, bas. thor.

35%, bas. elytr. 3,4, med. elytr. 5 mill.

General appearance of Geonemus murinus, but larger, thorax

more ample, &c.—(H. Jekel.)

If this comes, as I believe it does, from the Pacific shore of

Central America, its alliance to a group from the other side of

the Pacific is particularly interesting in a geographical point of

view. Most of the species of Geonemus are from Australia or

New Guinea.—A. W.

Sphenophorus dimidiatipennis, Jekel.

S. ellipticus, niger, nitidus; thorace supra elytrisque antice rufis,

opacis, subholosericeis, subdeplanatis, illo maculis tribus, his sig-

natura infra-humerali nigro-holosericeis ornatis.

Long. tota cum pygid. (rostr. excl.) 15, rostr. 3355, cap. 34, thor. 5,

elytr. 7,5, id. cum pygid. 9 mill.

Lat. bas. rostr. ;%,, ap. rostr. ;4,, cap. bas. et thor. ap. 1,4, ante

med. thor. 3385, bas. thor, et elytr. 4,2,, hum. 5,2, mill.

Size, general outline, and deplanation that of Sphen. dispar,

Sch., but. bearing a striking resemblance to Sphen. sericeus in the

coloration of the upper side; the latter is nevertheless smaller,

narrower in proportion, and more convex, &e.

Rostrum, head, scutellum, pygidium, body beneath (except

360 M. H. Jekel on new Curculionidous Beetles.

a large rufescent spot on each side of the pectus), and legs,

black, naked, shining ; the two posterior thirds and a subhumeral

macula of the elytra black, opake, velvet-like ; anterior part of

these and thorax rufous, opake, the latter having three opake

macule (one at each side of the base, one above the middle) and

its constricted apex black. Elytra punctate-striate, interstices

convex. Pygidium tricarinate; base slightly, the remainder

rudely punctate. Thorax beneath, sides of the abdomen, and

ultimate segment almost entirely rudely and deeply punctate.

Pectus entirely and middle of the abdomen obsoletely punctate.

Sitophilus Oryza, Linn., Fab., &e.

Note.—M. V. de Motschulsky, in a note in his ‘ Etudes Ento-

mologiques,’ 4° Année (1855), p. 77, speaks of a Sztophilus Zea-

Mais, Motsch., injurious to Maize, as follows :—“ Always larger

than S. Oryze, for which it is generally mistaken; the rostrum

is longer, more abruptly strangulate above the eyes, punctation

of the thorax thicker,’ &c. Then he adds,—“I have not met

with this species in Europe, nor with the S, Oryze in America.”

M. de M.’s species is perhaps a distinet one; but, from his

few words, and from the numerous variations and extended

habitat of S. Oryza, we might be led to believe that he has

caught one of the extreme varieties in size and rugosity of that

universal species, such as are to be found on all continents, even

in Europe, where, however, it is generally smaller. But, as the

species may turn out a good one when fully described, I will only

dwell on the last part of his note. Sit. Oryz@, as Schonherr states,

inhabits the whole globe, and is found not only in every conti-

nent, but also in various latitudes. I have hundreds of specimens,

having been myself at one time anxious to ascertain whether

there might not be several species mixed; but they are all one.

I have specimens from all parts of Europe; from Algiers,

Senegal, Guinea, the Cape, Natal, Madagascar, Bourbon, &e., in

Africa; from different parts of India, m Asia; from the United

States (North and South), Texas, Yucatan, Cuba, St. Domingo,

Honduras, Venezuela, S Cruz de Ormoco, Cayenne, Brazils, &c.,

in America. I possess American specimens as small as the

smallest specimens from Europe. This species is just like many

other widely distributed species, very variable in size, coloration,

depth of punctation, &c.; and I may quote an example even in

several specimens from Cuba, caught together, representing the

three extremes. The elongation and strangulation of the rostrum

vary according to the sex and size, and are often only apparent.

—H. Jekel.

The time is approaching when naturalists will be forced to

give much wider geographical runs for their species. Many

Mr. L. Barrett on the Atlas and Axis of the Plesiosaurus. 361

mere local varieties are now deemed what are called “ good spe-

cies.” Dr. Hooker and other botanists have shown how very

widely distributed many of our common plants are. On another

occasion I may enter on this subject.—A. W.

Besides these, there are the two following species of the ex-

tensive group of the Calandride, the former of which is very

distinctly coloured with two transverse, yellowish-red, subinter-

rupted bands on the elytra :—

Sphenophorus Spinole, Sch. Gen. et Sp. Cureul. iv. p. 883

(1838).

Scyphophorus interstitialis, Sch. loc. cit. p. 856.

XXXIX.—On the Atlas and Azis of the Plesiosaurus.

By Lucas Barrett, F.G.S*.

[With a Plate. ]

In a young specimen of Plesiosaurus presented to the Geological

Museum of the University of Cambridge by Thomas Hawkins,

Esq., the atlas and axis have not coalesced, and are detached

from the remainder of the cervical series. The axis is nearly

entire ; but the atlas has lost part of its posterior articular sur-

face, and the whole of the second subvertebral wedge-bone. The

interesting unanchylosed condition of the four bones composing

the atlantal cup is a sufficient excuse for occupying a small

portion of the time of the Section with a comparison of these

bones with those described by Prof. Owen in the ‘Annals of Na-

tural History’ for 1847, and the corresponding parts of the ske-

Jeton of the new species of Plesiosaurus described by Prof. Huxley

in the last Number of the ‘ Geological Journal.’

We will first consider the structure of this specimen (PI. XIII.

figs. 1 & 2). The four bones composing the atlantal cup have been

slightly displaced ; and its shape is a little altered. The base of

the neural canal is formed anteriorly partly by its centrum and

partly by the expanded bases of the neurapophyses ; posteriorly

the centrum is much larger, and forms the entire base of the

canal. The upper thirds of the neurapophyses are much ex-

panded and bent backwards, their inner angles have not coalesced,

and there is no trace of a neural spine. The anterior surfaces

of the lower part of the neurapophyses are concave, and form

the antero-lateral segments of the articular cup for the occipital

condyle ; laterally their inferior edges slightly overlap the first

wedge-bone ; posteriorly they thin away, exposing the postero-

lateral edges of the centrum (fig. 1, c.).

* Communicated by the Author, having been read at the Meeting of the

British Association at Leeds.

362 Mr. L. Barrett on the Atlas and Aais of the Plesiosaurus.

That part of the centrum which forms the middle of the upper

half of the atlantal cup (fig. 1, c.) is hexagonal, and it has a small

pit in its centre; posteriorly its articular face is three times as

great (nearly as large as the articular surface of the body of the

axis), and has a circular depression in the middle. The wedge-

bone (fig. 1) forms the lower half of the articular cup, and has

been produced behind into two long processes, the bases of which

only remain.

The neural spine of the axis (fig. 2, N. s.) is long, and much

thicker than that of any of the succeeding cervical vertebree ;

the apex is broken off in this specimen. The neurapophyses are

separated from the centrum bya distinct suture ; and an oblique

ridge connects on each side the anterior with the posterior zyg-

apophysis. The antero-inferior edge of the axis is bevelled-off,

forming an articular surface for the second wedge-bone ; and the

basal portions of two cervical ribs (figs. 2 & 2a, P.L.) remain

attached to the anterior lower part of the centrum: they must

have partly articulated with the second wedge-bone.

The axis of Plesiosaurus Etheridgii, lately examined by Prof.

Huxley, agrees entirely with that of this species ; but there are

some important modifications in the structure of the atlas.

Prof. Huxley describes the atlantal cup in this species as bemg

divided by a triradiate mark into three portions—one inferior

and two lateral and superior. The imferior piece corresponds

with the lower half of the atlantal cup, or the anterior subver-

tebral wedge-bone, and the two supero-lateral pieces to the neur-

apophyses in the specimen first described, but their bases are

much more developed.

There is a small circular bone in the centre, which Prof. Hux-

ley considers to belong to the os odontoideum ; it is the anterior

articular face of that bone, and corresponds to the hexagonal

bone in the middle of the upper half of the atlantal cup im the

former species,—the difference in position being caused in this

species by the great development of the supero-lateral pieces or

bases of the neurapophyses.

The postero-lateral edges of this bone are greatly developed,

forming a rounded ridge on both sides of the posterior part of

the atlas: the extraordinary development of this part of the

bone is the most remarkable feature in the atlas and axis of this

species.

We now come to the species first described by Prof. Owen.

We have two specimens, in the Woodwardian Museum, of this

species, both from the Kimmeridge Clay of Haddenham, near

Ely ; the larger of the two was figured by Prof. Owen in the

‘ Annals of Natural History,’ vol. xx.

The neural arches in both specimens are broken away ; and

Mr. L. Barrett on the Atlas and Axis of the Plesiosaurus. 368

the bodies of the two vertebrz have so coalesced, that the original

line of separation is scarcely visible. The neurapophyses and

cervical ribs of the axis have become anchylosed to the bodies of

that vertebra. The posterior half of the bottom of the neural

canal in the atlas is formed by the true centrum of that vertebra ;

but in the anterior half the bases of the neurapophyses have

spread over the centrum, and have united at the medial line.

On the upper part of the atlantal cup a groove indicates the

position of the original suture between the bases of the neura-

pophyses and the lower part of the atlantal cup. In the larger

specimen there is a trace of the suture which separated the

anterior subvertebral wedge-bone from the upper part of the

atlas, but which is absent in the smaller specimen.

In the atlas of the three species of Plesiosaurus we have now

considered, the anterior articular face of the atlas is made up of

four bones: of these, the os odontoideum is the most variable in

size. Prof. Owen correctly assigned to it a large share in the

formation of the atlantal cup in the Kimmeridge Clay species.

It forms about a third of the upper half of the cup in the young

unanchylosed specimen, and in P. Etheridgii is extremely small.

Its position varies: in the young specimen (figs. 1 & 1a) it

forms the base of the neural canal of the atlas ; in the Kimmeridge

Clay species (figs. 3a & 36) it is overlapped by the expanded

bases of the neurapophyses; and in P. Etheridgit it occupies the

centre of the cup. The bases of the neurapophyses of the atlas

are most developed in this species, and least in the Kimmeridge

Clay species; in all cases the anterior subvertebral wedge-bone

forms a large portion of the atlantal cup. That the suture be-

tween this bone and the os odontoideum, in the atlas of the

species figured by Prof. Owen in the ‘ Annals’ for 1847, is cor-

rect, we have abundant proof in the structure of the atlas of

Phosaurus, where the os odontoideum is of exactly the same

shape, and the wedge-bone separated from it by a similar suture.

It is remarkable that the Kimmeridge Clay species approaches

more nearly the Ichthyosaurian type than the Lias species, not

only in the greater development of the os odontoideum and in

its lateral edges forming the lateral margins of the atlas, but in

its supporting the neurapophyses; there is really no essential

difference between the atlas of this species and the atlas of

Ichthyosaurus.

The atlas of P. Etheridgii and that figured (figs. 1 & 1 a)

show many Crocodilian affinities (the neurapophyses being sup-

ported both by the wedge-bone and the centrum) ; but the pos-

terior edge of the centrum does not support a pair of ribs

(pleurapophyses), and no trace of ribs articulating with the

wedge-bone have been discovered.

364 Bibliographical Notices.

The second vertebra of the same species support cervical ribs

articulated to their bodies ; but in all other respects they resemble

that of the Crocodile.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIII.

Fig. 1. Anterior view of the atlas of Plesiosaurus from the Lias: N. P. neur-

apophysis; Cc. centrum.

Fig. 2. Axis of the same species : N.S. neural spine; N. P. neurapophysis ;

; c. centrum; Pp. L. pleurapophysis.

Figs. 1a & 2a. Lateral views of the same vertebrez : the same letters indi-

cate the same parts as in figs. 1 & 2.

Fig. 3a. Lateral view of the anchylosed atlas and axis of Plesiosaurus

from the Kimmeridge Clay.

Fig. 36. The articular cup of the same specimen: N. P. neurapophysis ;

c. centrum.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Handbook of Zoology. By J. VAN peR Horven, Professor of

Zoology in the University of Leyden. Translated from the second

Dutch Edition, by the Rev. Witttam Crark, M.D., F.R.S. &e.

2 vols. 8vo. London, Longmans, 1856-1858.

ConsiDERING the high reputation enjoyed by the ‘ Handbook of

Zoology’ of Professor Van der Hoeven, not only on the Content,

but also amongst many English naturalists, it would be a work of

supererogation were we to enter here upon any detailed criticism of

its merits. A short notice of the classification adopted by the learned

Professor of Leyden will, however, probably be acceptable to many

of our readers ; and we shall therefore venture to give a general out-

line of it before proceeding to the more legitimate object of the pre-

sent notice—the consideration of the mode in which Dr. Clark has

executed his translation of this important work.

Professor Van der Hoeven commences his ‘ Handbook’ with a

general introduction to the study of zoology, containing a brief

account of the distinctions between inorganic and organic bodies, and

of the two great kingdoms into which the latter are divided,—an

abstract of the tissues of animals, which he compares with the proxi-

mate elements of the chemist,—a very brief description of the strue-

ture and functions of the principal organs and of the development of

animals,—and concluding with a short treatise on the art of classify-

ing. In this he gives the characters of Cuvier’s four great divisions

of the Animal Kingdom, to which he adds a fifth, the Protozoa, in

a foot-note ; but in his own classification he discards this distribution

“except as a guiding idea,” and divides the whole series of animals

into seventeen great independent classes. We cannot help consider-

ing it a thing to be regretted that this ‘“ guiding idea”’ should not

have been rendered more prominent and palpable to the reader; by

taking the opposite course, Professor Van der Hoeven has lost the

Bibliographical Notices. 365

opportunity of indicating the morphological relations of his classes,

which may be traced with gradually increasing clearness in the three

higher divisions, whilst the only advantage gained by it is that he

gets over the difticulty of determining whether the Echinodermata

should be placed in one or other of two sections.

Professor Van der Hoeven excludes the Sponges altogether from

the Animal Kingdom,—a course which has been adopted by some

other continental zoologists, with but little justice, as it appears to

us: his classification accordingly commences with the Infusoria,

which may be regarded (with the above exception) as equivalent

to the Protozoa, including both the true Infusoria and the Rhizo-

poda; and, singularly enough, considering that the Sponges are ex-

cluded, the Volvocina are still placed among the former, as are also

some other forms (Vibrionide) whose vegetable nature is generally

regarded as fully established.

The Radiata of modern authors form the three following classes,

the Polypi, Acalephe, and Echinodermata. Amongst the Polyps,

Professor Van der Hoeven still includes, not only the Hydroida, but

also the Bryozoa, although he admits that the latter would almost

be better placed with the Mollusca. Of course, as the Hydroid

Polyps are grouped in the same class with the true Polyps, the class

of Hydrozoa of modern authors (the Hydras-meduse ot Leuckart)

is not recognized by our author; his class of Acalephe includes

exactly the same elements as that of Cuvier,—a circumstance which

is to be regretted, as the curious relations of the Hydrozoa, and the

remarkable phenomena of their so-called alternation of generations

can only be satisfactorily understood by regarding the Hydroid Po-

lyps and Acalephee as forming a single great group. The Sipuncu-

/acea are included amongst the Echinodermata.

With the fifth class, that of the Entozoa, divided into the two

orders Sterelmintha and Celelmintha, we commence the great series

of the Annulosa, including the classes Rotatoria, Annulata, or Ringed

worms, of which the Tuwréellaria constitute the first order, Insecta

(with the Myriapoda), Avachnoidea, and Crustacea.

The Mollusca, with our author, form three great classes, the

Tunicata, the Conchifera, and the Mollusea. Considering the vast

differences of organization existing between the Brachiopoda and

Lamellibranchiata and the Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda, we cannot

regard this arrangement as at all satisfactory on any grounds, and

should have greatly preferred seeing the Mollusca divided, in ac-

cordance with ordinary usage, into at least five classes (besides the

Bryozoa).

The Vertebrate Animals, which of themselves occupy the whole of

the second volume, are divided into four classes, the author not re-

garding the distinctions manifested between the Batrachia and the

true Reptiles as sufficient to warrant their separation into two classes.

The classification adopted for the Fishes is to a certain extent modi-

fied in accordance with the views of Professor Miiller,—that is to

say, the Leptocardii and Cyclostomi are regarded as forming a distinct

section from the Chondropterygii (Selachii of Miiller), and the

Ann. & Mag. N. Mist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 25

366 Bibliographical Notices.

Ganoid Fishes also form a separate section ; but the true Bony Fishes

are divided into the four orders Lophobranchii, Pectognathi, Mala-

copterygii, and Acanthopterygii, in accordance with the Cuvierian

principles. The Lepidosirens are also referred to the class of Fishes,

of which they form an order.

It will be readily seen from this sketch that the views of Van der

Hoeven are to a certain extent intermediate between those generally

held by naturalists at the epoch of the publication of Cuvier’s

‘Régne Animal’ and those now adopted by the more advanced of our

living zoologists, of whom Leuckart on the Continent and Huxley

in this country may be regarded as the types. There are certain

points in which his ‘ Zoology’ is undoubtedly behind the age,—that is

to say, points which appear to us to be fully established, and the

truth of which is indeed admitted by our author, but the influence of

which upon the classification of animals he seems to be unwilling to

allow.

But we must quit this criticism of the original work, which has

already occupied far more space than we intended, in order to say a

few words upon that which is the true object of this notice,—Dr.

Clark’s translation. As far as we can judge from a tolerably minute

examination of the book, the translation has been well and carefully

_ effected, although in some cases we find Teutonic stiffnesses that

might easily have been got rid of. It is indeed nearly a literal trans-

lation, and, with but few exceptions, appears to be exceedingly close

to the original. In a few cases, however, we have noticed mistrans-

lations, generally of little importance, and rarely such as seriously to

vitiate the sense of the author. This applies to the translation of

the Dutch text; that of the Latin characters of the classes, orders,

families and genera, which we think would have been much better

left untranslated, has been very indifferently performed,—a curious

circumstance, considering that it is the werk of a Cambridge Pro-

fessor. In translating these short pieces of Latin, Dr. Clark seems

to have forgotten that the descriptive characters, even of zoological

groups, are subject to the ordinary rules of grammar, and that, as a

general rule, in the English language the adjective precedes the sub-

stantive which it qualifies. Thus, of the genus drcedla we are told,

that the animal emits “‘ processes variable, plane, obtuse,””—Dzflugia

is said to emit ‘‘ processes of the animal variable, multifidous,’—

Alcyonium has the ‘body covered with polyps scattered,’’—and

Clepsine, we are told, has the ‘mouth unarmed, furnished with a

proboscis exsertile, tubular.’”’ In the case last mentioned, as in many

others, it would be by no means difficult for a young student to con-

nect the last adjectives in the paragraph with the first substantive ;

and the accidental insertion of a comma would justify him in so

doing. We cannot understand why Dr. Clark should have adopted

this curious form in translating very intelligible Latin.

Dr. Clark has not, however, confined himself to the labour of

translating, but has added numerous notes, many of them of con-

siderable value, showing the progress of zoology during the period

intervening between the publication of the original work and of

Bibliographical Notices. 367

the translation. The portion of Van der Hoeven’s book relating

to the Protozoa was very defective, and here Dr. Clark has added

some notes; but still this section is by no means satisfactory. At

page 102 and the two following pages we find a good abstract of the

recent investigations of Huxley, Leuckart, &c., upon the structure

of the Stphonophora ; and in pp. 109-119 numerous changes induced

by these facts have been made. On pp. 135-138 the translator

has introduced an account of the development of the Echino-

dermata, which is far more detailed than the same portion of the

original work ; and in describing the Entozoa (at pp. 173-176) he

has given an abstract of the recent discoveries of development

of those creatures, which have also caused him to omit Van der

Hoeven’s family of Cystica, now proved to consist of the develop-

mental forms of Cestoid worms. He has, however, given descrip-

tions of the different forms of Cystic worms at pp. 181-183. Inthe

preface to the second volume the translator has added some further

notes on the Invertebrated animals, including references to the valu-

able “ corrections and additions”’ to the German translation, published

in 1856 by Lenckart. From this we also learn that the author him-

self has made great alterations and additions to the second volume,

so that, in Dr. Clark’s own words, “this volume may be regarded

rather as a third edition of the original than simply a translation of

the second.”” The two volumes are illustrated with four-and-twenty

plates, which are printed from the original copper-piates of the Dutch

edition, and which, although some of them might doubtless be im-

proved in appearance, will certainly prove exceedingly useful to the

student.

Actinologia Britannica ; a History of the British Sea-Anemones and

Madrepores. With coloured figures of all the species. By

PuHitre Henry Gossr, F.R.S. Parts I-IV. 8vo. London,

Van Voorst, 1858.

If the present rage for Aquaria have no other result, it has cer-

tainly been instrumental in increasing the number of recorded British

species of Sea-Anemones. On all our coasts dilettanti and naturalists

are busily engaged in rummaging the rocks in search of these beau-

tiful flowers of the sea; Actinize form the most prominent ornaments

of the artificial rock-pools which it is the fashion now-a-days to esta-

blish in almost every house; and if the observation of the habits

of these beautiful captives be carried on with anything like the same

zeal, we shall soon possess a tolerably complete body of information

upon their natural history.

In the meanwhile, however, it must be confessed that the import-

ance which the Actiniz have acquired in the eyes of aquariists is

leading to its natural consequence :—under constant examination,

minute characters seem to grow into greater prominence ; and hence

the number of genera formed threatens to increase in an astounding

ratio as compared with the number of species. Thus Johnston de-

scribes twenty-seven species of Actiniadze, which are included in half-

25%

368 Bibliographical Notices.

a-dozen genera, whilst Mr. Gosse, in his paper published in this

Journal in Junelast, raises this number to forty-one, or, if we elude

Capnea and Corynactis, which he then placed in a different section

of Polypes, to forty-four ; but these will form fourteen genera in the

former case, and sixteen in the latter. In the present work, again,

although it has advanced but a short distance on its course, we already

find indications of the tendency to further division—as Mr. Gosse

provisionally proposes to break up his genus Sagartia (including

about twenty known species) into no less than five groups, for which,

in the event of their being hereafter raised to a more prominent place

in the system, he has wisely and providently invented generic names.

If this plan be carried out much further, as mdeed it is likely to be,

—not perhaps by Mr. Gosse himself, but by those who are to come

after him, and who, with a more inordinate desire to shine in the

world, may possess far less judgment,—we shall soon arrive at that

point when there will be a genus for every species ; and how far this

is desirable, we may leave our readers to decide. We must content

ourselves with calling attention to the fact that this tendency to the

multiplication of genera in the Actiniadee is getting to a great height ;

for we can by no means coincide in the suicidal wish expressed by a

recent writer in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ (see

‘Annals,’ Sept. 1858, p. 231), that there should be ‘‘a council

formed of five, ten, fifty, or any number of the most celebrated na-

turalists, and that no new species or arrangement should be published

without their consent being first obtained.’’ If the council did their

duty conscientiously, we much fear that some of this gentleman’s pro-

ductions would have little chance of appearing in print. There is,

however, one passage in his paper with which, as far as we can under-

stand it, we cordially agree. He says, ‘‘ The rage for marine vivaria

has thrown many useless workers into the field; and I much fear

that what may possibly tend to a love of nature does not always as a

matter of course advance science.” Of the truth of the first of

these propositions no one can entertain a doubt; the second is less

intelligible.

Begging Mr. Gosse’s pardon for stopping to pay this passing com-

pliment to one of his fellow-labourers, we must proceed to the con-

sideration of the four Numbers of his ‘ Actinologia Britannica,’ now

lying before us, premising that the numbers, which appear every

two months, contain thirty-two pages of letter-press and a coloured

plate.

The scope of the work is sufficiently indicated by its title ; and the

portion already published shows that Mr. Gosse is determined to

spare no pains to render it as perfect as possible. He commences

with a general description of the structure of the Actinize, including

an explanation of the somewhat elaborate terminology which he has

lately proposed. The classification adopted is the same as that of

the author’s ‘ Marine Zoology ;’ but he has introduced into the pre-

sent work a new and exceedingly valuable feature, namely the cha-

racters of the foreign families and genera, which must prove very

useful to the investigator of the British Actiniadee, by furnishing him

Slag +

Zoological Society. 369

with a clue to the position of any species of genera previously

unknown on our coasts which may reward his researches. The

characters of the families and genera are given in analytical tables,

and afterwards in a more detailed form. The generic descriptions in

those cases where the genus contains several species are followed by

analytical tables of the species, and we then come to the carefully

drawn-up specific descriptions, which are preceded by short characters

and by a very full synonymy. ‘The varieties of the different species

are also described in considerable detail, and this descriptive portion is

followed in each case by an account of the habits and natural history

of the species, and a list of the localities in which it has been met

with. As there are few, if any, of our British naturalists who have

had the same opportunities as Mr. Gosse of studying the Sea-

Anemones in their native haunts, or who possess the power of de-

scribing their observations in the same lucid and interesting style,

this portion of the work is most attractive and valuable.

The species described in the four Parts before us all belong to

Mr. Gosse’s family Sagartiade, to which we observe he now refers

the genus Capea, placed by him amongst the Caryophyllacea, in

his Synopsis lately published in this Journal. They include the

genera Actinoloba (A. dianthus), Sagartia, with fifteen species (five

or six imperfectly known species being deferred to an Appendix), and

Adamsia.

The plates illustrating the work are, like most of Mr. Gosse’s,

beautifully executed; they represent the various species and many

of their varieties, adhering, in different states of expansion and con-

traction, to the walls of their rocky home, from which the bright

colours of their delicate crowns of tentacles stand out in fine contrast.

Each plate contains on an average about nine figures; and their

beauty, coupled with the intrinsic value and interesting nature of the

work, must render it equally acceptable as an ornament to the drawing-

room table and as a handbook for the scientific naturalist.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

April 13, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

Description or A New GENUS OF SPONGE (XENOSPONGIA)

FRoM Torres Strait. By Dr. Jonn Epwarp Gray,

F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., Pres. Ent. Soc. etc.

The Sponge here described was received from Torres Strait with

some yery interesting Madrepores and Polyzoa.

It is peculiar from its being free like the Funyie among the Ma-

drepores, but more concave beneath, from its having the upper oscules

placed in the diverging forked groove of the upper surface, and from

its having the whole of the under surface covered with a thick coat

370 Zoological Society :—

formed of agglutinated particles of silicious sea-sand, this coat

being much thicker than the sponge itself; it is probably used to

keep it in its place and position at the bottom of the sea.

Genus XENOSPONGIA.

Sponge free, discoidal, subcircular, concave below, convex above

(rarely lobed on the side); the lower surface with a thick cvat of

agglutinated silicious sand of nearly equal-sized particles ; the upper

surface covered with a white leathery coat formed of felted spicula,

studded with round tufts of glassy spicula, the tufts of nearly equal

size, formed of numerous very fine transparent filiform spicula, form-

ing a roundish brush, each tuft surrounded at the base by a slightly

raised edge of the leathery upper coat; the circumference of the

disk is surrounded by a uniforin series of similar tufts. The centre

of the upper surface is marked with a subcentral impressed groove

with raised edges enclosing a series of circular oscules ; this groove

sends out branches diverging towards the edge, which are forked

and reforked (or rarely trifid) as the disk enlarges, until they ap-

proach the edge of the circumference, which is surrounded by two

continuous circular grooves, concentric with the margin, containing

between them a single circular submarginal series of tufts of spicula.

When the sponge is young, the forked diverging grooves ure few,

definite, and evenly spread over the surface of the disk, with several

series of tufts between them; but as the sponge increases in age,

the grooves become much more numerous, closer together, nearly

parallel with each other, and enclosing only a single series of tufts

of spicula between the parallel grooves.

The substance of the sponge between the grooves is minutely

netted, the interspaces of the network being formed of bundles of

very minute spicula, with a single series of small uniform-sized,

equal, roundish oscules.

The upper surface of the adult sponge is sometimes taken posses-

sion of by a species of Balanus, which forms a prominence on its

surface, and is covered externally with a coat of the sponge.

XENOSPONGIA PATELLIFORMIS.

Hab. Torres Strait.

The particles of sand forming the lower coat of the sponge are as

if they were imbedded in a kind of plaster, having a smooth uniform

surface, exactly as if the sand had been well mixed with a small

quantity of fluid mortar and then cast upon a smooth body.

The whole under surface is not perfectly smooth, but with more

or less distinct impressed lines or concavities placed parallel with

the circumference, showing the periodical increase in the size of the

sponge,

There is scattered over the under surface of the larger specimen a

few larger dark-coloured stones and a few fragments of shells, which

give a variegated appearance to the coat. The larger specimen, after

Mr. S. L. Sotheby on a Talking Canary. 371

it had reached a certain size, made an irregular growth on one of the

sides, forming two rounded lobes which overlap each other, while

the whole front retains the concave conical shape.

The lobe, which is expanded on the under surface of the other,

is frmged with acontinuous series of very close tufts of silky spicula.

I have no doubt, as the bases of these tufts are to be seen on the

rest of the margin, that similar tufts occupy the whole edge of the

sponge in its perfect state, and have been rubbed off; they have been

retained in this place, because it is better protected from external

injury than the other part of the sponge.

In the larger specimens the grooves are much more irregular, as

well as more abundant and more crowded than in the smaller one ;

and in some few instances they appear to arise in the surface inde-

pendent of any connexion with the other grooves, which is not the

case in the smaller example.

In the same specimen there are a few groups or rather lines of

oscules, situated on the surface of the sponge itself, and not placed

in the grooves, where all the other oscules are placed.

In the diverging grooves the texture of the sponge seems to be

across the grooves, that is, parallel to the outer cireumference of the

sponge, leaving minute square pits in the network.

In the marginal grooves, on the the contrary, chief fibres of the

texture appear to be also across the groove, that is, radiating from

the centre towards the margin; but this appearance may probably

arise partly, if not entirely, from the manner in which the sponge

has contracted when it dried, and may not be apparent in the fresh

state ; but having only a single specimen of the adult and young

form of the sponge, I am disinclined to soak it in water and examine

it in a moist state, fearing that it may spoil the specimen, which is

now very brittle and inclined to crack from the edge to the centre

of the frond.

Note ON A TALKING CANARY, ADDRESSED TO Dr. Gray, V.P.Z.S.

By S. Lereu SorHesy.

The Woodlands, Norwood, Surrey,

March 26, 1858.

Dear Sir,

Touching that marvellous little specimen of the feathered tribe, a

Talking Canary, of which I had the pleasure a few days since of

telling you, I now send you all the information I can obtain respect-

ing it from the lady by whom it was brought up and educated at

this our homestead.

Its parents had previously and successfully reared many young

ones; but three years ago they hatched only oze out of four eggs,

which they immediately neglected, commencing the rebuilding

of a nest upon the top of it. Upon this discovery, the unfledged

and forsaken bird, all but dead, was taken away and placed in

flannel by the fire, when after much attention it was restored and

then brought up by hand. Thus treated, and away from all other

birds, it became familiarized only with those who fed it; conse-

372 Zoological Society :—

quently, its first simging notes were of a character totally different to

those usual with the Canary.

Constantly being talked to, the bird, when about three months

old, astonished its mistress by repeating the endearing terms used

in talking to it, such as “ Kissie, Kissie,” with its significant sounds.

This went on, and from time to time the little bird repeated other

words ; and now, for hours together, except during the moulting

season, astonishes us by ringing the changes, according to its own

fancy, and as plain as any human voice can articulate them, on the

several words— Dear sweet Titchie”’ (its name), “ Kiss Minnie,”

“‘ Kiss me then dear Minnie,’ ‘“ Sweet pretty little Titchie,”

“* Kissie, kissie, hissie,’ ‘Dear Titchie,” ‘‘ Titchie wee, gee, gee,

gee, Titchie, Titchie.”

Now as I have shown that the great Melanchthon signed his name

in no less than stwty different ways in uniting the words Philippus

Melanchthon (see the plate of facsimiles in my work, a copy of which

is in the British Museum), you will not be surprised at the extra-

ordinary manner in which the dear little bird varies the several

words he has learned.

The usual singing notes of the bird are more of the character of

the Nightingale, mingled occasionally with the sound of the dog-

whistle used about the house. It whistles also, very clearly, the

first bar of “‘ God save the Queen.’ It is hardly necessary to add

that the bird is, of course, by nature remarkably tame; so much so,

that, during its season, it will perch down from its cage on my finger,

shouting and talking in the most excited state.

Our friend Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, who has heard the bird,

tells me that about twenty years ago a Canary that spoke a few

words was exhibited in Regent Street, the only other instance, I be-

lieve, publicly known.

I have now only to apologize for having trespassed upon your

patience to read all this long story about the accomplishments of a

little bird ; though at the same time I feel, that in acquainting you,

as Vice-President of the Zoological Society, with the facts stated, I

am not only giving you the means of placing upon record the same,

but affording you the opportunity of witnessing the truth thereof,

as being, in the event of any accident happening to the bird, a more

satisfactory evidence than the mere assertion of,

Dear Sir,

Yours most faithfully,

Dr. John Gray. S. Lergu Sornesy.

April 27, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF ANT-WRENS (FORMICIVO-

RINAE). By Puirip Lurvey Scrarer, M.A., F.L.S. etc.

MyRMOTHERULA MULTOSTRIATA.

3. Nigra, albo striata: alis caudaque nigris albo limbatis et ter-

minatis : subtus alba, lineis angustis nigris omnino striata,

“ F. melanaria.

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 373

2. Capite ferrugineo, nigro striato: subtus pallide rufescenti-

albida, striis minus crebris nigris.

Long. tota 3°5, alee 1:9, caudee 0:9.

Hab. Upper Amazon, r. Ucayali (Hauzxwell).

Maus. Brit., P..L. S.

FORMICIVORA ERYTHROCERCA.

d. Pileo nigro, loris et superciliis elongatis albis: dorso supe-

riore griseo nigro variegato : interscapulii plumis ad basin

albis : dorso postico ferrugineo : alis extus et cauda tota satu-

rate rufis: alarum tectricibus superioribus nigris albo termi-

natis : subtus grisescenti-alba, nigro variegata, ventre cum

lateribus et crisso Serrugineis ; rostro brunnescente, pedibus

pallidis.

Long. tota 5:5, alee 2°3, caudee 2:7,

Hab. Brazil?

Mus. Dom. Eyton.

A single specimen of this apparently distinct species has been

kindly lent to me by Mr. Eyton. The colouring of the upper sur-

face resembles F. ferruginea and F. Genei, but it is easily distin-

guishable by its pure rufous tail.

CERCOMACRA NIGRICANS.

Formicivora melanaria, Ménétr. Mon. Myioth. p. 500. pl. 9.

fig. 27?

8. Cinerascenti-nigra, subtus nigra; macula interscapulii celata,

tectricum alarium marginibus, remigum basi interiore et caude

rectricum omnium apicibus albis: rostri nigri mandibula infe-

riore albicante: pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 5:5, alee 2:4, caudze 2°5.

Hab. New Granada, S. Martha (Verreaux) ; Bogota.

Mus...Brit. P:.L..S.

I received specimens of this bird from MM. Verreaux, labeled

” But that species seems to be “ coal-black” above,

and is from a very different zoological region. I therefore doubt

their identity.

PyRIGLENA MACULICAUDIS.

$. Atra: campterio, tectricum alarium apicibus, macula dorsi

celata et caude rectricum apicibus albis : rostro et pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 5:5, alee 2°7, caudee 2°5.

Hab. Trinidad,

Mus. P. L. 8.

I have two specimens of this apparently unnamed Pyriglena in my

own collection. It is distinguishable from P. atra, cllisiana, and serva,

by the white terminations of the tail-feathers. The bill is rather

broader and stouter than in the typical species.

374 Zoological Society :—

HypocNneMISs SCHISTACEA.

3. Cerulescenti-schistacea unicolor: tectricum alarium omnium

apicibus minute albo punctatis: rostro et pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 5:0, alee 2°5, caudze 2-0.

Hab. Upper Amazon; Rio Javarri (Bates).

Mus. Brit.

In the general form and somewhat slender bill this species resem-

bles H. erythrophrys ; but its uniform colouring renders it easily dis-

tinguishable from that and other described members of the genus.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE GENUS FURCELLA.

By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., etc.

Sir Everard Home, as I stated in my former paper*, figured the

fragment of the vaulted continuation of the tube that closes its lower

ends, for the shelly valves of the animal. Considering this as an

accidental mistake, I took no further notice of it. An eminent com-

parative anatomist having observed,—‘* In the great Teredo arenarva,

which lives in soft mud, the valves are wanting, according to Dr.

Gray, or their homologues form the convex cap closing the periodi-

cal growths of the calcareous tubes’ (““Mollusea,” in Ency. Britan.

353), I feel it incumbent on me to show the reasons why I cannot

consider the “convex caps” closing the calcareous tube to be the

homologues of the true valves, which, in my paper, I have said are

entirely absent.

First. The caps have the structure, and are continuations of the

tube, and have no relation to the usual valves of the Teredo in their

form or structure.

Secondly. The convex caps here referred to are evidently identical in

structure and formation with the convex cap that is found on the end

of the tubes of the allied genera Clavagella and Aspergillum; and

as these genera have the shelly valves of the animal in their proper

situations, on the sides of the body, quite distinct from the convex

caps, I think it is conclusive that they are not the homologues of the

valves, in those genera, as both the valves and the caps which are

considered as their homologues are present together, so that I must

consider the convex cap in those genera as I do in Furcella, only as

a continuation of the shelly tube in which the animal lives, and

having no more affinity with the shelly valves than the tube of Gas-

trochena and some Lithodomi and other perforating Mollusca.

Thirdly. It is to be remembered that some species of the true

genus T'eredo, which have distinct shelly valves, also form a shelly

convex cap at the base of their tube in front of the animal, exactly

similar in structure and situation to the cap of the genus Furcella,

as I mentioned in my former paper ; so that I cannot consider it only

as a septum formed by the animal for its protection during the period

of rest in those species of Teredinide which have true, well-deve-

* See Annals, vol. i. ser. 4. p. 295.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the genus Furcella. 375

loped, shelly valves, and also as the homologue of the shelly valves

in the genus of the family which is without true valves.

Hence I must continue to regard Furcella as a Conchifer with-

out shelly valves, or any part homologous to them ; and if we were

to find a Conchifer without valves, I should consider their absence

would be most likely to occur in a family in which the valves of

the normal members are so reduced in comparison with the size

of the animal as in Teredinide, where they have been regarded as

“mere appendages of the foot ;’’ this also being a family of Bivalve

Mollusca, in which the animals always live in a shelly tube, it is one

in which the valves are least required for their protection.

Since I sent in the former paper, I have had the opportunity of

examining Mr. Cuming’s series of Furcella from the Island of Ca-

miguen, one of the Philippines, where they live in hard mud left

exposed at very low water.

Mr. Cuming has several specimens of the tube of the young ani-

mal, which commence with a much smaller diameter than the spe-

cimen previously described, and enlarge more rapidly in thickness,

so that the tube is more conical. He has two examples of the base

of the tube of larger specimens, which end in the cap formed of two

overlapping arched plates, showing that to be the normal formation

of the termination. All the specimens have two separate apical

siphonal tubes.

He has also two specimens of the upper part of the tube, which

are of a slender, elongated, nearly cylindrical form ; both are pierced

through the whole length by two central semicylindrical tubes, sepa-

rated by a narrow opake septum. One of these specimens is water-

worn, the other as fresh as if it had been broken from a living spe-

cimen ; the latter shows at the fracture that the apex of the tube is

formed of a number of concentric laminz deposited one within the

other. The two semicylindrical siphon-tubes are surrounded with

a special opake shelly lamina, the septum between them being of the

same thickness and structure; and between the outer surface of this

tube of the siphon and the inner surface of the cylindrical outer

sheath or tube, there is a transverse space at each end of the central

septum, between the two siphonal tubes, filled with a deposit of a

loose, spongy, cellular, shelly texture.

Mr. Cuming has two small tubes from California which appear to

belong to the genus Teredo, and which have the lower or larger end of

the tube closed with a single hemispherical cap like those described

in my former paper. In one the cap is simple and terminal, and the

apex of the tube is oblong and quite simple ; in the other the cap at

the lower end of the tube is larger, rather distorted, and bent on one

side of the axis of the tube, and the aperture at the apex of the

tube is partially divided by a series of plates, which have a promi-

nence in the middle on each side, forming an imperfect division of

the cavity.

I may add, that the siphonal end of the tube being divided into

376 Zoological Society :—

two distinct tubes is not a distinctive character of Furcella, as we

have. in the British Museum a Teredo or rather a Xylotrya from

Sierra Leone which has some of its tubes furnished with two distinct

siphonal apertures, others in which the tubes are only partially

separated, and others with a simple aperture.

The ‘ Cloisonnaine de la Méditerranée”? of M. Matheron (Annales

des Sciences et de |’Industrie du Midi de la France, vols. 1 & 2),

quoted by Deshayes (Ann. Sci. Nat. xi. 245), is evidently a Teredo,

furnished with shelly valves and palettes, and not a Furcella.

On A New GENUS AND SEVERAL NEw SPECIES OF UROPEL-

TID&, IN THE COLLECTION OF THE British Museum. By

Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., F.L.S., Pres. Ent. Soc.

These animals, when first discovered, were arranged with Typhlops

by Schneider ; and afterwards Cuvier, who had previously regarded

them as belonging to that genus, formed for some of them a genus

under the name of Uropeltis. In the ‘Catalogue of the Specimens of

Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum’ (12mo, 1845),

I formed for them a family under the name of Uropeltide, and di-

vided the species into three genera, each containing a single species.

I lately described a fourth genus named Morina in the ‘ Proceed-

ings’ of this Society (1858).

Professor Johann Miller, in an article on the “ Osteology of Rep-

tiles’ in Tiedemann’s ‘Zeitschrift fiir Physiologie’ for 1831 (vol. iv.),

gave an account of the osteology of the two genera Rhinophis and

Uropeltis. Schlegel in 1837 regarded them as a genus under the

name of Pseudotyphlops, and noticed three species.

Instead of this family being characterized by the tail being “‘ cylin-

drical, obliquely truncated above,” it ought to be described as tail

cylindrical or compressed, covered with keeled scales, which are

separate or more or less united into a horny shield,—the scales on

the tip of the tail being always united and many-keeled.

Having occasion to re-examine the various specimens which we

have received since the printing of the Catalogue above referred to, I

have found several additional species.

The family may be divided into three groups, according to the

form of the tail.

I. The tail obliquely truncated with a flat superior disk.

1. Srropoura. Disk oblong, covered with separate, two or four

keeled scales.

2. Uropextis. Disk circular, covered with a single tubercular

plate.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Uropeltide. 377

Il. The tail subtruncate ; end convex, rounded, covered with a

single horny tubercular shield.

3. Mytin1a. Caudal shield many-keeled ; nose more or less

acute.

. Mytilia unimaculata.

1. Siloboura Ellioti.

. Mytilia melanogaster.

2. Mytilia Templetonit.

3. Plectrurus Perrotetii.

Ill. Vail oblong, compressed, covered with separate 3-keeled scales ;

tip covered with a small compressed cap-like spinose shield.

4. Maupta.

I. Tail cylindrical, obliquely truncated, with a flat superior dish.

Uropeltina.

1. Srropoura, Gray.

Tail obliquely truncated ; disk oblong, covered with rhombic, two-

or four-keeled scales, the scales on the lower edge of the disk larger,

tubercular above, and having two acute tubercles on its sharp lower

edge. ;

* Seales of caudal disk four-keeled.

1. Srtopoura Exxiori (fig. 1).

Siloboura ceylonica, Gray, Cat. Brit. Mus. 142 (not Cuvier),

Caudal disk oblong, elongate; scales of the disk four-keeled ; brown,

with a narrow yellow streak on each side of the neck, a broad yellow

378 Zoological Society :—

band in front of the vent continued in a band on each side of the

tail.

Var. Larger scales of caudal disk three- or four-keeled.

Hab. Madras (Walter Elliot, Esq.).

**® Scales of caudal disk two-keeled.

2. SttoBpouRA CEYLONICA.

Uropeltis Ceylonicus, Cuvier, R. A. ii. 76; Cocteau, Mag. Zool.

1833, t. 2 (not S. Ceylonicu, Gray, Cat.); Miller in Tiedemann’s

Zeitschr. Phys. iv. 252, 273. t. 21. f. 4, 5, skull?

Siluboura Ceylonicus, Kelaart, Prod. Fauna, 156.

Pseudotyphlops ceylanicus, Schlegel, Abbild. 45.

Coloburus Ceylonicus, Dum. & Bib. Erp. Gén. vii. 164. t. 59. f. 3.

Caudal disk roundish, oblong ; scales of disk two-keeled ; black,

a broad irregular yellow band on each side of the neck from the

angle of the mouth, and some yellowish marbling on the sides of

the body becoming more obscure behind ; a broad yellow cross-band

in front of the vent, continued in a broad band to the sides of the

tail.

Hab. Ceylon.

2. UROPELTIS.

Tail obliquely truncated; disk roundish, covered with a single

flat roundish granulated shield.

1. UROPELTIS GRANDIS.

Uropeltis (sp.?), Kelaart, Prodromus, 155.

* Uropeltis grandis, Kelaart.”’ In Brit. Mus.

Caudal disk subcircular, with large scattered tubercles ; nose

subacute, rather produced ; dark brown ; chin and beneath yellowish

brown, with some of the scales dark Nona: in the centre near the

hinder edge.

Hab. Ceylon (Kelaart). Dr. Kelaart’s type specimen.

2. UROPELTIS PARDALIS.

“* Uropeltis pardalis, Kelaart.”’

Nose convex, rounded ; caudal disk subcircular, scarcely tuber-

cular ; back black, with numerous small white specks on the back

and sides; caudal disk brown, smooth, with a narrow white edge

above and a white spot on each side of the lower edge ; belly white,

three or four irregular rows of oblong transverse black spots.

Hab. Ceylon (Kelaart). Dr. Kelaart’s type specimen.

3. Urore.tis? PHrLiePinus.

Uropeltis Philippinus, Miller, Tiedem. Zeitschr. fiir Physiol. iv.

248, 274. t. 22. f. 1 a, b,c, skull; f. 3, animal nat. size; Dum. &

Bib. Erp. Gén. vii. 161. t. 59. f. 2.

Rhinophis Philippinus, Boie, Isis, 1827, 513; Miller, 7. ¢. 248.

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Uropeltide. 379

Typhlops Philippinus, Cuvier, R. Anim. ii. 72.

Pseudotyphlops philippinus, Schlegel, Abbild. 44 (not figured).

Hab. Philippines.

This species is unknown to me. One specimen in the Paris

Museum.

Il. The tail cylindrical, subtruncate ; end covered with a single

horny convex tuberculated shield ; nose acute.

3. Myti3ia.

Caudal disk convex, covered with a single convex shield, covered

with small spine-like ridges; rostral scales produced, more or less

acute.

Rhinophis, Dum. & Bib. Erp. Gén. vii. 150.

* Caudal shield with a slight perpendicular keel ; rostral scales

square, rather acute.

1. Mytixt1a GERRARDI.

Mytilia Gerrardi, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 57. Rept.

pl. 13.

Caudal disk large, with a slight perpendicular terminal keel ;

black ; white spot over the upper edge of disk.

Hab. Ceylon (R. Templeton, Esq., 1845),

2. Mytiti1a TEMPLETON (fig. 2).

Caudal disk small, covered with radiating lines of uniform spines,

with a slight perpendicular apical keel; blackish-brown, with the

middle of the scales rather paler, a large irregular yellow streak on

each side of the neck, and a few yellow cross-bands on the sides,

becoming small and more indistinct behind; a yellow spot on each

side of the vent, extending in an irregular narrow line to the end

of the tail.

Hab. Ceylon (R. Templeton, Esq.).

** Caudal shield convex, rounded, without any terminal keel ;

rostral shield compressed, produced, very acute.—? Rhinophis,

Hempr.

3. Myrtinia uNIMACULATA (fig. 4).

Uniform grey-brown (in spirits), with pale edges to the scales,

those of the under side being the broadest, with a single oblong

transverse yellow spot in front of the vent.

Hab. Ceylon (Thwaites).

We have two specimens of this species,—one not in a good state,

rather discoloured, being uniform red-brown, from the Haslar col-

lection, and another, in good state, received from Mr. Thwaites in

1856. They both have the same preanal spot and keelless caudal

shield.

380 Zoological Society :—

The species is most like the Pseudotyphlops oxyrhynchus figured

by Schlegel, Abbild. 43. t. 12, which is said to be the Typhlops

oxyrhynchus of Schneider, Amph. ii. 341; the Rhinophis oxyrhyn-

chus, “‘ Hemp. Berl. Mag.,’’ Wagner, Syst. Amph. 195; the RAzno-

phis punctata, Miller in Tiedem. Zeitschr. Physiol. ii. 248, 273.

t. 21. f. 1, 2, 3, skull; t. 22. f. 1, head shield; £. 1, d, e, 7, caudal

disk, which Schneider says came from Coromandel, and Professor

Johann Miller from Guiana: but I think the latter must be a mis-

take, as no species of the family has yet been found on the Western

continent. The specimen figured by Schlegel in the Leyden Museum

differs from the one here described, chiefly in having no yellow spot

in front of the vent, and in being provided with a dark spot im the

centre of the scales, forming a central and some lateral lines on the

back, and a single line of spots on the underside of the tail and the

hinder part of the belly near the vent. I have no specimen which

agrees with it in these characters.

It is doubtful if Schlegel’s figures of this genus differ from Mo-

rina; but Professor J. Miller describes the tail as covered at the

end with a “hard oval horny shield,’ and he says Uropeltis has a

caudal shield exactly like RAinophis, and rough with granulations ;

he further observes that there is no other difference between the ex-

ternal form and the skull of the genera, except in the form of the

rostral shield, which in RAinophis is sharp and keeled and produced.

At any rate Rhinophis and Morina were not established on the same

kind of characters, and the sharpness or bluntness of the rostral

shield differs in the species of both genera; and though the name

and character is applicable to this kind, the nose of the other

species of the genera more resembles that of the genera Stiloboura,

Uropeltis, and Maudia.

*** Caudal shield small, with a terminal transverse dentated keel ;

rostral shield square, rather acute.—Crealia.

4. MyTILiA MELANOGASTER (fig. 5).

Above brown (in spirits), with indistinct pale lines between the

series of scales, formed by very small pale dots on the outer sides of

the scales ; sides white from lips to vent ; belly black, white-spotted ;

tail above and below like the back, dark, with indistinct pale lines ;

caudal shield tridentate at the tip.

Hab. Ceylon (Thwattes).

We procured through Mr. Cuming two specimens of this species,

which were sent home by Mr. Thwaites in 1854.

See also—

1. Rhinophis Philippinus, Dum. & Bib. Erp. Gén. vii. 134. t. 57.

fl,

2. R. oxyrhynchus, |. c. 156.

3. R. punctatus, |. e. 157, only known from figures.

Dr. J. E. Gray on Carpenteria and Dujardinia. 381

Ill. Tail oblong, compressed, covered with separate three-keeled

scales ; tip covered with a small compressed cap-shaped spinose

shield. Plectrurina.

4, PLECTRURUS.

Tail oblong, compressed, covered with separate three-keeled scales;

apex furnished with a small compressed cap-shaped shield, covered

with small spines, and ending in a central perpendicular spinose

keel. Nose rounded, rather produced. The central ventral series

of scales rather broader than the other scales, six-sided.

1. Precrrurvs Perrorerttii (fig. 3).

Pale brown (in spirits), paler beneath, with a more or less large

and distinct oblong transverse yellow. spot in front of the vent.

Plectrurus Perrotetii, Dum. & Bib. Erp. Gén. vii. 167. t. 59. f.-4,

shally: (t2./6:f. 1.

Hab. Madras (J. C. Jerdon, Esq., 1846) ; ‘‘ Neelgherries.”’

Var. 1. With a series of obscure small pale spots between each

series of the dorsal scales.

Var. 2. Tail with a central line of white spots on the upper side,

and with a row of white spots on each side near the vent, converging

and united in the middle of the end of the tail; hinder part of upper

lip white.

Var. 3. Scales of the tail nearly smooth ; in other specimens these

seales are very distinctly three-keeled.

We have a smaller specimen of this animal, which we received

from the Fort Pitt Museum, as having been sent by Mr. Ford

from the Cape of Good Hope; but as they had many specimens

from India in that Museum, I suspect this habitat is a mistake, as

the genus has not yet been received with certainty from Africa, and

it is scarcely likely that an Indian species should be also found in

that country.

On CARPENTERIA AND DUJARDINIA, TWO GENERA OF A NEW

FORM OF PROTOZOA WITH ATTACHED MULTILOCULAR SHELLS

FILLED WITH SPONGE, APPARENTLY INTERMEDIATE BE-

TWEEN Ruizoropa AND PortirerRA. By Dr. J. E. Gray,

F.R.S. Etc.

Many years ago I observed on some specimens of Cardita varie-

gata, which Mr. J. Ritchie, the late Consul of Tripoli, had collected

at Marseilles and sent to the British Museum, some specimens of a

parasitic shell which resembled a Balanus in shape, but when more

carefully examined were evidently not formed in the same manner

as the shells of that class of animals; as however they were not in a

good condition, it was not easy to decide from what animal they

derived their origin.

Mr. Cuming some years later, when he transmitted his collection

of Cirripedes to Mr. Dawson for examination, sent with them some

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 26

382 Zoological Society :—

shelly bodies attached to the surface of a Porites Coral, and to

different kinds of shells, such as Pecten and Cardita, which that

naturalist returned to Mr. Cuming as “ not Cirripede ; ” Mr. Cuming

then brought them to the British Museum, requesting me to ex-

amine and describe them. These specimens brought to my mind

the shells I had formerly received from Mr. Ritchie; a casual ex-

amination of their form and structure at once showed me that they

could not belong to a Cirripede, and as they presented some cha-

racters which were not to be observed in the Mediterranean speci-

mens, a careful study of them led me to consider them as nearly

allied to the Foraminifera, but differing from any form with which

I was acquainted, in beg permanently attached to marine bodies ;

and they were so unlike, both in size and form, to any shells of the

kind previously known, that several persons to whom I had ex-

pressed this opinion doubted their affinity to them. I therefore laid

the specimens aside, in hopes that some other specimens might

occur that would more fully elucidate their structure, and show

their affinity to other known animals.

Though most of the naturalists to whom I have shown Mr. Cu-

ming’s specimens were inclined to regard them as a peculiar form

of Cirripede shell, each examination of them tended to strengthen

my original opinion, that they were a new form of Foraminifera ;

and this was further confirmed when I accidentally discovered that

the cells were filled with a fleshy substance, in which bundles of

simple sponge-like spicula were imbedded. This induced me to

show them to Professor George Busk, and to inquire of him if

he had ever seen any coral, or other natural body, to which they

could be allied. He stated that he had not, unless they were the

shells of a Cirripede ; and ou my expressing to him the opinion I

had formed of their probable formation and affinity, he stated that

it was not impossible that I was right, and that they might be an

intermediate form of RAizopod between a Foraminiferous shell and a

Sponge, which is exactly the idea I had formed of their position,

considering them as a Sponge that was surrounded by and provided

with a shelly case with a single terminal oscule.

Being desirous of obtaining other opinions on the subject before

publishing any account of them, I transmitted the specimens to my

friend Dr. William Carpenter, stating my belief that they were a

new form of Rhizopod which had been mistaken by several natural-

ists for the shell of a Cirripede, giving him permission to take off

and examine one of the specimens. He has most kindly sent me

the following note :—

“ University Hall, April 23, 1858.

“ My pEArR Sir,

*« Your guess was a very sagacious one. The structure of the shell

is most characteristically Foraminiferous, being riddled full of holes

like a Rotalia. In the interior of the only specimen I have laid open

was a brownish animal residuum full of Sponge spicules. Of course

there is no great improbability in the idea that the Sponge was para-

Dr. J. E. Gray on Carpenteria and Dujardinia. 383

sitical ; but I am inclined to believe that this organism is the con-

necting link which I have long thought must exist between Sponges

and Foraminifera, and that it is in fact a Sponge whose integuments

have been consolidated into a Foraminiferous-like shell. You will

find that the interior is not one single undivided cavity, but that it

is loculated ; and sections of the shell show a sort of areolation cor-

responding with the little bosses of the exterior.

“TI do not think that you will satisfactorily elucidate the organiza-

tion of this creature, unless you have several sections made in dif-

ferent directions through the shell. Ihave limited myself to the

one which you gave me the liberty to break up, with which I have

done the best I could. I should like to have these (two) slides back

again, and to have one or two perfect specimens, if you could spare

me a corner of your block.

“Yours very truly,

“WILLIAM CARPENTER.”

This account exactly agrees with my previous examination, as it

was the knowledge that the shell was multilocular and minutely

foraminated like the multilocular Foraminifera, which induced me

to regard it as the case of a Rhizopod; and the knowledge that the

cells were filled with a fleshy substance strengthened with spicula

like certain sponges, induced me to believe that they were also

allied to the Porifera or Sponges; and in my note to Dr. Carpenter

transmitted with the specimen on the 21st of April, 1858, I stated

that ‘‘I regarded it as a Rhizopod of a new form; it is formed of a

number of cells each ending in a terminal pore. The cells look like

the valves of a Barnacle, and that is the reason that Mr. Cuming

and my German friend think it is one; but the examination of the

structure at once proves that it cannot be one.”

Being strengthened by the opinion of Professor Busk and Dr. Car-

penter, I have ventured to bring the subject before the Society ; and

I propose to form for the Philippine specimens a genus which I shall

name Carpenteria, after Dr. William Carpenter, who has paid so

much attention and has been so successful in elucidating the struc-

ture and organization of these animals.

I shall merely give a slight description of the genus, sufficient to

distinguish it from other marine bodies, and send some of my speci-

mens to Dr. Carpenter, in the hope that it will enable him to add a

full account of its formation and structure to his paper on the Fora-

miniferous Shells which he is preparing for the Transactions of the

Royal Society, assisted by the funds of that body.

1. CARPENTERIA.

Shell conical, attached by the broad base, formed of a series of

elongated cells, each ending in a contracted mouth, piled one against

another in a spiral manner, and with the aperture of the last cell

at the apex in the centre of the acute cone. The substance of the

cells is formed of a network of calcareous anastomosing ribs; the

26%

384 Zoological Society :—

interspaces between the ribs are thin, calcareous, prominent exter-

nally, and pierced with numerous perforations. The cavity of the

cells is filled with a fleshy sponge-like body, strengthened by nume-

CARPENTERIA.

Fig. 1. Exterior surface complete.

Fig. 2. Partly eaten off by acid. a. Complete.

Vig. 3. Cross sunken cells, showing the spicula in the cells.

Fig. 4. Part of Fig. 3, more magnified. a. Outer parietes of cells.

rous minute, simple, pin-shaped and fusiform smooth spicula placed

in bundles.

Dr. J. E. Gray on Carpenteria and Dujardinia. 385

C. BALANIFORMIS.

Hab. Philippine Islands, on Porites, Cardita, Pecten, and other

shells.

The conical shell is furnished with a single contracted aperture

at the apex of the cone; as each cell is formed it closes the aperture

of the preceding cell, so that only one is seen at the top of the cone.

Some specimens show two or rarely three apertures at the tip of the

cone; but this arises from the tip having been broken; these aper-

tures are of a larger size and irreguler form, very unlike the con-

tracted uniform-shaped aperture of the last cell.

When the shell is worn, or partly destroyed by acid, the thin part

between the network is destroyed, leaving only the calcareous ribs,

which fill the greater part of the cavity, leaving a cavernous calca-

reous body somewhat like a sponge turned into stone.

A section of the parietes of the cells appeared to be formed of

polyhedral plates separated from one another by a rather opake line,

as if formed by the union of the edges of the plates ; and each plate

is pierced with a number of uniform-sized, regularly disposed cir-

cular perforations, leaving a nearly uniform imperforated belt round

the margin of each plate.

The specimens on the shells of Cardita variegata from the shores

of the Mediterranean are so different in substance and structure

from those found (on the same species of shell among others) on

the shores of the Philippines, that I propose to form for them a

second genus, named in honour of M. Felix Dujardin, the Professor

of Biology and Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at Rennes, who first

described the animal of the many-chambered microscopic shells,

which had before been generally considered as the residence of

Cephalopods ! (the most complicated organized mollusca), instead of

the most simply organized animal.

2. DugsARDINIA.

Having the same external appearance and form as the prece-

ding genus; that is, formed of cells aggregated together in a spiral

form, the last cell being furnished with an apical opening ; but the

cells appear to have a simple cavity, and are formed of a thicker,

harder, uniform shelly coat, which is very closely and uniformly

pierced all over with very numerous, minute, equal-sized parallel

pores. The cavity of the cell ? in the imperfect specimen which

I have been able to examine, is simple; but then it has evidently

been well washed, probably with acid.

DusarRpDINIA MEDITERRANEA.

Hab. Mediterranean ; Marseilles, on Cardita variegata (J. Rit-

chie, Esq. 1817).

These genera appear to me to forma distinct group of Rhizopoda,

which may be called Fenestrifera, characterized by the animal being

386 Zoological Society :—

always attached to marine bodies, and the cellular body of the animal

being strengthened with spicula and enclosed ina calcareous cell fur-

nished with a single contracted aperture and pierced with numerous

foramens or tubes.

These shelly bodies differ from all the shells of RAizopods hitherto

known, in being attached, and in the form, structure, and disposi-

tion of the cells, which (should the existence of spicula on the body

prove a peculiarity of the genus Carpenteria, where alone it has

been observed) is sufficient to form a group distinct from the other

Rhizopods.

The existence of these spicula shows that the genus Carpenteria,

and probably all the group, forms the passage between the Porifera

and Rhizopods, which has been long suspected to exist, but has not

before been described.

On the Mediterranean specimens of Cardita variegata there is

intermixed with the Dwardinia a species of Lepralia, the anoma-

lous Polytrema minaceum, consisting of numerous layers, one

deposited on the other, each formed of a calcareous network, with

small equal hexangular interspaces, and undefined patches of a

crust formed of rough calcareous cells placed side by side like the

cells of a Lepralia, but much more unequal in size and irregular in

form than the cells usually found in that genus. The parietes of

these cells are pierced with numerous equal-sized minute pores like

the foramens of Foraminifera, the whole substance of the cell being

apparently formed of numerous short shelly tubes placed parallel

side by side. The cells are furnished with a smal] roundish hole at

one of their extremities, which is often hid by the convexity of the

other cell.

This may be a peculiar genus of Lepraliade allied to my genus

Cribrillina (Cat. Brit. Radiata, pp. 116, 147), which has “ forami-

niferous cells,’ as Professor Busk calls them ; or it may prove to be

another form of Foraminifera. If the former, the form of the cells

and mouth, and the structure of the cell-walls, are sufficient to

distinguish it from Cribrillina. As the only way to draw attention

to it is to give it a name, I propose to form for it provisionally,

until its nature is better understood, a genus named

PUSTULARIA.

Cells ovate, four- or five-angled, convex, crowded together side

by side, forming a crust without any definite form ; the cells closed,

their entire parietes being pierced with numerous close uniform mi-

nute pores; the cavity simple; aperture small, roundish, simple at

the front end of the cell (without any ovarial cells ?).

1. PuSTULARIA ROSRA.

The crust rose-red, rather rugose.

Hab. Mediterranean,

Miscellaneous. 387

MISCELLANEOUS.

On the Death of the common Hive- Bee, supposed to be occasioned hy

a parasitic Fungus. By the Rev. H. H. Hicerns, M.A.

On the 12th of March last, Timpron Martin, Esq., of Liverpool,

communicated to me some circumstances respecting the death of a

hive of bees in his possession, which induced me to request from him

a full statement of particulars. Mr. Martin gave me the following

account :—

my house. Each doorway was closed, and the hive placed upon a

piece of calico; the corners were brought over the top, leaving a loop

by which the hive was suspended from the ceiling. The hives were

taken down about the 14th of March, and two were healthy, but all

the bees in the third were dead. There was a gallon of bees. The

two hives containing live bees were much smaller, but in each there

were dead ones. Under whatever circumstances you preserve bees

through the winter, dead ones are found at the bottom in the spring.

The room, an attic, was dry, and I had preserved the same hives in

the same way during the winter of 1856. In what I may call the

dead hive, there was abundance of honey when it was opened, and it

is clear that its inmates did not die from want. It is not a frequent

occurrence for bees so to die, but I have known another instance.

In that case, the hive was left out in the ordinary way, and possibly

cold was the cause of death. I think it probable that my bees died

about a month before the 14th of March, merely from the circum-

stance that some one remarked about that time that there was no

noise in the hive. They might have died earlier, but there were cer-

tainly live bees in the hive in January. I understand there was an

appearance of mould on some of the comb. There was ample venti-

lation, I think ; indeed, as the bees were suspended, they had more

air than through the summer, when placed on a stand.”

When the occurrence was first made known to me, I suggested

that the bees might probably have died from the growth of a fungus,

and requested that some of the dead bees might be sent for examina-

tion. They were transmitted to me in a very dry state, and a careful

inspection with a lens afforded no indication of vegetable growth. I

then broke up a specimen, and examined the portions under a com-

pound microscope, using a Nachet, No. 4. The head and thorax

were clean; but on a portion of the sternum were innumerable very

minute, linear, slightly curved bodies, showing the well-known oscil-

lating or swarming motion. Notwithstanding the agreement of these

minute bodies with the characters of the genus Bacterium of the

Vibrionia, 1 regarded them as spermatia, having frequently seen

others indistinguishable from them, under circumstances inconsistent

with the presence of Confervze, as in the interior of the immature

peridia and sporangia of Fungals.

In the specimen first examined there were no other indications of

the growth of any parasite ; but from the interior of the abdomen of

a second bee I obtained an abundance of well-defined globular bodies,

resembling the spores of a fungus, ‘00012 to -00016 inch in dia-

388 Miscellaneous.

meter. Three out of four specimens subsequently examined con-

tained within the abdomen similar spores. No traces of mycelium

were visible ; the plants had come to maturity, fruited, and withered

away, leaving only the spores.

The chief question then remaining to be solved was as to the time

when the spores were developed, whether before or after the death of

the bees. In order, if possible, to determine this, I placed four of

the dead bees in circumstances favourable for the germination of the

spores, and in about ten days I submitted them again to examina-

tion. They were covered with mould, consisting chiefly of a species

of Mucor, and one also of Botrytis or Botryosporium. ‘These fungi

were clearly extraneous, covering indifferently all parts of the insects,

and spreading on the wood on which they were lying. On the ab-

domen of all the specimens, and on the clypeus of one of them, grew

a fungus wholly unlike the surrounding mould. It was white and

very short, and apparently consisted entirely of spores, arranged in a

moniliform manner, like the filaments of a stemless Penicillium.

These spores resembled those found in the abdomen of the bees, and,

I think, proceeded from them. The filaments were most numerous

at the junction of the segments. The spores did not, I think, re-

semble the globules in Sporendonema musce of the English flora,

neither were they apparently enclosed.

The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, to whom I sent some of the bees, found,

by scraping the interior of the abdomen with a lancet, very minute,

curved, linear bodies, which he compares to Vibrios. He also

found, mixed with them, globular bodies, but no visible stratum of

mould.

From the peculiar position of the spores within the abdomen of

the bees, and from the growth of a fungus from them unlike any of

our common forms of Mucedines, I think it probable that the death

of the bees was occasioned by the presence of a parasitic fungus.—

Proc. Lit. and Phil. Soc. of Liverpool, Session 1857-58.

On a new species of Toucan. By Mr. J. Gouxp.

ANDIGENA SPILORHYNCHUS.

Crown of the head and back of the neck glossy black; back,

wing-coverts, and margins of the primaries dull sienna-brown; se-

condaries bluish brown ; upper tail-coverts blue strongly tinged with

green ; tail slaty blue tinged with green, the four central feathers

largely tipped with chestnut ; band across the rump sulphur-yellow ;

throat and cheeks white, blending into the light blue of the breast

and abdomen; thighs rich chestnut ; under tail-coverts blood-red ;

feet greenish blue, with a lilac tinge on their under surface ; bill black,

with a mark of obscure brownish red at the base of the upper man-

dible, which, when viewed in front, much resembles the letter W,

this colour advancing for a short distance on each side of the culmen

and extending down the sides of the base.

Total length, 18 inches; bill, 32; wing, 7; tail, 73; tarsi, 13.

Hab. Forest of Beza, on the eastern side of the Cordillera in

Ecuador.—Proc. Zool. Soc. March 23, 1858.

THE ANNALS

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[THIRD SERIES.]

No. 12. DECEMBER 1858.

XL.—On the Cambium-layer of the Stem of the Phanerogamia,

and on tts Relation to the Increase of Thickness. By H. von

Mout*.

Durine the last twenty or thirty years, investigations on the

development of the stem have led to the discovery that, in

spite of the great difference of structure in the stems of the

Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons, the course of their develop-

ment presents a far greater agreement than was formerly ima-

gined. Satisfactory as this progress is on the one hand, yet, on

the other, labourers in this field have, at least so it appears to me,

promulgated many erroneous theories ; hence a discussion of this

subject will not be inopportune.

It will be most convenient to recur, in the first place, to

Schleiden’s works. In his explanation of the peculiarities of

vegetable tissues}, he assumed the existence of three stages of

cell-development in the earliest period. In the first stage, the

new products present themselves in the form of an apparently

structureless, yellow, pultaceous mass; in the second stage, in

which the process of cell-formation has just ceased, there is

a distinct delicate cellular tissue with more homogeneous con-

tents, which, however, is still completely saturated with sap; in

the third stage, the cellular tissue assumes a blackish appearance,

arising from the fact that all the intercellular passages are then

emptied of sap and contain only air.

According to Schleiden’s view, the arrangement of the cel-

lular tissue influences the conformation of the stem exclusively

in the first stage. This depends—1. on the arrangement of the

* Translated from the ‘ Bot. Zeitung,’ xvi. p. 184 ef seq., June 25 and

July 2, 1858, by Arthur Henfrey, F.R.S., &e.

+ Grundz. d. wiss. Bot. 1843, ii. 127.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 27

390 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

secondary cells in the parent-cells, so that a linear disposition

of the secondary cells in the parent-cells in the long axis of the

stem lays the foundation of an elongated internode—an arrange-

ment agreeing with the angles of a tetrahedron (sic ?), of an un-

developed internode—and an arrangement in a plane standing

perpendicularly to the axis forms an internode greatly developed

in breadth ; 2ndly, on the form of the process itself, this ceasing

at certain places sooner than in others.

In the second stage of the process of cell-development, the

general uniform expansion of the cells formed in the previous

stage can alone act; in this period, therefore, the volume may

alter, but not the form and relations.

In the third stage, the expansion of the existing eells is the

exclusive influence in determining form.

This distinction of three stages is retained in the later editions

of the same work (83rd ed.u. p. 132), and the cambium (cambial

layer, formative layer, p. 153) is specially defined as a cellular

tissue which has not yet ceased to form new cells, which, accord-

ing to the passages above referred to, would be limited to the

first stage.

It will not be superfluous, before gomg further, to examine

this conception of the cambium a little in detail. I leave out of

the question the circumstance that examination made with any

care shows that the youngest cellular tissue never forms an even

apparently homogeneous pultaceous mass, but that its composi-

tion of cells is always clearly perceptible—so that the observer

can find no distinction between the first and second stages; and

the further circumstances, that the cells of vegetative organs are

multiplied by division, and not by free-cell-formation, and that

the intercellular passages do not become visible in consequence

of the fluid contamed in them being replaced by air, but from the

cells, which in the cambium-layer are connected together as far

as their extreme angles, subsequently separating from each other

at the angles, which become rounded-off. A more important cir-

cunistance 1s, that the multiplication of cells occurs not merely in

the period which Schleiden calls the first stage, but also in the

second, and very often in the third: consequently, that division

into stages, attempted by Schleiden, cannot be carried out ; and

the assertion that all elementary organs originate in the first

stage of cell-development of an organ, and that the subsequent

development of the latter depends simply upon growth of the

cells, is decidedly incorrect.

[ believe that, in the examination of a young organ, we may

distinguish three stages of cell-development ; but these must be

differently defined. The youngest and most rudimentary parts

are composed of parenchymatous cells closely applied together

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia. 391

and forming a uniform tissue, in which we can find no trace of

the subsequent separation into parenchyma, vascular bundles,

&e. We may term this, with Schacht, the primary parenchyma

(Urparenchyma) : the restriction of the term cambium to this

tissue would be very appropriate, were it not that this name has

long been generally applied to the structures of the second pe-

riod, and especially to the still more developed cambium-layer

of Dicotyledonous trees. In the second period the tissue sepa-

rates into the different classes of tissues, the formation of paren-

chymatous cells being continued by the division of a portion of

the cells in different directions of space; while in other groups

of cells the formation of elongated cells, vessels, &c., results

from the predominance of longitudinal division, and the omis-

sion, or rare occurrence, of cross-division. In this period also

the tissue has very delicate cell-walls, and, from the absence of

intercellular passages, is still transparent. ‘The cell-walls of this

and the preceding period have the peculiarity, in contrast to the

walls of more developed cells, that they attract the pigment from

a solution of carmine, and become tinged bright red. The com-

mencement of the third period, in which the tissue emerges from

the condition of cambium, is marked in the parenchyma by the

appearance of intercellular passages, which become filled with

air, and in the elongated cells, vascular tubes, &c., by the de-

position of secondary iayers. The longitudinal division of the

parenchymatous cells in the direction ‘parallel with the surface

of the axis has now pretty well ceased; but the transverse divi-

sion and the multiplication of cells lengthwise of the axis lasts

for a considerable time longer in many cases. This allows the

possibility of particular parts of a tissue, thus tolerably advanced

in development, and even arrived at complete conformation, re-

curring again to the condition of cambium, producing within

them a young tissue by cell-division, thus giving rise to the

formation of vascular bundles, peridermal layers, Se.

Passing from the consideration of the cambium to Schleiden’s

account of the development of the stem, the following five cases

are described *.

The first distinction occurs between Monocotyledons and

Dicotyledons, in the latter of which the individual vascular

bundles continually increase in thickness, while in the Mono-

cotyledons this process of cell-formation ceases from below

upwards, and hence thickening of the individual internodes be-

comes impossible, and a thickening of the axis can only arise

successively from the followmg internodes becoming constantly

broader.

The Dracene, deed, form an exception to this.

* Grundziige, Ist ed. 1. p, 128.

392 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

B. If the formative process advances regularly from below

upwards, a definite plane of the base ceasing to form cells, a

cylindrical ascending axis is formed. This process occurs im

stems with elongated internodes.

c. If the process of cell-formation ceases at particular parts

of the periphery earlier than at others, the result is an axis with

projecting ridges, trigonous, &c.

p. If the cell-formation lasts longer at the circumference than

in the middle, and the terminal bud is of the usual conical form,

the cell-formation occurs, not in the whole cone, but only in a

superficial region, forming a kind of conical cap or mantle on

the cone (Kegelmantel), so that the whole free surface of the cone

contains the younger cells, the central part of the cone the older.

Here the whole axis of the cone ordinarily rises cylindrically

upwards; but not by similar superposed disks (as in B), but by

superposed hollow cones (MKegelmante/). Kach new internode is

a hollow cone of this kind, and therefore cannot be cut off by a

section perpendicular to the axis, but only by a eut following the

surface of the cone. If the process of cell-formation lasts some-

what longer in the later internodes than im the earlier, a more

elongated hollow cone is formed, which consequently projects

over the base of its predecessor, which would otherwise be free,

and the new internode becomes broader im proportion to the

older (in Melocactus, Zea, &c.).

g. If the cell-formation ceases earlier at the margin than in

the middle, and the new cells formed in the middle arrange

themselves successively in planes, the margin must rise up, the

middle becoming gradually developed into a hollow form, just

as a disk of lead becomes concave when it is hammered in the

middle and not at the edges. In this way is produced the

funnel-shaped end of the stem of Hchinocactus, the calyx of

Rosa, &e.

In another place (11. p. 147) Schleiden gives the following

explanation of the variation of the internal organization of stems,

in which he sets out from the idea that, as the cellular tissue is

formed, a portion of it is always changed into vascular bundles ;

consequently the direction of the vascular bundles depends

wholly upon the direction of the formative energy. On this

account, in long-joited stems, where the cell-development takes

place from below upwards, as it were, in- horizontal disks, the

vascular bundles are straight and tolerably parallel to the axis of

the stem; where, on the other hand, one hollow cone is super-

posed on another in the terminal shoot, the vascular bundles

take, in their first formation, a course from the base of the cone

to its summit, therefore from the circumference of the internode

to its axis; and subsequently, when new internodes are super-

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia, 393

added, the vascular bundles of the first hollow cone are developed

on through the following, as far as the circumference, where

they enter leaves or buds. They therefore form an are convex

internally, the length and convexity of which depend upon the

form of the terminal bud.

Since all the new portions, whether these be in the form of

thickenings of the old vascular bundles in the Dicotyledons, or

the rudiments of new vascular bundles in the Monocotyledons,

are constantly formed on the outside of the primary vascular

bundles, the older and deeper-seated bundles running from the

axis to the periphery of the leaves and buds must necessarily

cross the younger bundles ascending higher in the axis, or the

cambial structures which have been formed from within outwards.

In reviewing Schleiden’s explanation of the development of the

stem, we recognize above all, as the great merit of it, the state-

ment that, as has long been known of the Dicotyledons, so also

in the Monocotyledons, the origin of the vascular bundles occurs

in a cambium-layer situated under the surface of the stem, in

which is developed, simultaneously with the bundles, the paren-

chymatous tissue destined for the further completion of the stem.

This explanation forms a strong contrast to the views of Mene-

ghini, who believed that the vascular bundles were formed in the

well-developed parenchymatous tissues through the influence of

currents of sap. The correctness of the account given by

Schleiden has been confirmed by all subsequent researches.

We cannot speak so favourably of the other parts of this

theory, since Schleiden gives far too little weight to the diver-

sities of internal organization corresponding to the systematie

position of plants, and attributes far too much value to the ex-

ternal form of stems, especially to the length of their internodes,

and ascribes their outward variations to internal differences of

development which do not exist in nature.

That the Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons cannot be sharply

separated from each other in respect to the internal structure of

their stems—a series of intermediate structures existing—has

long been known ; yet, for all that, the distinction is very clearly

marked in the great majority of cases. Schleiden only pays

attention to the growth in thickness of the Dicotyledonous bun-

dle, and the absence of this in the Monocotyledons. But this

very point is well known to present many exceptions; it is

therefore important to keep in view the second great distinction

—the internal, convex, curved course of the vascular bundles of

the Monocotyledons.

That I directed especial attention, in my ‘ Anatomy of Palms,’

to this course of the vascular bundle, and to the difference of

structure which one and the same bundle exhibits in different

394 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

parts of its course, depended partly on the nature of the ma-

terial at my disposal, which afforded me the means of studying

the developed stems of a great number of Palms, but not the

deep investigation of the history of development of the stem,—

partly on the necessity of laying particular stress on this point,

because it afforded the most striking evidence against the doctrine

of the endogenous growth of the Monocotyledons, at that time

universally received, and adopted by DeCandolle for the system-

atic division of the Phanerogamia. But even now the matter is

not to be put aside so simply as is done by Schleiden ; for this

different course of the vascular bundles is a very characteristic

mark of the Monocotyledonous stem, and the result of a peculiar

mode of development.

In the majority of the Dicotyledons the young vascular bun-

dles lie side by side in the cambium-layer, and ascend, without

suffering any curvature towards the centre of the stem, up to

the point where they turn outwards to the leaf; and the cam-

bium-layer traverses in an uninterrupted circle the mdividual

vascular bundles and the parenchymatous cells lying between

them, so that the liber-layers of all the vascular bundles are

situated outside the cambium-layer, in the bark. If new vascular

bundles are formed, these are developed in the same cambium-

cylinder which had given birth to the older vascular bundles, and

between the latter. But since, in the interval between the forma-

tion of the older and younger vascular bundles, the former have

been somewhat advanced in their development, and their woody

portion thickened in the direction of the radius of the stem, the

medullary cellular tissue of the stem having also grown outwards

in like proportion, and the cambium-ring being thus forced

outwards, the inner part of the wood of the younger bundles

lies at a somewhat greater distance from the centre of the stem

than the corresponding part of the older bundles, yet without

the intermediate and outer parts of the new bundles being

pushed further out than the older bundles.

In the Monocotyledons matters are essentially different. The

vascular bundle formed by a direct transformation of a part of

the cambium-layer lies, as in the Dicotyledons, in its whole

length within the cambium-cylinder,—or rather, since the bud is

always drawn to a point at the punctum vegetationis, within a

hollow cone (Kegelmantel), forming a continuation of the cam-

bium-cylinder. Simultaneously, and not only beside it but

also on the peripheral side, parenchymatous cellular tissue is

formed from the cambium, and through this the constantly

renewed cambium-cone is moved outwards from the vascular

bundle towards the cireumference of the stem. This production

of cellular tissue outside the vascular bundle is almost or quite

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia. 395

at an end at that part of the stem where the lower end of the

bundle lies, but increases more and more upwards ; whence, in

examining full-grown stems, the lower end of the individual

vascular bundles are found at the outward boundary of the me-

dullary parenchyma, and mostly covered only by a couple of

layers of cells which belong to the latter tissue, while the upper

part of the bundle, which at its origin is only separated from

the centre of the stem by a small and no longer multiplying

number of cells, and is subsequently covered on its outer side

by thick layers of cells, is found deeply seated in the stem.

The uppermost extremity, lastly, which already in the bud is

connected with a leaf, in the further development of the bud

must follow the leaf in proportion as this is pushed outwards

from the centre towards the cylindrical periphery of the stem, and,

in the same proportion as the cellular tissue is multiplied at the

circumference of the stem, undergo an intercalary growth between

the centre of the stem and the base of the leaf, and assume a

more or less horizontal course from within outward. Since the

same process is repeated in the cambium-cone pushed further

out towards the periphery, the younger bundles, which originate

in the expanded cambium-mantle, must run separate from the

older, and further out in the stem. If, as is often the case in

the Palms, both earlier- and later-formed bundles enter the same

leaf, the place of the curvature into the leaf of the younger

bundles will be found not so deeply seated in the full-grown

stem as that of the older, because, at the time of their first

development, the base of the leaf and the cambium-cone were

already further removed from the centre of the stem, by the

production of medullary cells, than at the formation of the older

vascular bundles running into the same leaf. This condition

was first made out and rightly explained by Meneghini.

Schleiden was well acquainted with this diverse mode of deve-

lopment of the Monocotyledonous and Dicotyledonous bundles ;

unfortunately, he adopted the notion that this was altogether

independent of the circumstance whether the plant belonged to

the Monocotyledons or Dicotyledons, but stood im connexion

with the circumstance whether the internodes of a stem were

elongated lengthwise into a cylinder, or remained abbreviated.

In consequence of this, he fell from one error into another.

The mode of development of a cylindrical stem mentioned by

him under B, in which the development progresses from below

upwards in horizontal disks, whereby the vascular bundles ac-

quire a straight direction and a position parallel with the axis,

does not exist at all. Every stem, be its form what it may, ter-

minates above in a punctum vegetationis, in which its leaves are

formed, and towards which its youngest vascular bundles con-

396 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

verge. This condition remains exactly the same, whether the

apex of the stem be drawn out conically, flattened, or depressed.

Whether the vascular bundles are all subsequently arranged m

a cylinder under the rind, or whether, as in the Palms, they run

inwards towards the centre of the stem, has nothing at all to do

with the longer or shorter state of the internodes of the stem,

but depends solely upon the difference above described, whether

the cambium-cone continues to form parenchyma outside the

vascular bundle or not. This does not take place in Dicotyledons

with short internodes, as in Sempervivum, because it is not

in accordance with the growth of Dicotyledons, while, on the

other hand, it occurs in Monocotyledons with elongated inter-

nodes. The curved course of the vascular bundles of the latter

from the leaf inwards to the centre of the stem, and from this,

again, outwards and downwards to the periphery, was indeed

discovered by me, in a hollow-stemmed Palm with long inter-

nodes. Schleiden is altogether incorrect (ed. 3. p. 158) in the

detailed exposition of the proofs of the peculiar mode of vegeta-

tion which he ascribes to stems with long internodes,—that in

them, for instance in the Grasses, the vascular bundles lying in

one internode do not originate seriatim from within outwards,

but are developed and perfected simultaneously. Examination of

the terminal bud of a large Grass, for instance Arundo Donaz,

shows most distinctly, as indeed was already well known to

Moldenhauer, that the outer vascular bundles originate much

later, and occur in the still completely cambial condition while

the inner already possess spiral vessels.

Just as little can we approve Schleiden’s representation of the

growth of stems with short internodes and a short bud-axis ; for

he here derives the vascular bundles, not from a common cam-

bium-cone embracing the whole axis of the bud, but from a

series of numerous successively-formed, funnel-shaped, hollow

cones, stuck into one another, and with free margins. It is self-

evident that this idea is decidedly incorrect, if applied to short-

jointed Dicotyledonous stems, for instance to a fleshy Euphorbia,

a Sempervivum, &c.: for the stems are constructed in every re-

spect in the same way as the long-jomted; and it has no influence

upon the mode of development of the individual internode and

its vascular bundles, whether this grows in the longitudinal

direction for some time after its emergence from the condition

of a bud, by cell-development and expansion, or whether this pro-

cess occurs only in a slight degree. We might be more inclined

to countenance this notion in reference to the development of

Monocotyledonous stems, since in these one cambium-cone is

certainly formed over another; but the matter takes place in a

different way from that deseribed by Schleiden, and exactly in

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia. 397

the same way as in a stem with cylindrical and elongated inter-

nodes, whose terminal bud is really just as conical as that of a

short-jointed stem. The cambium-cylinder of a Dicotyledonous

stem, which is constantly transformed on its inner side into

woody layers and cells of medullary rays, and is constantly re-

newed on its outer side by development of cells, consists at dif-

ferent epochs of totally different cells, and occupies also a different

place ; but it remains always essentially the same, and no one

would represent the matter by saying that in the course of time

a more or less considerable number of distinct, concentric cam-

bium-cylinders had been formed. Just as little ground, how-

ever, exists, if we do not admit this view, for regarding, with

Schleiden, the development and renovation of the conical cam-

bial mantle of the conical bud as the product of distinct and

successive funnel-shaped cambial mantles, sticking into one an-

other, with their edges free. The latter assumption rests upon

a totally mistaken notion. Schleiden’s view, that the bud pos-

sesses a distinct cambium-mantle in each internode, has no

foundation in fact ; one cambium-region is common to them all,

and only its higher and lower zones correspond to the individual

internodes. No trace exists of a free margin of a cambium-

mantle belonging to a single internode ; but the zone of cambium

corresponding to each internode forms the immediate continua-

tion of the cambium-zone of the next internode below, just as

in cylindrical stems. When, with the advancing development of

the bud in the upper portion of the cambium-mantle, the inner

part is transformed into vascular bundles and parenchyma, and

its outer part is renovated by development of cells, and in this

way a new and more externally situated cambium-mantle is

formed, this renovation occurs in a degree continually decreasing

downwards to the place where the production of new cells en-

tirely ceases, and the cambium-mantle passes into the now no

longer productive cambial cylinder of the lower part of the stem.

Hence the growing downwards of an upper cambium-mantle

over the free margin of that belonging to a lower internode,

in stems which are thicker above, is out of the question, since

no such free margin exists. If a stem becomes thickened into

an inverted cone, this arises from a greater number of elementary

organs being developed in the upper internodes; but this does

not generally take place suddenly, and it is not that an upper

internode grows down over the periphery ; for the lower inter-

node takes part in the development of the upper, becoming

inversely conical and passing gradually into the latter.

No less erroneous is the view that the cambium-cone corre-

sponds to an internode, and that consequently the newly-formed

vascular bundles run from the circumference of the internode to

398 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

its axis, and subsequently, when new internodes are superadded,

are developed onward through the new cambium-cones, to reach

the buds and leaves. It is certainly conceivable that the vascular

bundles might arrive at the middle of the stem already at the

end of the first internode, and in the second internode run into

the leaf, although no such stem has yet presented itself to me ;

but that would not alter the matter at all, and in such a bud

there would be just as little correspondence of a special cambium-

cone to each internode, as in a plant in which each vascular

bundle runs through a dozen internodes.

Completely erroneous also is the idea that m short-joited

stems the internodes have a conical form corresponding to the

form of the cambium-mantle, and stick into one another like

funnels, so that they cannot be separated from one another by a

horizontal section. A longitudinal section through the apex of

a distinctly-jointed stem, for instance of Arundo Donazx, shows

that the internodes are not attenuated upwards, but that they

are either separated from one another by horizontal planes, or

are depressed downwards, so as to be concave.

This last condition leads me to the consideration of the form

of stem spoken of by Schleiden under £, in which the bud is

excavated in the middle. This not unfrequent depression of the

point of the axis he believes to arise from the cell-formation

ceasing sooner at the margins than in the middle, and that con-

sequently the middle of the internodes assumes a holiow form,

like a piece of metal plate when beaten out in the middle. This

might happen if the internodes, like the metal plate, were free

underneath; but as its under surface is continuous with the

already more developed and more solid tissue of the subjacent

internodes, a predominant development of cells in its centre

would, to keep to Schleiden’s comparison, no more render it

hollow, than hammering a plate of metal, soldered to a block,

would form it into a bowl. Cell-development predominant in

the middle of the internode could only cause its expansion up-

wards, thus producing the opposite of what Schleiden expected.

It is easily seen that such expansion of the punctum vegetationis

is a consequence of just the opposite condition,—that the deve-

lopment of cells at the circumference is in excess, and the cells

in the middle are further behind in their development—this

stage being followed by a second period of growth, in which the

cells of the centre extend longitudinally, whereby the meniscus

form of the internodes is converted into a discoid, and the in-

wardly-curved surface of the stem is curved outwards and con-

verted into a cylinder, as has been demonstrated most con-

vincingly by Hofmeister in the depressed summits of the stems

of Ferns.

of the Stem of the Phanerogamaa. 399

Schleiden does not extend his researches (except in the case

of Dracena) to the examination of the question how the cambium-

layer behaves in the stem after the unfolding of the bud, and

what becomes of it in the full-grown stem, of the Monocotyle-

dons. This point was taken up by Karsten (‘ Vegetationsorgane

der Palmen,’ 1847). This author had the great advantage, in

his investigations made in the tropics, of possessing abundant

material, consisting of living and entire plants,—an advantage

which no one knows better how to value than myself, since, in

my ‘ Anatomy of the Palms,’ I was restricted for the most part

to isolated fragments of stems.

Karsten explains most clearly how, in the terminal bud of the

Monocotyledons, especially of the Palms, the wood-bundles take

their origin in the cambial tissue of a hollow cone, the cambium

of the latter becoming converted in some places into parenchyma,

in others into the vascular-bundle tissue. With the progressive

development of the bud into a stem, the hollow cone assumes

at its lower end a cylindrical form. The imerease of the cam-

bium endures in it for some time, while its outer, and more

particularly its inner surface, are simultaneously converted into

parenchyma—certain portions of the cambial cells at the same

time separating as it were from the parenchyma and becoming

developed into the woody bundles running into the medulla,

and in some plants also into the rind. After the various parts

of the stem have thus been produced from the cambium-cone,

the cell-producing energy is lost in the latter (except in the case

of the Dracene), and the last remnants of the cambium undergo

a transformation into a layer organized somewhat differently in

different plants, which, in the full-grown stem, lies between the

internal vascular bundles and the rind, and is termed by Karsten

the wood-cylinder. In the Palms the cells of this wood-cylinder

agree closely with the cells of the rind and of the medulla; and

in this way originates a tissue, analogous to the medullary rays

of the Dicotyledons, connecting the medulla and the rind. The

same condition occurs in the Pandanez, Aroide, Orchidez, and

Grasses. In other plants the cells of the outermost layers of

the cambium assume forms which differ essentially from those

of the cells of the rind and medulla, especially by the great

thickening of their walls (lignification), and form a boundary-

layer between the medulla and rind, often consisting only of two

strata of cells. The forms of these cells are varied: where the

inferior terminations of the vascular bundles are connected to-

gether to form a reticulation, the cells are parenchymatous ;

where the vascular bundles have a parallel course, they are more

or less prosenchymatous. The lignification of these cells nduced

Karsten to name the layer they form the woody layer (Holzschicht),

4.00 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

without intending to indicate the import of the lignified tissue,

as to whether its cells were wood-cells or liber-cells (p. 100).

In Dracena and allied plants, the cell-forming activity of the

cambium is not exhausted by this conversion into lignified cells,

. but endures during the whole life of the stem, and gives rise to

the production of woody layers, as in the Dicotyledons,—the

bundles of which must not, however, be regarded as the inferior

prolongations of the new vascular bundles formed above (p. 99),

but may be compared with the annual rings of the Dicotyledons

(p. 103).

In this interpretation of the boundary-line between medullary

and cortical tissue, distinctly marked in many Monocotyledons,

but altogether imperceptible in others, as a wood-cylinder, two

questions arise :—whether this boundary-layer, composed of

homogeneous cellular tissue, is to be compared with the fibrous

layer of Dracena, which is continually thickened throughout

life; and whether this last structure corresponds to the annual

rings of the Dicotyledons.

There is no doubt that the said boundary-lme is formed in

the Grasses, Asparagus, Ruscus, Iris, &c., in the following way :

that in the cambium-layer, the further it is developed outwards,

and the more the formation in it of vascular bundles approaches

its close, the production of the medullary parenchyma-cells side

by side with the bundles undergoes an alteration—the cells, as

they come to lie more externally, becoming of smaller diameter

and mostly of greater length, until the formation of new cells at

last entirely ceases. In the first place, im spite of the outer-

most of these cells having far thicker walls and a much greater

length than the inner medullary cells and the cells of the rind,

they are no analogue of the wood, but merely a modification of

the medullary parenchyma: and this is the more clear since

the difference of length and thickness of the walls is by no

means a constant character; for, as Karsten truly remarks, in

the Palms this layer of cells cannot be distinguished from the

cells of the medulla and rind. We find similar conditions re-

curring when we examine the corresponding region of the Dico-

tyledons. In trees we usually find the same condition as in

Palms, the cellular tissue of their medullary rays passing into

the cellular tissue of the bark without displaying essential varia-

tions in the organization of the cells; and the only distinction

existing is, that at the limit between medulla and rind, the cells

are capable of multiplying by division. In other Dicctyledons,

on the contrary, we find a sharp line of demarcation between

medullary and cortical parenchyma, similar to that in the rhi-

zome of Iris, &e., and indeed with the same peculiarity, that the

boundary-line lies a little outside the cirele of vascular bundles,

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia. 401

and the production of new cells in the boundary-layer is alto-

gether at an end, as in the Monocotyledons. This is the case

particularly in the stems of Cucurbita, Cucumis, Lagenaria, &c.,

also in the stems of Basella alba and B. rubra. Here also, as in the

Monocotyledons, we find, instead of a cambium-layer connecting

the cambium-regions of all the separate vascular bundles into a

general closed cylinder, a defined external boundary to the me-

dullary tissue, which undergoes no further alteration with time.

How little indicative is the distinction between this structure of

the stem and that of an uninterrupted passage from medulla

into rind, is shown by the portions of the same stem situated

below the cotyledons, where, in Basedla, the boundary-region

just referred to is certainly in some degree marked, by its cells

being of somewhat less diameter than those of the rmd and

medulla, yet forming no definite boundary-line,—while in the

cotyledonary internode of the Cucurbitaceze mentioned above,

the cellular tissue of the rind and medulla is of quite uniform

structure, and no trace can be found of any line of demarcation

between them. Under these circumstances, it does not seem

warrantable to apply to the peripheral region of the medullary

parenchyma, formed last out of the cambium of the Monocoty-

ledons, the term ‘ wood-cylinder,’ since (not to dwell upon the

vessels in this situation) a portion of the stem to which the name

of wood should apply, ought to present at least a decided con-

trast to the parenchyma of the stem; here, however, such a

contrast either has no existence, or depends on mere thickening

of the walls of parenchymatous cells, or upon a slight alteration

of form (elongation) of the medullary cells, which takes place

with a gradual transition. These boundary-cells are structures

of arrest or limitation (Hemmungsbildung), with which the medul-

lary cells cease their reproduction on the outer side.

The case is different m Dracena. Here the formation of new

tissue does not cease ; the product of the continuously developed

cambium-layer, however, does not consist of mere parenchyma-

cells, but, asin the antecedent formation of the vascular bundles,

of two kinds of tissue—parenchyma-cells and fibrous bundles.

Here there exists a clear analogy to the normal formation of the

wood of Monocotyledons, although the bundles are imperfect, con-

taining no vessels. In accordance with the type of the Mono-

cotyledonous stem, the new layers of wood are not formed in

continuous concentric layers, but in the form of isolated, although

freely anastomosing, bundles. If, with Karsten, we apply the

name wood-cylinder to these external bundles, the essential dif-

ference of their organization is a reason for not extending the

name to the boundary-layer of the other Monocotyledons con-

sisting simply of cellular tissue; for in the latter the formative

4Q2 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

energy of the cambium is lost before it arrives at a condition to

form the wood-eylinder. In my ‘Anatomy of Palms,’ I took

these outer vascular bundles of Dracena for the lower ends of

the bundles belonging to the leaves above, and Unger* was led

by his investigations to agree with this; but I now think that

Karsten was right in stating this view to be erroneous. The

comparison made by Karsten (p. 103) between these outer bun-

dles and the annual rings of the Dicotyledons is less admissible,

since the latter, especially in our native trees, owe their origin

chiefly to the further development of the cambium situated upon

the individual primary vascular bundles between the wood and

the liber, and therefore are of essentially different derivation

from the outer vascular bundles of the Dracene. More satis-

factory would be the comparison of these vascular bundles with

those layers of wood which, in many Dicotyledons with widel

diffused bundles, as in the Balsaminez, are developed from that

part of the cambium-layer which lies between the primary vas-

cular bundles; and still more apt is the comparison with those

external woody bundles of the Nyctaginese, Chenopodez, &c.,

sometimes arranged in concentric circles, and sometimes con-

founded into more or less irregularly arranged masses, which

Unger has so beautifully investigated, and which in like man-

ner, have no relations with the leaves. Doubtless many analo-

gies might be made out between the organization of the stem of

the Dracene and that of the stems of many tropical climbers ;

but as I have no opportunity myself of following out the deve-

lopment of the latter forms, I shall not enter upon this point.

The outer bundles of the Dracene contain no vessels, their ele-

mentary organs corresponding rather with those of which the

hber-bundles of the Monocotyledons are composed. Hence it

may appear doubtful whether they are comparable at all with

the vascular bundies ; but this objection appears of small weight

when we bear in mind that the same anatomical characters are

frequently found in the lower portions of all the vascular bundles

of Monocotyledonous plants. In fact, this circumstance was

one of the reasons for my regarding fiese bundles as the inferior

prolongations of those bundles passing out into the leaves higher

up in the stem.

Schacht attempted to extend the theory of the cambium-ring

and its development into wood by setting up a series of special

laws (while he coincided in general with Karsten’s views), in

obedience to which the development of the different portions of

the stem should take place. Whether his attempt was a for-

tunate one, will appear from the sequel.

One of the most general of these laws (‘ Pflanzenzelle,’ p. 255)

* Bau u. Wachsthum d. Dikot. Stammes, p. 37.

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia. 403

asserts that the vascular bundles originate in the primary paren-

chyma (Urparenchyma) of the embryo, and increase in number

solely by ramification, and that no new independent vascular

bundles can be formed in the plant.

The dogma thus generally expressed is decidedly erroneous.

We may admit it for the vascular bundles belonging to one axis,

originating by the development of a common connected cam-

bium-sheath : for no one now entertains any doubt of the want of

foundation of the view of Du Petit Thouars and his followers,

that the vascular bundles originate in the leaves and run down in

the stem to the points of the roots ; for the vascular bundles enter-

ing the leaves from the stem are developed from below upwards.

But it is another question, and, as it appears to me, one not yet

solved by existing researches, whether in all plants the primary

vascular bundles lying at the circumference of the pith are con-

nected together, or whether there do not exist plants in which

the young vascular bundles which run to leaves situated higher

up, are formed between the older, without entering into con-

nexion with them, and whether the mutual connexion of them

is not effected by the subsequently produced woody layers. We

shall, however, leave this point out of consideration.

On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the roots of

Monocotyledonous stems possess their own bundles, which only

subsequently enter into connexion with the vascular bundles of

the stem, and (at least in many cases) cannot be derived from

the same cambium-layer which was the place of origin of the

latter, The Palms and Pandanee are the most favourable plants

for the investigation of these conditions. In the former, the

observations of myself, Mirbel, and Karsten agree that the roots

originate under the rind, in that layer of the stem through which

the most external fibrous bundles ran—therefore in a layer where,

in a fully developed Palm-stem, no peripheral cambium-layer

any longer exists. Here there is formed locally for each root a

nucleus of new cambium-tissue, by the transformation of paren-

chyma-cells existing long before; and in these nuclei originate

the vascular bundles, which on the one side grow forward with

the roots and form the wood of the roots, well known to be very

different from the vascular bundles of the stem,—on the other

side spreading out like a tuft, and penetrating an inch deep into

the parenchyma of the stem, become entangled with the vas-

cular bundles of the stem, and apply their extremities upon

them. One must of course give up any idea that these vascular

bundles grow into the cellular tissue of the stem in the manner

of a root growing into the earth; they can only be formed by

the transformation of particular portions of the parenchyma of

the stem into cambial tissue, and the development of the latter

4.04 H. von Mohl on the Cambium-layer

into vascular bundles. But they are decidedly new structures,

and not prolongations or ramifications of the vascular bundles

of the stem.

The branches of the roots of the Monocotyledons stand in the

same relation to the roots as the latter do to the stem, since they

are developed outside a cambium-cylinder which has ceased to

develope, and their ramifications penetrate backwards between the

vascular bundles of the root. Schacht (p. 101) denies that the

roots of Monocotyledons produce new branches, if their cambium-

cylinder is lignified early ; but this is untrue, and he should

have paid attention to what has been said on this subject by

Karsten (p. 56), who was supported by totally different experi-

ence. The origin of the thick adventitious roots of Pandanus

presents conditions analogous to that of the Palms ; and Schacht

(p. 320) is wrong in ascribing to their stems a continuously

developed cambium-layer such as occurs in Dracena.

Less evident, and, particularly in the Dicotyledons, less con-

vineing on account of the presence of an active cambium-layer

in which the adventitious roots originate, is the condition of the

roots of herbaceous Monocotyledons and the radical branches

and adventitious roots of the Dicotyledons, in which the earliest

vessels belonging to the root appear in the form of a wreath of

vessels, and lie upon the lateral surfaces of the subjacent vascular

bundles; but Trécul* was right in regarding the circumstance

that these vessels are not continuous with the vessels of the

stem or of the roots from which the new roots arise, as a proof

that the adventitious roots possess vessels of their own.

With regard to adventitious buds, also, it may be proved that

they form their own system of vascular bundles. The evidence

is indeed not striking in the common cases where the adven-

titious buds form in the cambium-layer of the Dicotyledons, on

which account I shall not dwell upon this subject, so well inves-

tigated by Trécul (/. c. p. 268). Perfect proof can only be

afforded by those adventitious buds which originate in fully-

developed cellular tissue at a distance from the cambium-layer

of the parent plant, in which case there can be no doubt of the

origin of their vascular bundles. Trécul (p. 280) observed one

case of this in fragments of the roots of Azlanthus, in which

adventitious roots had been formed outside the liber-layer : these

stood in connexion with the cambium-layer of the stem by means

of vessels which appeared to be younger than those contaimed in

the bud. We cannot deed attribute perfect conclusiveness to

this observation, since it did not include the earlier stages of

development, and only shows the probability, but not the cer-

tainty, of the independent development of the vascular bundles

* Ann. des Se. Nat. 3 sér. viii. p. 290.

of the Stem of the Phanerogamia. 405

in the buds; but in the adventitious buds of Beyonia phyllo-

manica it is beyond all doubt that the vascular bundles are de-

developed quite independently of the cambium-layer of the stem.

These buds originate in the outermost layer of the rind, and are

separated from the cambium-layer by the entire, perfectly un-

altered cellular tissue of the rimd—at times, when they have

already formed air-bearing spiral vessels in their axes and leaves.

The dogma that vascular bundles can only originate by the

ramification of other vascular bundles, is therefore decidedly

false.

Another axiom set forth by Schacht is, that only those vas-

cular bundles whose cambium-layers coincide with the general

cambium-layer of the stem can become thickened in the radial

direction. Schacht on this account applies to the cambium-

layer the name of thickening-ring (Verdickungsring), and attri-

butes the incapacity of the Monocotyledons to increase in thick-

ness to the want of this coincidence.

This idea also I must declare to be erroneous. I mentioned above

that in the stems of Cucurbita, Cucumis, &c., and Basella, the

vascular bundles lie inside the medullary parenchyma; in young

stems there is no trace of a cambium-ring connecting them ;

but this does not prevent the vascular bundles from growing

very considerably in thickness, in the same manner as in other

Dicotyledons. This would cause the rupture of the cellular

tissue, comparable to medullary rays, lying between the vascular

bundles, were it not that a secondary cambium-layer is formed,

in consequence of this creasing thickness of the vascular bun-

dles, by the division of the parenchymatous medullary cells

between the latter, which renders possible the elongation out-

wards of the medullary rays. Here it is very evident that the

vessels do not increase in thickness because they he in a cam-

bium-layer, but, on the contrary, a cambium-layer is subse-

quently formed on account of the thickening of the bundles.

A secondary cambium-layer may be formed not only in a

direction parallel to the surface of the stem, but a similar phzeno-

menon may occur in a transverse direction across the whole thick-

ness of the stem, and then give rise to the formation of vascular

bundles, which subsequently apply themselves to the bundles

already formed from the cambial sheath of the stem. This

occurs in the nodes containing a vascular plexus both of the

Monocotyledons (for instance Grasses) and Dicotyledons (e. g.

Ricinus). A longitudinal section through the terminal bud of

these plants shows that these nodes originate at a relatively

late period ; for no indication of them can be found in the

internal cellular tissue of the axis of the bud, and the me-

dullary cellular tissue of the latter consists of uniform, re-

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 28

406 On the Cambium-layer of the Stem of the Phanerogamia.

cently-developed parenchyma. Some distance down only does

it fall into transverse lamellze, which are mostly convex down-

wards, and which, on account ‘of the far more vigorous develop-

ment of the intercellular passages containing air, appear alter-

nately bright and dark, and of which the one set of strata corre-

sponds to the future nodes and the other to the internodes.

About this time the vascular bundles of the stem are developed

in the cambium-sheath ; and the cellular tissue of the medulla

has lost the transparency of cambium, on account of the inter-_

cellular passages. Then only is formed, in the lamellz corre-

sponding to the nodes, a secondary cambium, in consequence

of which the cambial tissue re-assumes its transparency ; and in

this cambium are developed the much-entangled vascular bundles

which become interwoven with the vascular bundles of the stem.

Lastly, a third law enunciated by Schacht says that no new

vascular bundles are formed in the cambium-ring of the Dico-

tyledons, but this is only in a condition to form parenchyma-

cells, while the formation of wood-, liber-, and vascular-cells only

proceeds from the cambium of the wood-bundles (p. 251). This

axiom, which Schacht founded chiefly on the examimation of the

stem of Urtica dioica, is equally untenable with the foregoing.

The ordinary organization of our native trees is even opposed to

this. As is well known, the medullary rays run through the

whole internode, longitudinally, between the vascular bundles in

the young shoots of these, while the woody layers subsequently

formed by the lateral ramification of the vascular bundles stand

in connexion, and the medullary rings then only fill up the short

meshes of the reticulation. This ramification of the vascular

bundles running over the original medullary rays can only be

brought about by a part of the cells of the medullary rays

becoming transformed into wood-cells and vascular tubes, and

converted into woody bundles, which, uniting with the product

of the cambium-layer lying in the vascular bundles, form the

connected secondary woody layers. But there are still more

strikmg instances. I will not refer to the observations on tro-

pical climbers made by others, since I cannot test them, and

shall only call attention to one among the observations on this

point made by Karsten (p. 140) on Bannisteria nigrescens, as

this appears to me particularly convincing. In this, Karsten

found that woody portions, presenting themselves in the form of

rounded-off radii strongly projecting at the circumference of the

wood, are not produced by the development of the primary vas-

cular bundles, but consist of wood-bundles formed over the me-

dullary rays. We may ascertain, even in plants which are at

our disposal in a fresh state, that the medullary rays have the

power to form woody bundles. This occurs in such plants as

Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera. 4.07

have the vascular bundles lying in the cambium-cylinder sepa-

rated by very broad medullary rays. If we trace, for instance, the

development of the stem of an Impatiens, we see that the cells of

the medullary rays produced by the development of the cambium-

ring become converted more and more into prosenchymatous

cells, and that between them appear groups of vessels (but

without spiral vessels), thus giving origin to new vascular bun-

dles. Hartig* observed vascular bundles developed in the above-

described secondary cambium-layer which appears in the medulla

of Cucurbita.

XLI.—On Additions to the Madeiran Coleoptera.

By T. Vernon Wo taston, M.A., F.L.S.

Fam. Carabide.

Genus OxtstHorvs, De}.

Olisthopus humerosus, n. sp.

Olisthopus maderensis, var. (3, Woll. Ins. Mad. 35 (1854).

humerosus, Schaum, in litt.

It is not without some little hesitation that I am induced to

maderensis, of which I have hitherto regarded it as an insular

modification (although certainly a very curious one) peculiar to

the rocks of the Dezertas. And I may add that it is through

the strongly expressed opinion of my friend Dr. Schaum of

Berlin, who has stated his belief that’ the peculiarities which it

exhibits are too great to be attributed to any combination of the

local influences to which it may have been long exposed, that I

now record it under the new trivial name which he has suggested,

—a title indicative of a character about its shoulders, which are

a trifle more produced (and angular) than those of the O. made-

rensis. The other points in which it récedes from its ally may

be at once gathered by a reference to the ‘ Insecta Maderensia/

Genus Stenotopnus, Meg.

Stenolophus marginatus.

Stenolophus marginatus, Dej. Spéc. gén. des Col. iv. 427 (1829).

—, Léon Fairm. Faun. Ent. Frang. i. 145 (1854).

Two Madeiran specimens of this insect have lately come

under my notice ; they were both captured near Funchal, one

by Mr. M. Park, and the other by Mr. E. Leacock. The species

* Bot. Zeitung, 1854, p. 31.

28%

408 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera.

may be at once known from the S. Teutonus by (iter alia) its

rather smaller size and totally different hue, its upper surface

being of a dull metallic green—except the suture and the ex-

treme margins of the elytra and prothorax, which are paler. It

has been recorded as occurring in Spain, the south of France,

Corfu, Greece, and Egypt; and I have myself taken it in the

island of Grand Canary.

Fam. Lathridiade.

Genus Corticaria, Mshm.

Corticaria maculosa, n. sp.

C. elongato-ovata, fulvo-ferruginea, pubescens ; capite prothoraceque

profunde punctatis, hoe ad latera crenulato, fovea postmedia minus

profunda impresso ; elytris substriato-punctatis, macula nigra post-

media plus minus distincta im singulo ornatis; antennis apicem

versus obscurioribus.

Long. corp. lin. 1-1}.

C. elongate-ovate, pale fulvo- or rufo-ferruginous, pubescent,

and shghtly shining. Head and prothorax beset with large but

not very close punctures; the /atter with the edges rather

distinctly crenulated behind, and with the post-medial fovea

round and distinct, but not very deep. Hlytra substriate-

punctate, and with a more or less apparent black patch on the

hinder disk of each, and occasionally with a very obscure cloud

towards the base of each, a little behind the scutellum. Antenne

rather dusky towards their apex.

N.B. In some specimens (especially immature ones) the ely-

tral patches are entirely obsolete, under which circumstances

the insect is wholly ferruginous.

Five specimens of the present Corticaria were captured by

myself in Madeira proper during the summer of 1855; but, as

they happened to be somewhat immature (and with the spots

therefore but faintly expressed), I had confounded them with

the C. fulva, of which I imagined them to be examples in which

the pubescence was rather less developed than usual. Having,

however, lately detected a mature and highly coloured one in

the collection of Mr. M. Park, I at once recognized it as identical

with a species which I have been recently taking in the Canarian

Group ; and this naturally led me to re-examine my supposed

individuals of fudva, amongst which I then readily perceived the

five above-mentioned specimens of what I now characterize as a

new and very interesting species. It is the only Corticaria that

I have yet seen in which there is any indication of distinet

patches of colouring; but whether it may be identical with the

C. macularis, Fuss, of the Kuropean Catalogues (as the name

Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera. 409

might lead us to suspect), I have no means of ascertaining.

Mr. Park’s example was captured crawling on the outside of a

house in Funchal; and my own were taken partly in the garden

of the Quinta da Favilla (also near Funchal), and partly at

Camacha. In the Canaries the species is by no means uncom-

mon ; and I have it from, I believe, five (out of the seven) islands

of the group. At first sight it very much resembles the C. fulva,

Mann.; but the prothoracic fovea is not quite so deep, and the

elytra are a trifle less ovate, with their pubescence shorter, and

with a more or less conspicuous black patch on the hinder disk

of each. Sometimes, however, this patch is entirely obsolete ;

and occasionally, in highly coloured specimens, there is a very

obscure indication of an additional dark cloud (or transverse

dash) towards the base of each, adjoining the suture, a little

behind the scutellum.

Genus Laturiptivs, Hbst.

Lathridius delectus, n. sp.

L. elongatus, angustus, ferrugineus; capite prothoraceque profunde

rugoso-punctatis, illo sat magno subquadrato, hoc subquadrato

basi leviter angustato; elytris parallelis, profunde seriatim punc-

tatis (punctis magnis), sutura interstitiisque alternis fortiter elevatis.

Long. corp. lin. 3.

L. elongate, narrow, nearly opake, and reddish ferruginous.

Head and prothoraz deeply and roughly punctured ; the former

rather large and subquadrate, being a little narrowed anteriorly,

and about as wide behind as the front of the prothoraz, which

is also subquadrate, and rather narrowed posteriorly. Elytra

with the sides parallel, closely and regularly seriate-punctate

(the punctures being extremely large), and with the suture and

alternate interstices greatly elevated, forming longitudinal coste.

Limbs concolorous.

The discovery of the present little Lathridius (which differs

from all the European species which I have been able to examine)

is due to Mr. M. Park, who captured a single specimen (which

he has since presented to the Collection of the British Museum)

near Funchal. It is of about the size and general aspect of the

L. filiformis, Gyll., though its deep sculpture and greatly raised

elytral coste will at once distinguish it from that insect.

Fam. Cisside.

Genus RuyzoperTHa, Steph.

Rhyzopertha bifoveolata, n. sp.

R. breviter cylindrica, piceo-ferruginea, subopaca ; prothorace magno,

410 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera.

subgloboso, valde convexo, scabroso, necnon antice mucronibus

fortiter asperato, ad basin foveolis duabus mediis impresso ; elytris

ubique confertim punctatis (haud striatis), ad apicem integris ;

antennis longiusculis, robustis.

Long. corp. lin. vix 13.

R. rather larger and broader than the common R. pusilla, but

proportionably not quite so long; a little darker (or more

piceous), and nearly opake. Prothoraz much larger and more

globose than in that insect, bemg exceedingly convex, wider

and more roughened in front, and with two deep, rounded

foveze or depressions (separated only by a narrow, rudimentary

dorsal line) in the centre behind. /ytra uniformly and closely

punctured all over, the punctures bemg much smaller and

more numerous than those of the R. pusilla, and without any

tendency to be arranged either in striz or longitudinal rows ;

rounded and entire at the apex, where there is no appearance of

an oblique truncation. Antenne a little paler than the rest of

the surface, and rather longer and more robust than in the R.

pusilla.

The eight specimens from which the above description has

been compiled were taken by Mr. M. Park in Funchal, and, as

he believes, in company with the Adelina farinaria, in a cask of

American (?) flour which had remained upwards of a year in the

Custom-House, and had become bad. Hence, hke the Adelina,

it is evident that the present beetle cannot be strictly regarded

as Madeiran ; nevertheless, since by such modes of importation

species become gradually naturalized, it seems desirable that all

introductions should at any rate be admitted into our Catalogue,

as serving to point out at what period their importation first

took place. In the present instance, however, it appears highly

probable that neither of the insects alluded to has as yet been

described ; which, if it be true, affords an additional reason for

now characterizing them.

Fam. Curculionide.

Genus Ruynco.us, Germ.

Rhyncolus capitulum, n. sp.

R. angustus, cylindricus, nigro-piceus ; prothorace profunde punctato

(punctis magnis); elytris profunde punctato-striatis ; antennis bre-

vibus, rufo-piceis, capitulo parvo, subgloboso.

Long. corp. lin. 13.

R. narrow and cylindrical (being of almost equal breadth

throughout), dark piceous, and but very slightly shming. Ros-

trum short, broad, and very rugosely punctured; without any

So oa

Mr. T. V. Woollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera. 411

central keel, but with a very short, small, and obscure foyeolet

in the centre, between the insertion of the antenne. Pro-

thorax very deeply punctured (the punctures being large, and

not nearly so numerous as in the R. ¢enax), and without any in-

dication of a central keel; ovate, but truncated behind, being

broadest just before the extreme base. Elytra very deeply punc-

tate-striated (the punctures being large), and with the interstices

most minutely punctulated. Legs concolorous with (or perhaps

a little darker than) the rest of the surface. Antenne paler

(being bright rufo-piceous), and short, with their club much

smaller and more globose than that of the R. tenaz.

The single specimen from which the above description has

been compiled was taken near Funchal by Mr. M. Park. Its

comparatively narrow and very cylindric outline and deeply

sculptured surface, in conjunction with its darker and unmetallic

hue, its unkeeled rostrum, and its shorter antenne (which have

their club much smaller and more globose than is the case in

that species), will at once distinguish it from its only Madeiran

ally, the R. tenaz.

Fam. Cerambycide.

Genus Osrivum, Meg.

Obrium brunneum.

Saperda brunnea, Fab. Ent. Syst. 1. u. 316 (1792).

Obrium minutum, Steph. Il]. Brit. Ent. iv. 250 (1831).

brunneum, Muls. Longic. de France, 99 (1840).

, Redt. Fna Austr. 490 (1849).

A solitary example of the common little O. brunneum of Europe

was captured lately by Mr. M. Park near Funchal. It is an

insect widely distributed, being especially attached to all kinds

of wicker- and basket-work, on the dry wood and sticks of which

it feeds ; so that it is peculiarly liable to accidental importation.

I have taken it abundantly in the island of Palma, of the Cana-

ries, emerging from its perforations on the sides of the light

open trays in which silkworms are fed.

Fam. Erotylide.

Genus EvxeEstvs, nov. gen.

Corpus parvum, oblongo-ellipticum, glaberrimum, politum, Oliri

formam simulans sed ab eo affinitate longe distans: prothorace

transverso, postice lato subsinuato elytris arcte applicato ; prosterno

inter pedes anticos late longitudinaliter elevato, lobum subtriangu-

larem antice evanescentem efficiente : mesosterno angustissimo ; scu-

tello parvo, scutiformi: metasterno maximo, antice et postice integro,

truncato ; alis amplis, hinc inde parce nebulosis, fere nervulis ca-

rentibus: abdomine e segmentis 5 composito. Antenne capitate,

412 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera.

capitis prothoracisque vix longitudine, articulo 1™° robustissimo valde

inflato subgloboso, 2% minore, 34° huic graciliore sed elongato (forsan

duorum inter se arcte conjunctorum composito), 4 sequentibus (7. e.

usque ad capitulum) latitudine leviter crescentibus, capitulo magno

solidissimo subgloboso ex articulis duobus vel tribus (1™° multo ma-

jore) inter se arcte compressis formato. Labrum transversum, antice

vix emarginatum submembranaceum ciliatum. Mandibule triangu-

lares corneze, ad apicem incurvee latiuscule tridentate, margine in-

terno arcuato-emarginato et membrana robusta aucto. Mazille bi-

lobee, lobis angustulis subrectis ; inferno externo paulo breviore,

intus ciliato. Palpi subfusiformes: maxillares art. 1™° parvo, 24°

3%°que (illo preecipue) majoribus crassioribus, ultimo elongato fusi-

formi basi truncato: Jabiales art. 1™° parvo, 24 magno crassiore,

ultimo huie vix angustiore fusiformi basi truncato. Mentum corneum

transversum, antice paulo angustatum et leviter emarginatum. i-

gula longiuscula, apice membranacea pubescens. Pedes breves, sub-

contractiles, antici leviter posteriores valde distantes: tibiis com-

pressis, apicem versus paulo dilatatis: tarsis 4-(?)articulatis; art.

]1™° magno, subtus in lobum elongatum pubescentem producto, duo-

bus (vix tribus, ut mihi videtur) sequentibus minutis simplicibus,

ultimo elongato unguiculis simplicibus munito.

Ab ev bene, et Zearos politus.

For an opportunity of carefully examining the oral organs of

the curious little beetle from which the above generic diagnosis

has been compiled, I am indebted to Mr. Westwood, who has

succeeded most admirably in dissecting it, and has furnished

me with an excellent drawing both of the entire insect and its

various parts. The rather obscure structure, however, of some

of its details, in conjunction with their small size, has rendered

it difficult to pronounce positively on one or two of them. Thus,

Tamas much at a loss as Mr. Westwood is to determine whether

the third articulation of its antennee may not be composed of

two joints closely soldered together, as also whether the club is

in reality made up of two or three. Again, it is open to inquiry

whether there may not be three minute joints in the feet (instead

of two) between the large basal one and the terminal; for the

highest powers of the microscope have been hitherto insufficient

to convince either Mr. Westwood or myself of this for certain.

Be these few points, however, settled (ultimately) as they may,

there can be but little doubt, I think, that the insect is allied to

tngis, and must be referred therefore to the Erotylide. Its

general aspect, indeed, is strongly suggestive of Hngis, whilst its

upper and lower lips, mandibles, pineal and sterna are ex-

tremely similar to (though not actually identical with) those of

that genus; in the singular construction of its feet, however,

and its very solid antennal club, it differs from Hngis essentially,

whilst in its habits, which appear to be Myrmecophilous, it

offers another most remarkable peculiarity.

Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera. 413

Euzestus Parkit.

E. rufo-castanea, nitidissima, glaberrima ; antennis pedibusque paulo

pallidioribus.

Long. corp. lm. 1-1}.

E. oblong-elliptic, bright reddish chestnut, highly polished,

totally free from pubescence, and appearing, except under a high

magnifying power, almost impunctate; but when viewed be-

neath a powerful lens, the entire surface will be seen to be beset

with small but remote punctures. Prothorax with the hinder

margin slightly smuated. Limbs a little paler than the rest of

the surface, being reddish testaceous.

The discovery of this insect, which so curiously recalls at first

sight the common Olibrus liquidus, is due to the indefatigable

researches of Mr. M. Park, to whom I have great pleasure in

dedicating the species. Three specimens of it, one of which he

has presented to the British Museum (the second being in his

own possession, and the third having been destroyed for dissec-

tion), were captured by him in an ant’s nest, in Dr. Lister’s

garden, at Funchal.

Fam. Tenebrionide.

Genus Apetina, Chevr. (ined.).

Corpus oblongum vel lineare, valde depressum : prothorace trans-

verso-subquadrato ; prosterno postice inter pedes anticos lobato :

metasterno postice bifido; alis amplissimis, lete nebulosis: abdo-

mine e segmentis 5 composito. Antenne longiuscule (capite pro-

thoraceque conjunctim paulo longiores), ante oculos sub margine clypei

insertee, apicem versus moniliformes sed vix incrassatee ; art. 1™° re-

liquis haud robustiore, 2¢° brevi, 3%° longiusculo, ultimo subgloboso.

Labrum transversum, antice Toten ecae pilosum. Mandibule va-

lidee corneze triangulares, in medio profunde fisso-sinuatee, una mem-

brana aucta necnon ad apicem bifida. Mawille bilobee, lobis pubes-

centibus ; izferno parvo angusto brevi, ad apicem ipsum acutissime

uncinato. Palpi clavati; mazillares art. 1™° parvo, 24° 34%°que ma-

joribus crassioribus, ultimo magno erasso securiformi; ladbiales art.

1™° curyato, 2¢° huic paulo breviore sed latiore, subpoculiformi extus

leviter producto, ultimo multo longiore crassiore, subfusiformi ad

apicem oblique truncato. Mentum transverso-quadratum, basi leviter

angustatum, apice integrum submembranaceum et ibidem in medio

(ut mihi videtur) lobo elongatissimo subcorneo (ad apicem acuto),

inter palpos et forsan ligule « connato, auctum. Ligula membranacea,

antice dilatata “Nani ciliata. Pedes graciles, longiusculi : Panis

subtilissime pubescentibus, per marginem exteriorem obscurissime

subcrenulatis, ad apicem internum breviter calcaratis: tarsis hetero-

meris ; posterioribus (sed preesertim posticis) art. 1™° longiusculo.

Although the present genus has been long recognized, I give

414 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera.

the above structural details of it in full, because I believe they

have never yet been published. I need scarcely add, however,

that they are drawn out entirely from the insect described below ;

consequently if it should happen that the A. farinaria is not

strictly congeneric with the species which have been usually

regarded as Adeline, it follows as a necessity (if deed my con-

clusion is correct, that the group has not yet been characterized)

that the latter will eventually require a new name. I would

call attention to this, because, having lately had an opportunity

of examining superficially several representatives of Adelina in

the Collection of the British Museum, they appeared to me

to offer sufficient external differences from the Madeiran insect

to warrant a suspicion that a careful dissection of them might

perhaps bring structural characters to light distinct from those

from which the above diagnosis has been compiled. Neverthe-

less, since this is only a conjecture, and since it is the opimion

of my friend Dr. Schaum of Berlin that the Madeiran beetle is

truly an Adelina, I have not hesitated to regard it as such, and

have drawn out my generic details from it accordingly.

Adelina farinaria, n. sp.

A. oblonga, rufo-picea, nitida, valde depressa ; capite prothoraceque

confertim leviter punctulatis, hoc transverso, postice foveolis dua-

bus brevibus longitudinaliter impresso, per marginem posticum

sinuato ; elytris punctato-striatis, interstitiis subtilissime punctu-

latis.

Long. corp. lin. 3.

Variat (immatura) colore pallido-ferrugineo.

A. oblong and greatly depressed, shining and glabrous, and

(when mature) of a bright rufo-piceous hue; when immature,

pale ferruginous. Head and prothoraz closely and rather finely

punctulated: the clypeus of the former uneven, and a good

deal thickened and elevated about its margin, especially over the

insertion of the antenne: the Jatter squarish-transverse, with

the sides a little rounded, and impressed behind with two very

short and rather obscure longitudinal fove ; the portion between

these foveze a little lobed (or produced backwards in front of the

scutellum), causing the posterior margin to be slightly sinuated.

Elytra rather lightly punctate-striated, and with the interstices

most minutely and somewhat sparingly punctulated. Limbs

usually concolorous with the rest of the surface.

As already implied in my observations under Rhyzopertha

bifoveolata, the present insect can only be admitted into the

Madeiran Catalogue as an imported one. Nevertheless it falls

into the same category with many others (suchas Cerandria,

Mr. T. V. Wollaston on Madeiran Coleoptera. 415

Tribolium, Tenebrio, Alphitobius, Trogosita, &c.) which have

become gradually naturalized through the direct agency of com-

merce, and it cannot therefore be properly ignored. As above

stated, several specimens of it were captured by Mr. M. Park in

a cask of bad flour (he believes American) which had remaimed

for more than a year in the Custom-House at Funchal.

Fam. Anthicide.

Genus OcutHENomus, Schmidt.

Ochthenomus punctatus.

Ochthenomus punctatus, De}. Cat. des Col. 239 (1837).

, Laferté, Mon. des Anth. 283 (1848).

— — , Lucas, Col. de l’ Algérie, 380 (1849).

A single specimen of this insect was captured by Mr. M. Park

beneath a stone, in the Ribeira de S®* Luzia, near Funchal.

Since it belongs to a genus new to the Madeiran fauna, it may

be as well to state that the Ochthenomi are insects of Mediter-

ranean latitudes, and apparently but fewin number. They may

be known from the true Anthici by the very peculiar structure

of their upper surface, which is coriaceous and opake, and is

densely beset with excessively short and stiff silvery hairs, which

have the appearance of very minute scales. Their limbs are

elongated and slender; their head oblong and more or less rect-

angular, being generally a little wider than (and about as long

as) the prothorax, from which it is detached by a very evident

and narrow neck ; and their eyes are smaller and less prominent,

and the penultimate joint of their maxillary palpi is rather longer

and less transverse, than is the case in Anthicus proper. The

O. punctatus is recorded as occurrmg in Spain, the south of

France, Sardinia, and Algeria; and I have taken a closely allied

species in the island of Palma of the Canaries.

Such are the ten additions which I have been enabled, princi-

pally through the successful researches of Mr. M. Park (to whom

the discovery of no less than seven of them are due), to make to

the Madeiran Coleoptera during the past year. In January last

I had to record (vide ‘Annals,’ ser. 1. vol. xx. pp. 504, 505) three

species which were not included in my then recently published

Catalogue, which raised the entire number (from 580) to 583.

Even that, however, is now still further increased,—the species

which have been observed in the Madeiras up to the present

date (7. e. October 1858) amounting to 593.

416 Mr. J. Leckenby on a species of Pipe-fish.

XLII.— On a species of Pipe-fish (Syngnathus zquoreus ?) lately

found at Scarborough. By J. Luckxensy, Esq.

[With a Plate. ]

In the month of June of the present year, a fisherman brought

to the Scarborough Museum a Pipe-fish alive, which he stated

had just been captured in a lobster-trap. It was placed in the

aquarium of the Museum, where it lived more than a month.

At first it appeared uneasy and restless; but after a fine plant

of Halidrys siliquosus was introduced, it sought shelter amongst

its branches, coiling its prehensile tail around the stem,—the

colours of the plant and the Pipe-fish harmonizing so exactly,

that a search was often necessary to discover it in its hiding-

place.

This, however, it would sometimes leave (as though seized

with a spirit of adventure), making the tour of the aquarium,

paying its respects en route to the lobsters in their hiding-places,

and darting inquiring glances from its bright and glowing eyes

at the Actinie and Star-fishes. It propelled itself rapidly by

the undulations of its dorsal and only fin, the rays of which, by

the quickness of their motion, became imperceptible to the eye.

It occasionally made darts at minute objects, and, I believe, if

suitable food could have been supplied, might have been kept

alive a considerable time longer. Its forward motion was recti-

linear; but when at rest, or in ascending to a higher level, it

approached most frequently to the coiled appearance represented

by the figure (Plate XII.).

I have compared the specimen with the descriptions and figures

of Yarrell’s Pipe-fishes, and find that it agrees very closely with

Montagu’s description of Syngnathus equoreus as quoted by the

former author, the chief difference being that our specimen does

not exhibit the three slight angles on each side, which Montagu

mentions as giving his species “an octangular appearance,”

the body of our specimen being regularly and most symmetrically

ovate. Montagu says also there are thirty-six plates im the tail,

ours numbering sixty-six.

But on reference to the descriptive ‘Catalogue of Lopho-

branchiate Fish in the Collection of the British Museum,’ by

Dr. J.J.Kaup, page 66 (Nerophis equoreus), the difference in the

form of the body appears to be sexual, as it is there stated that

the female has an octangular body, while the male has a flatter

back and belly. It would therefore appear that Montagu has

described as specific, characters which pertain to the female only,

our example being a male in very fine condition.

The tail in our specimen is perfectly round until within three-

fourths of an inch of the end, where it becomes very finely flat-

Mr. G. H. Lewes on the Chylaqueous Fluid of the Actinie. 417

tened, terminating without any caudal fin whatever, although

dead and dried specimens may wrinkle so as to resemble rays at

the tip of the tail.

It is difficult to account for the difference in Montagu’s state-

ment of thirty-six plates in the tail, Dr. Kaup stating sixty-eight

to seventy, and our specimen numbering quite sixty-six. How-

ever, in other respects Montagu’s description agrees very cor-

rectly :—in the number of plates from the gills to the vent

(thirty) ; in the colour and markings,—transverse pale lines and

dark margins, one on each joint and one other down the middle

of each plate, giving it the appearance of possessing double the

number of joints on the body that it really has; the markings

also, as n Montagu’s species, cease at the tail, or, at all events,

become so much fainter as to be almost undistinguishable. The

dimensions, proportions of the head, body, and tail, are also the

same as Montagu’s.

The introduction of a plant of Halidrys siliquosus was sug-

gested by our Curator, from the circumstance of a common Pipe-

fish (Syngnathus acus) having been not unfrequently found lurk-

ing amongst the tufts of this species of Alga.

Yarrell’s figure conveys so imperfect an idea, that I am in-

duced to give a coloured drawing of our specimen taken from

life (Pl. XII).

XLITI.—On the Chylaqueous Fluid of the Actiniz.

By G. H. Lewes, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Richmond, Nov. 6, 1858.

Absence from England has prevented me from earlier seeing

the very interesting communication made by Mr. Gosse in your

March Number, p. 172, respecting the so-called “ chylaqueous

fluid” of the Actinie.

In my ‘Sea-side Studies,’ pp. 257 et seg., I recorded the

results of numerous observations which showed that in the peri-

toneal fluid of the Actiniz albumen was not a constant, neces-

sary ingredient, because treating it with nitric acid did not

produce that milky aspect which would reveal the presence of

albumen ; and, further, that there were no constant morphotic

elements, such as could pass for the early form of blood-disks.

These observations were confirmed by Mr. Couch, who inge-

niously devised the precaution of first emptying the fluid from

the Actinize, and then placing them in filtered sea-water. The

value of this experiment seems to me considerable, inasmuch as

it excludes the chance of albumen, or albuminous corpuscles, in

418 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

the water passing thence into the cavity of the Actinia, and

assures us that whatever is then found in the Actinia will have

been formed in it.

Mr. Gosse’s observations are directly contradictory of ours.

He found the fluid always presenting a milky reaction, except

once, and always presenting definite morphotic elements. 1

regret that he did not also employ Mr. Couch’s precaution of

filtering the water; it would have given more weight to his ob-

jections. Nevertheless, as the matter now stands, a glaring

contradiction needs to be reconciled. Mr. Gosse, justly enough,

places entire reliance on his results; but he cannot object if

[ still place reliance on the negatives reached by Mr. Couch and

myself, until they are satisfactorily explained. Perhaps some of

your readers may feel interested enough in the question to exa-

mine it carefully and furnish materials for a decision. I am at

present too busily engaged in other researches to repeat the

observations with the requisite caution.

The problem to be solved is this:—Can albumen be detected

as a constant ingredient ? Are there any constant, definite mor-

photic elements capable of being received as incipient blood-

disks, or chyle-corpuseles ?

The mere presence of albumen, or of corpuscles, is what @ priort

would be expected: but this proves nothing ; for animalcule are

equally present, and various other substances. It is the con-

stancy of albumen and corpuscles—and this alone—which can

have any physiological import in the present question.

Mr. Gosse very properly criticises an expression of mine re-

specting the yellow spheres “ which make solid the tentacles of

the Anthea,’—an unhappy word, certainly ; but it was meant to

convey an idea of the greater consistence of the tentacles in

Anthea, in consequence of which, as I conceive, the tentacles

are but slightly retractile. Imasmuch as I had elsewhere de-

scribed the tentacles as “tubes,” it is clear that by calling those

of the Anthea “ solid” I used an inaccurate expression, but could

scarcely have meant more than that the spherules lined the tubes.

I remain, Gentlemen,

Yours truly,

G. H. Lewes.

XLIV.—Descriptions of new Ceylon Coleoptera.

By Joun Nierner, Colombo, Ceylon.

[Continued from page 183. ]

Amonest the 800 species of Bembidiide which have been de-

scribed from almost all parts of the world, with the exception

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 419

of Australia, it would appear there are also none from Southern

Asia. However, since the publication of Lacordaire’s ‘ Genres

des Coléopt.’ (1854), in which this statement occurs, various

species must have found their way into the Prussian cabinets

with my collections from Bengal and this island. In the former

country the Carabide are very abundantly represented; and I

recollect with pleasure the great variety of them (from the

gigantic Anthic down to the smallest Bembidium) with which

the banks and the sands of the Ganges used to furnish me,

when leisurely travelling upon this river some years ago, from

August to October, just after the rains. Nowhere have I

seen, nor do I expect to see, such swarms of Cicindele ; their

buzzing flight, when disturbed, was heard like that of bees. It

appeared to me that they did not quit the sands, their favourite

haunts, when the tide rose, but allowed themselves to be covered

over by the water, as other semi-aquatic beetles do. Without

specially hunting for them, I brought away with me some ten

species, mostly new, and, amongst the rest of the Carabide, as

many Bembidia. In this island, both in the hills and the plains,

there is not a bank of a pond, lake, or river which has not, as

in more northern latitudes, its Bembidia ; and, contrary to what

one would expect, they appear to be more common in the hot

low country than in the cool hill region. The majority of the

species described below may any day be found upon the banks

of the Colombo Lake. None of the species which, as I said,

must have found their way with my collections to Berlin and

Stettin, and thence perhaps elsewhere, have, to my knowledge,

been described. The descriptions given below must therefore, I

am fain to believe, be an interesting addition to the literature of

this section of the Carabide, however inferior they may be to

what they might have been had they been produced in Europe,

and the insects been collated with allied typical species. I have

none of those typical representatives of the genus at hand, nor

is my recollection of them sufficiently distinct to permit of my

drawing comparisons between them and the Ceylon insects now

before me; nevertheless I hope I have set forth the peculiari-

ties of my species with sufficient precision to distinguish them

from, or identify them with, any other Cis-Himalayan species

that may hereafter be described. As a hopeless confusion ap-

pears to exist amongst the subgenera into which the original

genus has been broken up, I have not attempted to refer my

species to any of them, for fear of thereby dog anything but

throwing additional light on the subject. There is no doubt

that many more species exist in this island, and that, indeed, as

in the case of the Staphylinide, they will eventually be found

4.20 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

to be quite as abundantly represented within the tropics as with-

out. Nothing but their smallness has hitherto prevented their

discovery.

69. Bembidium opulentum, N.

B. oblongum, subconvexum, nebuloso zeneum purpureo micans, ely-

tris apice sordide testaceis, subtus nigro-piceum, pedibus antenna-

rumque basi testaceis, ore brunneo. Long. corp. 14-2 lin.

Capite inter oculos 2-suleato, oculis magnis, prominulis, labro for-

titer transverso, brevi, integro, mandibulis porrectis, antennis art. 2°

sequentibus parum breviore; thorace transversim cordato, auntice

posticeque truncato, haud emarginato, depresso, margine basique

elevato, medio capite parum latiore, apicem versus modice, basin

versus fortius abrupteque angustato, angulis basalibus fortiter trun-

catis profundeque foveolatis, linea longitud. media abbreviata diviso ;

elytris ovatis, humeris obsoletis, profunde striato-punctatis, punctis

apicem versus obsoletis, ante et infra medium utrinque foveolatis,

apice lunula magna sordide testacea. (Mas latet).

Prope Negombo, in ripis Maha-Oyee fluvii, specimina nonnulla

cepi.

The insect is of a bronze colour, a purple reflexion appearing

on the back in irregular patches as the light may fall upon it.

The palpi and the base of the antennz are of a yellowish colour ;

the apex of the third joint of the maxillary palpi, however, as

well as that of the second, third, and fourth antennal joints, is

brown, of which colour is also the remaining part of the antenne.

The second antennal joint is the shortest, the third and fourth

are rather longer than the following. The mandibles are rather

straight and porrected. The sides of the thorax are almost an-

gular, and furnished with a setigerous puncture at the broadest

part; that is, just before the middle. There are seven distinct

rows of punctures on either elytron, and an accessory one along

the side of the scutellum, the rows decreasing in length towards

the margin and the punctures in depth towards the apex, the

first row on either side, however, changing before the apex into

a furrow which falls in with that which separates the margin

from the rest of the elytron. Before and beyond the middle,

in the region of the third row of punctures, is an excavation

containing a puncture which is situated upon the third inter-

stice. The excavation nearest the base is the deepest. The apex

of the elytra is marked with a spot of dirty yellowish colour,

prolonged on either side along the margin, which is here rather

broad.

If my memory serves me right, the insect resembles the

Tachypus flavipes.

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 421

70. Bembidium truncatum, N.

B. oblongum, valde depressum, brunneo-testaceum, oculis nigris,

pedibus, antennis palpisque pallide testaceis. Long. corp. 12 lin.

Capite magno, thorace quarta parte prope minore, inter antennas

2-foveolato, oculis mediocribus, antennis art. 3° reliquis minore,

4°-11° subzequalibus, fortius ovatis ; thorace breviter cordato, antice

posticeque truncato, haud emarginato, basi subquadrato, parum pro-

longato, foveis basalibus obsoletis, sed linea basali transversa profunda

lineaque longitud. med. distinctis ; elytris oblongis, apice transversim

truncatis, juxta suturam utrinque obsolete 1-striatis, ante et infra

med, puncto impressis.

In prov. occid. rarius.

The small size, large head, and truncated elytra effectually

distinguish this species. The truncated posterior angles of the

thorax, and the general appearance, induce me to consider it as

allied to the preceding species—at all events to approach nearer

to it than to any of the following species. The eyes are rather

small for this genus. There are no traces of striz on the elytra,

with the exception of a single indistinct one along the suture.

71. Bembidium tropicum, N.

B. oblongum, depressum, brunneo-testaceum, capite brunneo, elytris

dorso nigris cyaneo-micantibus, pedibus, antennis palpisque testa-

ceis. Long. corp. 13 lin.

Capite inter oculos 2-foveolato-suleato, oculis mediocribus, antennis

fortius filiformibus, art. 3° reliquis breviore ; thorace breviter trans-

versim cordato, antice posticeque truncato haud emarginato, basi

subquadrato, angulis basalibus elevatis sed haud foveolatis, linea

transversa basali profunda, infra lineam strigoso, linea media longit.

diviso ; elytris oblongo-ovatis, utrinque juxta suturam 4-striatis, striis

externis et his apicem versus obsoletis, in striis punctatis, infra mar-

ginem stria profunda abbreviata, aute medium et apicem in inter-

stitio 4° puncto magno impressis, punctis ante-apicalibus piliferis in

suleum ad apicem prolongatis semicirculum formantibus ; tarsis 4

anterioribus art. 4° subtus apice spinis squamulaceis 2 instructo.

In prov. occid. copiosum.

Of alight brown colour, with the head darker ; the elytra black-

ish on the back with a slight blue reflexion, the base, sides, and

apex brownish. The colours being more or less washed into

each other, no distinct pattern is observable; the brown spot

of the apex, however, is generally pretty clearly set-off from the

adjoining dark part. The paraglossz are hardly longer than the

ligula, which itself is rather large. The antenne are rather

hairy and strongly filiform (not, as in most other species, in-

creasing in thickness towards the apex, the joints growing at

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii.

422 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

the same time more and more oval); joint 3 is the shortest,

2 and 4 are rather longer than the others. The back is impressed

with 3—4 distinct strize on either side of the suture, the external

ones being obsolete, as are also the remaining ones towards the

apex. There is an additional deep stria within the margiial

one, extending from the middle to the apex. Before the middle

and before the apex there is a puncture situated upon the 4th

interstice ; the ante-apical one of these has a hair in the centre,

and is prolonged to the apical angle in the shape of a deep,

curved furrow. This being the case on either side, the two fur-

rows together form a semicircular figure. The tarsi are each

furnished with bristles, especially at the lower margin of the

apex of the joints. In the four anterior tarsi joint 4 is furnished

at that place with two long bristles, the apex of which fits-im at

the base of the claws. These bristles partake somewhat of the

nature of squamule, by being dilated in the shape of a lancet.

I have noticed them occasionally to be bifid at the apex, but I

do not think that they are so always.

72. Bembidium triangulare, N.

B. oblongum, depressum, testaceum, capite brunneo, elytris sutura

fasciaque lata transversali media nigris, pedibus, palpis antennisque

pallide testaceis, his medio fuscescentibus. Long. corp. | lin.

Preecedenti affine, ejus capite, thorace et tarsis; differt thorace

linea basali punctata, infra lineam vix strigoso ; elytris utrinque pro-

funde 6-punctato-striatis, striis apicem marginemque versus sensim

obsoletis, ante medium in stria 4* puncto impresso, stria infra-

marginali abbreviata et impressione semicireulari apicali ut in preece-

dente.

Variat colore obscuriore.

In prov. occid. communissimum.

Very closely allied to the preceding species, but easily distin-

guished by the size and colour, which is generally lighter than

that of the former, and the deeply striated elytra; the insect is,

moreover, more common than the former. The prevailing colour

of the elytra is not, as in the preceding species, black, but it is

that of the rest of the body, yellowish, with merely a black

suture and black belt across the middle; the edges of this belt

are washed together with the colour of the adjoming parts.

The semicircular i impression at the apex of the elytra is the same

as in the former, and forms, with the abbreviated inframarginal

stria, which is also the same, a triangular figure, tip down, base

open, whence I have derived the name. The head, with the

antenne, tarsi, &c., are those of the former, as I have said

above.

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 4.23

73. Bembidium Ceylanicum, N.

B. oblongum, depressum, testaceum, oculis nigris, elytris seepissime

fascia media transversali fusca obsoletissima, pedibus, palpis an-

tennisque pallide testaceis. Long. corp. 3 lin.

Precedenti simile, ejus capite, thorace et tarsis, facillime tamen

distinguendum antennis apicem versus incrassatis, articulis magis

magisque ovatis, art. 2° sequente longiore, 3° et 4° subzequalibus sub-

eylindricis, reliquis ovatis ; thorace, linea basali fortiter punctata ex-

cepta, basi levi; elytris utrinque juxta suturam leviter 3-punctato-

striatis, striis reliquis et his basi apiceque sensim obsoletis, ante et

infra medium ad striam 3™ puncto pilifero impressis, impressione

semicirculari apicali ut in preecedente sed stria inframarginali non

abbreviata.

In prov. occid. communissimum.

Easily distinguished from the former, to which it is allied, by

its size, colour, and the incrassated antenne. The elytra, more-

over, show only three distinct striz on either side of the suture,

two more, however, being just traceable; they are obsolete at

the base, apex, and towards the margin. Within the latter there

is an additional deep stria, entire, and not, as in the preceding

two species, only from the middle to the apex. The semicir-

cular impression of the apex, however, is the same; so are the

tarsi, &e.

74. Bembidium Klugiu, N.

B. ovatum, convexum, zneum, elytris maculis 2 subapicalibus rufo-

flavis, subtus piceum, pedibus dilutioribus, tibiis, tarsis antenna-

rumque basi testaceis. Long. corp. 1} lin.

Capite inter oculos longitud. 2-impresso, oculis maximis, antennis

art. 2° sequentibus parum breviore, his subzequalibus ; thorace trans-

versim ovato, antice posticeque truncato, haud emarginato, basi

abrupte angustato quadrato, angulis basalibus profunde foveolatis,

inter foveas punctis l-seriatim impresso, linea media longit. subtili

diviso ; elytris ovatis, apicem versus leviter angustatis, utrinque pro-

funde 7-punctato-striatis, basi levi, striis apicem versus obsoletis,

ante apicem inter strias 3"-6™ macula orbiculari rufo-flava apiceque

impressione semicirculari.

In prov. occid. et centrali, hie usque alt. 3500 ped., non infre-

quenter legi.

This species ascends from the sea-level of the Western Province

to an elevation of 3500 feet on the hills, where I have not un-

frequently met with it upon the sandy banks of the Pundhool-

Oya, a rocky mountain-stream in the district of Kotmalie. Its

robust, ovate, convex shape places it at once im a different divi-

sion from any of the former. It is of bronze colour, with two

orange-coloured spots behind; the mouth is brown, with the

29%

424, Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

exception of the palpi, which, together with joints 1 and 2 of the

antenne, are yellowish ; joint 3 of the maxillary palpi, however,

is of the general colour of the mouth. The labrum is square

and entire; the 2nd antennal joint is rather shorter than the

rest. The thorax is transversely ovate—that is to say, its greatest

width is at the middle—not, as in a cordate thorax, before it; the

fovere are connected by a series of punctures, which gradually

deepen towards the centre; the longitudmal divisional line is

also deeper at the apical extremity than at the other parts. The

elytra are impressed with seven deep furrows on either side,

deeply punctured at the bottom; these furrows decrease in

length towards the margin, and in depth towards the apex, with

the exception, however, of the first on either side, which goes

straight down to the apex. At the latter comparatively smooth

place is the semicircular impression noticed in the three pre-

ceding species, and to be noticed in all the followmg. The base

of the elytra is smooth. No traces of punctures, such as are

usual in the region of the 3rd or 4th interstice, are observable.

The lower side of the insect is of a pitch-colour ; the basal part of

the legs and thighs are lighter, and the tibize and tarsi very light.

75. Bembidium ebeninum, N.

B. ovatum, convexum, nigrum, elytris ante apicem maculis 2 rufo-

flavis, subtus piceum; pedibus, palpis antennisque testaceis, his

apicem versus obscurioribus, reliquis oris partibus brunneis. Long.

corp. 1} lin.

Preecedenti affine, eyus capite et thorace, facillime tamen distin-

guendum, preeter colorem, antennis fortius filiformibus, elytris levibus

juxta suturam utrinque 2-striatis, striis basi abbreviatis, externa

apicem versus obsoleta, ante et infra medium leviter foveolatis, ante

apicem macula ovata rufo-flava, infra marginem stria profunda apice-

que semicirculariter impressis.

In proy. occid. non rarum.

Very closely allied to the preceding species, and equally pretty.

Head and thorax entirely those of the former; the antenne,

however, are more filiform, and the divisional line of the thorax

is not deepened at the apical extremity. The elytra are smooth,

with only two strize along the suture on either side, the rest not

being even traceable; both these striz are abbreviated at the

base, and the outer one becomes obsolete towards the apex; the

inner one, however, goes fully down to the apex, and falls in

with a deep inframarginal furrow, which is wanting in the pre-

ceding species; before and beyond the middle is a small im-

pression ; before the apex are two oval spots of orange-colour ;

the apex has the semicircular impression noticed in the preceding

species.

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 425

76. Bembidium orientale, N.

B. fortiter ovatum, convexum, zeneum, elytris maculis 4 magnis flavis,

apice sordide subtestaceis, subtus piceum ; abdomine brunneo, pedi-

bus, antennarum basi palpisque pallide testaceis. Long. corp.

13 ln.

Capite inter oculos longitud. 2-impresso, oculis maximis, antennis

art. 3° et 4° subzequalibus, 2° his vix breviore; thorace transverso,

leviter ovato, antice posticeque truncato, haud emarginato, leviter

angustato, basi quadrato, 2-foveolato, inter foveas punctis 1-seriatim

impressis, linea longit. media diviso; elytris ovatis, apicem versus

fortius angustatis, utrinque profunde 7-striatis, basi levi, striis mar-

ginem apicemque versus magis magisque obsoletis, in stria 3* ante et

infra medium puncto impressis, infra humeros inter striam 5™ et

marginem macula ovata, ante apicem inter striam 2™ et marginem

macula obliqua flava, apice sordide obsoleteque testaceis, hic semi-

circulariter et infra marginem stria profunda impressis.

In prov. occid. commune.

Easily distinguished by its .strongly oval shape, the thorax

being hardly contracted at the base, and no doubt belonging to

a different subgenus from the preceding and the following. The

head is exactly that of B. Kiugit. The antennz have the 2nd

joint hardly shorter than the 3rd, and this and the following

subequal ; joints 14. are of a light yellowish, the rest of a brown

colour ; joint 3 of the maxillary palpi is of a dark, the remaining

ones and the labial palpi of a pale yellowish colour. The labrum

is square, entire, and, with the rest of the mouth, brown. The

mandibles are furnished with 3-4 small teeth below the middle.

The ligula is broader than in any of the other species. The

thorax, besides in shape, is distinguished by having the fovez

removed from the basal angles towards the centre. The elytra

are impressed with seven distinct striz on either side, the first

of which runs down to the apex, where it falls in with the infra-

marginal one; the rest decrease in length towards the margin,

and in depth towards the apex; beyond the 7th another is just

traceable, and beyond this there is a deep inframarginal one. The

apex is impressed with the semicircular figure which distinguishes

all the species here enumerated, with the exception of B. opu-

lentum and truncatum. The colour of the insect is a dark, bright

metallic green, variegated with four large yellow spots on the

elytra ; two of these are near the shoulder and of oval shape,

the other two near the apex and oblique; the apex is of a dirty

yellowish colour. The lower part of the insect is of a pitch-colour,

lighter towards the apex; the legs are yellowish, darker towards

the base.

77. Bembidium emarginatum, N.

B. oyatum, convexum, piceum, capite dilutiore, elytris ante apicem

426 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

maculis 2 rufo-flavis, subtus brunneum ; pedibus, antennarum basi

palpisque testaceis. Long. corp. | lin.

Capite antice fortius acuminato, fronte utrinque profunde pluries

suleata, oculis mediocribus prominulis, /abro profunde subangulate

emarginato, antennis art. longitudine subzequalibus ; thorace breviter

cordato, antice posticeque truncato, non emarginato, basi quadrato,

foveis basalibus lineaque longit. media fere obsoletis, linea basali trans-

versa tamen distincta ; elytris ovatis, juxta suturam utrinque 2-striatis,

stria externa basi apiceque abbreviata, ante et infra medium puncto

obsoleto impressis, ante apicem macula orbiculari rufo-flava apiceque

sordide obsoleteque testaceis, hic semilunariter et infra marginem

stria profunda impressis.

Variat colore dilutiore.

In prov. oceid. rarum.

This and the two remaining species are mutually allied, and

probably belong to the subgenus Lopha. However, I am less

sure of this with regard to the present species than to the two

following. 4

The head is poited in front, and the labrum (an unusual

occurrence) deeply notched; two deep furrows run from the

clypeus straight across the forehead to the vertex; and from

their base other smaller ones radiate towards the eyes. Joints

2-5 of the antennz, which in almost all cases are of unequal

length, are not so in the present ; the first two or three joints

are yellowish, the rest are brown. Joint 3 of the maxillary palpi

is dark, the remaining ones and the labial palpi yellowish. The

elytra are impressed with two striz on either side of the suture ;

the remaining ones are just traceable. The one next to the

suture goes straight down to the apex, where it falls m with a

deep inframarginal furrow; the 2nd is, as usual, abbreviated.

The apex is impressed with the semicircular figure ; and there

are two punctures on either side.

78. Bembidium ornatum, N.

B. ovatum, subconvexum, brunneum, elytris maculis 4 flavis, pedibus,

antennis palpisque pallide testaceis. Long. corp. 1 lin.

Preecedenti simile, preeter colorem facillime tamen distinguendum

corpore graciliore, fronte utrinque 2-sulcata, labro integro, elytris

infra humeros et infra marginem utrinque macula orbiculari flava,

punctis nullis.

Variat colore obscuriore et dilutiore et seepius apice sordide testaceo.

In prov. occid. commune.

Easily distinguished from the preceding species, with which

it agrees in all other respects; no striz, however, are traceable

Ba ky: ae ee se ee

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 427

upon the elytra between the two near the suture and the infra-

marginal furrow.

79. Bembidium scydmenoides, N.

B. ovatum, convexum, obscure brunneum, elytris maculis 4 magis

minusve obsoletis dilutioribus, pedibus, palpis antennarumque

art. 2 primis testaceis, his apice reliquisque obscurioribus. Long.

corp. | lin.

Preecedenti simile, corpore robustiore, fortius ovato magisque con-

vexo, thorace basi fortius quadrato facillime distinguendum.

In prov. occid. communissimum.

Tribe HaRPALIDA.

Megaristerus, n. g., N.

Corpus oblongum, depressum, glabrum. Caput mediocre antice,

obtusum. Mentum profunde subquadrate emarginatum, edentatum,

lobis extus rotundatis, apice acuminatis. Ligula minima, oblonga,

paraglossis magnis connatis eam totam amplectentibus, antice rotun-

datis, subcordate emarginatis. Palpi maxill. art. ultimo subcylindrico,

apice magis minusve angustato, truncato, lab. eodem obovato, trun-

eato. Labrum transversum, antice posticeque angustatum, margine

anteriore profundius emarginato, setoso. Clypeus emarginatus.

Mandibulze validze, trigonee, apice leviter arcuatee, dextera mediocri

labro obtecta apice acuminata medio |-dentata, sinistra robustiore

porrecta (hine n. g. Megaristeruvs) apice obtusa medio 2-dentata.

Antennze humeros parum superantes, filiformes, art. 2° sequente

parum breviore, reliquis subeequalibus. Thorax rotundato-cordatus,

postice angustatus angulis rotundatis, antice leviter emarginatus

angulis distinctis. Elytra parallela, apice rotundata. Pedes ut in

g. Acupalpo, tarsis maris 4 ant. tamen art. 1° subtus nudo.

Victus Harpalorum.

Apparently closely allied to Amblystomus,—differing, however,

in the sculpture of the tarsi, and inthe antennee, labrum,and palpi;

and, as in the diagnosis as given by Lacordaire in his ‘ Gen. des

Col.,’ the paraglosszee of Amblystomus are simply said to be

rounded in front, a further distinction would appear to reside

in the notch which exists in that part of the paraglossz of m

genus Megaristerus. Also allied to Acupalpus, the sculpture of

the tarsi being exactly the same,—in saying which, I bear parti-

cularly m mind that the mtermediate ones of the male are hardly

dilated. From this genus, however, it is effectually distin-

guished by the shape of the ligula. From both Amblystomus

and Acupalpus the present genus, moreover, differs in the vesture

of the four anterior tarsi of the male, the first joint being naked

below—and in the mandibles, the left one of which is much larger

4.28 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

and plumper than the right one, protruding from under the

labrum, whilst the latter is hidden by it; the former is at the

same time obtuse at the apex, whilst the latter is pomted. In

the M. Indicus this peculiar construction is hardly striking, but

in the other two species it is very much so, and imparts a curious

appearance to the head of the insect.

80. Megaristerus mandibularis, N.

M. piceo-niger, leviter metallescens, subtus brunneus, antennis, tibiis

tarsisque testaceis, ore brunneo. Long. corp. 14-2 lin.

Capite inter antennas 2-foveolato, mandibula sinistra robustissima

porrecta, dextera mediocri labro obtecta; thorace basi 2-foveolato,

linea longitud. utrinque abbreviata media diviso, antice lunate im-

presso ; scutello majore ; elytris obsolete striatis, striis juxta suturam

distinetioribus, cum thorace parce subtiliterque punctulatis, inter

med. et apic. ad striam 2™ puncto impresso.

Prope Colombo rarus.

81. Megarisierus stenolophoides, N.

M. brunneo-piceus, elytris obscurioribus metallescentibus maculis 4

flavis, margine sutureeque apice brunneis, pedibus, antennarum

basi palporumque apice pallide testaceis, ore, mandibulis brunneis

exceptis, testaceo. Long. corp. 14 lin.

Preecedenti similis, corpore robustiore minus depresso et colore

facile tamen distinguendus. Differt preeterea palpis max. art. 4°

minus distincte, lab. eodem fortius truncato; thorace magis trans-

verso, basi obsolete ruguloso ; elytris profundius striatis, puncto ad

striam 2™ fere obsoleto, cum thorace haud punctulatis, maculis 4

subobliquis flavis ; 2 humeralibus in interstitiis 5°--6°, 2 subapicalibus

in interstitiis 3°—4°.

Prope Colombo rarus.

82. Megaristerus Indicus, N.

M. obscure viridi-zeneus, elytris maculis 2 humeralibus obliquis pus-

tulisque 2 subapicalibus flavis, subtus brunneus, tibiis tarsisque

testaceis, antennarum basi oreque brunneo-testaceis. Long. corp.

15 In.

Differt a M. mandibulari mandibula sinistra altera vix robustiore,

elytris infra humeros inter marginem et striam 2™ macula obliqua

intus angustata ante apicem in interstitio 3° pustula parva flavis,

apice fortius quam in preecedente rotundatis.

_ Prope Colombo mihi, Maderaspatani a Dom. Hon. W. Elliot spe-

cimina nonnulla nocte ad lumen capta.

Tribe Poconipz.

Spathinus, n. g., N.

Corpus obovatum, subconvexum, glabrum. Caput mediocre, antice

Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera. 4.29

trigonum, oculis magnis, semiglobosis, prominulis, collo brevi. Men-

tum transversum, profunde quadrate emarginatum, dente sat forti

acuto, lobis intus inter med. et apicem leviter oblique truncatis, extus

rotundatis, apice acuminatis. Ligula minuta, elongata, paraglossis

latis connatis eam haud multo superantibus, apice intus oblique trun-

catis subacuminatis. Palpi art. ultimo conico acuminato, max. art.

3° inverto, ultimo zequali, lab. eodem robustiore. Labrum quadratum,

antice profunde emarginatum, angulis ant. rotundatis. Mandibulee

porrectze, trigonee, apice acuminate, basi dentate. Antenne sat

robustee humeros parum superantes, art. 2°-3° subzequalibus, sub-

cylindricis sequentibus brevioribus, his subzequalibus, obovatis. Tho-

rax transverse subquadratus, antice lateribus leviter rotundatus, pos-

tice parum angustatus, basi leviter rotundatus, angulis subrectis.

Elytra ovata, apice rotundata. Pedes anteriores tibiis profunde emar-

ginatis, tarsis maris art. 1°-3° leviter dilatatis, subtus squamulis

munitis, art. 1° subeylindrico, 2°-3° subrotundatis, 4° subtrigono,

unguiculis simplicibus.

Victus Bembidiorum.

Apparently closely allied to Trechus, and an aberrant form of

the same tribe to which the latter genus belongs. The mentum

and palpi appear to agree entirely; the insects differ, however,

in the structure of the ligula (which, in Spathinus, is entirely

that of a Bembidium) and the sculpture and vesture of the an-

terior male tarsi. In spite of the latter anomalies, the pre-

eminently characteristic shape of the palpi convinces me that

the insect must find a place where I have put it. It is also

closely allied to my genus Ochthephilus, differing from it, how-

ever, in the ligula, palpi and labrum. The generic name Spa-

thinus signifies a staggard, and I have chosen it with regard to

the shape of the terminal jomt of the palpi. The insects are

common throughout the south-west and west of the island,

where they live in the manner of the Bembidia, under decaying

vegetable matter, upon the banks of lakes and rivers, &c.

83. Spathinus nigriceps, N.

S. alatus, tenuiter hirsutus, brunneo-testuceus, capite nigro, elytris

apice fuscis, ore, antennis pedibusque testaceis. Long. corp.

13 lin.

Capite inter antennas profundius 2-foveolato, fronte medio leviter

depressa ; thorace leevi, linea longit. media diviso ; elytris juxta sutu-

ram obsolete striatis.

84. Huplynes Dohrni, N.

E. ovatus, subconvexus, rufo-testaceus, oculis nigris, elytris viridibus,

femoribus apice tarsisque geniculis fuscescentibus. Long. corp.

vix 43 lin.

Capite inter antennas bifoveolato ; antennis art. 2° brevi, reliquis

4.30 Mr. J. Nietner on new Ceylon Coleoptera.

subzequalibus ; palpis art. ultimo subelliptico truncato, labialibus

elongatis ; thorace breviter transversim cordato, antice posticeque

truncato, longitudine sesqui latiore, depresso, lateribus basique ele-

vato, hie leviter bifoveolato, angulis basalibus subrectis leviter rotun-

datis, linea med. longitud. diviso, subtiliter transversim ruguloso ;

elytris ovatis, leviter dilatatis, thorace duplo fere latioribus, striatis, in

regione basali in stria 3%, ad et infra medium in stria 2 puncto im-

pressis, in regione media utrinque depressis, ante apicem leviter an-

gustatis et sinuatis, apice levissime transversim truncatis, angulo

interno in spinam producto ; pedibus tibiis fortiter tarsisque 4 pos-

ticis dorso modice costatis.

In campis silvisque prov. occid. et in montibus prov. central. usque

alt. 4000 ped. sub vegetab. per occasionem copiose legi.

This insect frequents localities of a very different nature: I

have taken it in great abundance in the Negombo district, in

hot, sandy fields, under heaps of weeds, &c.; but I have also

taken it on the banks of the Colombo Lake, and in the damp

forests of Pusilawa, 4000 feet above the sea, under fallen trees ;

its favourite haunt, however, appears to be the former descrip-

tion of locality. It would appear to be very distinct from the

E. cyanipennis, described by Schmidt-Geebel in his ‘ Col. Birm.,’

in thorax, sculpture of apical part, and position of punctures of

elytra, costated 4: posterior tarsi, &c. On the other hand, the

curious depression of the elytra, which has much the appearance

of being accidental, is the same (it occurs also in my genus

Anchista). 1 am not quite satisfied with the description of the

ligula and tarsi as given by Schmidt-Goebel. The former I

should call “truncated at the apex, anterior angles strongly

rounded-off.” In the insect before me it is certaly not rounded

in the middle; if anything, it is rather the contrary. The

tarsi I should describe thus :— Joints 1-4 of the two anterior

male tarsi dilated; jomt 1 nearly as long as the two following

together, subcylindric ; jomt 2 nearly as long again as the fol-

lowing, clongate-trigonate ; joint 3 subtrigonate ; joint 4 (in all

tarsi) bilobed; jomts 1-3 furnished below with two series of

lamellated papillee fenced in by bristles ; jomt 4: densely penicil-

lated; claws simple.”

I take this opportunity to add a general remark. The author

above quoted, at the end of the description of his 4. eyanipennis,

quotes a passage from Helfer’s ‘Burmese Journal,’ implying

“that the species lived exclusively upon trees, and that most of

the Carabidee of that country had the same habit.’ The latter part

of this observation I feel inclined to look upon as a rash and

unjustifiable assertion on the part of Helfer. There can be little

doubt (and the above is an additional example) that the Carabide

of this island have much resemblance to those of Burmah ; still

Mr. J. Miers on a new species of Lardizabala. 431

my long experience in it has not furnished me with any instances

of any of them living upon trees, with the exception of the Tricon-

dyle, Collyrides, and certain Cicindele. The Casnonie and Ophio-

nee@ are in the habit of ascending grasses and low herbs, and certain

Lebiide and the genus Catascopus live under the bark of trees :

this is all. As to the insect described above, although it appears

to adapt itself with facility to a variety of physical circumstances,

and although it takes occasionally to its wings and flies into

houses in the evening, I have never found it upon trees.

XLV.—On another new species of Lardizabala.

By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e.

[Continued from p. 192.]

I Have lately observed, in the herbarium of the Paris Museum,

another undescribed species of this genus, the description of

which I here append to the former :—

3. Lardizabala infuscata, n. sp.;—volubilis, folis biternatis,

foliolis ellipticis apice vix acutis vel obtusiusculis, puncto cal-

loso onustis, terminalibus in petiolulum longiusculum cuneatis,

lateralibus sessilibus basi ineequalibus et obtusioribus, glaber-

rimis, crasso-coriaceis, supra intense fusco-viridibus, nitenti-

bus, simpliciter nervosis, nervis patentibus immersis, subtus

pallidioribus brunneis, lucidis, costa nervis venisque promi-

nentibus, marginibus revolutis integris vel obsolete crenulatis ;

stipulis orbicularibus majusculis, fuscis ; racemis d axillaribus

folio sub-brevioribus.—Chile Australis: v. s. in herb. Mus.

Paris (Hombron, Voyage de l’Astrolabe et Zélée).

This species is at once recognized from L. biternata by the

extremely dark colour of its leaves and by their much greater

thickness and opacity, thus offermg a strong contrast to the

hight green colour of the typical species. In the latter the leaf-

lets are 3-nerved from near the base, but in this plant no such

lateral nerves are present ; in the typical species a portion of the

early pubescence is always found remaining upon the nervures

and petioles, but here they are quite free from hairs; the petioles

of the mtermediate leaves are also much longer in this species.

The internodes between the axils are 24 in. long; the leaves

altogether are 35 m. long; the main petiole is 5 lines long;

the two lateral secondary petioles are 5 lines, the intermediate

one 12 lines long; the lateral leaflets are 17—21 lines long,

9-11 lines broad; the intermediate leaflets are 23 in. long, in-

cluding their petiole of 3 lines, and 10-14: lines broad ; the orbi-

cular stipules are 6-8 lines in diameter ; the raceme is 2} inches

long, with about fifteen alternate male flowers.

432 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

XLVI.—On Permian Entomostraca from the Fossiliferous Lime-

stone of Durham. By J. W. Kinxsy.

[With a Plate. |

[Concluded from page 330. ]

Bairdia Jonesiana, n. sp. Plate XI. figs. 1, 2, & 2a.

Syn. B. gracilis, M‘Coy, Jones, Mon. Perm. Foss. p. 63. tab. 18. fig. 7.

B. gracilis, M‘Coy, Reuss, Jahres. Wetterau. Gesell. 1851-1853, p.65.

B. gracilis, M‘Coy, Richter, Zeitschr. Deutsch. Geol. Gesells. 1855,

vol. vii. p. 530. tab. 26. figs. 16 & 17.

Length 4 inch; height .. inch.

Carapace reniform, convex, smooth. Dorsal margin regularly

arched ; anterior slope gradual, convex, descending one-half of

the height ; posterior slope more abrupt, convex, descending five-

sixths of the height. Ventral margin simuate centrally, convex

near the extremities. Anterior extremity bluntly rounded. Pos-

terior extremity obtusely pointed. Lateral contour compressed

oval, the posterior end the most acute; greatest diameter central,

one-third of the length. Flange of left ventral margin large,

being fully one-third of the length.

The chief variation of form shown by this species is in the

dorsal margin, which is more prominent in some specimens than

in the generality. Fig. 2. Pl. XI. illustrates this variety. In

no instance have I met with examples so attenuate as the one

from Byers’ Quarry, figured by Jones.

It resembles in many respects the Cythere Geinitziana* of

Jones, which appears to be a closely related form. The dorsal

margin of the latter, however, is more flatly convex, its posterior

extremity is more acutely pointed, and it is medianly placed, and

the sinus of its ventral margin is deeper than the same feature

in B. Jonesiana ; its lateral contour is peculiar also, being ovate,

while that of the other is a flattened oval, with rather acute

extremities. In these particulars it differs from the present

species; and I allow them specific value.

There can be little doubt as to the identity of this species

with Mr. Jones’s specimen from Byers’ Quarry, which he iden-

tified with the Bairdia gracilist of M‘Coy. A single cast, much

worn, was the only material which Mr. Jones possessed; so that

some difference might be expected between his figure and more

finely preserved specimens of the same species, even had it really

belonged to B. gracilis,—an idea, however, which is not main-

tamable when the Professor’s description and figures are com-

pared with perfect specimens of the Permian species. The de-

* Prof. King’s Mon. Perm. Fossils, p. 62. tab. 18. fig. 4 a, 0, e.

+ Prof. M‘Coy’s Syn. Char, Carbon. Foss. Ireland, p. 165. pl. 23. fig. 7.

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 433

scription given by M‘Coy is very short, and his figures represent

only a portion of a carapace: the former would apply to many

species besides the one to which it refers, so that it is not of

much use in the determination of apparent affinities; but his

figures show that the Carboniferous species had at least one

prominent rostrated extremity, and that it was compressed and

concave laterally towards the extremities,—characters which

certainly distinguish it specifically from its supposed Permian

representative.

Most of the specimens of this species which have occurred at

Tunstall Hill are coated with a thin deposit of calcareous matter ;

and it is not until this is removed that their relation to Bairdia

can be detected.

It is not rare in the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall Hill.

In Germany it is found in the Lower Zechstein of Bleichenbach,

Selters, and Saalfeld.

B. Jonesiana is named after Mr. T. Rupert Jones, to whom I

am indebted for several courteous communications on Permian

Entomostraca.

Bairdia truncata, nu. sp. Pl. XI. figs. 4 & 4a.

Length ; inch; height ;4, inch.

Carapace subrhomboidal, inflated ventrally in anterior half,

smooth (?). Dorsal margin almost straight, though slightly

convex; anterior slope gradual, convex; posterior slope very

abrupt, descending nearly the whole of the height, convex.

Ventral margin rather convex, with a short projection near the

anterior extremity. Anterior extremity rounded, prominent.

Posterior extremity diagonally truncate. Lateral contour irregu-

larly lenticular ; greatest diameter in anterior half two-sevenths

of the length, pointed anteriorly, bluntly rounded posteriorly,

sinuate in posterior half.

The few specimens of this species which I have found are casts ;

consequently the above description is probably incomplete and

subject to modification. That it belongs to Bairdia is evident

by traces of an overlapping of the dorsal margin. Its marked

difference from all the Permian species which have preceded it

has induced me to describe it as a species, though from imperfect

materials.

Rare in the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall Hill.

Bairdia rhomboidea, nu. sp. Pl. XI. figs. 3 & 3a.

Length ;), inch; height =, inch.

Carapace subrhomboidal, protuberant centrally, smooth. Dor-

sal margin prominently convex, sloping gradually to each extre-

mity. Ventral margin very convex, more so anteriorly than

434. Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca

posteriorly. Anterior extremity subangulate. Posterior extre-

mity somewhat produced, bluntly pomted. Lateral contour len-

ticular ; greatest diameter central, rather more than one-fourth

of the length. Hinge with the left valve overlapping the right

evenly along the dorsal margin. lange of left ventral margin

posteriorly situate.

Very rare in the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall Hill.

Besides the species of Bairdia already noticed, there appear

to be one or two additional forms belonging to the fauna of the

fossiliferous limestone, which may subsequently be established

as species. Specimens have occurred that seem to imply this

idea; but, owing to a paucity of materials, and, in some cases, to

an apparent affinity to described species, I have not ventured to

specialize them. There was one well-marked individual, of tri-

angular contour, which was unfortunately lost after it had been

outlined, and which I have little doubt was the Cythere acuta of

Jones. It was minute and exceedingly globose; the ventral

margin almost straight, and the dorsal margin convex; the

extremities acute and similar.

Leperditia? Permiana, Jones. Plate XI. figs. 5-18.

Syn. Dithyrocaris Permiana, Jones, Mon. Perm. Foss. p. 66. tab. 18. fig. 1.

Ceratiocaris? Permiana, Jones, Morris’s Cat. Brit. Foss. 2nd edition,

1854, p. 103.

Length ,, inch; height ,/; inch.

Carapace oblong-ovate, ark-shaped, equivalve, very convex ;

valves thick. Dorsal margin straight, bounded laterally by flat-

tish, slightly inclined areas formed by the depression of the

upper region of the valves. Ventral margin straight centrally,

or very slightly smuate. Anterior extremity angulate at its

junction with the dorsal margin, and bluntly rounded ventrally :

the dorsal angle is sometimes the most prominent; at others a

point midway between the margins protrudes most. Posterior

extremity angulate dorsally, more pointed than the former, the

antero-dorsal angle being more projecting, from which a convex

line slopes gradually to the ventral margin. From the extreme

points of the dorsal margin of each valve proceed two strongly

produced rims, or marginal expansions, which become more widely

separate as they approach the ventral margin. The znnermost rim

(of single valve) is elevated, and forms a raised reflexed edge

round the middle portion of the valve. The outermost or most

ventral rim is not reflexed, but projects at a right angle from the

ventral portion of the valve; along the inner surface of this rim,

which forms the contact-margin of the valve, extends a slightly

elevated projection, on a plane with the ventral convexity of the

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 435

valve, and which appears to overlap (?) a similar longitudinal

projection in the opposite valve. The outer surface of the valve

within the innermost rim is deeply channeled. The central area

of the valves is protuberant, rising abruptly from the channeled

depression just mentioned; dorsally and towards the posterior

extremity this area is very prominent, or slightly gibbose. Sur-

face ornamented with irregularly-placed roundish pits, and with

slender longitudinal wrinkles which occasionally bifurcate and

merge into each other. Hinge with the dorsal margins united

by ligament (?). Lateral contour ovate, with strongly produced

extremities.

This remarkable species does not vary much in marginal out-

line. The posterior extremity is occasionally rather less pomted

than usual, and the anterior extremity differs a little m con-

vexity ; the ventral margin also has at times a tendency to be-

come sinuate. The variation of the posterior extremity is of

most importance, as in some cases the slight modification which

it undergoes causes it to assume the form of the anterior.

One of the most peculiar characters of this species is the

curious marginal rims which bound its free margins and form

so important a feature in its ventral aspect. I have never ob-

served more than two rims on each valve, except in one instance,

which was a perfect specimen, having three rims on the right

valve, with only two on the left. These rims very much remind

one of exfoliative dilatations of the margins, such as are seen 1n

some species of Conchifera and Brachiopoda: but when the

Entomostracan mode of growth is considered, the idea is found

to be untenable; for we must suppose that these species, like

their recent representatives, would increase in size by moulting,

and not by marginal increment. The youngest specimens pos-

sess the same rims in miniature; indeed, all stages of growth

are characterized by them, though the older individuals have

them most produced. One very fine specimen (fig. 11) shows

several fine lines between the outer and inner rims, and running

parallel with them. I have not been able to prove satisfactorily

that the longitudinal projection on the internal surface of the

most ventral rim (see fig. 13) of one valve overlaps that of the

opposite, though, from the close union of the extreme edges of

these rims in some specimens, it may be inferred that it does.

The free margins fit close ; consequently the whole of the animal

must have been enveloped by the valves.

The central area of the valves is generally very much produced,

but more so in some specimens than in others. Sometimes its

connexion with the marginal portion of the valves is so abrupt

as to cause it to appear like a great tubercle ; at others it slopes

more gradually towards the margin, and wears a less gibbose

436 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca.

aspect: this is particularly the case in young specimens. The

postero-dorsal region of this area is always the most prominent

portion of the valve; and as the central portion of the dorsal

region is at times rather depressed, both it and the antero-dorsal

angle have then a gibbose appearance. Such specimens assimi-

late to the L. (Cythere) Schrenkii* of Keyserling, whose equi-

valent regions are extremely gibbose. As the central area varies

in prominence in different specimens, so do specimens vary in

width, and that very considerably.

Although there can be little doubt of this species beg cha-

racterized by a punctured surface, yet it is a character that has

only been observed in two specimens, both of which are repre-

sented in Pl], XI. Usually the surface is either smooth, like that

of fig. 5, or wrinkled, like that of fig. 8, and shows no traces of

punctures, even when viewed with the aid of a high magnifying

power. Perhaps this may result from a peculiarity of fossiliza-

tion, though, from the number of specimens which have been

examined, it is more likely that some individuals of the species

were punctured and others were not. The punctures which

have been detected are minute, and require a lens of moderately

high power to resolve them. They are observed best on the

central and dorsal areas; indeed I have not noticed them else-

where. The longitudinal wrinkles are also confined to the same

regions, but chiefly to the central area. They are tenuous, and

trend somewhat irregularly in a direction parallel with the free

margins.

L.? Permiana seems to be nearly related to the Russian spe-

cies, L.? stricta, Keyserling+. The latter species has rounder

extremities, its ventral margin more deeply sinuate, and is ap-

parently more compressed than the former. Some difference

also exists in the punctured ornamentation, which in L. stricta

is very regularly arranged. Both agree, however, in possessing

two expanded rims on the free margin of each valve. L.? Roess-

leri, Reusst, of the Lower Zechstein also corresponds in this

respect, and will probably prove to be closely related.

It is not uncommon in the fossiliferous limestone of Tunstall

Hill, and in the Upper Permians of Byers’ Quarry.

The generic affinities of this species and of its congeners are

involved in some obscurity. When first described by Mr. Jones,

from specimens on the limestone slabs of Byers’ Quarry, it was

referred by him to the genus Dithyrocaris of Dr. Scouler. In

placing it there, he admitted that it was questionable whether it

in reality belonged to that group or not ; for his own specimens

* Reise durch die Tundren der Samojeden, p. 112. taf. 4. fig. 37.

Tt Loc. cit. p. 112. taf. 4. fig. 38.

{ Jahres. Wetterau. Gesell. 1851-1853, p. 70.

from the Fossiliferous Limestone of Durham. 4.37

were not well preserved, nor had the characters of the genus been

properly defined by its author: but from the data offered by the

imperfect materials in his hands, he thought it possible that it

might have some affinity to it; so he placed it in it provisionally.

Dithyrocaris was originally considered by Dr. Scouler to have

a univalve carapace, like Apus and other single-valved Branchio-

poda*. He afterwards altered his views, supposing it to be

bivalve, like Cypris, though differig from that genus in having

caudal appendages protruding from the valves. This opinion

was held until 184.3, when Colonel Portlock described two new

species from the shales of the Lower Carboniferous rocks of Ire-

land+, and proved that its carapace was univalve, as Dr. Scouler

had supposed at first. Colonel Portlock’s description of these

species, particularly of D. Colei, can leave no doubt of the cor-

rectness of his views in this respect, and clearly demonstrates

that Dithyrocaris is a univalve Entomostracan—that is, sup-

posing Dr. Scouler’s species belong to the same group, which

may be taken for granted until proved to the contrary.

All the examples of L.? Permiana which came under the no-

tice of Mr. Jones were, as stated before, more or less imperfect ;

so it may naturally be supposed that great difficulty would

occur in attempting to determine the generic affinities of the

species to which they belonged. It is evidently owing to this

cause that Mr. Jones supposed that it might be a member of

Dithyrocaris. It is from the perfect state of preservation of

my specimens that I have been enabled to offer the preceding

remarks in addition to those of Mr. Jones. And as some of the

specimens have the valves united and in close juxtaposition, I

have also been enabled to prove that the species was a bivalve

Entomostracan, like Cythere, or rather Leperditia, consequently

that it has no affinity to Dithyrocaris—nor to Ceratiocaris, to

which Mr. Jones afterwards referred itt, its bivalvular character

also, of course, excluding it from that genus.

German and Russian paleontologists have referred congeneric

species to Cythere ; but, with the exception of being bivalve, they

possess no characters to warrant their remaining there.

The true generic affinities of L.? Permiana and its congeners

I leave to be determined by my friend Mr. Jones, as he tells me

that he has long been investigating their relations, and as I am

quite sure that he is more competent to do sothan Lam. I am

of opinion that they will be found to constitute a new group.

* Records of Science, Feb. 1835; and in a paper read before the British

Association at Glasgow. See also Jones on Dithyrocaris, in Prof. King’s

Mon. Perm. Foss. p. 64.

+ Report of the Geology of the County of Londonderry, pp. 313-316.

pl. 12. + Morris’s Cat. British Fossils, 2nd edit. p. 103.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 30

438 Mr. J. W. Kirkby on Permian Entomostraca.

The present species 1s merely placed in Leperditia as an approxi-

mation to its true position, and not because I thik it ought to

remain there, though probably this genus and Beyrichia will

prove very close neighbours to it.

Besides the species under notice, Mr. Jones has described an-

other from Byers’ Quarry—L.? glypta. In Germany, another

has been described by Dr. Reuss under the name of Cythere

Roessleri; and Count Keyserling has noticed three more from

the Permians of Russia, terming them Cythere Schrenku, C.

stricta, and C. grapta.

The following Table gives a general view of the Permian

Entomostraca, with their distribution in England, Germany, and

Russia :—

Eu = af Germany.) Russia.

.| 3 ei

= E & |aee Remarks.

als] 42 |e

ml SN no25

1 |\Cythere? Morrisiana, Jones * Probably belonging to Bairdia.

2 elongata, JONES mi as este * Probably belonging to Bairdia.

S|-=1 Gehitian, domes -|)] «|. 4 Ala eal

of South Yorkshire.

4|——-? Kutorgiana, Jones...\..|*\ 2. +. |Probably belonging to Bairdia.

5|—— bituberculata, Reuss..|..|-+ *

6 Cythereis biplicata, Jones . *

7 drupacea, Richter....|..|-- * A somewhat similar form oc-

8| \Cy ‘therella inornata, MW en i iG {cued to Prof. King in Tul-

9 | nuciformis, Jones . .|* * lyconnel limestone, Ireland.

10 |Bairdia acuta, Jones ......| *?| *

ip] plebeia, Reuss ...... * |e] x

12|—— Kingii, Reuss ...... a

13 |\—— mucronata, Reuss....| *|--

14'\——- ampla, Reuss ......}..|-+ *

15 |—— frumentum, Reuss al: *

16 —— ventricosa, Kirkby ..| * |

17 |\— Reussiana, Kirkby... .| *

18) reniformis, Kirkby... . | *

19| Schaurothiana, Kirkby xk

20 ——? Berniciensis, Kirkby | * Prof. King found a specimen

21 —— Jonesiana, Kirkby. * | * * {resembling this species in

29 rhomboidea, Kirkby pele: the Tullyconnel limestone.

23 truncata, Kirkby .... | *

24 Leperditia? Permiana, Jones} * | *

25 |\——? glypta, Jones ......}..|*

1, FUCUSS wrcrerel| fault) | ee

27 ? stricta, Keyserling ..|..|.«| +.

28 ——? Schrenkii, Keyserling

29 ——? grapta, Keyserling ..|..|..| +. As this species seems to have

30 ——? recta, Keyserling SA, OE some sffinity to the mz, pre-

? ets y Babe fi) ceding, it 1s placed in the

31 Cythere Pyrrhe, Keyserling|..|..| .. same genus.

* & PX *

32 ——. Cyclas, Keyserling....|..|--| «+

M. Balbiani on the Generative Organs of the Infusoria. 439

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.

Fig. 1. Bairdia Jonesiana, un. sp.: right valve; magnified 30 times.

Fig. 2. Bairdia Jonesiana, a less elongate form: right valve; magnified

30 times.

Fig. 2a. Bairdia Jonesiana: \ateral contour.

Fig. 3. Bairdia rhomboidea, n. sp.: right valve; magnified 26 times.

Fig. 3a. Bairdia rhomboidea, lateral contour.

Fig. 4. Bairdia truncata, n. sp.: cast of right valve; magnified 38 times.

Fig. 4a. Bairdia truncata, lateral contour.

Fig. 5. Leperditia? Permiana, Jones: right valve, havmg a smooth sur-

face; magnified 26 times.

Figs.6 & 8. Leperditia? Permiana: right and left valves, showing a

wrinkled surface ; magnified 26 times.

Fig. 7. Leperditia? Permiana: left valve of a specimen with a punctured

surface ; magnified 30 times.

Fig. 9. Leperditia? Permiana: left valve of a young specimen; magnified

38 times.

Fig. 10. Leperditia? Permiana: ventral aspect of a specimen showing

lateral compression and marginal rims; magnified 26 times.

Fig. 11. Leperditia? Permiana: ventral aspect of a more globose speci-

men, showing marginal rims, punctured; magnified 30 times.

Fig. 12. Leperditia? Permiana: dorsal aspect of the last specimen; mag-

nified 30 times.

Fig. 13. Leperditia? Permiana: interior of right valve; magnified 30

times.

XLVII.—Jnvestigation of the Generative Organs and Reproduction

of the Infusoria. By M. Barsrani*.

In a preceding communication} I had the honour of communi-

cating to the Academy some of the results at which I had arrived

in studying the reproduction and development of the Infusoria

called Polygastrica in the classification of Ehrenberg. In the

course of the present spring and summer I have been able to

extend my researches to several other species, and to complete

some old observations which the want of materials had compelled

me to interrupt for atime. The object of the present note is

to make known the most essential of these new results, the de-

tailed exposition of which will form the subject of a memoir

which I propose shortly to submit to the Academy.

The investigation of the propagation of Paramecium Bursaria

had Jed me to assume in this species, independently of a multi-

plication by spontaneous scission, a second mode which consti-

tuted a true sexual generation, and to recognize in the organs

described under the names of nucleus and nucleolus the analogues

of the male and female generative organs of the higher animals.

* Translated from the ‘Comptes Rendus,’ 30 August, 1858, p. 383, by

W. S. Dallas.

+ See ‘Annals,’ 3rd series, No. 6. p. 435.

50*

440 M. Balbiani on the Generative Organs

I had also been led, in a great number of cases, to regard what

nearly all authors had considered to be a spontaneous division

in a longitudinal direction, as a sexual union of two individuals.

Very often, in fact, I have been able to ascertain that this state

coincided with certain remarkable changes which took place in

the internal organs of these animals.

I. The corpuscle which, in the Infusoria, has been described

under the name of nucleolus, and which I have shown to be the

male genital gland, has hitherto only been indicated in a few

rare species. In connexion with this, I have examined a great

number of individuals belonging to numerous and varied forms,

and I have convinced myself that, far from constituting an ex-

ception, the presence of one or even several nucleoles was a nearly

constant fact in the different types of this class ; but frequently

the simple or multiple nucleole which they contain is so inti-

mately confounded with the substance of the nucleus, that it only

becomes apparent when it is separated therefrom accidentally by

the action of reagents, or spontaneously at certain determinate

periods in the life of these creatures, principally at the time of

their sexual propagation. I have counted fourteen species in

which this organ was very evident to me, and in which I have

also been able to follow its evolution, to a greater or less extent,

at the breeding season, at the same time that I was an eye-

witness of the other actions which concur in assuring the repro-

duction of these animalcules by fecundated germs.

As regards the number and situation of the testicular organ

of the Infusoria, I have met with the following varieties. It is

simple, rounded, and lodged in more or less deep depressions of

the nucleus in Paramecium Aurelia and P. caudatum, and also

in a third species nearly allied to P. Bursaria, but smaller and

destitute of green granules. The genus Bursaria (B. leucas, flava,

and vernalis) also presents a simple nucleole situated in the vici-

nity of the nucleus. The same thing occurs in Chilodon cucul-

lulus. But with regard to the latter, I must remark that I do

not regard as the analogue of the nucleole of the preceding spe-

cies the corpuscle to which M. von Siebold has given this name,

and which is placed in the interior of the granular mass of the

nucleus, in the centre of a broad transparent zone. The true

nucleole or testicle of Chilodon appears in the form of a small,

rounded, brilliant grain, provided with a proper membrane, and

situated quite to one side and towards the middle of the nucleus.

It is very easily perceived in large specimens by employing the

action of reagents. As regards the nucleus and its internal

parts, I make no difficulty in regarding them as representing all

the elements of an ovum, of which the nucleole of the celebrated

German naturalist would be nothing but the germinal spot. The

and Reproduction of the Infusoria. 441

disappearance of the clear zone and of its central corpuscle in

the animals which have just copulated, especially appears to me

to militate in favour of this view.

II. I have met with a multiple testicle in many species be-

longing to the groups of the Oxytrichine and of the Euplotes or

Plesconia, mcluding the highest types of this class. In the

genus Oxytricha the two nuclei, which are elongated in the

direction of the greater axis of the body, are each accompanied

by a small, rounded, testicular body, very distinct from the cor-

responding nucleus. There are also two, placed one to the right

and the other to the left of the long nucleus, which is curved into

the form of a horse-shoe, in Euplotes Charon and viridis. In the

genera Stylonychia (S. Mytilus, pustulata, and lanceolata) and

Urostyla (U. grandis), the nucleoles, to the number of four or

five, are distributed in two groups in the vicinity of the nuclei,

of which the anterior is accompanied by two, and the posterior

also by two or sometimes three of these little organs. They are

remarkable from their distinctly rounded outline, their great

refractive power, and their homogeneous structure. In Spirosto-

mum ambiguum, each of the grains of the long moniliform cord

which here replaces the oval nucleus of the other species, gives

lodgment, in a deep depression of its surface, to a small rounded

corpuscle, which corresponds with the nucleole of the preceding

species; this brings the number of testicles in this animal to

forty-five or fifty. I have only been able to perceive them in

individuals which have been copulating for a certain time, and

by employing dilute acetic acid. It is very probable that an

analogous arrangement will be found in the other types in which

the nucleus is formed of grains placed in a single row, like a

necklace, such as Stentor, Kondylostomum, Trachelius moni-

liger, &e.

If]. The evolution of the male genital apparatus of the Infu-

soria, as just characterized, in the other species of the genus

Paramecium does not differ from that presented to us by P. Bur-

saria. In the Ozytrichine each of these organs remains entire,

becomes enlarged, and exhibits in its interior, applied against

its wall, a thick granular body, furnished with a tubular append-

age, which projects into the cavity of the capsule, and appears

to be open at its free extremity. This tube, which seems to be

an excretory duct, often appeared to be filled with capillary

filaments of extreme fineness, arranged parallel to the axis of the

duct in question, in which they were fixed by a portion of their

length, whilst the remainder, escaping by the orifice of the tube,

radiated in all directions in the interior of the capsule. Sub-

sequently the granular body and its duct disappear, and the

filaments, becoming free, collect into a bundle, which fills the

442 M. Balbiani on the Generative Organs of the Infusoria.

whole of the formative sac. Although I have never seen them

execute any movements, I do not hesitate in considering them as

the spermatic filaments of these animals.

IV. Itis with equal certainty that we may call the nucleus the

female genital organ of the Infusoria, in opposition to the per-

fectly hypothetical assertion of Ehrenberg, who regards it as the

testicle. Its evolution likewise only commences at the time of

reproduction, and often during the sexual union itself. In P.

Aurela and caudatum, towards the end of the copulation, its sur-

face is traversed in all directions by numerous furrows, which,

penetrating deeper and deeper into its mass, finally divide it

into a great number of unequal and irregularly rounded frag-

ments, having a clear centre more or less surrounded by granules.

I should compare these with the first rudiment of a vitellus, and

the transparent central portion to a more or less developed ger-

minal vesicle. The fragments thus formed are soon dispersed

in the surrounding parenchyma. Here a very small number of

them, almost always four, never more and very rarely less, com-

plete their evolution, and soon acquire the appearance of com-

plete and well-developed ova. In this state they present them-

selves in the form of small brilliant bodies, perfectly equal in

volume, slightly oval, and of a bluish-grey appearance. We may

very clearly distinguish in them a finely granular vitellus, sur-

rounded by its proper membrane, which separates from it more

or less after a few moments’ exposure to water. The germinal

vesicle and spot are also visible with a distinctness truly sur-

prising, considering that we have to do here with the smallest

of living organisms. I have met with these ova still enclosed nm

the body of the animal on the seventh day after the copulation ;

they no longer exhibited either germinal vesicle or spot, and

their volume had slightly increased. In the allied species, P.

Bursaria, the reniform nucleus becomes unrolled before breaking

up, and in this state resembles the ribbon-shaped nucleus of

the Vorticelle. About twenty or twenty-five of the fragments

produced from it contimue their development and become so

many perfect ova. In the nucleus of Chilodon cucullulus, also,

we observe, after the copulation, the disappearance of the trans-

parent zone with its central obscure spot. In the genera Stylo-

nychia and Urostyla the ova are tour in number, as in Parame-

cium caudatum, but they are produced by a different mechanism.

Kach of the two nuclei divides into two halves, as in the act of

spontaneous division ; and the four fragments thus produced form

an equal number of perfect ova. Lastly, in Spirostomum ambi-

guum, we have seen, in individuals which have been copulating

for some time, the forty or fifty grains of the long flexuous cord

which traverses the body become rounded and detached from

—__

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 443

each other. But we have been unable to discover in these all

the characters of an ovum with the same distinctness as in the

preceding species, no doubt because they had not yet arrived at

their complete development.

V. I have not witnessed the deposition of the ova in these

animals. It is very probable that they escape by the anus, or

by some neighbouring aperture. Thus, in the Stylonychie, I

have seen them collect in the posterior part of the body which

bears the anal orifice, and diminish gradually in number from

the first or second day after the copulation. It is a singular

thing, that about this period a round pale body begins to make

its appearance in the centre of the animal; this becomes con-

stricted about the middle, and reconstitutes the double nucleus

of Stylonychia.

VI. The Infusoria are destitute of copulatory organs. In

most cases the copulation is effected by simple juxtaposition,

the two mouths establishing the sexual communication (Para-

mecium, Bursaria, Euplotes, Chilodon, Spirostomum). In the

Oxytrichine the union is more intimate, and goes so far as to

constitute a true soldering of the two individuals for more than

two-thirds of their anterior part. Any one who had not wit-

nessed all the phases of this singular copulation, would be

unable to avoid regarding this state as a longitudinal division,

proceeding from behind forwards, in a single animal. But even,

if direct observation were wanting, the concomitant changes of

the internal organs, which are so characteristic, cannot leave

the least doubt as to the actual signification of this act.

XLVIII.—Remarks on certain Vermiform Fossils found in the

Mountain Limestone Districts of the North of England. By

Arpany Hancock*.

[With six Plates. |

In 1838, Mr. Dixon Dixon, of Unthank, presented to the

Newcastle Museum a few slabs of a fine-grained micaceous sand-

stone, which were procured from a quarry on Haltwhistle Com-

mon. ‘These slabs exhibited on their surfaces peculiar elevated

and depressed markings, supposed at the time to be either the

fossil remains of worms, or casts of worm-tracks.

Slabs bearing similar markings were likewise obtained by

Mr. Edward Wood, of Richmond, in 1850, from the same for-

mation in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, and were described by that

gentleman in two interesting communications published in the

* Communicated by the Author, having been read at the Meeting of the

British Association held at Leeds, September 22, 1358.

444: Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils.

Ist vol. of the ‘ Naturalist,’ in which the nature of these curious

fossils is discussed, and the conclusion arrived at that they are

worms, though to what order they belong is not determined.

Mr. Wood, however, no longer entertains this opinion. In a

letter which I had the pleasure of receiving from him a short

time ago, he states that these fossils “are assuredly the track-

tube or burrow of some creature, and probably, as you say, of

a crustacean.” And in the same communication Mr. Wood

further says, “I sent a specimen to the Museum in Jermyn

Street, and the lamented Edward Forbes had it marked ‘ Casts

of Annelide-tubes,’ and it is so marked still.”

Shortly after the appearance of Mr. Wood’s communications

in the ‘ Naturalist,’ Mr. John Dixon gave an account in the same

journal of what he supposed to be another species of fossil worm,

procured in the flagstone beds of Pateley-Bridge, Yorkshire, “a

deposit similar in general composition to those of Wensleydale.”

More recently, Mr. Howse has obtained from Weardale similar

fossils; and I am indebted to that gentleman for the loan of

several interesting specimens, both from that locality and from

Haltwhistle.

As far as I have been able to ascertam, the papers above

referred to contain all the information that has been published

on these worm-like fossils of the Carboniferous system ; but the

prevailing opinion appears to be that they are the remains of

worms, or are the casts of worm-tracks; and indeed, at first

sight, their general appearance would seem fairly to justify such

a conclusion. On careful inquiry, however, it appears to be un-

tenable ; and there is good reason for believing that they are the

runs or tracks of crustaceans.

Some years ago, whilst walking along the beach at Cullercoats,

my attention was arrested by some track-like markings on the

sand, which resembled most remarkably these so-called fossil

worms. So striking was the similarity, that I at once commenced

an examination of them, in the hope that they might throw some

light upon these enigmatical fossils ; and I soon satisfied myself

that the tracks on the beach, at all events, were in no way con-

nected with worms, though, at the time, I entirely failed to

ascertain how and by what they were produced. I then lost

sight of the subject; and it was not until the autumn of last

year, during a lengthened sojourn on the Durham coast, that

my attention was again directed to these beach-markings. On

this occasion I found them in great profusion on the Whitburn

Sands, and in every respect similar to those previously observed

at Cullercoats. They are, in fact, to be found on every sandy

shore in the neighbourhood of the Tyne and Wear, occurring

very abundantly on the sands at Tynemouth, Whitley, South

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 445

Shields, and Whitburn. In these localities they are to be seen

everywhere between tide-marks, but are most numerous about

half-way down the beach, on inclined, oozy, glistening spots,

where the sand is firm, and yet the moisture so profuse that it

mirrors the light.

In such situations they are very numerous and complicated.

There are two or three species, the largest (Pl. XIV. fig. 1) of

which is about three-eighths of an inch wide; it is slightly

raised above the general surface of the beach, and is of a flat-

tened, ribbon-like form, with a narrow median groove (a) run-

ning from end to end; it is occasionally several feet in length,

winding in a very intricate manner, and is frequently and irre-

gularly convoluted, forming, as it were, loose knots or systems

in which neither the commencement nor the termination can be

easily detected, and which are usually connected together by

lengthened, slightly undulated portions of the track. The wind-

ings are, for the most part, well rounded, and in their course

occasionally, but rarely, exhibit inconspicuous, arched, transverse

ridges (c). The tracks also occasionally show enlargements

placed at some little distance from each other (fig. 2 a); when

this is the case, there is no median groove. Another variety

occurs, but not frequently, im which there is neither groove nor

nodulous enlargements. The extent and complication of the

windings vary considerably ; and though they are for the most

part exceedingly intricate, as above described, they are at times

found of much less extent, and comparatively simple, so that

they can be followed easily enough throughout their sinuosities.

At other times they may be seen, as it were, entirely unravelled,

running a considerable distance in an undeviating or only slightly

tortuous line.

Besides the above, another kind of track, also very abundaut,

is found on our shores ; it is, however, very different in character,

and is much smaller. It (Pl. XV. fig. 1) is in the form of a

narrow wedge-shaped furrow (a), about two-tenths of an inch

wide, with the margins occasionally a little elevated (d, 6). Its

windings are very capricious, irregularly rounded, frequently

abruptly angulated, and sometimes for a considerable distance

finely and regularly undulated or zigzagged (fig. 2). This

species 1s often found in clese proximity to the broad form pre-

viously described ; but occasionally it occurs high up on the

beach, and in pools and small hollows between the ripple-ridges.

In such situations, however, it is not confined to the bottom of

the hollows, but likewise passes up the sides of the bordering

ridges.

A third variety (fig. 3) is occasionally seen, much resembling

the last both in size and windings ; but the furrow (4) is smaller

4.46 Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils.

and comparatively inconspicuous, and the sand is thrown up on

one side into an arched or rounded ridge (a), which sometimes

almost obliterates the furrow. The ridge itself is frequently

broken up into nodules (fig. 4), thus giving to the whole track a

beaded or articulated appearance. At each articulation a punc-

ture is occasionally observed in the furrow.

These tracks, as just described, may be observed by any one

who will take the trouble to look for them; but it is not quite

so easy to determine how and by what they : are formed. It was

long before I could ascertain these facts, and they were at length

determined only after some careful watching ; nothing, however,

is required but time and a little perseverance. The complication

and extent of the tracks are the main difficulties; on this ac-

count it is impossible to keep in view at the same time all their

numerous windings, and in most cases the extremities are not

to be seen. I therefore went down to the beach just as the tide

was leaving the spot where the broad or first-described tracks

were usually i in great profusion. The sand was quite smooth,

all irregularities “having been obliterated by the action of the

water. Here and teres however, the tracks had already made

their appearance, but were as yet of very limited extent, and

there was now no longer any difficulty in taking the whole in at

one view, and, moreover, the extremities were perfectly distinct.

It was only necessary to watch attentively to note the formation

of the numerous and labyrinthine windings that had been so

long a puzzle. I had not to wait long before the sand at one of

the fen trentien was observed to be gently agitated; and on this

agitation ceasing, the track was found to have added nearly half

an inch to its length. In the course of two or three minutes

the sand was again put in motion, and the track once more a

little prolonged. These movements were repeated over and over

again, until it was quite clear that the tracks were formed by

slow, intermitting steps, and not, as might have been supposed,

by one continuous, gliding motion. Having satisfied myself of

this, I took up the morsel of sand at the end of the track, just

as it was again becoming agitated, and found that I had cap-

tured a small crustacean, the species of which was unknown to

me, though in general appearance it was not altogether unlike

the common sandhopper, but not quite so long. It was un-

doubtedly one of the Amphipoda. I soon took in this way five or

six specimens, all of the same species, and all forming tracks of

precisely the same character,—namely broad, slightly elevated,

flattened, and grooved.

Whilst forming its track, the animal is never seen; it moves

along a little beneath the surface of the sand, which it pushes

upwards with its back; and the arch or tunnel thus formed

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 447

partially subsides as the creature passes forward, and, breaking

along the centre, the median groove is produced.

I now turned my attention to the narrow or furrowed tracks,

and in the same manner took several specimens of another spe-

cies of crustacean, much smaller than the first, but havimg some

general resemblance to it. This species, like the former, makes

its track step by step, resting some little time between each ad-

vance, but differs from it im having its back exposed to view

while moving ; on account of its colour, however, it is very dif-

ficult to distinguish from the sand.

The captured individuals were placed in a shallow vessel with

the bottom thickly covered with sand moistened with sea-water,

so as to resemble as nearly as possible the state of the beach

where the tracks are found; and I soon had the satisfaction of

seeing them make their tracks or runs in a state of confinement,

thus making assurance doubly sure. The tracks so formed

were precisely similar to those seen on the beach; but in one

instance an interesting modification was observed. I was watch-

ing the movements of an individual of the larger species, when

all at once it thrust itself through the surface of the sand, and

sinking immediately again, left there an oval swelling ; and re-

peating this action five or six times, formed a series of nodules

(Pl. XIV. fig. 24), which, if continued, would have produced

a track of a peculiar articulated appearance, much resembling

on a large scale the nodulous or beaded form already noticed

as sometimes occurring in a variety of the narrow, furrowed

kind.

Specimens of the two crustaceans which make these runs have

been submitted to Mr. C. Spence Bate ; and he obligingly informs

me that the larger one (that which makes the broad, elevated

tracks) is a scarce animal, and was described by him, under the

name of Bellia arenaria, in the ‘ Annals of Natural History’ for

1851; but the name was afterwards changed to that of Suleator

arenarius. He alludes to its habit of making tracks in the sand.

The smaller animal he states to be an undescribed species of the

genus Kriyera, for which he proposes the specific denomination

of arenaria. Both species will be figured and described by that

gentleman in the ‘Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists’

Field Ciub’ for 1858.

It has been already pointed out that the tracks, which we have

just seen are made by these crustaceans, are remarkably similar

to the vermiform impressions observed on the Carboniferous

slabs. Indeed, the broad raised track (PI. XIV. fig. 1) produced

by Sulcator arenarius so closely resembles some of the fossils,

that it is difficult to say in what they differ. The description

previously given of the former might, in fact, do very well for

443 Mr. A. Haneock on Vermiform Fossils.

the latter; only they are rarely so complicated. There are four

kinds of these fossil tracks.

The first (Pl. XVIII. c, c, c) is in the form of a simple furrow,

with a narrow ridge on each side; it is small, measuring scarcely

more than one-eighth of an inch wide, and has a wandering,

undulating course, which, however, is never very much comphi-

cated, and is confined to the same horizontal plane.

The second, which is a little wider than the above, is smooth,

cylindrical, and tortuous, and usually remains in relief on the

lower slab, but occasionally dips a little beneath the surface.

The third (Pls. XVI. & XVII.) is irregularly cylindrical,

and though sometimes much undulated, is never convoluted or

very complicated ; it is not strictly confined to the same hori-

zontal plane, but frequently sinks a little below the surface.

Full-sized specimens are half an inch wide, and are composed of

a series of nodules (a, a), which give them an articulated ap-

pearance. The nodules, which vary a little in size, are usually

about half an inch long, and are not very symmetrically or regu-

larly formed ; consequently the surface has generally an imper-

fect or worn character. The extremities are not often seen;

they are abruptly and irregularly rounded. This is the form

more particularly described by Mr. Wood, who has in his pos-

session the fine specimen figured in Pl. XVI., which measures

nearly eight feet in length, though neither extremity is perfect.

The fourth form (PI. AIAN ae which seems to be the domi-

nant one in Northumberland, and is that figured and de-

scribed by Mr. John Dixon, is, as far as I have been able to

ascertain, usually in relief upon the upper surface of the lower

slab, from which it never deviates; it is considerably depressed,

grooved (6) or ridged (Pl. XIX. fig. 1 a) along the middle

line, and is occasionally very long. The specimen figured in

Pl. XVIII. measures upwards of six feet m length, but was

probably much longer, for the extremities are not present. In

fact, it has not yet been determined to what length these

fossils extend, as none hitherto measured have had both ends

perfect. Large specimens are frequently an inch wide, and

generally much undulated, and occasionally, but never intri-

cately, convoluted. Such have the surface most frequently marked

with numerous, regular, rather fine, transverse striz or arched

ridges (Pl. XIX. fig. 2), which are sometimes very delicate and

close-set, though they vary in these particulars, and are occa-

sionally coarse and irregular, giving to the whole surface a

wrinkled appearance. Small specimens (fig. 1), on the contrary,

are frequently wound up in an intricate manner, the folds being

well rounded and often convoluted; but the surface is never

marked with transverse lines or wrinkles.

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 449

It is this last form, particularly the smaller and more compli-

cated variety, that so closely resembles the track of Sulcator

arenarius (Pl. XIV. fig. 1). The folds or windings are precisely

similar, and so is the median groove. It differs chiefly in being

occasionally much larger, and in rising up more boldly in relief

from the matrix, though in these respects they sometimes closely

approximate. Dimensions, however, can be of very little conse-

quence ; for of course the larger the animal, the larger the track.

The relief may also be influenced by other conditions; the qua-

lity of the substance in which the tracks are made must likewise

be taken into account.

The crustacean, as we have seen, forces itself onward imme-

diately beneath the surface of the sand, which is thrust up by

its back, and as it moves along, a sort of arched tunnel is thus

formed; but as the sand is incoherent—unmixed as it is with

any material that could give it consistency—the roof falls in

immediately the animal ceases to give it support, and ultimately

the relief of the track is very small. As the arch falls, it must

either break along the centre or thrust out the sides; the latter

is impossible—hence the median groove. Had the beach been

composed of sand with a large admixture of argillaceous matter

or tenacious mud, it is very obvious that the tunnel would have

had a greater tendency to retain its original form, and that, had

it been submerged before it had subsided to any great extent,

such an infiltration of matter might have taken place as to pre-

vent any very extensive collapse. The roof, under such cir-

cumstances, would split along the centre, and the margins of

the fracture would either fall inwards and form a groove, or be

pressed outwards and become a ridge. It is also possible to

conceive that the substance composing the shore might be so

tenacious that the roof of the tunnel would scarcely subside at

all, and that consequently there would be no fracture along it,

and therefore neither groove nor ridge.

Now, these cases, which are hypothetical so far as they con-

cern our crustacean tracks, do not appear to be so in regard to

the conditions that prevailed during the deposition of the Car-

boniferous rocks which have revealed to us these curious vermi-

form fossils. The rocks from which the Yorkshire specimens

were procured are, Mr. Wood says, “ apparently equivalent to the

flagstone beds placed by Phillips, in his section of the hills about

Howes, low down in the middle group of the Yoredale series,

and called by him the flagstone beds of Howes.” And, in

speaking of the nature of these flagstones, Professor Phillips

states, in his work on the ‘Mountain Limestone District of

Yorkshire,’ that they are formed of “a laminated rock, composed

of small worn grains of quartz, mica with or without felspar,

450 Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils.

and other minerals, occasionally calcareous, carbonaceous, and

argillaceous: the mica or carbon, lymg in particular planes,

causes the minute fissility of the stone; and bands of mica or

argillaceous matter separate it imto thin flags or beds. The

tops and bottoms of gritstone rocks are often thus laminated ;

plates becoming very sandy change to flagstone; grit rocks

becoming very argillaceous assume the same character.” It

would thus appear that these fossiliferous slabs, which are com-

posed of a finely-laminated, shaly, compact, close-grained, mica-

ceous sandstone, contain argillaceous matter. The slabs from

Northumberland have exactly the same composition, and appa-

rently belong to the same series of rocks. It is fair, then, to

assume that the matter composing these flagstones was originally

of a more tenacious consistency than the sand of our shores, and

therefore, were the tracks found on the slabs made by even the

very same crustacean that occurs on our coast, some differences

might be expected to exist between such tracks and those formed

on the beach.

Such differences, we have seen, are very slight, and may all

be accounted for in this way. The greater tenacity of the ma-

terial at once explains the higher relief of the fossil, the occa-

sional substitution of a ridge for the median groove, and the

deficiency of either groove or ridge in those whose relief is so

excessive as to have become almost cylindrical. A similar smooth

variety, as previously stated, sometimes occurs on the beach ;

but this arises from the fact of the crustacean having tunneled

deeper than usual, and im this case the relief is not great.

Smooth tracks are also found on the slabs, arising, probably,

from the like cause.

The specimens described by Mr. Wood are characterized, as

we have seen, by a remarkable nodulous or articulated appearance

(Pl. XVI. a, a), which has been supposed to indicate the pre-

sence of rings of some Annelide; and, indeed, were it not for

the light derived from the crustacean tracks on our shores, it

would not be easy to conjecture a more plausible explanation.

We have seen, however, that a variety of the track of Kréyera

arenaria has the ridge of sand thrown up broken into nodules,

giving to it a beaded character. This, on a small scale, has a

considerable resemblance to these nodulous forms. Buta much

nearer approximation is found in the nodulous tracks of Su/lcator

arenarius, particularly of the one made in confinement (Pl. XIV.

fig.2). Had the animal continued to form its track in this

manner, the resemblance to those on the slabs would have been

almost complete. It may therefore be assumed that the ani-

mal which made those nodulous tracks, like our small crusta-

ceans, pushed along in its path step by step, resting awhile after

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 451

each advance,—but that, instead of moving in the same horizontal

plane, it alternately rose and sunk a little ; consequently a series

of nodules was produced, and the track acquired its peculiar

articulated appearance. This explanation is strengthened not a

little when we look at the side view of the cast of the track

(Pl. XVII. fig. 2). The nodules are then distinctly observed to

be imbricated, and to pass, very much inclined, right through

the substance from top to bottom.

We see in the ridged variety of the track of Sulcator arenarius

another approximation to the nodulous form; at c, Pl. XIV.

fiz. 1, a few of the transverse ridges of this variety are repre-

sented, from which it will be seen that the articulated appear-

ance is very slight, and it is pretty obvious that it is produced

by the intermitting progress of the animal—the transverse

arched elevations or ridges undoubtedly indicate the successive

steps in the creature’s path. These ridges, too, have much the

character of the transverse striz or wrinkles that cover the sur-

face of most of the larger fossils; and it seems not altogether

impossible that the latter were produced in the same manner,

though they are much more closely set. It is more probable,

however, that these ridges in the fossil were caused by the

crumpling of the roof of the tunnel as the animal pressed for-

ward with a short, jerking motion. And here it must be borne

in mind that these transverse ridges, which in some individuals

are strong and well-defined, and even coarse and irregular, in

others are exceedingly delicate, and are occasionally entirely

wanting. This is usually the case on slabs dark with excess of

carbonaceous matter, indicating that the sedimentary material

of which the rock is composed was light and incoherent ; con-

sequently the specimens on such slabs are not only devoid of

those peculiar ridges, but are also in very low relief, some being

quite as little elevated as the tracks on the sea-beach.

The cast of the nodulous track occasionally detaches itself

entirely from the matrix (Pl. XVII. fig. 2). Mr. Wood informs

me that a blow with a hammer is very liable to separate the

specimen from the rock, leaving a cast on both the upper and

lower slab ; and in his first paper he remarks, “ If the appear-

ances above spoken of are but markings, how could they show a

circular form on both the upper and lower surfaces ?”’

This at first sight seems a formidable difficulty ; and were the

tracks such mere superficial markings as is there supposed, this

objection would be fatal to the view now taken with respect to the

_ nature of these fossils. It has been shown, however, that the track

of Sulcator arenarius isa tunnel ; and with the aid of this fact, the

difficulty at once disappears. If the tunnel-tracks were formed

in a tenacious material, such as that from which these slabs have

452 Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils.

apparently originated, their walls, as we have seen, would not

entirely collapse, but the cylindrical form would be more or less

retained. It is therefore fair to suppose that the sedimentary

matter, as it was being deposited, would gradually find its way

into these lengthened tunnels or burrows after their submer-

gence, and ultimately fill them up; but, the particles of such

infiltrated matter having a different arrangement from those

forming the general mass of the rock, the phenomenon presented

on breaking it up into slabs would necessarily occur: the casts

of the tracks would become isolated like the fossil remains of

any organic body, or might be left in relief on either the upper

or lower slab.

The nodulous form, however, differs from the broad grooved

species in not keeping strictly to the same horizontal plane ; it

undulates slightly vertically as well as horizontally, so that the

burrow is occasionally sunk entirely beneath the surface. In

such cases, as the tunnel cannot be formed by thrusting up the

surface, the animal must, as it presses forward, throw the exca-

vated matter backward, fillmg up the tunnel, either entirely or

partially, as fast as it is made. But here, too, as the particles

in the interior of the tunnel must have a different arrangement

from those that surround them, the cast of the track would be

hable to become isolated, on breaking up the rock, in the same

manner as if the burrow had been completely filled with infiltrated

matter.

It is worthy of remark, that the nodulous forms, which have

neither median ridge nor groove, are rarely depressed, being

frequently cylindrical, and even sometimes deeper than wide.

This is just what might be expected, if the explanation now

given of these fossils be correct. At the junction of the nodules

there are septa formed (Pl. XVII. f, f), which pass for some

little distance inwards, and which may be looked upon as so

many transverse arches, giving support to the walls of the tunnel.

These must naturally assist in preventing their collapse, and

will in this way account not only for the cylindrical form of

these specimens, but also for their deficiency of median groove

or ridge. Their occasional greater or less depth below the sur-

face of the matrix must also have been favourable to the pre-

servation of their original form.

The foregoing observations are entirely confined to the tracks

having a tunnel-form. We have seen, however, that there is

another kind which occasionally ocewrs on the slabs from North-

umberland. This is the first described species (Pl. XVIII.

c, c,¢), and is, as before stated, a simple furrow with a narrow

ridge on each side. It is certainly possible that this may have

been formed in the same manner as the others, and that the

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 453

groove may indicate the falling-in of the roof of a tunnel; but

from its great similarity to the track of Kréyere arenaria, it 18

more probable that, like it, it is a mere surface-run formed by

the exposed animal ploughing its course. However this may

be, its nature cannot be questioned; it is undoubtedly a track,

and so closely resembles those of the crustacean as scarcely to

leave room for the interrogation, Of what? It is hardly to be

doubted that they belong to some animal of that class.

From the aboye observations we seem justified in concluding

that these curious vermiform fossils are the tracks of crustaceans ;

but before doing so, it would be well to inquire how far they

are likely to be the remains or tracks of worms, or worm-tubes,

or any other organic body.

In the first place, the enormous length of the grooved and

nodulous forms is rather opposed to their being the remains of

worms. Of course this does not militate against their being

worm-runs, though the great width they sometimes attain does

not at all favour that opmion. The width of the largest speci-

mens of the grooved form is a little over an inch, and of the

nodulous species about half an inch; their length may be three,

ten, or twenty times greater than the measurements before given,

as none of the larger specimens, as already stated, have yet been

obtained with both extremities perfect. Size alone, however, is

not sufficient to debar the possibility of their havingbeen formed

by worms; but, upon such a hypothesis, how are we to account

for the peculiar character of the nodulous form? It is impossible

to comprehend how the nodules, which are imbricated, passing

diagonally through the track, could have been produced by a worm

working its way through sand, mud, or any other material what-

ever. With respect to the grooved form, it may also be asked,

do worms or any of the Annclides ever make runs at all similar

to it? I know of no instance of any of these animals making a

tunnel-track immediately beneath the surface of the beach, con-

fined to the same horizontal plane, and with an elevated, arched

roof. Annelides do not move along the surface in this manner ;

and when they burrow, they dip downwards, making perfectly

circular passages.

The small furrowed kind, for size, might very well be the track

of some worm; but its close resemblance to the runs of crusta-

ceans has already been pointed out. With regard to the small

cylindrical runs, not much can be said, as they are too deficient

in character to allow of any very decided opinion ; only we have

seen that on the beach there are elevated cylindrical tracks pro-

duced by crustaceans not very dissimilar to those in question.

Can the two former or large species be worm-tubes, or any orga-

nic body? The transverse striation on the surface of the grooved

Am. & Mag. N. Hist. Sex.3, Vol, ii. 31

454, Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils.

form certainly gives to it much the appearance of some organism.

An endeavour, however, has already been made to explain the

nature of this peculiar character; but whether successfully or

not, there is sufficient evidence to prove that these fossils are

not organic. The slabs exhibiting these vermiform tracks are

frequently marked with numerous small pits or punctures, which

sink for a short distance beneath the surface. These (PI. XVII.

c, c) have somewhat the appearance of what have been termed

by geologists impressions of rain-drops. In this instance, how-

ever, they are undoubtedly produced by the animals which have

made some of the smaller tracks, as it is not uncommon to see

the latter terminate in one of these punctures (e,e). Now, it

occasionally happens that the large or striated fossils are per-

forated by these punctures ; and the scars thus made are similar

to those in like manner formed on the other parts of the slab.

This could hardly be so, had the slab and the fossil been origi-

nally composed of two different substances,—that is, had the

former been nothing but sand or mud, and the latter a worm-

tube or some other organic body.

Another fact equally instructive may also be cited. The slab

in the Newcastle Museum previously alluded to exhibits not only

the large grooved track, but also several of the small furrowed

ones; and the latter frequently pass over the former in various

directions (Pl. XVIII. c,c,c). The nature of the small species

is not likely to be disputed: it is certainly a track of some kind ;

and it is remarkable that it never turns aside as it approaches

the large grooved form, but passes over it at once, ploughing its

way exactly in the same manner as it has done on the level por-

tions of the sandy beach. The furrow is precisely of the same

character, form, and depth, whether on the slab or on the track ;

and the ridge thrown up on each side is in no respect dissimilar,

This seems a pretty conclusive proof that this large vermiform

fossil is not a worm-tube or any organic body, but is really no-

thing more than a track which was, in fact, originally, as it is now,

eomposed of the same material as the slab upon which it rests ;

otherwise the appearances as above described could not exist.

There still remains another very conclusive argument against

the organic nature of these fossils. The folds or windings of both

the grooved and nodulous forms occasionally cross each other ;

and when they do so, the one does not lie over the other, as it

must necessarily have done were they organic, but passes right

through it, cuttmg its own path (Pl. XVII. 4). This is still

more clearly demonstrated in the fine large specimen of the no-

dulous form previously alluded to (Pl. XVI. },0), and appears

only explicable on the hypothesis of their being mere tracks.

And perhaps it will now be allowed that enough has been said to

establish the high probability, at least, that they were formed by

eS = er

Mr. A. Hancock on Vermiform Fossils. 455

crustaceans ; it therefore only remains to be ascertained whether

they can be attributed to any known fossil of the Carboniferous

rocks,

Mr. Howse has suggested to me that they may be the runs of

Trilobites, several species of which occur in this formation. This

is not by any means unlikely. It is true, I believe, that these

curious crustaceans have never been found in the rocks in which

these tracks oceur. They are most abundant in the lower mem-

bers of the Carboniferous system, though they occasionally

occur higher up im the series. Professor Phillips, in his work

on the ‘ Mountain Limestone District of Yorkshire,’ gives Alston

Moor as one of the localities of Asaphus gemmuliferus; and I

am informed by Mr. Howse that he has obtained in Tynedale

two or three specimens of a Trilobite from a plate bed a little

aboye the Scar limestone of Forster’s section; and he further

states that the Yoredale rocks correspond exactly to the Wear-

dale series above Stanhope, that is, from the little limestone to

the Scar limestone, and that the specimens of tracks procured

in Weardale are from the slaty Hazle immediately above the

latter—a position agreeing with that of the beds in the neigh-

bourhood of Howes, The tracks from Haltwhistle are, he like-

wise states, from a slaty Hazle just above the little limestone,

It is therefore of no great moment that Trilobites have not

been found in the strata from which these vermiform fossils are

obtained, since they have been procured from the associated

beds, And it is a remarkable fact that no remains whatever of

any organic body are found in these flagstones ; yet is there not

sufficient evidence to prove that life abounded in the seas from

which these rocks were derived? Numerous Trilobites might

haye existed during their deposition, and may have perished

with the other inhabitants of those seas, leaving no trace behind

them, except these, as it were, footprints in the sand. Many

such footprints are all that is left in the world’s stony record of

existences that have passed away; and so it may be with these

fossil tracks.

The Carboniferous Trilobites, however, correspond yery well in

size to the tracks, the largest of the grooved kind of which, we

have seen, is a little above an inch wide. The width of the

pygidium of Phillipsia truncatula is stated to be eleven lines,—

that of the cephalic shield would probably be a little more;

therefore, if allowance be made for the thickness of the tunnel-

wall, and the necessary enlargement of the calibre beyond the

width of the animal, it is evident that, so far as size is concerned,

the largest tracks might be attributed to this species.

The nodulous tracks are not more than half an inch wide;

there can therefore be no difficulty as to size with respect to

31*

456 Mr. A, Hancock on Vermiform Fossils.

this form. The P. gemmulifera has the pygidium five lines wide ;

so has Griffithides calcaratus ; and two or three other species are

described to be about the same size. And, moreover, the large

cephalic shield, with its anterior or head-tubercle (glabella) and

projecting “cover of the eyes,” appears well calculated to plough

its way bencath the surface of the sandy or muddy beach. And

it is worthy of remark, that in some of the tracks the central

portion is considerably elevated, forming the upper surface or

roof into three areas—a central elevated portion (PI. XIX. fig.2 a)

and two comparatively depressed lateral portions (¢,¢). The

former, which appears to correspond tc the glabella, is grooved

(2) along the middle line; and im one or two instances this ele-

vated portion has occurred broken up into a series of irregular

nodules (e, e), as if the animal had, at each step in its progress,

thrust the head upwards, bulging out the walls of the track.

The lateral portions in these cases are likewise raised up into

irregular ridges at each nodule.

Burmeister, indeed, in his work on the ‘ Organization of Tri-

lobites*,’ expresses an opinion that their habits, like their struc-

ture, resembled those of the Phyllopoda (a tribe of the Ento-

mostraca), and that they “moved only by swimming in an in-

verted position close beneath the surface of the water, and did

not creep about at the bottom, as Kléden supposed.” Though

their habits may have been similar to those of the Phyllopoda,

there does not seem any good reason for asserting that there

was no deviation in this respect. Indeed, the organization of the

two groups differs in so many particulars, that some variation

in their modes of life might naturally be looked for. The Tri-

lobites may have occasionally swum at the surface as supposed,

and also have burrowed in the mud or sand at the bottom of the

water or on the beach. Season, too, may have modified their

habits in these respects,

[ have now, before concluding, only to express my obligations

to Mr. Wood for all the trouble he has taken to furnish me with

information on the subject of these remarks, and likewise for

the great exertions he has made to supply specimens for illus-

tration. My acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Howse for

similar assistance.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES,

PLATE XIV.

Fig. 1. Broad, grooved track of Sulcator arenarius: a, groove; 6, one of

the extremities; ¢, inconspicuous arched ridges, which oecasion-

ally oceur.

Fig. 2. a, Nodulous track of ditto; 6, ditto, ditto, made in confinement.

* Published by the Ray Society.

Mr. T. C. Eyton on a peculiar [schiatic Process in Erucivores. 457

PLATE XV.

Fig. 1. Narrow furrowed track of Kroéyera arenaria: a, furrow; 6,6, slight

lateral ridges.

Fig. 2. Variety of ditto, regularly zigzagged.

Fig. 3. Track exhibiting a rounded ridge, a, with a narrow lateral furrow, b.

Fig. 4. Ditto, with the ridge broken up into nodules: a, groove.

PLATE XVI.

Reduced view of a slab, bearing nodulous tracks, in the possession of Mr.

Wood: a, a, nodules; 6, 6, points where one fold or winding

cuts through another.

Puate XVII.

Fig. 1. View of a slab exhibiting nodulous tracks, with the cast of the

burrow partially removed: @, a, portions of the tracks with the

cast removed, showing impressions of the nodules; 8, ditto,

ditto, showing one track passing through another; ¢, ec, supposed

sinkings or perforations of small crustaceans; d, a small track

terminating in similar perforations, e, e; f,f, septa dividing the

nodules.

Fig. 2. Side view of a portion of the cast of the same track, showing the

nodules, a.

Piate XVIII.

Reduced view of a slab in the Newcastle Museum, exhibiting tracks:

a, large, depressed, grooved track ; 5, groove of ditto; ¢,c,c, small

furrowed tracks passing over the large grooved species in various

directions.

PLATE XIX.

Fig. 1. View of a slab, of the natural size, in the possession of Mr. Howse,

bearing a small, much-convoluted variety of the large grooved

track: a, ceutral ridge.

Fig. 2. Portions of a variety of large grooved track, of the size of nature,

showing a central elevated area and transverse stricz or ridges:

a, central elevated area; 5, central groove of ditto; ¢, c, lateral

areas; d, portion of another track, exhibiting the central ele-

vated area broken up into nodules, ¢, e.

XLIX.—WNotes on Birds. By T.C. Eyton, Esq., FVL.S. &e.

[Continued from vol. xvii. p. 313, 1st series. ]

No. VII. On a peculiar Process attached to the Ischium in

Erucivores.

Ir is now some time since, in my own collection, I separated

the Cuckoos from other Scansores under the above name, which

was first proposed at the Meeting of the British Association

lately held at Leeds; but it was only a few days ago that I dis-

458 Mr. T. C. Eyton ona peculiar Ischiatie Process in Erucivores.

covered a process attached to the anterior edge of the ischium,

which exists throughout the whole order of Krucivores, and is

not found in any other group that I am aware of, thus distinetly

marking the Cuckoos as an isolated group. The process alluded

to is a lengthened and flattened spine attached to the edge of

the anterior extremity of the ischium ; it varies much in develop-

ment in different genera, being lengthened among the Turacoes

and Ground Cuckoos, and least developed, but still apparent, in

Chalcites and Cuculus glandarius; but, however rudimentary,

it is always present in every genus of Cuckoos that I have

examined.

During Professor Owen’s lecture at Leeds on the Fossil Mar-

supials of Australia, it struck me as not being unlikely that some

form approaching to marsupial structure might be found in the

skeletons of birds. On my return home, I examined minutely the

Meliphagide (thinking that, the metropolis of that family bemg

Australia, some peculiarity might occur among them), but without

meeting with anything striking. In mounting a specimen of the

skeleton of Twracus gigas, sent to me in spirits, several years ago,

from Africa, by Mr. Fraser, the process alluded to first struck me.

In this bird it is more developed than in any other of the group

with which I am acquainted, except perhaps in Centropus pha-

sianellus, projecting trom the anterior extremity of the ischium

nearly half an inch, and with a nearly obliterated suture between

it and that bone, and holding precisely the same position that

marsupial bones do among that peculiar class of Mammalia.

Although I have, up to the present time, failed to discover a

similar structure in birds now classed in other orders, I should

not be in the least surprised at doing so, were it not for the

mode many genera of Cuckoos adopt in depositing their eggs

—some laying them in the nests of other birds, while several

females of other species deposit them in a common nest. Little

or nothing, however, is known of the nidification of many genera.

The group will now consist of the Cuculide proper and the Tu-

racoes, among which I am still doubtful whether Opisthocomus

cristatus ought to be included or not, as I have never seen a

skeleton, and, in the lithograph published by Castelnau, ‘ Expédi-

tion dans PAmérique,’ the femur crosses the anterior part of the

ischium, so as to hide the process if it exists; in other respects,

with the exception of the sternum, which is evidently distorted,

the whole skeleton resembles the Turacoes. Nor have I yet seen

the skeleton of Jndicator, which has been usually classed with

the Cuckoos.

i eel ew ar ae PNG y Aaa

Mr. C. Darwin on the Fertilization of Papilionaceous Flowers, 459

L.—On the Agency of Bees in the Fertilization of Papilionaceous

Flowers, and on the Crossing of Kidney Beans. By Cuan.es

Darwin, F.R.S.*

In a brief notice published by me on this subject last year,

I stated that bees always alight on the left wing-petal of the

Searlet Kidney Bean, and in doing so depress it ; and this acts

on the tubular and spiral keel-petal, which causes the pistil

to protrude: on the pistil there is a brush of hairs; and by the

repeated moyement of the keel-petal the hairs brush the pollen

beyond the anthers on to the stigmatic surface. This complex

contrivance led me to suppose that bees were necessary to the

fertilization of the flower: accordingly I enclosed some few

fiowers in bottles and under gauze ; and those which were not in

any way moved did not set a single pod, whereas some of those

which I moved in imitation of the bees produced fine pods. But

I then stated that the experiment was tried on much too small

a scale to be trusted. I have this year covered up between 3

and 4 feet in length of a row of Kidney Beans, just before the

flowers opened, in a tall bag of very thin net. Nothing in the

appearance of the plants would lead me to suppose that this was

in any way injurious to their fertilization: and I think this con-

elusion may be trusted ; for some of the flowers which I moved in

- the same way as the bees do, produced pods quite as fine as

could be found in the uncovered rows.

The result was that the covered-up plants had produced by

August 13th only thirty-five pods, and im no one ¢ase two pods

on the same stalk, whereas the adjoining uncovered rows were

crowded with clusters of pods. There were many flowers still on

the plants when uncovered ; and it was curious to see how, ina

few days afterwards, as soon as the bees had access to them,

a number of pods hanging in clusters of three and four together

were produced. On August 17th I again put the net on a later

crop. The covered plants now produced ninety-seven pods, borne

on seventy-four stalks, showing that the same stalk often pro-

duced more than one pod. This time I kept an equal length of

uncovered beans ungathered ; and on this length there were 292

pods, or exactly thrice as many as on the covered plants. Taking

this number as the standard of comparison for the first experiment

(which, however, is hardly fair, as my gardener thinks the second

crop was more productive than the first), more than eight times

as many pods were produced on the uncovered than on the

covered rows. ‘The Kidney Bean is largely frequented by the

Thrips; and as I have with some other plants actually seen a

Thrips which was dusted with pollen leave several granules on the

- * Extracted from the ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle’ of November 13, 1858,

460 Mr. C. Darwin on the Agency of Bees

stigma, it is quite possible that the fertilization of the covered-

up flowers might have been thus aided.

In the common Bean there is no such obvious relation between

the structure of the flower and the visits of bees ; yet, when these

insects alight on the wing-petals, they cause the rectangularly

bent pistil and the pollen to protrude through the slit in the

keel-petal. I was led to try the effect of covermg them up, from

a statement in the ‘Gardeners’ Chronicle’ made several years ago,

viz. that when bees bite holes through the calyx of the flower in

order to get more easily at the nectar, the crop is injured. This

was attributed by the writer to injury of ‘the ovarium, which I

am sure is incorrect. But I thought that it was possible that

the fertilization would be less perfect, as soon as bees ceased to

alight on the wing-petals. I accordingly covered up seventeen

plants, just before the flowers opened, moving a few flowers to

ascertain that very fine pods, including the full average number

of beans, could be, and were, produced on the plants under the

net. These seventeen plants produced thirty-six pods; but no

less than eight of them, though well formed, did not inelude a

single bean. The thirty-six pods together contamed only forty

beans, and, if the empty pods be excluded, each produced on an

average less than one and a half beans; on the other hand,

seventeen uncovered plants in an adjommg row which were

visited by the bees produced forty-five pods, all cluding beans,

135 in number, or on an average exactly three beans to each

pod,—so that the uncovered beans were nearly thrice as fertile

as the covered.

In an old number of the ‘Gardeners’ Chronicle’ an extract is

given from a New Zealand newspaper, in which much surprise is

expressed that the introduced Clover never seeded freely until

the hive-bee was introduced. ‘This statement may be erroneous ;

at least, as I shall immediately show, it does not apply to the

Canterbury Settlement. But I was induced by it to cover up

under the same open sort of net about a yard square of the

common White Clover, growing thickly in turf; and I then

eathered an equal number cf heads from the covered and from

some uncovered plants which were growing all round, and which

I had seen daily visited by my bees. I collected the seed into a

small parcel ; and, as far as I could estimate, the uncovered plants

produced just ten times as much seed as the covered. Speaking

loosely, the covered heads might have been said to have produced

no seed.

Lathyrus grandiflorus is very varely visited by bees in this

country; and from experiments which I have tried during the

Jast two summers, and from experiments recorded in ‘ Loudon’s

Magazine,’ I am convinced that moving the flowers favours their

—

in the Fertilization of Papilionaceous Flowers. 461

fertilization, even when the young pod falls off, as very often hap-

pens almost immediately. Sir W. Macarthur, who did not know

of my experiments, told me that he had found that in New South

Wales the introduced Hrythrina did not set its pods well unless

the flowers were moved. From the statement in regard to the

Clover in New Zealand, I wrote to Mr. Swale, of Christchurch

in New Zealand, and asked him whether Legumimous plants

seeded there freely before the hive-bee was introduced; and he,

in the most obligmg manner, has sent me a list of twenty-four

plants of this order which seeded abundantly before bees were

introduced. And as he states that there is no indigenous bee

(perhaps this statement applies to bees resembling hive or humble

bees, for some other genera are known to inhabit New Zealand),

the fact that these plants seeded freely at first appears quite fatal

to my doctrine. But Mr. Swale adds that he believes that three

species of a wasp-like insect performed the part of bees, before

the mtroduction of the latter: unfortunately he does not ex-

pressly state that he has seen them sucking the flower. He

further adds a remarkable statement, that there are two or three

kids of grasshoppers which frequent flowers ; and he says he has

repeatedly watched them “release the stamens from the keel-

petal,’—so that, extraordinary as the fact is, it would appear

that grasshoppers, though having a mouth so differently con-

structed, im New Zealand have to a certain extent the habits of

bees. Mr. Swale further adds that the garden varieties of the

Lupine seed less freely than any other leguminous plant in New

Zealand; and he says, “ I have for amusement during the summer

released the stamens with a pin; and a pod of seed has always

rewarded me for my trouble, and the adjoining flowers not so

served have all proved blind.” The case of the Lupine in New

Zealand not seeding freely now that bees have been introduced

may be accounted for by the fact, if I dare trust my memory,

that in England this plant is visited by humble-bees, and not by

hive-bees.

These several facts, and the foregoing experiments, seem to me

rather curious; for who, seeing that papilionaceous flowers are

hermaphrodite, have an abundant supply of pollen, which is ma-

ture before the flower opens, and that ihe flower itself is so neatly

closed, would have imagined that insects played so important a

part in their fertilization? I can hardly doubt that in England,

during a season when bees were very scanty, if in any one district

large crops of seed-clover were planted, the crop would partly fail,

from the flowers not being sufficiently moved.

The foregoing little experiments, however, were not tried in

relation to the agency of insects in fertilizing a plant with its

own pollen, Andrew Knight many years ago propounded the

462 Mr. C. Darwin on the Agency of Bees

doctrine that no plant self-fertilizes itself for a perpetuity of

generations. After pretty close investigation of the subject, I

am strongly inclined to believe that this is a law of nature

throughout the vegetable and animal kingdoms. I am well

aware that there are several cases of difficulty.

The Leguminose with papilionaceous flowers have been ad-

vanced by Pallas and others as a case in which crossing could.

never naturally take place. But any plant habitually visited by

insects in such a manner that their hairy bodies, to which pollen

so readily adheres, come into contact with the stigma, could

hardly fail occasionally to receive the pollen from another in-

dividual of the same species. Jn all Leguminose, bees do brush

over the stigma. And the possibility of crossing would be very

strong in the case of any plant, if the agency of insects were

necessary for its self-fertilization ; for it would show that it was

habitually visited by them.

From these considerations I was led to believe that papilio-

naceous plants must be occasionally crossed. Nevertheless I must

confess that, from such evidence as I have been able to acquire,

crossing between varieties growing close together does not take

place nearly so freely as I should have expected. As far as I

am aware, only three or four cases of such crosses are on record.

It is not by any means, I believe, a common practice with seed-

raisers to keep the crops of their leguminous plants separate.

Hence I was led last year, in my short communication to the

‘Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ to ask whether any of your readers had

any experience on the natural crossing of Beans, Peas, &e. Mr.

Coe, of Knowle, near Farcham, Hants, in the most obligmg man-

ner sent me some specimens, and an account that last summer he

had planted four rows of the Negro Dwarf Kidney Bean between

some rows of the white and brown dwarfs, and likewise near

some Scarlet Runners. The dwarfs he had saved for seed. The

plants themselves he believes presented nothing remarkable in

foliage, height, flowers, &c.; and he feels sure that their pods

were all alike: but the beans themselves presented an extraor-

dinary mixture, as I can testify from the sample sent me, of all

shades between light brown and black, and a few mottled with

white ; not one-fifth of the beans, perhaps much less, were pure

Negroes. Some few of the beans also in the rows of the white

Haricot were affected, but none of the brown dwarfs.

Hence, then, we apparently have the extraordinary fact, de-

scribed by Wiegmann in the case of several leguminous plants

experimented on most carefully by Gartner in the case of the

Pea, and described a few years ago by Mr. Berkeley in the ‘ Gar-

deners’ Chronicle,’ of the pollen of one variety having affected

not only the embryo but the tunics of the seed borne by the pure

in the Fertilization of Papilionaceous Flowers. 463

mother. I have said that apparently we have here a fact of this

nature; for I must state that Mr. Coe sent me a dozen of the

pure Negro Beans which produced in 1857 the extraordinary

mixture. I sowed them this year; and though quite like each

other in appearance, the dozen produced plants differing in colour

of flower, &c., and beans of various tints; so that these beans,

though not affected in their outer tunics, seem to have been the

product of a cross in the previous year of 1856.

This year I sowed the extraordinary mixture raised by Mr. Coe

in 1857 from the four rows of the Negro Bean, which he believes

to have been quite pure; and the produce is the most extraordi-

narily heterogeneous mixture which can be conceived—each plant

differing from the others in tallness, foliage, colour, and size of

flower, time of ripening and flowering, size, shape, and colour of

pods, and beans of every conceivable tint from black to pale

brown, some dark purple and some slightly mottled, and of

various sizes and shapes. My gardener remarked, as did Mr.

Coe with respect to some of his plants, that some of the seedlings

seemed to have been crossed by-the Scarlet Runner: one of my

plants trailed on the ground fora length of 4 feet, its flowers

were white, and its pods were very long, flat, and broad; the

beans were pinkish purple, and twice as large as those of the

Negro; there were also in two cases brown and purple beans in

the same pod. These facts certainly seem to indicate a cross

from the Scarlet Runner ; but as the latter is generally esteemed

a distinct species, I feel very doubtful on this head; and we

should remember that it is well established that mongrels fre-

quently, or even generally, are much more vigorous than either

of their parents.

Mr. Coe tried the experiment more philosophically, and sepa-

rated his heterogeneous Negro beans into twelve lots, according

to their tints; and keeping a few of each as a sample, he sowed

them, and he has now harvested them separately. He has kindly

sent me samples of all. The variation is now much greater than

it was in the parent lot of 1857. Beans of new colours have

appeared, such as pure white, bright purple, yellow; and many

are much mottled. Not one of the twelve lots has transmitted its

own tint to all the beans produced by it; nevertheless the dark

beans have clearly produced a greater number of dark, and the

light-coloured beans a greater number of light colour. The mot-

tling seems to have been strongly inherited, but always increased.

To give one case of the greatest variability, a dirty-brown bean,

nearly intermediate in tint between the darkest and lightest, pro«

duced a sample which I have been enabled to divide into no less

than a dozen different tints, viz. pure white, black, purple, yel-

low, and eight other tints between brown, slate, yellow, purple,

464, On the Fertilization of Papilionaceous Flowers.

or black. It has been stated that a few of the white Haricots

in the rows adjoining the Negroes were in 1857 slightly affected.

Mr. Coe sowed some which were of a very pale brown, or cream-

coloured ; and he has sent me a pod produced this autumn, which

pod includes two beans of the above tint and one of a pale, dirty,

purplish brown.

Now it may be asked, are we justified in attributing this extra-

ordinary amount of variation to crossing, whether or not the

crossing was all confined to the year 1857? or may not the case

be one of simple variation? I think we must reject the latter

alternative. Jor, in the first place, the Negro Bean is an old

variety, and is reputed to be very true; in the second place, I

do not believe any case is on record of a vast number of plants

of the same variety all sporting at the very same period. On

the other hand, the Negroes having been planted between rows

of white and brown beans, together with the facts which I have

given on the importance of insect agency in the fertilization of

the Kidney Bean, showing, as may be daily seen, how incessantly

the flowers are visited by bees, strongly favour the theory of

crossing. Moreover, the extraordinary increase in variability in

the second generation strikingly confirms this conclusion ; for

extreme variability in the offsprmg from mongrels has been ob-

served by all who have attended to this subject.

As seed-raisers do not usually take any precautions in

separating their crops of leguminous plants, it may be asked,

how are we to account for the extraordinary amount of crossing

in Mr. Coe’s plants in 1857, when almost every plant in the

four rows of the Negro seems to have been affected ? I may here

add that, in an old paper in the Journal of the Bath Agricultural

Society, there is an almost exactly parallel account of the crossing

of several varieties of the common Bean throughout a whole field.

Insect agency is always at work: but the movement of the co-

rolla will generally tend merely to push the flower’s own pollen,

which is mature as soon as the flower is open, on to the stig-

matic surface; and even if pollen is brought by the bees from

another flower, the chances are in favour of pollen from the

same variety being brought, where a large stock is cultivated.

I can explain Mr. Coe’s case, and that in the Bath Journal,

only on one hypothesis, viz. that from some cause the Negro

Jeans did not, at Knowle, in 1857, produce good pollen, or

they matured it later than usual. ‘This has been shown by Gart-

ner sometimes to occur, and would explain, with the aid of

insect agency, the whole case. Believing, as I do, that it is a law

of nature that every organic being should occasionally be crossed

with a distinct individual of the same species, and seeing that

the structure of papilionaceous flowers causes the plant’s own

Mr. P. L. Sclater on a new species of Bird. 465

pollen to be pushed on to its own stigma, I am inclined to specu-

late a little further. It is, I think, well ascertained that very

close interbreeding tends to produce sterility, at least amongst

animals. Moreover, in plants, it has been ascertained that the

male organs fail in fertility more readily than the female organs,

both from hybridity and from other causes, and further, that they

resume their fertility slower, when a hybrid is crossed in succes-

sive generations with either pure parent, than do the female

organs. May we not then suppose, in the case of legumimous

plants, after a long course of self-fertilization, that the pollen

begins to fail, and then, and not till then, the plants are eagerly

ready to receive pollen from some other variety? Can this be

connected with the apparently short duration and constant suc-

cession of new varieties amongst our Peas, and, as is stated to be

the case on the Continent, with Kidney Beans?

These speculations may be valueless; but I venture earnestly

to request any of your correspondents who may have noticed any

analogous facts connected with sudden and large variation m

their seed-crops of any leguminous plants (including Sweet Peas),

or any facts bearing on such plants having kept true for many

consecutive generations when grown near each other, to have

the kindness to take the trouble to communicate them to the

‘Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ or to the following address, C. Darwin,

Downe, Bromley, Kent.

L1.—Description of a new species of Bird from Palestine.

By Puitie Luriry Scrater, M.A., F.LS.

Amydrus Tristramit.

Saturate purpureo-nitens, ventre obscuriore; alis caudaque obscure

nigris viridi-nitente marginatis: alarum primariis omnibus clare

ochracescenti-fulvis, nigricanti-fusco late terminatis, extimo quoque

eodem colore extus partim limbato: rostro et pedibus nigris.

2 mari similis, sed paulo minor, obscurior, et przecipue in capite

et gutture fusca.

Long. tota maris 11°0, alee 5-9, caudse 4°5, rostri a rictu 1°4, tarsi

1°25.

Hab. in Terra Sancta.

A pair of this fine species, which belongs to the brilliant group

of Lamprotornithine, or Glossy Starlings, was obtained by the

Rey. H. B. Tristram in Palestine during the present spring, and

I have called it after its discoverer. It forms a third of the

small group to which Cabanis’s term Amydrus is now restricted.

It is rather larger than Amydrus fulvipennis (Sw.) of Western and

Southern Africa; and the primaries are of a uniform pale buffy

4.66 Bibliographical Notices.

fulvous, with the shafts black, instead of being lighter in the

interior and edged with darker chestnut, as is the case in the

latter species. From Amydrus morio of Abyssinia and Western

Africa, the only other member of the group as now restricted,

it is at once distinguishable by its smaller size and the paler

colouring of the primaries.

Mr. Tristram shot these birds on the 30th of March last, at

Mar-Saaba, in the valley of the Hebron. They had their nest

in the rocks; but he was unable to reach it. The discovery is

of much interest, as the bird belongs to a purely African group

not hitherto met with in Palestine.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

General Report upon the Zoology of the several Pacific Railroad

Routes. Part Il. Birds. By Spencer F. Barrp, Assistant

Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; with the co-operation of

Joun Cassin and Grorce N. Lawrence. 1 vol. 4to, Wash-

ington, 1858.

In our notice of the first Part* of this important work, some account

is given of the way in which the large mass of zoological matériel

collected by the various expeditions sent out by the United States

Government to investigate the most practicable railroad route from

the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, was proposed to be treated.

The second Part, which has just issued from the press, serves to

confirm our opinion as to the excellence of the method chosen, and

the great value of the results thus likely to be obtained. The pre-

sent volume (in which Prof, Baird, the general editor, has been ably

assisted by Messrs. Cassin and Lawrence) contains a systematic

account of the birds collected or observed by the parties organized

under the direction of the War Department for exploring the dif-

ferent railroad routes; and, as in the volume on Mammals, by the

insertion of the comparatively few species not noticed by these ex-

peditions, it has been made a complete exposition of the present state

of our knowledge of the birds of America north of Mexico. For,

besides the specimens collected by the railroad surveys, the Smith-

sonian Institution has become the depository of collections from

several other sources, forming altogether a series of 12,000 specimens

illustrative of the ornithology of North America; so that the mate-

rials for a general Report of this kind were ample. And it must be

allowed, we think, that good use has been made of them. Even

those who object to what they may term the new-fangled system of

arrangement—the excessive subdivision of the genera and multipli-

cation of species, and the unnecessary changes of old-established and

familiar appellations—must admit that the divisions are generally

well defined, the distinctive characters of the species, such as they

* Vide Aun, Nat. Hist. ser. 3, vol, i. p. 369,

Bibliographical Notices. 467

are, clearly pointed out, and that, where changes in the names have

been intreduced, it is generally only in strict obedience to rules, the

object of which is to establish uniformity of nomenclature,

We must also again call attention to the admirable plan pursued,

of cataloguing every specimen obtained, and giving not only its exact

locality, but its dimensions, It is only by drawing specific characters

from such a series, instead of describing from isolated individuals,

that the great error which the late Prince Bonaparte (who in this

respect, it must be confessed, often practised what he preached

against) used to denounce so emphatically as that of “describing

specimens instead of species,” can be avoided.

While thus according praise, we must not neglect to protest against

the occasionally rather numerous misprints in the book, which are

certainly more frequent than they ought to be, and against the care-

less way in which the scientific names are sometimes written; such

as Thriothorus instead of Thryothorus (Opvov, arundo), Lanivireo

instead of Laniivireo (a barbarous compound at the best), Hyla-

tomus for Hylotomus (bdordpuos), Sphyrapicus for Sphyropicus

(cdipa et picus!), &e.

Prof. Baird’s preface gives a brief sketch of the modern alterations

m the arrangement of the non-rapacious land-birds, now very gene-

rally gainmg ground, and which he himself adopts. From the list

of authors mentioned as associated in this important reform, we must

beg him to strike out the name of Reichenbach. In the ‘ Hand-

buch der Speciellen Ornithologie’ of that laborious compiler, and the

miscalled ‘Avium Systema Naturale,’ he will find little attention

paid to Miiller’s great discoveries, but a complication of arrangement

only to be compared to the dreams of the extinct Quinarians, or the

fantasies of the author of the celebrated ‘ Entwickelungs-geschichte

der Europaischen Thierwelt.’

Among the sixty-one North American Accipitres (which still re-

tain their place at the head of the present arrangement), it can only

be a strong feeling of patriotism that induces Mr, Cassin to retain

in his list Audubon’s Falco Washingtonii. This bird would, we

suspect, have been long ago cast out by American ornithologists, were

it not for its name. No one now believes in certain birds described by

the great Le Vaillant as observed by himself in Africa; and the time

is come when the existence of Washington’s Eagle, as seen by the

great Audubon in Kentucky, must be considered as equally mythical,

The Scansores, which take the next place, include thirty-five spe-

cies, principally made up of Woodpeckers, which find a congenial

habitation in what may be truly called ‘the continent of forests,”

But however much Prof. Baird may wish to add the magnificent

Campephilus imperialis to the list of truly North American species,

we suspect he will have to wait some time before he accomplishes it.

There is good reason to believe that its true habitat is Guatemala—

the country of the Long-tailed Trogon and Derbian Oreophasis—and

that it probably does not occur even so far north as Mexico. A

good deal of ‘‘ annexation”? must therefore take place before the im-

perial bird is brought within the limits of the great Republic,

468 Bibliographical Notices.

The third order (Insessores), embracing 332 species—nearly half

the whole number of North American birds known—is divided by

Prof. Baird (4 la Cabanis) into Strisores, Clamatores, and Oscines.

The Humming-birds occurring within the area of the States, as now

extended, are seven in number, the Swifts are four, and the Goat-

suckers six, making seventeen members of the first of these groups.

The second contains two Kingfishers, a stray Motmot, detected near

the borders of Texas, in the State of New Leon, by the indefatigable

collector Couch, and is made up of the many members of the difficult

group Colopteride. Of the remaining section of Oscines North

America has representatives of all the families that are known to

occur in the New World,—a Certhiola, of the family Carebide, the

only one hitherto supposed absent, having been detected on the

Florida Keys in time for the insertion of its occurrence in the Ap-

pendix.

The fourth order (Rasores) includes the Pigeons, with eleven

species, and the Galline, with twenty-one. Among the latter occurs

one member of the Neotropical family of Guans (Penelopide), and

two species of the genus Meleagris, the sole representative of the

Phasianide in the New World. The lately established Meleagris

mexicana of Mr. Gould is admitted as a probably good species.

Eighty-four Gralle and 175 Matatores make up the total of 716

birds considered as properly belonging to this fauna, being an increase

of 210 since the last general enumeration given by Audubon in 1838.

Of these, however, a certain number, such as Haliaétus Washingtonit

(which we have already alluded to), Chrysomitris Yarrelli, and C.

magelianica, both purely South American species, and a few others,

might, we think, be advantageously removed to an ‘‘ Appendix spe-

cierum dubiarum.”

A Life of Linneus. By Miss Bricurwe tt, of Norwich.

London, Van Voorst, 1858. 16mo.

In this little biography of Linnzeus, intended principally for the

perusal of the rismg generation, Miss Brightwell has portrayed in

lively colours the principal scenes in the life of the great Swedish

Naturalist. His early struggles, his ultimate success, his progress

to a world-wide renown, and to the highest honours his country

could bestow, are faithfully described; and Miss Brightwell has

skilfully placed these in such a light as to show how much of human

interest attaches to the life even of a laborious naturalist.

It is indeed from the fact that the latter term is strictly applicable

to Linnzeus throughout the whole of his career—alike when at Upsal

he was under the necessity of patching his own shoes with paper, as

when, arrived at the height of his reputation, he was graciously per-

mitted to smoke his pipe even under the queen’s own nose—that

Miss Brightwell derives the moral of her tale, pointing out that,

great as might have been the native genius of the illustrious Swede,

it was not by this alone, but by the most patient and unremitting

ee ee a ee

Zoological Society. 469

labour that he was enabled to immortalize his name. At no period,

perhaps, has the recognition of this truth been more necessary than

at present, when a superficial acquaintance with a host of sciences is

looked upon as knowledge, —when a lively booby or pompous humbug

has far more chance of making himself a profitable name, however

short-lived, than the most earnest labourer in one department of

science, and the younger members of the community are thus likely

to be led away to swell the ranks of those who must be regarded as

mere cumberers of the ground.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

April 27, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

Nore on THE Ecce or “THe Moorvuxk” (Casvarius Ben-

NETTII, GOULD), FROM New Briratn, tN THE Britisu Mv-

sEuM. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., etc.

The British Museum having obtained from Mr. Samuel Stevens

the egg of the Mooruk from New Britain (sent to him by Mr.

Turner, which he wished to exhibit to the Society before he deli-

vered it into the Collection), I am induced to send the following ob-

servations on it.

The egg is of the same form and has the same solid shell, covered

with rounded tubercles, as that of the Common Cassowary, Casua-

rius galeatus.

It differs from the egg of the latter bird in the British Museum

in being rather larger (it is 141 inches in circumference in the

longest, and 114 inches in the thickest part), and in the tubercles on

the surface being larger, considerably further apart, and more iso-

lated, that is to say, more rarely confluent together.

The egg is pale olive-green with darker olive tubercles ; it is much

darker than accords with my recollections of the eggs of the Casso-

waries in other collections; but these may have been faded, as is

the case with our specimens in the British Museum.

Mr. Bennett sent with the living specimen of the Mooruk now

exhibited in the Menagerie, which he so liberally presented to the

Society, an egg which was brought from New Britain with the

bird. This egg has been presented by him, through the Society, to

the British Museum.

This egg differs very considerably from that exhibited by Mr.

Stevens: first, in being smaller, that is to say, only 135 inches in

circumference in the longest and 11 inches in the thickest part ;

secondly, in being blunter, more rounded in front, and not so conical

as the other ; thirdly, in being of a uniform pale olive-colour, without

any appearance of tubercles or darker spots.

It has been suggested that the difference between the two eggs is

so great that they cannot have been laid by the same species of bird.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. i. 32

470 Zoological Society :—

They both differ considerably from the egg of the Galeated Cas-

sowary ; and Mrs. Turner assures me that they were both brought

from New Britain, by her husband and the captain of the ship,

with the living bird, to Sydney ; they were divided by lot, and her

husband having the choice, selected the tuberculated egg: so that,

if they are not the eggs of the Mooruk, it would indicate that there

must be two Cassowaries inhabiting New Britain, both different

from C. galeatus.

There is so great a similarity in the colour and texture of the

smooth egg with the ground-colour of the other egg between the

tubercles, that it has been suggested that the tuberculated egg is the

perfect egg of the bird, and the smooth egg that of a very immature

or sickly specimen.

June 8, 1858.—Dr. Gray, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair.

On New Species oF Birps FRoM WESTERN AFRICA, IN THE

COLLECTION OF THE British Museum. By Dr. Gustav

HARTLAUB OF BREMEN, FoREIGN MEMBER.

One of the principal reasons that made me anxious to visit Eng-

land was the wish to increase my materials for a second edition of

my book on the Birds of Western Africa. In this object I have been

most liberally assisted by Mr.G. R. Gray, who has allowed me every

opportunity of examining the specimens in the magnificent Collec-

tion of the British Museum. Besides some interesting novelties

which we found, and which I wish to describe in the ‘ Proceedings’

of the Society, among whose Foreign Members I have the honour

to be enrolled, I have had the pleasure of inspecting some very rare

species which I had not seen before. Among these I may mention

some of those rare types collected during the second Niger Expe-

dition by Mr. Louis Fraser,—as, for instance, the Sylvicola super-

ciliosa of that naturalist, which, from a second and more perfect

Ashantee specimen, I have found te be what I never expected, a

typical Camaroptera ; then the Coccothraustes olivaceus of Fraser,

a type most peculiar and unique amongst the great number of African

Fringillidee. But by far the most interesting and most curious

African form, which I have seen for the first time, is a little bird

hardly larger than the smallest Humming-bird, the Diceum Rushie

of Cassin, and the type of my genus Pholidornis. This minute and

very peculiarly coloured species is the only true African representa-

tive of the essentially Asiatic form Diceum, from which, however, I

hold it to be truly generically distinct.

‘The new species which I have observed are the following :—

1, OnycuoGnatHus Hartiavusi, G. R. Gray, MS.

Minor ; obscure violascenti-chalybeus ; capite toto et remigum mi-

norum marginibus externis in eneum vergentibus ; scapularibus,

tectricibus alarum minoribus et subalaribus dorso concoloribus ;

rectricibus obscure chalybeis, margine enescentibus ; remigum

Dr. G. Hartlaub on new species of Birds. 471

nigrorum dimidio basali oblique rufo ; rostro nigro ; pedibus

Juscis. 2, capite et collo cinerascente striatis.

Long. tot. 102", rostr. a fr. 12"', al. 42", rectric. intermed. 42",

tars.) 1!"

Hab. Fernando Po.

This bird is a second and very typical species of my genus Ony-

chognathus, the type of which, O. fulgidus, seems to be confined

to the Island of St. Thomas. The system of colouring is quite the

same in both species; but O. Hartlaubii is a much smaller bird,

and has the bill much less hooked. One of the two specimens in

the British Museum is labeled “ Fernando Po;’’ the exact habitat

of the other one is not known. Onychognathus is a beautiful transi-

tional form, intermediate between dmydrus and Lamprocolius.

2. TELEPHONUS MINUTUS.

Minor ; pileo toto nigro; striola superciliari gracili albida ; cervice

et interscapulio immaculate fulvis ; dorso medio longitudinaliter

nigro variegato ; tergo et uropygio fulvis; loris albidis; alis

rujis, remigibus primariis in pogonio interno nigricanti-fuscis,

tertiarits et tectricibus majoribus in medio longitudinaliter nigri-

cantibus ; subalaribus fulvis ; rectricibus fusco-nigris, duabus

externis fulvescente extus limbatis, extime apice latius pallido ;

corpore inferiore toto fulvo, gula pallidiore ; rostro valido nigro ;

pedibus fuscis.

Poaee 5 vaste, air83!"; al. 2! 7'", caud.,3!", tars, 114",

Hab. Ashautee.

This is the smallest species of the exclusively African genus Tele-

phonus. It is, perhaps, not generally known in this emai y, that

the German traveller, Dr. A. Brehm, a very acute and scientific na-

turalist, who has explored the Ornithology of Spain better than

any person before him, most decidedly contradicts the occurrence

of Telephonus cucullatus or of any other species of this group in

that country. Temminck’s indication to the contrary appears to

be one of those many errors occurring in Parts 3 and 4 of the ‘ Ma-

nuel Ornithologie ; > at least it was regarded as such by every

person in Spain who had paid any attention to the birds of the

country, and Dr. Brehm himself could not discover there the slightest

trace of this bird.

Another striking and interesting example of the incorrectness of

local indications in the ‘ Manuel d’Ornithologie,’ is given in the total

absence of the Izvos obscurus from Spain or any other country in

_ the south of Europe.

Two specimens of 7’. minutus are in the collection of the British

Museum, which likewise possesses a very complete set of all the

other known species of the genus.

3. ANDROPADUS ERYTHROPTERUS, G. R. Gray, MS.

Obscure olivaceus, alis totis et imprimis tectricibus distincte rufes-

centibus ; remigum marginibus internis pallidis ; subalaribus fla-

32%

472 Zoological Society :—

vidis ; cauda fusca; corpore inferiore pallidiore, flavescente ;

rostro fusco, apice et mandibula tota flavidis ; pedibus pallidis.

Long. tot. 6", rostr. 53", al. 2" 8! caud. 2! 9!', tars. 8!".

Hab. Ashantee.

Another bird of one of those exclusively African genera which seem

to have their full development on the western coast. The other spe-

cies are, A. importunus from the Cape, A. latirostris and A. graci-

lirostris, both widely distributed along the western coast, and 4.

virens of Cassin, discovered by Du Chaillu on the banks of the river

Muni and near Cape Lopez. The colouring of all these species is

very much alike ; and clearer distinctive characters are much wanted

in this group.

4, TRICHOPHORUS CINERASCENS.

Supra olivaceo-viridis, plumis medio cinerascentibus, capite di-

stinctius cinerascente ; genarum plumulis stria mediana pallida

notatis ; tergo et uropygio viridioribus ; remigum pogoniis ex-

ternis virentibus, internis nigricantibus ; rectricibus olivaceis,

scapis nigris ; subalaribus et subcaudalibus olivaceis : subtus oli-

vaceo et cinerascente variegatus ; gula flava; rostro plumbeo ;

pedibus nigricantibus.

Long. tot. 83", rostr. 9'", al. 4", caud. 4", tars. 103!".

Hab. Ashantee.

This fine new species comes nearest to Tr. flavicollis of Swainson,

but is easily distinguished by the much greater amount of grey in

its colouring. Nearly the whole of this group is distributed over

the western parts of Africa. We know only one southern species.

Not one has as yet been discovered in Abyssinia.

On two New Species or TANAGERS FROM THE COLLECTION

or M. VerreaAvux oF Paris. By Putuie LuTiey SCLATER.

CHLOROSPINGUS CASTANEICOLLIS.

Supra olivascenti-fuscus, pileo saturatiore, alis caudaque rufes-

centioribus : capitis lateribus eum mento nigris, superciliis an-

gustis ad nucham protractis et macula parva suboculari albis :

subtus castaneus, pectore saturatiore, ventre medio dilutiore :

rostro nigro : pedibus brunneis.

Long. tota 5:4, alee 2°5, caudee 2°3.

In colour this apparently new species of Chlorospingus shows

most resemblance to C. melanotis (P. Z. S. 1854, pl. 68), and it

may be conveniently arranged next to that species, and between it

and C. rubrirostris, with which it nearly agrees in the shape of the

bill. The dark chestnut colour of the breast, black chin, and white

superciliary stripe render it easily recognizable amongst its con-

geners.

CALLISTE CYANOTIS.

Metallice viridis, dorso summo obscuriore, pileo supero nigro ;

superciliis latis metallice viridibus : fronte ipsa cum loris nigris :

je ode

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 473

regione auriculari et vitta supra-frontali cerulescentibus ; alis

caudaque nigris cerulescenti-viridi limbatis : ventre imo cris-

soque pallide ochraceis : rostro nigro, pedibus brunneis.

Long. tota 3°8, alee 2°5, caudee 1°7.

Obs. Affinis CALLISTH LABRADORIDI, sed crassitie paulo minore,

vitta frontali et regione auriculari czeruleis et colore corporis viridi

minus czerulescente distinguenda.

Having recently completed a Monograph of the genus Calliste, it is

with no ordinary interest that [look upon the present bird,which seems

to be a new and hitherto unrecognized member of the group. A close

ally of Calliste labradorides of the New Granadian Andes, it doubt-

less represents that species in South-eastern Peru and Bolivia, just

as Calliste xanthocephala replaces Calliste venusta in the same lo-

cality. The single specimen sent by M. Verreaux is not in very per-

fect plumage ; but its distinctness from its New Granadian repre-

sentative is easily seen on comparison. The whole of the fore part of

the head of C. labradorides is of a shining green, leaving the nape

and back of the neck black. In the present bird there is merely a

narrow post-frontal band, which, like the ear-coverts, is deeply

tinged with blue. The black chin of C. labradorides appears to be

absent in the present bird ; and the under surface is not tinged with

blue. In C. labradorides the small coverts on the bend of the wing are

of a bright shining blue, which is also absent in this new species.

A MonoGrapu OF THE GENUS KERIVOULA.

By Rosert F. Tomes.

The following monograph is one of a series which I have prepared,

having for their object the definition of groups or genera rather than

the description of the species of which they are composed. This has

been done with a view to render less difficult the determination of

the species, which difficulty is chiefly felt from the indiscriminate

manner in which they are thrown together by some zoologists; the

descriptions of the species themselves being often quite sufficient,

supposing that they had been more carefully divided into groups.

Two principal works which demand study in working out the spe-

cies of Vespertilionide—Temminck’s Monograph, and Wagner’s

Supplement to the work of Schreber—are of this description.

Whilst giving a pretty complete account of each species, the generic

definition is, in consequence of the great disparity in the characters

of the different species, necessarily so vague as to be nearly useless.

Searcely more valuable to the investigator are lists of genera and

species without accompanying descriptions, or having these so ex-

cessively brief as to be wholly unavailable in distinguishing species.

I have therefore, while bringing together species which fall easily

under a generic definition, considered it advisable to add also a de-

scription of each, although they may have been before described, or

be even well-known species.

By adopting this method I am enabled to give much more com-

plete descriptions than have hitherto appeared, because they are of

474 Zoological Society :-—

a more comparative nature, and are therefore more serviceable in the

discrimination of allied species.

With regard to the synonymy of the several groups, it is as com-

plete as I have been able to make it, but is I believe very imper-

fect. In all instances care has been taken to exclude such names

and references as I could not either personally test by the examina-

tion of unquestionable species, or by the comparison of figures and

descriptions agreeing with such accuracy as to leave no reasonable

doubt as to their identity.

This explanation appeared necessary previous to bringing before

the Society successive papers in which but very few of the species

are new, and many old and well-known ones are described at some

length.

The name of Kerivoula was first given by Boddaert * to a species

of Bat which had before been described by Pallas + by the name of

Vespertilio pictus—a name singularly appropriate for an animal with

the bright red fur and membranes, and the peculiar distribution of

the colour on the latter, which characterizes the species.

Boddaert’s specific name having given way to that of Pallas, bas

been taken up by Dr. Gray {, and used in a generic sense, he

having perceived that the species differed considerably from most

other representatives of the genus Vespertilio. But Dr. Gray,

placing great reliance on the importance of a single character, has

arranged with it some species, the affinity of which the subsequent

examination of a greater number of species has not corroborated.

In these investigations others have been discovered which bear very

close generic resemblance to the original one, V. pictus, whilst

some of those which have been associated with it prove, on the

contrary, to be by no means closely affined.

I have in a previous communication removed one of these species

—V. formosus—from the present genus, and placed it in the group

with the members of which its characters most closely agree. After

describing the species which I consider referable to the genus Keri-

voula, I shall enumerate such others as have been called by that

name, but which I consider as appertaining to other groups.

Fam. VESPERTILIONID.

Genus Kertvouta, Gray.

Vespertilio, Pallas, Geoffroy, Desmarest, Fischer, Schreber,

Wagner, Temminck.

The top of the head is very much elevated, but not so much so

asin Iuripterus, Natalus, and Miniopteris.. The face is depressed ;

and the muzzle is of moderate length, and somewhat pointed. The

nostrils, which are near together, open sublaterally, and have an

emarginate space between them. The lower lip has a tolerably well

* Elenchus Animalium, vol. i. sist. Quadrup. p. 70, No. 10, 1785.

+ Spicilegia Zoologica, iii. p. 7,1774.

{ Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 258.

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 475

defined naked triangular space in front. The ears are broad, with

the outer margin so much developed near the base as to form a com-

plete Zobulus, which however is not separated from the upright part

of the ear by a notch or hollow, as in some species. The ear may,

indeed, be described as extending along the side of the face for some

distance, and in a line with the corner of the mouth, not as a narrow

strip of membrane, as in the generality of species, but ascending at

once from its most anterior point, and forming what is called the

ear-conch. Its inner margin is very convex, and curves off to the

tip of the ear, which terminates in an angular point not very acute.

In all the species there is a notch or hollow of more or less extent

in the outer margin, very near to the tip.

_ The ear bears great resemblance to those of Furipterus and Na-

talus, especially to those of the latter. The tragus is long, nearly

three-fourths the length of the ear, excessively narrow and pointed,

and a little curved outwards. Its outer margin near the base is

furnished with a projecting point or tooth.

The tail is rather long, in some species as long as the head and

body. The wing-membranes extend to the base of the toes. The

feet are of medium size; and the toes occupy a little more than

half the length of the foot. The thumb also is moderate; and the

basal phalange, which is enclosed in the membrane, is shorter than

the remaining part.

The membranes and ears of all the species are more or less dia-

phanous, and rather conspicuously marked with glandular dots ar-

ranged, on the former, in lines.

The fur is of a fine woolly texture, in the Asiatic species without

lustre; but in the African ones the hairs have shining tips.

The skull does not, as might have been expected, exhibit any of

those peculiarities which are observable in the high-crowned genera,

such as Furipterus, Natalus, and Miniopteris. In its general ap-

pearance it somewhat resembles those of Vesp. mystacinus and

Vesp. Nattereri, but the central region is much more inflated —indeed

in the African species almost as much so asin Furipterus. Besides

this point of difference, the following peculiarities require mention.

The facial region is very much depressed, and also compressed ; and

the notch in the fore part of the palate is much deeper than in any

other genus, but varies considerably in the different species. This

appears to be due chiefly to the straightness of the intermaxillary

bones, their development in a forward direction affording space for

the incisors to range in a line with the other teeth, instead of being

placed more or less across the opening between the two canines.

This is best seen in the K. picta.

The bony palate extends nearly as far back as to the condyloid

fossa, and narrows considerably after leaving the posterior boundary

of the molar range. In no other Bat which I have examined has

the palate extended further back than to the middle of the zygo-

matic arch.

Arie 2—2 1—1 3—3 j 32-3, 2 18

Dentition.—In. =; Can. j=; Premol. ——; Mol. —=;,-

The upper incisors are slender, conical, and pointed, with a slight

476 Zoological Society :—

accessory cusp behind the base; the anterior ones are the longer.

The canines are long and pointed; and in most of the species the

cingulum is amply developed. Between them and the incisors the

interval is very small. The next two teeth are very simple in form,

conical, and pointed. Following these is the carnassier or sectorial

tooth, in form as in the ordinary Vespertilionide ; and the molars are

of the ordinary form and proportions.

In the lower jaw the incisors are small and trilobed, those

contiguous to the canines having their central lobe very much deve-

loped, and of a blunt conical form. 'The canines require no parti-

cular notice. Following these, the premolars present the appearance

of three very regular and pointed cones, each with a small but

distinct spur on its anterior and posterior surface near to the base.

The molars are of the form so constant in the Vespertilionde.

1. KeERIVOULA PICTA.

Vespertilio pictus, Pallas, Spicil. Zool. iii. p. 7, 1774; Erxl.

Syst. p. 150, 1777; Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. Gmel.i. p. 49, 1788;

Geoff. Ann. du Mus. viil. p. 199, pl. 48 (cranium), 1806; Desm.

Mam. p. 141, 1820; Schreb. Saugth. Th. i. p. 170, 1826 ; Horsf.

Zool. Research. Java, viii. p. 6, 1821-28; Fisch. Synop. Mamm. p.106,

1829; Temm. Mon. ii. p. 223, pl. 56. f. 1, 2, 3, 1835-41 ; Blasius,

Wiegm. Archiv, Bd. vi. p. 2, 1840 ; Wagn. Supp. Schreb. 1. p. 517,

1840; Schinz, Synops. Mamm. p. 174, 1544; Kelaart, Faun. Zeylan.

p. 25, 1852.

Vespertilio (Kerivoula) pictus, Horsf. Cat. Mamm. Mus. E. Ind.

Comp. p. 40, 1851.

Pipistrellus pictus, Less. Nouv. Tab. Réegne Anim. p. 29, 1842.

Kerivoula picta, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H. p. 258, 1842 ; Cat.

Mamm. B. M. p. 27, 1843; Kelaart, Faun. Zeylan. p. 25, 1852.

Although I have given to this species the most prominent posi-

tion, I do not regard it as the most typical of the genus; but the

generic name having been borrowed from it, it appeared desirable to

mention it first, and those afterwards which are less known, but per-

haps more characteristic.

The top of the head is very much elevated, but not quite so much

so as in some of the other species of Kerivoula; and the muzzle is

a good deal depressed, and of medium length.

All the face is very hairy, the fur of the forehead extending nearly

to the end of the nose, and filling up the concavity of the face. The

upper lips are furnished with fine longish hairs of the same texture

as those of the rest of the body.

The ears, as already mentioned in the generic description, are

broad, and when seen im front appear like two rather broad recesses,

in the further end or bottom of which the tragus takes its origin.

They are rather more pointed than in some others, owing to a

shallow noteh iminediately below their tip, in the outer margin ; and

the inner margin becoming more convex as it approaches the tip,

assists in giving to the latter an outward direction.

The tragus has been already described sufficiently.

The wing-membranes extend precisely to the base of the toes.

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 477

The tail is as long as the head and body, is composed of six joints,

and has its tip enclosed in the membrane.

The fur of the back extends sparingly on to the interfemoral mem-

brane, for half its length ; and all its transverse lines are studded with

very short and fine hairs, scarcely visible without the assistance of a

lens. The upper surface of the tail itself, and of the legs and feet,

is sparingly, but visibly, clothed with fine hairs, which are most conspi-

cuous on the latter. The whole of the margin of the interfemoral mem-

brane, inclusive of the os calcis, is fringed with fine hairs, those on

the os calcis being adpressed and similar to those of the feet, whilst

those on the edge of the membrane are projecting and bristle-like.

On no other part of the membranes does the fur of the body en-

croach ; but that of the head extends for half the length of the ears,

on their hinder surface.

The fur of the body is very fine, but without gloss, and nearly

unicoloured. That of the upper parts is buff for two-thirds of its

length, the remainder a bright and lively rust-colour. Beneath, it is

uniform whitish buff, tinged with rust-colour on the humeral region

and along the sides of the body.

All the bones of the limbs in the dried specimens are of a light

yellowish-brown ; and the interfemoral and interbrachial mem-

branes are of the same colour. A part of the wing-membranes con-

tiguous to the sides of the body, from the foot to the elbow, and

from thence along the under side of the fore-arm to the wrist, is

of a similar colour; and it passes from the wrist along each finger,

margining it on each side, and leaving three triangular imterspaces

between the digits, of a deep chocolate-brown colour, which in many

places is elaborately marked with dotted lines of the same light

colour as that which accompanies the wing-bones.

The above description having been taken from dried specimens,

I copy the following description of the colour of this species from

the excellent account given of it by Dr. Kelaart in his ‘ Fauna Zey-

lanica’ :-—

« Body above, yellowish ferruginous-brown, or, as artists would

eall it, yellowish crimson-brown. Below, fulvous whitish, with a

dark yellowish tinge on the sides. Alar membranes black and bright

yellow or citron-coloured. The former colour (black) confined to

triangular spaces between the citron rays along the digits, and on a

large triangular space between the last digit and body; the alar

membrane adjoining the latter being also citron-coloured. Inter-

femoral membrane wholly citron-coloured ; above and below the

arms also, the same yellow colour prevails, as through the other parts

of the membrane already mentioned.”’ ‘Tips of toes brown, the

rest yellow.” “Ears yellow.” ‘Sexes alike in colour.”

As Dr. Kelaart is speaking of the species in its native country,

and from personal observation when in a fresh state, the foregoing

account is doubtless the correct one, and the comparatively dull co-

lour which pervades all the specimens in our Museums is due to a

change having taken place after preservation.

The following dimensions are taken, (1) from a Javanese speci-

men very kindly given to me by Dr. Horsfield, (2) from a specimen

478 Zoological Society :—

from Amboyna, and (3) from the specimen mentioned in Mr. Water-

house’s Catalogue of the Mammalia contained in the Museum of

the Zoological Society, No. 138. i :

if ° -

“al Ma

Length of the head and body, about ..

OAMUIIES CALL. , eyes sec coerera Spay eae vats oh

eee iat es ens tc iene. = crereeeies

Glsthe earsios aces

Breadth. of thet ears... t.1. cree «ce «cles

Deneth‘of the tragus 52.5. -- «2-27

Ol thetoressrm 2.%...'-o-.c<cs

of the longest finger

of the fourth finger

of thet bum): ...<sr- «ceva

OE RETEC HLIIG arate rus, ievo.n arcnshaeinas

of the foot and claws ........

Ot the G8: CAlets, «occ: aire eee

Hqpanse-of WINS). 5.5/0. <0. 05 eis eee 1

bole

tole

ww oo ao

bole

]

— —

CAWON WE SO

bol

bol tole tole

ble

SoooenmoaSso sce =]

_—

DAomkhwyn wor hWOWA CS

ecocoewpewococoer+s

SAWN WKH OCOhWOUNITOSO

Hab. The Continent of India ; Ceylon; Java ; Sumatra; Borneo.

—

2. KERIVOULA PAPILLOSA.

Vespertilio papillosus, Temm. Mon. de Mamm. ii. p. 220, 1835-41 ;

Wagu.Supp.Schreb. Saugth. i. p. 515, 1840; Schinz, Synops. Mamm.

i. p. 173, 1844; Blasius, Wiegm. Archiv, Bd. vi. p. 2, 1840; Gray,

Zool. Voy. Samar. no. 5. p. 10, 1849.

The present species, although not placed first on the list, is, I

believe, quite as typical of the genus as the one preceding it. The

top of the head is quite as much elevated as in that species ; and the

face is similarly depressed, and densely hairy ; the nostrils, too, pre-

sent precisely the same form and position. The ears are somewhat

longer in relation to their breadth and to the size of the animal than

in K. picta, and have their points less acute and directed upwards,

instead of outwards as they are in that species. They are thickly

and conspicuously dotted with glandular dots. The tragus is fully

two-thirds of the length of the ear, is narrow, and tapers evenly to a-

very acute point. It has a very slight outward curvature for its

whole length, and has a projecting point on its outer edge, close to

its base.

The body of the animal is small, and all the membranes very much

developed, nearly as much so as in Natalus.

The thumb is rather long, and the basal phalange less than half

its entire length ; the feet are rather large, with the toes taking up

half of their length, and the outer one a little shorter than the others,

as it is also in K. picta and K. Hardwickii. The wing-membranes

extend exactly to the base of the toes; and the os calcis is two-

thirds of the length from the foot to the end of the tail.

The hair of the face presents some differences from that of the

last species. In A’. picta that which borders and fringes the lips is

of the same peculiar soft and woolly texture as the rest of the fur

of the head and face ; that of K. papillosa, on the contrary, is strong

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 479

and bristle-like. Over the eyes is a tuft which is nearly four lines in

length, and is very straight ; and above the nostrils is a similar fringe

of straight strong hairs, whilst the upper lips are margined similarly

with hairs which have a downward curvature and almost conceal

the mouth when it is closed.

The upper surfaces of the ears are hairy only near the base; and

the fur of the upper parts of the body does not encroach noticeably

upon the wing-membranes ; but the base of the interfemoral mem-

brane is a little hairy, and fine short hairs are scattered along the

upper surfaces of the tail, tibia, and feet. The free portion of the

edge of the interfemoral membrane, between the os calcis and end

of the tail, is also slightly fringed with fine short hairs.

The fur is fine and woolly in texture, and very long; that of an

example in the Museum of the East India Company, from Calcutta,

attains as great a length as four lines on the dorsal region. It is

bicoloured both above and beneath. On the whole of the upper

parts it is dusky at the base for nearly two-thirds of its length, with

the terminal third brown (nearly of the same tint as the back fur of

Vesp. Daubentonii, but a little more tinged with rufous). Beneath,

it is dusky at its base, tipped with yellowish-brown. Such is the

colour of the specimen alluded to, presented to the Company’s Mu-

seum by Mr. Pearson. A specimen in my own collection, takea in

Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites, appears to exhibit the usual differences

which exist between the animals of that island and the mainland of

India. It is smaller and darker in colour, but is otherwise similar

to the Calcutta specimen. The membranes are of a medium brown

colour, darker in the Ceylon specimen.

Dentition.— In. a ; Can. SS ; Premol. —; Mol. =>.

I can detect no difference in the position or proportions of the

teeth in this species from those of K. picta.

No. 1 of the following Table refers to the specimen from Calcutta,

and No. 2 to the one from Ceylon.

lf Ze

Length of the head and body ........ Sikes 1 9

— of the tail ..............0... 2.0 reg

Permeimenite re tes eh) ates eet 0 7:

BigmemeINe eS) ae at. See ee 0 43

TLE LG Ug ll ea Ag 0 32

Biggie tore-aLita se.) 0% sey. 2? 1 Ga eA

—— of the longest finger.......... 2 5 1 10

ofie fourth finger Pf A? ia ipl

biqenevehomM bs 8 Be. 2S Tee 0 32

Signe tipid. veer.) et de oe 0 TO ns

— of the foot and claws ........ 0 4 pes

Snir OS CULCLS st We le ae 0 6

Expanse of wings .... 10 0

Hab. India; Ceylon; Java, and Sumatra.

480 Zoological Society :—

3. Kerivouta Harpwickll.

Vespertilio Hardwickii, Horsf. Zool. Research. Java, no. 8, 1821—

28; Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Comp. Mus. p. 39, 1851; Temm. Mon. ii.

p- 222, 1835-41 ; Wagn. Supp. Schreb. Saugth. i. p. 516, 1840;

Blasius, Wiegm. Archiv, Bd. vi. p. 2, 1840; Schinz, Synops. Mamm.

1. p. 173, 1844.

Kerivoula Hardwichit, Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. x. p. 258, 1842;

Cat. Mamm. B. M. p. 27, 1843; Zool. Voy. Samar. no. 5. p. 7,

1849.

Vespertilio pellucidus, Waterh. Proc. Zool. Soe. pt. xiii. pp. 3 & 6,

1845.

Vespertilio? pellucidus, Gray, Zool. Voy. Samar. no. 5. p. 7, 1849.

The following description has been taken from the original spe-

cimens in the Museum of the East India Company and in the

British Museum, and from the one which furnished the deserip-

tion of V. pellucidus of Mr. Waterhouse, now also in the National

Collection.

The examination and comparison of these has proved beyond ques-

tion the identity of the latter species with K. Hardwickii. As the

Javanese specimens are preserved in skin, and the one from the

Philippines in spirit, they may be supposed, taken together, to fur-

nish a tolerably accurate description of the species.

The elevated form of the head, the concavity of the face, and the

shape of the muzzle and nostrils are so much like the same parts in

K. picta and K. papillosa, as to require no further mention. The

ears, although in general form very similar to those of the former of

these species, differ in being a little longer, and in having their tips

less acute and not so much directed outwards; in fact, they very

closely resemble those of K. papillosa, and, as in that species, are

thickly studded with glandular dots. The tragus is nearly two-

thirds of the length of the ear, is narrow, excessively acute, and

curved outwards in the dried specimens, but perfectly straight in the

one in spirit.

The wing-membranes extend a little further than the base of the

toes, almost to the middle of the outer one, which however is shorter

than the others, and consequently the membrane does not reach as

far as to the middle of the other toes, which may be said to con-

stitute the foot. These remaining toes are of equal length, and are

about half the entire length of the foot, which is rather large in re-

lation to the size of the animal. The os caleis is long, and occu-

pies two-thirds of the distance between the foot and end of the tail.

eee interfemoral membrane has about 18 or 19 transverse dotted

ines.

The fur of the upper part of the body extends over the wing-

membranes for a little distance, and over the interfemoral membrane

in a similar manner. Beneath, the fur encroaches on the membrane

similarly, but in a less degree. The upper surfaces of the tibiee are

fringed with fine bristly hairs; and the dots on the interfemoral

membrane have each a bunch of yery fine short bristles on the upper

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 481

surfaces, and the glandular dots of the ears are similarly provided on

their hinder surfaces. The free portion of the interfemoral mem-

brane, between the os calcis and tail, is also fringed with fine short

hairs.

The fur is long, very fine and woolly ; that of the upper parts of

the body is grey at the base, which is succeeded by pale brown, and

tipped with a slightly darker tint of the same colour, These shades

are not sufficiently distinct to give a tricoloured appearance to the

fur, the general appearance of which is buffy-brown. This is the

colour of the type-specimen, which has probably faded considerably.

That of the specimen in spirit appears (as far as can be seen in

spirit) to be of a reddish cinnamon-brown colour.

The membranes and ears are of a pale reddish-brown colour, and

translucent. “I could,’ says Mr. Waterhouse, “ read this writing

through the wing-membranes, moistened as they were with the spirit,

at a distance of more than a quarter of an inch.”’

The dentition, according to Mr. Waterhouse, is—In. = ; Can.

— The molars have not been examined.

The two inner upper incisors are, as in K. picta and K. papillosa,

in advance of the others, long, curved, and pointed ; whilst the outer

two are placed considerably behind them, and are smaller.

Those of the lower jaw are trilobed and small.

The following dimensions have been taken (1) from the original

specimen of V. Hardwickii, and (2) from the type specimen of V.

pellucidus. Those of the second column will appear at first sight

to differ a good deal from those of the first, but probably the latter

may be considerably altered from its real size by the state of pre-

servation. Such parts as could not be altered by this means, as

the bones of the wings, do not differ materially, as may at once be

seen by reference to the Table.

Length of the head and body........ 1

IE RAUL 2) Sok RE ool vis Wi! he 1

GE LHEMRCAGN 256/53. vem. Gae adi S 0

== Gia tWErCATS), s <.ais si S 2

Breadth of the ears.........

Length of the tragus ......

of the fore-arm alia ou 74

—__— of the longest finger ........ 2

of the fourth finger.......... 1

efithethumbo, 22 s..e penis: 0

Gi thestibia = <=. cwhe see esters 0

—

ae Lo

—

DBWIWOHOWDANDW—wos

tole

loo

COONNK OCC ORRS

ee) of the-foot and claws... 2.

of the os calcis ........ yee

Expanse of wingS........-...--+---

tol

ours w Oo OW’

_—

—)

=p)

Hab. Java; Philippine Islands.

482 Zoological Society :—

4. KERIVOULA LANOSA.

Vespertilio lanosus, Smith, Hl. Zool. S. Africa, pl. 50.

This species presents precisely the same generic peculiarities which

characterize the foregoing, and they are quite as typically developed.

It possesses the same elevated crown and small muzzle, and has ears

and tragi of a similar shape, the differences being only such as are

purely specific ; but these differences, taken in the latter sense, are

very conspicuous. Whilst the fur is relatively as long as that noticed

of K. papillosa, it is, in addition to that, very thick and curly, with

the tips very glossy.

But it is necessary first to notice some other slight differences

which exist in the form of the ears and the distribution of the fur.

The ears, although of the same general form as those of K. picta

and the other species here treated of, yet differ in being more deeply

notched externally towards the tip.

The tragus is of the same tapering and pointed form observable

in the other species.

The face is very hairy, in some examples excessively so, the fur

of the forehead almost concealing the ears; and it is of the same soft

quality as that on the top of the head and on the back, a small

quantity only in front of the eye assuming a more bristly appear-

ance. The ears have their hinder surfaces clothed with hairs, and

when viewed from behind are scarcely visible. The fur of the back

does not encroach on the membranes of the wings, but extends over

the base of the interfemoral membrane for nearly half its length,

and, thinning out, leaves the hinder half naked. The upper sur-

faces of the tail, feet, tibiae, fore-arms, thumbs and index-fingers

are garnished with short and shining hairs of a silvery or pale

golden-yellow colour.

The hinder margin of the interfemoral membrane, between the os

calcis and tail, is furnished with a very remarkable comb-like fringe

of prominent thick-set hairs, which, curving downwards, have their

points directed towards the belly of the animal. On all the upper

parts the fur is tricoloured, with a faint indication of a fourth colour.

At the root it is blackish-grey for nearly half its length, which is

succeeded by palish-brown, and this again for a very short length of

a darker tint, and finally tipped with sulphur-yellow. The latter

colour is on the head, neck, and shoulders so pale as to give a silvery

appearance to the tips of the hairs, which is heightened by their

being curly, somewhat as in the fur of the common Hare. Towards

the hinder parts they are less curly, and more yellow in colour,

especially those which grow on the legs, tail, and interfemoral mem-

brane. ‘The same may be said of those on the upper surface of the

fore-arms, thumbs, and index-fingers.

Beneath, the fur is bicoloured, dark at the base, with the terminal

fourth whitish-grey, very much as in the common Vespertilio mysta-

cinUs ; but the light-coloured tips are more shining than in that

species.

The membranes are of a medium brown colour, somewhat diapha-

Lytle.

So Pe eee ee

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 483

nous, and have their veins thickly marked with glandular-looking

dots.

The description of the cranium will be given in connexion with

that of the skull of the next species, the better to illustrate by im-

mediate comparison the difference between the two.

In the following Table of dimensions, the first column contains

those of a male and the second those of a female, both from the same

locality :—

1 2.

Length of the head and ee about:.2 ky 9 2 0

—_ of the tail . : ape Ay Lo

GmtNGreArss2 Se 2:05, 5hckees 0 42 0:55

Breadth of the ears Os 0.5

Length of the tragus. . 0 3h OSs

GRtHe dore-arM 2)c..0:/iee 6 ly Ze 1 23

—— of the longest finger ........ 29 29

——-— of the fourth finger ........ ly Ue 1 103

— of the thumb.............. 0 3 0 3

—— of the tibia SS eater, rede | ee 0-6

———of the foot and claws ...... 0 3t 0 3}

——lOfithe'os caleis=s. 0 2% sens 0 9 0 &

Pamause Oh WINS <0. 2s)... 4 3s..e, 10 0 10 3

Hab. South Africa (the eastern coast).

5. KERIVOULA ROSA, 0. S.

This species, from the same locality as the last, resembles it in the

long and curly nature of the fur, but is larger and differently coloured.

The ears, too, are larger, with the ends more rounded, and less deeply

notched externally.

The top of the head, although much elevated, is scarcely so much

so, relatively, as in K. /anosa, and the muzzle is proportionally

longer ; but the nostrils and snout are shaped as in that species.

The ears have their ends rounded, quite as much so as in the Notech-

eared Bat and Natterer’s Bat of Europe; and the hollow in the

outer margin near to the end scarcely deserves the name of notch.

It is in fact a mere indentation, shallow, but regular, and occupying

nearly one-third of the outer margin. In all other respects the ears

resemble those of the foregoing species, and indeed those of the

other representatives of the genus. The tragus offers no deviation

in form from that of the species already described ; it is long, taper-

ing, and pointed.

The membranes are similar to those of K. /anosa, excepting that

they are not quite so distinctly marked with dotted lines as in that

species.

The fur of the head is only of medium length, and does not ob-

scure the ears, nor extend so far along the face as in AH. lanosa. The

face is in fact moderately hairy, with a woolly moustache on the

484. Zoological Society :—

upper lip, and a naked space between the eye and ear. The chin

also is nearly naked.

On no part of the membrane does the fur of the back extend, and

that of the under parts only to a very trifling extent on the base of

the interfemoral membrane ; but the upper surfaces of the legs, feet,

and heel-cartilages, of the tail, fore-arms, thumbs, and index-fingers,

and of the two terminal phalanges of the longest fingers, beyond the

extremity of the index fingers, are more or less clothed with short

adpressed shining hairs, thickest on the fore-arms and tail, but no-

where so thick as in the last species. The edge of the interfemoral

membrane, between the heel-cartilage and tail, is sparingly furnished

with short bristly hairs, very unlike the thick comb-like fringe of K.

lanosa.

The fur of all the upper parts is long, thick, and curly, and nearly

uniform in colour over the whole of the back, varying only in be-

coming a little darker towards the rump. It is of four colours,—

dark grey-brown at the base for nearly half its length, sueceeded by

yellowish-brown, then by deep umber-brown, and tipped with shining

bronzy yellow ; that which is spread over the upper surface of the

limbs, tail, &c. is wholly of the latter colour.

Beneath, the fur is of a dark sepia-brown colour, tipped with

brownish-bronze colour.

In no other Bat have I seen fur at all resembling that of the pre-

sent species. It is not difficult to attain a tolerably correct idea of

its general appearance, by supposing a small species with fur of the

quality and texture of that of the common Hare, but of a dark brown

colour, and with the light tips observable in the fur of that animal,

changed to a shining golden-bronze colour.

—~

Length of the head and body, about. .

of the: tail. .csran peer.

oe) ok

of the head: "2: 4.5 Aa 0

of the ears: >. 24sec eee 0

Breadth of the ears ......... 0

iueneth of the tragus << .°.2).10.yeer 0

—of the fore-arm .........:... 1

of the longest finger......:. 2

Sot oor onc

bolts)

——— of the fourth finger ........

ofthe’ thiumab:, S426 a pais eee

of the tibia Ao? Eee

of the foot and claws ..

of the os calcis...

EXPaNserOl@WwiNOS: . 0509.» mates eee

Hab. South Africa, eastern coast (the same locality as the prece-

ding species).

On comparing the skulls of three of the foregoing species, K, picta,

K. lanosa, and K. erosa, I find their general form to be pretty

similar, but yet presenting some slight modifications which require

notice. Of these, A. /anosa has the cranium proportionally the

Ld eo

tole

ON AR DOO =

—

SoococonwnnNrooocornr:

—

ANA ABReECUoORAMADMSO

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 485

shortest, and with the cerebral region most elevated, closely approach-

ing Furipterus in this respect. It also has the facial portion more

depressed, and the notch between the intermaxillary bones less deep

than in K. picta ; and these bones are not so much separated at their

anterior extremities as in that species, so that the incisors which they

bear are less separated also, and have an inward deviation from the

line of the other teeth, contrary to what has been stated in the generic

description. However, in this species, the upper incisors by no

means approximate each other closely, as they do in Furipterus. In

other respects the crania of XK. picta and K. lanosa do not differ

materially ; and the dentition is also so similar as to present scarcely

any differences worthy of notice. The outer incisor in the lower

jaw has precisely the same central elevated cusp already noticed, and

is similar in both species ; but the skull of the third species, K. erosa,

has, on the contrary, the top of the skull less elevated than in KX.

picta, and the facial depression scarcely so deep, owing chiefly to the

hinder extremities of the nasal bones having a somewhat inflated

form. The facial portion of the skull is rather long in proportion to

its entire length ; and the bones of which it is composed are much

thicker than in the other species, giving support to much longer and

stronger teeth. Indeed the whole skull and teeth are much more

substantial than the other and more typical species of the genus.

The lower jaw, with its teeth, is of proportionate strength, and is

rather thick at the symphysis menti, where it has a slight descending

process.

In number the teeth resemble those of the other species, but differ

somewhat in their form. The outer lower incisors, although they

have the central principal cusp already mentioned, yet have it so little

developed that it would scarcely be regarded as singular if previous

notice had not been called to it*. ‘The upper incisors present a

remarkable deviation from what appears typical: instead of two

pairs of well-developed teeth, we find that the inner ones are long

and pointed, but the outer ones merely rudimentary, so that they

can scarcely be seen without the aid of a lens. The upper canines

are long, strong, and angular; and the premolar next to them is

also long and pointed. These differences in the teeth are alone suf-

ficient to distinguish this species.

* Tt is curious and interesting to note the very slight outward deviation from

the more typical forms, exhibited by this species, and to find on examination that

it possesses also an internal departure from the same typical standard; and it is

satisfactory to find that these differences are such as accord well with each other,

externally and internally. The slightly more bulky appearance of the animal, ac-

companied by membranes of less delicate nature, and more imperfectly marked

with the veins and papille which are so characteristic of this and the allied

genera, is associated with an osseous system of greater solidity, and with upper

incisors which approach in their inequality of size those of many of the species

of the robust genus Scotophilus. If we examine, for instance, the upper incisors

of the Noctule or the Hairy-armed Bat, we shall perceive at once that the inner

ones are much the largest, just as they arein K. @rosa; and in those stout species

of the genus Vespertilio which have a near aftinity with Scofophilus, the same

thing is observable.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. 1. 33

486 Zoological Society :-—

The following are the dimensions of the crania of these three

species :—

K. picta. | K. lanosa.| K. erosa.

“ Me “ “ “ we

Entire length of the skull exclusive of the

INCISOTS .....-.cecccececsecoescenceeees earions OF 0 6

Greatest breadth across the zygomatic

ATCHES.........cceceecsecereeccereetecseveccsees 0 4 0 3% 0 45

Breadth of the skull behind the zygomatic

arches...... so slog oissilsoii-ie avis cidecisestesemeseeyaises 0 33 | O 33 0 3%

Length from the posterior root of the zy-

goma to the anterior point of the inter-

MaxlaryAVOUS se snsceccecsececseasacess sce 0 43 0 4 0 5

Length of the zygomatic arches ........+++- OF 2 Om: 0 23

Length of the bony palate ...............6++ 0 3 0 23

Length of the dental series in the upper

PAW cacwocnarestidadensaedee seus cescnesraseeantan 0 323 0 23 0 3

Breadth between the outer cusps of the

two posterior molars............c0+ssseeeee 0 23 0 23 0 23

Breadth between the tips of the upper

CANINES) co joccvewscssessemses desessseos meres 0). 1354) (02 de 0 14

Length of the lower jaw, exclusive of the

ENCISOIS Jose feaccchs.c conse capeenie concwsececues 0 5 O 4% 0 54

Rlevation of the condyle above the lower}

edge of the ramuS.............+esessesseees- 0 1¢ |-0 14 0 14

Length of the dental series in the lower) |

JA ieccie ot aasesned vance Secee@eerocesseeccoteccines | 0 3% 0 32 0 32

The following species, having the wing-membranes attached as far

along the foot as to the root of the toes, have been placed by Dr.

Gray in this genus ; but their similarity to the species of other genera,

or minor groups, has induced me to leave them out of the present

monograph. Kerivoula formosa 1 have already separated from it,

and placed in company with the Vespertilio emarginatus of Europe,

and some other species. KK. Sykeszi is a small species, closely allied

to, if not identical with, Scotophilus coromandelicus ; and K. poensis

and K. grisea are both referable to the same subgeneric division of

the genus Scotophilus, all having characters pretty similar to those

of the S. Pipistrellus, S. Kuhlii, and S. marginatus. K. trilatoides

is a true Vespertilio, having the same generic peculiarities as Vesp.

mystacinus. K. brasiliensis 1 have not seen.

In a former monograph I gave a few notes on the classification of

some of the species of Vespertilionide ; and I seize the present op-

porety of adding such others as bear on the same point, which

ave arisen during the examination of the species comprised in the

present memoir.

The observations I made were something to this purpose,—that

after eliminating such easily recognizable genera as Plecotus and

Barbastellus from the genus Vespertilio, as given by M. Temminck,

there vet remained a large number of species differing greatly from

each other, but the most diverse of which were so connected by

intermediate species as to be with great difficulty brought under

generic definition. The common Noctule Bat and the Whiskered

Bat were given as familiar examples, the first being considered as

typical of the stout species which are organized for strong and rapid

Mr. R. F. Tomes on the genus Kerivoula. 487

flight in exposed situations, and for capturing and masticating the

larger species of Coleoptera ; and the latter was given as an example

of the light and comparatively fragile species which take their mi-

nute food amongst the foliage, or in other confined situations. But

the Whiskered Bat is by no means the most typical of the slender

species; the genera Furipterus, Natalus, and Hyonycteris are the

most so, and Kerivoula immediately after them, and before Vesper-

tilio, in which genus, in its restricted form, the Whiskered Bat,

with many other species, takes its place.

Assuming that Kerzvoula is a more typical genus than Vespertilio,

we should expect its habits to be in accordance with its structure,

and to differ somewhat from those of Vespertilio ; and the following

(all that I can gather which appears authentic) will throw some light

on this pomt. In vol. xiv. of the ‘Annals and Magazine of

Natural History’ the following notice of one of the species, KX. picta,

appears, from the pen of Capt. R. C. Tytler : «‘ This elegant Bat is

found in thick jungle, and is only observed when disturbed, by sud-

denly flying out of its retreat and taking almost immediate shelter,

like a moth, amongst the bushes.” Dr. Kelaart, after observing

that there are no Bats in Ceylon called ‘ Kerivoulha,” says, “ Kehil-

voula is the Cingalese name fer the yellow Bats found on plantain

trees,—‘ Kehil’ in Cingalese meaning plantain, and ‘ Voulha’ a bat.

We have never obtained the Kerivou/ha from any other places than

plantain groves, where they are generally found clinging to the

fruit.”

From the observations of these gentlemen it would appear that

the Kerivoula picta is an arboreal species, certainly resting during

the day among dense foliage, and most probably taking its food

in similar situations. It would be interesting to know if those

which Dr. Kelaart has seen clinging to the plantain fruit had chosen

that as a resting place, or were in search of insects which might feed

on the fruit ; for we cannot suppose that the Bats would be feeding

on the latter—they are too purely insectivorous in their structure.

Of another species inhabiting South Africa, K. Janosa, Dr. A.

Smith says that it frequents ‘a wooded district stretching along the

sea-shore about 200 miles from Cape Town. Like other species of

the genus, it appears as night sets in, and may then be seen flitting

from spot to spot along the open spaces which exist here and there

in different parts of the forest.”’

These short extracts comprise all that I can learn of the habits of

the genus under consideration; but such as they are, they tend to

corroborate my previous supposition, derived from observing the ob-

vious similarity of the organs of flight to those of some of the Rhi-

nolophi, one species of which I have observed in a state of nature.

When we look at the considerable development of the cutaneous

system, and its delicate nature, and the ample organs of flight with

their slender digits, in the genus Kerivou/a, we can readily perceive

that they are not well-suited for exposed flight, but that they would

be admirably adapted for flitting amongst the boughs aud leaves of

trees; and the existence of numerous lines and papille, probably

33°

488 Zoological Society.

nerves of sensation, in the membranes, would render them highly

delicate organs of touch, and a safe protection against the injuries

which their slender members might otherwise sustain in such places.

All the membranes of this and the allied genera Furipterus, Natalus,

and Hyonycteris are elaborately veined and dotted, just as in the

Horse-shoe Bat ; and I have had a good opportunity of witnessing

the extraordinary powers of flight of the latter.

On one occasion I had liberated from a box in my usual sitting-

room a Pipistrelle and a Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. The former flew

directly against the glass of the window, just as a bird does, and re-

peated the attempt to escape several times. The Horse-shoe Bat,

instead of doing this, although it approached very near to the glass,

never even so much as touched it with the tips of its wings; and I

could distinctly see it pass in front of each pane so near as almost

to touch it, but at the same time avoid the prominent wood-work of

the window. Under and amongst the tables and chairs it passed

with perfect ease, touching nothing, and behind the window curtains

in a similar manner, although there was scarcely an inch of space

between them and the wall. At length, when flitting in front of

some book-shelves from which I had just removed an octavo volume

(Temminck’s Birds of Europe), it seemed, if I may use the expres-

sion, to feel the vacant space, and passed in and out again without,

I believe, even so much as touching the volumes on either side.

Mr. Blyth has observed of Natterer’s Bat that it occasionally

“flapped against a glass case’’ while flying round a room. I have

often seen various species of Vespertilionide do the like against the

walls and furniture of a room, but have never seen the Horse-shoe

Bat do so.

Now, although speculation in zoological science is scarcely admis-

sible, yet I am tempted to suggest, from the general similarity of

the organs of flight in the genera Furipterus, Natalus, Hyonycteris,

and Kerivoula with those of Rhinolophus, that they may have pre-

cisely the same function to perform ; and I should entertain but

little doubt of this, were not the latter provided with very singular

cutaneous expansions, as nose-leaves and facial crests. These have

by some observers been considered as organs of touch, performing in

tact the office of eyes. But this latter suggestion is at best a mere

suggestion, since we find amongst the Rhinolophide some species

which, while they possess all the other peculiarities of Rhinolophus,

are destitute of what may properly be called a nose-leaf, having in

its stead grooves and hollows not likely to be highly sensitive organs

of touch. This is the case with Rh. aurantivs of Australia, and

with Nycteris, which is simply a modified Rhinolophus.

Without further pursuing these suggestions, I may state my belief

that it is in the whole expansion of the cutaneous system that the

singular sense with which these animals are endowed exists, and

that this, if properly investigated, will afford one of the most certain

indices to the natural classification of the Vespertilionide.

Before concluding, I wish to add a suggestion relative to the pro-

bable habits of Hyonyeteris, derived from the examination of spe-

Miscellaneous. 489

cimens. As the creature is destitute of claws to the feet, which

could be used as instruments of support, and has suctorial disks in-

stead, it appears probable that it would be capable of traversing such

surfaces only as were sufficiently even for the action of the disks, and

that suitable surfaces might be furnished by the fruit or leaves of

many of the trees of tropical America, from which the pig-like snout

of the animal would be well adapted for taking minute insects in a

state of rest.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Note on Dysidea papillosa, Johnston.

By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.

Mr. GeorGe Barter, on the 28th of August, wrote to me from

Lerwick—“ I have a curious Zoophyte I can send you: it is John-

ston’s Dysidea papillosa: it is not a Sponge, but a true Zoo-

phyte: I saw the polype at work constantly: it is very abundant

here.” In another note, of the 8th of September, he further ob-

serves—‘‘I saw, at Mr. Bean’s, Johuston’s Dysidea papillosa, and

find it quite identical with my shell and organism, although the

former is attached to a shell, and mine is free, which at once sets

the matter at rest.’ Mr. Barlee further adds (November 3), “ that

there were more came up in the dredge free, than were attached,

and that they seem to abound on muddy ground both east and north

of Brassey Island, about thirty miles off, aud in about 70 or 80 fa-

thoms of water. The polype seemed generally very active, and I

saw no shifting of position of the animals while I had them in the

basin, although there might have been some during the nights; but

I often watched them for half-an-hour at a time, and perceived no

change of position.”

Mr. Barlee has kindly sent some specimens to the British Museum.

The coral has all the more important external characters and organi-

zation of the genus Corticifera of Lesueur (Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad.

i. 178. t. 8. f. 6,7), found in the West India islands. But a genus

(Stdisia) must be formed for it, as, while Corticifera consists of a

number of short cylindrical animals springing from an expanded

base, Sidisia is cylindrical, more or less branched, and free, or only

attached by its base tu a shell or rock.

On the Auditory Apparatus of Insects. By C. LEespss.

The author places the seat of hearing in Insects in the antenne.

He refers to the apertures in the surface of the antennze described

by Erichson, which, he states, exist in all insects ; they are closed by

a membrane like the tympanum, or rather, like the fenestra rotunda

of the ear of the Vertebrata. These the author proposes to call

tympanules.

Behind the membrane or tympanule, and applied directly to its

surface, there is a small sac filled with a thick fluid, and almost

always containing a solid body; this is probably an auditory sac

490 Miscellaneous.

with an otolithe. In some cases the author has traced one of the

terminal filaments of the antennal nerve into this auditory sac.

These organs are always of the same construction, and differ only

in size; but their magnitude bears no relation to that of the insect.

Their number is very variable: in the antenna of the Libellulidee

the author has found only four, whilst in the Lamellicorn Beetles

there is an immense number of them. Their position on the antenna

is very variable, but always in relation to the form of the organ.

In some Myriapoda the author has observed a remarkable arrange-

ment. About the middle of the antenna of the Seutigera coleoptrata

here is a sort of knot or swelling formed by two joints, between which

there is a small sac receiving a branch of the antennal nerve. In

Julus terrestris there are two analogous structures placed side by side.

The author’s experiments on hearing in Insects have rarely fur-

nished him with incontestable results, but they nevertheless lead him

to believe that the organs above mentioned are the seat of this sense.

Should this prove to be the case, he calls attention to the remarkable

fact that these animals possess not only compound eyes, but also

compound ears.—Comptes Rendus, August 30, 1858, p. 368.

Why does the Queen Bee lay an Unfecundated Egg in the Drone-

Cells, and a Fecundated Egg in those of the Workers and Queens ?

Is there in this, on the part of the Queen, an Intelligent or In-

stinetive Act? By Dr. KicueNnMEIsTER.

The author, assuming the truth of the results put forward by Von

Siebold in his remarkable essay on ‘ Parthenogenesis,” namely that

the drone-producing eggs of the Hive-Bee are unimpregnated, and

those of the queens and workers impregnated, proceeds to give what

may be called a mechanical explanation of the facts.

He says that in the Wasps and Bees the seminal receptacle is

placed so that the semen has to travel a considerable distance to

reach the oviduct. In this case, there are three causes which may

facilitate the flow of semen :—

1. The fulness of the receptacle.

2. A pressure acting upon the bottom of the receptacle from

behind and below, forwards and upwards.

3. The action of a muscular apparatus situated in the upper half

of the receptacle.

At the moment when the eggs destined to produce males are going

to be laid, the queen is placed upon the combs without sensibly

curving her body, and the egg glides without effort into the cell ;

whilst in laying the eggs which are to furnish queens, she turns her

head outwards, and twists the abdomen to make it enter the cell.

The margin of the cell exerting a pressure upon the bottom of the

seminal receptacle, together with the contortion of the body, explain

in this case the ejaculation of the semen and the fecundation of the eggs.

For the feeundation of the eggs destined to furnish workers, it is

sufficient, in a fertile and vigorous queen, that there should be a

simple pressure of the parenchyma upon the seminal receptacle :

when the store of semen begins to be exhausted, the muscular appa-

ratus probably comes into play.

Miscellaneous. 49]

When the queen deposits an egg in a large cell intended for a

male, the edge of the cell exerts no pressure upon the abdomen, or

the pressure is exerted only above the seminal receptacle ; the latter

therefore is not raised, and the oblique position of the ejaculatory

canal in relation to the oviduct prevents the ejaculation. Thus, accord-

ing to the author, it is to the difference in the diameter of the cells

that the production of the different sexes in the Hive-Bee is due.—

Moleschott’s Untersuchungen; Bibl. Univ. de Geneve, September

1858, p. 94.

On the Development and Propagation of the Trichocephalus dispar

and Ascaris lumbricoides. By C. Davarne.

1. The Trichocephalus dispar occurs so commonly in the ceecum

of man, that the author calculates that in Paris one-half of the in-

habitants are infested by it. The development of this worm has not

been observed, and its mode of transmission is quite unknown. The

eggs are frequently evacuated with the feces. The repeated examina-

tion of eggs found in the contents of the intestine of corpses, or in

the evacuations of patients, leads the author to conclude that these

ova undergo no development in the human intestine, and that they

are always expelled in the condition in which they escape from the

body of the mother. The author therefore attempted to obtain the

development of the ova in water, but several times without success.

At the end of September, 1857, he collected a great quantity of these

ova, and washed them for several days, until the water containing the

ova was limpid and destitute of any odour. The liquid was renewed

from time to time, and the ova were examined with the microscope

everyweek. A certain number underwent alteration ; others remained

uninjured, but without presenting any trace of development. At the

beginning of April, after six months’ watching, the vitellus, in some

of these ova, collected into a rounded mass and acquired some con-

sistence, as was proved by crushing the ova. Some days afterwards,

the vitellus in many ova underwent segmentation into two, and then

into four parts ; the segmentation then followed the ordinary course,

and, at the beginning of May, many of the yelks had acquired a

mulberry-like appearance. From this time no change was observed

until the 12th of June, when some of the ova contained a well-

formed embryo, recognizable by its movements. This embryo, which

to a certain extent possesses the form of the adult, tapers gently

from behind forwards ; its length is about 5 millim.

2. On the 8th of October, 1857, the author collected numerous ova

of Ascaris lumbricoides by washing the feces of a child who had passed

several of these worms. These ova were preserved in pure water,

and examined from time to time, like the preceding. For six months

no change was observed; but on the 14th of April several of them

had undergone segmentation into two, and some into four parts,

whilst the greater number exhibited no change. On the 30th of

April, segmentation had taken place in all, but in various degrees :

in some the vitellus represented a small mammillated sphere ; on the

5th of May this had become reniform, and on the 7th the embryo

492 Miscellaneous.

was apparent. The embryo is cylindrical, with the caudal extremity

suddenly terminating in a point; its length is ¢ millim.: its mouth

does not show the three tubercles characteristic of the Ascarides.

From the 7th of May to the 21st of June the embryos had continued

living within the shell of the egg, and none of them had escaped.

The author placed the ova in the gastric juice of the rabbit and

dog ; but after staying in these fluids for three or four days, the shell

remained perfectly intact. M. Richter, who placed the ova of this

worm in water, found, after the lapse of eleven months, that they

contained embryos ; but he was unable to see them hatch.

The ova, like those of the Trichocephalus, are evacuated with the

feeces ; and before their evacuation they never show the least trace

of development. In October last, ova kept for a fortnight at a nearly

constant temperature of 86° F., acquired no development. The same

ova, left in a room in which the temperature never exceeded 61° F.,

underwent segmentation in April. Ova collected in January under-

went segmentation in June ; whilst others collected in April presented

no trace of development in June, notwithstanding the great heat of

the season. ‘Temperature therefore would seem to have little or no

influence on the ova of Ascaris lumbricoides, which require to remain

for a long time im a state of latent life.

Hence the author concludes—1. That the ova of these worms are

developed out of the human body; and 2. That the appearance of

the embryo does not take place until after the lapse of eight months

in the one case and six months in the other. In this long interval,

the ova may be transported by rains into brooks, rivers, and wells,

the water of which is used for drinking and preparing food. In this

way the fully-developed ova or the embryos may find their way into

the human intestine.—Comptes Rendus, June 21, 1858, pol2v7:

Note on Enteromorpha cornucopiz.

By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S, &e.

Professor Harvey admits this species with doubt, on the authority

of the late Capt. Carmichael (Phytologia Brit. t. 304); but I think

there can be no doubt that Lyngbye and Agardh are correct in re-

garding it as a variety of Lnteromorpha intestinalis, or rather, a form

of that species produced by the peculiar position in which it is found.

It is very abundant in one locality in Broadhaven, in St. Bride’s

Bay, South Wales, growing where some fresh water trickles down

the side of a nearly perpendicular rock. The whole width of the

trickle is covered with the green Alga as close as it can grow, side

by side. The plants on the top of the higher and nearly horizontal

ridges, which the water only trickles over, are all the bell-shaped

L. cornucopia, t. 3, and the specimens on the perpendicular parts are

the oblong tubular specimens of that plant, like f. 2 of Dr. Harvey’s

plate above quoted, while the specimens growing in the pools left in

the small cavities of the rock are all more or less elongate normal

Enteromorpha intestinalis.

The bell-shaped form in some instances appears to be produced by

the withering-away of the upper part of the oblong specimens ; in

Miscellaneous. 493

other cases it seems to be the natural growth of the specimens.

Capt. Carmichael, like some botanists, seems to consider species to

depend on the “distinction of the character’ that can be assigned

for a species, rather than on the distinctness of the structure and

economy of the species itself: for it must be well known to all

practical naturalists that many species, which are very difficult to

distinguish by characters, are nevertheless distinct, while specimens

which offer, like Enteromorpha cornucopia, a striking peculiarity

in external characters, easily expressed in words, are only accidental

or local varieties, which can, by mere transplantation, be converted

into the presumed species.

On the Liability of Shells to Injury from the Growth of a Fungus.

By the Rev. H. H. Higeins, M.A.

It has often been observed that shells kept for a considerable time

in cabinets are apt to lose much of their original freshness and beauty

of appearance. This kind of injury chiefly affects such specimens as

have a bright enamelled surface, which at length becomes dull and

less pleasant to the touch. Several suggestions have been made with

reference to the probable cause of the change, which has often been

attributed to the efflorescence of saline matter absorbed by the shell;

but, so far as I have observed, the specimens most liable to injury

from saline incrustation belong to genera im which the shells are

without enamel, as Littorina, Turritella, &c.; and many collectors

are in the habit of steeping their specimens in fresh water for some

days, before placing them in their cabinets,—a process which is said

to be an effectual preservative from injury by saline efflorescence.

Mr. Dennison of Woolton attributed the loss of lustre in enamelled

shells to the ravages of a minute insect, but had not been able to

detect the depredator. Many of the shells in my own cabinet suffered

such serious injury during last winter, that I was led to investigate the

cause, which indeed became obvious enough by the use of a micro-

scope. An ordinary lens showed the enamel of the shell to be beset

with small bristly points; and when a portion of the surface was

scraped off and submitted to a higher magnifying power, the forms

of at least two species of Fungi became apparent,—one resembling a

Mucor with a globose sporangium, the other, and much more com-

mon form, exhibiting both simple ai:d moniliform filaments, with an

abundance of minute spores, seemingly quite free. After having been

carefully washed, the surface of the shell was found to be as it were

engraved in some places with stellular marks, in others with striz

forming irregular reticulations—caused, no doubt, in each instance

by the spreading mycelium of the Fungus. It is scarcely necessary

to add that attacks of this nature need not be apprehended where

shells are kept in a perfectly dry or well-ventilated place. A slight

deposition of moisture does, however, frequently occur upon their

surfaces whilst shells are undergoing examination, in which case it

would be a safe precaution to allow them for a while to remain ex-

posed to the air, before returning the drawer to the cabinet.— Proc.

Lit. and Phil. Soc. of Liverpool, No. 12, 1858.

494. Miscellaneous.

Description of a new species of Himalayan Mole (Talpa macrura).

By B. H. Honeson, Esq.

In preparing a set of skins and skulls for despatch to Europe, I

find a marked species of Mole which has not been, I think, described,

and which differs from the ordinary Himalayan one by being a third

smaller, yet having a tail five times as long. The following is its

summary description :— !

Tip of snout to base of tail 4 inches. Head lj inch. Tail and

hair 12 inch; tail only, 1,4, inch, palma and nails ? mch, planta and

nails 2 inch.

Its colour is deep slaty blue, with canescent gloss, iridescent when wet.

The tail is cylindric and pretty well covered with soft hair, which

extends a little beyond its tip. As I called the other mierura, so I

name this one macrura.

Moles are very abundant in the Himalaya, the deep bed of black

vegetable mould, everywhere prevailing (so long as its protecting

cover of forest and brushwood is not cleared off), affording a plentiful

supply of those earth-worms which constitute the Mole’s chief food.

The abundance of Moles, therefore, gives a distinct clue to the

surface-character of this gigantic system of mountains, or rather to

the Indian slope of it, and most especially to the central or normal

region.—Journal of the Royal Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, No. 2, 1858.

On Euchetes coccineus, a new genus of Birds.

By P. L. Scuater, M.A.

The single specimen of this bird in M. Verreaux’s collection from

the Rio Napo is the most interesting novelty which I have met with

since I commenced studying the group to which it belongs. Its

plumage is precisely that of a Ramphocelus, but the structure is quite

different, and renders it impossible to place it in that group. The

form of the bill is rather that of the true Tanagre, and agrees more

nearly with that of Tanagra olivi-cyanea and Buthraupis eximia, but

it is shorter, thicker, and more swollen than in the former, though not

so much so as in the latter of these birds. The tail is comparatively

much shorter than in either of these forms ; and altogether it is, I

think, impracticable to arrange it in any other way than as a separate

generic division, for which the following characters may suffice :—

Rostrum forte, breve, carinatum, compressum, culmine arcuato,

gonyde ascendente, dente finali distincta, commissura paululum

sinuata ; vibrissis nullis: ale longe, remige prima quartam

cequante et a secunda et tertia longissimis paulo superatis:

cauda brevis, apice modice rotundata : pedes fortes, sicut in

genere Buthraupide : ptilosis coccinea, nigro varia.

Evucuares coccinevs, J. Verreaux, MS.

Coccineus : loris, facie et mento cum gutture et collo antico, alis

caudaque nigerrimis: rostro et pedibus nigris.

Long. tota 6°5, alee 3°5, caudze 2°4, rostri a fronte 0°55, a rictu

0-7, tarsi 0:9.

Proc. Zool Soc. Jan. 26, 1858.

495

INDEX to VOL. II.

Acosmits, new species of, 286.

Actiniadz, on the British, 229.

Actimiz, on the chylaqueous fiuid of

the, 417.

Acupalpus, new species of, 204.

Adamsia palliata, on the nature of the

sub-basal membrane of, 107.

Adelina, description of the new ge-

nus, 413.

Agilops triticoides, experiments on,

315.

Agassiz, Prof., on the animals of

Millepora, 233.

Agathopus, characters of the genus,

149.

Agave americana, on the flowering of

the, 307.

Agelasta, new species of, 273.

'Agonum, new species of, 203.

Agrilus, new species of, 280.

Aleochara, new species of, 205.

Algze, on the reproduction of cer-

tain, l.

Allecula, new species of, 285.

Alphitophagus, new species of, 284.

Amarygmus, new species of, 285.

Ammonites, new species of, 260.

Amphistegina, on the structure of

the genus, 290.

Amydrus, new species of, 465.

Anabates, new species of, 144.

Anceus, on the metamorphosis of

Praniza into, 164; observations

on, 165.

Anchomenus, new species of, 203.

Andigena, new species of, 588.

Andropadus, new species of, 471.

Animals, marine, on the habits and

reproduction of some, 197.

Antidipnis, description of the new

genus, 337.

Apate, new species of, 286.

Aphides, on reproduction in the, 213.

Aphodius, new species of, 207.

Aphrocallistes, description of the new

genus, 224.

Aphroceras, description of the new

genus, 83.

Araneidea, new genus and species of,

331.

Arctium, on some species of, 351.

Argutor, new species of, 204.

Arrhenodes, new species of, 356.

Artema, new species of, 332.

Asaphus, new species of, 9.

Ascaris lumbricoides, on the develop-

ment and propagation of, 491.

Asida, new species of, 284.

Astarte lurida, note on, 262.

Athous, new species of, 280.

Atractocerus, new species of, 285.

Attagenus, new species of, 207.

Babington, C. C., on the British spe-

cies of Arctium, 351.

Baillon, H., on the Euphorbiacez,

53,1

Baird, Dr. W., on new species of

Entozoa, 306.

Bairdia, new species of, 326, 432.

Balbiani, M., on the generative organs

and reproduction of the Infusoria,

439.

Barrett, L., on the atlas and axis of

the Plesiosaurus, 361.

Bate, C. S., on Praniza and Anceus,

165.

Bees, on the agency of, in the fer-

tilization of papilionaceous flowers,

459; on the drone-producing eggs

of, 490.

Bembidium, new species of, 204, 420.

Blackwall, J., on new Araneidea, 331.

Books, new :— Mantell’s Wonders of

Geology, 54; Lloyd’s Flore de

V’Ouest de la France, 57; Boreau’s

Flore du Centre de la France, 57 ;

Jones’s Aquarian Naturalist, 139;

Perry’s Expedition to the China

Seas, 210; Davy’s Angler in the

Lake District, 211; Lady Wilkin-

son’s Weeds and Wild-flowers, 286;

Gray’s How Plants Grow, 287 ;

Van der Hoeven’s Handbook of

Zoology, 364; Gosse’s Actinologia

Britannica, 367 ; Zoology of the

Pacific Railroad Routes, Part II.

Birds, 466; Brightwell’s Life of

Linnezus, 468.

Bostrichus, new species of, 286.

Bunodes, new British species of, 194.

4.96

Buteo, new species of, 227.

Calabaria, characters of the new ge-

nus, 301.

Calliste, new species of, 472.

Calodromus, description of the new

genus, 181.

Camptonyx, observations on the ge-

nus, 116.

Canary, note on a talking, 371.

Cardiaderus, new species of, 203.

Cardiophorus, new species of, 280.

Carpenter, Dr. B., on the Rhizopod

type of animal life, 74; on the

Foraminifera, 290.

Carpenteria, on the genus, B8ie

Carter, H. J., on the spermatology

of a new species of Nais, 20, 90;

on fecundation in Eudorina elegans

and Cryptoglena, 237.

Casnonia, new species of, 178.

Casuarius Bennettii, on the egg of,

469.

Catascopus, new species of, 203.

Cercomacra, new species of, 373.

Cerithiopsis, new species of, 129.

Cerosterna, new species of, 274.

Chapman, Prof. E. J., on some new

Trilobites, 9.

Chionis alba, on the skeleton of, 67.

Chlorospingus, new species of, 472.

Chondrosteus, observations on the

genus, 61.

Chorda filum, on a variety of, 309.

Chrysobothrys, new species of, 280.

Cicindela, new species of, 202.

Cis, new species of, 286.

Cistela, new species of, 286.

Clivina, new species of, 203.

Coleoptera, descriptions of new, 175,

196, 202, 264, 280, 337, 340, 353,

356, 407, 418.

Colophotia, new species of, 282.

Colymbetes, new species of, 204.

Conchological nomenclature. obser-

vations on, 133.

Conchology, gleanings in British, 117.

Conopophaga, new species of, 148.

Copris, new species of, 208.

Coptops, new species of, 272.

Coptostethus, new species of, 196.

Corticaria, new species of, 408.

Corymbites, new species of, 280.

Coste, M., on the habits and repro-

duction of some marmeanimals, 197.

Creurgops, characters of the new ge-

nus, 230.

INDEX.

Crossotus, new species of, 273.

Crustacea, on the structure and func-

tions of the hairs of the, 59 ; on the

habits and reproduction of some,

200.

Crustacean tracks in the mountain

limestone of Durham, on, 443.

Crypticus, new species of, 284.

Cryptoglena, on fecundation in, 237.

Curtonotus, new species of, 204.

Cuscus, on the species of, 67.

Cyclorhynchus, new species of, 150.

Cylindrospermum, on the reproduc-

tion of, 5.

Cymindis, new species of, 202.

Cyprea, on some specimens of, 49.

Dactylopsila, characters of the new

genus, 220.

Darwin, C., on the agency of bees in

the fertilization of papilionaceous

flowers, 459.

Dastarcus, characters of the new ge-

nus, 209.

Davaine, C., on the development and

propagation of Trichocephalus dis-

par and Ascaris lumbricoides, 491.

De Morgan, C., on the structure and

functions of the hairs of the Crus-

tacea, 59.

Diaperis, new species of, 283.

Diatypus, description of the new ge-

nus, 343,

Dictyoptera, new species of, 282.

Dineutes, new species of, 205.

Distrigus, new species of, 176.

Ditoma, new species of, 206.

Drimostoma, new species of, 178.

Drimys, on the species of, 37.

Dromius, new species of, 202.

Dujardinia, description of the genus,

381.

Dysdera, new species of, 334.

Dysidea papillosa, note on, 489.

Dysithamnus, new species of, 147.

Dytiscus, new species of, 204.

Ectenognathus, description of the

new genus, 340.

Egerton, Sir P. G., on the genus

Chondrosteus, 61.

Elenia, new species of, 235.

Enicopus, new species of, 283.

Enteromorpha cornucopiz, note on,

492.

Entomostraca, on the Permian, of

Durham, 317, 432.

Entozoa, new species of, 306.

IND EX.

Epicausta, new species of, 285.

Ermeus, characters of the genus, 205.

Erucivores, on a peculiar process at-

tached to the ischium in, 457.

Euchetes, new species of, 494.

Eudorina, on fecundation in, 237.

Eulima, new British species of, 128.

Euphorbiacez, examination of the

group, 312.

Euplynes, new species of, 429.

Euxestus, description of the new ge-

- nus, 411.

Eyton, T. C., on the skeleton of the

Sheath-bill, 67 ; on a peculiar pro-

cess attached to the ischium in

Erucivores, 457.

Fabre, M., on the hypermetamor-

phosis and habits of Sitaris, 84.

Fish, on the habits and reproduction

of some, 197.

Foraminifera, observations on the,

290.

Formicivora, new species of, 373.

Furcella, on the genus, 374.

Geological Society, proceedings of

the, 73.

Globigerina, on the genus, 235.

Godron, Dr., on Zgilops triticoides,

315.

Goniaster, new species of, 335.

Gosse, P. H., on the nature of the

sub-basal membrane of Adamsia

palliata, 107; on new British Sea-

Anemones, 192; on Sarcodictyon

catenata, 276; on Phyllangia, 349.

Gould, J., on a new species of Tou-

can, 388.

Grallaria, new species of, 148.

Gratiolet, P., on the anatomy of Te-

rebratula australis, 82.

Gray, Dr. J. E., on the structure of

Humphreyia, 16; on some speci-

mens of Cowries, 49; on a new

genus of Mytilide, and on some

distorted forms among bivalve

shells, 62; on the genus Nerita

and its operculum, 64; on the ge-

nus Cuscus, 67; on Aphroceras,

83; on the structure and position

of the genus Teredina, 85, 162; on

the genera Camptonyx and Tany-

siphon, 116; on the power of dis-

solving shells possessed by the

Bernard Crab, 164; on mammalia

from the Aru Islands, 216; on

Aphrocallistes, 224; on the Sala-

497

manders, 292; on a new genus of

Boide, 300 ; ona variety of Chorda

filum, 309; on Xenospongia, 369 ;

on the genus Furcella, 374; ona

new genus and several new species

of Uropeltide, 376; on Carpen-

teria and Dujardinia, 381 ; on the

egg of the Mooruk, 469; on Dy-

sidea papillosa, 489; on Entero-

morpha cornucopie, 492.

Guérin-Méneville, M., on the animal

bread of the Mexicans, 313.

Gymnopleurus, new species of, 208.

Gyrinus, new species of, 205.

Haleampa, new species of, 195.

Hammoderus, new species of, 275.

Hancock, A., on certain vermiform

fossils, 443.

Harmatelia, characters of the new

genus, 281].

Harpalus, new species of, 204.

Hartlaub, Dr. G., on new species of

birds, 470.

Hautlé, observations on the, 313.

Hedruris, new species of, 307.

Helops, new species of, 285.

Hesse, M., on the metamorphosis of

Praniza into Anceus, 164.

Heterocnemis, new species of, 148.

Higgins, Rey. H. H., on the death of

the hive-bee by a parasitic fungus,

387 ; on the liability of shells to in-

jury from the growth of a fungus,

493.

Hipposideros, new species of, 218.

Hodgson, B. H., on a new species of

Mole, 494.

Humphreyia, on the structure of,

16.

Huxley, Prof. T. H., on the pheno-

mena of gemmation, 213.

Hydaticus, new species of, 204.

Hydrobius, new species of, 209.

Hydroporus, new species of, 204.

Hypocnemis, new species of, 374.

[lhicium, on the species of, 111.

Infusoria, on the generative organs

and reproduction of the, 439.

Insects, on the auditory apparatus of,

4389.

Jeffreys, J. G., on British Mollusca,

117.

Jekel, on new Curculionidous beetles,

356.

Jenyns, Rev. L., on the smaller Bri-

tish species of Pisidium, 104.

4.98

Kaup, Dr. J., on a new genus of

riband-shaped fishes, 301.

Kerivoula, monograph of the genus,

473.

Kirkby, J. W., on Permian Entomo-

straca, 317, 432.

Kiichenmeister, Dr., on the drone-

producing eggs of the hive-bee, 490.

Lamppyris, new species of, 282.

Lardizabala, on the structure of the

seed in, 183; new species of, 191,

431.

Lathridius, new species of, 207, 409.

Lawson, Dr. G., on Lepas anatifera,

172:

Lebia, new species of, 203.

Leckenby, J., on a species of Pipe-

fish found at Scarborough, 416.

Legna, characters of the new genus,

Leistus, new species of, 203.

Lepas anatifera, remarks on, 172.

Leperditia, new species of, 434.

Leprodera, new species of, 266.

Leptodera, new species of, 307.

Lespés, C., on the auditory apparatus

of insects, 489.

Lewes, G. H., on the chylaqueous

fluid of the Actiniz, 417.

Lycett, J., on some sections of the

Upper Lias of Gloucestershire, 255.

Lyctus, new species of, 206.

Lycus, new species of, 281.

MacGillivray, J., on a new species of

Grass Finch, 263.

Malachius, new species of, 283.

Malacocichla, new species of, 146.

Malthinus, new species of, 283.

Mammalia from the Aru Islands, list

of, 216.

Maraga, characters of the new genus,

203

Marmot, on the torpidity of the, 83.

Megalania prisca, notice respecting,

259.

Megaristerus, description of the new

genus, 427.

Meves, W., on the humming of the

Snipe, 303.

Miers, J., on the Winteracee, 33,

109; on new species of Lardiza-

bala, and on the structure of the

seed in that genus, 183, 431.

Millepora, on the animals of, 233.

Miniopteris, monograph of the genus,

150.

INDEX.

Mohl, H. von, on the cambium-layer

of the stem of the Phanerogamia,

389.

Monotoma, new species of, 207.

Moreh, O. A. L., on conchological

nomenclature, 133.

Mordella, new species of, 286.

Morio, new species of, 203.

Murray, A., on Coleoptera from Old

Calabar, 340.

Mylabris, new species of, 285.

Myoictis, characters of the new genus,

Myrmotherula, new species of, 372.

Mytilia, new species of, 379.

Mytilidz, on a new genus of, 62.

Myzostoma, on the anatomy and de-

velopment of the genus, 236.

Nais, on the spermatology of a new

species of, 20, 90.

Necrobia, new species of, 283.

Nemophis, description of the genus,

301

Nerita, on the operculum of, 64.

Nietner, J., on new Ceylon Coleo-

ptera, 175, 418.

Nitidula, new species of, 206.

Nitidulopsis, new species of, 206.

Nostochmez, on the reproduction

Nyphona, new species of, 266, 270.

Ocypus, new species of, 205.

Olisthopus, new species of, 407.

Omalium, new species of, 205.

Onthophagus, new species of, 208.

Onychognathus, new species of, 470.

Oodes, new species of, 341.

Opatrum, new species of, 284.

Operculina, on the structure of the

genus, 200.

Orbulina, observations on the genus,

23D:

Orithyia, description of the new ge-

nus, 33].

Orthogonius, new species of, 346.

Osdara, characters of the genus, 284.

Osyris alba, on the parasitism of, 254.

Owen, Prof., on the skull of Zygoma-

turus trilobus, 73; on the skull and

teeth of Placodus, 288; on a gi-

gantic land-lizard, 289.

Oxytelus, new species of, 205.

Pzederus, new species of, 205.

Pagurus Bernhardus, on the power of

dissolving shells possessed by, 164.

Panagzeus, new species of, 203.

INDEX.

Papilionaceous flowers, on the agency

of bees in the fertilization of, 459.

Paramecium, on the generative organs

of, 439.

Peach, C. W., on the nature-printing

of sea-weeds on the rocks of Strom-

ness, 50.

Pelargoderus, new species of, 274.

Peneroplis, on the structure of the

genus, 290.

Phalacrus, new species of, 206.

Phaleria, new species of, 284.

Phanerogamia, on the cambium-layer

of the stems of, 389.

pipe description of the new genus,

192.

Philhydrus, new species of, 209.

Phrissoma, new species of, 264.

Phryneta, new species of, 270.

Phyllangia, on a new British species

of, 349.

Pisidium, on the smaller British spe-

cies of, 104.

Placodus, onthesaurian nature of, 288.

Placunopsis, new species of, 262.

Planchon, Dr. J. E., on the parasitism

of Osyris alba, 254.

Plants, on the influence of the moon’s

light on, 310.

Platypus, new species of, 286.

Platyrhynchus, new species of, 316.

Platysoma, new species of, 207.

Plesiosaurus, on the atlas and axis of

the, 361.

Poéphila, new species of, 263.

Pourtales, L. F., on the genera Or-

bulina and Globigerina, 235.

Prepodes, new species of, 357.

Praniza, on the metamorphosis of,

into Anceus, 164.

Prognatha, new species of, 205.

Psammodius, new species of, 207.

Pteropus, new species of, 218.

Ptinus, new species of, 283.

Pustularia, description of the genus,

386.

Pyriglena, new species of, 147, 373.

Rhizopod type of animal life, on the,

74.

Rhyncolus, new species of, 410.

Rhyzopertha, new species of, 409.

Rhyzophagus, new species of, 206.

Rissoa, new British species of, 127.

Robert Brown, notice of the late, 80.

Royal Institution of Great Britain,

proceedings of the, 74, 213.

499

Royal Society, proceedings of the, 59,

288.

Salamandridz, on the, 292.

Sarcodictyon catenata, observations

on, 276.

Scarites, new species of, 203.

Sclater, P. L., on new species of birds,

144, 225, 235, 316, 372, 465, 472;

on the variation in form of the

upper mandible in a rapacious bird,

163 ; on Euchetes coccineus, 494.

Scolopax gallmago, on the humming

of the, 303.

Scops, new species of, 229.

Sea-Anemones, descriptions of new

British, 192.

Sea-weeds, on the nature-printing of,

on the rocks of Stromness, 50.

Seeley, H., on two new species of

Goniaster, 335.

Selenophorus, new species of, 204.

Semper, C., on the anatomy and de-

velopment of Myzostoma, 236.

Shells, on the labiiity to injury of,

from the growth of a fungus, 493.

Siloboura, characters of the genus, 377.

Silvanus, new species of, 207.

Sisyphus, new species of, 208.

Sitaris, on the hypermetamorphosis

and habits of, 84.

Sitophilus Oryzie, note on, 360.

Sotheby, S. L., on a talkmg canary,

371.

Sowerby, W., on the flowering of the

American aloe, 307.

Spathinus, description of the new

genus, 428.

Spheridium, new species of, 209.

Sphenophorus, new species of, 359.

Stavelia, description of the genus, 62.

Stems, on the structure of, 389.

Strongylium, new species of, 285.

Sympheletes, new species of, 269.

Symphyus, description of the new

genus, 180.

Synallaxis, new species of, 145.

Syngnathus, on the habits of, 199;

on a species of, lately found at

Scarborough, 416.

Synosomus, description of the new

genus, 308.

Syrnium, new species of, 228.

Talpa, new species of, 494.

Tancredia, new species of, 261.

Tanysiphon, observations onthe genus,

216.

500

Tasmannia, on the species of, 109.

Telephonus, new species of, 47\.

Telephorus, new species of, 283.

Telocera Wollastoni, description of,

BDo:

Temus, observations on the genus, 114.

Tenebrio, new species of, 283.

Terebratula australis, on the anatomy

of the, 82.

Teredina, on the structure and posi-

tion of the genus, 85, 162.

Thamnophilus, new species of, 146.

Thompson, W., on the British Acti-

niadze, 229.

Thuret, G., on the reproduction of

certain Nostochinez, 1.

Todirostrum, new species of, 149.

Tomes, R. P., on the genus Minio-

pteris, 150; on the species of Ke-

rivoula, 473.

Toucan, on anew species of, 388.

Toxicum, new species of, 984.

Trachelomonas, on the development

of, 245.

Trichocephalus dispar, on thedevelop-

ment and propagation of, 491.

Trichophorus, new species of, 472.

Tricondyla, new species of, 202.

Trilobites, descriptions of new, 9.

Trinodes, new species of, 207.

Trochodendron, observations on the

genus, 115.

Trogosita, new species of, 206.

Trox, new species of, 208.

INDEX.

Uloma, new species of, 284.

Upis, new species of, 283.

Uropeltidze, on anew genus and seve-

ral new species of, 376.

Urubitinga, observations on the spe-

cies of, 225.

Urubitinga unicincta, on the variation

in form of the upper mandible in,

163:

Valentin, G., on the torpidity of the

marmot, 83.

Walker, F., on some undescribed

Ceylon insects, 202, 280.

White, A., on some new species of

Longicorn beetles, 264; on Telo-

cera Wollastoni, 353 ; on new Cur-

culionidous beetles, 356.

Winteracez, observations on the, 33,

109.

Wollaston, T. V., on Coptostethus

canariensis, 196; on a new genus

of European Coleoptera, 337 ; on

somenew Madeiran Coleoptera, 407.

Xantholinus, new, species of, 205.

Xenospongia, description of the new

genus, 369.

Zantedeschi, Prof., on the imfluence

of the moon’s light on plants, 310.

Zoological Society, proceedings of the,

62, 144, 216, 292, 369, 469.

Zophium, new species of, 182.

Zophobas, new species of, 283.

Zygomaturus trilobus, on the skull of,

13s

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,

RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.