Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library ■AY 23 1959 JUN 1 0 1953 4UL 2 JDL 2 8 JUL 3 8 19ht 1953 1959 L161 — H41 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/annalsmagazineof1184unse THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, INCLUDING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, and GEOLOGY. (JSEING A CONTINUATION OF THE * MAGAZINE OF BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY,’ AND OF LOUDON AND CH ARLESWORTH’s ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.’) CONDUCTED BY SirW. JARDINE, Bart., E.L.S.—P. J. SELBY, Esq., F.L.S., GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D., CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., E.L.S., E.G.S., J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh, AND RICHARD TAYLOR, E.L.S., F.G.S. VOL. L— SECOND SERIES. LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY R. AND J. E. TAYLOR. SOLD BY S. HIGHLEY; SIMPKIN and marshall; SHERWOOD AND CO.; W. WOOD, TAVISTOCK street; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS.' LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH CURRY, DUBLIN : AND ASHER, BERLIN. 1848. “ Oinnes res creatae sunt divinae sapientiae et potentiae testes, divitiae felicitatis humanae: — ex harum usu honitas Creatoris ; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini; ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentid majestatis eluoet. Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper aestimata; a vere eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta; male doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.” — LiNNiEUS. The sylvan powers Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs That press with nimble step the mountain thyme And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed. But scatter round ten thousand forms minute Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock Or rifted oak or cavern deep : the Naiads too Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush That drinks the rippling tide : the frozen poles. Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread, The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne, All, all to us unlock their secret stores And pay their cheerful tribute. J. Taylor, Norwich, 1818, Q ALEKE FLAMMAM. 5(5 5 PREFACE TO THE SECOND SERIES. On commencing a New Series of ^The xinnals and Magazine of Natural History/ the Editors trust that they may refer, with some degree of confidence, to the contents of the Twenty Volumes which have been published under their superintendence, as the result of their endeavours to succeed in establishing a compre- hensive and permanent J ournal of the departments of knowledge to which the work is devoted. Viewing Natural History, so far as the study of Organized Beings is concerned, as a science each branch of which is essen- tially connected with the others by principles and phsenomena common to all, it has been the object of the Editors to include whatever tended to the advancement of the study both of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdom. The important duty of making known in this country the labours and discoveries of Foreign Naturalists, the Editors trust has hitherto been to a considerable extent fulfilled, in the great number of Translations and Abstracts from the principal Journals and Memoirs of other countries, and in Notices of Foreign Works in all branches of Natural History, which have been given with a view to enable the lovers of the science to keep pace with its progress in every stage of advancement. In this, as well as in all the other departments of the Journal, the Editors continue to avail themselves of the aid of Hr. William Francis, whose services they take this opportunity of acknowledging, as from the commencement of the Work they have had the advantage of his constant and valuable assistance in its regular superintendence. IV PREFACE. With regard to the Naturalists of our own country, it has been a source of great satisfaction to the Editors, that their Journal should have been instrumental, from its circulation at home and abroad, in diffusing a knowledge of their labours : and to what extent it has been efficient for this purpose will be evident from the multitude of references to the original commu- nications which have appeared in it that are to be found in foreign Journals, and in the Reports on the various branches of Na-' tural History by Wagner, Muller, Von Siebold, Erichson, Bronn and others, as may be seen in the translations which have been published by the Ray Society. Of the manner in which their endeavours have been seconded by the lovers of Natural History, the Editors can speak with much gratification, as the pages of the Annals have been conti- nually honoured with contributions from Naturalists of the first eminence : and they regard as the most satisfactory testimony which they could receive as to the conduct of their Journal, that its successive Volumes have been enriched by the original com- munications of so great a number. For the principal Bodies connected with the study of Natural History in this country, the monthly numbers of the Annals furnish an early and faithful record. Authentic reports of the proceedings of the Linnsean, Zoological and Entomological Societies of London, and the Botanical Society of Edinbm’gh, are officially communicated through its pages. The commencement of this New Series affords the Editors a fit occasion for expressing a hope that they may now receive an accession to the number of their supporters. They would urge how much their means of giving additional interest and value to the Annals, both as to quantity of matter and en- gravings, must depend upon the extent of the sale ; in the hope that those lovers of Natural History who are not already sub- scribers may take this convenient opportunity of increasing the number of those by whose support the work has been upheld. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. [SECOND SERIES.] NUMBER I. Page I. On the Recent British species of the genus Lagena. By W. C. Williamson, Esq. (With two Plates.) 1 IT. Note on the genus Cypridina, M. Edwards; with a description of two new species. By W. Baird, M.D., F.L.S. &c. (With two Plates.) 21 III. Observations on the Development of the Medusce. By John Reid, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and Chandos Professor of Anatomy and Medicine in the University of St. Andrews. (With two Plates.) 25 IV. On the Ventriculidce of the Chalk ; their Classification. By J. Toulmin Smith, Esq 36 V. Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 1. Recent Researches into the Origin and Development of the Vegetable Embryo. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c 49 VI. Additions to the Fauna of Ireland. By William Thompson, Esq., Pres. Nat. Hist, and Phil. Society of Belfast 62 VII. Description of a new species of Coccmella from New Zealand. By M. Mulsant of Lyon, author of the ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Co- leopteres de France.’ Communicated by Adam White, F.L.S 66 New Boohs : — The History of Barbados, by Sir Robert H. Schom- burgk, Ph.D. — Zoological Recreations, by W. J. Broderip, Esq., F.ll.S. — An Experimental Inquiry into the Cause of the Ascent and Descent of the Sap, &c., by G. Rainey, M.R.C.S.E 67 — 73 Extracts from a Letter to Thomas Bell, Esq., F.R.S., from George Clark, Esq., of Mauritius ; Habits of Insects ; Note on the Insects of Madeira ; Curious Phasnomena in the Night-blooming Cereus, &c. ; Descriptions of two new species of Planaria, by Joseph Leidy, M.D. ; Professor Agassiz ; Meteorological Observations and Table 73 — 80 VI CONTENTS. NUMBER II. Page VIII. On Anacharls Alsinastrum, a supposed new British Plant. By Charles C. Babington, M.A. ; with a Synopsis of the species of Anacharls and Apalanthe. By_^ J. E. Planchon, doct. es sc. (With a Plate.) 81 , IX. On the Anatomy of Eolis, a genus of Mollusks of the order Nudihranchiata. By Albany Hancock and Dennis Embleton, M.D., F.R.C.S.E, Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology in the Newcastle- upon-Tyne School of Medicine. (With two Plates.) 88 X. Description of a new species of Nautilus from the Lower Green- sand of the Isle of Wight. By J. Morris, F.G.S 106 XL Description of an apparently new subgenus of Calandridce from the Philippine Islands. By Adam White, F.L.S., Assistant Zool. Dep. British Museum 107 XII. On the Insects of Jamaica. By Philip Henry Gosse, Esq. . 109 XIII. A few general Remarks on the Fossil Conchology of the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton in comparison with that of the same Formation in other localities. By John Lycett, Esq 115 XIV. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Lepidopterous Insects. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., F.L.S., Assistant in the Zoo- logical Department of the British Museum, &c 121 XV. Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 2. Anomalous Forms of Dicotyledonous Stems. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c 124 New Book : — Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, represented from living Subjects ; with practical Observations on their Nature, by Sir John Graham Dalyell, Bart 132 Proceedings of the Cotswold Naturalists’ Club; Entomological So- ciety 140 — 149 Observations on Mr. Cuming’s Collection of Shells, by Prof. Owen, F.R.S, &c. ; On Saghia ciliata (Fries), by Ch. C. Babington, M.A. ; Carex brizoides (Linn.); Some Contributions to the Natural Hi- story of the Raffiesia Patma, by M. Zollinger, M. Bat. Soc. &c. ; On the Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces, by the Rev. F. Mason, A.M. ; On the Fossil Vegetation of Anthracite Coal; A Fact respecting the Habits of Notonecta glaucuy by Prof. Forrest Shepherd; Meteorological Observations and Table 149 — 160 NUMBER III. XVI. Further Observations on the Diatomacece \ with descriptions of new genera and species. By G. II. K. 'I'hwaites, Lecturer on Bo- CONTENTS. Vll Page tany and Vegetable Physiology at tlie Bristol Medical School. (With two Plates.) 161 XVII. Researches having for their object the Elucidation of certain Phaenomena in the Physiology of the Araneidea. By John Blackwall, F.L.S 173 XVIII. On some Points in the Structure and Growth of Monoco- tyledons. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. (With two Plates.) ... 180 XIX. Some Observations on Caladium distillatorium. By Mr. Francis Williamson 188 XX. Additions to the British species of Nudibranchiate Mollusca. By Joshua Alder and Albany FIancock 189 XXI. Note on the Occurrence of the Bonapartian Gull {Larus Bo- napartii, Rich, and Swains.) for the first time in Europe. By William Thompson, Esq., Pres. Nat. Hist, and Phil. Society of Belfast 192 XXII. On the Insects of Jamaica. By Philip Henry Gosse, Esq. 197 XXIII. On the VentriculidcB of the Chalk ; their Classification. By J. Toulmin Smith, Esq 203 Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Entomological Society ; Lin- naean Society ; Botanical Society of Edinburgh 221 — 239 British Mollusca ; Have Ants when deprived of their Queen the power of selecting one of their number and converting her into a fertile female?; On the Digestive Apparatus of the Gnat, Culex pipiens, Linn,, by F. Pouchet; Description and Anatomy of a new and curious subgenus of Planaria, by Joseph Leidy, M.D. ; Basilo- saurus ; Additional Note on a Paper on Porcupines, by J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c. ; Meteorological Observations and Table... 239 — 248 NUMBER IV. ' XXIV. Descriptions of By Francis Walker, F.L.S. ... 249 XXV. On the Ovule of Euphrasia officinalis. By G. Dickie, M.D., Lecturer on Botany in the University and King’s College of Aberdeen. 260 XXVI. On the Insects of Jamaica. By Philip Henry Gosse, Esq. 268 XXVII. On the Habits and Geographical Distribution oi Bulimus, a genus of Air-breathing Mollusks. By Lovell Reeve, F.L.S 270 XXVIII. Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 3. On the Growth of Leaves. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c 274 XXIX. On the VentricuUdcc of the Chalk; their Classification. By J. Toulmin Smith, Esq. (With four Plates.) 279 XXX. Notes, &c. on the genera of Insects Pissodes, Hypera, &c. ; with descriptions of several new species. By John Walton, F.L.S. ... 295 XXXI. Notes on the Species, Structure, and Animality of the Vlll CONTENTS. Freshwater Sponges in the Tanks of Bombay. (Genus Spongilla.) By H. J. Carter, Esq., Assistant Surgeon 303 New Booh : — Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, represented from living Subjects ; with practical Observations on their Nature, by Sir John Graham Dalyell, Bart 311 Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 315 The Common Flea {Pulex irritans)’, Instance of a singular Anomaly in the History of the Honey Bee, by George Darling, Esq. ; Me- teorological Observations and Table 316 — 320 NUMBER V. XXXII. On a new British species of Campy lodiscus. By W. C. Williamson, Esq 321 XXXIII. Notes of Diatomacees found in the stomachs of certain Mollusca. By George Dickie, M.D., Lecturer on Botany in the Uni- versity and King’s College of Aberdeen 322 XXXIV. Notice of a new species of Spiridens. By R. K. Greville, LL.D. &c. (With a Plate.) 325 XXXV. Notice of two new species of Ferns belonging to the genera Oleandra and Polypodium. By R. K. Greville, LL.D. &c. (With a Plate.) 326 XXXVI. Descriptions of By Francis Walker, F.L.S. ... 328 XXXVII. Note on the Cyclostomatous genus Pterocyclos, Benson {Steganotoma, Troschel). By W. H. Benson, Esq., late Bengal Civil Service 345 XXXVIII. Description of some new Fossil Shells from Bissex Hill and Springfield in Barbados. Communicated by Sir Robert H. ScHOMBURGK, Ph.D., Member of the Imp. Acad. Nat. Curios. &c. ... 347 XXXIX. On the Insects of J amaica. By Philip Henry Gosse, Esq. 349 XL. On the Ventriculidce of the Chalk ; their Classification. By J. Toulmin Smith, Esq. (With four Plates.) 352 XLI. Remarks on the Migrations of By Francis Walker, F.L.S 372 New Books : — Flore de France, par M. Grenier et M. Godron. — A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and south to Ohio and Pennsylvania inclu- sive, arranged according to the Natural System, by A. Gray, M.D. 374 Proceedings of the Linnaean Society ; Royal Society 375 — 389 On a new genus and species of Fossil Ruminantia, Po'ehrotherium Wil~ so7ii, by Joseph Leidy, M.D. ; On two new genera of Siliceous- CONTENTS. IX Page shelled Polygastrica from Patagonian Guano, by Prof, Ehrenberg ; Extensibility of Membrane and Muscle in the Serpent Tribe; Observations on the Nummulites, by Messrs. Jolie and Leymerie ; Description of the Caligus Stromii, by W. Baird, M.D., F.L.S. &c. ; Fossil Infusoria in Amber; Obituary — Carl Johan Schonherr; Meteorological Observations and Table 389 — 100 XLII. On a proposed new Order of Gasteropodous Mollusca. By Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock. (With two Plates.) 401 XLIII. Notes, &c. on the genus of Insects Antlionomus ; with a de- scription of one new species. By John Walton, F.L.S 416 XLIV. Some Notes on the Botany of Sinde. By Capt. N. Vicary, 2nd European Regiment 420 XLV. Reply to Mr. Smith’s Remarks on Dr. Mantell’s Account of the Ventriculites 435 XLVI. Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 4. On the Multiplication of Vegetable Cells by Division. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c 436 XLV 1 1. Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Walker, F.L.S.... 443 XLVIII. Corrections of “Critical Remarks on Mr. Gray’s Cata- logue of Mammalia and Birds presented by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., to the British Museum,” Ann. and Mag. N. H. vol. xx. p. 313. By E. Blyth, Curator to the Museum of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta 454 Neiv Books: — Recherches sur lesAnimaux Fossiles, par L.de Koninck. — Monographia Heliceorum Viventium, sistens Descriptiones sy- stematicas et criticas omnium hujus'familiEe generum et specierum hodie cognitarum, Auctore Ludovico Pfeiffer, Dr.Cassellana.,.457— 460 Proceedings of the Linnsean Society ; Botanical Society of Edin- burgh 460 — 465 On some Microscopic Organisms found in the Stomach of a Peruvian Freshwater Fish, by Prof. Ehrenberg ; Discovery of the Maxillary Organs of the Iguanodon ; Description of a new British Mould, by George Johnston, M.D. &c. ; Meteorological Observations and 'NUMBER VI. Table 465—469 Index 470 Ann, Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i b 1 fi: t- t9 PLATES IN VOL. I. I Britisli species of Lagena. I Anatomy of Eolis. Development of Medusae. Development of Medusae. — Cypridina MacAiulrei. Cypridina Adamsi. Anacharis Alsinastrum. Structure and Growth of Monocotyledons, j- New genera and species of Diatomaceae. I Ventriculidae of the Chalk. Spiridens Balfouriana. Grammitis blechnoides. i Gasteropodous Mollusca. NEW SERIES OF THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. On commencing a NEW SERIES of THE ANNALS and MAGAZINE or NATURAL HISTORY, the Editors trust that they may refer, with some degree of confidence, to the contents of the Twenty Volumes which have been published under their superintendence, as the result of their endeavours to succeed in establishing a comprehensive and permanent Journal of the de- partments of knowledge to which the work is devoted. Viewing Natural History, so far as the study of Organized beings is concerned, as a science each branch of which is essen- tially connected with the others by principles and phsenomena common to all, it has been the object of the Editors to include whatever tended to the advancement of the study both of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdom. The important duty of making known in this country the labours and discoveries of Foreign Naturalists, the Editors trust has hitherto been to a considerable extent fulfilled, in the great number of Translations and Abstracts from the principal Journals and Memoirs of other countries, and in Notices of Foreign Works in all branches of Natural History, which have been given with a view to enable the lovers of the science to keep pace with its progress in every stage of advancement. With regard to the Naturalists of our own country, it has 2 been a source of great satisfaction to tbe Editors, that their Journal should have been instrumental, from its circulation at home and abroad, in diffusing a knowledge of their labours : and to what extent it has been efficient for this purpose will be evident from the multitude of references to the original commu- nications which have appeared in it that are to be found in foreign Journals, and in the Reports on the various branches of Na- tural History by Wagner, Muller, Von Siebold, Erichson, Bronn and others, as may be seen in the translations which have been published by the Ray Society. Of the manner in which their endeavours have been seconded by the lovers of Natural History, the Editors can speak with much gratification, as the pages of the Annals have been conti- nually honoured with contributions from Naturalists of the first eminence : and they regard as the most satisfactory testimony which they could receive as to the conduct of their Journal, that its successive Volumes have been enriched by the original com- munications of so great a number. For the principal Bodies connected with the study of Natural History in this country, the monthly numbers of the Annals furnish an early and faithful record. Authentic reports of the proceedings of the Linnsean, Zoological and Entomological Societies of London, and the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, are officially communicated through its pages. The commencement of this New Series affords the Editors a fit occasion for expressing a hope that they may now receive an accession to the number of their supporters. They would urge how much their means of giving additional interest and value to the Annals, both as to quantity of matter and en- gravings, must depend upon the extent of the sale ; in the hope that those lovers of Natural History who are not already sub- scribers may take this convenient opportunity of increasing the number of those by whose support the work has been upheld. Jan. 1, 1848. NEW SERIES OF THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, INCLUDING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, and GEOLOGY. (being a continuation of the ^magazine of botany and zoology,’ and of LOUDON AND CH ARLESWORTh’s ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.’) CONDUCTED BY SirW. JARDINE, Bart., E.L.S.— P.J. SELBY, Esq., F.L.S., GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D., CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., E.L.S., F.G.S., J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh, AND RICHARD TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S. VOL. L— No. I. Jan. 1848. “Omnes res creatse sunt divinse sapientise et potentiae testes, divitiae felicitatis humanae : — ex harum usu honitas Creatoris ; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini ; ex oeconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet. Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper aestimata; ^ verd eruditis et sapien* tibus semper exculta; maid doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.” — Linn.®us. 4 The sylvan powers Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs That press with nimble step the mountain thyme And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed, But scatter round ten thousand forms minute Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock Or rifted oak or cavern deep : the Naiads too Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush That drinks the rippling tide : the frozen poles, Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread. The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne, All, all to us unlock their secret stores And pay their cheerful tribute. J. Taylor, Norwich, 1818. Hie obitus rerum contemplor et ortus, Et quibus e causis ordine cuncta fluant. Et disco, quidquid varios mare gignit ad usus, Quidquid et omnifero terra benigna sinu. Saepe juvat solem gelida vitare sub umbra, Multaque de plantis arboribusque loqui. Quid varios pisces, et nata corallia ponto Eloquar, et conchis ostrea tecta suis ? Ille sed aequoi'eae numerum subducat arenae Qui volet undivagos enumerare greges. P. Lotichii Elegiarum lib. iii. eleg. 4, — lib. ii. eleg. C. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [SECOND SERIES.] “ per litora spargite museum, Naiades, et circiim vitreos considite fontes : Pollice virgineo teneros hie earpite flores : Floribus et pietum, divas, replete eanistrum. At VOS, o Nymphee Craterides, ite sub undas ; Ite, recurvato variata eorallia truneo Vellite museosis e rupibus, et mihi eonehas Ferte, Dceb pelagi, et pingui eonehylia suceo.” N. Parthenii Giannettasii Elcl. 1. No. 1. JANUARY 1848. L — On the Recent British species of the genus Lagena. By W. C. Williamson, Esq. [With two Plates.] Whilst i was engaged upon a memoir on the microscopic character of the Levant mud and other recent and ancient ocea- nic deposits (printed for the forthcoming volume of the Me- moirs of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society), my friend W. Reckitt, Esq. of Boston placed in my hands some sand obtained on excavating a well near that place, which I soon found to abound in specimens of Lagence^. Subsequently * This interesting deposit can scarcely be called recent,, being probably several thousand years old, and yet its geological character is not such as to justify its organisms being introduced into the category of fossils; being merely a beach which has been left permanently dry by the tide. When I wrote the memoir above referred to, I stated “ that a considerable portion of the Fen district was once an estuary, which has undergone considerable changes even since the time of the Roman invasion ; the old sea-bank having, at that comparatively recent period, been much further inland than at present ” (Memoirs of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, vol. viii. p. 56). This estuary has been gradually filled up, the elevation of the coast or the recession of the ocean causing the sandy debris, once form- ing the bed of the latter, to be converted into dry land, and afterwards co- vered over with a layer of vegetable mould. Mr. ReckitPs specimen was obtained from a depth of seven feet below the surface, where he found a very fine sand containing carbonaceous fragments, and a large number of the Foraminifera and other microscopic organisms still characteristic of our existing sea-beaches, including many of the rarest as well as the most Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 1 2 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent Dr. Mantell supplied me with specimens from a similar accu- mulation at March in Cambridgeshire, equally rich in the same elegant organisms. On comparing these with such published drawings and descriptions of Lagence as were available to me, it was very evident that both the one and the other were exceed- ingly incomplete, the drawings being for the most part unre- cognizable caricatures, and the descriptions not comprehending half the forms that had come under my notice. Contemplating the production of a brief monograph on the subject, I wrote to J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq. of Swansea, soliciting his valuable aid, knowing that he possessed an excellent series of these interesting objects from various British localities. In reply he informed me, that in 1828 he had laid before the Linnsean Society a memoir on the same genus, which memoir the Council of the Society ordered to be published in their ^ Transactions.^ Mr. Jeffreys however, not being satisfied on some points connected with the natural hi- story of these animals, declined publishing the memoir until he had carried out further investigations, and consequently it was not printed. This memoir, embodying his views of the genus up to that comparatively early period, he has kindly placed in my hands, and also, with that generous liberality which characterizes the true philosopher, he has forwarded to me his entire collection of Lagence to be used as I thought proper. Under these circumstances I resolved upon a revision of the genus, giving figures of all the known British species, believing that the monograph would be neither useless nor uninteresting to the students of these microscopic organisms. The Boston and March deposits have enabled me, from their productiveness, to compare an immense number of specimens, and the two collec- tions of Mr. Jeffreys and Mr. Bean of Scarborough have afforded common of our Britisli species. The specimen from March, which Dr. Man- tell has placed in my hands, confirms my view as to the extent of this marine deposit. I have little doubt that it extends over the greater part of the Fen district, and probably it will be found to be continuous with the existing beaches of the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The most curious fea- ture of the de])osit, as it exists at Boston and March, is the young state of nearly all the organisms found in it. The specimens of Rotalina Beccarii, Polystomella crlspa and Quinqueloculina seminidum rarely exceed the of an inch in diameter, which, with their highly translucent aspect, shows them to be in a very yomig state. The same remark applies, though in a less degree, to the Lageiue : does not this most strikingly illustrate the sift- ing power of aqueous currents, and explain the way in which such differ- ences have been produced in rocks, which, like the chalk, have been entirely formed by an accumulation of Foraminifera and other small organisms, which in some localities are exceedingly minute, forming very fine-grained strata, whilst in others they are conqmratively large, forming deposits of coarse texture ? 3 British species of the genus Lagena. me the opportunity of verifying the present existence of the same forms on various parts of the British coasts. The earliest notice of any forms of Lagence which has come under my observation is in the ^Testacea Minuta Rariora^ of Mr. Walker^ published in 1784. He describes a number of Bri- tish species which he arranged amongst the Serpula, distinguish- ing them however by the subgeneric name of Lagena. In 1789 and 1791 Soldani figured some forms from the Adri- atic, in his ^ Testaceographise et Zoophytographise, parvse et mi- croscopicse/ &c., tab. 120. In 1803 Montagu republished Walker^s species in his ^ Tes- tacea Britannica/ adding a few others which had been discovered by Mr. Boys of Sandwich. Montagu followed Walker’s plan of arranging them with the Serpuloi, making them a part of his genus Vermiculum. In 1808 Denys de Montfort introduced the genus into his ' Conchyliologie Systematique/ under the French and Latin ge- neric names of Lagenules and Lagenula, classing them amongst his Univalves cloisonnees, or group of Nautili, in which group, like his predecessors Soldani, Plancus, and Fichtel and Moll, he comprehended all the Foraminifera. In 1815 Dr. Fleming separated them from the Serpula, and, carrying out the intimation of Walker, gave them the rank of a genus in the article Conchology, published in the ^ Edin. Ency.’ vol. vii. p. 68. He applied to them the generic name of Lagena, very properly adopting the subgeneric term given to them by Walker, to whom certainly belonged the credit of pointing out the necessity for distinguishing them from any existing genus. It is to be regretted that Dr. Fleming subsequently abandoned this name for that of De Montfort. In 1826 M. Dessalines D’Orbigny published his classification of the Cephalopoda* : in this arrangement he followed the views of preceding naturalists, regarding most of the Foraminifera as cephalopodous ; but he separated three of the genera, Lagenula, Discolites and Chelibs; having anticipated Ehrenberg’s subse- quent discovery of the zoophytic character of all the Foraminifera, by determining that these three must be arranged with the true Polypifera. At the same time Dr. Fleming, in his work on ^ British Ani- mals,’ was arranging the genus ‘^Lagenula” amongst the Fora- minifera, regarding them as Cephalopoda, but with evident mis- givings as to his correctness ; for he observes, The place of this genus is far from being satisfactorily determined, and the mi- * Tableau Metbodique de la Classe des Cepbalop >des ; Annales des Sci- ences Naturelles, vol. vii. p. 96. 1* 4 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent nuteness of the species composing it presents a great obstacle to an accurate examination.^^ The more recent writers have followed in the steps of those who preceded them, with two exceptions. Professor MacGillivray, in his work on the ' Molluscous Ani- mals of Scotland/ &c., made the first attempt to classify the Bri- tish Poraminifera according to the comprehensive system of D^Orbigny, and at the same time reunited the Lagence to those organisms from which D^Orhigny had separated them. In 1839 Ehrenberg laid before the Academy of Sciences at Berlin the brilliant results of his investigations into the structure and relations of the Poraminifera. He completely exploded the long-received opinion that they were Cephalopoda, and proved beyond doubt that they were zoophytic, being in fact Bryozoa allied to Flustra, Eschar a, Cellepora, &c. In his classification of the Bryozoa according to his new views, of which a copy was published in the ^Annals and Magazine of Natural History^ for 1841, vol. vii. p. 302, he places some of the Lagence at the head of the list of Poraminifera, under the name Miliola ; ap- parently considering them the most simple and rudimentary form of that curious group. This is I believe the last published notice of the genus, except what is to be found in Thorpe^s ^British Marine Conchology^ (which contains no more than had been previously given by Hr. Pleming and other conchologists), and a few remarks in the memoir before alluded to on the microscopic character of the Levant mud. On subjecting the Lagence from the Boston and March deposits to a close examination, and especially by adopting Ehrenberg^s plan of mounting them in Canada balsam and viewing them as transparent objects by means of transmitted light, I soon ob- served some interesting facts which had apparently escaped the notice of our British conchologists. One of the first w^as, that these objects, the whole of wdiich consist invariably of one iso- lated cell or chamber, require, nevertheless, to be divided into tw o distinct groups or genera; the one characterized by a long ex- ternal neck or tube, wdth a small patulous orifice at the free ex- tremity, projecting from the upper part of the cell (see PI. I. figs. 1, 6, 9 & 10.) ; whilst in the other there exists a very similar tube, only occupying a reversed position. Instead of projecting exter- nally, it descends into the internal cavity', still taking its rise from the upper portion of the cell, towards the low^er part of the interior of which, the patulous orifice of the tube presents itself when it attains its full length (see Plate II. figs. 14, 16 & 22). A little time after making this discovery, I received from Hr. Bailey of New York, specimens of Lagena striata (wEich is one of those having an external tube), and attached to it was the 5 British species of the genus Lagena. name of Miliola ficus ] which name had been given to it by M. Ehrenberg. Along with these were specimens of Lagena glo- hosa (one of the species characterized by an internal tube), to which was affixed by Ehrenberg the very expressive name of En- tosolenia miliaris ? Hence it was evident that the great Prussian naturalist had observed the same peculiarity of structure in the species exhibiting the internal tube, and had given to the objects characterized by it the very expressive name of Entosolenia, which name it is my intention to retain, in separating the exist- ing genus Lagena into two distinct groups Beyond all doubt, Ehrenberg, MacGillivray and Fleming are correct in classing the Lagence near the Foraminifera instead of separating them as was done by Dessalines H^Orbigny. Several of the species, when mounted in Canada balsam and examined under a high magnifying power* as transparent objects, show the whole of the calcareous parietes of the cell to be crowded with innumerable minute perforations; a structure identical with that of Rotalia Beccarii and many other well-known Foraminifera, when examined under similar circumstances. Some species exhibit traces of much larger foramina ; but whether these are normal or have been the result of accident, I am as yet undecided. The above fact however is sufficient to prove, that in their external microscopic structure there is a close affinity between the Lagence and the other Foraminifera. As regards the soft animal of Lagena, I have not been able to ascertain that anything has been done, or that any one has hitherto examined it in a living state. This probably arises from the fact that all collectors have obtained their specimens from dried sea sand. Still however some little light may be thrown upon it from the affinity of these objects to the other Foraminifera. Ehrenberg has investigated the nature of the soft parts of some of the latter group of organisms with considerable success. He considers that each cell of a Foraminifer, except the two first, which he found to contain a transparent substance, is filled with two differently coloured organs, which he regards as the thick alimen- tary canal; and some granular masses, which he suggests may be ovariesf. He also found that the animals had the power of pro- * One of one-fom'th of an inch focus will suffice. t In none of the numerous specimens I have examined have I found anything analogous to ovaries. Many of them contain a great ahundance of oil-globules, which in the dried specimens become inspissated and hard- ened, adhering to the sides of the cells, and which on decalcification pre- sent an aspect very like that of ova. I suspect that the small round objects found by Dr. Mantell in connexion with the fossilized animal bodies of Rotalioi from the Folkstone chalk may be nothing more than these. At least they arc undistinguishable from the recent specimens in my cabinet. See Philosophical Transactions, Part 4 for 1846, tab. 21. figs. .5, 10 & 11. 6 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent truding through the foramina in the calcareous cell, long exten- sile tentacula or pseudopodia ; great bundles of filaments, which projected from the surface, and especially from the umbilical re- gion. These tentacula had also been noticed by M. Alcide D^Or- bigny (see the Voyage dans L’Amerique Meridionale, tome v. p.29). In some further investigations into the structure of these cu- rious creatures, in the memoir above alluded to (which is already printed), I have come to the conclusion that a more or less dense but elastic membrane lines the interior of each cell of the compound Foraminifera allied to Rosalina glohularis, Rotalina Beccarii and the Textillaria, upon which my observations were chiefly made, prolongations of which membrane, injected from within (like the processes which the Echinodermata push through the ambulacral pores), constitute the pseudopodia observed by Ehrenberg and Alcide D^Orbigny ; since, however large and distinct may be the foramina in the external calcareous portion of each cell, no trace of these foramina can be found in the membrane which continuously lines the calcareous portions of the cells, when the latter have been removed by acid. This internal membrane ap- pears to have been filled with gelatinous matter, having appa- rently very little organization — a condition noticed by M. Du- jardin, and which led him to regard the Foraminifera as little more than an animated slime encased in an external calcareous shell, and to associate them with the Pseudopodian Amceha amongst the Infusoria. When the outer shell is removed by acid, we often find that the different sacs of the inner membrane con- tain numerous small siliceous organisms, which the animal ap- pears to have swallowed, but which are scattered indiscriminately over the whole of the cell in which they occur, and not confined to any one line, which would have been the case had there been any restricted portion, confined within special and narrow^ limits, performing the functions of an intestinal canal. Hence it appears probable, that, as in the case of the Hydra and some of the lower infusorial animals, the whole cavity of the organism w^as one sac- culated digestive organ, the various cells or divisions of wEich, in those compound forms which are allied to Rosalina and Rotalina, are connected together by one or more tubular necks ; channels of communication passing through the septa, and along which the food received could pass from one cell to another. How the rejecta- menta made their escape is doubtful ; possibty, as is the case with the Hydraform Polypifera and many other lower animals, the oral orifice may be at once both mouth and anus. It will be understood, that, according to these views, the ani- mal membrane which is left after the removal of the calcareous portion is in reality an exact cast of the interior of the latter. 7 Bi'itish species of the genus Lagena. The above opinions are at variance with those of M. Ehrenberg, who considers that the calcareous case of the Foraminifer is merely the dried skin of the animal, containing dendritic calca- reous particles, which on the contraction of the skin closes and conceals orifices through which the food is received. His ob- servations which led to the above conclusions were chiefly made upon the curious little Sorites orhiculus, Ehr., the Nummulina nitida of D’Orbigny. However much this organism may support liis opinion, certainly the Rotalina Beccarii and similar genera do not. AYe have no evidence that the external parietal fora- mina have an extensile and contractile property ; and even if the large orifices of Rosalina globularis had any such power, we have demonstrative proof that the orifices do not penetrate the lining membrane, into the interior of which the food would have to find its way. M. Ehrenberg rests his argument upon the discovery of small siliceous organisms in the interior of the cells. It is possible that the oraVl orifice may be capable of some degree of extension, allowing the transmission of objects of this kind. In Membranipora, Eschar a and other allied groups, the analogous parietal foramina are obviously employed for no such purpose as the transmission of food, which is received through the large orifice at the extremity of the cell. Though the fact that these latter objects are furnished with true polypes may make a dif- ference, still is it not probable that there may be a resemblance in the functions of such closely corresponding foramina in objects so nearly allied ? At the same time I may observe, that I have never found siliceous organisms of any size in the smaller inter- nal chambers of Rosalince, Rotalinfe, &c., though the frustules of Cocconeis, Gh'ammatophora and Navicula are not uncommon in the larger cells, where the communicating apertures are propor- tionately large. One of M. Ehrenbsrg^s results is much more analogous in some respects to those obtained by Milne Edwards, in his investiga- tions into the structure of Eschara. The latter ol3server has clearly shown that the cells of this animal are thickened by external ad- ditions of calcareous matter, and that, consequently, the soft animal membrane does not line the internal cavity, but pervades the whole substance of the calcareous cell ; the calcareous atoms not being developed upon, but in the skin of the animal. From this it is evident, that very difi’erent modes of growth and deve- lopment are to be found in animals otherwise closely allied. I have found that M. Ehrenberg^s remarks on the soft animals of the Foraminifera apply strikingly to that of Rosalina globu- laris, but scarcely to any other of those that I have examined. In this species, the animal membrane, lining the smaller cells of what in a shell would be called the spire, is of a rich brown co- 8 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent lour, becoming of a paler hue as we approach the larger cells ; the terminal ones being almost colourless. In Rotalina Beccarii this difference is scarcely to be observed, all the cells being nearly transparent ; and in Polystomella crispa, the animal portions fill- ing the innermost and outermost cells appear to exhibit no dif- ferences of transpareney or colour. A slight deepening of the colour is observable in the young cells of Quinqueloculina semi- nulum. It is from Rosalina globularis that the best specimens of the decalcified animal membrane are to be obtained, and from Rota- lina Beccarii the next; these two, especially the former, pre- serving their contour the best, owing to the greater density of the lining membrane. In Polystomella crispa, and in the Quin- queloculina, this membrane is so exceedingly thin, and the con- tained animal matter in such a thoroughly fluid state, that less of a definite form is left on drying the decalcified animal than would result from submitting Paramecium aurelia^ or many others of the Polygastric Infusoria, to a similar process, corroborating M. Du- jardin^s observations, though not the inferences which he deduced from them. On treating various species of Lagena with dilute nitric acid, in the same way that I had done the other Poraminifera, the re- sults were of a precisely opposite character to those I had pre- viously arrived at, but analogous to those obtained by Milne Edwards in operating upon Eschara. I found a strong animal membrane, which, had the organism not been dried, would evi- dently have been flexible ; not lining the cavity of the cell, but retaining all its external form. This was obtained most easily from L. Icevis, var. Amphora (fig. 3), and L. striata (fig. 5), in old specimens of which the decalcified membrane was of considerable thickness. In L. striata the membrane was very thin and trans- parent along the costse, but in old specimens thick and opake in the intervening spaces, the latter portions being easily separated in the form of long shreds. The same transparency in the mem- brane was observable in the translucent reticulations separating the areolse of Entosolenia squamosa, the areolje being opake. The only species which I have hitherto had the opportunity of examining in a fresh state is the Lagena (Entosolenia) marginata, which was rather abundant amongst the branches of an Anten- nularia, which Mr. Jeffreys sent to me from Falmouth, whilst still moistened with sea-water. In these specimens, no trace of organi- sation was observable in the soft animal ; each cell being filled with a perfectly transparent gelatinous fluid, like that contained in the outermost cell of a Rotalina, but even still more completely colourless. The existence of foramina in many of the species, implying 9 British species of the genus Lagena. the presence of pseudopodia, renders it probable that the animal of all the Lagence will eventually be found to be like that of other Foraminifera, viz. a gelatinous substance capable of projecting minute filaments, used probably as organs of progression, and also of receiving foreign bodies into its interior by means of the tubular orifice, by which substances it is nourished. Whether in any species the orifice at the extremity of the tube be furnished with a ciliobrachiate polype like that of the Eschara or not, is doubtful. The peculiarity in the structure of the membranous part of the cell, resembling that of Eschara and differing from the Rotalince, would indicate the possibility of some resemblance in this point, but my observations on Lagena marginata render it scarcely probable. The existence of the internal tube of the Entosolenice, though so different from what generally occurs amongst the Foramini- fera (in which all siphuncular appendages usually project ante- riorly and not retrally, as has been already observed by M. Ehren- berg), constitutes no real difficulty in the way of classing them together; since in an elegant species of Polymorphina, not un- common in the Boston deposit, and sometimes occurring on our own coast, the outermost cell is furnished with a precisely simi- lar internal prolongation of the terminal oral ? orifice, and which I have not hitherto seen noticed by any observer. As regards the mode of growth of the Lagence one thing is certain, viz. that in the young state the cell is very thin, vitreous and transparent, whilst it becomes more and more opake with age. Here again we have another resemblance to Eschara, in which the gemmule after fixing itself to some object first covers itself with a very thin calcareous case, which it gradually thick- ens by the addition of calcareous particles. In L. striata the young cells, which are comparatively small, are perfectly trans- parent, whilst the large specimens commonly found in the cabi- nets of collectors are strong and quite opake* excepting along the costse. From an examination of an immense number of speci- mens, it soon became evident to me that the animal must have possessed the power of enlarging and thickening its cell with in- creasing age. This fact first led me to suspect that in its struc- ture it would approach nearer to Eschara than to Rosalina ; an induction which subsequent investigation confirmed. Owing to its form, the cell could not have been so enlarged if it had been merely a calcareous secretion from an internal membrane. It is only in young specimens of the true Lagence that the long ex- ternal neck is found perfect. On older specimens it is almost always worn off : this is especially the case with L. striata. * In some instances this opacity arises from the deposition of calcareous matter, in others from a thickening of the membrane. 10 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent If then the Lagence be true Foraminifera, the next question is, what relationship do they bear to the other organisms of the same group ? I apprehend that most if not all the Foraminifera, like other Bryozoa, however large and complicated they ultimately become, commence their existence as single isolated cells, upon or around which others are subsequently built ; some linearly, as in Nodosaria and Glandulina; others spirally, as in Rotalina, Truncatulina, Rolystomella^ &c. ; whilst others again present va- rious modifications of these two types, as Marginulinaj CristeU laria, ^pirulma, Quinqueloculina, &c. The most simple of the above structures belong to the genera Nodosaria and Dentalina, and consist only of a few smooth cells piled one upon another with connecting necks. Now a Lagena, in its perfect and matured form, must closely resemble the iso- lated germinal cell of one of these, exhibiting a phsenomenon, of which analogues occur in every department of the organic world. It becomes then the most simple and primitive type of the Fora- minifera ; bearing in this respect the same relationship to the more complex forms that the globule of the Torula or Yeast-plant does to Nostoc, Anabaina, &c. amongst the Confervse, and that Eunotia does to Fragillaria and young states of the Diatoms amongst the Diatomacese. It is another instance of the grada- tion, so admirably distinguished by Mr. Lyell and Mr. i\liller *, from the erroneous and recently abused doctrines of development and progression. At the same time that the analogy of form and external con- tour thus links the Lagence with Nodosarice and Dentalince, the structure of the cell already described appears to indicate a con- nexion between them and the genus Eschara and its allies. This affinity shows that there are great difficulties in the way of re- ceiving any of the existing linear arrangements of these objects, and that a new classification will be required, based on a much more extended series of observations upon the physiological cha- racters of all the genera than we as yet possess. This subject presents a wide and interesting field of inquiry for those who reside on the sea-coast and have access to these objects in a living state. The only general fact which remains to be noticed respecting tlie Lagence, is the extraordinary capacity for variation which they exhibit in different states and ages. Extreme forms which appear to be very distinct from one another may be connected together by specimens of an intermediate aspect to an extent only to be believed by those who examine a large series of specimens side by side. I am well aware that the synthetical plan which I have * ‘Old Red Sandstone/ by H. Miller, Esq., p. .Vi. British species of the genus Lagciia. 11 followed will not suit the views of many of my conchological friends, who would have preferred my multiplying the number of species to a far greater degree than I could approve. I have however endeavoured to compromise the matter with them by giving names to what I consider to be merely varieties, but which some would regard as good species. Those who prefer the latter view can act upon it if they choose, by adopting these names as specific ones. This capacity for variation is probably a charac- teristic of very many of the lowest forms of animal and vegetable organizations, and is a source from which more or less of diffi- culty will always arise in attempting to classify objects so small in their dimensions and so obscure in their nature. In the pre- sent case it would scarcely be a difficult task to exhibit every in- termediate form between Lagena Icevis. var. Amphora to L. striata and L. suhstriata, rendering it possible that they may be all va- rieties of one species. The Lagence are usually found in dried sea-sand, free and de- tached, thoTigh Prof. MacGillivray observed Lagena Icevis to be adherent to Fuci and the byssus of a Modiola ; and amongst the branches of an Antennularia sent to me from Falmouth by Mr. Jeffreys were numbers of the Entosolenia marginata along with Rosalina globularis and Polystomella crispa. In dividing the objects comprehended by Dr. Fleming, in De MontforPs genus Lagenula, into two groups, I have retained for the first of these WalkePs term Lagena. Though the latter did not make them into a new genus, separate from Berpula, yet he distinctly indicated the necessity for a division, pointing out cer- tain well-marked forms, and giving them a distinguishing name. In this he accomplished more than was subsequently effected by De Montfort ; hence, in raising them to the rank of a genus, pri- ority gives his name of Lagena the right to a preference before that of Lagenula. The adoption of the latter by English concho- logists was owing to its introduction by Dr. Fleming into his ^ British Animals,^ where he employed it, I understand, because of its being more euphonious than Lagena, notwithstanding that, as has been already mentioned, he had previously adopted WalkePs very expressive term for the genus in the ^ Edinb. Ency- clopaedia^ (vol. vii. pi. I.p. 68, art. Conch. 1815). A slight im- provement in the sound, or even expressiveness of a name, does not justify its displacing an older one, and hence throughout this memoir I have retained that of Lagena in preference to Lagenula. Genus Lagena, Flem. Edin. Enc. Serpula {Lagena), Walker. Serpula, Turton. Vermicuhnn, Mon- 12 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent tagu. Lagenula, De Montfort, Fleming, MacGillivray. Miliola, Ehrenberg. Cell calcareous, single, globular, ovate or cylindrical, with a long produced external tubular neck projecting from the upper extremity. Internal cavity simple. 1. Lagena Icevis. PI. T. figs. 1, 2. Serpula {Lagena) leevis ovalis, Walker, Test. Min. Rar. p. 3. t. 1. fig.9. Vermiculum leeve, Mont. Test. Brit. p. 524. Serpula l^vis, Turton, Conch. Diet. p. 157. Lagenula Icevis, Flem. British Animals, p. 235 ; MacGillivray, Molluscous Animals of Scotland, p. 38. Cell ovate or claviform, sometimes narrow and much elongated, having a long slender tubular neck somewhat contracted near its apex, surmounted by a narrow rim, surrounding a small circular oral ? orifice, smooth and shining, sometimes white, but more frequently transparent and hyaline, or with a delicate tint of bluish white : under a high magnifier its surface appears crowded with very minute foramina. In its usual form, with the exception of the terminal rim, this delicate object bears the closest resemblance to a Florence flask. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section. Long. 1 50 • 1 88 • Diam. _i_ 2 2 0 1 T8T Long. THo 1 107 Diam. 1 * • 2 30 •25 0 Scarborough, very rare, W. Bean, Esq. Swansea, Sandwich, J. G. Jeffreys, Esq. Adhering to Fuci, and among the byssi of Modiola barbata, on the Girdleness at Aberdeen,^^ Prof. MacGilli- vray. Boston, Lincolnshire ; March, Cambridgeshire. L. Icevis, var. a. Amphora, nob. Figs. 3, 4. Cell elongated, cylindrical ; some examples having the form of L. Icevis, with the addition of a long tapering mucro at the base ; others being much more lengthened and fusiform, as in the figure. The majority of specimens exhibit a medium form, the greatest diameter being at the lower third of the cell. Neck long, slender, tapering, surmounted by a small rim surrounding the circular orifice. Texture and hue like L. Icevis, of which I believe it to be only a variety, as I have found almost every in- * In order to give a correct view of the variable dimensions of these ob- jects, I have selected several specimens and given the length and breadth of each individual in fractional portions of an inch. The dimensions of all the species, as described by preceding writers, are very much larger than in any examples which have come under my notice and are surely inac- curate. 13 British species of the genus Lagcna. tervening form between the figures 1 and 3. It is one of the most elegant of the Lagenulce. Long. Diam, 1 1 40 • • ' |o |co 1 1 ■ • T70 1 1 45 • • • • 2 00 Oxwich, Sandwich, Oban, J. G. Jeffreys, Esq. Boston; March. 2. Lagena gracilis, nob. PI. I. fig. 5. In form this species bears a very close resemblance to the L. Icevis, var. Amphora, from which it differs chiefiy in having its sm’face marked by longitudinal striae, which are well defined over the greater part' of the cell, becoming less distinct towards the upper portion. If we consider this as only another variety of the Amphora, it will become necessary to regard all the forms of L, striata merely as states of L. Icevis, of the propriety of which view a suspicion has more than once crossed my mind when ex- amining some specimens of the var. semistriata. For the pre- sent I have thought it better, having seen several specimens of it, to give it a distinct name. If this suspicion should ultimately prove to be correct, L. gracilis will bear the same relation to L. striata and its var. perlucida that the var. Amphora does to L. Icevis. Long. 3-V ; diam. Boston : very rare. 3. L. striata. PI. I. figs. 6 & 8. Serpula {Lagena) striata, Walker, p. 2. tab. 1. fig. 6. Vermiculum striatum, Mont. Test. Brit. p. 523. Serpula striata, Turton, Conch. Diet. p. 157. Lagenula striata, Fleming, p. 234. Cell ovato-claviform or spherical, with numerous parallel lon- gitudinal costae or lamellae, which generally run nearly from one extremity to the other, only not usually reaching the apex inte- riorly but terminating abruptly, forming a small circular coronal (see fig. 7) . These costae are sometimes very thin and lamelliform, but more commonly obtuse and rounded. The cell surmounted superiorly by a long tubular neck terminated by a narrow rim encircling the small round oral ? orifice. Nothing can be much more variable than the conditions under which this species presents itself. In small young specimens alone is the tubular neck found perfect, and these are usually either transparent and hyaline or of a pale bluish white. On the other hand, the specimens usually seen in the cabinets of concho- logists are strong, globular, of an opake dirty white, the rounded costse alone remaining semitransparent, and wuth very imperfect 14 Mr. W. C. Wiliiarnson on the Recent traces of a neck, which appears to wear away with age. Between this common form and that previously described, which I con- sider to be the perfect type, every modification exists. In some forms the costse terminate abruptly near the base of the neck, the superior portion being smooth. This condition obviously connects the L. striata with the var. /3. semistriata. In others the costae are continued longitudinally along the neck, whilst in a few elegant specimens in the cabinets of Messrs. Bean and JefiPreys they were wound spirally around it. In some examples I have noticed that the neck appeared to be atrophied and wasting, having lost its brittleness and become membranous, as if it were only of use in the early condition of the animal. The character of the decalcified membrane of this species has been already described (p. 8). Long. _l_ 50 * 1 50 ' Diam. JL* 60 Long. 1 0 0 • Diam. •16 0 100 Reculver, Sheppey, Mr. Walker. Devonshire,^^ Montagu. Exmouth, — Clarke, Esq. Swansea, Rossilly, Manorbeer, Tenby, Oxwich, Caswell Bay, Sandwich, Oban, Kyleakin ; Roundstone, Connemara ; J\Ir. Jeffreys. Scarborough, Mr. Bean. Boston ; March. Fossil in a miocene tertiary deposit at Petersburg, U. S.f, Dr. Bailey ; also in the English crag, Mr. Searles Wood. L. striata, var. a. interrupta, nob. Eig. 7. Like L. striata, only the costse are more irregular ; sometimes they bifurcate, at others they are not continued over more than the half or two-thirds of the cell, no two being exactly the same length. The speeimen figured represents a common form of the neck when half-gone. Swansea, Rossilly, Manorbeer, Tenby, Oxwfich, Caswell Bay, Sandwich, Oban; Roundstone, Connemara; Kyleakin. Scar- borough, Mr. Bean. Boston ; March. Not uncommon. Lagena striata, var. semistriata, nob. PI. I. figs. 9, 10. Similar in most respects to some young states of L. striata, only the costse arising from the base terminate, some at the lower third, others at the middle, and in one specimen towards the uppermost third of the cell. What has been already said of the smooth neck found in some specimens of L. striata convinces me that this is only a variety. I have seen one specimen with a mucro at the base approaching the form of L. Icevis, var. Amphora. Long, yio ; 2h- * In this specimen nearly the whole of the neck is worn away. The same deposit lias also furnished examples ot' Eniosolenia globosa, ^re- thusa lactea, Flem., Renoidea ohlonga, Brown (both species Polymorphina. D’Orbigny), and what I believe to be young specimens of Rofalia Beccarii. 15 British species of the genus Lageria. Manorbeer near Tenby, very rare, Mr. Jeffreys. Scarborough, one specimen, Mr. Bean. Boston. Lagena striata, perlucida. PL I. fig. 11. Cell usually globular, sometimes broadest at the base, at others ovate. Marked with longitudinal costse, which are very distinct at the lower portion, but gradually lose themselves as they ap- proach the long, elegant, tapering neck. In this it differs from the last var., in which the stride terminate abruptly at the upper part. Cell exceedingly thin and fragile, beautifully hyaline and pellucid, sometimes of a pale milky tint, but more commonly transparent as the purest glass. I believe this to be the Vermiculum perlucidum of Montagu : his figure represents a highly depressed form of cell, furnished with a small umbo at the base ; but as Montagu had never seen the specimen, but only copied a drawing sent to him by Mr. Boys, I suspect that some error exists. I have often seen the projecting base of the central costa give the appearance of an umbo, and'as regards form I have observed very great differences. The number of the ribs varies considerably. Some specimens, like Montagues V. perlucidum, have not more than seven or eight, whilst in others they increase in number so as to merge this variety in the ordi- nary forms of L. striata, of which species I believe it to be one of the young states. Its most common aspect is precisely that of the ordinary fluted water-bottle used at the dinner-table. Some- times the strise are so short and indistinct as to render the spe- cimen almost undistinguishable from L. lavis ; indeed in some few specimens the striae are only represented by'^ a small circle of minute tubercles forming a coronal at the base of the cell. Long. Diam. 1 eV • • • • 12 0 1 1 8 8 • • * * 1 85 1 1 1 1 0 • • • • 2 4 0* Swansea, Tenby, Manorbeer, Sandwich, Kyleakin, Mr. Jeffreys. Seasalter, Mr. Boys.^^ Montagu. Boston ; March. 4. L. substriata, nob. PI. II. fig. 12. Cell oval, sometimes considerably elongated and cylindrical, furnished with a long tubular neck. Surface marked with nu- merous exquisitely delicate parallel longitudinal striae. At first I thought that this rare object was an extreme variety of Lagenula striata, but after examining at least twenty specimens I am nearly satisfied that it is a distinct species, as the lines vary so little either in their number, strength, or distance apart. The general form of the cell also is much more ovate and elongated. 16 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent The drawing represents a specimen that is the least so. It is an exceedingly delicate and beautiful species. Long. Diam. 1 1 -5J • • * ■ ' 15'U 1 1 6 6 • • * • 2 00* Swansea, very rare, Geo. Barlee, Esq. Boston. Genus Entosolenia, Ehrenherg. Set'pula (Lagena), Walker, Adams, Turton. Vermiculum, Mont. La- gena and Lagenula, Fleming. Lagenula, MacGillivray, Thorpe. Cell calcareous, globose or ovate, sometimes compressed, fur- nished with a tube arising from the upper extremity and pro- jecting downwards into the cavity of the cell. Oral? orifice opening into the tube. 1. E. globosa. PI. II. figs. 13, 14. Serpula (Lagena) Icevis glohosa, Walker, p. 3. tab. 1. fig. 8. Vermiculum globosum, Mont. p. 523. Serpula globosa, Fleming, p. 235. Cell ovato-globose, smooth, not compressed, projecting slightly at the upper extremity, in the centre of which projection is the small rounded orifice opening into the internal tube, which is slender, patulous at the extremity, and sometimes reaching nearly to the bottom of the cell. When examined under a very high power, this object, like L. leevis, is found to be densely perforated with minute foramina, through which in all probability pseudopodia were protruded. In very many cases I am satisfied that specimens of my E. lineata have been mistaken for this very rare form. The cabinet of Mr. Bean of Scarborough contains one example of this species, in which two separate cells are united together at the lower part, having each a central aperture at the opposite end. The Lagenula globosa of Thorpe^s ^ British Marine Con- chology ^ is obviously not the L. globosa of Fleming. It is de- scribed as having a long slender neck and is marked with opake longitudinal lines. Long. Diam. 100 * • • • 1 elT 1 6'B’ • • • * 17 0 _i _JL 1 6'S’ ♦ • * • 2 l¥* Sandwich, Mr. Walker,^^ Montagu. Scarborough, Mr. Bean. Portsmouth, Swansea, Mr. J effreys. Mindanao, Philippine Islands, and fossil in a miocene tertiary stratum, Petersburg, U.S., Dr. Bailey. Boston, March, the Levant. A rare species on the Bri- tish coasts. 17 British species of the genus Lagena. 2. Entosolenia marginata, PL II. figs. 15, 16. Serpula (Lagena) marginata. Walker, p. 3. tab. 1. fig. 7. Vermiculum marginatum^ Mont. p. 524. Lagenula marginata, Thorpe. Cell nearly orbicular, compressed, transparent or translucent, especially in a young state, having a slight projection at the upper extremity, towards the end of which is the orifice communicating with the internal tube. The cell is surrounded by a thin marginal lamella, which is continued as far as the oral orifice ; within this margin, in old shells, is occasionally a thickened opake portion shaped like a horse-shoe, with the concavity and interrupted part directed upwards, the circumscribed central portion being more transparent. The lower extremity of the cell is sometimes fur- nished with a small external mucro. The internal tube, which is somewhat patulous, is rarely straight, except at the upper por- tion, the remainder being usually arcuated, following the curva- ture of one of the lateral parietes of the cell. Fig. 15 represents a section of the cell, with the tube cut across where the curvature commences. This is the most common of our English species. At the Fal- mouth habitat it was comparatively abundant, adhering to a spe- cies of Antennularia, along with young forms of Polystomella crispa^ Rosalina globularis and some others. The L. marginata of Dr. Fleming is a concamerated shell ; the Rimula marginata of some authors, and belonging to D^Orbigny^s genus Biloculina. Long. Diam. 100 • • • • 110 1 1 1 'B'Tr • • • • ^14- _1_ _1 200 • • • * 2 lU Swansea, Eossilly, Manorbeer, Portsmouth, Sandwich, Oban, Kyleakin, Mr. Jeffreys. Scarborough ; Lamlash Bay, Ayrshire ; Mr. Bean. Reculver,^^ Walker. Boston, March, Falmouth, the Levant. E. marginata, var. lucida, nob. PI. II. fig. 17. Cell elongated, somewhat pyriform, compressed, smooth and shining, surrounded by a marginal ring, which instead of being a thin lamina as in the ordinary type, is usually thickened and somewhat rounded. It is occasionally scarcely visible, especially towards the base, where however it often projects in the shape of a mucro. This margin, with the upper and central portions of each of the lateral parietes, are generally transparent, whilst the remainder of the cell is usually of a clear shining white ; internal tube generally straight. I was much disposed to have regarded this as a distinct spe- Ann. ^ Mag, N, Hist, Ser. 2. Vol. i. 2 18 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the Recent cies, but I found many orbicular specimens of the true E. mar- ginata in wbicb the margin was obviously somewhat thickened and rounded^ and others which, as already mentioned, showed the horseshoe-like white portion within the margin, nearly surround- ing the transparent centre, so that I have no doubt of this being merely a variety of the same. It is often mistaken by collectors for a form of E. glohosa^ to which it sometimes approximates very closely, but from which it may be distinguished by its compressed form. I have seen one specimen which was trilocular, having three transparent margins instead of two. Long. Diann. 1 1 ‘ • 160 1 1 ¥0 • • • • TTT Too • • • • xio Swansea, Rossilly, Manorbeer, Portsmouth, Sandwich, Ky- leakin, Mr. Jeffreys. Scarborough, Lamlash Bay, Mr. Bean. Bos- ton ; March. 3. Entosolenia lineata, nob. PI. II. fig. 18. Cell ovate, broadest towards the base, more or less truncated at the upper extremity, which is sometimes furnished with a very small projecting neck, of variable length, in which is the oral ? orifice ; once only I have found it equal to the entire length of the cell. The base, which is rounded, has generally appended to it a small mucro, which is sometimes affixed obliquely, and oc- casionally wholly wanting. Texture translucent, of a pale dull bluish white ; the surface covered with exceedingly numerous longitudinal lines, so fine as to be visible only under a good mi- croscope. Internal tube straight, patulous, reaching nearly to the base of the cell. The dull leaden hue of this species appears to be a constant characteristic ; I have usually been able to identify it at a glance from this feature alone. It is possible that the Vermiculum urnm of Montagu may have been a short stumpy specimen of this form. Montagu only saw a drawing of it. Long. Diam. TTJ • • • • HTT _1_ _1_ 12 8 • • • • 2 00 Sandwich, Mr. Jefireys. Boston; March: very rare. 4. E. squamosa. PI. II. fig. 19. Vermiculum squamosum, Mont. p. 526. tab. 14. fig. 2. Serpula squamosa, Turt. p. 158. Lagenula squamosa, Flem. p. 235. Lagenula reticulata, MacGillivray, p. 28. 19 British species of the genus Lagena. Cell ovato-globose, with a slight projection superiorly, at the extremity of which is the small circular oral ? orifice. Sur- face beautifully ornamented with numerous, small, white, concave, irregular, areolar spaces, separated by elevated, transparent, reti- cular lines of demarcation. These areolae are irregular in form and distribution, being sometimes nearly round or oval, but more usually exhibiting a marked tendency to become hexagonal, the lower ones being usually the most elongated. Occasionally the areolae are transparent and the reticulations milky. In this state it appears to be the L. reticulata of MacGillivray : one part of his description alone does not agree with my specimens ; he speaks of its being considerably compressed.^^ This however may have been an accidental circumstance, as all the species, both of En~ tosolenia and Lagena, are liable to a considerable degree of de- formity. Internal tube patulous, usually shorter than in E, globosa, and generally with a small dilatation or spherical cavity a little below the oral ? orifice. The base of the cell is sometimes, though rarely, furnished with a small umbo. In the figure of this exceedingly variable species, given in the Supplement to Montagues ^ Testacea Britannica,^ the areolae are made to represent scales overlapping each other. This appear- ance, though not natural, is easily obtained, by viewing the object obliquely and by throwing the microscope a little out of focus, and I have no doubt would be the aspect presented by the object when viewed under the imperfect instruments used in the time of Mr. Walker. Dr. Fleming considers these areolae to be pa- rietal cells.^^ They are however merely concavities in the exterior of the cell. They are usually to be traced in the form of opake spots in the decalcified membrane. I possess one curious abnormal double specimen of this species, like that of E, glohosa already described. There are two cells, united inferiorly, and having each one central oral ? orifice at the opposite extremity. Long. Diam. 1 1 100 • • ' ■ • Ts'S' 1 1 TTJ • • ■ ‘ • 15 0 1 1 G G • * ' ’ • Too Seasalter, Mr. Boys,^^ Montagu. Torbay, Swansea, Mr. Jef- freys. Lamlash Bay, Ayrshire, Scarborough, Mr. Bean. Bay of Aberdeen,^-’ Prof. MacGillivray. Boston ; March : rare. Entosolenia squamosa, var. a. catenulata. PI. II. fig. 20. Lagenula catenulata, Jeffreys MSS. Cell ovato-globose, usually hyaline and transparent ; areolae very small and numerous, square or hexagonal, arranged in per- pendicular rows, having parallel horizontal divisions, which are 2* 20 Mr. W. C. Williamson on the genus Lagena. sometimes straight and at others arcuated. This form is merely the E. squamosa with the areolae in perpendicular rows instead of being irregularly distributed over the surface. Sometimes these areolae exhibit a tendency to assume the ordinary white opake appearance of the common form. I have seen specimens in which one side exhibited the arrangement in fig. 19, and the opposite one that of fig. 20 ; thus showing the identity of the two forms. Long, diam. xii- Swansea, Sandwich, Mr. Jeffreys. Boston : very rare. Entosolenia squamosa, var. /3. scalar if ormis, nob. PI. II. figs. 21, 22. Closely resembling the last in the distribution of its areolae, only they are very large and few in number ; usually square or hexagonal, the horizontal lines of division being most frequently a little arcuated. The texture of this variety is highly hyaline, and commonly occurs amongst the young states of E. squamosa. As in the preceding example, I have seen specimens in which one side exhibited the arrangement of the areolae, characterising the present form, whilst the opposite one presented that of the succeeding variety. Long. Diam. 1 UO • • • * 144. • • • • 2UT) Kyleakin, Mr. Jeffreys. Lamlash Bay, Ayrshire, Mr. Bean. Boston ; March : very rare. E. squamosa, var. 7. hexagona. PI. IT. fig. 23. Areolae large, hexagonal, concave, not arranged in well-marked perpendicular rows. The cell is often more conical, opake, and of a browner aspect than in the other forms, but numerous interme- diate specimens link them all together, both as regards the colour, form and arrangement of the areolae. Long, xft; diam. Oban, Kyleakin, Mr. Jeffreys. Lamlash Bay, Scarborough, Mr. Bean. Boston ; March : very rare. The Vermiculum lacteum of Montagu is not a Lagena, but the Arethusa lactea of Fleming, a species of Pohjmorphina of D’Or- bigny. Vermiculum retortum, Mont., is a very young state of one of D^Orbigny^s family of Agathistegues, probably the Vermiculum hicorne, Mont. Vermiculum urnce of Montagu, as I have already stated, I believe to be the same as my Entosolenia lineata. Mr. Jeffreys suspects it to have been the ovary of a coralline. The Lagenula marginata of Fleming belongs to D^Orbigny^s genus Biloculina. Manchester, June 25, 1817. Dr. Baird on the genus Cypridiiia. 21 II. — Note on the genus Cypridina, M. Edway'ds ; with a de- scription of two new species. By W. Baird, M.D., E.L.S. &c. [With two Plates.] The geuus Cypridina was founded by M. Edwards in 1838, in a note to the second edition of Lamarck^s 'Hist. Nat. An. sans Vertebres,^ and was afterwards more fully detailed in the third vol. of his ' Hist. Nat. des Crustacees.^ The animal resembles a good deal in its general form and structure that of the genus Cypris. From his observations however it appears to have two eyes, di- stinct from each other ; two pairs of antennse, both pediform ; one pair of natatory feet, and a peculiar organ apparently for support- ing the ova, similar in purpose to, but differing in structure from, the second pair of feet in the Cypris. In 1840 M. Philippi pub- lished a paper in the sixth vol. of the ' Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.^ in which he describes and figures a small Entomostracan allied to the genus Cypris, and to which he gives the name of Asterope. In some of its characters as given by him, it differs from the Cypridina of Edwards, — points of difference v/hich he particularly mentions, — but in others it resembles it very closely. I have very lately had opportunities of examining two species of Entomo- straca which I can only refer to the genus Cypridina, and which, upon dissection, I found in several of its parts to partake of the nature and form of that genus, and in other parts to resemble Asterope. From this mixture of the characters of the two genera, and taking into consideration the minuteness of the parts ex- amined, and the different appearance these same parts assume in different positions under different microscopes and with different observers, I am inclined to believe these two genera to be iden- tical. Waiting however till better opportunities occur for exa- mining these little creatures, I shall content myself at present with describing two new species that have lately occurred to me. Sp. 1st. Cypridina MacAndrei. PI. VI. B. figs. I, 2. Shell of an oval shape ; the two extremities prolonged into sharp points ; that of upper extremity curved and projecting forwards and a little upwards, that of inferior extremity projecting a little back- wards. The whole shell is dotted over with small spots. On anterior edge near the upper extremity the shell is deeply notched. It is smooth and of a light colour (dry). Several specimens of this little animal were placed in my hands by Mr. M'Andrew, who dredged them in deep water off the Shet- land Isles. They were preserved dry, the whole animal being of the size of a small pin^s head, and the shell being tolerably hard. In consequence of having been kept thus dry for a considerable time, the animal had become so shrunk that it was with consi- 22 Br. Baird on the genus Cypridina^ derable difficulty I succeeded in dissecting it. For the accom- panying sketches of this species I am indebted to the pencil of Mr. Charles Ager. The eyes I did not succeed in making out. The first pair of antennse (PI. VI. fig. 3) are large and pediform : they consist each of four articulations. The first or basilar joint is stout and of a considerable size ; the second is nearly equally large ; the third is short, about half the size, and the last is more slender and terminated by several strong setae. From the junction of the third and fourth joints issues a bundle of long slender setae as in Cypris, and the second articulation is beset on both upper and under edge with numerous strong setae also. The organ which he calls the natatory foot (fig. 4) is however a very remarkable one : it consists of a very large, fleshy, round basilar joint, from which issue two branches separate from each other and differing in size and structure. The superior is much the larger of the two, and consists of one long and stout joint and six short ones, from the base of each of which issues a long hair. The inferior branch is much smaller and consists of two nearly equal joints, the lower ter- minating in two short claws. According to the figure given by M. Edwards, this pair of feet consists of only one branch instead of two. The mandible I did not succeed in seeing ; but the first pair of jaws appeared to be very like that organ as represented by M. Edwards. The second pair of antennae presented the ap- pearance given in fig. 5, but the parts were too rigid to enable me to describe it distinctly. On the posterior portion of the animal there was another organ, which is described by M. Edwards in the Cypridina as a slender, cylindrical, filiform and twisted body which supports the ova. In this species it appeared a cylindrical body (fig. 6) composed of a very great number of small joints, of a twisted form, and giving off from each side several pretty long setse which appear numerously jointed also and furnished at their extremities with sharp spines. It resembles more the same organ as described in the Asterope by Philippi than that in the Cypri- dina of Edwards. The abdomen is terminated by a double caudal plate (PI. VI. fig. 7), broad, flat, and armed with nine spines ; six of which are very strong and serrated on their under edge. The first is the longest and they gradually become shorter as they descend, the three last being much smaller than the others, not serrated on their under edges, but furnished with a tuft of short seta3 at their extremities. This caudal plate appears to be a simple continuance of the abdomen, and not articulated with it as in the tail of Cypridina figured by M. Edwards, and in this particular resembles much more nearly that organ as represented by Phi- lippi in his Asterope. Sp. 2nd. Ciypridina Adamsi. PI. VII. fig. I. Shell of the size 23 with descriptions of two new species. of a small pea, of an oval form and very convex, rounded at the base and somewhat pointed at its apex, under which anteriorly it is deeply notched. The shell is smooth, shining, and of a pale yellow or cream colour (dry). Two or .three specimens were brought home by Mr. Arthur Adams, Assistant Surgeon Royal Navy, attached to H.M. Ship ^ Samarang,-’ who dredged them during the late voyage of that vessel in the South Atlantic Ocean. They had as well as the preceding species been preserved dry, and from the long time they had been kept so, it was almost impossible to dissect the animal. However by steeping them in spirits of wine for some time, I succeeded in obtaining the body of the animal sufficiently entire to be able to ascertain the genus. The anterior antenna (fig. 2) consists, as in the preceding species, of four joints, the three last having numerous pretty long plumose setae springing from the upper edge, and the last being terminated by a tuft of similar but longer setae. The natatory foot (fig. 3), as in the other species, consists also of a very large basilar joint which gives origin to two branch es ; the upper of which consists of one very long joint and six very short ones, from the base of each of which issues a long plumose seta. The oviferous foot (PI. VII. fig. 4) resembles very much that of the preceding species, being cylindrical, and beset at its upper extremity with spines. The jaws and tail resembled very much the same organs in C. Mac- Andrei, but the body of the animal was too much decomposed to allow me to see them sufficiently accurately to be able to figure them. Godeheu de Riville, in his paper on the Luminosity of the Sea, published in 1760 in the third yol. of the ^Memoires pour les Savans Etrangers,^ describes a small Entomostracan which must belong to this genus. Sailing along the coast of Malabar, when in 8'^ 47' N. lat., and in 73° E. longitude of Paris, the sea was observed to be unusually and most brilliantly luminous. Having had his attention previously directed to this interesting phseno- menon, Riville determined to ascertain the cause. The water all round the vessel and to a considerable distance from it was white as snow, and in the wake of the ship innumerable star-like bodies of a still brighter lustre sparkled on the surface of the agitated surf. He had some water drawn up from alongside, and he then observed numerous bright sparkling spots in the bucket in which it was contained. Pouring it out upon apiece of linen, numbers of small bodies still giving out light were observed adhering to the surface of the cloth. They were alive, and resembled, he says, those small insects called in France Puces d’eau.” The body of the animal was contained in a little shell which was transpa- rent, and resembled in form an almond cleft on one side and 24 Dr. Baird on the genus Cypridiiia. notched at the superior part. The animal, besides several organs which he shortly describes, had, he remarks, a large foot armed with a toothed talon resembling that of the puce d’eau, and de- stined for the same uses, being a kind of rudder which enables the insect to move about with swiftness.^^ An officer on board made several sketches of this interesting little creature, and from these and the above description I have little doubt of its belong- ing to this genus*. Biville does not mention the size of his in- sects, but from what he says they must have been much smaller than the species above described. Amongst the very interesting drawings of Crustacea made by Mr. Adams during the voyage of the ^Samarang^, there is one which appears to be another species of this genus. It was taken in the Sooloo Sea. Mr. Adams de- scribes it as of a bluish colour, semi-opake, two lines in diameter, and very quick in its motions, darting about with great velocity and constantly revolving. The figure however is not sufficiently detailed to enable me to describe the species, and no specimens were brought home. Mr. Adams observed both of these species to be highly luminous. British Museum, October 1847. Postscript. Since the above was in type I have had an opportunity of ex- amining another specimen of the Cypridina Adamsi, kindly placed in my hands by Mr. Adams. Though equally dry as the other specimens I had previously received from the same gentleman, the body of the animal was almost entire, and I was thus enabled to make out the anatomy more satisfactorily. The eyes are two in number; each placed upon a conical lengthened peduncle, which takes its origin near the base of the first pair of the pedi- form antennae. Prom the state of the animal I could not distinctly make out the construction of the organ, but apparently it was composed of numerous crystalline lenses. The oviferous feet, placed on each side of the body and directed upwards, consist each of a long cylindrical body, club-shaped, composed of a great number of short articulations, and furnished with many stout barbed spines arising from each side. The articu- lations are completely circular, and with a high power can be discerned running round the body of the foot like a bell-wire (fig. 4 a) . The spines on its edges are composed of a long basal joint, smooth for three-fourths of its entire length, and five or six very short articulations at the apex, each armed with a short awn- like seta on either side (fig. 4 b). The secondpair of antennae (fig. 5) are each formed of three joints. The basal is stout and fieshy, and has at its posterior extremity an appendage consisting of a * Muller however quotes it as resembling his Lynceiis Irachyurusl 25 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusae. semicircular plate^ armed at its edge with numerous slender setae. The second is shorter and has several long plumose hairs spring- ing from its inferior edge^ and three or four not plumose from the upper surface. The terminal joint gives off at its apex four stout setae^ and numerous others more slender from its upper edge. The first pair of jaws (fig. 6) consists each of a semi- circular plate furnished on its convex margin with a great num- ber of long beautifully plumose filaments, and has attached to one extremity two other plates, each provided with numerous very slender setae on their edges. The second pair of jaws (fig. 7) consists each of a semicircular plate furnished on its inner margin with numerous long slender setae disposed like the teeth of a comb. At one end it gives off a stout branch like a finger, w'hich is terminated by seven or eight long curved spines, and at the other sends off seven or eight long stout plumose setae. The organs represented at fig. 8 are perhaps the mandibles, but as I did not observe their exact situation in the animal, I cannot with certainty refer them to those organs. The part repre- sented (fig. 9) is unique, but I do not know its nature or use. EXPLANATION OF PLATES VI. B. and VII. Plate VI. B. Fig. 1. C. MacJndrei, highly magnified. Fig. 2. The outer shell removed to show the animal. Fig. 8. Anterior antenna. Fig. 4. Natatory foot. Fig. 5. Second pair of antennae. Fig. 6. Oviferous foot. Fig. 7. Tail. Plate VII. Fig. 1. C. Adamsi, slightly magnified. Fig. 2. Anterior antenna. Fig. 3. Natatory foot. Fig. 4. Oviferous foot : a. portion highly magnified ; h. one of the spines highly magnified. Fig. 5. Second pair of antennae. Fig. 6. First pair of jaws. Fig. 7. Second pair of jaws. Fig. 8. Mandibles ? Fig. 9. ? III. — Obsey'vations on the Development o/ Medusse. By John Reid, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and Chandos Professor of Anatomy and Medicine in the University of St. Andrews* *. [With two Plates.] The following observations were made upon three colonies of the larvse of a Medusa. One of these was procured on the 15th of * These observations were laid before the Literary and Philosophical Society of St. Andrews at the Meetings of the 4th of May 1846 and the .5th of April 1 847, and abstracts of them were printed in the ‘ Transactions ’ of the Society, and reprinted in Nos. 118 and 131 of the first series of this Journal. 26 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusae. September 1845_, and tbe other two on the 11th of July 1846^ adhering to the lower surface of stones in pools near low water mark. The stones were of a size which readily permitted them to be conveyed home, where I have kept them up to the present time. The mode 1 have followed in keeping these animals alive is this. The stones to which they adhere are placed in vessels of considerable size, supplied daily with water fresh from the ocean, and the animals fed once or tv/ice weekly with small morsels of mussels, which they readily swallow. The first of the three colonies consisted of between thirty and forty individuals, and the largest was between two and three lines in length ; the individuals composing the other two colonies were more nume- rous and of somewhat larger size. After I had completed my examination of the structure of these animals I discovered that they had been described by Sars, first under the generic name of ScyphistumUy and afterwards as the larva of the Medusa^. Many of the larvre increased much in size several months after I took them home, and the body of one that I measured was ^rd of an inch in length and ^th of an inch in diameter ; another was y^2lbs of an inch in length and circumference. As every part of their body is contractile, they can assume a great variety of forms. The more common of these are represented in PI. V. figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Though almost all of them are throughout of a grayish white colour, a few presented spots or patches of a purple colour, which were sometimes observed to dis- appear and reappear in the same individual. The tentacula are generally from twenty-two to twenty-seven in number, and when fully expanded are three or four times the length of the body. In one that I measured the body was of an inch, and the tenta- eula yf ths of an inch in length ; in another the body was g^ths, and the tentacula yyths of an inch in length. The mouth is very dilatable and varies much in shape, but is most commonly qua- drangular. When fully expanded it forms a round aperture oc- cupying nearly the whole of the dise (fig. 5) ; at other times its margins or lips are elongated and approximated so as to form a considerable quadrangular projection (fig. 2h). Its more com- mon condition perhaps is that represented in fig. 3 a. The four round, equidistant and slight depressions placed be- tween the mouth and margin of the disc are represented in fig. 2 a. The body and tentacula of the larva are composed of two di- stinct layers, an internal and external. The internal layer chiefly consists of nuclei and nucleated cells (PI. VI. fig. 19) of various sizes, some of them containing a large number of nuclei ; while the external is chiefly composed of a structureless substance with * Annales des Sciences Natiirelles, tom. xvi. p. 321, 1841. 27 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusse. numerous minute nuclei disseminated through it. Numerous nearly elliptical and oval capsules (filiferous capsules), having a long thread or filament coiled up in the interior of each, are fixed upon the outer surface of the external layer, and in much smaller number upon the inner surface of the internal layer, where it lines the internal cavity or stomach. These capsules are most abundant upon the external surface of the tentacula. Fig. 20 is a highly en- larged view of a small portion of one of the tentacula, showing the filiferous capsules attached to its outer surface. These fili- ferous capsules vary much in size, but the largest are generally of a uniform size, nearly of an elliptical form, and about inch in their largest diameter (PI. V. fig. 8). Several of these, de- tached in examining portions of the larva under the microscope, had burst open at the smaller end, and the spiral thread projected through the opening and was uncoiled (fig. 9). In the entire capsule a rounded and narrow column passes from the smaller end, beyond which it slightly projects, in the direction of its longest diameter, nearly to its other extremity ; and tliis column, to which the spiral thread is attached, protrudes from the interior of the capsule when it bursts. I have never observed these filaments projecting from the capsules when adhering to the surface of the body, unless when subjected to pressure, but it is difficult to use the more powerful object-glasses necessary for distinguishing these, without compressing more or less the part under examination. The internal is considerably thicker and more opake than the external layer, is of a slightly yellowish colour when it accumu- lates at any point in greater- abundance than usual, and is folded inwards to form the four equidistant projections seen on the sur- face of the stomach when the mouth is dilated (fig. 5 a), and when the body of the animal is slit open and then spread out (fig. 6 c). By making a transverse section of the body, the rela- tive thickness of the internal and external layers, and the man- ner in which the internal is folded to form the four pouches or short canals that project from the internal surface, are very di- stinctly seen (fig. 7). These four short canals (fig. 7 a) termi- nate at their upper end in another canal, encircling the mouth and placed between it and the margin of the dise (fig. 6 b). Into this circular canal the hollow tentacula also open. The inner surface of the circular canal and the tentacula is lined by the in- ternal layer. The four depressions (fig. 2 a) placed between the mouth and margin of the disc correspond to the termination of the four vertical in the circular canal. Across the bottom of these depressions, which at first sight look like apertures, a mem- brane is stretched sufficiently thin to permit readily of the trans- udation of fluids. x\fter reading Steenstrup^s observations on the structure of 28 Dr. Reid 07i the Development of the Medusae. these animals *, where he describes four canals, — one in each angle of the extensible membrane surrounding the mouth and forming the lips, — passing from the circular canal already men- tioned, and also another circular canal placed in the free margin of the lips, I repeated my examinations ; and though I used glasses of very different magnifying powers, and made numerous trials, I could not satisfy myself of the existence of these canals. No doubt four equidistant white lines presenting the appearance of canals are seen, in certain conditions of the extensible lips, running in the positions indicated by Steenstrup ; but in some of the numerous forms which the lips assume these lines entirely disappear, and when present they seem to be formed by narrow ridges on the external surface, resulting from the quadrangular shape assumed by the lips. The free margin of the lips fre- quently presented indications of the presence of a canal, but I could never satisfy myself of its actual existence. In making such investigations, it must be kept in mind, that the internal is readily separated by pressure from the external layer, otherwise we may be led into error. In the almost daily examinations I have made of these animals during the last two years, I never observed the slightest traces of the hollow quadrangular body described by Steenstrup as growing from the lower surface of the cavity or stomach in the body of the animal, sometimes pro- jecting as high as the mouth, and placed in the middle of the stomach, like the clapper in a bell. The inner surface of the lips and of the stomach, and the ex- ternal surface of the tentacula and body, are covered with very fine cilia, so that currents of water, unless when the mouth is shut, are constantly passing in and out from the mouth and along the tentacula. The cilia upon the external surface of the body re - quire the use of the higher object-glasses for their detection, and for a long time they escaped my notice. The colony of larvae first obtained began to produce buds and stolons about the middle of January I8J6, and the other two colo- nies at the end of July of the same year. With intervals of com- parative repose they have gone on reproducing abundantly ever since ; so that, notwithstanding they are constantly suffering loss by death and other causes, the number of individuals in each colony has greatly increased. Whenever buds and stolons are formed, they commence by a thickening of the internal layer at those parts, causing a bulging outwards of the external layer. A single bud (fig. 10 a), occasionally two buds, grow from the upper surface of the stolon, and these become developed into larvse in the manner described by Sars. The buds form upon * On tlie Alternations of Generations, &c., translated for the Ray So- ciety, pp. 22, 23. 29 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusae. all parts of the external surface, but most frequently near the lower part, of the body. On many of the larger larvae several buds were seen growing at the same time (fig. 11 a). As a bud enlarges it becomes elongated and attenuated at its free extre- mity, and bends itself downwards to reach the surface of the stone to which the elongated extremity adheres : after this the attached end is gradually separated from the body of the parent. When thus detached, a small opening presents itself at its upper end, its interior gradually becomes hollowed out and cilia grow upon it, and tentacula commence to sprout around the mouth, exactly in the same manner as in the buds formed on the upper surface of the stolons. The outer surface of the buds is also covered with very fine cilia. Several of the buds were found lying loose at the bottom of the vessels in which the stones are kept, probably detached by accident, and these after a time fixed themselves to the surftice of the vessels, and passed through their development into larvae in the same manner as those that adhered for a longer time to the bodies of their parents. One of these detached buds fixed itself at two separate points, and two mouths, each furnished with its own tentacula, were formed at opposite ends of its upper surface. When a bud was deve- loped on a stolon, the connecting part between the bud and the parent was more frequently absorbed, or at least disappeared, at other times the bond of connection remained ; so that occasion- ally two, three or more larvae of different or of nearly equal size might be seen growing closely united together at the base, as if one had split itself longitudinally into two or more separate in- dividuals. This chiefly took place when the larvae were so thickly clustered together that they had not room to spread sufficiently. When the buds were developed into young larvae, these generally moved outwards from their parents to a small distance, leaving room for those that were to succeed them. This locomotion is generally slow, — one larva that I watched moved g^^ths of an inch in fourteen days, — and is effected by a sliding motion of the attached end over the substance to which it adheres. In this motion the attached end bulges outwards in the direction it is about to take (fig. 12 a), and the wffiole of this end gradually follow’s, carrying of course the wdiole of the upper part of the body along w’ith it. More rarely they move more rapidly by pushing outwards a narrow prolongation similar to a long sto- lon (fig. 4«), which becomes fixed at its further extremity, and the attached end becoming loosened, the whole body is carried onwards by the contraction of the prolonged part. The older larvae are almost or entirely stationary. The larvae, when detached from the surface to which they are adherent, can again fix themselves. I have frequently performed 30 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusse. this experiment by placing those detached in separate vessels, and almost always successfully, when care was taken to disturb them as little as possible for three or four days, or longer. A considerable number of larva3 are adhering to the surface of the vessels in which the stones are kept *. I made several experiments upon the reparative powers of the larv£e. In several the upper half of the body was cut off, and after three or four days its lower or cut end had closed in, and by the sixth day it had attached itself to the surface of the ves- sel, and shortly assumed all the appearances of an entire larva, sending out stolons and forming buds. Fig. 12 is a representa- tion of the upper half of a larva eight days after it had been cut off. New tentacula, and a new mouth also, after several days presented themselves on the upper or cut end of the lower half. Several were divided longitudinally through their entire length, and when means were not taken to keep the cut edges apart they soon adhered again, and no traces of their division remained. In one divided longitudinally the two portions were kept apart, and in each the cut edges approximated and adhered, and two separate animals were thus produced from one. The larvae are voracious, and readily seize and swallow uni- valve or bivalve molluscans, or a crustacean, as large or even larger than their own bodies before they are stretched out, and after retaining them in the stomach, generally for about twenty- four hours in summer and nearly twice as long in winter, they reject them through the mouth. They also not unfrequently swallow one of their neighbours, and its sojourn in the stomach for some time terminates in its digestion and destruction. When they seize a univalve molluscan too large to be swallowed, they retain it firmly embraced in their tentacula, and insert their elon- gated mouth into the interior of the shell ; and in like manner they keep dead articulate animals, or molluscans without shells, too large to be swallowed, in their tentacula for more than a day, and probably extract nourishment from them by acting on their textures by their extensible lips. The larvae of the first colony, obtained in September 1845, did not split transversely into young Medusje in the spring of 1846, as I expected them to do, but continued to produce stolons and buds abundantly. A great number of them had then attained a large size, and many of them presented on their outer surface transverse rugae, and four pretty deep equidistant vertical grooves, as repre- sented in fig. 13, but none of them presented the appearances now * According to Savs, “si on detaclie violemment ces polypes, il a qu’iin petit nombre qui pent se fixer de nouveau, et alors ils n’adherent pas si fortement qu’a rordiiiaire ; la plupart restent libres an fond du verre.” — Opus cit. p. 339. 31 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusae. about to be described, indicative of tbeir splitting transversely into young Medusae. In the beginning of February of the present year, the upper part of the body of some of the larvae of the first colony became cylindrical, considerably elongated and much diminished in diameter, with thickly-set rings forming at the top. From the circumference of the rings first formed eight equidistant lobes or rays began to grow, the rings increased in size and became of a reddish brown colour, the tentacula gradually wasted away, and in the course of eight days the young Medusae were beginning to detach themselves in the manner described by Sars. While this was going on at the upper part of the body, the process of elon- gation and the formation of new rings w^as proceeding downwards, as represented in PL VI. fig. 14, so that thirty or forty rings, each of which was about to become a young Medusa, could be counted on the body of one larva at the same time, and the body in some cases measured three-fourths of an inch in length. At this period the upper part of the body was of the form of an in- verted pyramid, and had a distinctly reddish brown colour. As the grooves separating the rings increased in depth, it was ob- served that the body of the young Medusa above was at last attached only to the upper margin of the lips of the one below. Fig. 15 is a greatly enlarged representation of one of these young Medusae immediately after it had separated itself from the body of a larva. A small proportion, probably not above one-sixth or one-seventh of the larvae, underwent this process of splitting into young Medusae, and in no case that 1 observed did it extend through the whole length of the body of the larva ; for a portion, often very small, at its attached end did not become ringed (fig. 14 a), threw out new tentacula before the young Medusae last formed were detached, and it continued to live as a larva. Some of the larvae of the other two colonies obtained in July of the preceding year began to yield young Medusae about the middle of March, and exactly in the same manner as in the first colony. A fortnight, or more, generally elapsed, after the commencement of the separation of the young Medusae in a larva, before the process was finished. The general appearance and habits of the young Medusae im- mediately after they have detached themselves from the larvae have been described already by Sars, but there are various parts of its structure which stand in need of additional elucidation. External to the quadrangular mouth occupying the centre of the lower surface of the body of the young Medusa (fig. 15) are four bifid hollow' processes, placed at equal distances from each other, and adhering by the end of their undivided portion to the inner surface of the inferior wall of the stomach (fig. 15«). The in- ferior wall of the stomach, which forms also the inferior sm’face 32 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusae. of the body, is so thin that at first sight these processes appear to be attached to the external surface. Fig. 16 is a greatly en- larged view of one of these bifid processes. Each of these pro- cesses forms two hollow floating tubes, communicating with the stomach or internal cavity by a common orifice (fig. 16 a), and having the edges of their external surfaces covered with nume- rous flliferous capsules (fig. 16 5). The stomach is large and extends nearly to the margin of the body or disc. Outside the position of the four bifid processes, and on the lower surface of the inferior wall of the body, there is a circular band, slightly elevated, more granular and opake than the portion of the body placed within it, having prolongations passing off from its outer edge to the intervals between the eight bifid lobes or rays that spring from the margin of the body, and others along the centre of the lower surface of these bifid lobes, as far as the ocellus placed at the point of bifurcation of each lobe (fig. 15). When the animal contracts the marginal lobes in swimming, this circle becomes narrower, more distinctly defined, and approaches nearer to the mouth. In certain states of the animal the prolongations from the outer edge of this circle to the intervals between the eight bifid rays are longer than represented in fig. 15. When the animal is examined in certain positions and with glasses of weak power, this circle, and the sixteen prolongations extending outwards from it to the intervals between the rays, and along the lower surface of the rays themselves, assume pretty nearly the appearances represented by Steenstrup as vessels ; and as I have been unable to satisfy myself of the presence of any vessels there, I am inclined to believe that he has been misled in this way. I have occasionally observed the appearance of a thread-like nervous circle around the mouth, sending a filament along each of the rays towards the ocelli, on approaching which it bifurcated ; but not having been able to make these out at other times, under circumstances that appeared favourable for their detection, I am not prepared to affirm that a nervous system is present. At the point of bifurcation of each of the marginal lobes or rays there is placed, as Sars has described, a little eminence, hy- pothetically designated by Steenstrup an ocellus (figs.l5c &17g). This ocellus forms a mammillary process, consisting of three distinct structures (fig. 17 a). The apex is chiefly formed of a considerable number of very minute crystals, and a small part of its base is more opake and more granular than its larger middle portion. From a greatly enlarged view of the crystals occupying the apex of the ocellus, given in fig. 18, it will be observed that the upper are shorter and thicker than the lower ; in fact, while a few of the former are almost as thick as they are long, some of the latter arc almost needle-shaped. On fixing the polarizing 33 Dr. Reid on the Development of the Medusie. apparatus to the microscope, it was observed that these crystals depolarized the light. I gave some of the young Medusae to Principal Sir David Brewster for examination, and he returned me the following report : The small raised portions of the Me- dusae named ocelli consist each of six or more similar parts, each part having the property of depolarizing polarized light. When all the other portions of the animal are absolutely black, the ocelli shine with considerable brightness. Upon turning the Medusae round in a plane perpendicular to the axis of vision, the individual parts of the ocelli disappear and reappear, according to the angle which their neutral axes (if they have double refraction), or their planes of separation (if they are merely polarizing laminae), form with the plane of primitive polarization. If these raised por- tions named ocelli are really organs of vision, the probability is that their axis of vision is perpendicular to the general surface of the Medusa.^^ The inner half of the lower surface of the bifid portion of each of the marginal lobes (fig. 17) is thinned off to a sharp edge, bounded externally by a continuation of the ridge running along the middle of the inferior surface already described, so that the bifid portion resembles in form a pair of strong scissors. A number of larger and smaller filiferous capsules, similar to those observed in the larvse, adhere to the outer surface of the young Medusae ; and fine cilia are present on the inner surface of the lips and stomach, and on the outer surface of the four bifid processes floating in the stomach. Though the normal number of the marginal lobes or rays is eight, yet oecasionally they were as few as four and as many as twelve. In a few cases one or more of these lobes were trifid, with an oeellus placed in the cleft of each division. I was not able to preserve the young Medusae alive more than twenty days. During that time the lobes or rays had beeome shorter from the expansion of the body, and in a few, small pa- pillae were forming in the clefts between the lobes. A comparison between the observations of Sars and Steen- strup upon the larvae of the Medusa living in the ocean, and those made upon them while living in the artificial condition de- scribed, elicits some facts of considerable interest. Aecording to Sars and Steenstrup, the colonies of these animals living in the ocean split up entirely into young ^ledusae each spring, and completely disappear, and new ones are founded in September from the ova of the adult Medusas ; but while living in the arti- ficial state, as was also some years ago remarked by Sir John Dalyell *, a certain number only of the individuals of the colony * .famiesou’s Pliilosojjliiciil Journal for 1836, Ann. ^ Mag. X. Hist. Scr. 2. Vol. i. 3 34 Dr. Reid on a new species of Actinia. undergo this process^ and that not throughout their entire length ; for even a portion of each of those that form young Medusae by transverse divisions of their substance, continues to live as a larva. The first colony I obtained was seventeen months in my possession before any of the individuals composing it underwent its development into young Medusae. That the larvae, even when living in the ocean, are not always formed in autumn and un- dergo their development into young Medusae in spring, is evi- dent from the fact, that two of the colonies in my possession were obtained from the ocean in July. Whether these larvae had been generated the preceding autumn, and continued to live as such up to the time they were obtained from the ocean, or had been generated at some period subsequent to this, it is impossible to determine. Account of a new Actinia. Though the Actinia I am about to describe has in many respects a close resemblance to the Actinia chrys ant helium of Mr. Peach, described and figured in Dr. Johnston^s late edition of his work on British Zoophytes,^ vol. i. p. 220, it yet differs from it suffi- ciently, at least as far as I can make out, to justify me in regard- ing it as a distinct species. If this should be confirmed, I would propose to name it Actinia cylindrica. Body elongated, cylindrical, free ; tentacula uniserial, submarginal ; mouth elongated upwards, forming a conical tube with small pro- cesses attached to its margin. This animal was found in St. Andrew^s Bay, by Mrs. Macdonald and myself about two years ago, immediately after it had been thrown ashore during a storm, and it was kept alive for three days. Fig. 21 (Plate VI.) is a representation of the form of the animal of the natural size. The body is cylindrical and marked by longitudinal lines. The inferior fourth of the body is translucent, more contractile than the upper part, and sometimes assumes nearly a conical form with the apex downwards. The upper three-fourths of the body are opake and of a faint pink colour. The tentacula are twelve in number, ranged in a single row, smooth on the surface, of a light pink colour, and having their internal or oral surface crossed by four zigzag white lines (fig. 22). They are elongated trans- versely or flattened from within outwards, and taper towards their free extremity. They were never seen more elongated than what is represented in fig. 21, but as the animal a])peared to be languid, it is quite possible they are capable of greater elongation. When contracted to the utmost they formed little conical emi- nences, projecting outwards and upwards, and were seen to be attached immediately below the outer margin of the disc. Twelve 35 Dr. Reid on a new species of Actinia. bands of a faint reddish brown colour and adhering along their edges^ radiate inw^ards from the circumference of the disc^ con- verge at its centre, and prolong themselves upwards to form the mouth, or rather the lips. The margin of the lips is surrounded by twelve small processes, six of which are very minute ; these processes are of a triangular form and of an orange colour, except at the edges, which are translucent. This prolonged mouth did not always occupy the centre of the disc, but could be directed towards any part of the margin. The external sac sent strong partitions inwards, the position of which was marked by the longitudinal lines on its outer surface, and in the interstices of these partitions the ovaries w^ere placed. This animal in many respects closely, resembles the Iluanthos of Professor E. Forbes*, and the chief difference between them is found in the structure of the mouth. EXPLANATION OF PLATES V. and VI. Plate V. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and ,5. Representations of the more common forms assumed by the larvae. Fig. 6. A larva slit open and stretched out to show the four vertical canals, and the manner in which they terminate in the circular canal : a, extensible lips ; h, circular canal ; c, four vertical canals ; d, teii- tacula considerably shortened by their contraction. Fig. 7. Transverse section of the body of a larva to show the manner in which the four vertical canals are formed : a, vertical canals. Fig. 8 Piliferous capsule entire. Fig. 9. Piliferous capsule burst and the spiral filament unvoiled. Fig. 1 0. Larva throwing out stolons, from one of which a bud is springing. Fig. 1 1. Larva having several buds growing from its surface. Fig. 12. Upper half of a larva eight days after it had been cut across. Fig. 13. One of the forms assumed by some of the larvae. Plate VI. Fig. 14. Larva in the process of splitting into young Medusae. Fig. 15. Lower surface of one of the young Medusae after its separation from a larva ; a, one of the four bifid processes in the stomach ; c, ocellus. Fig. 16. Greatly enlarged view of one of the bifid processes in the stomach. Fig. 17. Greatly enlarged view of one of the eight marginal rays or lobes : a, ocellus. Fig. 18. Greatly enlarged view of the crystals in apex of ocellus. Fig. 19. Two of the nucleated cells and several of the nuclei that enter so abundantly into the structure of the internal layer, as seen when a portion of this layer is detached. Fig. 20. Small portion of a tentaculum, highly magnified, to exhibit the fili- ferous capsules adhering to its outer surface. Fig. 21. Representation Actinia cylindrica of the natural size. Fig. 22, Oral surface of one of the tentacula. In the examination of the more minute structures figured above, a one- eighth of an inch object-glass made by Powell and Leland, and a one-fourth of an inch object-glass by Smith and Beck, were employed. * Annals of Natural History, vol. v. p. 180. 3* 36 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification IV. — On the Ventriculidse of the Chalk; their classification. By J. Toulmin Smith, Esq. [Continued from vol. xx. 1st Series, p. 191.] I HAVE thus described with some detail the structure which marks a large group of fossils from the chalk, and have further endea- voured to show what are the natural affinities of the group thus marked. The only clue has thus been obtained towards arran- ging, in a true and natural classification, those widely varied forms to which, under various secondary modifications, this structure belongs. The few of these which have hitherto been known have been uncharacterized except by names as various as the different writers, and which, being names merely, could leave no impression of reality on the mind of the inquirer. It will assist the inquirer, and will much enhance the import- ance of the present investigation, if, before entering on the de- scription of their modifications, something is said of the strati- graphical distribution of these fossils. From what has already been stated, it will be obvious that these fossils require to be sought : they can seldom fall in the collec- tors way as do fossils having solid parts, Testacea, Vertebrata, &c. If found at all in the hands of the dealer they will usually be fragmentary only, or in a matrix, the flint, the deceptive character of whose obvious appearances has been already shown. By far the greater part of the forms assumed are, besides, such that no blow of the hammer can disclose the character of the fossil. It is necessary to premise thus much that it may be under- stood that the fact of these fossils not having yet been recognized in particular localities or strata is no proof that they do not exist therein ; and, now that the true structure characteristic of them has been described, it may be hoped that the presence of some representatives of the family may be detected much more widely than has been hitherto suspected. A mere fragment may now serve for the detection of that presence*. As far as can be gathered from the various authorities already cited, it would appear that these fossils are more abundant in England than in any other country. In the chalk of Kent, Sussex, Norfolk, Wiltshire, and the respectively adjoining locali- ties, some of the forms are abundant, though in each region the localities in which they abound are certainly restricted. In the chalk of Yorkshire they appear to be much less abundant. In- deed many bodies which have heretofore been grouped as Ventri- culidce from that region have no relation to that family ; while * Of course not for the determination of species, or, necessarily, even of genus. 37 of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. the forms hitherto collected there of true Ventriculidce are very rare, if we may judge from the specimens in the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Institution, for the opportunity of care- fully inspecting which specimens I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Charlesworth*. In England these fossils have not hitherto been recognized in any other than the Cretaceous group. It is probable that careful search will reveal them throughout all the members of that group. At present they have been found in five divisions of it ; viz. the Upper Chalk, the Middle Chalk, the Lower Chalk, the Chalk Marl, and the Upper Greensand. The prevalence indeed of certain forms is characteristic of certain of these divisions t ; a result which unexpectedly displayed itself after the classification presently to be exhibited had been worked out from a cautious study of the individuals, and the value of which result must therefore strike every inquirer. The particular divisions characterized by the predominance of one or the other class of forms will be shown in severally describing those forms. There is no « priori reason why representatives of these forms should not be found in older and in newer formations than these cretaceous beds. Still the fact of their not having been thus found in England, where, in those cretaceous beds, some of them so much abound, leads to some hesitation in relying implicitly on the alleged much lower stratigraphical position of some foreign forms. The foreign forms from the true chalk appear to be few and rare ; but there are several figures in Goldfuss, to some of which I have already alluded J, probably representing forms belonging to this family, which are there given as from the “ Jurakalk.^^ In the * In addition to the acknowledgements which I have alread}^ made, I have the further pleasure of now recording the kindness, in affording me the means of examining different specimens from very various localities, of Mr. Lyell, Mr. Wetherell and Mr. Oakeshott of Highgate, Mr. Cunnington of Devizes, Mr. Catt of Brighton, and Mr. Whittle of St. John’s College, Cambridge, besides that of Mr. Charlesworth as above-mentioned. I must also acknowledge the kind assistance afforded me by Mr. Waterhouse of the British Museum, in facilitating the task of inspecting the specimens in that collection. To the President of the Geological Society I am also in- debted for the prompt courtesy with which he has enabled me to avail myself efficiently of illustrations from the valuable museum of that Society. I would take this opportunity of saying that I shall be greatly obliged by any illustrations and opportunities similar to those which have already been so kindly and liberally afforded to me. t See observations in the Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. xx. p. 337. An interest beyond even that which they are calculated intrinsically to ex- cite is thus given to these fossils, of the same nature as that which attaches to a series of Ammonites from different beds. J Ante, vol. xx. p. 78. It is proper to state that there are many forms, besides those thus specified, figured by Goldfuss as from the Jurakalk, and which I have not much doubt are Ventriculidae. I have only enumerated the more obvious. 38 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification British Museum^ again, is a large and valuable series of fossils, which I have carefully examined, and which I can therefore state with assured confidence to belong to this family*, and which are stated to be from Mount Bhanden in Switzerland ; a locality the strata of which are declared to be equivalent to ttie lower beds of the Middle Oolite of England. The matrix appears much the same as that of our English chalk marl ; but that test is, of course, very incomplete. The point requires careful investigation ; and, as the true character and importance of these fossils will have now become known, it may be hoped that the attention of some of the many competent foreign observers may be directed to it. As I shall show the changes which these forms have undergone in passing from one division of our English strata to another to have been great, it will be peculiarly interesting to ascertain exactly to what strata these foreign forms do actually belong ; for many of them differ much from our English forms. It is inter- esting at present to remark that the form which is of the great- est vertical range in the English beds {Brachiolites digitatus) is unequivocally found in these Rhanden beds. In p. 510 of the first volume of the Journal of the Geological Society there is described by Mr. Lonsdale, under the name of Ocellaria ramosafi a fossil found by Mr. Lyell in the Eocene deposits at Jacksonborough in Georgia, United States. Did this fossil exhibit any true affinities wfith the group which has been called Ocellaria it would necessarily belong to the Ventriculidse, and I was anxious to ascertain the facts. Mr. Lyell has obli- gingly enabled me to do this by placing in my hands all the specimens found by him, and which are, it is believed, all that have ever been found. The result is, that the fossil is found to present none whatever of the characters of Ocellaria ; and I cannot understand upon what grounds it has had this name affixed to it by Mr. Lonsdale, except that he appears, from his observa- tions, never to have had an opportunity of examining any actual specimens of the so-called Ocellaria, and to have been misled by some of the figures f. These fossils however answer -to no part of the generic description given by Ramond, or any subsequent writer, of the Ocellaria. The tubules in the Eocene fossils are tubules ramifying through a massive substance, and there is not any polyparium which is explanato-memhranaceum” and ‘‘ utro- * These treasures are at present unarranged. I should be happy to assist in that task, and to complete it by adding, as far as possible from my private collection, all the British forms, should the present Commis- sion result in any prospect of improvement in that respect. f The figure specially referred to, and which is copied by Lamouroux, pi. 72, fig. 5, has certainly a considerable resemblance to a special fractured surface of the Eocene fossil. 39 of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. que latere porosum/^ The characters of Ocellaria, as given by all the authors*, are clear and unmistakeable so far as they goj and there cannot be a moment^s doubt as to what the true rela- tions of the so-called genus are, as will presently be seen. It is perfectly certain that this so-called Ocellaria ramosa-\ has none of these relations, and therefore that it does not serve to bring the Ventriculidse within the tertiary period. No trace of this family has, then, yet been anywhere discovered higher than the upper beds of the English chalk. As it is desirable to have the treatment of the subject as com- plete as possible, so far as it goes, and as the materials which I have collected from the English chalk are sufficiently abundant to lead me to hope that such completeness may be given, for all practical purposes, to the description of the forms found in those beds, I shall confine myself at present to these last ; wffiich I the rather do in that, while it w^ould be a priori probable that the examination of so extensive a series of beds would at any rate afford a full series of typical characters, — and therefore a sound basis for a permanent and generally applicable system of classifi- cation,— the exammation of the Rhanden specimens in the British ^luseum has satisfied me that all of them will range within the typical groups which the forms of the English chalk have led me to assign. I have already indicated J in what direction we must look for the essential characters which mark this whole family. It is extremely improbable that a structure so extraordinary, so pecu- liarly bearing the marks of special design and adaptation as the octahedral structure, should be otherwise than characteristic of the family in individuals of which its existence has been dis- covered. Until, then, it has been found elsewhere, the philoso- phical inquirer will take that structure as his guide in the deter- * Those characters are, " Polypier pierreux, aplati en membrane, diverse- ment contourne, subinfundibuliformee, a superficie arenacee, muni de pores sur les deux faces.” The observations of Milne-Edwards, on an inspec- tion of the actual fossils, are alone sufficient to show that the present fossils could not be Ocellarice, their apparent tubules being, as stated in p. 511, sometimes penetrated by fibres in a radiated manner. Milne-Edwards expressly says (Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. ii. p. 291), ” L’axe solide, qui remplit assez ordinairement les trous, et qui a ete pris pour une partie du Polypier lui-meme, n’est que la gangue qui s’est moulee dans ces trous, et qui s’est cassee au niveau de la surface du Polypier, lorsque celui-ci a ete detache de la masse qui le renfermait.” t The fossil is however a very curious and interesting one. Its whole aspect and character recall those of the Alcyonium, both in its massiveness, its cylindrical tubules, and their connecting plexus of fibres. I have many analogous fossils from the chalk, into the investigation of which it is my intention to enter when the present subject shall be completed. Ante, vol. xx. p. 182. 40 Mr. Toulinin Smith on the Classification inination of the members of this family. My careful attention has therefore been directed to ascertaining the presence of that structure under every various mask of external form, and I have hitherto invariably found that presence accompanied by certain other characteristics, which would necessarily be present if the affinities which I have already attempted to show are those of the Ventriculidfe be the true ones. Without full confidence in the Law of Unity as a sure guide, I cannot conceive of any pro- gress being made in any scientific investigation. I have not found that guide to fail me yet in the present investigation, and am therefore content to take it as the basis of such exposition as I am now able to give of the genera and species of the family Ventriculid^. Proceeding therefore on this basis, it may be stated generally, that all those fossils which are marked by a membranous struc- ture made up of cubic squares, with equally subtending octahedral fibre at the angles of union of those squares, belong to the family Ventriculid^e, and that all members of that family are marked by that structure. We shall find, it is true, thus associated forms externally most diverse*, and the alleged affinity of which would at first sight startle the inquirer ; which have indeed hitherto had places the most different assigned to them : but I shall be able to show that other and most interesting Unities prevail through all these various forms in addition to that structural one ; and these diversities will thus become only another useful addition to the often repeated but too often neglected lesson, that no guide is more fallacious than likeness or unlikeness of mere external forint- A natural classification,” says Milne-Edwards, is nothing else than a description of the modifications, more or less import- ant, observed in the strueture of animals, and a specification of the differing degrees of likeness or unlikeness which the latter bear to each other J.” Nothing is easier than the multiplication of genera and species. But it is no slight task, though a most important one, to determine what are the material modifications on which distinction of genus should be founded ; what the ma- * On the other hand, I shall take a future opportunity of showing that forms externally bearing much resemblance to the Ventriculidae have in truth a very different structure and affinities. f Parkinson long ago remarked, that ^'if the figure of the fossil be as- sumed as the leading character of the species, substances, differing mate- rially in their structure, will be classed together in the same species ; and, on the other hand, if the species be formed on the external structure, we shall have under the same species substances differing widely in their forms.” Vol. ii. p. 128. It would have been well if Goldfuss and others had paid a little attention to these important truths. J Sur les Crisies, &c., p. 233. of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. 41 terial points of likeness or unlikeness which should mark separate species*. The only principle upon which I can understand any philoso- phical or natural classification to be founded, is the taking some principal and most easily recognizable point in the oeconomy of the living animal, and examining all the individuals under review in reference to that one point. It has been already seen that the Ventriculidse belong to a high type of the Molluscan Polyps, — to the Polyzoa, — approach- ing most nearly to the recent Eschara and Halodactylus. The fossilized remains of animals of this order, the organization of whose recent congeners has been but so lately understood, might seem at first sight to baffle any attempt to seize on such a point. It seems to me hov^ever that such a one may be found. In all recent animals of this order the first essential to their life and well-being is the presence and free access of the sea- water. Va- rious contrivances are adopted to secure this end, — some genera and species being parasitical, some loosely floating, some stiffly erect ; each, varying as they also do in form, adapted to the pe- culiar circumstances of the locality which it inhabits, and each, according to the particular plan adopted, exhibiting some charac- teristic differences in habit and organs. This is precisely consistent with the observations already madef as to the constant relation existing between the polypidom, rightly examined, and the nature of the inhabiting polyps. Such differences no doubt existed in the recent Ventriculidse; and though it is obviously impossible that we should ever be able, in these fossils, to ascertain the points of difference in habits and individual organs, we may, by care and patience, ascertain those differences in the contrivances displayed in the structure of the polypidoms which we must thus be satis- fied were intimately and necessarily connected with such differ- ences in habits and individual organs. I allude to the various modes of folding of the delicate membrane J which forms the framework of every individual of this family, and on whose sur- face the minute and numberless colony of polyps dwelt. I ap- * Were I to follow the example of some botanists, who, for example, in a favourite tribe, the Cactus, have amused themselves with hair-splitting of genera to a marvellous extent, I might readily succeed in perplexing the inquirer with a great multitude of unintelligible names. Between many of the species which I have grouped together, differences far more marked exist than those by which these gentlemen — and too many palaeontologists — have overlaid the intelligibility of their classifications as generic distinc- tions. t vol. XX. p. 177-I79. + A membrane, it will be remembered, which, by its structure, was firm like Eschara (though not calcareous), and not loosely floating like the Halodactylus. This is important in considering the permanence of the different modes of folding adopted. 42 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification prehend that it can need no detail of argument or mathematical demonstration to show, that upon the mode and degree of fold- ing of this membrane, the greater or less freedom of access, change, and circulation of the water, and its consequent power of being acted upon by the numerous ciliated tentacles and move- able processes, must have depended. Every one who is familiar with the difference in mere circulation of air between the narrow street and the open road, between the deep valley and the hill top, will recognise the essential importance in this respect of every difference in that mode and degree of folding ; and, when the extreme minuteness of the individuals is considered, it will appear that variations of fold hardly appreciable to the eye will have probably had a material influence on the condition of the tenants of these wonderful structures. I cannot doubt that every con- stant difference in the mode and degree of folding of the Ventri- culitic membrane was accompanied by some modification in the organs or habits of the animals, adapting them to that particular mode and degree of access, change, and circulation of sea-water which that mode and degree of folding made a matter of absolute necessity*. Taking then the Ventriculidse as a family of the Polyzoa, I shall first endeavour to show that there are certain broad and very marked constant modifications in the mode of folding f cha- racterizing certain extensive groups which yet have many points of constant difference between the individuals which, as groups, are respectively thus characterized. These groups will form distinct genera. I shall show that certain subordinate but yet important modifications mark, in common, several of the indivi- duals of each of these genera, which individuals yet have further still subordinate but constant and therefore characteristic points * Sir J. G. Dalyell, in his recent work on ‘ Remarkable Animals of Scot- land/ especially notices the importance of attention to the varying condition of the water in which specimens are kept as the great secret of their preserva- tion ; and even his care has often failed. A “ low organization ” and slight sensibility have been hastily attributed to Polyzoa from their enduring great changes of heat and cold. There is no animal capable of enduring greater changes in this respect than man. But take another class, and it is well- known that from the same heap of frozen fish one may be dashed to shivers on the ground, while another, put into a pail of water, will, in two minutes, be swimming about. -f The inquirer wdll at once perceive the difference between this and mere external form. The same general external form may mask numberless most different modes of folding. My object is to aid in realizing, by classifica- tion, the living animal in all its integrity and varieties. By the accumu- lated names Scyphia, Cuscinopora, Guettardia,hc., nothing ever was or can be vivified ; no real idea conveyed to the mind. But the object of the natu- ralist should surely be, not an accumulation of mere names, but the realiza- tion of living and true ideas of various absolute modes of actual existence, be they past or present. 43 of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. of difference. The inquirer is thus further relieved from the detail of specific differences by the division of each genus into sections. The still subordinate but constant points of difference last named will be characteristic of species. I have already alluded to the important and valuable test of the soundness of these principles of classification afforded, un- expectedly and after the work was completed, by the stratigra- phical harmony exhibited by the table of classification. It will be sufficiently obvious that the ocean of different ages would have such modifications as would not be adapted equally to all varieties. We accordingly find among the Ventriculidse, as in other divisions of palseontology, a few species enduring through many changes ; others dying out ; while with every fresh sera fresh forms display themselves. It will be understood from this, that mere size does not enter as an element into the determination of genus or species. Of many species I have specimens from an inch to eight or nine inches in diameter. It is not necessary to enter very fully, there- fore, into the question of growth. That question, always a difficult one in palaeontology, is difficult even in recent forms of the families allied to the Ventriculidae. It would be vain to hope to throw much light upon it by fossil forms. Where constant differences are found under all varieties of size, we are bound to consider them as distinct species. I shall touch briefly on the question of growth in introducing each separate genus. It will be also understood that the mere external (outward or inward) general form of the fossil does not enter as an element into the determination of genus or species. I have shown how deceptive that criterion must ever be. In the present instance the same general external form conceals essential differences in the mode and degree of folding of the membrane. It will occur to the reader that to follow the fold of a mem- brane, the trace of which is preserved only in a hard and solid matrix, must be a work of great difficulty ; and especially when that matrix is either so friable as the chalk, or so impracticable as the flint. The actual amount of the difficulty* cannot however be fully appreciated without actual experiment. The presence of that very oxide of iron, without which the forms could not be, in general, * In order that the actual nature, importance, and results of the present investigation should be properly understood, it is necessary to remind the reader that from the time of Dr. Mantell’s first work to his latest, and either by him or the other latest writers (see Portlock’s ‘ Report, &c.' p. 342), it has never been suggested or suspected that any membrane whatever existed in any of the Ventriculidse. They all describe them as composed of ana- stomosing “ cylindrical fibres,” (see ante, vol.xx. p. 76,) between which, on the inside, papillje or tubuli arise. I have demonstrated that the basis of the Ventriculidae is a simple unperforated membrane; that, therefore, the 44 Mr. Toalmin Smith on the Classification even detected, necessarily stains the matrix beyond the structure itself ; and it requires the nicest and most painful discrimination to determine what is due to structure and what to mere iron stain. Feeling however that such a course of investigation could furnish the only true materials of a natural classification, I have endeavoured to overcome these difficulties. And it may save the task both of making and answering many objections if I now state that I have, with this object, dissected with elaborate care numberless specimens, in addition to many hundreds of sections of specimens both in flint and chalk, which, with the like purpose, I have made. There is not one species which I have established which I have not determined from actual and personal section of specimens either in chalk or flint, usually both, and in which, with scarcely an exception, 1 have not followed and traced out the actual fold with the knife and needle. My aim has been to present such a classification and no- menclature as should be intelligible and at the same time ex- pressive; which, whether respect be had to genus, section, or species, should give some accurate and specific idea of the point on which the respective division has been founded; that thus a mere inspection of the table of classification may carry with it some real and true ideas as to the objects included*. The name descriptions so long before the world, and so often repeated, are funda- mentally erroneous, — the conclusions as to the oeconomy of the animal being necessarily, therefore, as fundamentally erroneous. It is upon the same laborious care which has enabled me to demonstrate these facts, that I rely in attempting the descriptions now to be given of the dilferent modes of folding assumed by that membrane, and the superficial appearances of which have misled these observers. * It is usually unadvisable to alter names once applied ; but where the character of an object has been wholly misunderstood, not even its generic or structural character having been known (see the last note), there can be no claim to retain old names. Their retention is then generally mis- chievous as a mere perj)etuation of error. I fully agree with Dr. Farre {ut ante, p. 405, note) that oftentimes confusion and doubt (in nomenclature) can only be dispelled by beginning de novo,” and so appl^nng new names in harmony with a system founded in nature and upon some definite prin- ciple. I think it better to give here all the names which occur in Mr. Morris’s Catalogue whose objects appear to belong to the Ventriculidae, — a list which will, moreover, show the "confusion and doubt” which have hitherto prevailed in the nomenclature of this family. Names in Morris’s Catalogue. Choanites flexuosus Choanites subrotundus Ventriculites alcyonides [OcellariaJ alternans Bennettise In the following classification. Ventriculites latiplicatus. Cephalites constrictus. Ventriculites quincuncialis. Probably V. bicomplicatus. One of the Cephalites annulati, but no accurate description ; and the figures of Michelin and Mantel 1 totally differ. 45 of the Ventriciilidse of the Chalk, applied to the whole family and to the first genus is the only apparent exception to this rule*. The name Ventriculites ^ov\di certainly not have been applied to any of these bodies, or to the family, by myself. It was applied by Dr. Mantell to the few forms found by him, under the idea of the internal cavity being the true digestive surface of a single animal. Though the idea under which the name was thus applied has been shown to he wholly erroneous, I have been unwilling, out of respect to the many labours of Dr. Mantell in the field of palaeontology, to reject, as others have done without assigning any reason, this generic appellation ; and I have justified myself in its retention by the classical use of the same word, though in a secondary sense only, in a very different way, viz. as applied to mere sacci- form cavities f. It will be understood, therefore, that the terms Ventriculidce and Ventriculites bear no reference to any digestive cavity, but simply to the fact of the creatures to which they are applied always assuming forms which display a central cavity more or less simple. I am glad that this modification in the meaning of the word enables me to retain a name which will always bring to the inquirer^s recollection the long and successful labours of Dr. Mantell. It is impossible to examine an extensive series of remains ex- hibiting the characteristic structure of the Ventriculidse, without perceiving that, however widely in other respects the individuals differ from one another in the mode of fold of their membrane, they all range themselves within one or the other of three strongly marked and constant modifications, quite independent of mere size. The first in natural order, as having most of that simple form which is implied in the name Ventriculidm as above ex- Names in Morris's Catalogue. V entriculites infundibuliformis quadrangularis quadratus radiatus Ocellaria inclusa nuda Spongites Townsendi labyrinthica Scyphia Fittoni * The termination ites ” is not in itself very classical, but has been so generally employed as to be a convenient and intelligible distinctive mark of fossil generic appellation. Hence I retain it in '' Ventriculites,” and am therefore obliged so to terminate the other generic names. I am glad to be able to retain, consistently. Dr. MantelFs specific name radiatus, f Thus Cicero : £x ea [anima] pars concipitur cordis parte quadam, quam ventriculum cordis appellant, cui similis alter adjunctus est in quern sanguis a jecore per venam illam cavam influit.” — De Nat. Deor, ii. § 55. In the following classification. Ventriculites cavatus or bicompli- catus. Brachiolites angularis. ? not a Ventriculid. Ventriculites radiatus. quincunciaiis. Ibid. Ventriculites simplex. Brachiolites convolutus. Fragment of Brachiolites digitatus. 46 Jilr. Toiilmin Smith on the Classification plained^ are a large number whose general form is that of a more or less open or close sac, the wall of which rounds or thins off to a marginal edge. All of this kind are single, and supported on a single root, unless in those few abnormal cases before men- tioned*, and which afford no exception to the principle either of the structure or classification. Where, as very rarely occurs, two are united, it is at the roots that they are united. They are not branches of one body. All these forms I distinguish by the name of Ventriculites. Next to these are naturally placed another group, all the mem- bers of which are much rarer than the last, most of them of great rarity, but yet exhibiting a diversity of forms as great, well- marked and constant as the different individuals of the genus Ventriculites. All however are marked by the very striking peculiarity of the wall of the pouch not thinning or rounding- off to a marginal edge, but being crowned by a broad and distinct head, prominent and well-defined, and totally differing in aspect, structure, and function from the rest of the body. This charac- teristic suggests, as peculiarly appropriate, the generic appellation of Cephalites. The two genera thus distinguished each exhibit, though with striking modifications, more or less of the simple pouch form in their internal cavity, or of obvious singleness in the general shape which the fold of the wall of their cavities, or their apolypous head, assumes ; but a large group remains to which neither cha- racter applies, and all the members of which stand out conspi- cuously as folded in many lobes and in many broadly separated parts. The word brachiurn being often used by the best authors in the sense of projection simply, I use the diminutive of that word to distinguish all of this group by the name of Brachiolites. But, again, the individuals comprised within the description of the genus Ventriculites are found to exhibit two broad modi- fications in the general aspect of the membrane composing the wall of the pouch. The two sides of the wall correspond in the one group, both surfaces being either smooth, or, if marked with folds, the depression of one side having a corresponding eleva- tion on the other ; in the other this correspondence is absent, owing to some change in the direction of the fold before reaching the opposite surface, as already alluded tof. It will materially assist the memory and researches of the inquirer if we accord- ingly divide the genus Ventriculites into two sections, which I distinguish by the names Shnplices for those species having cor- responding surfaces, Complicati for those which change the direc- tion of their fold between the two surfaces. * Ante, vol. xx. p. 90. t Ante, vol. xx. p. 88. 47 of the Ventriculidje of the Chalk. So the individuals comprised within the description of the genus Cephalites exhibit two broadly-marked modifications ; the head of the one group being only of the same breadth as the thick- ness of the wall^ and being placed exactly at the top of that wall, and nearly at right angles, at every point, to the outer and inner surfaces of that wall ; the head of the other group being much broader than the thickness of any part of the wall, and never lying fiat at the top, but extending more or less down over the sides of the wall. These marked differences are accompanied by important difi'erences in the mode of fold of the membrane. I distinguish therefore the genus Cephalites into the two sections Annulatiy being those in which the head extends as a mere broad ring round the flat top of the wall, and Dilatati, being those in which it is spread out so much more extensively. And so also the members of the genus Brachiolites are at once separated into two groups, by the remarkable circumstance that some of them have the extremities of those projecting lobes into which they are divided open, others closed. The latter I distin- guish as the sectional division Operti, the former as Aperti. I shall hereafter point out the minor modifications accompa- nying these more striking ones, and endeavour to show the final purposes of the respective modifications themselves. It will of course be well understood that, as in every class of fossil forms the exact determination of the species of individual specimens is often difficult, frequently impossible, such must sometimes be the case with respect to theVentriculidse. The con- ditions under which they are found render them peculiarly liable to this difficulty ; and the inexperienced observer who has not yet learned to distinguish that which is a mere cast'^' from a speci- men in which some of the actual body is preserved, — a task of no slight difficulty, and only to be successfully undertaken after acquiring a full knowledge of structure, — will often find himself baffled in the attempt at specific identification. Hence the importance of attention to those sectional and generic characters already noticed, and which he will rarely be unable to distinguish. These broad modifications, and the respective relations thereto * Michelin’s Ocellaria 5^raw^^^pora,pl.40.3a&35,is amerecos/ofexternal and internal surfaces. The imperfection and indefiniteuess of almost all the figures yet published have been already noticed (ante, vol. xx. p. 78-80). It would therefore be a useless attempt to endeavour to identify them. Ob- jects of this class require to be well understood before they can be truth- fully represented by figures. The figures of Dr. Mantell are no exception to this remark, as they only give the broad external characters of one species (which they however do) without any indication of the mode of fold of the membrane which gives rise to those characters, and the very existence of which membrane Dr. Mantell denies. 4S Mr. Toiilmin Smith on, the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. of the minor modifications, will be the better understood from the following table of classification, in which I have arranged the species belonging to each genus in such relative position as should best display the transition from one general character of folding to another, and thus gradually realize the true relations existing between the very different forms which lie at the two extremes. Class MOLLUSCA TUNICATA*. Ventriculites, Mant. § a. SiMPLICES. 1. simplex. 2. impressus. 3. quincuncialis. 4. muiicatus. 5. tessellatus. 6. cavatus. 7. striatus. § h. CoMPLICATI. 1. mammillaris. 2. latiplicatus. 3 decurreiis. Far. tenuiplicatus. 4. radiatus, Mantell. 5. bicomplicatiis. Order Polyzoa P’amily Ventriculidse. Cephalites. § a. Annulati. 1. longitudinalis. 2. guttatus. 3. paradoxus. 4. alternans. 5. biillatus. 6. retrusus. 7. cateiiifer. Far. annulatus. 8. compressus. § h. Dilatati. 1. capitatus. 2. campanulatus. 3. constrictus, 4. perforatus. Brachiolites. § a. Operti. 1. tuberosus. 2. elegaiis. 3. convolutus. 4. angularis. § b. Aperti. 1. foliaceus. 2. racemosus. 3. digitatus. 4. tubulatus. b. fenestratus. 6. labrosus. 7. protensus. * It is quite be^mnd my present purpose to discuss the exact position of the Polyzoa. The main truth of Professor E. Forbes’s opinion is however so generally recognized, that I am justified in the above designation of class, which must always be felt to be an important element in giving vitality to a classification. Professor Forbes says, ‘'The anatomical structure of the Ascidioida or Bryozoa removes them altogether from the class of Zoophyta into that ofMollusca, where they should form an order of Mollusca tunicata parallel with the group of compound Tunicata of which Botryllus and such forms are examples.” — Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. xiv. p. 390. See Owen’s Lect. on Corap. Anat. I. pp. 100 and 269, 270 ; Van Beneden, Re- cherches sur les Bryozaires, p. 37 ; Johnston’s British Zoophytes, p. 2. (See also Thompson and Farre.) The actual and important distinctions are noticed by the last writer, p. 256 ; and the vast superiority in vital activity of the Polyzoa to the Ascidians, is well pointed out by Sir J. G. Dalyell (ut ante) pp. 229, 230. I have heretofore used the general terra “ zoophytes ” in conformity, as already intimated (vol. xx. p. 190), to what is at present the ordinary language of authors, and a departure from which would, therefore, have caused ambiguity and unnecessary confusion. T Thompson', Bryozoa, Ehrcnherg-, Ciliobrachiata, Farre. [To be continued.] Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany, 49 V. — Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 1. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. Recent researches into the origin and development of the Vegetable Embryo. This ‘‘ vexed question/^ on which botanists in general have of late years been unable to form a satisfactory opinion, so contra- dictory and well-balanced has been the evidence for the various hypotheses, appears now somewhat nearer to a decisive settlement, since within the last year we have had no less than four elaborate and comprehensive essays presented to us, detailing the whole series of changes which the ovule passes through, from the open- ing of the bud to the ripening of the seed. When the names of Amici and Von Mohl appear as the authors of two of these papers, it will be understood how important these new investigations are ; and the fact of the agreement of all four inter se, excepting in some trivial points, and the possibility of reconciling their results with the appearances which have presented themselves to authors holding ditferent views, will probably cause them to be regarded as tolerably conclusive. The great result at which all these recent writers have arrived is, that Schleiden^s statement, that the end of the pollen-tube becomes the embryo, is incorrect, and that the old opinion, which regarded the pollen as the source of a fertilizing matter necessary to stimulate the embryo-sac to the development of the germ of the future plant, is true ; the pollen- tube being consequently merely the agent for the conveyance of the fertilizing matter through the style and the foramina of the ovule, having its progress arrested upon the outside of the w^all of the embryo-sac, through which and the membrane of the pollen-tube itself the fecundating fluid is supposed to be im- bibed. The few remarks which it may be necessary for the reporter to make on the relations of these investigations to preceding ob- servations, will be most conveniently reserved till after a general account of them has been laid before the reader. The first paper we meet with is one read by Prof. Amici before the Italian Congress at Genoa in 1846. Our knowledge of it is derived from German and French translations*. In the first instance the author refers to some observations previously made public upon Cucurbita Pepo^ in which he showed that the pollen-tube penetrates into the neck or summit of the nucleus to a certain depth; but never into the embryonal vesicle t; * On the Fertilization of Orchidacece, by Prof. J. B. Amici, Giornale Bo- tanico italiano, di Filippo Parlatore. (Transl. Ann. des Sc. Nat. 3 ser. vii. 193, April 1847 ; and by Von Mold, Bot. Zeitung, May 21 & 28, 1847.) f By embryonal vesicle Prof. Amici signifies the embryo-sac, and this must Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 4 50 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany: wliicli pre-exists and is visible in the nueleus before the intro- duction of the pollen-tubes into the ovules. Probably the im- pregnation is effected by the passage of the fertilizing fluid through the membrane of the embryonal vesicle,, this fluid being conducted to or deposited in the vicinity, or even on the surface of the latter. It is certain that the vesicle only acquires the power of development after the pollen-tubes have penetrated the coats of the ovule, and poured out the fluid which they con- tain upon it ; it dies without having shown any signs of growth when it is not moistened by the fertilizing fluid. The subsequent development of the embryonal vesicle shows itself first towards the base ; that is, at the point opposite to where the pollen-tube acts. All trace of this tube has disappeared by the time the enlarged embryonal vesicle begins to multiply its cells ; these become enlarged, particularly toward the base of the nucleus, finally reaching its walls, thus entirely filling its cavity, and even causing its rupture. The form which the embryonal vesicle ulteriorly assumes in the course of development is that of a constricted sac (the embryo-sac), within which, at the summit, many days after the epoch of fertilization, a greenish body makes its appearance, which is the true embryo of the new plant. Prom these facts, which are constant, it follows that the pollen- tube is not transformed into the embryonal vesicle*, because the latter exists already in the unfecundated ovule : still less is the pollen-tube developed into the embryo, for the embryo is not produced till long after, when the vesicle, very much enlarged, has become the embryo-sac. Moreover, the embryo is visible long before its diameter is equal to that of a pollen-tube, so that this latter cannot have become converted into it. ^^In reference to CucurbitaPepo therefore,^^ says Amici, “I could be certain that Schleiden^s theory was incorrect, and, microscope in hand, offer direct demonstration. Analogy led me to believe that in other plants, where the action of pollen is necessary to fecundation, the opinion of the German botanist was inadmissible ; and I was the more strengthened in this conclusion, that in my numerous earlier researches in other plants, I had never seen the pollen-tube either lodge itself in the embryonal vesicle when the latter existed before fertilization, or itself become the embryonal vesicle.^^ After stating that although he had not extended his observa- tions to the families Orchidacece and Asclepiadaceccy he was induced not be confounded with the germinal vesicle, which is the first cell of the embryo. — Rep. * There is some confusion in the translations here: in the French this is given vhicule enihryonnaire ; hut Prof. Mohl uses the term Keimhldschen (germinal vesicle), with the synonym vesichetta germinativa. — Rep. Origin and Development of the Vegetable Embryo. 51 to presume, from his knowledge of the researches of MM. Brown and Ad. Brongniart, that there was no essential difference in the mode of fertilization in these families, M. Amici goes on to say that he considered new researches necessary to the confirmation of his conjectures, and this more than ever after the publication of the supplemental note of Mr. Brown, in which the mucous tubes,^^ instead of being regarded as pollen-tubes, were stated to be apparently distinct from them, although engendered or pro- duced by their influence. If this last statement were incontest- able, not only would Schleiden^s theory be totally overturned, but Amici^s idea, that the elongation and penetration of the pollen-tube into the coats of the ovule is a general law, w^ould be devoid of ground. The want of means and leisure had prevented the prosecution of his researches on this subject until the publication of Gaspa- rini’s observations on Cytinus kypocystis revived M.Amicfls desire to determine these points, and he commenced a minute investi- gation of the organs of fructification of the Orchidacece. These have confirmed him in the earlier opinion of Mr. Brown, and he regards the strings of tubes descending into the ovary as really bundles of pollen-tubes. He has moreover been able to deter- mine the precise state of the ovule before the arrival of the pollen- tube ; then, how the latter penetrates the coats and behaves in relation to the embryonal vesicle ; and lastly, observed the imme- diate changes which follow, in the ovule, the introduction of the pollen-tube. All these go to support his former observations, and exclude the idea of the conversion of the extremity of the pollen-tube into the embryo. In the first place is offered the evidence on which he founds the opinion that the six bundles or cords of tubes descending into the ovary are prolonged pollen-tubes. Regarding the description of the appearance and course of these tubes, given by Mr. Brown, as altogether agreeing with the characters of pollen- tubes in other phanerogamous plants, it only remained to determine the identity of the pollen-tubes attached to their granules, and entangled in the thickness of the stigma, with the other tubes of a supposed different origin, and (hypothetically) produced in the immediate vicinity of the former ; this identity was established several times by compressing the stigma between two glass plates, and observing that the tubes were continuous with each other. The slight peculiar characters proposed to be founded on the coagulations, &c. in the mucous tubes,^^ Amici considers valueless for distinguishing them from pollen-tubes ; these coagulations, sometimes interruptions of the continuity of their cavities, being consequent on the gradual withering of the layers of the stigma and style, which interferes with the communication with the parts 4* 52 Mr. A. Ilenfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany: above, and the upper part of the tubes thus remains destitute of granular matter or fertilizing fluid, because the latter is always carried toward their lower extremities. To the objection that the tubes are too numerous to be produced from the pollen-grains, the author opposes the fact of the enormous number of granules contained in the pollen-masses ; for instance, in Orchis Morio the two principal pollen-masses contain each no less than 200 secon- dary masses ; and the latter, which when compressed divide into granules united in fours, individually present more than 300 orifices from which pollen-tubes may be emitted; consequently in all no less than 120,000 tubes may be produced. Again, in Orchis abortiva the moistened point of a needle will take up several thousand of the simple spherical pollen-grains, and in this species the progress of the pollen-tubes along the conducting tissue of the female organ may be easily followed, affording con- viction that the mucous cords are neither more nor less than prolongations of them. With regard to changes of relative position of the parts of the ovule in the ovary occurring before the period of fertilization, the author does not consider it worth while in the present day to stop to discuss them, since it is known that in whatever direction the orifices of the coats of the ovule point, the ovules may be fer- tilized by filaments floating freely in the cavity of the ovar}\ He notices that M. Brongniart found instances of this in Helian- themum niloticum and cegyptiacum, without however recognizing the free filaments to be pollen-tubes ; and he himself has seen similar filaments free in the ovary of Cresta gialla^, which pos- sesses no conducting tissue. The first researches of Professor Amici on the Orchidacece were made on Orchis Morio. At the period when the corolla expands, the ovule is so far developed, that the testa, the tegmen and the nucleus, or the primine, secundine and nucleus, may be distin- guished ; the latter consists of a large central utricle inclosed in a laver of smaller cells; it resembles an acorn, the teguments representing the cupule. Subsequently this cellular layer or membrane which clothes the nucleus opens like a tulip, and the nucleus, consisting of a simple cell, remains wholly uncovered, so that a granular fluid collected toward the apex may be seen in its interior. It might be sup- posed that this exposure of the nucleus indicates the fitting mo- ment for fertilization, but this is yet far distant. When the flower has begun to wither, a new transformation has taken place in the ovule. The testa and tegmen have in- * Cresta giaJIa is translated Cockscomb, with a query, by Prof. Von Mobl. In the Ann. dcs Sc. Nat. it is considered as Rhinanthus crista gaUi. It seems most probable that Celosia cristata is the plant in question. — Rep. Origin and Development of the Vegetable Embryo. 53 creased in size ; the tegmen still projects beyond the testa, but the nucleus is covered by both membranes, and has not percep- tibly enlarged. But the granular fluid formerly collected at its upper extremity has become converted into a cell, which is the embryonal vesicle {vesichetta embryonale), and is filled with a similar fluid. Another epoch succeeds the withering of the flower. The stigma (or stigmata, for there are three) show by their decay that they are dead. The pollen-mass has already acted upon them ; the pollen-tubes, after having traversed their tissue and that of the style, have become prolonged into the evidently enlarged ovary. The ovule has equally undergone a change ; the tegmen no longer projects beyond the testa; it is contained within it. The nucleus retains its relative situation within the tegmen, and the embryonal vesicle, which is always adherent to its upper end, exhibits the granular fluid, previously distributed throughout its cavity, collected toward its base. [Prof. Von Mohl, in his trans- lation, here explains that the author, by the apex of the embry- onal vesicle, signifies the end corresponding to the apex of the nucleus ; and by the base, the end hanging free in the nucleus ; an explanation rendered necessary by the anatropous condition of the ovule.] The ovule is now exactly in the condition to re- ceive the influence of the pollen. The pollen-tube enters by the orifice of the testa, and its progress into the interior of this first coat is as visible as though no membrane intervened ; its passage through the canal of the tegmen is not always so clear, for either from an actual narrowing of the canal, or from an optical illusion resulting from the cylindiical form of the cells of the tegmen which bound it, the diameter of the tube appears to be much diminished. But there can be no doubt of its prolongation when its extremity is clearly seen to pass out from the narrow canal of the tegmen and into the cavity of the nucleus. The question- now is, does it push back the pre-existing embryonal vesicle in order to enter its cavity ? To this Prof. Amici replies, most de- cidedly, no. The pollen- tube merely comes in contact with the- side of the upper part of the embryonal vesicle, and remains ad- herent to it, finally withering and disappearing. The end of the pollen-tube, filled with a greenish and granular fluid, contrasts distinctly wfith the embryonal vesicle, 'which in the upper part, where it is in contact with the tube, is filled with a limpid fluid ; while below, where the pollen-tube never reaches, it contains a white granular fluid. This condition of the circumstances, the author says, is so constant, that he can tell at a glance v^hether an ovule has been fertilized or not. Whenever the embryonal vesicle presented itself with the pollinic appendix just spoken of, he was certain of finding the tube engaged in the coats of the 54 ^Ir. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany: ovule, while he never met with it when the appendix was wanting. After fertilization, the granular white fluid contained in the embryonal vesicle becomes condensed, and appears evidently contained in a new cell, which shortly after subdivides into several others filled with granules ; then these become extremely multi- plied, and thus form the embryo which by degrees comes to occupy the whole of the cavity of the nucleus. At the same time, the other portion of the embryonal vesicle, that which was in contact with the pollen-tube, becomes elongated upward, dividing likewise into cells, but into cells which are transparent and situ- ated one above another, so as to form a large confervoid filament ; this traversing in the opposite direction the course followed by the pollen-tube, enlarges and passes through the orifices of the tegmen and testa, and becomes prolonged even into the interior of the placenta (observed in Orchis mascula). The pollen-tube usually disappears during this period, but occasionally it may still be seen with its extremity in situ, even after the cells of the embryo have been multiplied. It is not rare to find it in this condition in Orchis ahortiva, and the author has once observed it persistent even to the period when the repro- ductive body had filled the whole cavity of the nucleus. Orchis ahortiva is better adapted for these observations than O. Morio, and particularly for observing the introduction of the pollen-tube into the orifice of the tegmen, since in this species the state of the ovule at the epoch of fertilization is such that the testa only covers the lower half of the tegmen and nucleus. O. maculata appeared a less favourable subject than O. Morio, but it afforded proofs that the phsenomena were identical in the two species. The author imagines that O. 'pyramidalis would offer great facilities for these researches, as the ovule appeared to him to be extraordinarily transparent ; he was unable to follow its entire development, having only at hand a single withered specimen. Prof. Amici states directly that he is unable to say what is the real action of the pollen-tube upon the ovule in impregnation. However he considers it probable, although it cannot be demon- strated, that the subtile fluid of the pollen-tube filtrates through the membranes into the interior of the embryonal vesicle, and that the mixture of the fluids of the male and female organs con- stitutes the organizable substance. It is also possible that the generative power resides in the membrane of the embryonal vesicle, and that the imbibition of the liquid brought by the pollen is necessary to set this power in action. Other explana- tions of the pheenomena might be offered, the author says, but it is not his intention to give himself up to speculation, to lose himself in the field of hypotheses. lie adds merely one fact. Origin and Development of the Vegetable Embryo. 55 namely, that in his numerous investigations he has never found more than one pollinic filament within the nucleus, although he has several times met with two embryonal vesicles, and conse- quently two embryos fertilized by a single tube. Prof. Von Mohl* has published an account of his elaborate in- vestigations on this subject made during the spring of 1847, his attention having been newly directed to it by the observations of Amici above-related. They agree almost perfectly with the latter, but considering the interest attaching to the inquiry, it may be as well to give an account of the points not fully described by Prof. Amici, and the slight discrepancies which exist between the accounts given by the two observers. Prof. Von Mohl states that the pollen-tubes are easily distin- guished from the cells of the conducting tissue of the style by their greater length and their much smaller diameter ; that of the pollen-tubes being on an average ^ millimetre, that of the cells of the tissue of the style -g^Qth ; and he states that the “ mucous tubes of Mr. Brown are certainly the pollen-tubes. About the fourth to the sixth day the ovary has become twice or thrice as large as at the time of the expansion of the flower ; the ovule has become greatly inclined, and the coats of the ovule have grown, the inner some distance upward on the nucleus, the outer not so far as the inner. The nucleus has become enlarged up- ward in a clavate form ; the embryo-sac is relatively much in- creased in size, so that the cells which form the outer layer of the nucleus are flattened, and form a comparatively thin invest- ment to the embryo-sac which they inclose. In about seven or eight days the ovule is perfectly anatropous ; the inner coat has become much longer than the nucleus, and the outer coat attained a length about equal to the latter. The nu- cleus possesses essentially the same structure as before. In this last observation there is a disagreement with Amici^s, since he says that the outer layer of the nucleus opens by the separation of its cells, before the coats of the ovule grow over the nucleus. This Von Mohl could not detect; on the contrary, he perceived the outer cells forming an envelope to the embryo-sac up to the tenth or twelfth day. During this time the embryo- sac has become much enlarged, and its former polyhedral form changed into an ovate. Its cavity is no longer, as before, per- fectly filled with protoplasm, but a space filled with watery fluid has formed in the midst, and the protoplasm principally accu- mulated at the two ends of the embryo- sac, particularly at the upper. The coats have by this time become very much larger in proportion to the nucleus ; the inner projects a good way be- * Ueber die Entwicklung des Embryo von Orchis Morio. — Botan. Zeit., July 2, 1847. 56 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : yond its apex ; the border of its mouth is swollen into a kind of roll, and the canal leading from it to the nucleus has begun to diminish in diameter. The outer coat begins to elongate down- ward from the lower end of the ovule in the form of an obtuse hollow spur. The pollen-tubes have by this time reached the lower end of the placenta. About the end of the second week the embryo-sac has wholly displaced the outer cellular layer of the upper and larger half of the nucleus. How this occurs the author could not clearly make out, and he leaves undetermined whether these cells are compressed gradually until their cavities are obliterated, and whether their membrane finally becomes blended with the em- bryo-sac or is absorbed. The outer coat now projects beyond the inner, and the canal of the latter becomes sensibly narrower, the mouth of the outer coat still continuing widely open. The pollen-tubes form a dense interlacement of curling filaments with knot-like swellings upon the placenta; their diameter is from yyj to j-Q millim. The external form of the ovule remains henceforward without much alteration, but a series of changes of the highest import- ance now ensues in the contents of the embryo-sac. The mass of protoplasm collected at the upper end, which hitherto appeared in the form of a simple deposit in the interior of the wall of the upper part of the cell, begins to separate into three masses, rounded below, connected together above. These masses are the first traces of the formation of three contiguous cells ; the nucleoli of each of these cell- nuclei can be distinctly seen before any trace of their membrane is visible. No sharp line of demarcation be- tween the nuclei themselves, or between them and the proto- plasm, can originally be detected; this is either because the nucleus is subsequently formed by a firmer union of a portion of the protoplasm, or its substance differs so little from the sur- rounding protoplasm in optical qualities, that the line of division escapes the eye. The conversion of these masses of protoplasm into ovate cells, which become enlarged downward to reach about the middle of the embryo- sac, takes place rapidly ; the author states that he has reason to assume that this change takes place, as a rule, in twenty-four hours. In proportion as these cells be- come elongated downward, the protoplasm contained within them, enveloping their nuclei and originally occupying their entire cavity, is drawn downward toward the lowxr end ; that is, the end turned away from the apex of the nucleus. This is the epoch when the pollen-tubes, which proceed from the placentas in a very tortuous manner, enter the mouth of the ovule, and now. Prof. Von Mohl says, the more difficult part of the investigation begins. The pollen-tubes arc easily followed Origin and Development of the Vegetalle Embryo. 57 through the canal of the outer coat, but it is very difficult to trace them (as Amici also remarks) through the very narrow canal of the inner coat. The pollen-tubes must not only become di- minished to a third or a fourth of their former diameter, but the refraction of the light in the cylindrical cells of the inner coat greatly interferes with distinct vision of its form. Some assist- ance is obtained by a very slight compression of the object, which is also necessary to expel air- bubbles which remain between the coats and in the canal of the inner coat, when the ovule is viewed in water ; and a microscope of the sharpest defining power is very desirable. A magnifying power of 200 diameters suffices, if its lenses be perfectly corrected. The lower end of the pollen- tube reaches the rounded apex of the embryo-sac, and turns toward the side to run a short distance sideways upon it. This of course can only be seen when a side view is obtained; if the pollen-tube lies above or below the embryo-sac, as the observer looks down upon it, he may easily imagine that it is in the interior of the embryo-sac. The circumstance that the pollen-tube follows the curved surface of the embryo-sac well supports the conclusion that it lies upon the outer side of the latter, and runs between its membrane and the inner coat of the ovule. The lower end of the pollen-tube swells up considerably in a clavate form, and then projects, especially at a somewhat later period, a good way into the embryo-sac, probably on account of the pressure it ex- periences from the coat of tlie ovule. The next phsenomenon is a change in the interior of the lower end of the pollen-tube and its inferior clavate expansion ; they no longer contain, like the upper part of the pollen-tube, a clear fluid in which granules are intermixed, and which has not the most distant resemblance to a tissue on the eve of development, or a protoplasm destined to the production of cells ; they now exhibit a coagulated, gru- mous mass, of a greenish-yellow colour. That this mass results from the transformation of the fluid contained in the pollen-tube is evident, from the fact that in certain cases the contents of that part of the pollen-tube outside the mouth of the ovule acquire a similar peculiarity. This coagulated condition of the contents of the lower end of the pollen-tube caused the author to feel doubt- ful at this stage of his inquiry as to the real point of origin of the embryo, since it seemed possible that this lower end of the pollen- tube was about to become developed into it. One of the three cells lying at the upper end of the embryo- sac now begins to grow ; in rare cases a second follows it in a similar development. The protoplasm of this cell is, as will be remembered, collected at the lower end ; in a short time a trans- verse septum is formed; a second and two more quickly fol- 58 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany: low, so that this cell (the germinal vesicle) is thus changed into an ovate body composed of three or four cells lying one above another. Of these secondary cells the two situated at the two rounded extremities are of greater diameter than those lying in the middle. Each of them contains a nucleus. Contemporaneously with the growth and division of the ger- minal vesicle, the protoplasm collected at the base of the embryo- sac forms itself into an irregular mass of roundish parenchymatous cells, of which some frequently project into the central unoccupied space of the embryo-sac, and even come in contact with the lower end of the germinal body. In the course of the next two or three days the germinal body increases in size so much that it gradually comes to occupy the whole embryo-sac, displacing the cells contained in its lower end ; its diameter is now about ^^th of a millimetre. At the same time a longitudinal septum is formed in the lowest cell of the germinal body, and soon after in the next above it. The lower end of the pollen-tube, the swollen, blind extremity of which is about of a millimetre in diameter, undergoes no change during this time. The lower cells produced by the division of the germinal ve- sicle grow faster than the upper, so that the form of the struc- ture is changed from ovate to clavate, the larger end downward. The cells of the upper end now grow upward and form trans- verse septa, finally passing out through the canals and the mouth of the ovule, as described by Amici, in the shape of a confervoid filament or articulated hair. Originally the end of the pollen- tube lies beside this, so that they cannot be mistaken one for the other. Simultaneously the cells of the lower end multiply and form an enlarged body, the cells of which are filled with a dense mass of granules; this opake cellular nucleus is of course the embryo. The hair-like prolongation of the upper end is distin- guished both by its cylindrical form and the transparency of its cells, which merely contain watery fluid wfith a small quantity of finely granular protoplasm and a cell-nucleus. When the ger- minal vesicle has thus become developed into the embryo and its filamentous appendages, the pollen-tube disappears, apparently by absorption. At the time when the filamentous appendage becomes elongated, a deposit of spiral fibres occurs in the cells of the outer coat of the ovule, and the seed proceeds rapidly toward maturation. Comparing these observations with Amici^s, it will be seen that they only differ in one point of very small importance, which re- fers to the mode in which the embryo-sac displaces the nucleus. Prof. Von Mohl deduces from them the conclusion, that we must Origin and Development of the Vegetable Embryo. 59 consider the pollen-grainy not as the ovule of the plant, but as its fertilizing organ; that Schleiden^ s theory of vegetable impregnation is false. He considers these observations as a complete proof of this proposition^ since he worked with such care and perseverance that he ventures to consider them incontestable. They refer to a single species alone, and this of a family possessing many pecu- liarities, but he believes that every one will agree with him in idea that the process of fecundation is essentially the same in all Phanerogamous plants, that is, in reference to the question whe- ther the pollen-grain or the ovule produces the embryo — what- ever modifications of the minor points may occur in different families. At the end of his memoir the author offers some spe- culations which have arisen out of the foregoing observations. He asks whether the three germinal vesicles which are formed in the upper end of the embryo-sac may not be identical in their nature with R. Brownes corpuscula in the Conifer(2 : the chief difference between them appears to be, that in the Orchidacece the suspensor (the filamentous elongation) consists of a single row of cells and takes a backward course, breaking through the nucleus and growing out into the seed, the embryo remaining in its place ; while in the Coniferce the suspensor is composed of several rows of cells and breaks through the embryonal vesicle below, so that the growing embryo at its lower extremity attains its fuller development outside the embryonal vesicle*. K. Muller f has followed the development of ovules in a num- ber of plants ; he gives a minute account of his observations on Orchis Morio, Monotropa Hypopitys, Begonia cucullata and Ela- tine alsinoides. He fully confirms the statements of Amici and Mohl with regard to 0. Morio, the only point of difference being that he could never see the end of the pollen-tube filled with green matter as above described. Otherwise he traced the pollen- tube through the foramina of the coats and saw it lying on the side of the summit of the embryo-sac. His researches in 0. la- tifolia, paludosa, maculata, militaris, Platanthera bifolia and Ophrys ovata yielded similar results. In all these the embryo was produced from the lower cell of the series produced from the germinal vesicle. In Monotropa the pollen-tube is applied di- rectly to the apex of the embryo-sac, and the embryo is here * It appears to me that this parallel is not well-grounded : have not the corpuscula of the Conifercs rather the import of embryo-sacs, like those of Viscum, than of germinal vesicles ? This is the opinion of Schleiden. — Rep. t Beitrage zur Entwickelungsgeschichte des Pflanzen-embryo, von Karl Miiller. — Botauische Zeitung, Oct, 15, 22 and 29, 1847. 60 Mr. A. Heiifrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : developed out of the middle cells of the series, and thus presents two appendages at a certain stage. Begonia cucullata offered a very favourable opportunity for the investigation, from the great transparency of the cells of the coats. Here Muller states that he is certain that the germinal vesicle is formed by a cytoblast in the cavity of the embryo-sac. In Bla- tine alsinoides the coats of the ovule are so much developed that it becomes necessary to make a section of the ovule to see what goes on in the embryo-sac. In this plant again the fertilization was found to occur precisely as in the preceding species — the pro- gress of the phsenomena is here exceedingly rapid. In Epilobium angustifolium the embryo was found to be developed in the same manner, but the author could not trace the pollen- tube to the embryo-sac, a section of the ovule being necessary here also. W. Hofmeister'!^ has published an account of a series of obser- vations on the impregnation of the (Enotherece, his examples being Godetia quadrivalvum, G. ruhicunda, (Enothera longiflora, (E. SeU lowii and Boisduvallia concinna. His results are in perfect ac- cordance with those already noticed as to the real operation of the pollen-tube upon the embryo-sac ; he finds that the pollen- tube does push it inwards a little distance in some instances where the embryo-sac is very delicate, in other cases it is itself distorted by the resistance of the embryo-sac. The first phaenomenon which presents itself in the embiyo-sac is an accumulation of the protoplasm at the micropyle end of the embryo-sac, and in this we soon find from two to four free cell- nuclei. Hound one of these nuclei (cytoblasts) a cell forms, which is the germinal vesicle ; a second is next produced, which some- times divides into two. From one of these the embryo is deve- loped ; and that this is the case, and that the end of the pollen- tube does not become the embryo, is the more certain, since at the time of fertilization the pollen-tube and embryo-sac are so firm that they may be separated with a needle under the microscope ; the fertilizing matter must therefore pass through three mem- branes, viz. those of the pollen-tube, of the embryo-sac, and of the germinal vesicle itself. In Godetia traces of the pollen-tube were found even in the ripe seed, and during the progress of the development of the em- bryo here the pollen-tube branches as it lies in the canal of the inner coat of the ovule, while the cellular layer around the em- bryo-sac has been absorbed, so that the latter with the contained embryo lies free in the ovule. • Untersuchungen des Vorgangs bei der Befructung der Ginotheren, von W. Hofmeister. — Botanische Zeilung, Nov. 5, 18-17. Origin and Development of the Vegetable Embryo, 61 From the preceding statements we gather the following gene- ral statement of the process of impregnation. At the period of the opening of the flower the embryo-sac ex- ists, and at its upper (micropyle) end one or more cells (germinal vesicles) are produced from cytoblasts. The pollen-tube makes its way down the style into the ovary, and finally through the foramina of the coats of the ovule, and comes in contact with the embryo-sac ; here it either applies itself immediately upon the apex or proceeds a little way further, so as to lie rather on the side of the apex of the embryo-sac. Hereupon (and probably as a result of the imbibition of the fluid of the pollen-tube through the membranes) the cell, or one of them if there are more, lying in the embryo-sac, begins to develope, and in course of time produces the embryo. We may glance at the evidence to be obtained from the accounts given by authors who deduce conclusions difl’erent from the above. Meyen* believed that the phsenomena presented themselves with two modifications ; the first where the embryo-sac evidently exists before impregnation, and the second where, as he believed, this is wanting at that period. The latter modification, where he said that the germinal vesicle is produced by the end of the pollen- tube, cannot be brought into relation with the theory under exa- mination, but the latter presents some points of resemblance. In this case he stated that the pollen-tube comes in contact with the embryo-sac and becomes united with it, and then the ger- minal vesicle makes its appearance in the embryo-sac. But in one instance which he figured, namely in Mesembryanthemum glo- merutum\y he confessed that the absorption of the membranes separating the cavities of the pollen-tube and embryo-sac was an assumption, and the figure in question exactly resembles Miiller^s representation of the phsenomenon, the pollen-tube lying rather to the side of the summit of the embryo-sac. If we could believe that he was mistaken in supposing that an actual union of the embryo-sac and pollen-tube took place (and in such investiga- tions graver errors are easily fallen into), the only point of difter- ence would be with regard to the period when the germinal vesicle is first produced. In reference to Schleiden^s opinions, the view which he first promulgated was that the pollen-tube pushed the summit of the embryo-sac before it and became invested by ih but in the last edition of his ^ Grundziige he admits the possibility in certain cases of the actual entrance of the pollen-tube into the embryo- * Pflanzen-pbysiologie, vol. iii. -t Op. cit. vol. iii. pi. xiii. figs. 46, 47. I Grundz. dps Wiss. Botanik, 2nd edit. ii. 366. G2 Mr. W. Thompson's Additions to the Fauna of Ireland. sac, in the manner which is described by Gelesnow* * * * §; and the figures to his own memoirs do not always show the depression of the summit of the embryo-sac, but exactly resemble the condi- tion which is figured by Muller from Monoiropa and Begonia, where the pollen-tube is applied upon the apex of the euibryo- sac and lies in a line with the embryo. Here his statement, that he has drawn out the pollen-tube from the embryo-sac, with the embryo at its extremity, must be set against Hofmeister^s affir- mation that he has detached the pollen-tube from the apex of the embryo-sac without disturbing the germinal vesicle. Finally, the whole question now appears to be narrowed to the determination of the point, whether the germinal vesicle does actually exist before impregnation, since if that can be proved, all appearances yet observed may be reconciled, by allowing for very slight errors in interpreting and delineating them. Amiei does not express himself very distinctly on this point, but the other three papers which have just been investigated, added to the opinions of Brongniartf and MirbelJ, will probably satisfy many upon this point. P.S. — Since the above was written I have found that L. B. Tulasne § has given a brief resume of some researches into the embryogeny of Veronica hedercefolia, triphyllos and prcecox. Ac- cording to his statements, the pollen-tube here actually perforates the embryo-sac and lies within it ; the end of the pollen-tube be- comes the embryo and at no period can any germinal vesicle be distinguished. These observations therefore go to support the modified views of Schleiden, but until they are more distinctly detailed by their author, their true value can hardly be estimated. VI. — Additions to the Fauna of Ireland \\. By William Thompson, Esq., Pres. Nat. Hist, and Phil. Society of Belfast. Aves. Bridled Guillemot, Uria leucophthalmos, Faber. lacrymans, Yalenc., Gould, Yarrell. A communication from Richard Chute, Esq., of Blennerville, county of Kerry, dated Feb. 26, 1846, informed me of his having once shot this bird at Dingle. * Botanisch. Zeitung, i. 841. t Mem. sur la generation de I’embryon, &c., Paris, 1827. I Ann. des Sc. Nat. 2® ser. xi. 200 and 381. § Comptes Rendus, June 14, 1847. II 'this short communication was intended to be supplementary to two papers on the same subject in the 20th volume, but was too late in being forwarded for that purpose. Mr. W. Thompson’s Additions to the Fauna of Ireland. 63 ' Pisces. Syngnathus ophidion, Linn./’ Yarr.Brit. Pish. v.ii. 447, 2nd edit A specimen taken in the dredge with oysters, at Killinchy, Strang- ford lough, in October last, happened fortunately to be brought with them to Belfast market, where I procured it. Its length is eleven inches ; the characters all as described by Yarrell. After being pre- served in spirits for some weeks its colours are a mixture of very pale bluish and brownish olive, with a fine black interrupted or non- continuous line along the back from the head to the dorsal fin : — whitish spots along the medial line. Mollusca. Idalia aspersa, Aid. & Hanc. Brit. Nudib. Moll, part 1. pi. 26. One of this species, hitherto only known from a single individual procured on the coast of Northumberland by the authors referred to, was dredged in about seven fathoms water off Bray Head (county of Wicklow) last July by Mr. R. Ball. When living it is said to have been somewhat of a dull rosy hue. The specimen is now (probably being contracted in spirits) five lines in length : it was submitted to Mr. Alder’s inspection. Tellina pygmcea, Phil. MS. ; Loven, Index Moll. Scandinavise, p. 42 (1846). Specimens procured on the coast of Cork by Mr. John D. Hum- phreys are — as Mr. S. Hanley informs me — in Mr. Jeffreys’s collec- tion at Swansea. Ascidia tubularis, Mlill. Zool. Dan. iv. p. 12. t. 130. f. 3. One of this species, about twice the size of that represented in the ‘ Zoologia Danica,’ was dredged from pure sand at about six fathoms depth in Ballyhome bay, co. Down, in July 1846 (Mr. Hyndman & W. T.). Professor E. Forbes, to whom the species was previously known, says that it is common in the Hebrides. Ascidia grossularia, Van Beneden, Recher. Ascid. Simples, pi. 4. f. 7. This species, defined as having the “ test come, presque lisse, de couleur rouge,” and being always known by its bright red colour, of which the vitellus also is, was found in abundance on oysters at Brit- lingsee by its describer. What I consider to be the same species is likewise abundant on shells, stones, and occasionally on Laminarice^ dredged from a few fathoms depth on the north-east coast of Ireland. It seems to me identical with what is represented in the ‘ Zoologia Danica,’ vol. i. p. 15. t. 15. f. 3, as the young state of Asc. rustica (previously noticed by me in the ‘ Annals,’ vol. v. p. 94). No allusion however is made by Van Beneden to the A. grossularia resembling any other Ascidia : but I agree with him in considering it a perfectly 64 Mr. W. Thompson's Additions to the Fauna of Ireland. developed species, and consequently am of opinion that w'hat Muller considered its adult state is another species. Amaroucium albicans^ Edw. Ascid. Comp. p. 71. pi. 1, 3 h. Dredged from several fathoms in Belfast bay (1839) and on the Galway coast (1840), W. T. Mr. iVJcCalla mentioned to me last spring that he had collected this species on the Irish coast. Didemnum gelatinosum, Edw. Ascid. Comp. p. 79. pi. 7. f. 5 ? Adherent to Serpula tubularia dredged in Strangford lough, Oct. 1839, &c., W. T. A species apparently of this genus may not uncommonly be found investing the stems of Halidrys siliquosa. It is of a pale gray colour, and may l)e said to give the plant the appearance of being besmeared with bird-lime. Botryllus violaceus, Edw. Ascid. Comp. p. 89. pi. 6. f. 4. On Fuci, Belfast bay, W. T. Botryllus smaraydus, Edw. Ascid. Comp. p. 91. pi. 6. f . 6 ? A species taken at Holywood, Belfast bay, by Dr. J. L. Drummond, in the summer of 1846, of which he made a drawing and noted the colour, seems to be the B. smaraydus. The notes are not in sufficient detail to ensure certainty. The last four have not, that I am aware, been made known as British species : — the genus Didemnum indeed seems unnoticed. Dr. Scouler has met with it on the Irish coast. Crustacea. Crangon fasciatusy Risso, Hist. Nat. de FEur. Merid. v. 64 ; Edw. Hist. Crust, iii. 342. Among Crustacea lately submitted to my examination by Mr. R. Ball are two individuals of this species, which were taken by him at Bray in July last. They are nearl)'- one inch in length, and exhibit masses of mature ova. The species is admirably characterized in Milne-Edwards’ description above referred to. Its short thick form at once arrested my attention as distinct from that of C. vulgaris : — the colour designated by the trivial name fasciatus does not so distin- guish it. One specimen exhibits a blackish band on the fourth seg- ment of the abdomen and the other none ; and the greater number of specimens of C. vulgaris from various parts of the Irish coast examined in reference to this character have more or less of a blackish band on this segment. It is slightly shown too in Sowerby’s figure on Leach’s Malacost. Podophth. Brit. This species has not been noticed as British, but has I believe been lately obtained by Professor Bell. Mr. W. Thompson's Additions to the Fauna of Ireland, 65 Praniza carulata, Mont, (sp.) ? A letter from A. H. Hallday, Esq., dated October 9, 1847, con- veyed the following information ; — “ I found a species of Praniza pretty common on the clayey shores of Strangford lough last week, in company with Anceiis maxillaris. They were in small cavities on the surface of the clay under stones, sometimes singly, oftener two, or even three and four in each hole ; the smaller slender green ones were few in comparison. You will find some of the new-born young with them, having all the characteristic form of the parent, but the posterior thoracic segments not so completely confounded together. I have given but a hasty look at them, but have not recognized ^ among the adults.’' Along with the Crustacea since received from Mr. Ball were sent specimens of a Praniza, purchased of Mr. McCalla as collected on the Irish coast, but no locality is given. They were obtained pre- vious to those first noticed. Bopyrus hippolyteSy Kroyer, Gronl. Amfip. p. 78. pi. 4. f. 22. Two females of this species were found within the carapace of the Hippolyte varians, Leach, which 1 obtained on the coast of Galw'ay in July 1840. M. Kroyer found it on the Hippolyte polaris. Sida crystallina, Miill. (sp.) Edw. Crust, iii. 385. Daphnia crystallina, Miill. Entomost. Professor Allman lately sent me sketches of a Daphnia obtained by him during autumn in a little subalpine lake near Killarney, where it w'as in profusion adhering to the under sides of the leaves of the water-lily {Nymphcea alha). On the sketches being transmitted to Dr. Baird of the British Museum, he at once recognized in them the D. crystallina, Miill. (^Sida, Straus), adding that he had met with the species but in two localities — near London — and in both spa- ringly. ZOOPHYTA. Hippothoa sica, Couch, Cornish Fauna, part 3. p. 102. pi. 19. f. 8; Johnst. Brit. Zooph. p. 292, 2nd edit., I find within a very large dead Pinna dredged at the entrance of Belfast bay. Mr. Couch’s description, but not his figure, is applica- ble to my specimen. The striking characters may be noticed. The length of the cells is as described, “ about four times their transverse diameter,” and the apertures “ are long and tubular, frequently as long as the cell.” But whether this remarkable form may not be due to the security and freedom from injury enjoyed by the zoophyte within the closed valves of the Pinna, I shall not, from the exami- nation of a single specimen, pretend to determine. Mr. Couch’s specimens were however procured “ on stones, from deep w^ater, com- mon.” But for this character (which probably may not be perma- nent) I should not enumerate my Hippothoa as distinct from H. di- varicata, which too is described by Dr. Johnston as sometimes having the apertures “ shortly tubular.” Ann, ^ May, N, Hist, Ser. 2. Vol, i. 5 66 M. Mulsant^s Description of a new species of Coccinea. VII. — Description of a new species of Coccinella from New Zea- land. By M. Mulsant of Lyon, author of the ^Histoire Naturelle des Coleopteres de France.^ Communicated by Adam AVhite, F.L.S. Coccinella antipodum, Mulsant. Cocc. ovata, glabra, thorace luteo lineis duabus obliquis nigris, antice abbreviatis. Elytris virescenti- griseis, macula ob triangular! juxta scutellum, linea longitudinal! antice et postice valde abbreviata, margineque insequaliter, luteis ; pectore rufo ; abdomine nigro ; pedibus luteis. Body oval. Head, antennse and palpi of an orange-yellow; eyes black; prothorax anteriorly with a bisinuate notch, the central portion projecting at least as far as the angles when the insect is seen perpendicularly from above, the anterior angles projecting in the form of a tooth, subcurvilinearly dilated on the sides ; from the apex to the base subrotundate on the posterior angles, with the convexity towards the elytra, with narrow raised margins on the sides ; moderately convex, smooth, punctate, of an orange-yellow, with two longitudinal oblique black lines di- verging posteriorly, each connected with the outer third of the base, and extending somewhat irregularly to about the anterior fourth, corresponding by their outer side to the inner side of the eyes. Scutellum triangular, yellow. Elytra one-fourth broader anteriorly than the prothorax at its hinder portion, three times as long or somewhat more, subrotundate at the shoulders, form- ing an oval truncated in front, but an acute ogiv posteriorly, with a narrow margin and faint groove near the shoulders ; moderately convex, more distinctly punctated than the prothorax; the hu- meral sides prominent, of a grayish green, somewhat obscure, and ornamented with — 1 . a subtriangular spot near the scutellum ; 2. an irregular band, taking its rise from the centre of the base, broadest in the first half of the sides, where it occupies about a sixth of the breadth ; and 3. with a longitudinal line, becoming broader posteriorly where it is truncated, and situated near the centre ; yellow. Under side of body fawn-coloured on the breast, with the venter black; epimera and postpectus of a yellowish white ; mesosternum entire ; abdominal plates in the form of a V, extending to the hinder margin of the ring : legs of an orange- . New Zealand. The above detailed description is made from a specimen of Coccinella sent to Dr. Joseph Hooker, B.N., by the Bev. William Colenso, subsequently to the publication of tlic insects of New Zealand in the Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.SS. Erebus and Terror.^ Dr. Hooker kindly put into my hands a bottle of in- yellow. Hah 67 Bibliographical Notices. sects from New Zealand, which contained this and some other unrecorded species. I hasten to publish it, as the Coccinella Tasmanii of the above Fauna is only a variety of the Australian C. leonina, Fabr. M. Mulsant gave me this description for the second and forth- coming part of the ^ Fauna of New Zealand,^ but I prefer publish- ing it at once. The name he had provisionally given it having been used by Klug for a Mexican species of the family, I have given it another name. I may mention, that since the publication of the Fauna alluded to, I have ascertained the following to be the correct synonyms of one of the Longicorn Beetles mentioned there : — uEmona villosa. Saperda villosa, Fabr. Saperda hirta, Fabr. (olim). jBmona humilis, Newman, Entomologist, p. 8. Isodera villosa, M^hite, /. c. t. 4. f. 1. We have only received within the last week a small box of in- sects at the Museum from Dr. Andrew Sinclair, R.N., the Colo- nial Secretary, perhaps the most interesting feature of which is a rather small species of Mantis. — A. W. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. The History of Barbados. By Sir Robert H. Schomburgk, Ph.D. &c. Royal 8vo, 772. London, 1848. This new proof of the indefatigable activity of its well-known au- thor consists of a portly volume, containing a geographical and sta- tistical description of the island, with a sketch of its history, and, what brings it more particularly within our province, an account of the geology and natural productions. This third division forms a very important feature of the book, and is much more perfect than such portions of topographical works usually are ; in addition to the very interesting geological details and special natural history, we find copious lists of the organic forms, vegetable and animal, inhabiting the island, which are chiefly the fruits of the author’s personal re- searches. These lists are prefaced by brief introductory notices which will add much to their interest in the eyes of general readers, and the author states that want of space alone prevented his adding a popular account of the plants with their uses and properties ; he still looks forward to the composition of a Flora of Barbados. In describing the general outline and aspect of the island. Sir Robert compares it in size and in some measure in outline to the Isle of Wight. “ It is almost encircled by coral reefs, which in some parts, as in the parish of St. Philip, extend for nearly three miles to seaward, and prove very dangerous to the navigation. The shore 5* 68 Bihliographical Notices. rises boldly to a height of from thirty to fifty feet on the northern point and on the south-eastern part of the parish of St. Philip, but otherwise we find long lines of sandy beaches, which are protected against the encroachments of the sea by coral reefs.” Although possessing no very elevated points, the surface is exceed- ingly irregular; the highest point is Mount Hillaby, 1147'55 feet. ■ ‘ If we choose this point as our station, we observe clearly two struc- tures well-defined and geologically different from each other. A narrow strip runs parallel, to the west, with the coast from north to south. We may easily trace it from Bridgetown to almost the ex- treme end of the island, where, in the neighbourhood of Harrison’s, a bold bluff point ends it, from whence the coast assumes the rugged outlines which cliffs of soft material generally present where en- croached upon by the battering power of the breakers of a stormy sea. From the west or leeward coast, the ground rises in very distinct successive terraces to the central ridge. These terraces are inter- rupted by ravines (called gullies in the island). If we turn now to the east, an aspect of a quite different nature presents itself ; we see before us a mountainous country in miniature ; hills of a conical form radiate from the central ridge, and chiefly from Mount Hillaby in a north-eastern direction towards the sea-shore ; their sides are rugged and worn by the heavy rains and mountain torrents, their colour being generally of a dark reddish-brown, here and there tipped with whitish marl. This district has been represented as similar to the alpine country of Scotland, which name has been adopted for it.” Mount Hillaby is not exactly in the centre of the island, but rather in the middle of the northern and larger portion of the island, divided from the southern by adeep valley running from east to west; “the southern division is an imitation of the northern on a smaller scale, only that the line of its greatest length stretches from east to west, while in the northern division it extends north and south.” The western aspect of Barbados presents a succession of terraces of table-land rising preci- pitously from one another ; the south aspect is similar, but the total elevation is not so great. The north offers a considerable extent of champaign country with Mount Gilboa and Boscobelle rising suddenly from it : seen from the east the island is wild and picturesque, the cliffs rising almost abruptly from the sea to a height of nearly a thousand feet. The Caribbee Islands form two geological groups ; the one, calca- reous, is external and exposed to the direct action of the Atlantic ; while the other, volcanic, includes the inner islands. Barbados is the most eastern of the calcareous chain, and its aspect indicates at once its origin from the coral animals. Our author divides the now existing rocks of Barbados into two formations, viz. the Coralline limestone and what, from its locality, he terms the “ Scotland ” formation. The coralline limestone in- cludes beds of calcareous marl containing recent shells in large numbers and many species; the “Scotland” consists of strata of sandstone, siliceous and calcareous, siliceous limestone, clays, selenite, earthy marls often containing fragments of pumice, strata of volcanic 69 Bibliographical Notices. ashes, seams of bitumen and springs of petroleum (Barbados tar). The coralline limestone occupies six-sevenths of the whole area of the island, and the author considers that the terraces it presents are owing to gradual elevation with intervening periods of rest and sub- sequent denudation, and gives a detailed account of the present con- dition and probable progress of the changes it has undergone. Casts of the shells of Turbo, Lucina and Petricola occur at the highest elevations of the coral rock ; the shells found eight hundred or a thousand feet lower still retain their lustre, but though resembling those of the adjacent seas, are usually much larger than the recent. The “Scotland” formation presents a very different appearance and structure from the coral ; the district in which it occurs is en- circled by a semicircular range of heights from which long ridges of hills project, converging towards each other and diminishing in height as they approach the sea. The various modifications of tertiary rocks of this district manifest an original uniformity, but present great signs of disturbance, and the stratification varies from horizontal to ver- tical, or is wavy or even contorted ; thus it is often difficult to ascer- tain the dip ; the direction is generally south-west and north-east. The earthy marl constitutes by far the greater part of this series, and it sometimes occurs stratified. It abounds in Polycystina : in the marl from Mount Hillaby Ehrenberg found 54 species, belonging to 22 genera ; another specimen gave 113 species of Polycystina with 5 of Polygastrica, 1 Geolithia and 2 Phytolitharia. 'I'o the south the marl is succeeded by sandstones. The bituminous sandstones are intermixed with the more calcareous varieties. As to the age of these rocks, our author says, “ the Scalaria which I found on the summit of Bissex Hill and the JVwcM/aof Springfield, induced Prof. E. Forbes to consider the Scotland rocks as belonging to the miocene period of the tertiary strata. The mineralogical character of rocks is considered at present of little importance when conclusions respecting their age are to be formed. Still my observations on the spot, combined with the mineralogical character of the rocks, lead me to coincide in Prof. Forbes’s opinion. The chalks of Caltanisetta, on which Prof. Ehrenberg rests his opinion that the Scotland formation in Barbados belongs to an older period than the miocene group, have been con- sidered by different geologists as belonging to different periods ; by some they have been regarded as secondary, by others as tertiary rocks.” The whole Scotland district is apparently an old sea-bottom, and the author attributes its present disturbed condition to volcanic agency acting from given points and thus giving rise to local de- rangements. The presence of pumice and strata of volcanic ashes render this less doubtful, Isolated rocks of the coral formation are found lying on the summits and declivities of hills in the Scotland district ; these Sir Robert is inclined to regard as fragments detached from the cliffs Mffiich now border the district (and which, with the exception of Mount Hillaby, all exceed in height the “Scotland” hills), before the upheaval of the sea-bottom. A description of the fossils follows this chapter, containing an 70 Bibliographical Notices. illustrated account of the Polycystina,also a new Scalaria, Ehrenhergi, and two Nuculce, Parkeri and Schomhurgki, described by Prof. E. Forbes. The botanical portion, prefaced by a few general introductory re- marks, contains a list of the Barbados plants ; to the scientific names are added the vernacular names by which they are known in this island, and frequently the French or other foreign names used in the adjacent colonies. It contains all the species indigenous, natural- ized or cultivated, the two latter being distinguished by the addition of the name of their native country. Next follow alphabetical arrange- ments of the vernacular names, one English and another foreign, which referring by numbers to the scientific lists will be useful to local botanical students, and are not without importance to us at a distance. A single new species, a lichen, Endocarpon jlavidum, Taylor, is described. In the zoology the different classes are treated seriatim ; after an account of the zoophytes, we come, under the head of Insecta, to some interesting details concerning the Sugar Ant (^Formica omnivora, L., Myrmica omnivora, Latr.), whose ravages have often so fearfully interfered with human industry. They showed themselves first in 1760 in Barbados, and our author states, on the authority of Dr. Coke, that “ it was deliberated whether that island, formerly so flourishing, should not be deserted ” on account of the dreadful devastation they caused. It appears that these ants do not actually feed on any part of the sugar-canes or the leaves of trees, but make their nests under the roots, which protect them from heavy rains, and, being firmly fixed in the ground, place them in se- curity against the agitation of the usual winds. The stool of the sugar-canes is firmly attached to the earth, and almost impenetrable to rain ; the trees of the orange tribe afford similar advantages to the insects, while the coffee, cacao, plantains, &c. are not molested. The ants apparently live entirely on animal food, and not only attack dead substanees, but living bodies ; thus small animals and poultry perish when not assisted, and it beeomes necessary to guard the eyes of cattle by a circle of tar, to prevent them from being blinded. The destruction of these creatures was attempted with poison and fire during the “plague” following 1760, but all attempts proved inef- feetual till the hurricane of 1780, before the violence of which the Sugar Ant disappeared. In 1814 they again made their appearance and caused considerable injury, but soon disappeared. They are still to be found in Barbados, but only in small numbers. The Great- headed Ant or Cushi, Formica cephalotes, Fabr., is equally destructive, attacking the leaves of trees and of vegetables, such as the sweet potato, cassada, &c. The White or Wood Ant {Termes devastans, Kollar) is another of the plagues of Barbados. Among the enemies of the sugar-cane are enumerated the Borer or Yellow Blast, the grub of one of the Pyralidee, Diatrcea sacchari, Guilding, which burrows into and feeds upon the interior of the stems ; the Grougrou Worm, the larva of Calandra palmarum, Fabr. (which is eaten by some of the creoles and considered a great delicacy) ; and Calandra sacchari, Guilding, the Large Borer. Since the hurricane of 71 Bibliographical Notices, 1831 an homopterous insect has shown itself, and multiplying rapidly has committed great ravages; this is Delphax saccharivora. West- wood. Two other insects, apparently belonging to the Aphisidse and Coccidsc, have more recently been highly injurious to the sugar-canes, and others of this class equally infest other plants. The cocoa-nuts are so attacked by an Aleyrodes, that when the author quitted Bar- bados there was not a single healthy tree left. The list of Crustacea is compiled by Mr. Adam White. Sir Robert Schomburgk believes that, if thoroughly examined, the islands and seas of the West Indian Archipelago would yield probably four times as many species as are at present known, and states that al- though the marine fauna of these islands is still insufficiently known to enable us to deduce results as to the distribution of the Crustacea, it is Mr. White’s opinion that many of the species discovered by Jay and his correspondents on the south shores of the United States will eventually be found in the West Indian Archipelago. The number of Mollusca found in the neighbourhood of Barbados is by no means large, and the author having l)een disappointed of a list, gives a catalogue of those found both in Barbados and the West Indies in general. The Fishes, determined by Profs. Muller and Troschel, include a number of new species and one new genus, Caprophonus, Miill. et Trosch., belonging to the family Scomberoidei. The Reptilia are sparingly represented in Barbados : the Iguana tuherculata, the largest of the Saurians, is now very scarce. Only one snake has been found, and the sight of a specimen is a rare occurrence ; it is perfectly harm- less, and from the description given to the author, probably a Tortrix. The number of indigenous birds does not amount to fifteen, and there are about forty species recorded as birds of passage, or only occasionally seen on the island. The absence of woods and umbra- geous trees is doubtless the cause of this paucity. A British bird, the RulF Sandpiper, Philomarchus pugnax, L., is recorded for the first time as occurring on the other side of the Atlantic. It was sent to the author among other migratory birds, but the communicator, Mr. Bishop, observed that its name was not known ; thence it may be in- ferred that its occurrence in Barbados is a rare circumstance. Our space does not admit of more than this hasty glance over the contents of this book, but we hope that it will be sufficient to convince our readers of the interest attaching to it, and induce them to become ac- quainted with the details by a perusal of the work itself, — A. H. Zoological Recreations. By W. J. Broderip, Esq., F.R.S. A pleasant book on a delightful subject with a pleasing title. This work, which we should have noticed before, consists of a series of papers written by one of our most talented lawyers for the pages of the New Monthly Magazine, from which their author, urged by Pro- fessor Owen and other scientific friends, has reprinted them. He has done well in collecting these papers, for he has given us another book belonging to a class far too rare, in which White of Selborne, Knapp, 72 Bibliographical Notices. Waterton, Darwin and Gosse have earned laurels. The chief object of this class of works is to please while they instruct, to enliven as well as to enlighten, to awaken as well as to cherish a love for natural history. Along with Kirby and Spence, and in the same list with Alexander Wilson the American ornithologist, the authors spe- cified above and the writer at the head of this article may he placed. A popular writer is too often deemed by the mere scientific man, not profound, and there may he at times some truth in it ; Mr. Bro- derip however is not superficially acquainted with some of the chapters of the book of nature. He is well knoMm as a scientific conchologist, whose very fine collection of shells, many of them originally described by himself, were acquired by Parliament for the nation and deposited in the British Museum. His writings and compilations in the C)’’- clopsedia of the Useful Knowledge Society have done much to diffuse a taste for natural history, and in the work before us, leaving for a time strict science, he delights us with many pleasing chapters on birds and beasts. There are two excellent chapters on our resident and migratory singing-birds, right pleasant reading at this time of year, from the associations they call up of spring and summer. He discourses pleasantly on owls, a grave subject ; and from chattering, gay- coloured parrots and parrakeets turns to gobbling turkeys or bub- bly jocks, one of which, the ocellated turkey {Meleagris ocellatus), he strongly urges some patriotic individual to introduce to this country. The Earl of Derby has one specimen in his noble aviary and menagerie at Knowsley, but we fear that the bird is a widow, and likely long to continue so : it is strange that his lordship has been hitherto unsuccessful in finding a mate for this bird. From swans, wild and tame, which “ on sweet St. Mary’s Lake,” and on other lakes and streams as well, “ float double, swan and shadow,” our author most undesignedly passes to a chapter of advice to anglers, — a fertile theme, unexhausted and inexhaustible, as witness the writings of Izaak Walton, Sir Humphry Davy — how Walton would have loved the chemist, and the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey, even although he wrote no ‘Salmonia’! — of Mr. Yarrell, of Scrope, of John Wilson (the renowned Christopher North), of Jesse, cum multis aliis — “ Good luck to your fishing there seems to be some free- masonry in the thing itself, and there is certainly something most attractive in the subject. Whether the spring-filled song on the bonny month of May in page 172, immediately after the “ Word to Anglers,” be the buoyant sjiirits that flow from the subject just touched upon, we know not, but the five stanzas come in most opportunely and read most j^lea- santly. We have not got half through the book, and must leave dogs and cats, (surely Mr. Broderip, like Jeremy Bentham, is a bachelor,) apes and monkeys, and the grave, gigantic and graphically described elephants, for another notice ; with three chapters on Dragons, Mr. Miscellaneous. 73 Broderip concludes his volume. How happ)’’ are we that we live in days when these monsters are doomed to lie petrified in oolitic rocks or extended, carved curiously “ by art and man’s device,” out of the solid stone, and gazed at, in and through glass cases, in the National Museum ! The work of Mr. Broderip is very readable, and it would prove instructive to many a scientific man, as well as amuse his leisure hour. We have no doubt that this work will “ cherish,” as well as “ awaken, a love for natural history.” — A.W. An Experimental Inquiry into the Cause of the Ascent and Descent of the Sap, 8^c. By G. Rainey, M.R.C.S.E. Whatever may be the value of these inquiries, it is certain that they have led the author to some conclusions which will appear rather curious to most botanical anatomists. For instance, he endeavours to show that the crude sap ascends in the substance of the cell- walls and intercellular matter without passing through the cavities of the cells or vessels, and his reasons are founded upon the experiment of causing plants to imbibe certain solutions and then decomposing these in sections placed beneath the microscope, when the solid walls alone exhibit the coloured product (!). If we were to strain a solution of bichloride of mercury through a piece of gauze, and then to decom- pose this by hydrosulphate of ammonia and to examine the gauze by a magnifier, it is probable that we should find the substance alone coloured, but we should hardly deduce from this that no bichloride of mercury had passed through the interstices. The author’s way of accounting for the formation of vessels is equally original ; he shows that “ the wall of a vessel is formed by the union of the external thickened wall of the surrounding cells.” The various experiments and details respecting the movement of the sap and the growth of plants offer nothing of value which is not already well known. In these days it is absolutely necessary that students of a science should make themselves clearly acquainted with the results of the labours of their predecessors : had the author of the present little volume done so, he would have saved much valuable time and ap- plication.—A. H. MISCELLANEOUS. Extracts from a Letter to Thomas Bell^ Esq., F.R.S., from George Clark, Esq., of Mauritius. Port Louis, June 5th, 1847. * * * “ I venture to lay before you the following description of some bullocks, brought hither from the island of Lombach, near Java. One cargo only has been imported, and it does not appear likely that any more will be brought. Their characteristics are so novel to me that I determined to describe them to you. 74 Miscellaneous. “ Their heads are lighter and more deer-like than any of the Ox tribe I have before seen, with the eye remarkably full and lively, but still gentle. The callosity on the muzzle is narrower than that of ordinary cattle, and extends farther upwards towards the forehead. The horns are of moderate size and prettily curved, and furrowed longitudinally as well as transversely at the base, giving almost the appearance of the butt of those of the stag. These oxen are of middling size, but have an amazing depth of chest, and considerable width between the fore-legs : very little dew-lap ; no hump ; but the spinous processes on the side of the hump so elongated as to give the idea of a hump having l)een dissected off. Legs remarkably clean and of moderate length, and so formed as to indicate great strength and activity. Buttocks full and square behind. Tail remarkably fine and tapering to a sharp point, with a moderate tuft of hair. An oval mark of a yellowish white colour begins at the root of the tail and descends nearly to the hocks, including both buttocks ; the length of this mark is to its breadth as 5 to 3. The skin extremely fine and soft, with a coat like that of a race-horse. Colour varying, but very few pied and none quite black ; a light bay predominating, in some individuals beautifully marked with small white spots. These cha- racters belong to the whole cargo, about ninety in number, and are not therefore to be considered as individual peculiarities. “ The animals were all very gentle, and their appearance, from the form and lightness of the head and the lively mildness of the eye, was superior in beauty to that of any lot of cattle I ever saw. “ The captain who brought them informs me that the natives would not part with their cows, and every one of these of which I speak was castrated. Having been put in a cold shed after landing, many of them got ill, and some died ; and as we have suffered terri- bly from a murrain which visited our cattle two or three years ago*, these oxen were almost all bought for slaughter, as the planters fancied the disorder which attacked them to be something belonging to the breed. I only know one pair surviving, and they work ad- mirably well, being as active as Devonshire oxen. I send you a pair of the horns, but unluckily forgot to send a skull till it was too late to obtain one. The beef was very fine-grained, but of a darker colour than usual. “ I have lately seen it remarked that cross-bred animals, though possessing some advantages, are generally inferior in stamina to those of unmixed breed, and more liable to disease ; such observations as I have been able to make fully bear out the truth of this position. We have here many Timor ponies, as well as from Java •, and their powers of endurance and exemption from disease are far superior to those of Cape or European horses. The Timor are very light but wiry, seldom reaching 1 3 hands high ; the}'- are spirited and active, rather low before, and are very sure. The Java are larger and stouter, many reaching 13 and some 13^ hands ; these generally carry the head and tail very high, and are safe and fast. The most valued * See Annals, vol. xv. p. 141. Miscellaneous. 75 of all however are the Burmese, or more correctly the Pegu ponies ; these are universally of the cob make, with great carcase, thick necks and short strong legs ; they are very easy for the saddle, generally ambling, and are very safe, fast and enduring : their great power renders them excellent for four-wheeled carriages ; and it is not uncommon to see one of them 13 hands high draw with ease a carriage that would be a good load for an ordinary horse of 1 5 : their chief defect is their impetuosity, which is excessive. This breed is particularly mindful of ill-treatment, and a person that has once misused one will seldom be able to do anything with him afterwards. They are of various colours, but I never saw a black one : the pre- vailing colour is gray, most beautifully dappled. They all have that peculiar fulness at the throat which belongs to the horses in ancient Grecian sculpture. Mares or stallions of this breed cannot be pro- cured at any price whatever. A captain with whom I am intimate, a proj^rietor at Moulmein, assures me of this fact, which I have also heard from many others. No bribe would induce a native to expose himself to the certain torture and death that would follow a violation of this law. “ I am decidedly of opinion that geldings stand work quite as well as entire horses here, and some of those persons most competent to judge concur with me. These Pegu ponies are a striking instance of the fact. “ I do not know if you are aware of the amazing fecundity of the ‘ Tanree*,’ which is very abundant here. They sometimes produce as many as twenty-two young at a birth ; and from twelve to eighteen is their usual number. Their appearance is much like that of the hedgehog, and like those animals they hybernate in the dry season. As far as I can learn they are altogether insectivorous. They are far from being of so pacific a nature as the hedgehog, for they bite hard and hold on with great tenacity. The female when followed by her young will turn and face a pursuer with angry gruntings till her little ones are in safety. They are a favourite dish with the lower orders here, and are generally split down the back, after being singed like pigs, and are then smoked. They are usually fat, but the only one I ever tasted had a rank flavour that was by no means agreeable. They are not indigenous here, having been introduced from Mada- gascar ; but they are very numerous, notwithstanding their being de- stroyed in immense numbers for food.” HABITS OF INSECTS. Philosophical Hall, Leeds, Dec. 15, 1847. Dear Sir, — I know not whether the two accompanying scraps will be worth a line in the ‘ Annals of Natural History.’ The first is a case affording an illustration of the powers which the Arachnida possess of sustaining life when deprived of food. * This must he the Centetes setosiis, which appears to be the only species introduced into Mauritius. — T. B. 76 Miscellaneous. In July last I had a large specimen of Ixodes brought me, taken from off a West Indian tortoise. I put it into a pill-box, and having left home for a few weeks in the autumn, it was completely forgotten. Last month however (November) I happened to open the box, when I found the specimen still alive, though languid and shrivelled in appearance, accompanied by a strange-looking mass larger than it- self, which upon examination proved to be an immense number of orange- coloured eggs, resembling a portion of the roe of a fish, but more minute in structure. This day I found the parent dead, but the eggs I think appear to have increased in size ; whether they are likely to produce any young is still to be seen. At the lowest cal- culation the animal had lived four months without food. My second is an instance either of aflTection or loyalty, I cannot tell which. In one of my colonies of ants, a small black one, the queen (which is as large as six of the workers at least), died a fortnight since from some cause, and lies in one of the passages of the formi- cary. But up to this day there has been constantly several work- ers attending her remains, occasionally touching her with their an- tennae and striking her with their heads (an action common wuth this species of ant on meeting each other, which I have not observed in any other families). A few days since I poured some water into the nest, to see if it would cause the guards to forsake their charge, as water generally causes a dispersion when it suddenly enters their passages ; but in this instance, although it threw them into some confusion, they would not leave the body of their queen. Is this aflfection ? I remain, dear Sir, yours respectfully, Henry Denny. Richard Taylor, Esq. NOTE ON THE INSECTS OF MADEIRA. We make the following e?£tract, by permission of Mr. W. Thom- son of King’s College, from' a private letter addressed to him from Madeira by our correspondent, T. V. Wollaston, Esq., of Jesus Col- lege, Cambridge : — “ The country here is most glorious ; mountains rising 7000 feet towards the moon, and Funchal at the bottom of them, ‘ looking at itself ’ in the sea : the intermediate space filled up with wood and rock, and for the last 1000 feet W'ith vineyards arranged on terraces and the country-houses of the ‘ aristocracy’ of Funchal. The vege- tation is grand to an excess : grapes, oranges, bananas, figs, pump- kins, guavas and prickly pears in actual profusion, wuth geraniums, cacti, fuchsias, myrtles, cassias and heliotropes spread over the coun- try like weeds. The hills are tremendous, involving the necessity of keeping a horse, which is sometimes ‘ too large a specimen to be convenient’ in entomological researches. Insects are themselves scarce here ; so I have been driven to collect all orders alike, and muster 230 species, or 970 specimens ; and as I have been here only six weeks, this will at least show you that entomology is still che- rished, though under adverse circumstances and many local disad- Miscellaneous, 77 vantages. I have been working chiefly at Coleoptera, Diptera and Henaiptera, and find them more abundant than the other orders. At •present (25th Nov. 1847) my numbers stand thus: Coleoptera, 87 species; Diptera, 43 species ; Hemiptera, 39 species; Hyraenoptera, 25 species; Lepidoptera, 20 species; miscellaneous, 16 species.” This is certainly far above any published list of the insects of Ma- deira, and we have no doubt that our talented correspondent, Mr. Wollaston, of Jesus College, Cambridge, when less of an invalid, will add much to it. As it is, it will doubtless prove interesting to the entomologists who read this Journal.— A. W. CURIOUS PHENOMENA IN THE NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS, &C. Higligate, lltli Dec. 1817. My dear Sir, — Two days ago a remarkable circumstance occurred in my greenhouse, which it may be interesting to you to communi- cate. The Night -blooming Cereus, of which I gave you a cutting, has long had a bud. Being a fine strong plant, it has been able to ma- ture it even at this unusual season. It arrived at maturity on Thurs- day. The days however not being of the length usual at its ordi- nary season, it seems to have been somewhat puzzled how to bloom. When I entered my greenhouse at 8 a.m. I found all the petals on owe side expanded [left side]. I thought this remarkable, but conceived that, in this dull weather, a longer effort at opening was necessary than usual. I watched it all day, but was surprised to find no ad- vance. At 8 p.M. I went into my greenhouse for the express pur- pose of examining the bloom, when, to my great surprise, I found that all the petals which had opened in the morning were closed up, while all the petals of the opposite [right] side were then fully ex- panded ! The left petals remained closed. The bud was a full-sized and healthy one. [The seed promises to mature. 27th December.] It is obvious, I take it then, that the law which regulates the opening of these flowers, and which normally causes them to bloom at night only, and for [say] tivelve hours only, affects the individual peiols, and not the totality of the bloom. Hence if, from any accident, as here, any number of petals mistake a dull day for the night, and open, their doom is sealed : they have begun their twelve hours’ race, and can see it — and no more ; and their more knowing com- panions, who keep closed till true night, must flourish alone in their glory,— but do it, independent of the prior blooming and present decay of their companions. I have often noticed that if the Echinocactus Eyriesii (a remark- ably ra])id bloomer) advances to the point of opening near morning, it remains in that exact state all the day, checked by the light, and does not begin to burst till the sun is going down. While on vegetable life I have another curious matter to notice. In the ‘ Annals,’ vol. xix. p. 470, is an article on “ Monstrous Roses.” A far more remarkable circumstance than any noticed there, or than I ever saw noticed, occurred in my own garden in the same year as the monsters there recorded, and in a plant of the same na- 78 Miscellaneous. tural family (Rosacece). A Potentilla, -which had for some years been a favourite plant from its great luxuriance of growth and bloom, jjlayed in that year, without removal or any alteration of treatment, the following strange antics. As usual it grew luxuriantly and was covered with bud, but it did not bear a single true flower through- out the season. Every flower on the plant, without exception, — and none died off, — opened into a tuft of small regular green leaves : it was not a mere whorl of leaves for the petals, but, there being no stamens or pistils, the whole apparatus of the flower was replaced by green leaves of small size in a thick tuft. Sometimes a second would grow, smaller, from the centre of the first flower, but it presented the same aspect. All these leaves were of the same colour and cha- racter as the ordinary leaf of Potentilla. I was much interested in observing this plant, and watched it the next spring, but it died after this unnatural effort. If you think either of the above facts worth recording, you are welcome to them. I am, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours, J. Toulmin Smith. W. Francis, Esq. Descriptions of two new species of Planaria. By Joseph Leidy, M.D. Planaria maculata. Superiorly convex, faintly blackish or brown- ish with irregular colourless maculie ; inferiorly flat, colourless ; an- teriorly trapezoidal ; posteriorly spatulate or oval ; eyes two, anterior, proximate, composed of a large semitransparent mass with a reni- form mass of pigmentum nigrum at the postero-internal part ; oral aperture ventral, one third the length of the body from the posterior extremity ; proboscis large and cylindrical . Length lines ; breadth \ line. Found in moderate abundance in the ditches below the city, creeping upon the submerged stems of aquatic plants. Subgenus. Prostoma, Duges. Mouth anterior and terminal. Prostoma marginatum. Blackish, narrow lanceolate, anteriorly trun- cate ; marginate, margin delicately striate ; mouth large ; proboscis large and oblong ; eyes two, anterior, distant, each consisting of two round masses of pigmentum nigrum in contact with each other, and of which one is larger than the other ; generative orifice one-fourth the length of the body from the posterior extremity. Length 1 line. A single specimen found with the preceding, but probably not rare ; for, from its small size, it escaped my notice while collecting some of the former, and it was not until I got home that I detected its exist- ence in the vessel of water containing the others. The anatomy of P. maculata does not differ from that of Planaria lactea, as given by Dug5s in the ‘ Annales des Sciences Naturelles.’ In Prostoma marginatum tlxe digestive cavity has not the dendritic ar- rangement of Planaria, bat merely consists of a large capacious sac extending as far back as the posterior third of the body, and having a caecum upon each side of the proboscis. The penis has a yellow colour, and consists of a round granular mass, with a moderately long Meteorological Observations. 79 and bent spiculum projecting from its posterior part. The arrange- ment of the female apparatus I failed to trace, — Proceedings of the Acad. Nat. Scien. Philadelphia. PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. We are credibly informed that this distinguislied naturalist has consented to accept an invitation to remain in this country in con- nection with the scientific corps of Harvard College. Every scien- tific man in America will be rejoiced to hear so unexpected a piece of good news. — Silliman's Journal for Nov. 1847. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR NOV. 1847. Chiswick. — November 1. Overcast : very fine : clear. 2 — 4. Foggy. 5. Densely overcast : very fine. 6. Very fine : rain. 7. Cloudy. 8. Fine. 9. Exceedingly fine: clear. 10. Frosty; fine: clear. 11. Fine- cloudy. 12. Rain : fine. 13. Clear and fine : overcast. 14. Overcast: slight rain. 15. Fine. 16. Rain. 17. Fine: clear: sharp frost. 18. Frosty: clear. 19. Frosty: hazy. 20. Dense fog. 21. Foggy: hazy and damp. 22. Overcast : exceedingly fine. 23. Cloudy: rain. 24. Very fine. 25. Cloudy. 26. Constant rain. 27. Foggy : rain. 28. Overcast: rain: barometer very low. 29. Very fine. 30. Rain: cloudy and mild. Mean temperature of the month 44°’61 Mean temperature of Nov. 1846 43 '73 Mean temperature of Nov. for the last twenty years 42 *88 Average amount of rain in Nov 2’56 inches. Boston. — Nov. 1, 2. Fine. 3. Foggy. 4,5. Cloudy. 6. Cloudy; rain p.m. 7 — 10. Fine. 11. Rainy. 12. Rainy: rain early a. m. 13. Fine. 14. Fine: beautiful morning. 15, 16. Cloudy. 17. Fine: at noon thermometer 43: stormy P.M. 18. Fine : snow early a. m. : first ice this morning. 19. Fine. 20. Foggy. 21. Cloudy. 22. Rain. 23. Rain: rain early a.m. 24. Fine. 25. Windy : six o’clock p.m. therm. 52’5 : rain p.m. 26. Cloudy : three o’clock P.M. therm. 48-0 : rain p.m. 27. Rain: rain p.m. : half-past six p.m. therm. 48. 28. Rain. 29. Fine. 30. Rain : rain early a.m. Sandwick Manse ^ Orkney. — Nov. 1. Cloudy: drops. 2. Cloudy: clear. 3. Showers : clear. 4. Cloudy. 5. Rain. 6. Cloudy : drops. 7. Cloudy : rain. 8. Damp: rain: cloudy. 9. Showers: cloudy. 10. Showers. 11. Bright: clear. 12. Clear. 13. Bright : damp, 14. Rain : cloudy. 15. Bright : showers. 16. Hail-showers. 17. Snow-showers : hail -showers. 18. Drizzle. 19. Drizzle: cloudy: auror.a. 20, Clear: cloudy. 21,22. Cloudy: rain. 23. Showers: sleet-showers. 24. Bright : showers. 25. Cloudy : showers. 26. Showers : cloudy. 27. Clear: frost: rain. 28. Clear: frost: cloudy: frost. 29. Bright; cloudy. 30. Showers, Applegarlh Mnnse^ Dumfriesshire. — Nov. 1. Showers; heavy rain a.m. 2. Very fine. 3. Fair: frost a.m. 4. Dull: slight drizzle. 5. Threatening. 6. Occasional showers. 7. Heavy rain, 8. Heavy rain : flood. 9. Fair and fine. 10, Dull A.M. : rain P.M. 1 1. Rain all day. 12. Rain a.m. : cleared. 13. Raw: frost A.M. 14. Dull, but fine. 15. Showers a.m. : heavy p.m. 16. Fine a.m.: showers P.M. 17. Frost: ice on pools. 18. Hard frost. 19. Dull: fair. 20. Dull; slight drizzle. 21. Dull: rain p.m. 22. Fine a.m.: rain p.m. 23, 24. Heavy showers. 25. Rain : heavy. 26. Fine a.m. : rain p.m. 27. Fine: frost A.M. 28. Frost : fair. 29. Rain early a.m. 30. Showery. Mean temperature of the month 45°*7 Mean temperature of Nov. 1846 44 -4 Mean temperature of Nov. for twenty-five years 40 -4 Rain in Nov. 1847 3'79 inches. Average rain in Nov. for twenty years 3*60 1} Meteorological Observations made by Mr. Thompson at the Garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, near London; by Mr. Veall at Boston; by theR^w. W. Dunbar, at Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire; and by the Rev. C. Clouston, at Sandwich Manse, Orkney. Rain. •JfOIAipUBS ‘X3u>[JO — oot^vo • a>, VO ■“ •ajiqs -saujtunQ i I i i ; ! :S : i i i : i i 1 ; i i :g i i 1 ; ; iS 1- :: i :: !6 i i ON CO •uojsoa i i I : i i 9 i : : i r i i ; i i : i i i i99?^ 19 loiAvsiq3 i io(N • -oa-h i : :-^,-mgo VO VO Wind. •JIDI-VipUBS ‘itaujiJO s. w. w. se. sse. ssw. sw. s. 1 ssw. i w. s. wsw. w. wnw. nnw. nnw. w. wsw. sw. sse. s. sw. sw. ssw. s. ssw. s. w. •ajTqs -saujuino: ”• s S •: s ” s s ” 1 =■ 1 i i i 1 i ii i a i i iii \ i •uoisoa s. s. calm ese. s. s. s. s. sw. wsw. sse. calm calm calm calm calm n. calm calm calm calm calm calm w. sw. calm sw. calm w. w. •ui’cl I it ^ X «5 1 i ^ i ^ i & q c C 1 ^ a ^ 1 i i «5 « c/5 i i 1 Thermometer. Orkney, Sand wick. •ux'd ■-b Dumfries- shire. •«!W CO '^inooo cac^oTc^oaco — ’^LOO'ctTTtoiOiO'^frrrj'rj'rO'^tO'^cocN 'Cj< •XBH mIcJ !h1ci i-9999'9'9qp.^cr5(Noo^o 9 O'' 0*^ On On On On os fVN 1"*^ COCOOCOVNabington on Anacharis Alsinastrum. leaves, upper scarcely lialf their length ; the node marked by a transverse dull red line. Roots long, threadlike, diaphanous, from the points at which branches have sprung. — Female flowers from the axils of the upper whorls, solitary. Sheaths sessile, solitary, linear, slightly enlarged at the end, deeply bifld. Flower sessile ; tube very long (so as to reach the surface of the water). Aliform ; limb six-parted ; divisions oval, similar, three exterior, three interior rather narrower and more acute. Filaments three, subulate, without anthers. Style adnate to the tube; stigmas ligulate, reflexed, notched, fringed. — Male flowers unknown. A. Nuttallii (Planch.), Udora canadensis (Nutt.), from New Jersey, closely resembles this, differing in the acute termina- tion of its leaves, and apparently its less deeply divided sheath : its flowers are not in a state admitting of examination. A. canadensis (Planch.) has lanceolate-linear leaves and a much shorter sheath. The latter differs from the former by not having any inner divisions to the perianth of its male flowers. Our plant is clearly not A, canadensis, but it may be A. Nuttallii, the want of male flowers totally preventing its absolute determi- nation. As the genus Anacharis is, as yet*, confined to the American continent, it has been thought better to give a di- stinctive name to our plant (derived from its resemblance to Ela- tine Alsinastrum), so as to prevent its being confounded with the American species, and thus extending their range far beyond what may prove to be their natural limits. Should either of them eventually be shown to be identical with our plant, one of the names will of course drop ; and as that species to which ours is the most nearly allied is now for the first time distinguished from the Elodea canadensis of Michaux, it will then be for bota- nists to determine which name should be retained. Shortly after receiving this plant from Mr. Bloxam, I was in- formed that similar ones had been found in Hampshire and near Dublin. I am indebted to my friend Mr. H. Collins for a speci- men from the former locality, an ornamented pond, at Leigh Park, about eight miles from Chichester. He informs me that there is very great probability of its having been introduced there ac- cidentally with the roots of Nymphcea odorata, received by the gardener a few years since from America. The plant had not been noticed in the pond previously to those roots being put into it, and it appeared shortly afterwards in small quantity, but soon rapidly increased. Mr. ScotC the intelligent gardener at Leigh Park, has sent three female flowers to Mr. Collins and Mr. Borrer, one of which I have examined carefully. It has three * Tlie Udora pomeranica and U. lithuanica of European authors have never been seen in flower, and have much more the look of Hydrilla than Anacharis, but tlieir genus is at present undeterminable. Dr. J. E. Planchon on Anacliarijj and Apalaiithe. 85 broad calycine segments ; three narrower, shorter, perhaps spa- thulate, coralline segments ; three broadly linear barren filaments ; and two long, greatly recurved, possibly emarginate, stigmas. The upper part of the plant to which one of the flowers is at- tached is exactly like a similar portion of A. Nuttallii from New Jersey, for which I am indebted to Sir W. J. Hooker, and I have no doubt that they are the same species. It is a curious coinci- dence, that the only perfect flowers of the Market Harborough A, Alsinastrum, and also of the Leigh Park A. Nuttallii which I have been able to examine, have no trace of more than two stigmas. Mr. Mackay accompanies specimens of the Dublin plant (found growing in a small pond in the garden of J. D’Olier, Esq., at Collignes near that city,) by the statement that it is in company with Ajjonogeton and other rare aquatic plants, and was in all probability introduced with them. Flowers have not been observed upon it, and its name must therefore remain doubtful — even its genus. In appearance it is almost exactly like A. Nuttallii, with which it agrees in having narrower and acuter leaves than A. Alsinastrum. The question now arises. May not the A. Alsinastrum have been introduced ? To this I answer in the words of the Rev. A. Bloxam, who kindly visited its place of growth and supplied me with numerous living and dried specimens. He says, in answer to an inquiry of mine, “ I can find no reason to doubt the JJdora being a true native. Numbers of other water-plants grow in the same locality, Potamogetons of various kinds, &c.^^ He adds, that “ although not observed until this year, I should suppose that it must have been a long period in the ponds from the great quantity of it.^^ Synopsis specierum Anacharidis et Apalanthes ; auctore J. E. Planchon, Scien. Doc. Anacharis, Richard. 1. A. callitrichoides (Rich.); foliis oppositis vel ternis linearibus acutis minute serrulatis, spatha pedicello (brevi) cylindrico con- tinua sensim a basi ad apicem dilatata linear!- oblonga apice bifida, antheris (polline emisso) siccitate cserulescentibus, stigmatibus perianthii laciniis longioribus ad medium bifidis ; cruribus linea- ribus. Hab. in Brasilia australiori ; Montevideo, Commerson ; La Plata (absque loco proprio), Tweedie in Herb. Hooker. A. callitrichoides, Rich, in Mem. Inst. 1811, ii. 7. t. 2. Character e specimine Tweediano, quod floribus utriusque sexus gaudet, masculis, sicut folia, cum icone Richardiano plane congru- entibus, femineo unico et pro investigatione nimis imperfecto. 86 Dr. J. E. Planclion^s Synopsis of the species of 2. Anacharis Matthewsii (Planch.) ; foliis 3-4-nis dense imbricatis, spatha mascula (ante dehiscentiam) breve pedunculata ellipsoidea, perianthii laciniis exterioribus oblongis interioribus linearibus et petaloideis subeequilongis, antheris (novem) subsessilibus polline emisso non csemlescentibus. Hab. in Peruvise ditione Ubuamantanga, prov. Canta, Matthews, No. 581. In aqua fiuente rivulorum. Folia 7-8 lin. longa, 1 lin. lata, baud acuminata sed apice sub- rotundato breviter acutata, patentia vel erecto-patentia internodiis pluries longiora. Antherse lineari-oblongse. 3. A. Alsinastrum (Bab.) ; foliis terms ovali-oblongis obtusis sub- tilissime serrulatis, spatha floris masculi (ignota), floris feminei tubulosa ovarium sessilem pluries superante apice bifida, perianthii laciniis latis omnibus subsequalibus, stigmatibus ligulatis reflexis emarginatis. Hab. in Anglia. Folia 3-4 lin. longa. If -2 lata, in apice caulis ramulorumque con- fertis, in parte infima ramulorum parvis distantibus oppositis, ses- silia, squarrosa, apice paululum reflexa. — Babington. 4. A. NuttaUii (Planch.) ; foliis 3-4-nis oblongo-linearibus subtiliter serrulatis interdum obtusis, petalis floris masculi ligulato-spathu- latis, stigmatibus ligulatis reflexis bifidis. — Nuttall. Hab. in America septentrionali, sed loci natales dum stirps cum duobus aliis hucdudum confusa sit, observationibus novis denuo notandi. Udora canadensis, Nutt, Gen. N. Amer. PI. ii. 242. excl. syn. Michx. Hue fere absque dubitatione refero stirpem prope Novam Csesa- ream a cl. Torreyo lectam cujus folia variant late vel anguste line- aria, sed tamen sunt semper acutiora quam ilia A. Alsinastri. Spatha floris feminei sessilis, tubulosa, ovario adpressa et super eum pro- ducta, apice acute bifida. Flores pauci et pro examine accurate nimis imperfecti. 5. A. chilensis (Planch.) ; foliis terms lineari-oblongis obtusis sub- tilissime serrulatis, spatha floris feminei sessili tubulosa apice bine fissa, stigmatibus tribus bipartitis perianthii laciniis exterioribus reflexis longioribus. Hab. in Chili prope Valparaiso, Cuming, No. 636. Folia illis A. Alsinastri plane similia, unguicularia, 2 lin. lata, in parte infima ramulorum opposita. Spatha in flore unico suppetente folii tertiam partem vix sequante. Tubus perigonii pollicaris ; lim- bus reflexus, laciniis exterioribus circiter 1 lin. longis, interioribus Styli tres, profunde bipartiti, laciniis linearibus. 6. A. canadensis (Planch.); foliis ternis lineari-oblongis vel anguste linearibus, apice interdum rotundatis breve acutatis, spatha floris masculi (breve pedunculata) ventricoso-obovata, floris feminei ses- silis tubulosa ovarium sub 5-plo longiore apice bifida, perianthii floris masculi laciniis interioribus nullis. 87 Auacliaris and Apalanthe. Hab. in America septentrionali. Saskatchawan, Drummond (spe- cimina mascula). Canada, Cleghorn (specimina feminea imperfecta). Elodea canadensis, Miclix. FI. Bor. Amer. i. 20. ? Apalanthe^ Planchon. Elodece sp., Richard. Udorce sp., Endliclier (sed character gene- ricum ex elementis heterogeneis infauste exstructum). Flores hermaphroditi, caeterum feraineis Udorce, prseter anthera- rum prsesentiam, in omnibus conformes. Stamina in specie typica Guyanensi vidi interdum baud cequidistantia, nec cum stigmatibus regulariter alternantia, sed alterum liberum inter stigmata duo, altera duo inter se filamentis plus minus concreta et cum crure altero unius stigmatorum bifidorum semiconnata. Antheras vidi potius late ellipticas quam cordatas ; pollinis granula laevia, 3-4-natim cohse- rentia. Dehiscentia antherarum mihi obscura. Cl. Bonplandius, in descriptione Apal. {Elodece) granatensis, stylum in collo longo calycis liberum adesse asserit ; sed character illud, cum oculatissimum Richardum fugerit, in vivo rursus inquirendum est. Ipse nihil vidi ad confirmationem observationis istse tendens. 1. Apal. guyanensis (Planch.); folds 3-9-nis lanceolato-linearibus (vel anguste linearibus) a basi ad apicem sensim angustatis acutis baud recurvis, spatha sessili cylindracea “ ovarium in ipsa sessile ” superante ; stigmatibus (saepius) bifidis : cruribus apice dilatatis. Hah. in Guyana, Rich. Demerara, Parker, in Herb. Hook. Elodea guyanensis. Rich, in Mem. Inst. 1811. ii. 4. t. 1. 2. Apal. granatensis (Planch.); folds 7-15 -nis, anguste linearibus acutissimis, spatha sessili ovarium in ipsa sessile subaequante. Hab. in aquis Novae Granatae prope Guaduas inter Honda et Cune. Humboldt et Bonpland. Elodea granatensis, Humb. et Bonpl. PI. JEquin. ii. 150. t. 128. 3. Apal. Schweinitzii (Planch.) ; folds saepius 3-nis (in parte infima ramorum oppositis) lanceolato-linearibus (vel subovadbus) acutis subtidssime serrulatis, spatha sessili cydndrica acute bifida florem demum longe pedicellatum exserente. Hab. in Americae septentrionads provinciis eonfederatis (United States), loco proprio non indicate, Schweinitz in Herb. Hook. Serpicula occidentads, Pursh } El. N. Amer. i. 33 (ob flores her- maphroditos triandros, sed diagnosis manca imprimis quoad floris situm non sufficit). Herbaomnino Anacharidis Nuttallii vel A. canadensis. Folia in ramulorum parte inferiore opposita, abbreviata, subovada, 2-2^ dn. longa, internodiis multo breviora; caetera linearia, patenti-erecta, internodiis multo longiora ideoque laxe imbricata, acuta nec tamen acuminata. Spatha 4-5 lin. longa. Pedicellus floris 6—8 dn. longus. Ovarium anguste ovatum in collum 1—1^ poldcarem sensim angus* tatum. Laciniae perianthii exteriores latiuscule lineares, patentes. 88 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. pellucids0; interiores petaloidese, tenerrimse. Stamina tria; fila- menta gracilia, antheris longiora ; antherse obovatse, compressse, loculis granulis pollinis inter se cdnglomeratis repletis, dehiscentia ignota. Stigmata tria, bipartita (?), cruribus recurvis perianthii laciniis exterioribus duplo longioribus. Ohs. Elodea canadensis (Michx.) a specie supra descripta difFert, ob verba auctoris in delineatione characteris generici, “ ovarium ad caulem sessile.” Inde stirps ad Anacharidem canadensem (Planch.) verosimiliter recte referta. EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. Anacharis Ahlnastrum , natural size, with a detached flower showing its very long tube. Note. — The flower, the only one obtained, is doubtless imperfect, by wanting the third stigma. a. A whorl of leaves. h. Summit of the sheath. c. A female flower. d. Stigmatic fringe. We are indebted to Mr. J. W. Salter for the beautiful drawing, made for the ^ Supplement to English Botany,^ from which our plate is engraved. Magnified. IX. — On the Anatomy 0/ Eolis, a genus of Mollusks of the order Nudibranchiata. By Albany Hancock and Dennis Em- bleton, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., Lecturer on Anatomy and Phy- siology in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne School of Medicine. [Continued from vol. xv. p. 88.] [With two Plates.] Organs of Generation. For the sake of convenience we will treat of these in the fol- lowing order : — 1st. Male apparatus : testis and penis, and mechanism for intromission and retraction. 2nd. Female apparatus : ovary with oviduct and accessory glands. 3rd. Complementary androgynous organs : spermatheca and its channels. The generative organs lie for the most part beneath all the other viscera, and occupy the greatest part of the cavity of the body. The ovary at the season of reproduction nearly fills up the posterior half of the body, and the median line divides it into two almost symmetrical parts. The other organs lie in front of the ovary, and extend as far forwards as the sides of the buccal mass ; they are unsymmetrical, Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy o/Eolis. 89 being placed ebiefly on tbe right side^ partially covered by the stomach which dips down on the median line between them and the posterior border of the buceal mass ; all their outlets leading to a common orifice, which is situated on the right side between the terminations of the rows of papillae and the margin of the foot, and a short way behind the dorsal tentacles. This orifiee exists at the depressed apex of a small conical nip- ple or papilla, formed by a projecting and slightly puckered fold of skin, and is readily seen. When this orifice is laid open, a vestibule, or small cavity, is discovered, on the inner wall of which are three perforations, two being easily discovered, surrounded by a wrinkled and projecting border of skin, one directly in front of the other ; a third may be detected with some pains among the folds around the posterior opening, and at its anterior part. Of the two openings first mentioned the anterior leads to the male apparatus ; the posterior, which is the largest of the three, leads to the female organs ; and the third, by far the smallest, leads to the spermatheca. Such is the state of the external parts in their most perfect state of eontraction, after death, or in the absence of sexual exeitement during life. But during the breeding sea- son it is often found that the vestibule is obliterated by the pro- trusion outwardly of its inner wall, and then the anterior aperture is replaeed, as it were, by a curved conieal projection with its con- cavity posteriorly. This projection is the penis in a partial state of protrusion, and directly behind the base of it is seen the large female orifice, and immediately within this exists the third and smallest opening. To obtain a complete view of the internal generative organs, it is neeessary to remove all the other viseera. The ovary, PI. III. fig. 1 d, is then seen as before mentioned, filling nearly the whole of the posterior part of the eavity of the body. It is of a pale yel- low colour, lobulated and granular, broad and thick in front, ta- pering behind. Its anterior surface is concave, and moulded upon the parts directly in front. These are two large, delicate, semi- pellucid, convex and somewhat rounded lobes of a gland accessory to the female parts, PI. III. fig. g g, which we will call the mucus-gland, since it appears to secrete the mucus-like envelope of the ova, as will afterwards be seen. These lobes are continuous with each other below, but above there is a deep fissure between them running from behind forwards. At the posterior end of the fissure lies the convoluted part of the oviduet, fig. I /, which runs forwards into the fissure. Under the eonvolutions of the oviduct lies the spermatheca with its duct, fig. I A, i. At the anterior end of the fissure, and resting on the front of the right lateral lobe of the mucus- gland, lies a long pale-flesh-coloured much-convoluted tube, fig. I c, the testis, one 90 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. end of which passes backwards into the fissure and communicates with the oviductj the other enters the apex of a conical projection, fig;. 1 a, which it will be seen is the retracted male intromittent organ. Having given the above general notice of the parts as they are seen on being laid bare, and partially drawn asunder, we now proceed to a more particular description of the same after they have been carefully dissected, premising that the description, as well as the general notice, is taken from E. papillosa, except where it is otherwise expressed. 1st. Male apparatus : we have already said, that of the external orifices, the male, fig. 2 a!, lies in front of the other two. When this orifice is laid open in a specimen that has the parts fully retracted into the body, we find a short canal opening almost immediately into a pretty large sac, fig. 7 a, which is nearly filled by a somewhat egg-shaped body c, projecting into its interior. The sac at its innermost end is found to be refiected upon the exterior of the contained body, forming a coating for it. When this body is examined by section it displays in its interior a fine tube which is continuous with the testicular convolutions, d, at the internal extremity, and at the other opens near the apex, e, of the egg-shaped body above mentioned. This body is formed then of a reduplication of the wall of the sac that opens at the external orifice, and contains the termination of the testis towards the ex- terior. It is capable of being elongated, drawn out to a point, and protruded altogether from the sac that contains it, and the sac itself is also capable of being everted through the external orifice. The contracted egg-shaped body, and the sac in which it lies, on being thrust out externally, assume the form of a much- elongated and finely tapering penis, fig. 5 a, inclosing the excretory duct of the testis which opens at its apex. When the parts are contracted, this penis forms the internal conical projection alluded to at the end of the general description. The testis, fig. 1 c. This is a tolerably large tube, intricately convoluted in a somewhat zigzag manner, its coils bound together by a tissue of delicate filaments, and by the branches of the ar- tery and nerve distributed to them, into a pretty compact mass, which lies in front of and upon the mucus-gland, and against the right side of the buccal mass, partly concealing the penis. MTren the coils are all unravelled we have a tube of uniform diameter, the length of which in one specimen was two inches, being greater than that of the animal itself. It is of a pale flesh colour and opake ; and if a portion be removed and examined in the com- pressorium of the microscope, its walls are seen to be made up of three concentric coats; the two outer are muscular, and their fibres are longitudinal and transverse ; the innermost is a secre- Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 91 ting membrane, and is lined by numerous corpuscles similar to those in the expressed contents of the tube. The contents of the tube are easily pressed out, and consist of a tenacious mucus-like matter that contains a great number of corpuscles of different size and appearance, fig. 9. These are chiefly delicate transparent cells, some of considerable diameter, perfectly circular and having a double outline. They are of three kinds : 1st, those which are devoid of contents and of nucleus, fig. 9 a ; 2ndly, those which present a large granular nucleus, which is either within and lying close upon the wall, or projecting about half their diameter beyond it, b ; and 3rdly, those which are more or less completely filled with circular, granular and unnucleated corpuscles, c ; these corpuscles are also seen in con- siderable numbers, d, free, of various sizes and apparently under- going development into cells. Spermatozoa have been observed among the contents of the testis of E. coronata, though we have not been able to detect any relation between them and the nucleated cells above described. The tube of the testis after the unravelling of its coils can be traced a short way backwards, along the fissure between the lobes of the mucus-gland, where, after undergoing a sudden and re- markable constriction, it opens into the oviduct where that tube is abruptly bent upon itself, figs. 1 & 2 A:. The penis of E. coronata when exserted differs from the elon- gated conical organ of E. papillosa in being much bulkier in pro- portion to the size of the animal, and in its extremity being much enlarged and terminated by an almost circular fungiform mem- branous expansion, near the anterior border of which the excre- tory duct of the testis opens. This peculiarity appears to be act counted for by the modified form of the duct leading to the sper- matheca in this species, and will be again noticed further on. The testis, fig. 3 e, differs also from that of E. papillosa in being very short, but of much greater diameter. The constriction at the part where it joins the oviduct is more strongly marked, and pro- longed like a small duct. Fig. 8 represents the penis of E. co- ronata retracted within its sheath in the interior of the body. The penis of E. Drummondi, fig. 6 «, is similar to that of E. coronata^ and is given from a specimen preserved in spirits, in which it was exserted. The testis, fig. 4 c, is somewhat shorter and thicker. The male organs of E. olivacea resemble those of E. coronata. 2nd. Female organs : the position and general appearance of the ovary, fig. 1 d, have already been described. On further ex- amination the organ is found to be intersected by a longitudinal median fissure, which can be traced deeply into its substance, and which divides it into two principal lateral masses; smaller 92 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. fissures^ offsets from the chief one, pass away laterally into the masses subdividing them into numerous lobules of varying form and size. The lobules are eonnected together by fine filamentous tissue, in whieh lie the branehes of the oviduet and of the ovarian artery. Each lobe is invested by a delicate membrane, and ap- pears to consist entirely of a eongeries of ova inelosed within very delicate irregularly-shaped polygonal cells. PI. IV. fig. 1 a repre- sents these cells with the ova at a very early stage of formation ; b, ova somewhat further advaneed ; c, ova much more highly developed, showing the germinal spot surrounded by the pellucid zone. The ovary is attached to the skin by what appears to be deli- cate eellular tissue, and here and there by fine but firm flat bands that seem to be continuous with the inner or museular layer of the integument. Small tubes, whieh we think are veins, are also seen passing from the outer surface of the organ into the sub- stance of the skin. At the front of the ovary, the oviduct, PI. III. figs. I & 2 c, re- sulting from the union of the lesser ducts from all the lobules, is seen to issue from the longitudinal fissure ; it is there a minute opake tube, but soon dilates, and passing over the sperm atheea is bent upon itself two or three times very aeutely, being further considerably increased in diameter,/; after this it becomes rapidly diminished in size, d, straight, and continued forwards along the fissure between the lobes of the mueus-gland, and dipping down it reeeives the constricted part of the testis near k as before men- tioned, and is then suddenly bent baek upon itself. After this it is joined by the duet of the spermatheca, i, and the tube re- sulting from this union turns immediately forwards, and after a short course bifurcates, as is shown at fig. 2 m ; one braneh, n, the shorter, dipping downwards, is lost upon the channel belong- ing to the right side of the mucus-gland, and into which channel it appears to empty itself as the termination of the oviduet ; the other and longer branch, is continued on to the third and smallest external orifice by the side of the female aperture, and appears to be the ehannel of the spermatheca. This latter branch we have not been able to trace so satisfaetorily as the rest, but have no doubt of its existence as deseribed. We now come to the large semipellucid or mucus-gland pre- viously mentioned, figs. I & 2 g g. An analogous organ exists in Doris and Tritonia whieh has been described by Cuvier as the testis. It appears on looking first at the upper surface to consist of two distinct glands, but on the under surface these are seen to be perfectly continuous with each other. It is more or less convex on all sides, but the upper surfaces are so inclined towards each other as to leave a deep fissure, in which are lodged, as be- Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 93 fore mentioned, tlie oviduct, the duct from the spermatheca, and the posterior termination of the testis. The whole surface of the gland presents to a certain extent the appearance of the cerebral convolutions of the higher animals ; there is however a rounded portion seen next the fissure on the upper aspect of the lobes when they are held asunder, that differs from the rest in being opake, granular-looking and of a flesh colour, but more mi- nutely convoluted than the semipellucid portion, yet forming an integral part of it. The semipellucid part of the gland can easily be seen to be disposed in the form of hollow laminae folded upon each other, and these on the upper surface have a zigzag arrangement. The cavities of the laminae communicate freely with a wide channel in the interior of each lobe, and these channels unite to form a common tube b, which ends externally at the female orifice, fig. 2 V, after having received the termina- tion of the oviduct 7i. This gland we believe not to be the testis, as Cu\der and his followers supposed it — for it has no direet con- nexion with the male parts — but to be the organ which secretes the transparent glairy matter that envelopes the ova previous to their passing from the body, by which they become attached to the substances on which they are deposited, and which protects them from injury during their evolution. On examining the se- cretion of this gland by the microscope we found no spermatozoa, but instead, a tenacious granular -looking fluid, with broad nucle- ated granular scales of what seemed to be pavement epithelium. The ovary and other female parts do not appear to differ ma- terially from the above description in E. coronata, E. Drummondi and E. olivacea. 3rd. Androgynous apparatus : the spermatheca, figs. 1 & 2 /^, lies in front of the ovary between the two lobes of the mueus- gland, and is almost concealed from view by them and by the dilated convoluted part of the oviduct. It is a globular or pyri- form sac, of a dirty olive colour, having one or more accessory sacs, y, attached to its duct ; its walls are thin, but strong and muscular. In E. papillosa and E. coronata it has been found crammed full of a mass of fully- developed spermatozoa and cor- puscles. The spermatozoa, fig. 10 « & 6, consist of a narrow elliptical transparent head often bent upon a long slender tail or filament, which is seen to be either straight or waved, or spirally rolled upon itself. The corpuscles, c, are small, elliptical, and varying in size, many of them having a transverse band, others a cross upon them, apparently indicating a tendency to split into two or four parts as represented in the figure. The duct ef the spermatheca, ^, comes off from the under and anterior part, and after a very short course forwards empties itself into the oviduct at /, fig. 2, appearing to end there, but in 94 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. fact continued on in union with it to the bifurcation m, where it separates from it as the smaller branch which goes on to the ex- ternal genital orifice. In E. coronata, E. Drummondi and E. olivacea, the female parts we have seen agree with those of E. papillosa ; the male parts we have shown differ materially^ and the androgynous ap- paratus again presents corresponding modifications in these three species. The spermatheca in E. coronata, fig. 3 h, is a simple elongated pyriform sac without any accessory. In E. Drummondi it is a sacculated bag. The ducts connect- ing the spermatheca,, the oviduct and testis together in these spe- cies have the same disposition as in E. papillosa, but the duct which leads from the spermatheca to the external orifice is very much modified. It begins externally by a large orifice leading into a short wide channel with thick and wrinkled walls, figs. 3 & 4/y, into the side of a strong globular sac^*^'; from the oppo- site part of this sac issues a minute canal i’ i', which returns along the external wall of the wide channel, and approaching the testis near its union with the oviduct, passes under it and be- tween it and the penis, and then after a short tortuous course backwards it unites with the duct of the spermatheea near i, a little above, and not, as in E. papillosa, below, the junction of the latter with the oviduct. The great size and peculiar modification of the external por- tion of the channel just described has reference obviously to the modified size and form of the intromittent organ in these speeies. We feel little doubt that the penis passes along the wide channel into the globular sac, which from its size and form is well-adapted to receive and probably to retain the expanded extremity of that organ. This part of the apparatus is then a peculiar vagina ; it is pos- sible that a small point may be protruded from the orifice of the penis, fig. 6 c, at the time of conjunction ; but w^hether this be so or not, we believe that the seminal fluid is conveyed along the minute channel, fig. 3 i' i', \Ye have noted as passing off from the vaginal sacy, and is thus delivered into the spermatheca h. Looking at the remarkable shortness of the testicular tube in E. coronata, E. Drummondi and E. olivacea, in reference to the modification of their copulative organs, we suppose that the de- ficient development of the essential is compensated for by an in- creased efiiciency of the accessory organs, that a more prolonged union of the sexes is here rendered necessary, and the conditions for this we find in the pecidiar form of the penis and the vaginal sac. In E. papillosa, on the contrary, copulation is effected by the Messrs. Hancock Ernbleton f/a the Anatomy of 95 introduction of the elongated, conical and pointed penis, fig. 5 «, into the small simple channel of the spermatheca, fig. 2 i’ , along which we believe it to pass to at least beyond its junction with the oviduct, if not quite to the spermatheca itself. The penis, as represented in the Plate, is from a specimen preserved in spirits, but in the living state this organ is capable of taking a much more elongated and attenuated form. The way in which fecundation is effected v/ill be understood if we now' trace the passage of the ova from the ovary to the external orifice : they pass along the oviduct, fig. 2 e, and are detained awhile in the dilated and convoluted part of it, /, probably to re- ceive some necessar}" investment ; after this they are conducted forw'ards to where the testis joins the oviduct at k ; here they are subjected first of all to the influence of the seminal fluid of the individual itself, for there appears to be little or no doubt that the double muscular coating of the testis, c, is capable of driving its contents either outw'ardly towards the penis «, or if required, inwardly towards the ovdduct e'. Ciliary motion may also assist in determining the flow of the seminal fluid in either direction. The operation of this self-fecundation being thus accomplished in the flrst instance, the ova are secondly conveyed backwards to the duct of the spermatheca at I, where they undergo the action of the semen injected into that receptacle from another animal during the sexual union ; afteiw\ards they are carried into the right duct of the mucus-gland at n, which is freely continuous with the left duct, and with the common female channel of out- let h. In the wide ducts of the mucus-gland the ova receive their last coating and their peculiar arrangement in it, and lastly they are expelled through the female orifice h', the form of the channel probably impressing upon the continuous strap or cord of mucus- enveloped ova the peculiar form which the spaw n of the different species is found to possess. It w ill thus be seen that a double impregnation is here pos- sible, and indeed more than probable, considering the anatomical relation of the parts ; but whether it be in everj" instance essen- tial, we are not prepared to state. If the experiments of i\I. Alex, de Xordmann related in the ^ ^bmales des Sciences Xaturelles,^ 3me serie, tome v. 18415, touching the breeding of Teryipes, which w'e consider a member of the genus Eolis, be thought conclusive, it may be deemed that self-impregnation is alone requisite. Since however copulation is observed to take place among these ani- mals frequently and freely, even in confinement in the house, w'e have little doubt of the necessity of a double impregnation. On a re\dew' of our description of the generative organs in the above-mentioned species of EoliSj it appears that these organs 96 Messrs. Hancock and Enibleton on the Anatomy o/Eolis. bear a good deal of resemblance to those of the other Nudi- branchiata as described by Cuvier ; but in assigning the peculiar functions of the various parts, we differ from that distinguished physiologist. It is however only after often-repeated careful dis- section, observation and deliberate consideration that we venture to dissent from such high authority, and we feel it incumbent upon us to state generally in what points we differ, and the reasons of our dissent. That part in Doris called by Cuvier testis answers to what we call the mucus-gland : that it is not testis we are assured, by its having no direct connexion with the male parts, but opens very evidently into the female channel, of which it is an appendage ; we have several times examined its secretion, and found it to cor- respond exactly with the mucus-like matter that envelopes the ova. Again, the convoluted tube, called by Cuvier penis, we be- lieve to be the testis, and for the following reasons : — 1st. It is not uncommon to find the true penis, exserted in specimens pre- served in spirits : on examination of the parts of E. papillosa in such case, the penis of Cuvier is still found in the interior of the body as a closely convoluted tube, the coils of which are nearly all attached to each other by fine filaments, as noticed in our de- scription, and are therefore not susceptible of being unrolled and made to act as an intromittent organ. A small portion however is freer than the rest, and is often found at the base of the penis, being prolonged also to its extremity as the excretory duct of the testis. 2ndly. Its internal structure and its contents are clearly those of a glandular organ, and spermatozoa have been found in it in E. coronata ; and lastly, its connexions as already pointed out, namely with the penis at one end and with the oviduct at the other, seem to indicate pretty accurately its character. The sac we have called spermatheca we have ventured so to name, because we find it possesses a channel of communication with the exterior and a direct connexion with the oviduct, besides containing, as we have witnessed in E. papillosa and E. coronata, abundant masses of densely packed spermatozoa. This organ is doubtless the ^^vessie” of Cuvier. In passing from the Barones description of the genitalia of Doris, while we are glad to acknowledge that his plates and de- scriptions have been of great service to us in confirming in many points the result of our own dissections, we cannot help being sur- prised that two other anatomists, who have so recently been en- gaged upon the corresponding organs of some of the Eolididee, have not availed themselves of the store of valuable information accumulated by their illustrious precursor in the same path of in- vestigation in his ^ Memoires pour servir ’ &c. — we allude to MM. de Quatrefages and de Nordmann. If we turn to the former Messrs. Hancock awe? Embleton on the Anatomy o/Eolis. 97 gentleman^s account of the genital organs of his Eolidina, we find it to be very meagre and imperfect. He states at the commence- ment that these are as simple as possible ; we have found them to constitute that part of the organization which is the most com- plicated and difficult to be understood. The copulative vesicle he mentions_, which he thinks analogous to that of insects, and destined to receive and preserve the spermatic fluid of the same individual, acting the part in fact of seminal vesicle, and which he is tempted to believe renders the conjunction of two individuals unnecessary, seems to correspond to the spermatheca : the only other parts he mentions, the testis and ovary with their ducts, we find great difficulty in identifying with the parts described as such in our paper. That the congress of two individuals does really take place, we have had abundant proof. In the latter gentleman^s paper on Tergipes above-quoted, we have a confused but more detailed account of these organs. The Professor seems to have confounded the testis and ovary together, owing to the action of the compressor ; for we cannot believe in the development of spermatozoa in the female parts, and in this we agree with his translator as well as in our conviction that the “ poches seminales ” are parts of a multiple testis. If this be the true interpretation then, we find that in this section of the genus there is a modification of the testis which does not exist, as far as we know, in any of the others. Such a modification we think not improbable, since we have observed a similar conformation in Chalidis, a naked mollusk having considerable affinity to the Eolididee, and placed as the lowest genus in M. de Quatrefages’ order Phlebenterata. The liver, as M. de Nordmann gives it, ap- pears to be a part of the large mucus-gland we have described. The urinary gland is perhaps the opake granular part of the same. The testis is evidently the spermatheca, from its form and contents. The vessie muqueuse” would seem to answer to the sac of the penis, and the short flexuous canal, which, coming from the crytalloid (?) bodies of the foot, enters its posterior extremity, appears to indicate the duct of the true multiple testis. Organs of Circulation. These are a heart and blood-vessels. The central organ consists of auricle and ventricle with valves. The vessels are arterial and venous. The heart and the roots of the large vessels lie in the wide ca\ity of a delicate pericardium, PL IV. figs. 2 and 4//, c c ; this is a very fine transparent membrane, difficult of detection at first, which is attached to the aorta just beyond its origin, and to the three great venous trunks just before their union in their com- mon sinus, the auricle. At the same parts its external surface is Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 7 98 Messrs. Hancock Embleton on the Anatomy of attached to the skin, and by means of these attachments the heart and great vessels are secured in their position. The heart and vessels thus inclosed lie free in the cavity, which they fill when fully distended with blood. The heart and pericardium lie above all the other viscera, and immediately beneath the skin of the back, on the median line, and just behind the anterior third of the body. In J^. coronata and those species which have the branchiae similarly arranged, they lie between the second and third clumps. They form during life a manifest elliptical elevation, more or less transparent, and in which the pulsations may be seen and counted. On opening a specimen preserved in spirits, the auricle, fig. 2 h, is seen at the posterior part of the pericardium, of a cruciform figure, resulting from the union of two large trunks of veins 'p'p, coming from the sides of the body with one, from the posterior part, lying along the median line ; the anterior limb of the cross is formed by the contracted portion of the auricle r, where it goes forwards to open into the ventricle a. The walls of the auricle are quite smooth and polished externally, and within are formed of a very fine but wide meshed reticulation of delicate muscular bundles which are continued upon the greater venous trunks. At the anterior contracted part is placed a valvular apparatus, fig. 3 c, the auriculo-ventricular, to guard the ventricular opening which is on the under surface of the heart. The auriculo-ventricular valve consists of two flaps continuous at their bases with the walls of the ventricle and prolonged into its cavity, having their ends attenuated and free. They are placed one under and the other over the opening, the former being longer than the latter. They are broad and strong, and when brought together they will effectually close the opening. The opening is wide, and the auricle is attached to its margin at the bases of the valvular flaps. The ventricle a, much smaller than the auricle, is of a pyriform shape, with its apex anteriorly. Its walls are considerably thicker and more fleshy than those of the auricle, and its cavity displays very numerous, strong and bold projecting carnese columnae, some of which are attached to the bases and outer surfaces of the valves at both orifices. The interior of the ventricle from its high de- velopment reminds us forcibly of ,fhat of animals much higher in the scale. The upper half of the organ is much thicker than the under, owing to the superior number and strength of its fleshy columns. The muscular fibres of the auricle and ventricle arc devoid of transverse striae ; they are minute, simply granular and rounded. A valve, the aortic, fig. 3 d, is placed at the anterior or pointed Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy o/Eolis. 99 end of the heart ; it is a broad elongated lamina, very thin at its free edge, which is slightly semilunar. It projects a long way into the aorta. Its base is continuous with the fleshy columns of the upper wall of the heart, and just above this connexion, and behind the valve, there is a large well-marked sinus at the com- mencement of the aorta. The aorta, fig. 2 d, begins at the base of the valve, and very soon after perforates the pericardium before giving ofi* any branches. The elliptical swelling and the transparency observed in the cardiac region during life is mainly owing to the dilated state of the two chambers of the heart. After death the fulness is lost, and the chambers are found contracted and flattened. With some care we have succeeded in a dead specimen in partially in- flating the auricle by means of a small blowpipe, so that the parts resumed a good deal of the appearance they present during life. Eig. 4 represents the chambers of the heart inflated, imitating the condition of the parts during life*. In Eolis then we have a simple two-chambered heart, the blood coming from veins into the auricle, passing then into the ventricle, and being thence propelled along the arteries. The pulsations are regular, and their number in E, papillosa is up- wards of fifty, and in E. coronata sixty-five in the minute. The systole of the auricle is followed immediately by that of the ven- tricle, and during the former action the heart is pulled sharply backwards, during the latter forwards, showing the heart to be free in the pericardiac cavity. The aorta on emerging from the pericardium gives off a small branch e, for the supply of the stomach, and immediately after- wards bifurcates ; one branch, the larger, passes forward to supply the anterior parts of the body, the other backwards to be distri- buted to the posterior parts. * That what we call the auricle is really such, and not a mere sinus or confluence of veins hranchio-cardiac, as set forth by M. Milne Edwards in his ‘Voyage en Sicile, sixieme article, sur I'appareil circulatoire des The- thys,’ we believe for the following reasons. It is distinctly divided from the great venous trunks by the pericardium which is evident enough in Eolis, and strongly defined in Doris: during life, or if injected after death, it pre- sents a well-marked elliptical ampulla within the pericardium, and possesses a pulsation proper to itself, a pulsation that is seen during life to be con- fined within the bounds of the pericardium, and as if in confirmation of this it is found to be furnished with carneag columnse proportioned to the deli- cacy of its coats. The branchio-cardiac sinus figured and described by Milne Edwards ap- pears to us to be somewhat anomalous, and certainly differs from anything we have seen either in Eolis or Doris, and is quite at variance with the cor- responding part in the Tritoniadce, of which family it is clearly a member, for in Tritonia Hombergii and in Scyllcea pelagica the auricle is not longi- tudinally, hut transversely placed, receiving veins from the skin at each end. 7* 100 Messrs. Hancock and Ernbleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. The anterior aorta, fig. 2 f, passing forwards over the genital organs, and on the right side of the stomach, but on a plane below the ramifications of the digestive system, gives ofi" three or four small arteries, d e' e' e', to the stomach, and next from its under part a large branch j, which after sending ofi* some small twigs is distributed by two or three branches which ramify on the penis, testis, mucus-gland and ducts. The main trunk, after this, is bent down in front of the genital organs, passes under the oeso- phagus, and becomes applied to the under surface of the buccal mass n, on the median line, after having given an offset, k, for- wards to the anterior part of the oesophagus and upper surface of the buccal mass. Next, about half-way along the under sur- face of that fieshy organ, it gives off a large artery /, which pene- trates its floor at an aperture left between the muscular bundles, to supply the tongue and the interior of the mouth ; shortly after this, a branch springs on each side from the trunk ; these encircle the anterior part of the mass of the jaws just behind the lips, supplying the muscles that connect the mass to the skin, and the skin itself in the vicinity. Lastly, the anterior aorta terminates in three branches near m, which are distributed by twigs to the lips and the anterior part of the foot. The posterior aorta, /', runs a very short way forwards and then turns downwards and backwards, passing under the heart and gastric system ; at this turn, and as it runs backwards, it gives off four or five branches to the rectum, which lies on its right side : one branch to the rectum is sometimes given off from the common aorta just after it has perforated the pericardium. The artery then gains the inferior surface of the ovary, among the lobes of which it is at first partially imbedded. On entering this viscus it at once gives off twigs right and left to the contiguous lobes ; it next bifurcates, one branch passing on to be distributed by small lateral twigs to the middle and posterior lobes of the ovary, among which they can be seen to subdivide two or three times, accompanying the divisions of the oviduct ; the other going to the skin of the foot under the ovary ; seven or eight branches come off from it which penetrate the skin, and can be traced a little way dividing in its substance. Thus we can demonstrate arteries supplying almost all the viscera and a great portion of the skin of the foot, and show that they undergo minute division, and all the branches laid down in our Plate have been verified by repeated dissection : we have failed however in making out their mode of termination. We cannot undertake to say whether they end by closed extremities, or whether they have open mouths which communicate with lacunae or sinuses in the intervisceral spaces, or with those in the skin. The lacunae among the viscera we have not been able to make out by dissection, and have not made use of injections Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of 101 on account of the great difficulty of injecting such small animals, and from a feeling of the unsatisfactory nature of such an ope- ration on tubes so delicate as the minute branches we have ob- served. The existence however of intervisceral lacunae we do not wish to deny, since the valuable papers of M. Milne Edwards in the ^ Annales des Sciences Naturelles^ seem to establish the fact of their presence in nearly the whole of the Mollusca. The branches of veins coming from the skin, represented in PI. IV. fig. 2 ssss, have been several times verified ; from four to six venous branches have been made out, uniting so as to form two large trunk-veins, fig. 2ppp' p' and fig. 4;eedd, on each side, which joining together pour their united contents at once into the auricle : one of these veins can be seen along the inner aspect of the skin as far forwards as opposite to the transverse portion of the intestine, receiving branches, fig. 4< g g y y, in its course from the skin, into which its most advanced branch pene- trates ; the other and much smaller vein turns backwards, and enters the skin sooner than the former, after visibly receiving a small branch or two from it. Entering the posterior part of the auricle is the posterior trunk-vein, fig. 2 q and fig. 4 d, which coming from the back part of the skin receives three pairs of branches at least : one pair appeared coming from below as if from the ovary, but was not so distinctly made out as the rest. If we attempt to trace the veins into the skin, we find that they communicate with a system of sinuses therein. This network of sinuses pervades the whole of the skin, being abundant on the sides under the bases of the papillae, and on the foot, and we suppose communicates freely with the system of intervisceral lacunae pointed out by Milne Edwards. Whether the lacunae of the skin have any thing like a symmetrical arrangement as prin- cipal trunks or canals, we have not been able to determine ; but if a cross section of a papilla be made, a distinct canal becomes visible at each extremity of the section, as shown in fig. 6 c c, and from this and the symmetrical order of the venous trunks passing from the skin to the auricle, we might infer that such an arrangement exists. Those canals run the whole length of the papilla, and communicate with the meshes of a delicate cellular tissue which lines the skin of that organ ; at the base of the papilla, they open into the sinuses of the skin. The position of these canals in the papillae, and the cellular tissue in connexion with them, are indicated in PI. IV. fig. 9 of our former paper on the digestive system. The general course of the blood will be necessarily then from the ventricle along the arteries to the viscera and to the skin ; in the first case it passes from the arteries, in a way we do not understand, into the lacunae among the viscera and between them 102 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy o/Eolis. and the skin, and thence into the network of sinuses in the skin itself, in the latter case into the tegumentary sinuses : in them and in the papillse into which it is freely admitted ; it is more or less perfectly aerated, and thence flows into the veins which pass from the skin to the auricle, and which are called by M. Milne Edwards branchio-cardiac vessels. From what we have observed however on attentively examining the connexions of the ovarium, we are inclined to think that the whole of the blood does not circulate in the way above described, for we are pretty sure we have recognized small veins passing away from the sides of the ovarium and entering the skin, and we men- tioned above that we had, though indistinctly, made out a pair of veins running from the same organ to the posterior trunk vein that empties itself into the auricle. If these observations be correct, then a small portion of blood is returned to the heart in a way that forms an exception to the general rule, and the existence of veins distinct from the branchio-cardiac is established. These veins we presume must carry off from the ovarium to the heart and the skin the blood which has been supplied by the ovarian artery. In confirmation of these observations and of the inference drawn from them, we would add, that Baron Cuvier in his ^ Memoires,^ &c. has described and flgured in the anatomy of Tritonia Hombergii six veins passing from the mass of liver and ovarium into the skin of the side of the body, and conveying the blood to the branchial tufts ; and having ourselves seen some time ago in the same animal similar vessels passing also from that mass to the skin, we are the more inclined to confide in the observations of the Baron. Examinations of the heart of E. coronata have afi’orded the same results as we have detailed with regard to E. papillosa. We have succeeded in tracing nearly all the arteries in that species that were observed in the latter ; but the venous tubes, from the excessive delicacy and high transparency of the parts, enhanced by the minuteness of the species, have hitherto escaped us. From frequent observations of the above organs in E. oli- vacea and several other species in the living state, we are confi- dent that the circulatory system is as complete in these as in the previously mentioned species. In M. de Quatrefages^ account of the organs of circulation in Eolidina, the existence of the venous system is altogether nega- tived. The incorrectness of this observation we have already suf- ficiently proved. The two funnel-shaped auricular appendages of the heart described by him have been suggested most likely by a view of the anterior bordei’ of the auricle, and by some folding of the auricle itself or of the skin along the median line of the body. It is certain that the auricle is single, and that it Messrs. Hancock and Eiiibleton on the Anatomy o/Eolis. 103 does receive tranks of veins on each side and behind_, — tranks that result from the union of numerous venous branches of various size ; that it does not communicate directly with lacunje among the viscera is also certain ; and that if we admit the existence of lacunae, they do not supersede the venous system, but occupy the position of the capillary system of the higher animals. With regard to the arterial system, we can follow M. de Quatrefages with confidence only so far as the bifurcation of the aorta, and have not been able to discover the symmetrical division and ar- rangement of its branches as described in his memoir and figured in his plate, but we have succeeded in tracing many branches of arteries to a degree of fineness of which that gentleman seems to entertain no idea. M. de Nordmann describes a ventricle and funnel-shaped pro- cesses, but besides these mentions an auricle ; in other respects he seems to have fallen into the same errors as M. de Quatre- fages: these errors seem due to the exclusive use of the compressor. Organs of Respiration. The function of respiration we believe to be performed by the whole surface of the skin, including the papillae; the skin of the back and of the sides between the papillae, and the entire sur- faces of these latter organs, present the phaenomenon of ciliary vibration*. The papillae we regard as one modification among many of increasing the surface for a respiratory purpose, and thus are to be regarded as a specialized breathing apparatus, to which the rest of the skin is subsidiary. The skin, PI. IV. fig. 5, consists of a layer of muscular fibres covered by a tegumentary envelope or cutis that is provided with an epithelium. The skin varies much in thickness in different parts, being thinnest over the back and on the papillae, very thick where the papillae exist ; and it here contains near the external surface the ramifications of the digestive system, becomes much thinner sud- denly where the papillae cease along the sides, and attains on the foot its greatest thickness and strength. Its epithelium consists of very small granular nucleated particles, which during life are provided with vibratile cilia. The outer or dermal layer of the skin, fig. 5 5, appears to secrete the abundant tenacious matter that exudes from the ani- mal, and to be the seat of an exquisite sensibility ; this layer is thin, but continuous with the next or muscular layer a, which * Having recently, and since writing the above, discovered vibratile cilia covei'ing the whole of the under surface of the foot oi Doris and also of se- veral of the testaceous Gasteropods, there can be little doubt that they are present also on the foot of Eolis. 104 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. might be called the cellular from its structure ; this it is which varies so much in thickness. Next the visceral cavity there is a thin stratum of longitudinal and transverse fibres ; outside of this is the membranous cell-work^ containing sinuses that open into the trunk-veins going to the auricle. The muscular coating in the papillae is very delicate, and its fibres wider apart than in the rest of the skin, running longi- tudinally in bundles of two or three together at intervals, and transversely in fewer number and less regularly, as is represented in PL IV. fig. 9 of our previous paper. The cell-work described as existing in the papillae communi- cates freely with the system of sinuses mentioned as belonging to the skin of the body, and this system again we have traced to be continuous with the venous trunks leading to the auricle. Under the compressor of the microscope we have seen, in the cellular layer of the papillae, the blood move backwards and for- wards to and from the base of the papillae and into the skin, in obedience to the contractions of the body and of the papillary walls ; but we believe, that if the animal were at rest and quite free, the action of the heart would also cause similar motions in the normal way. We look upon the contractions of the gene- ral integument and of the papillae to be only accessory, not essen- tial, to the perfect circulation of the blood. Now the whole or nearly the whole of the blood that passes to the auricle of the heart comes, as we have shown, in the section on the circulatory organs, directly from the skin, and as we know that the blood thus circulating in the skin and papillae is separated from the oxygenated water of the surrounding sea by a very thin layer, in the papillae by an exceedingly delicate mem- brane, we have little hesitation in saying, that it is in the papillae essentially, and in the rest of the skin secondarily, that the func- tion of arterialization of the blood is carried on previously to the return of that fluid to the heart. EXPLANATION OF PLATES III. and IV. Plate III. Fig. 1. General view of the generative organs E.papillosa partially drawn asunder : a, sac of penis retracted into body ; b, female channel ; c c, testis ; d, ovarium ; e, oviduct ; /, dilated portion of ditto ; e\ continuation of ditto towards spermatheca duct ; g g, transpa- rent portion of mucus-gland ; g' g', opake portion of ditto ; fi, sper- matheca ; /, its duct;y, accessory glandule ; k, confluence of testis and oviduct. Fig. 2. Same organs more fully displayed : a, sac of penis ; a\ male orifice ; h, female channel ; V, female orifice ; c c, portions of testis ; e, ovi- duct;/, dilated portion of same ; e\ continuation of ditto to testis ; g g, pellucid portion of mucus-gland ; g\ granular portion of ditto ; h, spermatheca ; i, its duct ; jj, accessory glands ; k, sudden angle Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 105 of oviduct receiving testis ; Z, point of union of oviduct with sper- matheca duct ; m, bifurcation of oviduct into channels going to external parts; w, short branch going to duct of mucus-gland; V, long branch to external orifice, being continuation of spermatheca duct. Fig. 3. Generative organs of E. coronata fully displayed : a, sac of penis ; b, female channel ; c, testis ; d, ovary ; e, oviduct ; /, dilated portion of ditto; g g, pellucid portion of mucus-gland; g\ granular por- tion of ditto ; A, spermatheca ; Z, its duct ; V i\ branch from it to vaginal sac ; j f, channel from exterior into vaginal sac ; k, union of oviduct and testis ; I, junction of oviduct with spermatheca duct ; m, termination of oviduct in duct of mucus-gland. Fig. 4. Portion of generative organs of E. Drunimondi : a, sac of penis ; 6, female channel; c\ testis ; d, oviduct receiving testis; ii, duct from vaginal sac to spermatheca ; y, vaginal sac ; j\ its channel leading to external orifice. Fig. 5. Exserted penis of E. papillosa : a, penis ; h, female orifice. Fig. 6. Exserted penis of Drurnmondi : a, penis ; h, female orifice ; c, ori- fice of penis. Fig. 7. Sac of penis of E. papillosa laid open : a, cavity of sac ; h, its orifice ; c, penis retracted ; d, testis ; e, orifice of penis. Fig. 8. Sac of penis of E. coronata laid open : a, cavity of sac ; Z», its orifice ; c, retracted penis ; d, testis ; e, orifice of penis. Fig. 9. Contents of testis : a, h, c, different appearances of cells found therein. Fig. 10. Spermatozoa: a, from spermatheca of E. coronata; h, two more highly magnified from E. papillosa ; c, corpuscles associated with same. Plate IV. Fig. 1. «, cells of ovary containing very imperfect ova; Z>, c, ova in more advanced stages of development. Fig. 2. Vascular system of E. papillosa : a, ventricle ; h, auricle; ccc c, pe- ricardium laid open ; d, aorta ; e, artery to stomach ; d e' e' e', small branches to ditto; /, anterior aorta; f, posterior aorta removed from body ; g, ovarian artery ; k, artery to posterior part of foot ; i i i, branches to the intestine ; j, artery to generative organs ; k, oesophageal branch ; Z, branch to interior of buccal mass ; m, con- tinuation of aorta to mouth and anterior part of foot ; n, buccal mass ; o, oesophagus ; pp, anterior lateral veins going to auricle ; p' p', posterior ditto ; q, posterior median vein ; s s s, venous branches to ditto ; r, point of attachment of auricle and ventricle. Fig. 3. Longitudinal section of heart of E. papillosa : a, interior of ditto showing carneae columnas ; Z>, portion of auricle ; c, auriculo-ven- tricular valve ; d, aortic valve ; e, aorta ; /, sinus of ditto. Fig. 4. Heart of E. papillosa inflated ; a, ventricle ; h, auricle ; c, aorta ; d, posterior median vein receiving lateral branches ; e e, anterior lateral veins receiving branches, g g, from skin ; e’ e', posterior lateral veins ; / ///, pericardium laid open. Fig. 5. Section of skin of foot and side of body of E. papillosa : a a, mus- cular or cellular layer ; bbb, dermal layer or cutis with epithelium ; e, side of body ; f, foot. Fig. 6. Transverse section of papilla of E. papillosa : a, hepatic gland ; Z>, duct of ditto ; c, large vascular canals ; d d d, cellular tissue around gland. 106 Mr. J. Morris on a new species 0/ Nautilus. X — .Description of a new species of Nautilus from the Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight. By J. Morris, F.G.S.* Nautilus Saxbii : Morris, 1847. Testa ovali, compressa, complanata, laevigata, subumbillcata ; dorso piano sen subcanaliculato ; anfractibus compressis ; apertura sub- triangulari, vel subsagittata, lateraliter compressa, antice truncata ; septis numerosis valde sinuosis in umbilico flexuosis vel im- pressis ; siphunculo subcentrali ? Shell discoidal, smooth, slightly umbilicated, with compressed and somewhat angular volutions, contracted towards the margin, with their greatest diameter near to the umbilicus ; aperture somewhat triangular, laterally compressed, anteriorly truncate, posteriorly impressed or notched by the preceding volution ; back flat, or very slightly channeled in the middle. Septa numerous, nearly equal, the margins very sinuous and rather incurved as they pass over the back ; one sinus very large ; the other, near the umbilicus, small, the intervening saddle placed on the greatest convexity of the volutions. Siphuncle suhcentral. The general form of this Nautilus is like that of Ammonites Fittoni (d^Archiac) and Am. splendens (Sow.), both of which * Read before the Geological Society of London, 15tli December 1847. Mr. A. White on a new suhgenus of Calandridse. * * 107 species it resembles in the shape of the aperture. It is also allied to Nautilus Gh'avesianus, d^Orb. (Terr. Juras. t. 38), in the laterally compressed volutions ; but that species is furnished with a sharp keel, whereas in N. Saxbii the keel is truncated. The Nautilus Saxbii closely resembles the N. mesodicus (Quenstedt) *, but differs from it in being of less breadth, having a smaller umbilicus, and in the greater number of the septa. This shell is readily distinguished from the other lower green- sand species by its more compressed form, angular volutions, truncate back and somewhat sagittate aperture, and more sinu- ous septa ; in which latter character it resembles some J urassic species, as Nautilus biangalatus, N. sinuatus and N. triangularis of the inferior oolite. In the individual specimen here described, the last septum is filled with iron pyrites, presenting a contrast to the remaining septa, which are occupied by crystallized carbonate of lime. The body chamber is filled with the sandy matrix of the bed from which it was obtained. Locality. From the Lower Greensand, at Atherfield, Isle of Wight; in the lowest bed of the Crackers^ group (No. 4 of the Table ” in Geol. Journal, vol. iii.)t. This interesting species of Nautilus, which I believe is hitherto undescribed, was put into my hands by Dr. Fitton, F.R.S., to whom it had been sent, with other rare specimens, by S. M. Saxby, Esq. of Mountfield near Bonchurch, Isle of AAight, from his valuable collection of Isle of Wight fossils. XI. — Description of an apparently new subgenus of Calandridse from the Philippine Islands. By Adam White, F.L.S., As- sistant Zool. Dep. British Museum. Calandra. {Hijposarothra, White.) Antennae rather strong, springing from a depression situated a little behind the middle of the side portion of the beak, and if stretched out would reach slightly beyond the end of the beak ; basal joint nearly as long as the funiculus and last joint taken together; first and second joint of the funieulus * “Die Cephalopoden des Salzkammergutes, &c. von' Franz R. von Hauer ” (tab. 10. f. 4, 5). Vienna, 1846. t In vol. iii. of the Geological .Journal the name is N. Saxhianus. The genitive termination is here adopted, on Dr. Fitton’s suggestion, as accord- ing with the other new names {Ammonites Hamhrovii^ &c.) in the “ Cata- logue ” of part of the Society’s Museum (Journal, vol. i.). 108 Mr. A. White on a new suhgenus of Calandridse. longer than the other four, which are cup-shaped and all punc- tured ; club fusiform, apparently of one joint, the end slightly pointed. Beak nearly as thick as the head, considerably longer than the thorax, gradually bent and deflexed at the tip, the sides com- pressed and channeled from before the eye to within a short distance of the base of the mandibles, upper part more or less rounded j the under side, except just at the tip, thickly clothed • with close thick-set hairs, much like a tooth-brush, the middle line seemingly with fewer hairs or perhaps free from them. Eijes largish, oblong, nearly straight behind, somewhat pointed above, slightly rounded in front where the beak comes, and nearly as much separated below as above, the space between them being considerable. Thorax subovate, convex all round, upper surface behind some- what depressed, the front part slightly strangulated ; scutellum longish, narrow. Prothorax below, just in front of the inser- tion of the fore-legs, with a prominent dagger-shaped keel. Calandra [Hyposarothra) imperatrix, White. Head and antennse white, tip of beak black, club of antennae black, the other joints punctured with brown; of an obscure whitish colour, with seven dusky brownish longitudinal bands on the thorax, one and the widest down the middle, three on each side of the thorax, the intermediate two joined in front; each of the elytra with a large dusky brown patch intersected by a cross, which at the top emits two white branches, con- nected with the white of the base and sides ; pygidium with a large oval patch on the mid- dle, and some brownish dots ; the sides of three of the seg- ments of the abdomen with a Calandra (Hyposarothra) imperatrix. blackish brown patch ; some of the mesosternal plates punctured and marked with a largish pale brown patch. The femora and tibi^ of each leg thickly furnished on the in- side with reddish yellow hairs ; legs clouded and dotted with brownish ; tarsi with the claws and last joint black. Head and beak above finely punctured, excepting down the middle, where it is smooth. Thorax above with many scattered punctures and 109 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. a slightly impressed line down the middle, which runs into a triangular depression in front of the scutellum ; scutellum white, without apparent punctures. Elytra, each furnished with nine deeply impressed lines, the third (from the suture) joined at the tip with the eighth, fourth and seventh joined at the tip, and the third and fourth also joined at the tip and connected with the fourth by a branch. Hab. Philippine Islands. Mus. Brit. Elytra considerably depressed above, the base somewhat mar- gined close to the thorax; each elytron with the lateral edge widely sinuated, the end rounded. Legs strong, the anterior pair close together at the base ; tibise short, slightly bisinuated within ; tarsi with the two basal joints narrow, the second subquadrate and both grooved at the base, the third subrotundate, somewhat widest in front, grooved at the base, and furnished on the sole with very close thick-set hairs. This subgenus would almost appear to connect the two sub- divisions Cryptopygi and Gymnopygi of the family Calandridce of Schoenherr (Genera et Species Curculionidum, viii. p. 334) ; with the former it nearly agrees in the position of the antennse, being about the middle of the beak (which however, as in Bren- tida and many Cw'culionidce, may be only a sexual distinction) ; with the latter in the pygidium being exposed, or not covered by the elytra. The form may thus prove interesting as one of those links which serve to show how families, subdivisions and genera lapse into each other. In appearance, judging by Schoenherr^s description, this in external colour seems to resemble his Pote- riophorus niveus, iv. 846. The figm^e, carefully made, of the natural size, by Mr. Wm. Wing, will show its form, the profile, and also the markings of the only species which was found by Mr. Cuming, F.L.S., at the north end of Luzon in the Philippine Islands in the province of Cagayan. XII. — On the Insects of Jamaica. By Philip Henry Gosse. The following is a very imperfect list of the Insects collected by me during a residence of about a year and a half in Jamaica : imperfect, because many species seem to be as yet unnamed, and also because many others which I omitted to register with a number, it would now be exceedingly difficult to determine. Imperfect as it is, however, I communicate it, as local lists are always useful to science : and I shall use this one as a vehicle for recording a few scattered notices of individual species, which, though too trivial to form separate papers, may yet, as isolated facts, be worth preserving from oblivion. 110 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. 1 had left England with high expectations of the richness of the West Indian entomology : large and gaily- coloured beetles, 1 supposed, would be crawling on almost every shrub, gorgeous butterflies be filling the air, moths be swarming about the forest-edges at night, and caterpillars be beaten from every bush. These expectations were far from being realized ; a few species of butterflies, chiefly Pieris, Callidryas, Terias, Heliconia Charitonia, Argynnis Passijlorcs, and A. Delilaj Cystineura Mardania, and one or two Nymphalidce and Lycmnadce, are indeed common enough at all times, and in almost all situations j others are abundant at a particular season or locality ; but in general butterflies are to be obtained only casually. Moths are still more rare : I had pro- vided myself with bulPs-eye lanterns, and repeatedly took them out after nightfall, carefully searching the banks and hedges by the sides of roads, the margins of woods, &c., but never, in this way, took a single specimen. At some seasons, however, as Decem- ber, and more particularly June, on rainy nights, hundreds of little NoctuadcB, Pyralida, Geometradce, Tineadce, &c. fly in at the open windows, and speckle the ceiling, or flutter around the glass-shades with which the candles are protected from the draughts. A good many small beetles, and other things, also fly in on such occasions, and several interesting species I have taken in this way which I never saw at any other time. But in general beetles and the other orders are extremely scarce, and especially Diptera ; I have often been astonished at the paucity of these, as compared with their abundance in Canada, the Southern United States, and other localities (in which I have collected) during the hot weather. One may often walk a mile, — I do not mean in the depth of the forest, but in situations com- paratively open, beneath an unclouded sun, — and not see more than a dozen specimens of all orders. Nor is the beating of bushes productive of insects and their larvse, as I have found it in North America. In Canada I have shaken ofi* perhaps twenty species of lepidopterous larvse in the course of an hour or two on an autumnal morning ; but I think I have seen scarcely more than half that number of caterpillars in Jamaica during a year and a halCs collecting. To this scarcity of insects however there are two or three local and seasonal exceptions. And this leads me to speak of the prin- cipal localities where I have collected my specimens, and to give a brief description of them, which yet will be but superficial, owing to my ignorance of botany and geology. Bluefields. — I begin with this place, because it was the centre of my operations, and my stated residence during my whole sojourn in the island. Bluefields was once a sugar-estate, situated on a gentle slope, about a quarter of a mile from the in Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. sea-shore. The greater part is now what is called ruinate^ being covered with a dense and tangled mass of second growth^ chiefly logwood, interspersed with calabashes ( Cresce/i/m) and many fruit- trees, such as the Avocada pear {Per sea), orange-trees, mangoes, cocoa-nuts, Blighia sapida, guavas, papaws, and the different kinds of Anona. About a dozen acres are kept open, in pasture, in which there grow many flowering weeds, as Argemone, Stachytarpheta, small Passiflora, Asclepias, &c. The fences consist of ^'dry walls,^^ that is, low walls built up of loose stones without cement. Over these sprawl various kinds of Cereus, Aristolochia, Aroidea, and beautiful Convolvuli, Ipomcece and Echites-, while at their bases spring up numberless bushes of Lantana, of several species, always covered with their cheerful blossom, Cleome, and many pa- pilionaceous and other flowering plants. The out-buildings of a sugar-estate, as the mill, the boiling-house, &c., still stand, but as mere skeletons ; the bare walls, the beams and rafters yet remaining, but the planking of the floors and the shingles of the roofs almost quite gone. These buildings present a curious ap- pearance ; for with the singular rapidity of tropical vegetation, the whole interior is occupied with young trees, already over- topping the roof, and slender lianes hang down like cords from one to another, or are thrown in loops over the beams ; while elegant ferns of many kinds spring from every crevice of the walls both within and without, and, curving outwards, depend in the most graceful forms. Various insects have established themselves in these ruined outhouses : the earthen floor of one is pierced with the burrows of a red Sphex, numbers of which are coming and going, and wheeling hither and thither close to the ground all day long ; and in the dry dust of another are hun- dreds of the conical pit-falls of a Myrmeleon larva, the manners of which I found to agree exactly with those described by Reau- mur. The soil of Bluefields is a friable whitish marl ; its ele- vation may be from 50 to 100 feet above the sea. Bluefields Mountain. — Immediately behind the spot I have been describing rises the loftiest elevation of the western portion of Jamaica. The Peak, which I may have occasion to mention once or twice, is estimated to be 2560 feet above the sea, but this, as well as the summit of the ridge generally, is covered with a dense and tangled forest, except that here and there in isolated spots the negroes have chopped down and burned over^^ an acre or two, and planted cocoas [Colocasia) and plantains. As they do not reside here, however, but in the lowlands, visiting their mountain-gardens one day in a week, for cultivation or for collecting the produce, the solitude is scarcely broken, and the primseval wildness of nature is scarcely affected by these trivial intrusions. That giant of the lowlands, the 112 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. cotton-tree [Eriodendron), reaches not to these elevated regions, but its place is supplied by scarcely less bulky fig-trees, whose hoary trunks and broad horizontal limbs are a perfect nursery of Orchidacece diXidi Bromeliacece and magnificent Santa Marias (Cc:- lophyllum), broad-leafs ( ?), and parrot-berries (>S'/o«?2e«) tower up to an enormous pre-eminence above their fellows. Dense thickets of joint-wood (Piper geniculatum ?) grow in large patches to the exclusion of every thing else : in other places the trees are tall, slender, and somewhat open in growth ; but the edge of the woods is formidable with cutting sedges and spinous Solanacece, relieved by beautiful tufts of Cannm. The mountain cabbage and the long- thatch are the prevalent forms of Palmcc) tree-ferns are abundant, and caulescent species of great beauty climb to the summits of tall trees 3 while in the damp and dark hollows, and by the sides of the winding paths which lead to the negroes^ grounds, terrestrial ferns of many species grow in luxuriant profusion. Such a scene, beautiful as it is, is not favourable to the development of insect existence ; a few species occur there which are not elsewhere met with ; but it is at a rather lower range, at the brow of the mountain, that I have found more success in entomologizing. A property of con- siderable extent is here partially reclaimed, and devoted to the growth of the pimento and coffee; and though its back is bounded by the dark and tangled forest-peaks I have alluded to, its area displays a very different aspect. Five hundred feet of elevation produce some difference in vegetation, and probably the openness of the cleared ground still more. The bamboo, planted along the sides of the shelving road, throws its gigantic plumes overhead ; the mahoe (Hibiscus) displays its large and showy flowers ; the scarlet blossoms of Malaviscus arhoreus and the crimsoned ones of some species of Melastomacece, beautify the edge of the forest, and large beds of Urena lobata border the road. In such parts as have been cultivated for a few years, and then (according to the custom of West Indian agriculture) allowed to run to waste, bushes of numberless kinds have sprung up, many of which are in blossom at all seasons. Though the flowers of most of these are individually small and inconspicuous, yet from their profusion they present an attraction to Hymenopte- rous and Lepidopterous insects ; and such a wilderness of vege- tation is usually more or less productive to the entomologist. In this particular locality I have usually found butterflies pretty numerous, principally ISkymplialidce and Hesperiadce, and those of sorts rarely found in the lowlands ; but from the tangled cha- racter of the “ bush,^^ and from the height of the blossomed summits about which they hover, they are less readily obtained than observed. It is to this scene that I shall allude when I 113 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. have occasion to mention Bluelields Mountain, distinguishing the loftier and more wooded region as Bluefields Peak. Sabito. — In going from Bluefields to Savanna le mar, the road for some miles borders the sea-shore, which at first is a sandy beach, but soon rises to a shelving, rubbly sort of cliff, at the top of which the highway passes. The first portion, extend- ing to about a mile from Bluefields, is called Sabito Bottom ; the soil here is a heavy sand, mixed with shingle, doubtless washed up by the surf in heavy gales; large masses of the Jamaica lily [Pancratium) spring up on each side of the path ; a narrow belt of single trees, chiefly of the sea-side grape [Coccoloba] on the left hand, overhang both the road and the sea-beach, and on the right a dark and fetid morass is hidden by great bushes of the black -withe. This would seem an unpromising place for a col- lector, and yet it forms one of the signal exceptions I have men- tioned to the general paucity of insects. Many magnificent but- terflies frequent this bottom, as Aganisthos Orion, Charaoces Cadmus, Charaoces Astyanax, Papilio Pelaus, P. Cresphontes, P. Polydamas, P. Marcellinus and other Papilionidce, besides more common Lepidoptera. And when we get up the hill, where the trees are manchioneel, cedar [Cedrela], mahogany, bully-tree [Achras), log-wood, &c., with the fragrant wild coffee {Tetramerium odoratissimum), the papaw, the trumpet-tree [Ce- cropia), the beautiful Spanish jasmines [Plumeria alba et rubra), festooned with the noble tubular blossom of Portlandia, — we find insects very numerous. Many species of Piei'is, Callidryas, Terias ; of Nymphalidce, Heliconia Charitonia', of Lpcanadce, of Hespe- riadce, and not a few of other orders, are at most seasons abun- dant here. A large portion of my insect-spoils w'as collected in this locality. Belmont. — Pursuing the same sea-side road, but in an oppo- site direction from Bluefields, we come to the estate of Belmont. It is very sandy, close to the sea, and on the same level with Sabito Bottom ; yet it possesses some peculiarities both in botany and entomology. Prickly Acacias of several species border the road, intermingled profusely with the formidable pinguin [Bro- melia Pinguin) . The fences are logwood hedges, over which trail many beautiful creepers, as different kinds of Ipomcea, and the lovely Clitoria Plumieri ; and passion-ffowers throw their feeble stems and entwine their tendrils among the shrubs and herbaceous plants that fringe the road-sides. Some small Melitcsce, Cystineura Mardania, and Charaxes Astyanax ; some pretty low-flying Glau- copidce and Pyralidce, haunt these lanes, and a few rare Coleoptera have been taken from the shrubs. Content. — About fifteen miles to the eastward of Bluefields, on the road which winds up from Black River towards Hamp- Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. V(d. i. ' 8 114 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica, stead, and the summit of the Luana mountains, stands a little cottage called by this name, singularly situated on a mass of bare rock on the steep mountain-side. Above, below and around is the primaeval forest, scarcely interrupted by the small and widely- scattered clearings that here and there occur. Prom so singular a position — the tops of the trees immediately beneath the little space that surrounds the dwelling scarcely reaching to the level of its base — the eye commands a magnificent prospect, embra- cing the sinuous coast, from Pedro Bluff on the east as far as Mount Edgecumbe on the west, ranging over the sombre inter- vening forest with the cultivated openings, and resting on the broad savannas and flooded meadows that surround Black River ; this town with its bay and shipping in the distance, and the course of the river itself visible at intervals, winding like a silver thread through the dark morass. The high-road, passing just behind and above the cottage, climbs the mountain in the zigzag direction so frequently adopted in Jamaica, to diminish the steepness of the ascent ; and it is a mile or two of this road that forms the most remarkable excep- tion to the general scarcity of insects that I have noticed. During the month of June the shrubs and trees that border the road (which is cut through the forest) are alive with insects of all orders, but particularly Coleoptera ; many species of Longicornes, Lampyridce, Buprestidce, Cassididccy Chrysomelidce, &c., occur by hundreds on the twigs and leaves; and the air is alive with butterflies, Hymenoptera and Diptera. I cannot at all tell why this abundance exists ; it is very local ; beyond a certain point, the road, the forest, seem to be unchanged, but the insects have ceased : it is very temporary also ; it suddenly commences about the end of May, and by the middle of July scarcely a dozen beetles are seen where there were thousands. I might have sup- posed it a casual thing, if I had had but one season^s experienee ; but in 1846 it was the same as in 1845, the same abundance at precisely the same season, and with the same loeal limits. It is worthy of record, that at the same time and place the leaves of the trees were studded with shelled Mollusca, of the genera Helix, Helicina, Cyclostoma, &c., as I never saw them elsewhere. It is not improbable that some peeuliarities in the geologieal or the botanical character of this region would account for what 1 have mentioned ; but I regret that of this I have no knowledge. The mahoe {Hibiscus tiliaceus), the bastard cedar {Guazuma ulmifolia), the mammee sapota [Lucuma mammosa), the locust [Hymencea Coubaril) and the trumpet-tree {Cecropia Peltata), are some of the forest-trees, with others called burn-wood and down- tree, of which I know not the systematic appellation. But there is one tree which grows numerously in that locality, which I Remarks on the Great Oolite of Minchinhamptoii. 115 suppose to have some influence on the Lepidoptera and Ilymeno- ptera ; it is provincially called the potatoe- wood ; it is at that time covered with blossoms, which, though they grow in thick racemes, offer nothing pleasing to the sight or the scent. But these form the centres of attraction to the insects I have named ; Pierides and Theclce in particular flutter around the summits in considerable numbers, and swarms of small beetles and flies. The Bauhinia displays its elegant blossoms, and in one corner a large patch of Cassia attracts Papiliones and Coliades) but in general there is an almost total lack of the flowering herbaceous vegetation that fringes the roads in most other places. It is remarkable also that the trees in these woods are nearly, if not quite, destitute of epiphyte Orchidacecej which are so abundant on Blueflelds Mountain at a similar elevation, that hardly a tree is without one or more specimens. But in other respects the cha- racter of the vegetation in the two regions differs greatly. This district I habitually visited every alternate week, very frequently spending eight or ten days at a time with my worthy friends at Content. Probably two-thirds at least of my collec- tion of insects were the result of my labours here. The eleva- tion of the region may be assumed (I speak only from my own estimate) as ranging from 1500 to 2000 feet above the sea. Before I leave this subject, I would add, that during the period of insect-abundance on the Hampstead road, a large number of species were taken by flying in at the open windows of Content cottage by night. Many valuable specimens occurred in this way, not only of the crepuscular and nocturnal Lepidoptera, but of other orders in considerable variety. Curculionidce^ Longicornes and Lampyridce were very numerous. I am inclined to think that a far greater number of insects are active by night than by day. At length then I proceed to the list of species, deferring the notice of a few other less important localities until they arise. [To be continued.] X^ni. — A few general Remarks on the Fossil Concliology of the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton in comparison with that of the same Formation in other localities. By John Lycett, Esq.* The following observations have been suggested to me by a re- mark of Dr. Buckland in his Bridgwater Treatise, and which has since been occasionally quoted and repeated by others; — in effect, that during the vast period when the secondary formations * Read before the Cotswold Naturalists’ Club at Purton, August 3, 1847. 8* 116 Mr. J. Lycett on the Fossil Conchology were in process of deposition, a molluscous class (the carnivorous Trachelipods), which in our present seas perform the office of keeping down within due limits the other molluscous races, did not then exist, or that they were extremely few, and that it was only on the extirpation of those extensive genera of Cephalopods, the Ammonites and Belemnites, at the commencement of the tertiary epoch, that the carnivorous Trachelipods made their ap- pearance. Living in a district distinguished by a great profu- sion of molluscous remains, a large proportion of which are abso- lutely unknown to science, a favourable opportunity for testing the correctness of the foregoing theory was presented to me, more especially as these remains occur in an unusually good state of preservation, extending in some instances even to the original colours of the univalves, the hinges of the bivalves, and the external ligament of the hinge in the latter shells. Before however stating the results of this inquiry, a very brief sketch of the physical and geological characters of the district may not be unacceptable to the members. A circle having a radius of only four miles, with the town of Minchinhampton in the centre, will comprise the whole district to which these fossils refer. The Bath Oolite, or Compound Great Oolite as it is now termed by geologists, is the uppermost formation ; its continuity is however broken by two great valleys of denudation, the vales of Brimscomb and Woodchester, which, with their numerous lateral ramifications, have cut through the whole series of rocks from the upper part of the Great Oolite to the middle of the lias inclusive, having a mean depth of 500 feet, thereby producing a combination of circumstances eminently favourable for exposing the useful beds of stone and conveying it by water-carriage. The divisions of the Compound Great Oolite are. Great Oolite and Bullcr^s Earth, the former having a thickness of 130 and the latter of 70 feet. At some few localities the base of the Great Oolite has one or two beds of true Stonesfield slate associated with brown marls. In this respect however, as in the mineral character of the formation generally, the greatest variety and uncertainty exist ; opposite sides of the same quarry will often exhibit such a change ; thus an oolitic and shelly limestone will pass into a barren sandstone. Keeping this fact in view, a con- siderable latitude must be allowed in the following arrangement, which is given only as a general and approximate view of the whole series of beds. The Great Oolite proper may be con- veniently subdivided into three scries of beds, an upper and lower fossiliferous, often serviceable for building purposes, and a middle, more barren and unserviceable. Beginning with the uppermost, or those which immediately underlie the Bradford of the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton. 117 clay, we find an alternating series of limestones and clays or marls, extremely variable both in thickness and extent. Certain of these bands, and more especially one of a compact cream- coloured limestone, are eminently shelly, but will seldom allow of the shells being separated entire. These gradually pass down- wards into the middle subdivision, where the rock is more bar- ren of organic remains, and sandy. The lower subdivision assumes a very different aspect : we here find 35 or 40 feet of shelly beds, separating into large masses, and well suited for the mason. From the third or lower subdivision it is that nearly the whole of our fossils are derived, the stone usually admitting their being cleaved with a knife. The uppermost portion of this series, the planking*, which is from 8 to 10 feet thick, contains the most numerous suite of zoo- phagous Trachelipods, several of which are not found beneath it. To this succeeds a few feet of incoherent sandy rock, the upper part of which is nearly destitute of shells, or only occupied by a few species of small bivalves. The shells gradually increase in number downwards, and repose on several beds of hard shelly rock, locally called Weatherstone. Here more especially abound the valves of small oysters, which at length constitute no inconsider- able portion of the mass, and whose peculiar structure imparts such great hardness to the deposit, that the lower few inches strike fire with the tools of the workmen. These shelly beds or weatherstones have a high character for durability ; they have a coarse aspect ; when once dried by ex- posure to the sun they do not readily absorb water, and conse- quently resist the action of frost ; a careful selection is however necessary to ensure this desideratum. The south transept of Minchinhampton church, five centuries old, is built of this stone, and notwithstanding its very exposed situation, displays all the sharpness and distinctness in its angles and carving which we should expect in a modern edifice. The Fuller^s earth which underlies these deposits is but par- tially and imperfectly exposed within the district ; it consists of a series of brown and blue marls and clays traversed by three or four bands of a hard argillaceous rock locally called clay rag. Some portions of the clays, and more especially the rag-stones, are made up of the valves of small oysters, chiefly Ostrea acumu nata ; the organic remains however are far from numerous when counted by number of species ; they are nearly all bivalves, and I have not observed any which are not likewise found in the weatherstones above. The Fuller^s earth constitutes the most fertile soil in this part of the county ; when properly drained it A local term indicating a thin-bedded stone. 118 Mr. J. Lycett on the Fossil Conchology is well-adapted for pasturage and orchards, which together with a good supply of water derived from the superincumbent oolite, has made it in populous districts the chosen seat of man^s habi- tation ; accordingly its course may be traced by a belt or terrace, more or less wide, of houses and gardens encircling the hill- sides. Landslips from such a yielding deposit, as might be expected, are frequent, and thereby render the barren slope of the inferior oolite fertile : a coating of its marls sometimes extends even down to the lias. The numerical proportion of species obtained by me from the Minchinhampton Great Oolite are in number as follows : — Bivalves 164, Univalves 141, Badiaria 13, Cephalopoda 9. Of the latter 6 are Ammonites ; these are so scarce, that 50 speci- mens probably exceed the entire number. Of Nautili there are two species, one of which has furnished only three specimens, and the other is far from numerous. The Belemnites have only one species, small and likewise scarce. Of the 141 Univalves 45 pertain to carnivorous genera, ex- clusive of 8 species of Phasianellaj the living shells of which are now known to be both carnivorous and phytophagous. These genera are, Nerincea 13 species, Cerithium 5, Mur ex 6, Bucci- num 2 ; a new group of large shells belonging to the Muricida, to which as yet no generic appellation has been given, 4 species ; Pleurotoma 1 ; Hippocrenes, a group of winged shells differing from the Bostellarice of the recent period, 10 species ; Fusus, or a group at least belonging to the Fusince, 4 species. This extreme paucity of the Cephalopoda, taken in connexion with the occurrence of numerous genera and species of carni- vorous univalves, is a remarkable circumstance. We know that previously throughout the lias and inferior oolite the Cepha- lopods reigned supreme amongst the molluscous tribes. Subse- quently also the Oxford clay and Portland oolite contained them in nearly equal profusion. With these facts before us, the inquiry naturally follows, — Were there any peculiar circum- stances connected with the mineral character of the deposit at the locality in question, and what was the probable depth of the sea over the shelly beds ; since we find here zoophagous tribes differing from those of warm seas at the present time not very materially either in number or in their generic affinities ? First, with regard to the nature of the deposit, or at least the more shelly portions of it : — In the planking and Weatherstone beds we find heaps of broken shells piled diagonally, the bivalves rarely having both valves in apposition ; with these are frag- ments of wood, crabs^ claws, joints of Apiocrinite and Pentacri- nite, ossicula of Ophiura, palates and teeth of fishes, small boul- dercd fragments of Madrepores, and nodules of rock apparently of the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton. 119 foreign to the deposit : these conditions vary and change every few yards, as likewise does the mineral character of the beds ; — the results, in fact, of littoral action ; of a shallow sea where the shells were subjected to strong currents producing hasty de- posits and frequent trituration. The oolitic structure is rather scanty and very uncertain. As a complete contrast to these conditions, the Great Oolite in the vicinity of Bath maybe cited. The rock is there thick-bedded ; the oolitic structure prevails ; the shells are few, and those chiefly Terehratulce ; the denizens, it may be presumed, of a deep and tranquil sea, in which corals and sponges multiplied and attained large dimensions. In Mr. Lonsdale^s list of 31 species of Mollusca from the Bradford clay, Bath oolite and Buller^s earth of that neighbourhood, no less than 8 are Terehratulce, and a Crania has since been added; a larger number of Brachiopods than will be found in the 327 Minchinhampton species which I have tabulated. The list given by Mr. Buckman, in his ^ Geology of Chelten- ham,^ from the Bradford clay and Stonesfield slate of the Cot- teswolds in the north-eastern part of this county, comprises 5 Radiaria, 2 Terebratulse, 44 Bivalves, 6 Cephalopoda, and 19 Univalves. Stonesfield has yielded a rich store of remains of reptiles, fishes, Crustacea and land plants, but the conchologi- cal list is but meagre, and we are nearly destitute of information with regard to the shells of the Great Oolite in its long course through the counties of Northampton and Lincoln. Yorkshire, on the other hand, has found able illustrators in Phillips, Wil- liamson and Bean, the latter gentleman having given, in the ^Magazine of Natural History for 1839,^ a list of fossils from the stratum called Cornbrash in that county, consisting of 4 Radiaria, 3 Annulata, 91 Bivalves, 16 Univalves, and 3 Cephalo- poda. Unfortunately, however, the rocks beneath the Oxford clay in that county form a great carboniferous series of deposits accumulated in an estuary, and will not allow of its subdivisions being identified with those of the middle and west of England. From this cause the shells have little more than a local value, since we cannot be sure that any particular stratum is contem- poraneous with another in a different locality. On looking at these lists, together with those relating to the oolitic rocks of France, Germany and Switzerland, we are struck with the great paucity of univalves as compared with the small district of Min- chinhampton. A careful scrutiny however of various foreign works which bear upon the subject, — of the works of Goldfuss, Roemer, Hun- ker, Deslongchamps, d^Archiac, &c. — has convinced me, that if any peculiarity exists with regard to the Minchinhampton fos- sils it is at least of a very limited nature, inasmuch as nearly 120 Remarks on the Great Oolite of Mmchinhampton. one-half the entire number of bivalves can be identified in those works, a considerable number being from the coral rag of Ho- henggelsen, which seems to be the equivalent of our Great Oolite. Among the univalves, the general resemblance to the Mincbin- bampton shells is so great, that at first we feel prepared to iden- tify the greater number of them ; a closer scrutiny undeceives us, and ultimately we are surprised at the very few which we can call our own. It may be suspected indeed, that the meagre lists of univalves hitherto published relating to the formation in question are the result, not so much of an actual deficiency of those shells, as of the difficulty of separating them from the stone in a condition sufficiently well-preserved to admit of specific characters being recognized. The oolite of our district itself furnishes an instance in illustration ; almost the entire suite of univalves are procured from quarries to the north and west of the town, and even within those limits are certain localities from which the univalves can hardly be separated ; but in the upper and middle subdivisions, to the east of the town, we can obtain but few, and those only which approach the globvilar figure, as Natica and Bulla, usually in the form of casts ; with slender spiral shells the attempt is hopeless. These circumstances how- ever are altogether independent of the great fact forced upon our attention, — viz. the scarcity and almost entire disappearance of the Cephalopoda from the sea of this portion of the Cottes- wolds during a period in which deposits 200 feet in thickness were formed, and the simultaneous appearance of a large num- ber of new and more simple forms to supply their place. With our present very scanty knowledge of the circumstances which conduce to change of species on the floor of the sea, rea- soning would be little better than conjecture ; I have therefore rather preferred to state facts as they are presented to my no- tice, reflecting that every such contribution, however insignifi- cant, is something added to the general store of knowledge, and consequently an aid to our conceptions of the operation of that infinite and all-pervading wisdom which is exemplified equally in the lowest as in the highest beings of creation. Hence, though it is well known (as above-quoted from Hr. Buckland), that throughout the vast deposits of the secondary rocks those important tribes of Cephalopods, the Ammonites and Belemnites, reigned supreme amongst the molluscous races, and that they became extinct prior to the commencement of the ter- tiary sera, their paucity in the Great Oolite of IMinchinhampton would lead us to infer that some peculiar conditions of sea-bot- tom existed at that locality which were unfavourable to their increase. But so far from the carnivorous Trachelipods not having existed prior to the commencement of the tertiary sera,^^ Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 121 we here find them in the middle of the secondary deposits in great force and variety, forming in fact a considerable proportion of the whole number of univalves, and consequently existing long before the extinction of the Ammonites and Eelemnites. It is highly probable that Dr. Buckland would not now adhere to the above theory, stated some ten or eleven years ago; but having the authority of his name and occurring in a standard work, it still passes current with the reading public, and has frequently been quoted by subsequent writers. On a future occasion I anticipate the pleasure of presenting to the Club some remarks more in detail on the new or less-known molluscous forms which occur in this formation. The Inferior Oolite within the narrow limits of my observation has likewise yielded a considerable store of novel materials for investigation : these would require a separate communication. XIV. — Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Lepidopte- rous Insects. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., E.L.S., Assist- ant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum, &c. [Continued from vol. xix. p. 389.] Fam. PIERIDtE. Genus Euterpe. Eut. Manco. Eut. alls omnibus supra nigro-fuscis, atomis cinereis adspersis, anticis fasciis duabus transversis macularibus, maculisque marginalibiis cinereis ; posticis macularum sagittiformium serie, maculisque marginalibus cinereis. Exp. alar. 2 unc. vel 50 mill. Hah. Bolivia. Above : anterior wings fuscous, sprinkled with cinereous, the cell with a cinereous spot at the extremity; followed by two transverse macular bands of the same colour running nearly parallel to the outer margin, the inner one becoming wider and less defined towards the inner margin, the outer margin marked with a series of cinereous spots between the nervules. Posterior wings fuscous at the base, then thickly sprinkled wdth cinereous scales, so as to form a broad band across the middle of the wing in continuation of the first band of the anterior wings : beyond the cell fuscous, with a series of sagittate spots composed of cinereous and fuscous scales, about equally mixed, and on the margin itself a series of cinereous spots. Below : the anterior wings are grayish white, towards the apex slightly silvery ; below the subcostal and also the median nervure is a fuscous vitta, arising from the base, and at the end of the cell a fuscous spot ; about half-way between the cell and the outer margin is a trans- verse fuscous band, nearly straight internally, very angular ex- 122 Mr. E. Doiibleday on some Lepidoptera, ternally, marked near the eostse with a black spot, on each side of which is a yellow dot, the outer one followed by two larger ones of the same colour placed on each side of the discoidal ner- vule ; the margin with a series of seven triangular spots bordered with black, the four nearest the apex yellow, the others cinereous. Nervures, nervules and cilia fuscous. Posterior wings silvery white, the base with a black patch, bounded anteriorly by the costal nervules, marked with eight yellow spots, and a single crimson one on the inner margin ; cell with a slender black line along the median fold, throwing oflP a slender branch internally near the end of the cell, this line bounding externally a bright yellow vitta. Beyond the cell is a series of yellow cuneiform spots bounded internally with black, and there is a similar series on the outer margin ; the space be- tween the first median nervule and the submedian nervure is marked with a yellow vitta. Nervures, nervules and cilia black. Head, thorax, abdomen and legs fuscous, more or less clothed wdth gray hairs ; the abdomen paler below. Antennae black. This species and the last-described are very nearly allied, and may possibly prove to be varieties of one species. The whole of this group, of which Euterpe Semiramis may be regarded as the type, are very difficult to determine. Genus Leptalis. L. Eumara. Lept. alis anticis supra nigris fascia media, alteraque pone medium macularibus flavis ; vitta baseos pallide testacea, posticis, supra, testaceis, margine, nervulis, lineisque inter nervulos nigris. Exp. alar. 2 unc. 4 lin. vel 60 millim. Hah. America Meridionali. Above : anterior wings fuscous black, with a testaceous vitta at the base upon the median nervure, extending along a space about equal in length to one-half the inner margin of the wing; a macular band composed of a large spot, slightly divided by the nervules, and of a much smaller one, extends from the middle of the costa nearly to the anal angle, close to which on the inner margin is a small yellow streak : near the apex is a transverse band of four yellow spots. Posterior wings reddish, with the outer margin broadly fuscous ; the median nervure and nervules, a series of dashes between the nervules, also fuscous. Below : nearly as above, but all the colours paler ; the dark border to the posterior wings less distinct. Head black, antennae black ; palpi yellow internally, black ex- ternally. Thorax black above. Abdomen fuscous above, gray below. In the collection of Conrad Loddiges, Esq. Mr. E. Doubleday on some Lepidoptera. 123 L. Theucharila. Lept. alis anticis supra nigris, vitta seu plaga trian- gular! basali fulva, maculisque tribus pone medium flavis, posticis fulvis, maris, fimbria fasciaque submarginali nigris, costa late selenitica ; femincd margine anterior! externoque, vitta subcostal! fasciaque submarginali nigris, puncto apicis fulvo, luteove. Exp. alar. 2 unc. vel 50 millim. Hub. Venezuela. Above : anterior wings black, the base with a fulvous vitta, occupying in the male nearly the whole of the cell, and in the female extending beyond it across the median mervm’e ; on the costa is a yellow spot divided by the first and somejtimes also by the second subcostal nervule, below which, upon the third median nervule, is a small oval yellow spot in the male, a larger one in the female, and towards the apex is a short yellow fascia divided by the last subcostal and the first discoidal nervules. Posterior wings of the male fulvous, with the outer margin black, a band of the same colour extending from the hinder part of the inner margin to the outer margin near the termination of the third submedian nervule; the costa widely of a satiny or selenitic white. Posterior wings of the female fulvous, with the fuscous border and the submarginal band rather broader than in the male ; the costa black, divided by a fulvous vitta terminating in a spot of the same colour. Below : the anterior wings have the costa brown from the base to the middle ; the apex as above, but paler, and with a series of eight white dots near the margin ; the remainder of the wing whitish, with a selenitic lustre along the middle of the wing, a chalky appearance towards the inner margin. Posterior wings of the male pale dull luteous, yellower towards the costa ; the outer margin, the costa beyond the middle, two bands, one along the middle of the wing, the other near the outer margin, fuscous ; a space above the first band nut-brown ; near the apex are two white dots, and in the fuscous margin three or four faint dashes of white between the nervules. Posterior wings of the female more fulvous than those of the male, the black margin and band broader, the marginal white spots more distinct. Head black ; antennse black, dotted with white ; orbits and a patch on the vertex white. Thorax and abdomen fuscous ash below. Legs black, lined with white. In the collection of the British Museum, \V. C. Hewitson, Esq., &c. In size and form this beautiful species resembles Leptalis Me- thymna, but in colouring approaches nearer to Lept. Amphione and its allies. 124 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : L. Theugenis. Lept. alis omnibus supra Isete flavis, anticis macula media costali apiceque nigris, posticis margine externo nigro. ^ . Exp. alar. 2 unc. vel 50 millim. Hab. Bolivia. Anterior wings elongate, rounded at the apex, the first sub- costal nervule anastomosing with the costal nervure. Above : bright yellow, the apex from the termination of the first sub- costal nervule to that of the third median nervule black; this black patch united to a spot of the same colour occupying the outer margin as far as the termination of the first median nervule. Posterior wings yellow, the outer margin fuscous from the apex to the first median nervule ; the fuscous margin broadest at the apex. Below : anterior wings yellovf on the costa and at the apex, the dark markings of the upper surface slightly indicated; the rest of the wing whitish, the inner margin with a large spot of a chalky appearance. Posterior wings yellow, with two pale brown bands, the first extending along the subcostal nervule to its ter- mination, the second below the cell extending from the sub- median nervure to the second subcostal nervule, which it just crosses. Head, thorax and abdomen brown above, yellow below. An- tennse black. Legs, except the coxse, black, with a pale yellow line on each side. In the collection of the British Museum. This species is closely allied to Lept. Melite, from which how- ever it may be known by the want of the black vitta on the inner margin and of the yellow spot in the black of the apex, indepen- dent of some less striking differences. XV. — Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 2. By Arthur Henfrey, P.L.S. &c. Anomalous Forms of Dicotyledonous Stems. Prof. Treviranus* has published an exceedingly interesting essay on the anomalous forms under which the wood presents itself in certain dicotyledons, in which he endeavours to arrive at some general conclusions as to the regulating causes. The essay is a kind of critical examination of all the observations hitherto published on the subject, interspersed with the results of new investigations undertaken by the author with a view to explain or confirm the views of other winters. Our attention is first directed to those remarkable bodies called * Botanische Zeitung, May 28, 1847. Anomalous Forms of Dicotyledonous Stems. 125 Embryo-buds, first described by Dutrocbet*, and considered by him to be buds, which instead of becoming elongated are deve- loped on all sides, and, producing no leaves, are nourished by the sap of the bark. Prof. Treviranus remarks that this view is dif- ficult to reconcile with the generally received opinion that the formation of wood depends on the presence of leaves, and new investigations upon living specimens are very desirable ; it is ob- vious however that the production and development of secon- dary layers of wood occurs here, quite separate and distinct from the central primary ligneous body of the tree. [With regard to these remarks it may be observed, that it is only if we admit the notion that the new layers of wood actually grow down from the leaves, like roots, as is affirmed by Gaudichaud, that there is any difficulty in adopting DutrochePs views. If the leaves only elaborate the juices for the formation of new wood, the elaborated sap conveyed down in the bark and cambium-layer may go to form new layers around the nucleus it finds in the shape of an embryo-bud, just as readily as to increase the great central woody mass of the tree. — Rep.~\ The author next notices those stems in which, in addition to the central woody mass, from three to ten smaller ligneous masses occur surrounding the central one and increasing in size in proportion to it. Mirbel f first pointed out this structure in Calycanthus floriduSj and Gaudiehaud J in the Sapindacece. The course of the formation of the four secondary woody masses in Calycanthus is as follows : — In a young stem there are found four vascular bundles in the bark, distinct from the central wood, and from each other except at the nodes, at every one of which cross bundles uniting these together form a ring round the cen- tral body ; as the stem grows, new layers of woody substance are deposited on the inner faces of these bundles (which are of course carried outward with tlie bark to make room for the in- creasing thickness of the central mass of wood). These new layers are considerably thicker than the outer, previously formed ; they are also progressively wider, and thus form a somewhat cres- cent-shaped body (when seen in a transverse section) ; the horns of the crescent advancing outward gradually approach and meet, so as to include a portion of the bark, which then forms what resembles a kind of pith to it. This false pith of eaeh woody mass is thus of course excentrical, the woody layers which sur- round it being fewer and thinner on the outer side. In regard to the origin of this structure, Mirbel compared the four bundles to those lying in the angles of the square stem of • Nouv. Mem. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat. iv. t Ann. des Sc. Nat. xiv. J Archiv de Bot. ii. 128 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : Labiatre ; but the author states that this is incorrect, inasmuch as these latter are the commencement of the central ligneous sy- stem, being in fact afterwards united together into a ring by new bundles which are produced between them. The author says he formerly imagined these secondary wood masses to have the import of branches, but he has now given up this opinion, having found the structure to be normal in several other instances. In trees with opposite leaves, like the ash and horse-chestnut, the woody mass presents the following pecu- liarities in the youngest internode : the vascular bundles from each petiole, arranged in a semicircle, unite with those of its fellow to form a circular or rather somewhat quadrangular mass ; at the next node below, this opens on opposite sides to receive the bundles of the petioles there situated, and again closes. In Ca- lycanthus the fibrous substance of the petiole also forms a semi- circle, containing the vascular bundles of all the nerves of the leaf except that of the lowest or outermost nerve on each side, which remains isolated. This isolation is persistent after the two semicircular fibrous bodies have united at the node to form a ring, and thus it happens that the bark of the new-formed stem contains four smaller vascular bodies, outside the regular ring of wood and occupying the four obtuse angles. Tracing the course downward in the stem, we find, at every node, that not only the central ring, but the cortical woody bodies receive accessions, and they have grown independently. In Calycanthus floridiis there- fore (and in C. grcecox also, although it is not so distinctly ex- hibited here), the four cortical ligneous bodies originate in the leaf, run down in the angles of the gutter-shaped petiole, distinct from the central mass, and enter the bark at the nodes, where each of them unites with one similar coming down from the leaf above and another coming from the leaf opposite. This obser- vation has already been made, substantially at least, by Gaudi- chaud, but was doubted, without statement of the reason, by Lindley. Any one may readily satisfy himself of its eorrectness who will examine this common shrub. [I found the above de- scription of the structure perfectly correct as regards C.floridus ; I have not examined C. prcecox. — The woody stems of certain climbing Bapindacece are still more remarkable on account of the number and size of the late- ral woody masses ; sometimes as many as ten of these occur, in- closed in a common bark, and these rapidly increase in size to * The arrangement of the woody bundles of the CucnrhitacecB which liave pentagonal stems, described by Dr. Stocks in the ‘ Ann. of Nat. Hist.’ for Aug. 1846, bears some relation to this point. It would be interesting to ascertain whether any of them remain distinct, or if they become blended as in the Labiatcc, — Rep. Anomalous Forms of Dicotyledonous Stems, 127 such an extent, that they often, collectively, exceed in volume the central ligneous mass of the stem. No other plants but the Sapindacea are known with certainty to possess this structure, and not even all the genera of this family, nor all the species of particular genera. Gaudichaud does not name the species and only doubtfully the genus in which he found it ; A. de Jussieu* names only Serjania cuspidata. The author has detected it in Paullinia pinnata, Serjania triternata, AV., and Serjania Sello- viana, Kl., but not in Serjania ruhifolia, K., and Paullinia obli- qua, K. ; not in Cardiospermum, Nephelium, Kodreutera, Sapin- dus saponaria and capensis. He had at his disposal a living stem of Paullinia pinnata^ bearing leaves, the length from ten to twelve feet, and the thickest portion a German inch in diameter. This stem presented three convex sides and as many obtuse angles in each of which lay a woody mass unconnected with the central mass and separated from it by cortical substance ; they were of similar form and almost identical structure. In Serjania triter- nata the stem in the young shoots is triangular with a woody mass in each angle, but in the older twigs the angles and their lateral woody masses are seven in number, and the same struc- tm-e occurs in S. Selloviana, KL, so that it may be concluded with tolerable certainty that the woody bodies which Gaudichaud f indicated generally as belonging to Sapindacece were either spe- cies of Paullinia or Serjania. The same may be said of a form of wood from an unknown source described and figured by the author in his ^ Physiology of Plants The number of lateral masses may as above shown increase, but it may also decrease by some of them losing their independence. In one of Gaudi- chaud^s§ plates the upper end of one specimen exhibits nine, the lower only five, another seven above and five below ; so that some of them have either become united together or to the cen- tral body. Jussieu says : the four woody masses of Serjania cus- pidata, at the first formation of a shoot, are united into a single mass ; but they soon separate and become isolated. The author also, in the twigs of Paullinia pinnata, where they run out as side shoots from the triangular main stem, perceived that the form was originally cylindrical, and thus only a central woody mass existed, but that in its course one or more lateral bodies disen- gaged themselves. The manner in which this took place is thus explained : the circle formed by the aggregated bundles presents three obtuse angles, and the bundles which form these angles diverge outward and leave the combination. They then become * Monogr. Malpigh. — Archiv du Mus. iii. 110, 117. t Rech. sur TOiganogr. &c. des Veg. t. 13. fig. 1-4. t. 18. fi.gs. 14, 16, 18, 19, 21. X Phys. d. Gew. ii. 174. t. 1. fig. 6. § Loc. cit. t. 18. figs. 16, 19. 128 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Proyress of Physioloyical Botany : placed so as to converge more toward each other, since they take away a portion of pith with them, and the centripetal arrange- ment is finally perfected. In a directly opposite manner occurs their reunion with the central mass by the loss of the concentric arrangement of their woody bundles, and their reception into a cavity which is produced at a corresponding point in the central mass. From the nature of the composition, therefore, the lateral bo- dies have a pith, like the central, also medullary rays and fibrous tubes, but the author has not observed annual rings in either. The existence of this pith in the lateral bodies has been denied*, but on insufficient grounds ; the round or oval central cellular mass into which the medullary rays enter, for example in Paul- linia pinnata, cannot be called anything but pith. A. de Jussieu also describes a pith in the lateral woody masses of several Sapin- dacece, especially Serjania cuspidata, which pith was inclosed in a medullary sheath containing spiral vessels, and was of a cylin- drical or flattened form. Gaudichaud figures the latter form of pith, which is centrally situated in the central woody mass, but more or less excentrical, toward the external surface, in the lateral bodies. It is important to observe that the central and lateral bodies are all inclosed in a common bark which contains a common layer of liber ; since this proves that the lateral woody masses are not liber-bundles of the bark, as Martins t appears to have as- sumed. But the author observes that, so far as his limited ma- terials allowed him to see, the circle of liber above-mentioned does not increase in diameter proportionately with the woody masses. An attempt has also been made by Martius to explain the presence of these anomalous lateral masses by considering them as undeveloped branches running under the bark in the manner that the roots do in some Lycopodia, as was pointed out by Ad. Brongniart J, who thereby explained some phsenomena ob- served by him in the fossil genus Siyillai'ia. Bindley § has observed a similar condition in a Barbacenia from Bio Janeiro. Before these phsenomena can be applied to an elucidation of the structure of the Bapindacece., it is necessary to investigate these lateral woody bodies in their earliest conditions. With this view the author examined Paullinia pinnata, taking a yet herbaceous twig about eighteen inches long on which three leaf-scars ex- isted on the three angles, while two leaves were still in a vege- * Schleiden, Grundz. 2nd ed. ii. 162. t Geber die Veg. d. unacht. u. acht. Parasit. Miincb. gel. Auz. 1S42, N. 44-49. 390. I Archiv du Mus. i. § Introd, to Bot. 3rd ed. 316, figs. 191-3. 129 Anomalous I^orms of Dicotyledonous Stems. tating condition at its apex. Each scar presented on its roundish disc the almost perfect circle of vascular bundles of the fallen leaf; above the scar was a dried bud, and below it a strong, blunt ridge ran downward on the stem. On each side of the cicatrix was a little semicircular scar indicating the articulation of the fallen stipules, and from each of these lateral scars an acute ridge originated which became united with a similar one coming down from the leaf next above. On the examination of the living leaves it was perceived that the vascular bundles of the petiole formed the central woody mass, and those of the wing of the petiole and of the stipules, the lateral bodies. These were quite isolated just below the node ; but in another twig which was examined, either two or the whole of them w^ere always united to the central mass, and this was particularly the case in a twig which had a roundish instead of the usual triangular form. So that this anomalous structure of the wood of Sapindacea has its oiigin at the earliest stage, and is connected with the forma- tion of leaves rather than of branches, and depends upon a pecu- liar tendency of the vascular bundles to develope independently of each other, round several centres, which tendency however they occasionally lose and subsequently blend with the central mass. The structure of the wood of the Malpighiaceous Lianes agrees to a certain extent in appearance with that of the Sapindacece, and here it is evident that the lateral bodies do not belong to the hber. But according to A. de Jussieu the lateral bodies show no disposition to arrangement of their fibrous tubes and vessels around a pith, as occurs in the Sapindacece. He has also shown that the wood lying immediately around the central pith is very regularly formed, and has narrower and straighter medullary rays than the layers subsequently produced; while in the Sapin- dacecE the separation of the lateral from the central masses is evi- dent in the very earliest stages of the formation of the wood. In the same memoir Jussieu has mentioned several climbing dicotyledons of very different families, where the masses of wood have a tendency to become separated from eaeh other j to these may be added the climbing species of Begonia. Those species of Begoniaj\^ an upright stem have the wood symmetrically formed but m for example, B. hirtella, the wood on the side of the stem next the wall on which the plant grows is scarcely half so thick as upon the other side which has been exposed to no pressure ; on this side the wedges of wood are much expanded and quite un- symmetrical, being separated from each by medullary rays which equal them in breadth. Lastly may be mentioned some peculiarities in the wood of certain climbing Bignoniacea, figures of which are given by Lind- Ann.^^ Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 2. VoU. 9 180 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Phjsiological Botany : ley*, Gaudichaud t and Schleiden J. Here the general mass of the wood is interrupted by plates of a different substance which pass in from the circumference to the centre, which substance, if it be wood, is of a distinct kind from the rest ; these plates cor- respond to each other on the opposite sides of the stem. Gau- dichaud says that the Bignoniaceee in Guayaquil have originally lour of these plates, next eight, then sixteen, and probably after- wards thirty- two ; but he never saw this in the plateaux of Brazil. Analogous but less regular divisions of the wood occur to a certain extent in old stems of Bignonia capreolata, but here only four plates exist in stems even two inches in diameter. In a stem of a Bignonia collected in Columbia by Karsten (marked No. 33) there are eight such divisions, of which four are not so broad as the other four, and they correspond to each other ex- actly on opposite sides of the stem. Jussieu found four in B. Unguis Cati and B. grandiflora ; in a Bignoniaceous plant from Peru eight, with the traces of the commencement of a duplica- tion of them, which would thus have made sixteen. Their intimate structure exhibits chiefly fibrous tubes, agree- ing with those of liber, but in B. capreolata the author found vessels. The former are arranged in transverse rows with thin layers of cellular tissue interposed ; an organization similar to that of liber. They never reach quite to the pith, the wood im- mediately surrounding this is therefore undivided, and they are only firmly united to the true wood at those points where they terminate internally. A recently gathered leafy shoot of B. ca- preolata about a line and a half in diameter, exhibited the first trace of these four introversions of the liber. Where each of these originated in the bark there was a fibrous bundle like the others, but much larger. There were four of these chief bundles, and they had their origin in the petiole like the woody bodies of the bark in Calycanthus and Paullinia. It appears therefore that continual additions are made to the liber on the inside of these bundles as the wood of the stem increases in diameter, and con- sequently, no formation of true wood occurring at these points, cavities would result, but that the liber bundles grow inward and fill them up. Comparing these last-mentioned forms of ligneous structure with that of Calycanthus^ of certain Malpighiacece and Bapindacece, the distinction is observed, that in the Bignoniacece the fibrous substance, separated from the chief mass of the wood, does not developc outside the latter, but in and with it, at the same time * Introduct. to Botany, fig. 38. t Recherch. &c. t. 14. fig. 4, t. 18. figs. 4-10. j Grimdzuge, &c. 2nd ed. fig. 146-148. 131 Anomalous Forms of Dicotyledonous Stems. without becoming blended with it. But here however, as in the Malpighiacea, has been observed a disposition to separation of certain portions of the wood from the central mass *. We require more investigation to enable us to determine the relations of the structure of Phytocrene to that of the Bignoniacece^ especial attention should be paid to the conditions at different periods of the growth. Jussieu opposes the opinion that the jDlates passing inward from the bark belong to the liber, on ac- count of the different structure of the liber observed in the same stem. But since this difference consists in the fact, that, accord- ing to Griffith t, they also contain striped vessels of small size, while in the proper wood these are larger, in shorter joints and of the dotted kind, the author does not think this is sufficient reason to overset the idea that they originate from the liber. In Nepenthes the ligneous twining stems, the bark, liber and pith, are full of spiral-fibrous cells J, a proof that under certain cir- cumstances these may occur in parts of the stem where they are not usually found. Glancing retrospectively over the anomalous forms of dicoty- ledonous stems we have enumerated, this much is evident, not- withstanding the imperfection of the observations arising from the want of materials : — the fibrous and vascular bundles de- scending from the leaves are in general destined to be collected around a common centre and there to become united together, but yet in their ever-progressive vegetation a certain independ- ence is retained by them, so that certain collections of them may separate from the main body and be developed independently. This development will at the same time proceed according to the law of symmetry, i. e. they will arrange themselves around a centre, and, in case the stem belongs to a dicotyledon, be placed in a radiating series behind one another. WTiat external cause must arise, to produce such deviations from the usual mode of growth, cannot yet be determined for want of comparative obser- vations, in the localities where these stems are found. Jussieu conjectures § that one of the chief causes of these peculiarities is the remote position of the leaves, the distance between them being greater in the Lianes than in other plants. But the au- thor says, that, if he is not mistaken, twining shrubs of the same families are met with without the anomalous structure ; thus it seems that some special impression must be received, which is given to the formative principle by some external cause, such as pressure in a particular direction, as mostly if not always happens in climbing stems. It is well known that Bignonia radicans, also * Jussieu, Mem. Malpigh. 119. f Wallich, PI. Asiat. Rar. 21G, t Korthals Verhandelingen, t, 20. § Cours de Botanique, t. 81, 9* 132 Bibliographical Notices. a Liane, has, when in a condition where it can freely extend itself, the usual symmetrical wood-structure. But Uttewall * observed a stem of this plant flattened into a band-like form, arising from pressure against the angle of a wall, which form it still retained after it had grown up far beyond it, so that the numerous shoots afterwards developed all partook more or less of this character. [As somewhat relating to the present subject, may be men- tioned a curious fact lately pointed out by Prof. A. E. Ross- massler. He states that the Pirs are subject to a peculiarity in the growth of their wood which causes them to split obliquely instead of perpendicularly, and that this occurs, for instance in Pinus sylvesiris, throughout whole estates, in Bavaria, and it is necessary to raise young plants from foreign healthy seed, since the seeds of these twisted flrs inherit the peculiarity of the wood. . — Pep.'] BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, represented from living Subjects ; with practical Observations on their Nature. By Sir John Graham Dalyell, Bart. Volume first, containing fifty- three coloured Plates. London ; John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row, 1847. 4to. Pp. 270. We could wish that this noble volume was in the hands of every one of our readers. It is, always excepting Ellis’s ‘ Essay on Coral- lines,’ the most valuable contribution to Zoophytology ever made by one individual, and contains more that is true and of interest in the economy of zoophytes than any other work hitherto published. The name of Sir John Graham Dalyell has been familiar to the naturalists of Scotland for nearly half a century. He first introduced himself to their notice by a translation of some of the ph)^siological writings of Spallanzani, a naturalist of congenerous dispositions with himself; and he subsequently became better knowm by his valuable contributions to our national Encyclopaedias, and by his little book on the Planarice, the most interesting by far of any publication on this family of worms. But beyond his native country Sir John was scarcely knowm until after the meeting of the British Association in Edinburgh in 1834, w’hen the naturalists of England even were taken by surprise on finding one unbruited, — an accomplished scholar and learned antiquary, — w’ho had studied natural history in a more phi- losophical spirit, and wdth a less selfish love, than any more blazoned compeer, and who had learned much in the school of nature of wdiat was secret and hidden to others. Henceforth this quietly perse- Tijclschv. V. Natuurl. Gesch. cn Physiol, iv. 90 133 Bibliographical Notices. vering experimentalist was mentioned by those who write for the public ; and foreigners were compelled, almost reluctantly, to ac- knowledge that the Scotch savans had been for years familiar with facts and pheenomena, for the discovery of which, in a less perfect manner, they were seeking the praise and honour of their competi- tors. The present publication will not only prove Sir John’s inde- pendent discoveries and priority, but it will place its author in the first rank of those who gain deserved honour by their talent for ori- ginal observation, and by that devoted love to a subject which car- ries one unwearied through years of patient experiment, heedless of any future reputation, and regardless of being forestalled by the fear of anticipation which urges on too often to hasty publicity. In our present notice we shall confine ourselves to the Hydroid Zoophytes. And were we to distinguish these according to diver- sity in their embryology, the researches of Sir J. G. Dalyell would enable us to divide them into three families, viz. (1.) those which “ propagate the young in their own likeness by gemmation or bud- ding from the side (2.) those which in the foetal or larva state re- semble t\iQ Medusis and (3.) those which produce an unciliated roundish corpusculum, that, on its escape from the ovarian vesicle, assumes the shape and motions of the Blanaria. The first family is limited to the freshwater Hydrse, and need not now detain us, excepting only to remark that our author appears never to have observed these polypes to propagate by any other means than by gemmation. Their wdnter eggs, described by others, do not seem ever to have come under his notice. The species of the second family ascertained to be so by our author are Tuhularia indivisa, T. larynx, T. ramosa and Laomedea di~ chotoma. The similarity of their larvae to miniature Medusae in form, in structure and in habits is so very remarkable, that, even after having witnessed their progressive development and birth from the parent. Sir John can scarcely bring himself to admit their relation- ship. But there can be no doubt of this, and the metamorphosis is one of the most wonderful in the animal kingdom. We know not that we could make more distinct to our readers the idea of these larvae than by the comparison of them to Medusae which has just been made, and must therefore refer to the volume itself for the full details. The interest of the zoologist will not flag in their perusal, and in the examination of the figures ; although there is certainly wanting that precise and regular specification of embryotic changes which distinguishes the memoirs of Van Beneden. The third family embraces Tuhularia ramea, Thoa halecina and Beanii, Sertularia polyzonias, ahietino, rosacea, pumila, argentea and arcta, Antennularia antennina and ramosa, Plumularia falcata and pinnata, and Campanularia verticillata. All these produce a roundish oviform body, which on, or even previous to, its eduction from the ovarian receptacle assumes the figure of the worms of the genus rianaria. Hence it is called a pla?tule by our author. It appears to be an immediate evolution from the central pulp, the colour of which it has on its birth ; but some species produce planules of at least two 134 Bibliographical Notices. colours, as, for example, the Plumularia falcata, which produces some white and some yellow. The number produced varies according to the species, nor does it seem to be uniform even in the same species. After moving about in the open waters for some hours, not by cilia but by inherent mobility, the planule rests and settles on some fixed body, where it contracts itself into a circular spot, whence the young polypidom speedily shoots up in the shape of a primary spine. We quote the author’s description of the planules of Sertulariapolyzonias : “ About fifty planules issued from the vesicles on the 8th of July, the specimens having been procured on the day preceding. These animals were nearly a third of a line in length ; the body plump, approaching rotundity, somewhat flattened below, of a smooth uniform aspect, and darker in colour than straw-yellow. In course of their escape they were obviously suspended from various parts of the specimen by an invisible thread ; but when reaching any solid surface they advanced with an equal, gliding motion, resembling that of Plana7'ice. The observer could not associate them with any other genus in the ‘ Systema Naturae.’ No external organs could be detected by the most careful microscopical inspection. They as- sumed various forms, according to circumstances, and, as afterwards established, these were modified also, according to the period of their existence. ** Many planulae continued quitting the vesicles from the 8th until the 12th of July. They spread on the bottom and crowded together on the sides of their vessels. Numerous dark green, thick, obtuse spines were rising from spots on the bottom on the 14th of the month. Several were enlarging as buds next day, which had developed as a hydra from some others of them.” (p. 146.) These discoveries in the embryology of zoophytes will necessitate some alterations in their systematical distribution, and will, we are inclined to think, lead ultimately to the recognition of new principles on which to found even their distribution into new classes. The book is full of particulars relative to the growth, the almost unlimited regerminations, the structure and physiology and the habits of zoophytes, but the interest lies rather in the minutiae and truth of the details than in general deductions, and cannot be relished unless by a student who will read them seriously and in earnest and in the spirit in which they are written, for the style is unfortunately sometimes ambiguous and obscure, and too often Johnsonian with- out the Johnsonian antithesis and elegance. We shall therefore pass on to particularize the species described, making a remark or two as the occasion arises. 1. Tuhularia indivisa. This is described and illustrated with mi- nute detail, and is evidently a favourite. The experiments made to test its tenacity of life and its regenerative powers remind us of those made by Trembley and Baker on the Hydrse, and they are equally remarkable, but to detail them would be endless, for, as the author tells us, “ no definite rules or principles can anticipate the precise course of reproduction,” p. 28. Sections of a single stalk will each of them produce a new head, more especially the section 135 Bibliographical Notices. near the base ; but the mode of growth of the stalk itself is more re- markable still. The head of the polype falls off and this is followed by an elongation of the fistular stalk, the point from which the elon- gation started being distinctly marked by a circular stricture ; another head is then produced and this again falls away, and again there is an elongation of the stalk upwards ; and so on the growth proceeds for several periods in succession. But the successive growths are not regular either in time or in their lengths ; the periods and length of the new prolongations being dependent on circumstances not yet understood. There is something in this very curious, and we shall better impress attention to it by the following extract : — “ Some re- markable facts attend renewal of the head ; and first, the prolonga- tion of the stem seems absolutely dependent upon it. Having lost its head, the stem to all appearance remains stationary, unless in the wound closing ; but from the moment that the rising internal bud reaches the vacant extremity in its integument, the neck, or that por- tion sustaining the young hydra, visibly lengthens, and so continues, until further prolongation is arrested by the separation and fall of the regenerated parts. The wound cicatrizes again. If reproduc- tion follow by another embryo rising within to issue from the sum- mit, a new prolongation ensues also ; and so on with a third, a fourth, or more. Thus are formed as many nodes or articulations of the stem. “ Prolongation of the stalk seems combined with the evolution of the h)^dra by one of the few invariable laws ascertained. But the irregular duration of the successive hydree or heads produces an irre- gularity in the accessions to the length of the stalk. One shoot ex- tending six or eight lines may be followed by another of only two or three ; and the prolongation seems scarcely sensible v/here the head flourishes merely to decay. The utmost dimensions of this product are therefore as uncertain as the number of regenerated hydrse whereby they are attained. Let it be always remembered that the prolongation of the hydra’s neck is the sole medium of ex- tension of the stem.” (pp. 6, 7.) Sir John Dalyell has not been able on many trials to discover the circulation described by Lister in the stalk of Tuhularia indivisa (p. 22), but he has seen it, and described with great accuracy its phsenomena, in the Tub. ramosa, pp. 65 and 69. Thus the discoveries of successive observers wdll probabl)’’ prove the circulation of a fluid in the stems to be a general law in the physiolog}^ of these zoophytes, for negative observations cannot be allowed to invalidate the positive results olitained by previous naturalists. How many have in vain tried to see the currents in the living sponge ; and yet there is no fact better ascertained than the existence of these currents ! 2. Tuhularia larynx. This is very interestingly described and illustrated. 3. Tuhularia ramea. “This,” says our enthusiastic author, “is a splendid animal production — one of the most singular, beautiful and interesting among the boundless works of Nature. Sometimes it resembles an aged tree, blighted amidst the war of the elements, or 136 Bihliogy'aphicul Notices. withered by the deep corrosions of time ; sometimes it resembles a vigorous flowering shrub in miniature, rising with a dark brown stem and diverging into numerous boughs, branches and twigs, ter- minating in so many hydra?, wherein red and yellow intermixed afford a fine contrast to the whole. The glowing colours of the one and the venerable aspect of the other, their intricate parts, often laden with prolific fruit, and their numberless tenants, all highly picturesque, are equally calculated to attract our admiration to the creative power displayed throughout the universe, and to sanction the character of this product as one of uncommon interest and beauty.” (p. 51.) Very unexpectedly this remarkable zoophyte is proved by our au- thor to belong, not to the family Tubulariadae, but to the Sertularians, for it produces its germs in a prolific pod ” analogous to the vesi- cles of the SertularidB, and these germs are planules on their birth. “ Only a single large, bright yellow planule is contained in the ve- sicle, whence it is discharged on maturity from an orifice towards one side near the summit. But the vesicle itself is of such extreme transparence that it is hardly visible after losing its contents,” p.58. Perhaps we might remove the anomaly in its present place in the system by placing the species in the genus Thoa, of which it has the habit. 4. Tubularia ramosa. The doubts which have been entertained of the distinctness of this as a species from T. ramea are now re- moved, for the two productions do not belong to the same family, the larva of the T. ramosa being medusiform. But its polype differs greatly from that of the genus Tuhularia as restricted in present systems, for while the head of the latter is naked and exposed and remains so under all conditions and circumstances, this can and does retreat within the tubular extremities of the polypidom for shelter (p. 65). 5. Hydra viridis, pi. 12. figs. 17-20. 6. Hydra fusca, pi. 12. fig. 15. The only species which the au- thor has found in Scotland. The figures are of the natural size, and very characteristic. 7. Sertularia poly zonias. The most complete history of the spe- cies that has been published, and the figures are entitled to great praise. We here learn that the polypes or hydrae in the cells of the polypidom may die and be replaced after their decay by others, p. 149. The following passage on the food of these zoophytes is worth extracting : — “ The food of the smaller compound zoophytes is problematical ; but it is obvious that all must have subsistence to sustain life and promote enlargement. I was induced by the size of the hydra here to attempt feeding them with soft particles of the mussel, a substance the most grateful of any to most of the lower carnivorous tribes ; and I believe that I succeeded. I thought the particles might be discovered in the remoter parts of the stomach, whither they were transmitted by a distinct channel. There the contents a])peared as a dark internal mass, becoming ovoidal, and the hydra distorted. If the particle be too large, it is retained a long 137 Bibliograjihical Notices. time externally ; nor can it be forcibly removed without the visible reluctance of this diminutive being.” (pp. 144-5.) 8. Sertularia ahietina. A monograph of interest equal to the pre- ceding. The figure on pi. 23 is an admirable portrait of the species. The species has “ two differently formed vesicles,” “ a fact also in- cident to a few other Sertularia'' One of the vesicles is ampullate or flask-shaped with nearly white contents and numerous oviform corpuscula ; the other is compound, “ the spherule containing a single yellow globular corpusculum,” p. 155. Here we are informed that “ great diversity occurs in the shape of the same planulse, from whatever zoophyte they come. Nothing can be more variable than their soft, extensile and contractile bodies, in motion or at rest ; and according to the freshness of their element or the temperature of the atmosphere, and especially when about to undergo the metamor- phosis incident to their race.” (pp. 155-6.) The following paragraph is also interesting : — “ The evolution of the nascent Sertularia, from vesicles in situ, is a rare occurrence. We have seen that, from some unnatural retention in the cysts of the Tuhularia, the organs of the young may begin to unfold. This may tend to corroborate and explain a figure given by Ellis, repre- senting a hydra issuing from a vesicle of the Sertularia pumila. But it is to be noted also that examples are not wanting of portions of the Sertularia vegetating through an empty vesicle with a generated or regenerated hydra. I can account for it only from the sudden me- tamorphosis frequently rendering the planule motionless, and thus precluding its escape from the vesicle. But although this may ensue in the Sertularia ahietina, the discharge of the planule from the ve- sicle, to undergo its metamorphosis unrestrained, is the ordinary and natural course whereby the species is perpetuated.” (p. 156.) 9. Sertularia ahietinula. This is merely an early state of S. ar~ gentea, so far at least as fig. 7 of pi. 25 is concerned. Fig. 6 seems to represent a small specimen of S. ahietina. 10. Sertularia rosacea. 11. Sertularia pumila. We doubt whether figures 19 and 20 of plate 26 represent this species. 12. Sertularia halecina and cognates. The natural-sized figures of this species are beautiful and correct, but drawn from small speci- mens. We differ from the author in referring Ellis’s S. halecina., as exhibited in pi. 10 of his ‘ Corallines,’ to Thoa Beanii ; it seems to us to be a good figure, and certainly not “ from an indifferent draw- ing,” of the true S. halecina. This is elaborately described by our author, but we cannot be brought to admit that Thoa halecina and T. Beanii are only states of one species, although the observations of Sir J. Dalyell shake our confidence in their absolute distinctness. The question is still open to future inquiry. The following quotation describing the rapid growth of the polypes is interesting ; — “ Where vigorous hydrse already subsist, the rege- neration of others advances in their vicinity — the clear and transpa- rent sheath showing their progressive evolution. Nothing can be more interesting than to witness the rapid refinement of an embryo 138 Bibliographical Notices, hydra into perfect configuration, and the display of the organic parts actually completed under the observer’s eye. My notice having been directed to a specimen, wherein, from the highest of three frills, a dark green globular mass rose prominent as an acorn in the cup ; in an hour it became somewhat clavate, while turned slightly aside, still enlarging without any indications of tentacula. But in another hour these organs became perceptible through a very delicate trans- parent involucrum protecting the mass. The head had now pro- truded almost entirely from the frill, and the extremities of the ten- tacula separating, having improved the symmetry of the parts, they were gradually and at length freely unfolded two hours afterwards in their due proportions. The new head of the finest green was perhaps the fourth which the twig sustaining it had borne in suc- cession.” (p. 165.) 13. Thoa Beanii. Well figured and described, and its history completed by the description of the animal and of its planule. 14. Thoa muricata.. The author has never observed “ any visible object ” ever discharged from the muricated vesicles of this species, though he has had many specimens at various seasons of the year, and which were preserved with every possible care. He questions whether the capsules are truly vesicles, or whether they are not rather extraneous substances — the capsules of some of the Testacea. They are certainly not the capsules of any bivalve, as suggested, but they may be those of a zoophagous gasteropod. We incline, however, to believe them integral parts of the zoo]3hyte. 15. Plumularia falcala. A beautiful history of the species. 16. Plumularia pinnata. 17. Plumularia} fascis. This is apparently a new species allied to P. caiharina. The magnified figures are scarcely sufficient. 18. Sertularia argentea. The figures appear to us to represent S. cupressina, but the author entertains doubts whether the two be truly different, and his observations tend to prove that they are not so. The species has two sorts of vesicles, a simple one resembling a vase, and one “ of compound formation, consisting of a hollow pedestal, surmounted by a sphere about three times its diameter,” p. 192. The propagation is very minutely detailed. 19. Antennularia antennina. 20. Antennularia ramosa. The author has proved these to be perfectly distinct. The first has a vesicle which produces “ a single yellow embryo ” “so large that there seems no room for more. It is evolved as a planula, surpassing the size of any that I have seen issuing from a Sertularia, for it is nearly the twelfth of an inch in length,” p. 201. But the vesicles of A. ramosa contain many — from twelve to thirt)" — corpuscules, and the planula is very minute, “ not exceeding the sixth part of the size of the single yellow planula ” of A. antennina. After some interesting observations, the author concludes (1.) that A. antennina has “ a single ruddy stalk ten inches high, begirt by slender verticillate twigs, and bearing axillary ovate vesicles, each containing a single yellow jdanule (2.) that A. ra- mosa is “ a greenish shrub, diverging into boughs and branches, clothed Bibliographical Notices. 139 with twigs : likewise with slender, prolonged, plumose vegetations sometimes interspersed, whereon, besides hydrae, are borne long ampullate axillary vesicles, each containing many planulae (3.) that A. ramosa may have three vesicles all different from each other in form ; (4.) “ that vigorous reproductive energies reside in the ramosa, which are readily and frequently exhibited, while similar energies are feeble and rare in the A. indivisa.’' (p. 209.) 21. Laomedea dichotoma. Admirably described and figured. The cell of the polype is deciduous. The larva is medusiform, and has some resemblance to a hand-bell. “ It swims by jerks, or bounds like the various species of Medusae, from collapse of the body, perhaps aided by the tentacular organs. It pursues all directions, rising, falling, or remaining stationary in equilibrio. Like a group of the Medusa bifida, these creatures narrowly resemble a flock of mi- nute birds wending their course through the expanse of the firma- ment.” (p. 216.) 22. Campanularia verticillata. The margin of the polype-cell is either “ plain or serrated,” a remark which may tend to reconcile the discrepancies in the descriptions of some allied species. The cells are normally deciduous, falling off with the decay of the polypes. “ The two are mutually dependent on each other,” p. 219 j the very reverse of what exists in the Sertulariadse. The larva is a planule. 23. Campanularia dumosa. The generic relations of this species remain unascertained. Its structure, says Sir J. Dalyell, is very dif- ferent from Laomedea dichotoma or Campanularia verticillata. The polype is a vivid grass-green. The mode of propagation is unknown. 24. Campanularia syringa. Another doubtful member of the genus Campanularia. The structure of the cell is peculiar, nor does it fall off on losing the polype. This has about sixteen tentacula. “That number has been ascertained as the complement of several. I have not observed any of the hydree with only eight tentacula, which is in fact a very rare characteristic of any of the marine hydraoid zoo- phytes,” p. 223.— The species which follows affords an exception to this remark. 25. Sertulai'ia arcta. This is the same as the Campanularia inter tfxta of Couch. The polype has eight tentacula, and a few indivi- duals only have ten. The larva is a planula, “ but instead of being generated within a pod or vesicles as others from the hydraoidal Sertulari(B, its matrix consists of a congeries of cavities or compart- ments, as seen in the surface of the mass. An aperture being dis- covered in the middle of each after the planula has been discharged, we may presume that no more than one is contained in a compart- ment,” p. 225. The production is evidently the type of an undefined genus. We shall continue our analysis in a future number. In the Press. We are glad to learn that Mr. Gosse, author of the ‘ Birds of Jamaica,’ ‘ Canadian Naturalist,’ &c., is about to publish a series of 140 Cotswold Naturalists^ Club. lithographic drawings, illustrative of the species described in his ‘ History of the Birds of Jamaica.’ The figures will be drawn on the stone by the author himself, partly from original drawings and partly from preserved specimens, with the advantage of his own notes and personal knowledge of attitudes, &c. ; and they will be very carefully coloured. The number of species proposed to be illustrated amounts to about a hundred and twenty ; of which more than one-half are not figured in English works, worthy of reference, while a considerable number are new to science. The work is to be issued monthly, and is not to exceed the extent of thirty numbers. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. COTSWOLD NATURALISTS^ CLUB. At a Meeting of the Cotsw'old Naturalists’ Club, held at Rodbo- rough Common, May 18th, 1847, Dr. Wright of Cheltenham exhi- bited a beautiful preparation of the Geophilus longicornis, Leach, in which he had observed the veneniferous glands of that Myriapod. He had found no description of these glands in any of the great authorities on the structure of the articulate animals whom he had consulted, from which he inferred that these bodies had hitherto escaped observation. Dr. Wright observed that the salivary glands in the vertebrate animals are in general absent in those classes and tribes which live habitually in water. In Fishes they are absent, an increased mucous secretion being poured into the mouth by a great development of the buccal follicles. In Batrachia distinct glands are absent, a com- pensative secretion being supplied by the mucous glands of the mouth and tongue. In the Cetacea they exist only in a rudimentary state. Hence the conclusion that animals that seize their prey in the water and swallow it without mastication have no necessity for saliva as a preliminary solvent for the digestive process, the gastric juice in these animals being sufficient to complete the chemical changes in the stomach. In the invertebrate classes salivary glands are absent in all the Radiata, nor do we observe these bodies in the Tunicated or Acephalous Mollusca ; but they are found in the Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda ; they are absent in the Entozoa, but exist in a rudimental state in the Annelida and Crustacea. In all the classes of the Articulata that respire air, as Myriapoda, Insecta and Arachnida, salivary vessels can be demonstrated : these organs may be subdivided into simple and compound glands. A. When the secretion supplied is a fluid concerned in the di- gestive process, the secreting organ is a simple tube wdth its distal extremity closed. B. When the secretion supplied is used for the destruction of prey, the secreting organ is a compound body or gland. In the majority of Insecta the salivary vessels are simple ramified tubes that open into the gullet, but in Hemiptera simple tubes and 141 Entomological Society. glandular bodies coexist ; the former I regard as the true salivary- organs, the latter as veneniferous glands for the destruction of prey. In Nepa, Notonecta, Nauco)'is and Ranatra these bodies are beauti- fully developed. In pulmonary Arachnida the veneniferous glands are situated in the cephalothorax ; their excretory ducts arise from the anterior part of the gland and traverse a minute canal in the mandibles, and open at the perforated extremity of these organs. In Myriapoda, as in the preparation of Geophilus longicornis now before us, the veneniferous glands lie at the base of the mandibles among the striped or voluntary muscles that occupy this region. With an inch glass we see these organs most satisfactorily ; they consist of two oblong compact bodies composed of bundles of diaphanous cells closely pressed together and inclosed in a distinct capsule reposing loosely at the base of the jaws and occupying the hollow part of these organs ; from the anterior part of the gland rises a single ex- cretory duct, which passes forwards in an arched direction and enters a canal in the horny part of the perforated jaw and opens near its apex, as in the Arachnida. By this mechanism, when Geophilus in- serts its mandibles into the body of its victim, it at the same moment introduces a poison into the wound which destroys life, after the same principle as the parotid glands in some ophidian reptiles, as Crotalus, Naja and Vipera, are metamorphosed into veneniferous glands for the destruction of living prey. After this communication was made. Dr. Wright demonstrated the preparation to the members of the Club, and exhibited the singular structure with the aid of the microscope. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. January 5th, 1846. — The Rev. F. W. Hope, F.R.S., President, in the Chair. Mr. Edward Doubleday exhibited a large web, of a delicate silken texture and four or five yards long, sent from Mexico, and intended for the collection of the Briti.‘?h Museum, known by the name of the Tela de Maiz, spun by the caterpillars of some small Ypommeuta or Anacampsis over heaps of maize laid up in store. The President exhibited a portion of Mr. Fortnum’s collection of insects formed at Adelaide in South Australia, with drawings of some of the more remarkable kinds, and announced that it was intended that a share of the duplicates should be placed in the collection of the Entomological Society. Mr. Bedell (who was present as a visitor) exhibited a specimen of Argyromiges Roborella of Zeller, a species new to Great Britain. A note was read by Mr. Brayley, accompanied by a species of Anthomyia {A. pluvialis, Linn. .^), observed by a druggist to settle in great numbers on the filter when he was preparing tincture of cantharides, and at no other time. They did not however come out of the cantharides. Extracts were read from letters addressed by Mr. Benson to Mr. 142 Entomological Society. Westwood, containing notices of four new species of Paussid^, re- cently captured in India (detailed descriptions of which have been subsequently published by Mr. Benson in the Calcutta Journal of Natural History). A decade of new Cetoniidts, chiefly sent from Cape Palmas by Mr. Savage, was read by the Rev. F. V/. Hope. Mr. E. Doubleday noticed, with reference to the minutes of the meeting of the Society on the 2nd of December 1845, as published in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Society, that it is his opinion that Papilio jEdea of Clerck is distinct from, although closely allied to, Elerusia ptulchella, Hope ; and that in respect to their antennae, the genera separated by Mr. Hope constitute but one genus. February 2nd.— The Rev. F. W. Hope, President, in the Chair. Mr. Longley exhibited a specimen of one of the species of Ophiusa common on the western coast of Africa, captured on the 23rd of May 1845, in latitude 24“lo' north and 24°45' \vest longitude, the nearest land being the island of St. Antonio, one of the Cape de Verd islands, distant 390 miles, and the main land being 470 miles distant, the wind being from the north-east. Mr. Bedell exhibited a specimen of Sphinx Convolvuli, taken on board ship on the 9tli of September 1845, about forty miles from the Land’s End, in lat. 49° 24^ north, and longitude about 5° 30' west. The ship left Cadiz on her return on the 11th of August, and the wind at the time of the capture was moderate from the north-east, the insect being observed to fly from the direction of the wind. Mr. Westwood exhibited drawings and specimens of the curious cases made by the larva of Clythra A-maculata found among the debris of ants’ nests, from the collection of the Rev. F. W. Hope. The Rev. F. W. Hope read a paper containing descri})tions of the following new Coleoptera, collected by Mr. Fortnum at Adelaide in South Australia. CoRYNOPHYLLus Fortnumi, Hojm. Female : the male having been previously described and figured by Mr. Hope in the ‘ Transac- tions ’ of the Society. Semanopterus, Hope. A new genus, in habit approaching Chei- roplatys, but distinguished by the elevated lines on the elytra and general sculpture. It possesses the grooved thorax of Cheiroplatys , and seems to approach Phileurus. The species are found under dead bark. Detailed descriptions and figures of the parts of the mouth were given. Semanopterus Adelaidse, Hope. Niger, clypeo cornu hrevi armato ; thorace glabro in medio sulcoto, sulco sparsim punctulnto ; elytris lineis elevatis politis, interstitiis punctulatis, punctis triplici serie impressis. Long. corp. lin. 10|-. Semanopterus subeequalis, Hope. Nigei'i clypeo dente parvo ar~ mato ; thoracis sulco baud fortiter impresso, punctato ; elytris fere eequalibus, lineis elevatis et punctis triplici serie ordinatis. Long. corp. lin. 10. Entomological Society. 143 Semanopterus depressus, Hope. Niger, 'pectore j)ilis ferrugineis obsito ; clypeo dente parvo armato ; thorace sulcato, disco glahro sub lente tenuissime piinctulato ; elytris lineis quibusdam elevatis, punctisque in iriplici serie ordinatis ; ano rubro. Long. corp. lin. 10. Onthophagus cereus, Hope. Nigernitidus ; antennis piccis ; clypeo fere trigono, postice furcato, sen occipite lamina lata bicorni ar- mato; thoracis dorso canaliculato , antice 7'etuso, in 7nedio bituber - culato ; elyt7'is sub forti lente lineato-punctatis . Onthophagus Adelaidae, Hope. Nigro-ceneus, clypeo sub-bidentato, postice furcato, seu co7'nubus duobus acutis, lateraliter divergentibus armato ; thorace atro-ceneo et granulate 7'ugoso ; elyt7'is depressis, sub lente striato~pu?ictatis. Aphodius Adelaidoe, Hope. Niger nitidus, clypeo subema7'ginato ; anten7iis atris ; thmace glabro ; elytris sub lente striato-punctatis ; corpore infra nigro ; femo7'ibus tibiisque 7'ubro-piceis. Aphodius cincticulus, Hope. Affinis A. anachoretse. Fab. Capite 7iigro subejnarginato, antice flavescenti, tuberculo unico armato ; tho7'ace atro nitido, margine ornni paUesce7ite, scutello jiavo ; ely- t7'is sti'iatis , fusco-flavis , 77iargine flavescenti, sutura nigra. Aphodius sculptus, Hope. Niger, antennis flavo-piceis ; clypeo emarginato ; thorace varioloso-punctato ; elytris lineis elevatis glabris inte7miediis sculptilibus ; corpore infra atro nitido , pedibus concoloribus. — Port Philip. Aphodius Tasmaniee, Hope. Fusco -brunneus, clypeo integro vix reflexo ; thorace nigTicanti punctulato, margine om?ii pallescente ; elyt7'is striato-punctatis fusco-brunneis ; coipore infra concoloi'i, pedibus flavescentibus et ciliatis posticis longisshnis. — Van Die- men’s Land. Aphodius Hovvetti, Hope. Prcecedenti aflinis, at minor. Fusco» piceus, clypeo integro vix reflexo ; thoracis disco nig7'icanti punc- tulato, margine omni rubro-piceo ; elytris sti'iato-punctatis at7'o- piceis; corpore inf 7'a flavescenti, pedibus concoloribus. — Port Philip. These descriptions were accompanied by some verbal observations on the Stercorarious beetles of New Holland. Mr. Fortnum stated that the Aphodiidce which he had observed possess the same habits as the Melolonthidm in England in flying by night, and that they arc found in human faeces, but are never met with more than five miles from the coast. Several species of Onthophagi are also found in human fasces. Mr. E. Doubleday observed that he had noticed the sm.all Ontho- phagi in North America upon bones ; and in allusion to the attrac- tion offered to insects by putrid fungi as well as decaying animal matter, he stated that in some parts of Peru the splendid butterflies of the genus Morpho are captured in great numbers upon rotten fungi, and are used to decorate the altars of the churches on saints’ days and great festivals. Mr. Spence stated, that from his own observations he was inclined to think that a much higher degree of instinct had been attributed to the sacred beetles than they really possessed. He had observed 144 Entomological Society. them ill Italy for a long time, and had never observed that they formed a hole previous to rolling their balls ; and that instead of assisting one another, the whole scene was one of confusion, each individual endeavouring to appropriate whatever it could to its own purpose. Mr. E. Doubleday also stated that his own observations on the tumble-dung beetles of North America coincided with those of Mr. Spence, and that he had never seen any pitfall formed, but that the insects sunk their balls in the same way as the Nect'ophagi, by merely scratching the earth from beneath them. March 24th. — The Rev. F. W.Hope, President, in the Chair. Two boxes of Lepidopterous insects, sent from Ceylon by R. Tem- pleton, Esq., were exhibited by Mr. Westwood. Mr. J. F. Stephens exhibited a pupa-case of the emperor-moth of an irregular form, being nearly twice the ordinary size, and having the appearance of being double, from which however only one moth had been produced. Captain Parry exhibited living specimens of a new species of Di- tomvs, which he had received inclosed in quills transmitted by post from Lisbon. Mr. S. Stevens communicated the following new and very effective method of relaxing insects : — “ I procure about a dozen shoots with the leaves of the common laurel, the younger the better, put them into a coarse bag or cloth (shot bag Fuse), bruise them well with a M’ooden mallet till the bag becomes quite moist, then put it into a glazed jar or other large vessel, and stick the insects on the top of the bag, which must be tied over with a bladder, or secured in some way so that it is perfectly air-tight. Twenty-four hours is generally suffi- cient to relax most insects ; but one great advantage is, that if they remain a week or ten days in the laurel, it does not in the least injure the specimens, so that they can be set out at any convenient opportunity. It also completely destroys the mites or mould, if the specimens happen to be infested ; and it will be found to have many very great advantages over the old plan of damp sand or flannel. I was in hopes, from experiments that I made on two or three green species, tiiat the colours would not fly ; but I since regret to find on further trial, that Hipparchus papilionarius , Hemithea vernaria and Cythisaria are considerably changed by it. Mr. Dale informs me it answers equally well with the other orders, he having relaxed nearly the whole of his dragon-flies ; and it is much used at Bristol for the Hyrnenoptera : it also effectually relaxes the skins of birds, and kills the vermin much better than camphor.” Mr. Marshall mentioned that a compound formed of one drachm of corrosive sublimate to eight ounces of the strongest alcohol was the most effectual remedy, when washed over an insect, against the attacks of mites, &c. Mr. Hope read a paper containing descriptions of some new species of Australian Buprestidce. Mr. Westwood exhibited drawings of two very splendid Chalcidida, forming a new genus, from Adelaide, collected by Mr. Fortnum. 145 Entomological Society. Mr. Douglas read a series of observations suggested by, and in opposition to, the views concerning insect life published by Dr. Badham. April 6th. — W. Spence, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair. A letter was read from Sir Gardner Wilkinson, thanking the Society for his election as a corresponding member. Captain Parry exhibited a box of insects recently obtained from the Gold Coast, including many rare and interesting species, as well as specimens of Goliathus Cacicus ; a locality worthy of notice, as Mr. Savage had stated his opinion that the Gold Coast was the region of G. Drurii, and the Grain Coast that of G. Cacicus. Captain Parry also exhibited some heads of seeds similar to that of millet, obtained from the interior of South Africa, 300 or 400 miles from the Cape of Good Hope, nearly every seed of which w'as infested by a living specimen of a small Calandra allied to C. oryzce. Mr. F. Bond exhibited a specimen of Phryxus Hippolytes, a remark- able parasitic crustacean allied to Bopyrus, recently described by Rathke in the ‘ Nova Acta,’ and which had been found beneath the abdomen of a white shrimp (Pandalus annuUcornis) on the coast of Sussex. Mr. E. Doubleday exhibited a new species of the genus Papilio, P. Dionysus, Doubl., allied to P. Hippo coon, from the coast of tro- pical Western Africa, from the collection of Mr. Loddiges. Mr. Ingpen exhibited a specimen of a species of Polistes from Mexico, from the body of which several filamentous fungi had vege- tated ; likewise the nest of the campanular wasp of Britain. Mr. S. Stevens exhibited a specimen of a new British moth, Gra- phipliora tristigma, Ochsenheimer (but not of Stevens), allied to Gr. triangulum, which he had reared from a caterpillar found feeding by night on the blossoms of the sallow in April 1844 at Weybridge, as Mr. Stevens believes. The insect hitherto known in this country under the name of tristigma is distinct, and is the Noctua rhomboidea of Esper and Ochsenheimer. He also exhibited specimens of Orthosia leucographa, ruhricosa, munda, miniosa, Calocampa exoleta, and Xylina rhizolitha, taken this spring from the blossoms of the sallow in the neighbourhood of Dorking ; also Orthosia munda, populeti and Calo- campa vetusta from Wimbledon Park, having captured these insects (in consequence of the mildness of the season) a month or six weeks earlier than he took them last year. Mr. Doubleday also exhibited, in behalf of Mr. Angus, a new genus of butterflies captured in New Zealand by that gentleman, allied to Polyommatus ; also another new genus allied to Agarista, from the same island. The following memoirs were read : — “ A Monograph on the genera Pseudomorpha, Adelotopus, &c.” By J. O. Westwood, Esq., F.L.S. Descriptions of some species of Oiketicus from the island of Ceylon.” By R. Templeton, Esq. ‘‘Descriptions of three new exotic Insects.” By A. White, Esq., Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 10 146 Entomological Society. since published in the ‘ Annals of Natural History,’ by whom also some observations were made on the geographical distribution of insects in North America as compared with New Zealand. May 4th. — W. Spence, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. The Secretary announced that the Address delivered by the Pre- sident at the last anniversary meeting had been printed and was ready for delivery. Mr. Moore, jun., exhibited some foreign beans attacked by a larva which had eaten through them, spinning its web for a passage. Mr. S. Stevens exhibited a specimen of DeilepJiila lineata, taken at Hammersmith on the 16th of last April; also a specimen of Chora pictaria, found on palings at Hartford Heath on the 12th of last April. It was also stated that specimens of D. lineata had been taken at Langport, Somersetshire, and by a nurseryman at Bristol in the past month of May, as well as a specimen of Z). Celerio at Manchester. He likewise exhibited the larvae of Polia tincta and Tryphcena fim- bria, both found on the birch at Birchwood at the beginning of May. A memoir by W. W. Saunders, Esq., containing descriptions of some new species of Australian Chrysomelidoe, was read. June 1st. — Thomas Marshall, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. S. Stevens exhibited a second specimen of Deilephila lineata, taken at Hammersmith a short time previously ; also several cases of a tough leathery texture, formed by a lepidopterous larva which eats through the base of the horn of the two-horned rhinoceros, from Southern Africa. He also exhibited some twigs of oak from Darenth, Kent, com- pletely defoliated by the small green Tortrix viridana, which was extraordinarily abundant this season. Mr. Ingpen exhibited a case of insects from Adelaide, including various rare and interesting Coleoptera, Psychopsis mimica, &c. Mr. Harrington exhibited various splendid Coleoptera from the Himalayan range of India, including the male of Cheirotonus Mac- Leaii, Hope, &c. Mr. Moore, jun., exhibited a cocoon of Eriogaster lanestris of a globular form, which on being opened was found to contain two male chrysalides ; and Mr. Weir mentioned that he had observed the same circumstance several times in the same species, as had also Mr. Longley. Mr. Westwood exhibited specimens of a minute species of the Dipterous genus Phytomyza, the larva of which mines within the leaves of the holly, causing large unsightly blotches upon them, and which had occurred in great profusion this spring. He had also reared a small parasitic Ichneumon from the leaves, which keeps the Phytomyza in check. He also exhibited specimens illustrating the history of the minute moth Argyromiges Blancar della, the larva of which mines the leaves of the evergreen oak, the chrysalis pushing itself half through a hole which it forms in the leaf in order to effect 147 Entomoloyical Society. its escape. He had also reared the parasitic Ichneumon attached to this species. He also exhibited specimens of the Coccus manniparus of Klug, brought from Arabia by Ehrenberg, as well as some manna brought from Mount Tabor by Lieut. Wellstead ; and exhibited spe- cimens of the Womda, an analogous secretion formed upon the under sides of the leaves of the various species of Eucalyptus South Wales by a minute species of Psylla, numbers of which were found secreted amongst the Womela. Mr. Westwood had been informed by Mr. Gould, that for several months last year this secretion formed a large portion of the food of the natives. The insects are attacked by a minute and very beautiful parasite of the genus Encyrtus. Mr. Harrington also stated that the genus Eurymela produces a kind of manna on the Eucalypti, and which falls to the ground in the shape of small white crystals. A letter was read from W. Spence, Esq., inclosing an extract from a letter from his son R. Spence, Esq., giving an account of the dis- covery, by Professor Schiodte, of as many as twenty species of blind insects of different orders and genera, all new, in the caves of Styria ; so that it would appear that there exists a subterranean fauna of blind animals. Ten of the insects were Coleopterous. It was mentioned that a Carabideous genus without eyes has lately been described by the German naturalists, and that various blind insects and spi- ders had been found in the mammoth- caves in Kentucky. (See Dr. Erichson’s ‘ Bericht ’ for 1844.) An extraet from a letter addressed by Captain Boys to Mr. West- wood was read, giving an account of the habits of some Indian s])ecies of ants, white ants, and other insects : — “ On our way down towards Sukker, I observed what I consider an uiidescribed species of Termcs, of an unusually large size, of which I made a note. The workers alone are nearly half an inch long. I never saw such monsters. The nestis peeuliar. From the surface of the plain on which I observed these nests, which are conieal in form, little hillocks of about six inches high were seen at various distances from each other, from five feet to twenty apart. These were composed of grains of earth worked up to about the size of millet seeds, and were quite loose, and might be taken up in hand- fuls. Inside each of these heaps, a raised structure, branching off in three or four short arms, was to be found, with an internal passage from the surface of the earth to each branch : but how the creatures contrived to cover the whole without appearing outside is left to conjecture. The apex of each cone was about three-quarters of an inch from the arborescent-looking structure inside. The latter was also composed of small pellets of earth, but half as fine as the super- incumbent grains, and were moreover glued firmly to each other. I removed the earth from the outside of several nests, and blew away all the pellets, leaving only the stump sticking erect from the earth. At the top of the latter and at the end of each branch was an orifice, — the continuation of the internal canal. In about ten minutes hosts of the inhabitant ants came up with earth freshly manipulated, and began pouring their pellets out of each orifice : the latter of course 10* 148 Entomological Society* were carried by their jaws. I sat observing them for about an hour, when I marked the spot and returned to camp. In the afternoon, on my return to it, all the stumps were again covered over. “ The red ant you mention as having been described by Colonel Sykes is, I think, familiar to me. I allude to an ant of about four lines long which builds a beautiful nest in trees, mostly in a mango- tree. The nest is composed internally of a web much resembling that of the earth-spider, but much closer, and infinitely stronger in texture. The outer portion of the nest is a thatch of leaves, brought together by main force, and joined one to another by the foremen- tioned web. I have seen nests almost as round as footballs, and quite as large. The mango-tree has its leaves long and oval, similar in shape to each segment of the casing in a tennis-ball, and the end of each branch bears a bunch of leaves (in a circle) to the number of eight or ten : however, these leaves are depressed and brought to- gether in an admirable manner. The web bears writing on with facility, and the insect in the winged state is green. The bite of the worker is severe ; and the scent of the formic acid, when the nest is interfered with, is so strong as to be almost insupportable. “ There is also a black ant which forms its nest in trees, in the Himalayas above Kimaon, but I have not studied their habits. The nest looks like an agglomeration of sawdust. “ Of locusts there are undoubtedly two species, exceedingly distinct, and which migrate in sw’arms, doing intense damage : — one, a pink underwinged kind with fuscous patches on the upper wings ; the other with yellow underwings, and in other respects nearly similar, except that instead of being tawny it is of bright yellow, and which is far more common than the former. Again, there are three other species which are not so abundant, but still do much damage. These I have only observed in loose flocks, and have never taken them in the larva state. The whole country has suffered severely from the ravages committed by the two first species noticed, during the greater por- tion of last year and the latter end of 1843. The pi)^ underwing species were so numerous in the terrai at the foot of the Himalayas near Bennourie, on the road to Almorah, that the branches of shrubs and trees on which they settled w^ere completely hidden by them, and twigs a finger thick broken down by their w^eight alone. The ground one brickdust red. I observed these wretches in flights ex- tending for miles, so thick as absolutely to obscure the sun, and cause some difficulty to my palanquin-bearers in getting through them, as at every step they rose in swarms, striking and flying against the men’s faces in every direction. This was in the middle of October in 1843. Several large flights of the yellow kind I had observed a month or six weeks previously at Almorah. Of the pink description the colour is more or less intense according to age, or quantity of rain they may have been exposed to. In fresh or lately matured insects the underwings are a very pale pink, and the outer ones not much darker. In old and tough specimens these latter organs become a dirty claret and w^ater colour, inclining to Indian red. Of the yellow kind I obtained the larvae in abundance at Nus- Miscellaneous. 149 seerabad in the latter end of July 1844, though I had never pre- viously seen the insect in this state during nineteen years’ sojourn in India. They were as numerous as their parents, swarming on every bush, and crawling all over the ground for miles among the hills near the above-named cantonment (these hills are a portion of the Ara- valli range which rise near Delhi). The larva is very handsomely marked with orange-yellow and black ; the face, if I may so term it, is bright orange-yellow, the portion behind and below the eyes a dark maroon. Legs (posterior ones) bright yellow banded with black ; winglets light yellow, faintly striped with dusky connected spots. Antennae black, with the two first joints yellow. But nothing but a correct delineation, or the insect itself, can give a just idea of its handsome markings. “ The two specimens now forwarded of a new species of Colias, together on one card, are, I am strongly inclined to think, different only in sex ; and I consider the white as the male, having observed it hovering over the red. And besides this, I have been led to the conclusion by the fact, that for one red I took at least five white. The tree jungle about the place is called the Peeloo : its technical name is unknown to me ; but the wood is held in high esteem by the natives for the purpose of making tooth-brushes. “ I have two species of Celyphus from Mhow in Malwa ; one a bright bottle-green, the other darkish brown ; the smaller species is about three lines long, the other a line longer. They resemble some of the Fungicola, but are rather longer in shape. The hard case (beneath which the wings are distinctly visible and extrude over the abdomen) is very like what obtains in many species of Scutellerae.” A letter was read from Mr. Boreham, suggesting that the colours and forms of larvae might possibly be preserved by inclosing them in glass tubes hermetically sealed from which the air had been ex- tracted. Mr. White read the descriptions of several new exotic Hemiptera, since published elsewhere, and alluded to the alteration produced by desiccation in metallic coloured insects, whence a species of Callidea, described under the name oi purpurea by Mr. Westwood, was, when alive, of a metallic green. Spirits of wine, warm water, or aether were equally efficacious in restoring these colours after death. Mr. White also stated that Mr. Walker was engaged upon a work on the British Aphides, to be published by subscription. MISCELLANEOUS. MR. Cuming’s collection of shells. We have learnt with much gratification that the Trustees of the British Museum have resolved to recommend to Government the purchase of the well-known conchological collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq., E.L.S. We trust that no motives of mistaken economy may operate to frustrate this resolution. Its import- 150 Miscellaneous. ance in the advancement of the scientific character of the Na- tional Collection of Zoology every naturalist, and especially that large class of the cultivators of science who are interested in the progress and application of conchology, must fully appreciate. We have endeavoured to obtain information as to the present extent and scientific value, as well as facts regarding the history of the formation of Mr. Cuming^s remarkable collection, and we have been favoured by the following letter on the subject from Prof. Owen, who was one of the trustees of Mr. Cuming^s museum during his absence in the Philippine Islands, and who has described the anatomy of some of the rarer animals of the shells in the Transactions of the Zoological Society. To Richard Taylor, Esq., F.L.S. S,c. My dear Sir, — I send agreeably with your desire the following sketch of the nature and extent of Mr. Hugh Cuming’s concholo- gical museum, and I can only regret that my time will not permit me to do more justice to a subject on which all naturalists, and those more especially who are engaged in the advancement of con- chology, and concerned in its important relations to other branches of science, must feel deejdy interested. The Memorial on the Cumingian Collection of Shells, signed by naturalists, geologists and comparative anatomists, which was com- municated to the Trustees of the British Museum, on the occasion of the proposition for the sale of the collection made by Mr. Cuming in 1846, well described its im])ortant scientific value and applica- tions. At present the collection contains upwards of 19,000 species or well-marked varieties ; and these are re])resented by about 60,000 specimens. Not only is every specimen entire, but choice and perfect of its kind, as respects form, colour, texture and other characters that give it value in the eyes of the practised shell-collector. In affirming from my own personal knowledge, and from authentic sources of information, that no public collection in Europe possesses one-half the number of species of shells that are now in the Cu- mingian collection — one-third the number would be the correct state- ment as regards the national museums in Paris and Vienna — you may judge of the vast proportion of rarities and unique specimens possessed by Mr. Cuming. It is this which has given him for some years past the command, so to speak, of all the conchological cabi- nets in Europe. He is better known, and his labours more truly and generally appreciated, in any city or town in Europe having a public natural- history museum and its zoological professor, than in busy London. Mr. Cuming, in his annual visits to the continent, carries with him the inferior dujfiicates of his rarities, representing species, with the sight of which the eyes of the foreign naturalist are gladdened for the first time. They open their treasures to him in return, and from most of the collections of Europe Mr. Cuming has borne away Miscellaneous. 151 the prized species or specimens in exchange for the still rarer and more valuable shells, which his abundance has enabled him to offer, without detriment to his own rich stores. The mode in which Mr. Cuming has obtained this conchological wealth is as novel and exemplary as the result is important and marvellous, considered as the work of one individual. Not restricting his pursuit to the stores and shops of the curiosity- mongers of our seaports, or depending on casual opportunities of obtaining rarities by purchase, he has devoted more than thirty of the best years of his life in arduous and hazardous personal exer- tions,— dredging, diving, wading, wandering, — under the equator, and through the temperate zones, both south and north, in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, in the Indian Ocean and the islands of its rich archipelago, in the labour of collecting from their native seas, shores, lakes, rivers and forests the marine, fluviatile and terrestrial mollusks, 60,000 of whose shelly skeletons, external and internal, are accumulated in orderly series in the cabinets with which the fioors of his house now groan. I never think of the casualty to which such a collection in such a place is subject without a shudder. The result of this personal capture of the chief bulk of his collec- tion is, that he has been enabled to assign to each shell, not only its country or ‘ habitat ’ in the ordinary zoological sense, but all the circumstances in which it lived and was developed : if a land-shell, e, g. its favourite rock, or herb, or tree ; if a water-shell, the kind of water ; and if marine, the depth and the nature of the sea-bottom at which the mollusk resided, the rock that it bored, and the animals, the weeds or other substances it devoured. The importance of these particulars will be peculiarly appreciated by the paljeontologist, on account of the insight they afford into the habits and habitat of the fossil shells of the same or allied species ; and perhaps one of the most striking points in the scien- tific value of an extensive collection like Mr. Cuming’s arises out of its relation to the present active pursuit of geology, as an in- dispensable instrument to the determination of fossil shells. It is unnecessary to dwell on the importance of well- determined fossils, and especially shells, to a right knowledge of the relative age and position of the stratum in which they were imbedded. Our con- fidence in theories or deductions based upon fossil conchology must be in the ratio of the extent of the comparison with recent shells that has been gone through in the determination of fossil shells, and especially before sentence of extinction is pronounced upon a species. The geologist therefore from scientific motives, and the statesman on economical grounds, are alike concerned in securing for the national zoological collections the completest possible series of recent shells, as forming an indispensable instrument in the scientific ex- position of the structure and riches of the earth. As such, I believe Mr. Cuming’s collection to be the best and most complete that has hitherto been made. This however is but one of its scientific uses. From the period 152 Miscellaneous. when the Atlantic, American and Polynesian departments of this collection reached England in 1831, scientific conchologists have there found subjects without intermission for their descriptions ; and the novelties were far from being exhausted, when Mr. Cuming, having undertaken a third voyage in prosecution of his favourite science, returned in 1840 from Manilla, freighted with the concho- logical riches of the Indian Ocean, which have subsequently kept the pens of competent describers of new genera and species actively at work, and will so supply them for years to come : thus the Cu- mingian collection has directly advanced the science of conchology in an unexampled degree, and possesses the same peculiar claims upon the Government and Custodians of the National Museum in this country which Linnaeus’s Herbarium did upon the Swedish State. Mr. Cuming’s collection contains, for example, the originals from which many hundreds of new species of shells have been de- scribed in the scientific periodicals or systematic works published since its arrival in this country. Any doubt that may arise through the incompleteness of the de- scription, or from the inapprehensiveness of the student, may be de- cided at once by reference to the original specimens. These ‘ types of the species ’ become therefore an instrument of great importance to the progress of the science in the country in which they are pre- served and made accessible. The price asked by the executors of Linnseus was deemed by the authorities in Sweden too high for the great botanist’s dried herbs, and you well know what happened. When better knowledge and consideration had awakened a due sense of their value, it was too late ; an enterprising Englishman had struck the bargain with the widow. The Swedish government sent a frigate in chase of the vessel on board which Sir James Edward Smith had embarked the precious herbarium, but without success. It now forms the choicest treasure of the museum of the Linneean Society, and continues to be of peculiar value as affording botanists the means of ascertaining with certainty the synonyms of the wri- tings of Linnaeus. An English naturalist may be pardoned for citing this well-known incident in the light of a warning, when further delay in securing for the nation the Cumingian types of new species of shells may involve the necessity of crossing the Atlantic in order to compare and verify the descriptions and synonyms of Broderip, Sowerby, Gray, and other eminent conchologists. To the physiologist the Cumingian collection has a value beyond any other now in Europe, from the circumstance of its possessor having endeavoured to exemplify each species by a series of shells of different ages, as well as by the chief varieties which result from the influence of peculiar external circumstances. The extent to which Mr. Cuming has carried out this truly philo- sophical aim of elucidating his favourite department of nature is very remarkable, and renders his collection most important and sug- gestive in its bearings upon the higher generalizations of zoological science, touching the nature of species and the circumstances and Miscellaneous. 153 condition under wliich specific characters, or what are so deemed, become modified. The bearing of the phsenomena of development upon the solution of the great problem of the natural system of classification is rapidly becoming appreciated, and day by day the inadequacy of a single adult specimen, or pair, for the scientific illustration of a species is becoming more obvious, but especially in the department of con- chology. I could say much more on a theme so suggestive as the collection of shells now ofifered to the British Museum by Mr. Cuming, but I fear that I have already trespassed too long on your attention in ad- verting to the more prominent features of its scientific character. Of its money value I cannot speak from my personal experience as a collector, but of all objects of natural history shells are those of which the current or market-price is most easily determined. Their texture, durability and colour give them something of the character of precious stones, and one molluscous production, the pearl, takes rank among the gems of price. The value of a shell, as of a jewel, depends, no doubt, much upon its rarity, and is to that extent arti- ficial. The Concha unica which today commands the sum of twenty pounds, shall next week, when a score of specimens have come into the market, fall in price to as many shillings. Still, the commonest exotic shell, if it be perfect and well-coloured, and taken from a living mollusk, as is the case with the Cumingian collection, from which ‘ dead ’ shells have been strictly excluded, finds its market. 1 am given to understand, by competent authorities, that the sum of £6000, asked by Mr. Cuming in 1846, does not exceed two-thirds of the most moderate estimate of the present market value of his sub- sequently augmented collection. That ten times that sum would not bring together such a series as Mr. Cuming has offered to the British Museum, I do firmly believe, from a knowledge of the peculiar tact in discovering and collecting, the hardy endurance of the attendant fatigue under deadly climes and influences, and the undaunted cou- rage iri encountering the adverse elements, and braving the opposi- tion of the savage inhabitants of seldom-visited isles, which have conduced and concurred to crown the labours of Mr. Cuming with a success of which his unrivalled collection is a fitting monument, and of which science, and, let us hope, its cultivators in his native country more particularly, will long continue to reap the benefits. Believe me, my dear Sir, yours sincerely. Royal College of Surgeons, January 1848. Richard Owen. SAGINA CILIATA (fRIES). This curious little plant was found near Thetford in Suffolk by the Rev. W. W. Newbould on June 6, 1847. It agrees so nearly with the description and specimens of Fries that I have no doubt of its identity with his plant. The differences are, that its stems are erect rather than diffuse, and the leaves are nearly or quite devoid of cilia ; both of which seem rather the marks of a variety than of specific 154 Miscellaneous. distinctness. Concerning the latter, Fries himself, when writing about S. ciliata, says, “ cilia foliorum plus minus distincta, saepe decidua he also says, “ capsula . . . matura nutans,’" but his own specimens show that this is too strong an expression ; for although nodding whilst the fruit ripens, they become erect at the time of maturity w’hen the capsule opens and the seeds are shed. S. patula (Jordan), Obs. sur PI. Nouv. de la France, i. t. 3, is very similar to our plant, but differs by having numerous gland-tipped hairs on its sepals and the upper part of the peduncle. To it probably belongs the S. ciliata of Reichenbach, both of his ‘ FI. Excurs.’ and ‘ leones Plant.’ v. tab. 200. f. 4956, and >S. depressa, f. 4957, unless the protruded cap- sule of the former should be considered as distinguishing it. Neither of them can be the >S. ciliata of Fries, since they are both figured and described as having glandular-pilose peduncles and calyx. The fol- lowing seems to be the distinctive character of our plant ; — >S. ciliata (Fries !) ; stem elongated, branches diffuse or ascending, leaves linear awned, outer sepals acute longer than the petals and shorter than the capsule, apex of the peduncles reflexed after flower- ing ultimately erect. — Sven. Bot. t. 562, not Reich. — Glabrous ; central stem elongated and fertile. Leaves with or without cilia at their base, tipped with a long bristle. Calyx of mature fruit ad- pressed to the capsule. Tubercles on the seeds blunt. — The figure quoted above from the ‘ Sven. Bot.’ is far from good. It represents all the sepals as gradually narrowed into a long acute point. Not so the specimens published under Fries’s own superintendence (Herb. Norm. Suec. i. 42), which resemble ours in ijiis respect, having two shortly acute sepals and two only pointed or cuspidate ones. — C. C. B. CAREX BRIZOIDES (lINN.). I am indebted to Mr. William Stevens of the Drumlanrig gardens for specimens of this addition to the flora of Britain, which w'^as dis- covered in July 1844 by Mr. W. Macivor in Studley Wood, York- shire. Its specific character may be stated as follows : — C. brizoides (L.) ; spikelets several all simple contiguous sterile at their base alternate in a simple spike, stigmas 2, fruit lanceolate plano-con- vex bifid at the end serrated from near the base, nut (elliptical beaked and stalked ?), glumes rather shorter than the fruit, root creeping, bracts short or none. — Reich. Icon. FI. Germ. viii. tab. 207. fig. 548 ; Hoppe Car. Germ, in Sturm Deutschl. FI. tab. a. 23. — Stem a foot high. Glumes acute, silvery brown. Leaves long, slender, equalling or overtopping the spikes. Rhizoma creeping extensively. — C. C.B. 8ome Contributions to the Natural History of the Rafflesia Patma. By M. Zollinger, M. Bat. Soc. &c. This flower, which still continues a problem in botany and a rarity in the collections of botanists, appears not to be so scarce as has hitherto been believed. I know that it occurs on the south coast of Java on the hills near the boundaries of the Residencies of Passariiwan Miscellaneous. 155 and Beziikie ; I found it also on the mountain Watargan near Puger, on the south coast of the division of Bondowosso. The flower was brought to me from Jengawar in the same division. All these places lie in the lime formation, and I consider that the Rafflesia is an ex- anthem of the roots of Cissiis scariosa, Bl., and may occur wherever its mother-plant grows. It is still uncertain whether my specimens belong to the species which Blume found on Nusa Kambangan. Blume’s specimens must have been larger. The largest I possess do not attain so much as a foot in diameter, and mostly only f. This plant probably occurs also on Nusa Baron, and, it is likely, along the lime hills which nearly surround the whole south coast of Java. I have often seen on one root of Cissus scariosa three or more Raf- flesia. It does not occur on the sand of the coast, as many believe and assert, but mostly in the ravines and humid hollows of the lime rocks. The Javanese of Eastern Java name this flower Pidh mo, or Pidehmo. It is scarcely possible to conceive what idolatrous notions are entertained concerning the flower by this people. An ordinary man would not be able to find it until after he has fasted and prayed or been sanctified when he goes to search for it. The flower is pre- pared with other articles as a medicine which is used after delivery by women, in order completely to purify the matrix. It is also amongst the most reputed aphrodisiacs of the Javanese, although only for women of the higher classes. Common women would be taken sick were they to use this medicine. It is further said, that if a woman of the people has recourse to it, and afterwards going out on foot treads on some dirty place, she vvill ever after forfeit the in- clination of all men. The Javanese reckon the Rafflesia properly amongst the fungi, an opinion which is partly received in science ; at least in so far, that we have placed the plant in the natural system as a link between the sponges and the higher plants. — From the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia for Aug. 1847. On the Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces. By the Rev. F, Mason, A.M. In conversation with a distinguished medical oflicer, and member of the Asiatic Society, I found that he was not at all aware that the Tenasserim Provinces produce Gamboge. It has therefore occurred to me that a brief notice of the Gamboge of these provinces might not be unacceptable to the readers of the Journal, and would con- tribute its influence to draw attention to a most interesting portion of the British provinces in the East ; one that is exceeded by few in the richness and variety of its natural productions. Three works in my possession describe Gamboge each as the pro- duct of a different tree ; a fourth represents all to be wrong, and a fifth suggests a different plant still. One refers it to Cambogia gutta, a plant which, as described by Linnseus, has probably no existence. He described a Ceylon plant ; and it is now quite evident, says Dr. Wight, “ that the character of the flower and ovary is taken from one specimen, and that of the fruit from a different one, owing to 156 Miscellaneous. the imperfection of his specimens, and his not being aware that the lobes of the stigma afford a sure indication of the number of cells of the fruit.” Another refers it to Garcinia camhogia, but Dr. Wight says that the exudation of this tree is “ wholly incapable of forming an emulsion with the wet finger,” a statement which the writer knows to be cor- rect. The tree is very common in the Tenasserim Provinces, but the bright yellow exudation it produces is certainly not gamboge. A third refers it to Stalagmitis cambogioides, but Dr. Wight re- marks, “ The juice of this tree differs so very widely in its qualities from good gamboge, that it can never be expected to prove valuable as a pigment.” Dr. Graham has described a Ceylon tree under the name of Hebra- dendron cambogioides, which is said to produce good gamboge ; but no gamboge has ever been exported into the English market from Ceylon. Thus it would appear, to use the language of Dr. Wight, that “ the tree, or trees, which produce the gamboge of commerce is not yet known.” Dr. Heifer, who was employed by Government as a scientific natu- ralist, in these provinces, at an expense of thirteen hundred rupees per month, reported, “ The gamboge of this country dissolves very little with water, and consequently does not yield that yellow emulsion as the common guttifera. It will never serve as a colour, but promises to give a very beautiful varnish.” This statement was controverted by a writer in our local periodical at the time, w'ho said he had ob- tained “ fine gamboge of the very best description” from our jungles ; in which he was no doubt correct, but he erred when he added that it came from the “ true Stalagmitis cambogioides.” A very small amount of botany would have served to preserve him from falling into this error ; for that plant has a quinary arrangement of its flow- ers, while the arrangement of the flow'ers in those that produce gam- boge in these provinces is quaternary. The hills that bound the valley of the Tavoy river, on both sides, from their bases to their summits, abound with a tree which produces a fine gamboge. It is Roxburgh’s Garcinia pictoria, which he knew produced gamboge, but which he said was liable to fade. As soon as I satisfied myself of the identity of the trees by an examination of the inflorescence of our plant compared with Roxburgh’s description, I coloured a piece of paper, one band wdth this gamboge, and an- other with the gamboge of commerce ; and subsequently exposed both to the weather equally for more than twelve months, but with- out being able to discover that one faded any more than the other. South of the latitude of the mouth of Tavoy river, and throughout the province of Mergui, there is found on the low plains at the foot of the hills, and on the banks of the rivers, almost down to tide waters, another species of Garcinia that also ])roduces good gamboge. I have no doubt but it is the tree from which Dr. Griffiths furnished Dr. Wight with specimens, and which the latter says, “ I refer doubtfully to Wallich’s G. elliptica.” We will call it then G. elliptica, a species which Dr. Wight has on his list of “ species imperfectly known.” Miscellaneous. 157 The foliation and female flowers are however very well described, and to complete the description I may add, the male flowers are pedunculated, but the peduncles are shut, and they might be charac- terized as subsessile. The anthers, like those of the female flowers, are sessile, depressed or flattened above, and dehisce circularly. The ripe fruit is globose, and not furrowed. As I send along with this paper specimens of both the male and female flowers, any of your botanists will be able to correct me at a glance, if I be in error. Neither Wallich, Wight, nor Griffiths appear to have been at all aware that this species produces gamboge. Dr. Wight, in a recent number of his ‘ Neilgherry Plants,’ says, “ Two species of the genus Garcinia are known to produce gamboge ; most of the others yield a yellow juice, but not gamboge, as it will not mix with water.” The species which he has described as producing gamboge, and to which I suppose he refers, are G. gutta or H. cambogioides (Graham) and G.pictoria (Roxburgh). That others may be enabled to judge of the character of the gamboge produced by this tree, I have the pleasure to send specimens of its exudation. In its appearance to the eye, and in its properties as a pigment, I have failed to discover the slightest difference between it and the gamboge of commerce. It serves equally well to colour drawings ; the Burmese priests often use it to colour their garments, and the Karens to dye their thread. It is also used by the native doctors in medicine, but I think not extensively. Dr. Bindley, in his new work the ‘ Vegetable Kingdom," says, “ The best gamboge comes in the form of pipes from Siam, and this is conjectured to be the produce of Garcinia cochinchinensis As G.elliptica is spread all over the province of Mergui, is it not probable that it extends into Siam, and that the Siamese gamboge is the produce, a part at least, of this tree ? There are several other species of Garcinia indigenous to the Provinces, but I know’ of no others producing anything resembling gamboge, except G. Camhogia ; the exudation of wffiich, though it W’ill not dissolve in water, dissolves in spirits of turpentine, and forms a very beautiful yellow’ varnish for tin and other metallic surfaces. — Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for July 1847. ON THE FOSSIL VEGETATION OF ANTHRACITE COAL. Mr. J. E. Teschemacher, at the recent meeting of the American Association of Geologists and Naturalists, read a paper on this sub- ject, confining his observations to the remains of vegetation found in the body of the coal, apart from that in the accompanying shales. The principal points of the memoir were, that the remains of the larger forms of the coal epoch, as well as of the smaller plants, were abundant in the coal, contrary to the usual opinion. Specimens were exhibited from the interior of the coal, show’ing the external and internal parts of plants — the vessels, the leaves, the seeds, &c. Since the meeting, Mr. Teschemacher has continued his investi- gations, and has communicated in a letter to one of the editors the follow’ing results : — 158 Miscellaneous. 1st. What I considered as vessels were said to be mere marks of sliding of the coal. Prof. Bailey prepared a specimen of this by his method, and told me that if I found vessels there, my proposition was correct. Examined by Agassiz and myself, with his large Oberhauser, it turns out to be nothing but a mass of perforated vessels, as clear and distinct as if they were recent. M. Agassiz observed, “One moment suffices to remove every doubt on the subject.” 2nd. What I considered as fossil seeds were said to be mere pea- cock-eye coal ; the dark carbonaceous centres of these seeds, which I held to be carbonized cellular matter, was thought to be a mere mistake and the seeds imaginary. I have since discovered them with distinct and clear apparently spinous appendages. M. Agassiz thinks the seed a Samara, and I have found sufficient quantity to pick out the carbonaceous matter from the interior with a fine needle — decarbonize it in a clean platina crucible over a spirit-lamp, with every possible precaution to prevent any foreign substance mixing therewith. On examining this with the Oberhauser, 700 diameters, M. Agassiz showed to Dr. Gould and myself the cells as clear and plain as possible ; it is a mass of cellular matter, as I stated. You may of course imagine the extreme tenuity of the parietes of cells of seeds when decarbonized, and the difficulty of those less experi- enced than M. Agassiz in the microscope in managing the subject — he feels quite convinced of their being fossil seeds. The nature of the genus of plants must require further examination. 3rd. The smooth glossy surfaces, which I considered the external parts of large plants rendered smooth by intense pressure, w^ere said to be nothing more than slickensides. My position here is proved much more easily than in the other cases, by specimens passing gra- dually from the smoother through different degrees of protuberance (all still smooth and polished), until we arrive at the full form of the Lepidodendron. Nay more, I have found the parallel lines (channels) which are on the slickensides, also on the perfectly-formed Lepido- dendra. The correctness of my views here I could prove to the most sceptical. The discoveries still to be made on this subject are numerous and important ; and I doubt not that the investigation of the coal itself will soon solve the doubts hitherto existing in the comparison of the coal fossils with recent plants. I will merely add, that I have found quite distinctly the impression of the eellular cuticle of some of these plants, which of course can- not be seen in an impression on shale, the grains of the sedimentary matter being as large as the surface of the cells ; but on the pasty mass of coal the imj^ression is perfect. — Silliman s Journal, November 1847. A Fact respecting the Habits of Notonecta glauca. By Prof. Forrest Shepherd. In the evening twilight of a pleasant day in September 1846, Sir George Simpson encamped for the night, on his route from Red River to the head w’aters of the Mississippi, in the vicinity of lati- tude 48^ north and longitude 95° or 96° west from Greenwich. Meteorological Observations. 159 While supper was preparing, he perceived something falling on his hat like drops of rain ; but as there were no clouds to be seen, pre- sumed it could not be rain. On looking on the ground near the fire he saw distinctly that the falling substance instead of being rain was a small winged insect, which although unable to fly had yet life and motion. The number rapidly increased so as to give great annoy- ance by falling into the frying-pan and supper vessels, and continued until the ground was covered by the shower. On the following morning Sir George ascertained that this extraordinary shower ex- tended at least from twenty-five to thirty miles in the direction he was travelling. No information has been received as to its extent in other directions. It was observed that soon after the shower the weather changed suddenly from warm to cold. It is therefore pro- bable that the whole of this immense swarm of insects encountered the cold current, and were paralyzed and precipitated thereby. They all died soon after falling. Specimens of these insects were collected by the attendants of Sir George, from whom I received them. In no instance however were they seen to revive after coming into a warmer atmosphere.— Journal of Science and Arts for Nov. 1847. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR DEC. 1847- Chiswick. — December 1. Very fine; clear. 2. Frosty: overcast and mild. 3. Densely overcast : rain. 4. Clear : overcast : boisterous. 5. Fine. 6. Boiste- rous, with rain : lightning at night, 7. Rain : cloudy and boisterous : clear and windy at night. 8. Clear and cold. 9. Rain ; overcast. 10. Rain: cloudy. 11. Densely clouded ; fine. 12 — 14. Very fine. 15. Very fine : slight rain. 16. Cloudy. 17. Slight rain. 18. Rain. 19. Fine: cloudy. 20. Cloudy. 21 — 23. Overcast. 24. Foggy. 25, 26. Overcast. 27, 28. Cloudy. 29. Hazy. 30. Rain. 31. Hazy and damp. Mean temperature of the month 41°-09 Mean temperature of Dec. 1846 81 *26 Mean temperature of Dec. for the last twenty years 89 *59 Average amount of rain in Dec 1*58 inch. Boston. — Dec. 1. Fine. 2. Fine: 8 o’clock p.m. thermometer 54°. 3. Cloudy : rain p.m. 4. Fine : rain p.m. 5. Cloudy : rain early a.m. 6. Rain. 7. Rain : stormy A.M. and p.m. 8. Fine : rain a.m. 9. Rain. 10. Fine. 11, 12. Cloudy. 13—15. Fine. 16. Rain. 17. Fine : rain early a.m. 18. Rain : rain a.m. and* P.M. 19. Fine. 20. Rain. 21. Fine. 22 — 29. Cloudy. 30. Snow : rain and snow A.M. and P.M. 31. Rain : rain a.m. Applegarlh Manse, Bximfr'ies -shire. — Dec. 1. Wet a.m. ; cleared and was fine. 2. Wet A.M. : damp all day. 3. Damp a.m.: cleared: fine. 4. Heavy rain and high wind. 5. Rain : unsettled weather. 6. Shower of snow : frost. 7. Heavy rain : frost A.M. 8. Fair, but cloudy. 9. Rain early a.m. : fine. 10. Showers. 11. Rain all night and morning. 12. Fair and fine. 13. Fair a.m. : rain and wind P.M. 14. Fine A.M. : rain p.m. 15. Mild and fair a.m. : rain p.m. 16. Rain nearly all day : flood. 17. Fair and mild : slight rain p.m. 18. Fair, but cloudy. 19. Frost A.M. : dull and cloudy. 20,21. Frost, slight. 22. Frost, hard : clear! 23. Fine : slight frost. 24. Fine. 25. Frost : fine and clear. 26. Fine : clear! 27,28. Frost: fine. 29. Heavy fall of snow. 30. Snow lying ; frost, hard. 31. Frost, very keen : thermometer 11^°. Mean temperature of the month 40°*2 Mean temperature of Dec. 1846 33 *5 Mean temperature of Dec. for twenty-five years 38 *19 Mean rain in Dec. for twenty years 2*94 inches. Meteorological Observations made by Mr. Thompson at the Garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, near London; by Mr. Veall, at Boston; by theRev. W. Dunbar, at Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire; and by the Rev. C. Clouston, at Sandwich Manse, Orkney. Rain. •JJOIAVpUBS ‘Xainjio •ajiqs -saujiunQ ::::::: j::' ::::::: :::::: : ••••••• 'w ••••••• CO •♦•••• o •••••* ^ • *••••••• •••••*•• ••••••• ••••••• • ******* ••••••• •••••• pni •••••• • • •*••** •••••*• •••••• •••••• • 00 ' •uo;soa • • •'Moooo’^'oro : • ' : :co(nomo ■ • '• - : '• • : • : : : -r 'P ^ T" 9 7^ 9 | • | •9 9'?*'® j ] • • • ' • j | ‘ 1 9 VO 0 CO •^lOlAVStqQ ‘ • ^ 00 CM r^-- ^ CO -< : : : : : : to • • • ; j r r 7* 9 r 9 9 1 1 I J 9 1 9 75 9 : : .*9 : : 9 ; : r *7^ • ? a •jloiJttpuBs ‘ilauqjo •aiiqs -saujiunQ w. s. sw. sw. W'SVV. w. nw. wsw. sw. w. wsw. s. se. se. ese. ese. se. sw. nne. ne. ne. se. se. ne. e. e. ne. ne. e. n. e-sw^ •uo}soa v\'. calm calm w. w. s. nw. w. sw. s. s. s. s. sse. sse. s. s. se. s. e. e. calm e. ne. ne. calm nnw. se. sse. se. •m d I •j[DrA\s!q3 w. sw. sw. sw. sw. sw. nw. w. sw. sw. sw. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. se. ne. ne. ne. e. ne. ne. ne. nw. ne. se. s. ne. Thermometer. Orkney, Sand wick. •ui'd f8 •Ul'B 1 Dumfries- shire. •u!i\[ r-ll(S r.|cq -ll« rtiN -lid —Id —Id — 'd —Id 'OOrOf^^'OlOu:)0^(MOI^(^^COO^C^C^COlOCOCN<^^COCOOMr5^>.0^'^^'^JCo-^ CO'^'^'^COCOCOOI co'^co'?r'^';i<'^'^'^'5j''ri''rfcocococ^ cocod cococo-- 9 vb CO •XBJ^ louod LO-- ci c?corfcoo^c^0ip >pip»p iOtO»p *0 ddLo6coood<^ooco— ‘"O'— •^doooooocooMOco'rrr- — iCM^biO'^tco-^ ^'^rO'id*'';J''^'rrcO'^u:)LO'^'^-^'^r}<-<^-O'COCOC0C0C0C0'^00COCOco'.OC0 7 O' co- co Chiswick. •uiW to— 0^ — 0-‘GO-^C^O^OOrOdr^vo^O^Od^ — ^drOiOOOcOUOdO d UOCO’^CO'^fOd r.O-<^d COCOCO'^'^'O'd COfOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOd COCOCO •XBW -- uoc^— ' cocococor^iocococo — -^«ou:i<^i:^ — loco o^o -< 0 ir^r^oo 0 o- lOcOiOUOLOUOrO-^iOiOiOuotOLOtOiOLC'^-^-^COCOCO'^'^'^COCOCO^CO 1 0 0 "IS" Barometer. Orkney, Sandwick. -*5* s’ “ d r^li lO as: Dumfries-shire. 9 p.m. oocoooo^ccouoo^a^co•o"o^colooo'^QOc^dlo^ooo’Irf'a^coooo■Tf‘d OOOC^O — '7‘T-'09>P7J‘^r''-^97l'9dyt'coip(»»p9(N.;-' — — cocpi^ 0 (^o^o^c?^oo o^o^o^o^CT^o^o^o^(^o^o^o^o^o^o^^o^o 0 0 0 0 0^(^C^ codddddddddddddddddC'iddddcococococoddd Oi S ^^o•'^roooooo^oooocroo^ddoc^c^oa^or}•LoodooLooO'T^‘co OOO^OOLOO^■rfCX)CN9^p^COCOI^'Olpc•5■7-dr^•p9^Qp■— (N — .|-i|^lOCip o^6>c^o>ooooc» o>oo o^(^o^o^o^o^<^o^o^c^c^o^c^<^o^o 0 0 0 ddddddddddddddddddddddddcocococoddd 10 _cn; •ui-B$8 •uo^soa LOCOOO>00dl>-O — •O'd'OuOCMOOOr^dCO— |’^r^OOO^OOtOdrOroO i>.ooco -rtcx) 7t*d d — cpcp»o999 "TfOT- O' 7rp»p9>9i9i9it^7'9 c^6^c^O'codbdb 6^6^o^6^6^6^(^6^6^6^<^3^!^c^c^6^(^o^c^a^6^c^^'^ ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd •COCOO^COt^O COCOODCO t^COtOOO ^'Itooo — — c^'^dcp'oipipr'-i^9i9i9 9.00 ‘9 ec CO CO co^ ^:^dlOt^LOdoooo'OQOuoddOuoo^ooOloroom.O'^rco■<^ invo-'^oocoodocor^— 'd'-o— 'oor^codt^— — "'■roca^dCTiONLoro cod'-o^•^oodt;^r^GpQp9999oot^7'lp'09o^a^9'7* — d7'9c»Qp 0 0 0 as Os 60 os as os os as ecies of Blatta of which the left hind leg had evidently been reproduced, being smaller than the other. Instances of the reproduction of the antennee, but not of the feet, had hitherto been noticed in this group. Mr. Griffith stated that he had observed during the preceding autumn, on one small spot of w'oody ground at Addington Hiil near Croydon, a very great number of specimens of Cynthia Cardia. Captain Frend stated that he had found Vanessa Urticcc alone in some quantity on the summit of the Sierra Nevada in Spain, 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. Mr. Weaver exhibited a new' British Noctua allied to Hadena adusta, and other rare Lepidoptera from Perthshire. Mr. F. Bond exhibited a living specimen of Sphinx Atropos, and stated that he was convinced that the cry emitted by this insect was not produced by the moveable appendages at the sides of the thorax, as he had found that the noise was equally strong wffien the sides of the thorax were violently compressed and held tight. Mr. Newport, who had also examined the insect wdiilst alive, stated that in his opinion the noise was either produced by the lateral friction of the parts of the spiral tongue (maxilltc) against each other, or by their 233 Entomological Society, combined friction against the front of the prothorax, but added that this view required further observation. Mr. F. Bond exhibited a very small papyriceous nest of a wasp, which had been suspended to a twig by a piece of horse-hair. Mr. Moore, jun., exhibited several chrysalids of moths, the inte- rior of which was filled apparently with minute parasitic Acari. Mr. Westwood exhibited an extensive series of Cremastocheilidce, from the collections of the Royal Museum of Stockholm, Messrs. Hope, Schaum (including the types of the species described by M. Gory), Turner, &c. He also stated that Entomobia Apum, described by Signor Costa (in a work presented the same evening), was the Braula cceca of Nitzsch; and that M. Blanchard had recently pub- lished a memoir on the impregnated state of the Hippobosca, in the bodies of which he had detected larvae, contrary to the observation of M. Leon Dufour. Mr. Newport, in reference to the statement made at the last meet- ng, of the immature state of the ova in some specimens of Sphinx Atropos and Convolvuli, observed that he had recently dissected a female of the latter species which had remained in the chrysalis state nearly its full period, and that he had detected the ovaries, but in a very slightly developed state, and which, he did not consider, would have ever arrived at their full state of development. A consider- able discussion as to the cause of this non- development of the ova took place, in which Messrs. Marshall and Westwood having sug- gested that it was owing to the great heat, Mr. Newport stated that he had found the ova as fully developed in specimens of Vanessa Urticce which had been produced from the chrysalis in from to 9^ days, in a mean highest temperature of 70° to 75°, as in others which had remained in chrysalis thirteen or fourteen days with a mean highest range of temperature of from 55° to 60°. V. lo was developed in a few hours over ten days, when the mean lowest temperature during that period was 71°'06, and the mean highest 75°'55. This may alford some explanation of the fact, that the two broods of V. lo usually appear in this country only in the hottest parts of summer, July and August, when, in its natural haunts, it is usually about fourteen days in the pupa state. Mr. E. Doubleday exhibited drawings of the ungues of the two species of Leptocircus, which he had found to be simple in the one and deeply bifid in the other. He also stated that Mr. Wing had obtained a larva of Sphinx Celerio found on a vine-tree at Paddington. The abundant occurrence of Vanessa Antiopa in different places during the past autumn was also noticed, especially at Tunbridge Wells by Mr. Stephens, at Yarmouth by Mr. Ingpen, and at Yaxley by Mr. F. Bond. December 7th. — W. Spence, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. Moore, jun., exhibited a quantity of flour infested with mites ; also the eggs of some species of Acarus } arranged in rows on the 234 Linncaan Society. under side of several feathers of birds ; likewise a very minute paper nest of Vespa Britunnica. Mr. Westwood exhibited drawings and specimens illustrating the transformations of the common flea. Mr. E. Doubleday read extracts from a letter addressed to him by M. Guenee, stating that he had become associated with M. Boisduval in the ‘ Histoire naturelle des Insectes Lepidopteres,’ and that the nocturnal Lepidoptera would be described by him. Descriptions of two new species of Papilio were read by J. O. Westwood. Mr. Thwaites gave an account of the observations which he had recently made on the habits of Tinea granella, in granaries at Bristol. The moth appears in August, at which time it is advisable to attempt its destruction by fumes of sulphur. The insects remain in the larva state through the winter, being full-fed in October, when they seek out winter-quarters in the woodwork of the granaries, such as the beams, floors and supports, committing much damage by boring into them to the depth of half an inch, or sometimes an inch. If the wood be hard they do not excavate so deeply, but cover the sur- face with a thick layer of excrement ; and it had been observed that they do not fear attacking kyanized wood ; it was consequently sug- gested that it M'ould be serviceable to coat the wood with plates of lead or other metal. Mr. Spence noticed how singularly this insect seemed to set at nought the supposed objections to insect life, attack- ing the knots of the wood, which were of course most strongly satu- rated with turpentine. On examining the debris left by these insects with a microscope, it was found to consist only of minute particles of gnawed wood, which did not appear to have undergone the action of the stomach ; and it had been observed, that when there was a sufficient mass of debris for their defence they do not bore into the wood. Mr. Spence also alluded to the change of instinct which these circumstances evidently pro-s'ed the insects to have undergone from their natural state. LINNJ5AN SOCIETY. April 20, 1847. — E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. Read a paper “ On a new genus of Plants of the family Bunnan- niacea.” By John Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. &c. Opuiomeris. PeriantJiium superum, tubulosum, gibbosum, caclucum ; fauce latcrali anniilo semiclausa; limbo 6-partito, laciniis 3 extevioribus brcvibus ovatis, 3 interioribus longissimis subulatis. Stamina 6, libera, infra perianthii faucem inserta et ejus laciniis opposita, inchisn, versus tubuni rctroflexa ; filamentis petaloideis, margine appendiculatis ; antheris ad- natis in sinu filamentorum tenninalibus, 2-locularibus, loculis longitu- dinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium inferuin, 1-loculare ; placentis 3 pa- rietalibus, medio ovnligcris ; ovulis indefinitis, anatropis. Stylus brevis. Stigmata o. Fructus turbinatus, truncatns, apice operculatim dehiscens, 1-lociilaris. Semina plurima, scobiformia. Embryo ignotus. — Planta:; Brasilienses, hyalinoe, super lignum cariosum parasitkce ; rhizomate 235 Lmnatan Society. tuber oso, fibrillis numerosis ; caule simpUci, erecto, subjlcxuoso, angii- lato,fere apkyllo ; flore solitario, terminali, 2 — \-bracteato ; bracteolis brevibus vel sub jiore vel in caule medio, ereciir, ; perianthii sub- hyalino, lacmiis interioribus roseis, exlerioribus Jlavis, corona luteci margine auruntiacd ; fmctu liyalino. 1. O. Macaiiknsis, caule iiudo, bracteolis 2 v. 3 florem solitarium tcrmi- nalem sufFulcientibus. Hab. ad Macalie, in Prov. Rio de Janeiro. Planta 2 — 3-pollicaris. 2, O. Iguassuensis, caule subnudo medio bracteolis 3 v. 1 in verticillum dispositis instructo. Hab. ad Iguassii, in Prov. Rio de Janeiro. Planta vix pollicaris. Mr. Miers compares this Brazilian genus with Thismia, GrifF. (characterized at p. 195, vol. xv. of Annals), of which he has seen specimens in the herbarium of Sir William Hooker, as well as a speci- men probably of the same sj^ecies collected by Capt. Champion in the island of Ceylon. He regards Thismia and Ophiomeris as consti- tuting a distinct section of the family Burmanniacece, which he pro- poses to subdivide as follows : — BuRMANNIACEiE. I. BuRMANNiEiE. P crianthium Stamina o. 3-loculare. Placenta centralis. Capsula longitudinaliter dehisccns 1. Burmannia, L. transverse fenestrata 2. Gonyanthes, Blum. II. APTERiEAi:. Perianthium simplex. Stamina^. Ovarium 1-loculare. Placentae 3, parietales. irregulariter 3-valvis 3. hictyostega, Miers. lateraliter hians 4. Cymbocarpa,'b/l\cx^. aplce 3-valvis. Stamina appen- ) ^ , . xt diculata irregulariter dehiscens. Petala 1 * > G. Gym7iosiphon,\i\\\m. HI. T HisMiE/E. Perianthium simplex. Stamina 6. Ovarium 1-locularc. Placentce 3, parietales. Pericarpium circumscissum. Corolla tubus agqualis. Stamina mona- ) rr-, • • -cr- delpha ) Timm, a, Guff. gibbus. Stamina libera ... 8. Ophiomeris, Miers. The paper concludes with some observations on the affinities of these plants, and of Triuris, Miers, and Peltophyllum, Gardn. ; and was illustrated with detailed drawings of Ophiomeris Macahensis , and of the flower of Thismia Brunonis, Griff*., for comparison. May 4. — E. Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. Read a paper “ On Jansonia, a new genus of Leguminosce, from Western Australia.” By Richard Kippist, Libr. L.S. Jansonia. Char. Gen. Calyx ebracteatus, bilabiatus ; labio superiore fere ad basin bifido ; inferiore 4-pl6 longiore, 3-partito ; segmentis omnibus acutis. Corolla papilionacea petala longe stipitata ; vexillum ovato-lanceo- latum, reflexum, alis oblongo-ellipticis multo brevius ; carina com- 236 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. pressas (alis tertia parte longioris) petala oblonga, basi auriculata, dorso connata. Stamina 10, libera, vel ima basi cohaerentia, inaequi- longa, persistentia. Ovarium villosissimum, substipitatum, stipitulo basi vaginula cinclo, pauci- (4 — 6) ovulatum, siituris non inflexis. Stylus filiformis, elongatus, apice incurvus, glaber. Stigma parvum. Lcgumen — Sufii'utex Novae Hollandiae Aiislro-Occidentalis, Brachysemati, R. Br. proximus ; ramis erectis vel adscendentibus ; foliis oppositis, ohlongo-ovatia, emarginatis, mucronatis, ut7'inque reticulatis, margine revolutis, subundulatis, minute denticulatis \ stipulis lanceolato- subulatis, demum deciduis ; floribus sessilibus, congestis in capitula cer- nua, \-jlora^ bracteis 4 ovatis decussatisy coriaceis, fuscis, ext us sericeis sujf'ulta, ramulos breves axillares ierminantia. JaNSONIA FORMOSA. Hob. in Novae Hollandiae Ora Austro*Occidentali, ad “ Scott’s River ” (1842), Gilbert (v. s.). Obs. Specimen babitu debiliore, et foliis ramulisque pubescentibus paiilo diversum a D. Jac. Drummond ad “Swan River” lectum {v. s. in Herb. D. Lemann). The nearest affinity of Jansonia is with Brachysema, R. Br., with which genus Mr. Kippist states that it agrees in its unguiculate petals, in the form and unusual length of the keel, in the extreme shortness of the standard, in its elongated filiform style, and in its shortly stalked villous germen, surrounded at the base by a minute fleshy ring ; but it is abundantly distinguished by its capitate inflo- rescence, by the remarkable inequality of its calycine segments, by the much greater length of the claws of its petals, and by the pau- city of its ovules, which do not appear to exceed six in number. Mr. Kippist also compares it with Leptosema, Benth., which is clearly distinguished by its bibracteolate calyx, composed of two nearly equal lips, the uppermost of which is very slightly bifid ; its scarcely un- guiculate vexillum ; its wings about equal in length to the keel ; the distinct inflexion of its carinal suture ; as well as by its inflorescence, that of Leptosema being a densely crowded raceme, while in Jansonia the flowers are perfectly sessile and arranged in a verticillate manner round a common axis, which is slightly prolonged beyond the point from whence the flowers spring in the form of a short mucro. The genus is dedicated to the memory of the late Joseph Janson, Esq., F.L.S. ; and the paper was accompanied with a drawing of the j)lant, comprising details of its parts of fructification. BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. Dec. 9, 1847. — The Rev. Dr. Fleming, President, in the Chair. The following communications were read : — 1. “ On Anacharis Alsinastrum, a new British jDlant,” by Chas. C. Babington, Esq., with a synopsis of the other species of the genus, by Dr. J. E. Planchon. See Annals, present volume, p. 81. 2. “ On the Reproduction of Cryptogamic Plants,” by the late William Stark Dougall, Esq., communicated by Dr. Balfour. The first part of this paper was read — viz. On the mode of forma- tion of spores in Algcs and Characece. 237 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. In the introductory remarks, the author examines the opinions entertained by botanists as to the existence, in these plants, of bodies equivalent to the stamens and pistils of the higher orders of vege- tables. The arguments in favour of their existence are, the presence in the same or dilFerent individuals of two kinds of cells, the union of which in some way appears to be necessary for the production of germinating spores. These cells sometimes exist in the same cavity, so that the functions cannot be always easily detected ; at other times they are separate. In the latter case, the spores are occa- sionally produced by the actual conjugation of two individuals of the same species. The spores, when first discharged, frequently exhibit ciliary movements, like those seen in the ova of animals. And lastly, the cells representing anthers often contain phytozoa, or moving bodies similar to the spermatozoa of animals. The reproduction of Algce is then brought under consideration as observed in Diatomacecc and Confervacea, with their cell- division, conjugation, and development of endochrome ; in the Fucacecc and CeramiacecE, with their antheridia spores and tetraspores ; and in Cha- racece, with their globule and nucule. In regard to the latter tribe, the following points are noticed as favouring the opinion that the globule may be compared to an anther and the nucule to the pistil : — their co-existence and close proximity — the opening of the valves of th^e globule to allow the escape of filaments and phytozoa (similar to those of Fuci, which Thuret and Decaisne have shown to be connected with staminal functions) — the existence of an opening at the apex of the nucule allowing commu- nication with the interior — the capability of germination in the con- tents of the nucule when mature — and the decadence of the globule prior to the ripening of the nucule. 3. Dr. Balfour read a communication from Mr. Charles Lawson, jun., relative to the cultivation of potatoes by cuttings of the stems. Six cuttings were planted on the 16th of June, 1847, kept in a warm frame for six weeks and then planted out ; they produced twenty tubers of very considerable size. 4. Mr. Brand read an extract from a letter from W. A. Stables, Esq., relative to the plantations recently made on Lord Cawdor’s estate in Nairnshire : — “ The forester planted 230 imperial acres in nine days — 57 women and boys being employed each day, and the average number of trees planted by each was 1566 a day. Two-thirds of the plants were larch, and the remainder Scotch fir — in all, 3465 plants per acre. The plants were two-years-old seedlings. The cost of inclosing was 75/. 65. 10c/., and of planting 16/. 85. 8c/. — together, 92/. 5s. 6c?., or about Is. Id. per acre of outlay.” At this meeting the following gentlemen were elected office- bearers for the ensuing year: — Rev. Dr. Fleming, President; Drs. Greville, Balfour, Christison, Neill, Vice-Presidents; Sir W. Jardine, Bart., Dr. Seller, Dr. Lowe, Mr. W. M‘Nab, Mr. C. Lawson, jun., Prof. Allen Thomson, Mr. J. Marshall, jun., Mr. R. Holden, Mr. Wm. Ivory, Mr. W. Wright, Councillors ; Mr. Brand, Treasurer ; Professor Goodsir, Secretary ; Dr. Douglas Maclagan, Foreign Secretary ; 238 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Dr. Parnell, Curator of the Museum ; Mr. J. M‘Nab, Artist ; Mr. Evans, Assistant Secretary and Curator. Jan. 13, 1848. — The Rev. Dr. Fleming, President, in the Chair. Among specimens of Portuguese plants presented to the Society by Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, were some marked as having been col- lected in the streets of Cadiz and Lisbon, viz. Frankcnia imlverulentay lllecebrum echinatum, and Hippia stolonifera ; these plants are re- markable for their habit of flourishing in the interstices of the paving stones of much- frequented thoroughfares, but growing so close to the ground that they are but little injured by the feet of passengers. The collection also contained specimens of Statice lusitanica from Per- soon’s locality. The following communications were read : — 1. ‘‘On the Reproduction of Cryptogamic Plants,” by the late William Stark Dougall, Esq., continued. Part second : Mode of formation of spores in Fungi, Lichens, Musci, and Hepaticae. In this part of the paper the author first considered the reproductive organs in the various divisions of the natural order Fungi, and pointed out the analogy which they bear to Algce in manj’’ respects. Thus in the lower members of the order the mode of reproduction may be com- pared to that observed in Confervacece, both as regards the develop- ment of spores and their movement. In other cases the formation of spores at the dilated ends of filaments or sterigmata resembles in some degree what takes place in Vauclieria. He regarded the filamentous paraphyses as being concerned in the fertilization of the contents of the asci and basidia. He next noticed the natural order Lichenes, and considered the production of spores, whether naked or in asci, which are united in the form of apothecia ; and of the round green bodies called go- nidia or gongyli, which are either single or in groups. He stated that little was known in regard to the formation of the latter bodies, and that the subject of reproduction in Lichens was still very obscure ; although it might be said to resemble that of some Ascomycetous Fungi. The Ricciacece, Marchantiacece, and Jungermanniacecc w^ere next brought under notice. In these orders, organs which appear to be equivalent to stamens and pistils were joointed out, as well as cer- tain bodies which might be reckoned as buds or gemmae. The pre- sence of phytozoa with cilia and of spiral fibres or elaters was also remarked. The Equisetacca w'ere looked upon as in many respects allied to the last-mentioned orders, especially in developing spores with spiral filaments. The true Mosses were tiien alluded to, and in them the author believed that reproductive organs have been demonstrated in the antheridia with their granular contents and phytozoa, and the thecdc or sporangia with their spores. He detailed the various species in which phytozoa had been detected by Thuret, Brongniart, Meyen, and Unger, pointed out the monoecious, dioecious, polygamous, and Miscellaneous. 239 hermaphrodite arrangement of the organs, noticed the difference between spores and gemmse, and concluded by stating the following arguments in favour of the sexual nature of the spore-formation in the whole muscal alliance : — 1. The existence of antheridia and pistil- lidia, and the production of true spores by the latter. 2. The exist- ence of phytozoa in the antheridia. 3. The relation of antheridia and pistillidia to one another in point of periodicity, both as regards development and function. 4. I'heir relative arrangement, either together or separate, on the same or on different individuals. 5. The provisions by which the coming in contact of the contents of the antheridia with those of the pistillidia may be effected. 2. “ On the Ovule of Euphrasia officinalis,” by George Dickie, M.D., Lecturer on Botany, King’s College, Aberdeen. The paper was illustrated by drawings, and will appear in the ‘ Annals of Natural History ’ and in the Society’s ‘ Transactions.’ 3. Dr. Fleming exhibited a specimen of the stem of D'Urvillea utilis (Bory) from Acapulco, and made some remarks on the pecu- liarity of its structure, more particularly as regards its transverse partitions and large air-cells. 4. Dr. Dickie communicated the discovery of a new Diatomaceous plant, allied to Meloseira, in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen. It is the Orthoseira of Thwaites, and will be published under the name of O. Dickiei (see p. 168 of the present number). Dr. Dickie also announced from Mr. Thwaites the discovery of a new species of Dickieia, consisting of binate frustules at the end of mucous ap- pendages, like the Omacoccus of Hassall. Dr. Bell Salter communicated the discovery of Zostera nana, in large quantities, on the shores of the Isle of Wight near Ryde. Mr. Babiiigton sent notices of the following plants having been added to the British Flora since the publication of the second edition of his ‘ Manual,’ specimens of all of which are in his possession, viz. : — Thalictrum minus ft. glandulosum, Koch ; Ranunculus Petiveri a. Mairii, Godr., ft. CandolUi, Godr.; Saghia ciliata, Fries; Campanula rotundifolia /3. lancifolia, Koch ; Simethis bicolor, Kunth ; and Carex brizoides, Linn. Dr. Balfour exhibited specimens of Ceramium acanthonotum, from the shores of the Frith of Forth. MISCELLANEOUS. BRITISH MOILUSCA. The Truncal ella atomus of Philippi (Moll. Sic. ii. j). 134. t. 24. f. 5) is found in the following localities mixed with the l/el/x nitidissima of Adams (Linn. Trans, v. p. 4. t. 1. f. 22, 23, 24); Swansea and adjacent bays ; Tenby (the locality given by Adams) ; Weymouth ; Scarborough; Falmouth; Cork Harbour; Bantry Bay; Belfast (Wil- liam Thompson, Esq.), and Skye (George Barlee, Esq.). It appears to be the Helix bicolor of Adams (L, 'P. v. p. 4. t. 1. f. 25, 26, 27), and referable to the genus Skenea of Fleming. Philippi has omitted in his figures of the shell to indicate its size, which may have misled 240 Miscellaneous. inquirers for it. The animal and shell are closely allied to the Den- talium Trachea (or imperforatuni) of Montagu {caecum of Fleming), for which that accurate observer of British Mollusca, Mr. Clark, pro- posed the significant name of Dentaliopsis. It may have been con- founded by British conchologists with the young of Skenea depressa, but is a very distinct species. The Helix nitidissima of Adams was evidently known to Montagu, as in one of his letters to Mr. Dillwyn he mentions having found “ a recent (minute) British Ammonite,” which this beautiful species resembles in form and markings. — J. Gwyn Jeffreys. Have Ants, when deprived of their Queen, the power of selecting one of their number and converting her into a fertile female ? Phil. Hall, Leeds, January 10, 1818. Dear Sir, — I shall feel obliged if any of your entomological readers can inform me whether they know a species of Black Ant, inhabiting this country, whose queen is not distinguished from the workers by her larger size. My reason for wishing for this infor- mation arises from the following circumstance : — In August 1846 I procured a colony of black ants, which I supposed were the Formica fusca, from the woods near Kirkstall Abbey. I found them beneath a patch of moss and stones, and consisting of about sixty individuals. I suspected at the time that the queen escaped me, as no one specimen appeared distinguished from the remainder by regal characters, which I frequently regretted. On the 29th of March 1847, however, when looking at my formicary, I observed one ant carrying a small white mass in its mandibles, which upon closer examination I found to my great astonishment was xin egg ; on the following day there were pro- bably twenty eggs, and the number continued to increase until June, when there would be at least sixty, of different sizes, and some had become larvm. Two of these increased in size so much as to lead me to suspect they would prove the larvae of queens, being consi- derably larger than the ants themselves. By the end of July they had become pupae, and were inclosed in cocoons as large as a grain of wheat ; these now appeared to absorb all the attention of the workers, and the remainder of the eggs and larvae decreased, for want, as I pre- sume, of sufficient attendance. During the month of August I found one day all dead or dying with the exception of three or four speci- mens, which I could not account for unless it arose from the formi- cary having been exposed to a great heat from the sun in my wdndow during the day, from which they could not escape, having forgotten to put up the shutters, which are for the prevention of light and too great a degree of heat. The point however upon which I want information as connected with the above colony is this : — From whence did the eggs proceed ? As I have before stated, there was not one I could suspect more than another of being the royal mother from external characters, while in seven other colonies of different species I then possessed, the identi- fication was very easy and self-evident. Now as we know bees when deprived of their queen have the power of selecting one or more Miscellaneous. 241 larvae of workers (which are barren females) and converting them into queens by feeding them with peculiar food, used only for such as are destined for sovereignty, and as the working ants are also barren females, — is it probable that the ants have the power by selecting one of their number to convert her into a fertile female by the means of some peculiar treatment which may cause the more full develop- ment of those organs essential for impregnation ? I am aware in the case of the bees this is accomplished in infancy ; still, as the matured workers have the female organs perfect, though in a comparatively low state of development, is it irrational to suppose, that when circum- stances make it necessary, even at a later period of life, these same all-important parts may be stimulated and rendered fit for the ac- complishment of so desirable an object as reproduction ? I am also aware that working ants, like working bees and wasps, do occasionally lay eggs ; but when this does take place, they invariably produce males, wdiich I suspected could not be the case with those alluded to, from the great disparity of size observable in the larvae and cocoons, and which I should have been able to ascertain with certainty had not the before-mentioned accident befallen them. I remain, dear Sir, yours respectfully, To Richard Taylor, Esq. Henry Denny, A.L.S. On the Digestive Apparatus of the Gnat, Culex pipiens, Linn. By F. PoucHET. The digestive apparatus of the Gnat is highly complicated : the mouth is composed of two mandibles furnished with a row of stiff fixed hairs, and of two maxillae bearing moveable cilia like the blades of a fan and destined to collect the alimentary granules. The intestinal tube is remarkable from the presence of eight iso- lated vesiculiform stomachs which are ovoid, thin, arranged symmetri- cally around the intestine, and each communicating with it by means of a short canal situated at the union of the anterior third with the two posterior thirds of its internal region. These eight cavities represent so many stomachs, and cannot be compared with the respi- ratory vesicles described by Treviranus, Ramdohr, Cams, Meckel, Owen, Newport and Lacorclaire, in several insects belonging to the order Diptera or Lepidoptera. At first sight these gastric cavities are observed to be more or less filled with nutritious matter similar to that perceptible in the remainder of the intestinal tube. These vesicles in fact are seen to contract from time to time and successively, in order to allow the alimentary substance to pass into the intestines. The contractions are repeated at intervals of from twenty-five to thirty seconds ; moreover on immersing these insects in liquids coloured with carmine or indigo, the eight stomachs are observed in the course of half an hour or sometimes less to be perfectly filled with these substances ; the nature of these organs is consequently beyond doubt. Although certain obser^^ers, as Swammerdam and Leon Dufour, have asserted that several insects ruminate, it cannot be admitted Ann. Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 16 242 Miscellaneous. that in the larva under consideration there is any act which alto- gether is comparable to what happens among the true ruminant quadrupeds. From their structure however, their physiological action and their development, these multiple stomachs of the gnat call to mind, but on a small scale, what is observed on the * rumen ’ and * reticulum ’ of the ruminants. In fact their inner membrane is finely alveolated like that of the paunch in these large animals, and the nutriment does not pass by these vesicles as if it were a simple canal, which is generally the case, but it is conveyed into them by a particular passage ; it sojourns there for a longer or shorter period, experiences a certain elaboration, and is then ex- pelled by the same passage and re-enters the intestinal tube. The nutriment does not return, it is true, to the mouth, but it undergoes a certain alteration in the stomachs, for the particles partially digested which are perceived in the intestine are considerably thinner than those in the gastric vesicles. In the first periods of life the rumi- nants feed solely upon milk, there is as yet no rumination in them, and the two first stomachs are then proportionately very small ; this is likewise the case in the very young larvae of the gnat, as they immediately after their issue from the egg absorb a very thin and almost entirely fluid nutriment ; these organs are at this period simply rudimentary and perfectly impermeable. The thorax itself which contains them is proportionately much smaller than in larvae of a greater age. Thus, if the comparison between the digestive function of the vesi- cular stomachs of the gnat and the physiological action of the two first digestive cavities of the ruminants is not perfect, however di- stant these animals are in the zoological scale, yet it cannot be denied that in a local physiological point of view there is rigorous analogy. It is moreover highly worthy of attention that these stomachs are absolutely analogous by their form, their position, and the manner in which they act, to the stomachs of the polygastric Infusoria de- scribed by Ehrenberg. This fact adds a fresh proof, although observed upon other animals, of the truth of the investigations of that scientific naturalist. — Comptes Rendus, Oct. 25, 1847. Description and Anatomy of a new and curious subgenus of Planaria. By Joseph Leidy, M.D. In October 1840, Prof. S. S. Haldeman published a description of an animal under the name of Planaria gracilis*. Upon examination I detected such a remarkable peculiarity in the digestive apparatus as led me to investigate its anatomy in detail, and to form for it a separate subgenus, characterized as follows : — Phagocata, oblonga, plano-convexa, nuda, contractilis, mucosa, an- tica auricularia. Aperturse duae, ventrales, ad os et generationem pertinentes. Proboscides multae. * Supplement to No. 1 of “ A Monograph of the Limniades, or Fresh- water Univalve Shells of North America, containing descriptions of appa- rently new animals in different classes,” &c. By S. S. Haldeman. Phila- delphia, 1840. Miscellaneous. 243 P. gracilis, nigricans, lateribiis parallelis, postero acuto abrupte, ple- rumque antico recto ; oculis duobus. Long. 9 lin., lat. 1 lin. Habi- tat in fontibus Pennsylvaniae. Description. Oblong, limaciform, naked, convex superiorly, flat in- feriorly, very contractile ; sides ordinarily parallel, convex when the animal is in a contracted state, convergent anteriorly when elon- gated ; anterior extremity with a lateral triangular auricular appen- dage, straight in front, by contraction becoming convex or concave ; posterior extremity abruptly pointed ; ocelli two, anterior, composed of an oblong, semitransparent (nervous ?) mass with an intensely black dot of pigmentum at the internal posterior part ; ventral aper- tures two ; oral aperture a little less than one-third the length of the body from the posterior extremity, and very dilatable ; generative aperture half-way between the oral aperture and posterior extremity. Colour black or iron gray, and in some younger specimens lateri- ceous. This animal I have only found in abundance in the neighbourhood of Prof. Haldeman’s residence, near Columbia, Pa. In a spring in front of his house, thousands of them may be seen gliding along the bottom ; some of them occasionally creep up the sides to the surface of the water, turn upon the back, and by making the ventral surface concave, float about in the manner of the Limniad(B. It appears to be carnivorous in habit, or at least it attaches itself to animal matter dead or living, in preference to vegetable matter. When irritated, it throws out a considerable quantity of very tenacious mucus. In structure it appears to be intermediate between the entozoic Distomata and the annulose Hirudince. I could not detect any trace of annulation, but I think that this alone would hardly be sufficient to place it lower than the latter animals, because, in a closely allied animal, the Gordius aquations, although there is no annulation in the perfect animal, yet in the embryo state I find it to exist. The whole animal is composed of a delicate granular structure ; the only approach to muscular fibre is in the longitudinal striation of the integument rendered more distinct by the pigmentum nigrum, a radiated appearance around the oral orifice, and a faint transverse and longitudinal arrangement of the granules entering into the com- position of the proboscides, seen more or less distinctly in the con- tinued movement of these organs when slightly compressed beneath the microscope. The digestive cavity presents the same dendritic arrangement as in PlanaricB generally*, but instead of possessing a single sucker or proboscis, the full-grown animal has not less than twenty-three ; varying however in this respect from three upwards, according to the age of the animal. One of these proboscides joins the digestive cavity at the posterior part of the anterior division, as usual ; the others join the remaining two divisions at their internal side in their course backwards. They are considerably longer, but narrower, than in P. lactea\, and when not in use are closely packed together within the Duges, Ann. Sc. Nat. f lb. 16* 244 Miscellaneous. animal, so that when the latter is placed beneath the microscope and slightly compressed, they will be seen pressing upon one another in such a manner, that if one changes its position, it will be instantly occupied by another. Those which are formed last are smallest, but they soon gain their full size. When the animal feeds, the whole of them are protruded from the oral orifice, the longest extending out full one-third the length of the body. As they are all convergent to the same orifice, when fully protruded the animal becomes puckered up and increased in breadth at the expense of the length. In this state the anterior extremity is erected and the posterior brought nearly to a right angle with it, so that it looks as if sitting upon its prey apparently unconcerned, with its proboscides, which writhe and twist about as if they were totally distinct organisms. If one of these animals be punctured or cut, one or more of the proboscides will be immediately protruded as if they existed under pressure, and will move about in all directions, appearing as if en- tirely without the control of the animal ; or if one of the animals be crushed between two slips of glass so that the proboscides will be torn from their attachment, they move about involuntarily, always in a line forwards or towards the mouth, which they do by contract- ing the stomachal extremity towards the oral, the latter remaining fixed. In this progressive course they constantly contract and dilate ; the mouth opens, and any matter in its vicinity rushes in, when it is closed and the matter passes onwards, and by the alternate contrac- tion and dilatation of different parts of the same tube, it is thrown backwards and forwards several times, and finally violently expelled at the torn extremity. When they have escaped from the ruptures of the tegument produced by crushing, or when snipped off with a pair of scissors whilst an animal is feeding, they will present the same curious phsenomena. In fact, these curious independent move- ments caused me at first to mistake the organs for viviparous young, and it was not until I had frequently observed the animal feeding, and examined its structure beneath the microscope, after having fed them upon coloured food, that I was convinced of their true nature. Excrement! tious matter is expelled from the digestive cavity through the same course by which the food enters. Circulation. — There appears to be nothing peculiar about the ar- rangement of the blood-vessels, if such they be ; the term being ap- plied to two semitransparent lines passing along each side of the ventral surface, and a third along the middle of the dorsal surface, the three freely communicating with each other by transverse lines and numerous smaller branches, the whole forming an extensive re- ticulation upon the surface of the body. At the anterior part of each ventral line, I distinctly observed a dilatation to exist. Generative apparatus. — As in all Planarity the animal is androgy- nous. The penis is a bulbiform organ placed between the oral and ge- nerative orifice, with its point directed towards the latter. The point is straight, or contorted ; the bulbous portion is also changeable, sometimes elongated, at others flattened or increased in breadth at Miscellaneous. 245 the expense of the length. The bulb shows through the thin inte- gument, and without close examination may be taken for a third orifice. The penis is perforate, and has a dilated cavity within the bulb. Immediately above the penis I indistinctly observed a some- what lobated organ, which appeared to join the penis at its base by a narrow portion. This is probably the testicle, for it was the only thing I could discover in connection with the genitalia to correspond to it. In two individuals only could I see part of the female organs. This consisted in two sigmoid tubes or oviducts, which could be traced from the generative orifice a short distance forwards, one on each side of the penis. I could detect no traces of a nervous system. The eyes, so called, have been previously described. It is still a question with many, whether these, as well as the corresponding deep black points existing in very many of the lower animals of the invertebrate series, subserve the purpose of eyes ; and some anato- mists have even gone so far as to deny the sense of sight to the comparatively perfect eye of many gasteropodous mollusca. The experiments which are made to test the existence of this sense in these organs for the most part are exceedingly fallacious, generally being performed by concentrating the light upon them through a lens. Insects, and even serpents and frogs, I find will frequently bear the impression of a sudden glare of light produced in this way without any inconvenience, at other times they will seek to avoid it ; but Helix albolahris will occasionally retract its tentacle when so disturbed, and Phagocata will frequently raise its anterior extremity and move from the too great light. From their position, which is always such as to be well exposed to the influence of the light ; from their structure, imperfect as it is in many cases, and their connec- tion with the nervous system when this exists, I am led to conclude that in all cases they are organs of vision. The general sensibility of Phagocata is very considerable, that is, it contracts with great readiness from the slightest disturbance. The contraction has much the appearance of being involuntary, and is very like that of the Medusae. When an individual is irritated at any point, contraction commences there, and thence rapidly extends throughout the animal, and the only appearance of volition is in the effort to escape ; but if the touch be too rude, apparently involuntary contraction takes place suddenly, and appears to destroy all power of volition for the moment ; the animal however soon revives from this state and glides off with its accustomed speed. Some experiments which I performed upon Phagocata confirm the statements that the Planariae are capable of repairing injuries. When an individual is cut into two, both parts after a time become distinct and perfect animals. Division carried to a greater extent in some instances results in as many perfect animals as there are parts, but generally I have found that when cut into more than three or four pieces, the intermediate pieces are apt to die, and sometimes the ex- tremities do not survive. — Proc. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philadelphia. 246 Miscellaneous. BASILOSAURUS. The following is an extract from a letter from Prof. J. Muller to Mr. A. Retzius, dated Berlin, March 24, 1847 : — “ The Hydrarchus, Koch, found in the tertiary formation in Ala- bama, is identical with Harlan’s Basilosaurus and Owen’s Zeuglodon cetoides"^. The crowns of the teeth, with which Owen was not ac- quainted, have a great resemblance to those of the Seal ; in the max- illary teeth they are cutting and many-pointed ; most of the maxillary teeth have double roots, but the anterior has, as in the Seals, only a single root. In the anterior part of the jaw are found conical curved teeth, viz. an incisive and a canine, at least this is the case with the under jaw. “ As such teeth as those which are found in the Hydrarchus oc- cur in the tertiary formation in Malta, we may conclude that this animal belongs likewise to the tertiary formation of that island. “ I think I can positively show that the Hydrarchus is not a rep- tile, but a mammal belonging to a peculiar extinct family. It has the ear formed as in the mammals, viz. a helix and a tympanic bone as in the Whales. It has moreover two occipital condyles, and in the whole formation of the cranium no trace of reptile structure occurs, but on the contrary everything is as in mammals. “ The vertebral column is very peculiar in its structure. The cer- vical vertebrae, probably more numerous than in any other mammal, are without perforations in their transverse processes ; the ribs are only attached to the transverse processes of the vertebrae ; at the central and posterior part of the column the bodies of the vertebrae are unusually long, and must both at the anterior and posterior part of the extremities have been cartilaginous, inasmuch as we find here beneath the bony shell a mass of pure stone, while the central part of these vertebrae consists wholly of hon^.'^—Silliman's Journal for Nov. 1847. Additional Note on a paper on Porcupines. By J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c. In my former paperf I was unable to give the country of Acanthion Cuvieri. Mr. Frazer has since brought a skull and two living spe- cimens of this species from Algiers ; the latter are now in the Gar- dens of the Society, and Mr. Whitfield has brought others from the Gambia. In the number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta for August 1847 just arrived (p. 772. t. 32), I observe that Mr. Hodgson has described a new' species of Indian Porcupine under the name of Hystrix alopceus, called AnchoUa by the natives, which is certainly an Acanthion, and most probably my A. Hodgsonii ; if so, the latter name will have the priority, as having been published in July. — From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, Nov. 9, 1847. *■ Phocodon, Agassiz. Sqiialodon, Grateloup, in Leonhard and Bronn’s Jalirbuch fiir Mineralogie, 1841, p. 830. t Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. p. 349. Meteorological Observations. 247 METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JAN. 1848. Chiswick. — January 1 . Foggy : hazy ; sleet-showers. 2. Very fine. 3. Densely overcast : cloudy and mild. 4. Exceedingly fine : clear. 5. Overcast: rain: clear. 6. Slight frost : clear : fine. 7. Slight frosty haze : heavy rain : clear. 8. Hazy. 9. Frosty : overcast. 10. Overcast : dusky clouds and cold. 11. Uni- formly overcast, with dusky haze. 12. Overcast: slight rain. 13. Clouds tinged with red : overcast: rain. 14. Hazy : drizzly. 15. Cloudy : exceedingly fine, with bright sun : frosty. 16. Sharp frost : very fine : clear and frosty. 17. Rain. 18. Fine. J 9. Cold easterly haze. 20 — 22. Densely overcast. 23. Slight snow. 24. Low fleeting clouds from N.E. 25. Cold dry easterly wind : densely over- cast. 26. Dusky haze : clear and frosty. 27. Frosty. 28. Snowing : clear and frosty: snow in the evening. 29. Foggy: fine: clear. 30. Overcast: rain. 31. Densely and uniformly overcast : sleet. Mean temperature of the month 33°'62 Mean temperature of Jan. 1847 34 '26 Mean temperature of Jan. for the last twenty years 36 *51 Average amount of rain in Jan 1*59 inch. Boston. — Jan. 1. Cloudy: rain early a. m. 2. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 3. Cloudy. 4. Fine. 5. Cloudy. 6. Fine. 7. Cloudy : snow a.m. 8. Cloudy : snow on the ground. 9. Fine : snow on the ground. 10, 11. Cloudy : snow oil the ground. 12. Fine. 13, 14. Cloudy. 15. Fine: rain early a.m. 16, 17. Fine. 18. Fine : rain early a.m. 19,20. Fine. 21. Cloudy : snow early a.m. 22, 23. Cloudy. 24 — 27. Fine. 28. Cloudy. 29. Cloudy: snow a.m. and p.m, 30. Cloudy: snow and rain p.m. 31. Fine: rain p.m. Applegarth Mnnse, Dumfriesshire. — Jan. 1. Frost : cloudy p.m. 2. Thaw and rain. 3. Thaw and rain : snow gone. 4. Rain a.m. : cleared : rain p.m. 5. Heavy rain all night: flood. 6. Frost: cloudy p.m. 7. Frost, slight: sprinkling of snow. 8. Frost, slight : drizzle p.m. 9. Frost, slight : harder p.m. 10. Frost, rather hard : snow, 11. Frost : fog all day. 12. Thaw : soft wind : snow gone. 13. Remarkably fine: frost p.m. 14. Air moist: rain p.m. 15. No frost: showers and wind p.m. 16. Showery early a.m. : cleared. 17. Frost, severe: slight snow. 18. Frost: clear: keen. 19. Frost: clear and fine. 20. Frost, severe : clear. 21. Frost: cloudy: threatening change. 22. Frost : no change : clear. 23. Frost : beautiful winter day. 24. Frost, keen : clear and fine. 25. Frost : threatening change. 26, 27. Frost: severe weather. 28. Frost: snow inch deep. 29. Frost a.m. ; rain p.m. 30. Frost : heavy snow five inches deep. 31. Frost: clear. Mean temperature of the month 33°*8 Mean temperature of Jan. 1847 35 ’9 Mean temperature of Jan. for twenty-five years 34 ’9 Rain in Jan. for twenty years 2‘60 inches. Sandwich Manse ^ Orkney. — Jan. 1. Cloudy: clear. 2. Showers: rain. 3. Cloudy. 4. Clear : cloudy. 5. Cloudy : rain : cloudy, 6. Clear : cloudy. 7. Cloudy : rain : cloudy. 8. Showers : cloudy. 9. Bright : fro-,t : cloudy. 10. Rain. 11. Bright: rain, 12. Damp : drizzle. 13. Drizzle. 14. Drizzle; showers. 15. Sleet-showers: clear. 16. Bright : showers. 17. Bright : frost . cloudy : frost. 18. Bright : frost: clear : frost. 19. Bright : frost : cloudy frost” 20. Clear: frost. 21. Bright : frost : cloudy : frost. 22. Cloudy. 23. Snow, clear : aurora. 24. Bright : clear : aurora. 25. Clear : aurora. 26. Bright ; frost : clear: aurora. 27. Bright: clear. 28. Cloudy : frost : snow-drift: aurora.; 29. Clear : frost : thaw. 30. Bright : frost ; clear : aurora. 31. 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Mr. Griffith describes the embryo in Gnetum as being attached to an enormously long, tortuous, but irregularly twisted cellular suspensor, its length varying from 3^ to 5 inches ; the whole length of the seed being about 1 inch. Different opinions are entertained respecting the true nature of this appendage. According to Schleiden^s view it is part of the pollen-tube ; in the Orchidece it would seem from Amici^s ob- servations to be part of the embryo-sac ; he states that the part of the sac which was in contact with the pollen-tube becomes elongated upwards, dividing likewise into cells, which are trans- parent and situated one above another, so as to form a large confervoid filament ; thus traversing in the opposite direction the course followed by the pollen-tube, becoming enlarged and pass- ing through the orifices of the tegrnen and testa, and being pro- longed even as far as the placenta. According to Mohl the suspensor is essentially connected with the embryo, both being produced by the growth and division of the germinal vesicle, the lowest cell, the embryo, growing faster than the others. In TropceoluiUj however, the development of the suspensor seems to precede that of the embryo ; such at least is the result of ^Ir. M^ilson^s observations upon that plant*. It has been already stated that the embryo in its first stage may be compared to the spore of an Alga ; future observations may aflbrd greater reason than at present for saying, that the sporoid embryo of some phsenogamous plants germinates in situ, emitting a confervoid filament, and requiring no transference to a new nidus, but find- ing in the interior of the embryo-sac all the conditions neces- sary to its existence and future development as a spore up to a certain period. In such Algae as Vaucheria, Derbesia, &c., the spores usually escape from the cell in which they are produced; being furnished with cilia they are enabled to disperse them- selves abroad, after a time they become fixed, and produce a • London Joinnal of Botany, vol. ii. p. G23. Dr. Dickie on the Ovule of Euphrasia officinalis. 265 plant like the parent. We may suppose that such change of cir- cumstances is necessary to their proper development ; the very fact of number alone would in certain cases be an obstacle to their growth in their original situation. In some instances however they do germinate in situ ; these form the exception and not the rule. The sporoid embryo is usually solitary [Citrus, Conifer at, &c. pre- sent exceptions) ; it does not require to change its place, but be- gins to germinate in situ, producing a confervoid filament, the embryo suspensor, which is usually directed towards the apex of the nucleus. But it may be objected to this idea, that spores do not germinate from any special fixed point ; this however is not proved, for who has yet demonstrated that they have not a fixed point for the origin of the thread they produce ? Sometimes however the suspensor is not directed towards the micropyle, but away from it ; Gasparrini has observed this in Citrus, and Griffith observed that in Osijris the part corresponding to the suspensor has a direction quite opposed to the point reached by the pollen-tube. In the ovule of Euphrasia, the peculiarities of which have been already described, it is probable that the tubu- lar filamentous appendage which protrudes from the apex of the embryo-sac is a prolongation of the terminal joint of the sus- pensor ; at all events it cannot be derived from the pollen for reasons already given ; at the same time it is not denied that the pollen-tube may reach and come in contact with the apex of the sac, though I have hitherto failed in detecting its presence. In a former communication an opinion was expressed that the jointed appendage of the embryo in the Orchidece is no part of the pollen-tube, as supposed by Schleiden, but a process from the embryo itself ; it was also added, that a tubular prolongation of its terminal joint might account for the presence of those tubes so abundant upon the placenta, and which had been by most ob- servers considered to be derived from the pollen. From the observations of Mohl and others it would appear that the state- ment alluded to was only partially correct, their observations having confirmed the first part, but shown the second to be er- roneous. For reasons already mentioned it would be premature to state that the production of the confervoid filament or sus- pensor, in other words, the germination of the sporoid embryo, forms the second stage of its development. This stage appears to be quite independent of the action of the pollen. Mirbel and Spach in 1839* demonstrated that the first appearance of the embryo, the germinal vesicle, called by them primary utricle, precedes the application of the pollen. This early formation of the germinal vesicle, the first outline of the embryo, was proved by them in a large number of * Report by M. Giraud in ‘ Annals of Nat. Hist.* vol. v. Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 18 266 Dr. Dickie on the Ovule of Euplirasia officinalis. Graminece. Its independence of the pollen need scarcely be spoken of in Coelehogyne and Citrus already alluded to. The ob- servations of Mohl on the Orchidece lead to the same conclusion ; those of Muller on the same family have a similar import. Mr. Henfrey in his report already quoted observes, “ The whole question appears to be narrowed to the determination of the point, whether the germinal vesicle does actually exist before im- pregnation, since if that can be proved, all appearances yet ob- served may be reconciled by allowing for very slight errors in interpreting and delineating them.^^ The most careful and trustworthy observers speak with caution respecting the real nature of the action produced by the pollen- tube upon the ovule in impregnation. We have seen that at least one stage of embryo-life is independent of the contact of the pollen-tube with the embryo-sac ; this I have ventured to deno- minate the sporoid stage. In some few cases, viz. Ccelebogijne and others, all the stages are equally so; generally however the future progress of the embryo is determined by the action of the pollen, whatever the nature of that action may be. The pro- duction of true radicle, cotyledons and plumule will constitute the last stage of embryo-development, and it is in reference to it that the best instruments cease to afford us any precise informa- tion. A¥e can trace the progress of the organs in question, but we cannot state precisely in w^hat way the action of the pollen influences their development. We do not derive any very clear information from such statements as those of Oken*, when he tells us that the pollen electrifies, animates or inspirits the ovarium — that the male imparts nothing in impregnation but the solar ray or fluid nervous mass in its semen, which awakes, animates and inspirits the quiescent female — that the pollen is a most highly differenced electrical product ; the seed-granule a wholly indifferent and tranquil mucous mass. The pollen falls upon the stigma of the pistil, and irradiation has taken place ; the material fruit- capsule gains thereby so much polarity, that saps enough ascend, in order to develope the germless seed- vesicles.^^ The theory of Schleiden had the advantage over all others that it directly accounted for the presence of the embryo. Some ob- servations of ]\Ir. Griffith seemed to lead to a conclusion nearly similar, the difference being that the embryo is not developed directly from the end of the ])ollen-tube, but from cells produced by that part. It is presumed that no one has hitherto traced a tube through its whole length, connected with the pollen-grain at one end and with the embryo at the other. * Oken’s Philosophy of Nature, Ray Society, 1847. Dr. Dickie on the Ovule of Euphrasia officinalis. 267 Fig. 1. Part of an ovule with a tube issuing from the foramen and termina- ting in a closed extremity. Fig. 2. Embryo-sac and appendage. Fig. 3. Part of another more highly magnified, showing the tube which traverses the sac. Fig. 4. Neck and bulb of the sac with tube more highly magnified. 18* 268 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. XXVI. — On the Insects of Jamaica. By Philip Henry Gosse. [Continued from p. 202.] 39. Calopteron bicolor. On the trees at the forest-edge, on each side of the Hampstead Road, this Lycus was excessively abundant in June 1845 and 1846, particularly in the latter year. Hundreds, I should judge, were sometimes on a single small tree. They rested principally on horizontal branches from the height of ten feet upwards. 40. Pygolampis ocanthophotis * (mihi) . 41. Photuris x'sersicolor. 42 to 53. Twelve other species of Lampxyridce, all luminous. The fire-tlies of the tropics have been often described. The Lampyridce are, in Jamaica, far more abundant than Pyrophorus noctilucus. At all times, their sparks, of various degrees of in- tensity, according to the size of the species, are to be seen, fitfully gleaming by scores about the margins of woods, and in open and cultivated places. Photuris versicolor, a large species with drab- coloured elytra, I found abroad soon after my arrival, in De- cember. One flying around the house, in the evening, I was struck with its swift and headlong flight and nearly permanent luminosity, which was much more brilliant than that of any spe- cies which I had at that time seen. The large Pygolampis, to which, for precision's sake (as I have a note concerning it), I have given a name, I did not meet with until May, when one flew into the house at Bluefields in the evening ; and two nights afterwards I observed it rather nume- rous on the very sea-beach at Sabito. It was conspicuous for the intensity of its light, much exceeding that of Photuris versicolor. Sometimes it is only the last segment but two that shows lumi- nosity, but when excited the whole hinder part of the abdomen is lighted up with a dazzling glare. It is in the woods of St. Elizabeth's, in the month of June, that I have seen the Lampxyridce in their glory ; and particularly along the road leading up the mountain from Shrewsbury to Content, where it is cut through the tall forest, which overhangs it on each side, making it sombre even by day, and casting an impe- netrable gloom over the scene by night. The darkness here, however, and especially at one point, a little dell, which is most obscure, is studded thick with fire-flies of various species, among * This fine species may be tlms described. Length 9 lines ; breadth .‘jf lines. Elytra smoke-black; thorax drab, the central portion dark brown; abdomen pale, the last three or four segments cream-white. Specimens in Brit. Mus. 269 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica. which the two large ones above-named are conspicuous. I have delighted to watch and study their habits in this lonely spot, while the strange sounds, snorings, screeches, and ringings, of nocturnal reptiles and insects, sounds unheard by day, were coming up from every part of the deep forest around, giving an almost unearthly character to the scene. Pygolampis xanthophotis is seen only in flight : its light is of a rich orange-colour when seen abroad, but when viewed in the light of a candle appears yellow. It is not of so deep a tint as the abdominal light of Pyrophorus noctilucus. It is intermittent. Photuris versicolor is noticeable by its frequent resting on a twig or leaf in the woods, when it will gradually increase the in- tensity of its light till it glows like a torch ; then it gradually fades to a spark, and beeomes quite extinct : it thus remains un- seen for some time, but in about a minute, or, it may be, two, it will begin to appear, and gradually increase to its former blaze ; then fade again ; strongly reminding the beholder of a revolving light at sea. The light of this species is of a brilliant green hue. I have seen a passing Pyg. xanthophotis, attracted by the glow of a stationary Phot, versicolor ^ fly up and play around it ; when the intermingling of the green and orange rays had the same charming appearance as the two lights of Pyrophorus noctilucus noticed in the preceding part of this memoir. The smaller species have, some yellow, some green light : I have noticed only these two colours in the luminosity of such Lampyridce as I have observed. Pygolampis xanthophotis, when held in the fingers, will fre- quently illuminate the antepenultimate segment of the abdomen, over which the light plays fitfully, sometimes momentarily clouded, more or less, but generally saturated, as it were, with most brilliant effulgence. This species occasionally comes in at open windows at night, but much more rarely than Photuris ver- sicolor and the smaller kinds, a dozen or more of which may be seen almost every night, especially at Content, crawling up the walls or flitting around the room and beneath the ceiling. . At Content, in the latter part of July, I found in fresh-turned earth a larva of a Lampyris, small and lengthened : the abdomen was furnished with a retractile brush of divergent filaments, or- dinarily concealed ; but having no lens with me I could not ex- amine it particularly. 54. Nitidula (sp. nov.). Found with a Philonthus, rather numerous, in the centre of decaying rose-apples {Eugenia jambos) on the Hampstead Road in June. 55. Dermestes lardarius. Probably introduced. Sadly abun- dant in the skins of my preserved birds, at all times. 56. Helops (sp. near celestinus). A single specimen found on 270 Mr. L. Reeve on the Habits and the ground, on Grand Vale Mountain, St. Elizabeth's, early in June. 57. Diaperis^. (sp. nov.). Round at New Forest, near Alli- gator Pond, where the singular honey-combed limestone is the common rock. It was in December. 58. Rhipiphorus (sp. nov.). A single specimen taken in June, on the Hampstead Road : it was resting between two leaves of a shrub. 59. M or della (sp.). 60. Tenebrio (sp.). Common under heaps of stones in Blue- fields pasture. 61. Upis (sp. nov.). 62. Attelabus (sp. nov. very near aureolus, King). This pretty little insect was very numerous in June on the Hampstead Road, and it occurred also at the same season on Bluefields Mountain. M"e invariably found the specimens resting on the leaves of trees that overhung the road, and for the most part about ten or fifteen feet from the ground. They were apt to fall off on the slightest alarm. It has an odd appearance, as if it were but two-legged, from the great development of the anterior pair of legs. The spot on each elytron is golden during life, but after death fades to a dull drab hue. [To be continued.] XXVIl. — On the Habits and Geographical Distribution of Buli- mus, a genus of Air-breathing Mollusks. By Lovell Reeve, E.L.S. The beautiful forms and varieties of shells produced by those air-breathing mollusks, which, under the generic appellation of Bulimus, constitute an important division of the great tribe of Snails, have become objects of especial interest to the concholo- gist, owing to the zeal with which a few enterprising scientific tra- vellers have lately penetrated into tropical countries in pursuit of them. It is, however, to the productive exertions of Mr. Cuming that we are mainly indebted for the newer and more attractive species. The researches of this ardent naturalist in the arid plains on the west side of the Andes, in the dense woods of West Columbia and Central America, and more recently in the luxuriant open forests of the Philippine Islands, whilst they present an instructive contrast, exceed any result the most san- guine colleetor could have anticipated. In the dry and barren regions of estern Chili and Peru, the Bulimi are mostly small, and of comparatively fragile structure ; but in the beautiful islands of the Eastern Archipelago, where climate and vegetation com- Geographical Distribution o/Bulinius. 271 bine to favour the growth of arboreal species, the genus is repre- sented with prolific splendour. Mr. Cuming must have truly felt like one transported to the fabled garden of the Hesperides, when beholding the lofty trees of these sunny isles laden with snails of such magnificent proportions. Aladdin, in the Arabian tale, could not surely have contemplated the rich clusters of vari- coloured fruit in the garden of the African Magician with more astonishment, nor probably gathered it with more avidity. It was in 1836,^^ relates Mr. Broderip, “ that Mr. Cuming- proceeded to the Philippine Islands by permission of the Queen Begent of Spain, and aided by powerful recommendations from her government, which opened to him the interior of the islands, and caused him to be received with a noble hospitality, equalled only by the warm interest which facilitated his pursuits wherever he arrived and made himself known. Species of which we had but an imperfect knowledge, in consequence of the bad condi- tion in which a stray individual chanced to reach our cabinets, were found in luxuriant plenty, and many new kinds were discovered in their airy solitude in equal abundance. Had He Ferussac, the enthusiastic admirer of this tribe, lived to see the glorious series of Bulimi accumulated in the Cumingian collection in different stages of growth, and in the finest state of preservation, from the egg to the adult, he would have been indeed amazed. The genus Bulimus, as restricted by Lamarck, comprehends an extremely natural group, though presenting important differ- ences of growth and texture ; and these variations are peculiarly local. In the Philippine Islands, the species are of large and rather solid growth, with a remarkable hydrophanous epidermis, that is, permeable by water or other evaporable fluid ; on the barren hills of Lima, and in the sandy plains of Chili and Peru, they are mostly small and delicately formed ; in Brazil, the species are remarkable for having the aperture in frequent instances denticulated ; and in New Caledonia, Venezuela, New Granada and New Hebrides, they not uncommonly exhibit with equal pe- culiarity a plaited AuriculaATke columella. It is a curious feature in the Philippine species, that the varie- ties of pattern which constitute their chief ornament reside only in the epidermis. The colours of the shell rarely describe any sort of configuration ; they are mostly blended into a uniform tint, over which a fanciful pattern is produced by the epidermis forming a double porous membrane in some places, and a single one only in others, developed, moreover, with the same continu- ous regularity as the textile marking of a Volute or Cone. This phsenomenon is easily detected by immersing the shell in water, when the light portion, or upper porous layer, of the epidermis becomes saturated, and the ground colour of the shell is seen 272 Mr. L. Reeve on the Habits and through it ; as the moisture evaporates^ the epidermis resumes its light appearance. Sir David Brewster, in reply to a letter from Mr. Broderip on this subject, says : It appears to me, from very careful observations, that the epidermis consists of two layers, and that it is only the upper layer which is porous, wherever the pattern is white. These white or porous portions of the epidermis dilfer from the other parts of the upper layer only in having been deprived of, or in never having possessed, the element which gives transparency to the membrane ; in the same manner as hydrophanous opal has become white, from the expulsion of its water of crystallization.^^ There is little variety in the animal of Bulimus : the Chilian species are mostly of a light colour, and a few in this and the Columbian district are spotted, some having a transparent shell through which the spots are visible. The Philippine species are, without exception, of a sombre olivaceous brown, and dwell in family groups, as it were, among the shady foliage of the branches. Out of a group of some dozen living specimens, not more than three or four may be found in an adult state with the lip of the shell reflected. They may be dislodged by shaking the branches, but are chiefly disturbed by the heavy rains with which these islands are at times visited. Mr. Cuming preferred, however, to collect them in dry sunny weather, because he was sure of finding the objects of his search in their shady places of retreat. In the immense sandy tract on the west side of the Andes, the reverse of this condition of nature prevails. The Bulimi are here phy- sically very distinct ; some reside all the year round upon the numerous Cactiy but during the dry season, which lasts for several months, they live mostly in a state of torpor, inclosed within their shell by an epiphragra, and buried in the sand or under stones. On the approach of the dews they revive to a state of animation, and crawl about at night in quest of food. In illustration of the remarkable drought that prevails in Northern Chili, and of its effect upon molluscous life, I am tempted to repeat, in brief, an anecdote related to me by Mr. Cu- ming. On the arrival of our friend at the port of Copiapo in 1829, he discovered the beautiful Bulimus Broderipii in considerable numbers, in the fissures of the rocks that may be seen here and there in the sandy plains of that country. Finding a large pro- j)ortion of them dead, with the soft parts entirely decomposed, he requested a solitary inhabitant of the place to collect as many specimens as he could pick out alive, whilst he occupied himself in botanizing. Returning from his excursion, Mr. Cuming was greatly disappointed to find that among the quantity his Chilian collector had accumulated, there was scarcely one in a living state. Vpon remonstrating with him for his inattention, the native re- 273 Geographical Distribution of BuHmus. plied : Only wait till the dews come, and they will be all alive again/^ Mr. Cuming rejoined : I suppose you mean when it rains.^^ The man, however, in perfect astonishment inquired what he meant ; though a sexagenarian, he had never heard of such a thing as rain. The Bulimi vary in their mode of propagation : fragile species with the lip of the shell simple are mostly viviparous, while those with a reflected lip are oviparous. The arboreal species of the Phi- lippines deposit their eggs in little clusters on the trees, between two leaves which the animal manages to curl up, one upon the other, so as to form a receptacle for their protection ; and so far as Mr. Cuming’s observations go, they are all soft, like snakes’ eggs, with the single exception of the B. Mindoroensis, in which instance the eggs are calcareous, deposited upon a leaf in parallel rows, each standing perpendicularly on end, attached at the base by a glutinous substance. The habits of the Bulimi in the two widely-remote countries explored by Mr. Cuming having been treated of in the foregoing remarks, it only remains to speak of them in other parts. Turn- ing to New Holland, we are unexpectedly surprised to find that the genus is there represented to an extremely limited extent. I am not aware of more than three species having been found in this wide expanse of country, although several fine Helices have been discovered ; and in a region of which the Fauna and Flora exhibit so luxuriant and distinctive a character, the scarcity of a genus of so much importance in the Eastern Isles is remarkable. The same observation ^applies to New Zealand, from whence, so far as the interior of the islands of that group has been visited, no more than one or two species have been received. In Africa, the Bulimi are almost as great strangers as in the localities just spoken of ; throughout the whole extent of land yet explored of this vast continent, scarcely a dozen species have been obtained. The Bulimi are here replaced by Achatince. Such a phsenomenon may also be observed in some of the islands of the Pacific ; in the Sandwich Islands the Bulimi are replaced by the genus Acha- tinellay and in the Society Islands their place is occupied by the Partulce. In the West Indies the genera Achatina and Glandina seem to prevail. Howsoever abundant is the genus Bulimus in most of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, few species ap- pear to inhabit the great territories of India and China. On the coast of Borneo a beautiful one was recently discovered by Mr. Adams of H.M.S. Samarang by the accidental falling of a tree in a woody islet situated between Banguey and Balambangan ; but they are of rare occurrence in that locality. In Europe, where nature is exposed to the vicissitudes of a colder climate, the Bulimi are mostly small, and exhibit no brilliancy of colour ; so 274 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : also in the extensive district of North America, where no more than a few insignificant species are known to exist. It is in the richly fertile and woody district of Columbia that the genus Bulimus is represented with a magnificence little inferior to that of the Philippine Islands : here they are large enough and suffi- ciently abundant to be roasted and eaten by the aborigines, as a frequent article of food. Several fine species, entirely new to science, have been collected in Venezuela and New Granada by Mr. Linden, an assiduous botanical traveller, only within the last twelvemonth, at an altitude of 5000 to 8000 feet, and many more, no doubt, dwell in undisturbed solitude in the vast interior of that immense continent. It is extremely probable that a large portion of South America yet remains to be explored by the adventurous naturalist, inclosing a fine expanse of forest country, grand in extent, rich in foliage, and possessing all the elements favourable to the growth and beauty of arboreal mol- lusks. XXVIII. — Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 3. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. On the Growth of Leaves. In that remarkable book, Hales’s ^Vegetable Staticks,’ we find the account of an experiment made to determine the mode of growth and expansion of leaves. The method Hales adopted was to tattoo^ as it may be called, young leaves with punctures made by means of a little instrument on which pins were fixed at de- terminate distances in parallel rows. In the fig-leaves on which he experimented he found that the punctures were separated from one another during the growth, but maintained their relative di- stances unaltered, and from this he concluded that the growth and expansion were owing to the dilatation of the vesicles in every part.” In his figures, however, it may be noticed that the leaf has grown more at the borders and apex than within the punctures. Similar experiments have recently been made by M. Gaudi- chaud*, and he makes the following meagre statements in regard to the petioles and leaves. (The marks were made on young- plants of the horse-chestnut raised from seed.) The marks made on the petioles increased their distance two or three times the diameters, equal or unequal, of the original measures, and the pro- portions of the upper parts generally exceeded those of the lower. It might be imagined that the blades of the leaves would be * Comptes Rendus, May 10th, 1817. 275 On the Growth of Leaves. subject to tbe same law of growth^ but they present more ano- malies than any other parts. He states that these are however more apparent than real, and promises to give a detailed account at some future time. The generally received opinion with regard to the groudh of leaves is that, in contrast to the stem, they grow at their base only, and their summits are therefore considered to be the oldest parts. Link* however states that the leaf appears at once in the bud udth all its parts formed, and that it then grows by interstitial development, but mentions one exception, in the Walnut, where the leaves appear ternate or tripartite at first, and the other lobes appear subsequently. Schleidenfi declares that the apex is the oldest part and the base the youngest, and that although the process of development within the leaf may increase its size and influence its internal structure, it has no power of determining its form ; while to complicate the subject still more, Nageli J has just published a paper advocating the diametrically opposite opi- nion. His views are so definitely expressed that they well merit an examination. In the first place he draws a marked distinction between two modes of growth which necessarily exist in all leaves, viz. 1. growth by cell-formation, and 2. growth by the expansion of the cells. Considering the fronds of the Algae to represent leaves, he first points out how these grow by their apices and borders, the increase in length resulting from the continual division of the apical cell {scheitel-zelle), and the increase in breadth, where the lobe or branch consists of several parallel rows, by the deve- lopment of the outer marginal cells. The same occurs in the Characece. In the Hepaticce, if the leaf consists of a branched series of cells (as in J. tricophylla and J. setacea), it grows by the apical cells as in the Floridece. If the leaf is a layer of cells — in the Mosses it possesses one continually developing apical cell and the lateral growth is simultaneously efiected by the division of the cells left behind as it were by the apical cell, which dhdde by a septum at right angles to that of the primary cell, and the first two producing four, the outer one of each pair repeats the process, and so on till the whole growth in width is completed. In the Hepaticce when the leaves are layers or plates of cellular tissue like those of the Mosses just described, the process is similar, except that they appear generally to have several apical or primary cells. MTien the leaves are more than one layer thick, as is often the case in the midnerve, septa are found in the cen- * Elera. Philosophise Botan. i. 438. t Grimdz. der Wiss. Botanik, 2nd edit. vol. ii. p, 172. X Schl. and Nageli’s Zeitschr. fiir Wiss. Bot. part 3, 153, 276 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : tral cells parallel with the surface of the leaf, and the process ex- tends outward from the central to the lateral cells according to the specific peculiarity of the plant, but it is always the central cell which first divides. In the Lycopodiacece and Equisetacece the leaves also grow in length and breadth by the development of their apical and mar- ginal cells. The Phanerogamia follow the same law. In an im- perfect leaf, the cells at the border and apex are full of the homogeneous mucilage (protoplasm), while in the others it is already transformed into yellowish or greenish granular matter. Sometimes the formation of the septa may be observed in the marginal cells. In thin leaves the increase in length by the di- vision of the apical cell may frequently be observed during the growth of the plant. The fact that the leaves of Phanerogamia grow at the apex and borders and not by the base, is most easily seen in compound or much-divided leaves. As a general rule the lateral axes shoot out from the main axis in succession from below upwards ; in like manner grow the tertiary axes (when present) from the secondary. In Astragalus (which is figured by the author) it is shown that the uppermost leaflets are the youngest, the lowest the old- est and largest. In Utricularia the growth of the leaf originally and of the di- visions subsequently, may be seen to occur by continual deve- lopment at the apices of the main axis and the divisions. In Myriophjllum however was found an exception, the upper lobes of the leaf being formed first. The thickness of the leaf, the various inferior layers of the epidermis and the parenchyma depend on another mode of growth, which Nageli calls, in opposition to peripheric al cell- developmentf cell-development in every direction [allseitige Wachs- thum) . Three forms of this occur : I . It is either absent or merely follows at a little distance the development of the apical cell from below upward and soon ceases. In this form the de- velopment of the cells often ceases in the lower part of the leaf before it is complete at the borders. Utricularia is an example. 2. The development in every direction occurs simultaneously in all parts of the leaf, which completes its peripherical growth very rapidly. The growth in this form usually ceases in all parts about the same time. 6. The development in every direction begins, after the rapid completion of the peripherical growth, either only or at all events principally on the upper part of the leaf and extends downward. It ceases at the base last. There is also sometimes an abnormal growth in every direction, which occurs either in particular cells or in the whole tissue, and does not appear to be subject to any laws. 277 On the Growth of Leaves. The growth of leaves by the expansion of the cells is subject to various modifications. In the Algae the expansion does not usually begin until the growth by development is complete. It then commences in the uppermost cell and extends gradually to the base. In those branched filaments where the cells break up {Polysiphonia, &c.) the uppermost cell falls ofi* first, and the process extends down- ward to the others in succession. There are some few exceptions to this rule, where the expansion of the cells is simultaneous, or even begins in certain other parts instead of the apex. Those Algae however which consist of single branched cells must of course be excepted from the rule, as the expansion is the extension of one individual cell, and that proceeds from below upward. In the Mosses and Hepaticce the expansion commences, after the completion of development, at the apex and extends gra- dually downwards. In Characece the terminal cells expand first. In the Lycopodiacece the expansion also proceeds from the apex to the base. In the Phanerogamia as a general rule both in simple and compound leaves, the expansion commences at the summit, but this rule is not without exception. In some leaves the expansion is tolerably simultaneous, while in others, as in Utricularia, it extends like the development from below upward. There does not appear to be any rule for the expansion of the petiole of com- pound leaves. Drawing the conclusion as to the origin of the leaf in the higher classes from analogy, Nageli propounds the following formulse as the expression of his views : — 1. The leaf originates as a simple cell, 2. The growth by cell-formation occurs at the apex and on the border, and proceeds, from the base, upwards and outwards. 3. The growth by the expansion of the cells begins, on the con- trary, at the apex and extends to the base. Now these formulae look remarkably definite and clear, and if we could receive them, our knowledge of these structures would be much simplified ; but unfortunately, although the laws of de- velopment are simple, fundamentally, they are subject to innu- merable modifications in their application, and I cannot think that Nageli has taken all the conditions of leaves into consider- ation, and I believe therefore that he has generalized much too freely. In the first place it is a question whether the fronds of the Algae are always the analogues of leaves : if we have leaves in • them, we also have leaves and stems, and probably often stems 278 Mr. A. Heiifrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany. alone ; and although he is in accordance with most authors in stating that the fronds of Algse grow by their apices and borders, there are also exceptions here — for instance in Lami- naria digitata, where the new frond is produced by the expansion and development of the stalk-like part of the old one. Passing by these, it is evident that the leaves of Mosses and Hepaticce differ widely from those of the Phanerogamia in general in their development, though they bear considerable resemblance to such as those of Utricularia, &c., and many of the Monocotyledons. The leaf of a Dicotyledon originates as a little papilla of cel- lular tissue : if it is a lobed leaf, these lobes appear in succession ; thus at first we see a little cone, then a three-lobed fiattened pa- pilla, next a five-lobed, and so on ; and here it is difficult to say how we shall prove, how in the five-lobed form the intermediate lobes originated — whether they are new ones, or the two original lateral lobes pushed up by two succeeding lobes — since we can only make observations on separate leaves, not see them grow ; but as it is clear that the papilla does grow at the base, becoming narrowed into a petiole and pushing the whole of the blade up, we have a right to assume that the leaf does in the first instance develope at its base. But then we must not generalize for the whole growth from this, since as soon as the petiole is distinctly formed, the petiole and the lamina have distinct growth ; and now the leaf in its expansion by the multiplication of its cells must grow chiefiy at its borders, since the centre of the base, that is, the point of junction with the petiole, must retain its relative position, and may therefore be considered as the point of de- parture of all growth in the lamina ; so that as the apex and the borders are subsequently at a greater distance than at first, they must develope away from it in all directions, whether by mere marginal and apical alone or by central development also, since in the latter case the border must grow to make room for the growth in the centre. Nageli says that the growth by expansion of the individual cells commences at the apex, but it would very often be difficult to distinguish whether this expansion at the apex depends on development of cells or actual expansion of those already formed ; he probably reasoned from analogy here in re- gard to the Phanerogamia. Most experiments have shown the expansion to be tolerably simultaneous throughout. The leaves of Monocotyledons, such as those of the common bulbous plants at least, appear to develope chiefiy, if not solely, at the base. In those which have petioles there must be a differ- ence, but in such we observe the growth or actual development to continue longer in the petiole than in the blade. The forms of leaves differing so much even in the same spe- cies, often in consequence of difference in the amount of paren- Mr. Toiilmiii Smith on the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. 279 chyma, it appears to me that the laws of growth of leaves must he looked for in the course of the development of their frame- work, the nerves. These are apparently organized gradually out from the stem into the nascent leaves^ just as the vascular bundles into the apex of the stem, and their point of separation in the blade being fixed from the first, it is clear that all growth in the blade of the leaf must occur beyond this, and it is most natural to suppose that the nerves become organized from this centre outward as the vascular bundles were from the stem at first. Thus it would happen that Dicotyledonous leaves in general would grow at their base until they were sketched out as it were, in the bud, but as soon as the nerves were formed and the plan of the framework of the future expanded lamina laid down, the growth would be apical, marginal and interstitial. In Monoco- tyledonous leaves with straight veins there appears to be nothing to prevent the continued development of the base, and as we usually find the tissue in a softer and less consolidated condition there, it is probable that that part is the seat of development. These ideas are merely suggested as rational interpretations of the facts before us, but much systematic observation is required before this question can be settled. XXIX. — On the Ventriculidse of the Chalk; their classification. By J. Toulmin Smith, Esq. [Continued from p. 220.] Genus Cephalites. Character. Pouch-shaped : very constant in size and dilatation : cavity usually regular and with a single opening ; sometimes winding and with more openings than one : membrane form- ing the wall of the cavity always deeply folded : marginal edges — and, sometimes, most prominent points — of the plaits attached to a simple apolypiferous membrane stretched across their whole breadth and forming the upper margin or head of the wall : membrane of wall polypiferous on both external and internal surfaces. The difierences between the genera Cephalites and Ventriculites are so broadly marked that, except in one or two species, it would be difficult to confound even fragments of the two. In every species of Cephalites the head is conspicuous and unmistakeable. This very remarkable peculiarity is alone sufficient to distinguish the genus*. * See ante, p. 46. 280 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification The provisions found through the whole family of Ventricu- lidse for ensuring the free access of sea- water to all parts of the surface, and for securing permanence of form as one great means to that end, have been already noticed* * * §. The present genus offers fresh and most remarkable illustrations of those provi- sions. In every species of this genus the fold is, comparatively to the size of the whole body, much deeper and broader — in many species positively much deeper and broader — than in any species of the genus Ventriculites. The size also is much smaller than the average size of the Ventriculites ; the height of specimens of the present genus seldom exceeding two inches, rarely attain- ing three inchest- The form is never expanded, as usual in Ventriculites, but, with few exceptions, approaches nearly to the cylindrical, as in V. tenuiplicatus. Extent of surface was thus gained in this genus by the increased depth and complexity of the fold. But this depth and complexity would endanger the safety of the polypiferous surface were there no special provision for maintaining the normal position of the individual plaits. This was perfectly effected, and at the same time with great simplicity and beauty, by stretching across the flat upper edges, or, in a few cases, the more prominent points J, of the plaits a simple and entire membrane §, which, spread over the whole breadth of those edges and from point to point of those prominences, retained all the plaits securely in their position ; thus ensuring the safety of the whole colony and of the entire polypidom which was covered by it. See PL XIV. The general constancy in the size and form of specimens of this genus throws difficulties in the way of the question of growth. It is not easy to understand why we do not find young indivi- duals of this genus as of Ventriculites. It has occurred to me * Ante, pp. 41, 203. It was the circumstance of the Ventriculida? beiug polypiferous on both surfaces that rendered these provisions so necessary. In Halodactyhis, &c. one surface only is polypiferous. See note J p. 41 . I Hence all the figures of this genus are of specimens of average size. I have much pleasure in acknowledging here the pains and care bestowed by Mr. Sowerby over these plates. The novelty of the forms and structure presented many difficulties, especially as the engravings were made only from my drawings. But nothing can be more generally successful or truth- ful than the figures which Mr. Sowerby has realised. J These latter cases form, however, no exception to the principle of the marginal edge of the plaits being always attached to the cephalic membrane. The cases in which prominent points of the plaits are attached to the head are cases of an additional provision for security. In those cases, as in all others, the marginal edge of the membrane, after having undergone all its varied modifications of fold, reaches and is attached to the head. See the description of C. campanulatus and C. constrict us. § As to structure and nature of this see aiite (vol. xx.) pp. 96, 188. of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. 281 that, probably, the ocean in which this genus dwelt being, appa- rently, a more disturbed one than that in which the Ventriculites dwelt*, and the head possibly not forming till a certain age and size had been attained, individuals dead or destroyed below that age very rapidly lost their form and are therefore found only as shapeless masses. I do not suggest this solution of the difficulty, however, without considerable hesitation. The whole genus Cephalites is characteristic of the Middle Chalk. I have never found a single specimen which I could with any probability refer to the Upper Chalk, though it may be ex- pected that some forms will be found which endured into that later epoch. Certainly none have been ever yet found in the Lower Chalk. § a. Annulati^. Head narrow and flat : plaits compact and regular. 1. Cephalites longitudinalis. PI. VII. (vol. xx.) fig. I, & PI. XIV. fig. I. Plaits delicate but often deep : outer plaits slightly winding ; inner plaits depressed at short and regular intervals ; bulging on each side around depressions till the adjoining plaits meet and open into each other : processes very conspicuous : wall moderately thick. This species much resembles in external aspect the smaller cylindrical specimens of Ventriculites tenuiplicatus. It is however smaller than that species usually is, the plaits less winding, and the wall thicker. The depressions on the inside also are generally smaller, closer, and more regular than in that species. The head alone is sufficient to distinguish the two at a glance. This is the only species of Cephalites in which the longitudinal fold remains unmodified on the outer face. Hence its specific name. A transverse section of it is seen on fig. 1 of PI. VII. It is a rare and delicate species : indeed all the species of the present genus are rare. They do not seem to have abounded in the older seas of the Middle Chalk as the Ventriculites did in the Upper Chalk. Though thus rare, however, their modifications are not the less clearly marked. In regard to the head it is proper to remark, that while, throughout the present division of this genus, its breadth will always be found a very near approximation to that of a transverse section of the plaits, there is a slight variation in this respect in individual specimens. The head often slopes a little outwards, so * See ante, p. 204. f See ante, p. 47. Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 19 282 Mr. Toulmiii Smith on the Classification that a section of the entire body presents an outline as in fig. V, in which a — b is the sec- tion of the head. The outline of the head is always quite as sharp and well-defined as in this figure. The relative arrangement and proportions of the head and the plaits are such that specimens of this division can never be confounded with any belonging to the section Dilatati. It is very rarely in the present division that there is any rounding, or departure from the nearly flat character of the head; a character, on the other hand, never present in the Dilatati. It is proper to notice that, in every species of this genus, in order to give full strength to the head, the depressions, bulgings, and other modifications of the fold, — where it does not rise, as in C. campanulatus, in a simple form, — are so arranged that the membrane of the inner wall, where it adjoins the head, is always, and that of the outer wall most frequently, expanded by a lateral bulging of the plait, so as for the adjoining plaits to meet just at the point of union of the wall wdth the head. Thus the whole of the inner, and often of the outer, edge of the head is continuously attached to the wall, an arrangement of much im- portance. On this inner edge the membrane often rises up in a narrow and slightly prominent ridge above the otherwise smooth surface of the head. 2. Cephalites guttatus. PI. XIV. fig. 2. Plaits broad and deep : outer plaits raised in large hollow bosses, often elongated ; adjoining plaits having an occasional lateral connection : inner plaits depressed at regular intervals, bulging on each side around depressions till adjoining plaits meet and open into each other : processes very conspicuous : wall usu- ally thick. Nothing can better express the usual character of this species than the term guttatus. The outer surface looks exactly as if sprinkled with drops of a viscid fluid which had just begun to run together, in some instances to a greater, in others to a less extent. It is thus generally well distinguishable, even on the outside, from Ventriculites mammillaris. The plaits being much broader than in C. longitudinalis, the depressions on the inner plaits are larger than in that species. The lateral connection between adjoining external plaits, as in Ventriculites latiplicatus and radiatuSj which is only rarely seen in C. longitudinalis, is always more or less present in this species. Fig. F. 283 of the Ventriculidae of the Chalk. and furnishes another characteristic by which it may be at once known from V. mammillaris. 3. Cephalites paradoxus. PI. XIV. fig. 3. Plaits narrow but deep : outer plaits depressed irregularly ; bulging around depressions till the adjoining plaits meet and open into each other : inner plaits regular and simple : pro- cesses conspicuous : wall thick. I have given to this remarkable species the mdimQ paradoxus, because it differs from every other species of this genus in having the plaits simple and regular on the inside, while all the com- plexity is on the outside. The depressions, and consequently the interspaces between the anastomosing bulgings on the outside, are not of a regular figure, as is the case on the inner surfaces of Ventriculites radiatus and other species. They are varying and elongated ; often almost angular ; though, as the plaits are narrow, never very large. There do not appear to be any points of anastomosis* between the ad- joining inner and regular plaits, such as are found between the outer plaits of V. radiatus. 4. Cephalites alternans. PI. VII. (vol. xx.) fig. 2, & PI. XIV. figs. 4 & 5. Plaits rather broad and very deep : both outer and inner plaits depressed at unequal intervals ; bulging on each side around depressions till the adjoining plaits meet and open into each other : processes conspicuous : wall thick. The mode of fold in this species resembles that of Ventriculites bicomplicatus in the fact of being repeated on the plaits of each surface. It differs essentially, however, in the fact that the de- pressions, though generally round, are, on neither surface, at re- gular intervals : consequently no regular figure is assumed in the general aspect of either surface. I have named the species alternans from the circumstance of the repetition on the two surfaces of the same manner of fold ; while the straight plait is clearly traceable in the central portion of the wall. A transverse section of a specimen of this species is seen on PI. VII. fig. 2. Its difference from a similar section of C. longitudinalis is very marked. This is an extremely rare species. ♦ The appearances seen on dissecting away the inner surface must not be mistaken for this anastomosis. The}^ are, in fact, the bases of the de- pressions on the outer plaits. See the description of a similar appearance on the outside of V. tenuiplicatus, p. 217. 19* 284 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification 5. Cephalites hullatus. PI. VII. (vol. xx.) fig. 3, & PI. XIV- figs. 6 & 7. Plaits broad and deep : outer plaits raised in large and very pro- minent projeetions at considerable intervals^ and in such man- ner that they range spirally round the whole body : projections nearly lozenge-shaped and terminating abruptly in an almost flat and somewhat expanded top, having a slight depression from the upper angle towards the middle : inner plaits having large circular depressions at equal intervals ; bulging on each side around depressions till adjoining plaits meet and open into each other : processes very conspicuous : wall very thick. This is a most curious and interesting as well as rare but well- marked species. The depressions on the inner folds are much larger than in C. guttatus, which latter have been seen to be larger than in C. longitudinalis. But the external fold is the most deserving of attention. When the specimen is first opened there are seen only a number of nearly semilunar marks. On carefully applying the point of the knife it is found that this se- milunar appearance is caused by very prominent projections, the tops of which are all closed, but have a partial depression at their upper extremity, and which depression is filled as usual with the matrix. The projections themselves are of large size, measuring about two lines in their longest diameter. They stand out nearly or quite half the thickness of the wall, which is generally four lines thick (see fig. 3. PL VII.*). They differ widely from any- thing we have yet seen. Instead, like Ventriculites mammillaris, of being mere rounded elevations on the plait, they stand out prominently from it ; and a careful dissection shows that their shape is generally that of a lozenge, with the acute angles in the horizontal, and the obtuse in the perpendicular, line of the whole body. Fig. 7f of PI. XIV. shows the manner of the projections from the plait and the figure which the peculiar shape of their tops causes to be seen on a clean section exactly through the middle of any one. In all the specimens of this species w^hich I have seen, the projections run in nearly regular spiral lines round the body. On the inner surface of this and of some other broadly de- pressed species there is a very small and slight depression be- tween each of the large depressions, and both on the plaits and on the places of the united bulgings. It is barely traceable, and * This is a longitudinal section taken rather obliqueb- in order to preserve the roots. It is not quite regular therefore; but, on the side which is pre- served, the projections can be well distinguished. f In this figure I have connected the inner and outer plaits by brackets, — the outline of each merely being given for the sake of clearness. 285 of the Ventriciilidse of the Chalk. may easily escape notice. It is however worthy of remark as an additional contrivance for gaining extent of surface, and an ad- ditional instance of the exhaustless variety of plan which nature adopts in the development of life. 6. Cephalites retrusus. PI. XIV. fig. 8. Plaits broad and very deep : outer plaits . . . : inner plaits raised in rather small but very promi- nent projections at regular and close intervals, and in such manner that they range spirally round the whole body, and quincuncially relatively to each other : projections cylindrical, rounding off slightly at the top and with an exactly central and rather deep circular depression (sometimes two) on the top of each projection : wall very thick. This form departs from every other which has been named. It is the first and only instance in which we find projections on the inner plaits, which have been already more than once found, and will be so again, on the outer plaits. The fold which marked the outer plaits of C. bullatus is here found, with striking modi- fications however, on the inside. The projections are much smaller and closer than in that species, but no less prominent ; while each one is again marked by a deep though small and ex- actly central depression. It is altogether a very extraordinary form*. In chalk specimens it would at once be distinguished from every other species by presenting, on its inner surface, the appearance of a series of small rings, quite unconnected with each other, but arranged with the utmost regularity. It is an extremely rare species. I have only met with a single specimen, and that is a cast of the inner surface in fiint, with frag- ments of the characteristic ventriculitic structure preserved in * Forms like this afford very strong ground of caution against the hasty adoption of any development theories. The whole of the present subject af- fords, indeed, the strongest ground for such caution. We see infinite variety — all subservient to the ends of life ; and throughout which one Unity is traceable ; but a Unity which certainly no more points to a low type of orga- nization, or to a necessary or probable progressive development of one form from another, than does the beautiful and philosophical demonstration of the cranial vertebrae, or the fact of that demonstration being afforded by the most different members of the Vertebrata. It should be noticed that the very remarkable octahedral structure already developed as characteristic of the membrane of the Ventriculidae has no relation whatever to those “geo- metrical figures ” alluded to by Professor Owen. In the present case it is a relative, and not a positive, form ; and one assumed by animal fibre for a special purpose. It has been already remarked (p. 96) that no spicules, or “ calcifying salts ” enter into the composition of any of the Ventriculidae. See Owen “on the Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skele- ton,” 1848, p. 171. 286 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification places. I am unable therefore to describe the outer plaits. The characters of the inner ones are_, however, so marked that those of the outer ones are quite unnecessary in order to establish the specific difference. The name retrusus may be considered either to express the ex- traordinary degree in which the inner plaits are di’awn back to form the projections ; or that the most marked characters of the species are hidden from external observation by being on the in- ner plaits. In either sense the name seems equally appropriate. 7. Cephalites catenifer. PI. XIV. figs. 9, 14, 15, 16. Plaits broad and deep : outer plaits projecting prominently at irregular intervals; projections horse-shoe shaped, with one arm of a lower projection often linked to the hoop of the pro- jection above it on the same plait ; occasional points of ana- stomosis between adjoining plaits : inner plaits having large and generally oval depressions at regular intervals ; bulging on each side around depressions till adjoining plaits meet and open into each other ; processes very eonspicuous : wall very thick. Var. Annulatus. Plaits broad and deep : outer plaits projeeting prominently at irre- gular intervals; projeetions ring-shaped, and generally running into eaeh other on the same plait and often anastomosing with those on adjoining plaits so as to form connected rings over the whole surface ; inner plaits having large and generally oval depressions at regular intervals ; bulging on each side around depressions till adjoining plaits meet and open into eaeh other : processes very conspieuous : wall very thick. This is a singular species. The speeific name of the typical specimens exactly expresses the appearance of the outer surface, whieh looks as if several links of a ehain were hung about it, — sometimes disconnected, — often connected, — always, or almost always, open on one (and generally the same) side. This speeies will be readily distinguished from C. hullatus by the faet that the semilunar fold is eontinued down to the upper edge of the plait, as well as by the links being so often con- tinuous, and by each individual projection being much larger. Figs. 14, 15 and 16 of PI. XIV., all taken from the same spe- cimen, will probably assist in the understanding of this modifica- tion of the fold. Pig. 14 shows a part of the core of the matrix, that which filled the eentral cavity. The round spots are where de- pressions existed in the body itself, and where, consequently, the matrix projected outwards from the core. Being broken olF at 287 of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. each place, these regular marks are left, contrasting strongly with the portions of the membrane adhering to the matrix elsewhere*. Fig. 16, which should be compared with fig. 14 of PI. XIII., shows the peculiar elevations on the plaits : and fig. 15 is a trans- verse section showing three plaits ; the uppermost being struck at a point where there is not any projection, the two others just at the bend of two projections. The specimens which I have distinguished as a variety, under the name of annulatus, appear to be cases in which the horse-shoe elevations have become more than usually continuous both on the same plait and by anastomosis with those on adjoining plaits. This character is sometimes seen on the lower part of specimens the upper part of which exhibits the true normal characters of C. catenifer, as in fig. 9. PI. XIV. In some cases, however, the same appearance of connected rings, instead of rows of open links, covers a large part, or the whole, of the surface ; and it is important that the true place of such specimens should be un- derstood, whence the utility of distinguishing them as a variety of C. catenifer. It generally happens that, even in the most characteristic spe- cimens of this variety, there are places in which the projection on the outer plait stands, as it so often does in the normal C. ca- tenifer, single and wholly unconnected with any other projection on the same or on any adjoining plait. In that case, instead of being horse-shoe shaped, the circle is usually complete. We thus find, on an external plait, a fold very similar to that which cha- racterizes the inner plaits of C. retrusus. 8. Cephalites compressus. PI. XIV. fig. 10. Plaits broad and very deep : outer plaits projecting prominently in very elongated loops often linked at one extremity and en- larged at the other : inner plaits often inclining towards, and anastomosing with, adjoining plaits : pouch very short : pro- cesses very conspicuous : wall very thick. This appears to be quite a distinct species from the last. Its fold is looser, approaching therein to the character of the group Dilatati. The external modification of fold is very different from that of C. catenifer; while the internal difference is even more marked. Instead of depressions we have here anastomosis with the adjoining plaits; and at the places of anastomosis the figure becomes almost angular, instead of circular as here- tofore. See ante, p. 209, 7iote f- 288 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification § b. Dilatati. Head broad and rounding : plaits loose and irregular. All the speeies of the present section differ very remarkably from the Annulati. In the latter section the heads in all the species were of nearly the same size relatively to the size of the whole body ; as also was the central cavity. The various differ- ences of contrivance by which extent of surface was gained at the same time that the free access of sea-water was maintained, were found in the different modes of folding of the membrane of the wall. In the present section the character of the fold of that membrane differs also in the different species ; but that difference is accompanied by very remarkable differences in the form and extent of the head. The latter becomes the most conspicuous instead of a mere subordinate part to the observer of the whole body. As, therefore, the difference in the heads is a necessary accompaniment of a difference in the fold of the membrane (though rather in the relation of consequence than cause), it will simplify the labour of the inquirer if the character of the head is adopted as one of specific difference. The names given have therefore a reference to this point. It will be obvious that, the looser the folds, the more necessary would become the greater extent of cephalic membrane in order to secure the objects already suggested as those for which that remarkable structure was designed. Hence the variations in this conspicuous character in the forms immediately under consider- ation. There are minor modifications in individuals of each species which would probably be held by many to justify the assignment of each species as a distinct genus ; an arrangement which would indeed be far better warranted than many such divisions both in recent and fossil classifications. It does not seem to me how- ever that the principles of a sound classification will, in the pre- sent state of our knowledge, justify such an arrangement*. Moreover, all the species of the present section are of extreme rarity ; so rare, that it is very probable that few even diligent col- lectors will succeed in obtaining specimens of each, unless some bed abounding in them, and at present unknown, should be dis- covered. 1. Cephalites capitatus. PI. XIV. fig. II. Plaits very deep ; dividing longitudinally, and so reduplicating, very constantly, as they pass from the inner to the outer sur- face ; j)oints of anastomosis at irregular distances on both * See ante, p. 41 Jioie, and pp. 42, 8zc. 289 of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. inner and outer surfaces : central cavity small : head rounding and very wide : wall falling in very rapidly but in a regular slope from outer margin of head to root : diameter of whole body greater than its height. In some specimens of the present species the plaits are very traceable on the outside ; in others much less so^ on account of the almost total absence of oxide of iron. In each case, however, it is equally obvious that the number of plaits seen on the outer surface is given by the longitudinal division and reduplication of the plaits towards that surface, in the same way as the increase of plaits from base to margin has already been described as being effected by a transverse division and reduplication*. The accompanying figure will explain the pre- sent mode of this reduplication. This arrange- ment takes place to some extent in most of the Annulati, but the very small size of the central cavity in C. capitatus renders this peculiarity constant in this species, and one of its most marked characteristics. The general form of this species is so peculiar that a vertical section through the fossil displays a triangular figure, of which the base of the fossil forms an obtuse angle, while the external margins of the head form acute angles with the wall. It is thus impossible to confound this species with C. compressusy as the wall of that species, like that of every other species of the sec- tion Annulati, usually forms, inside and outside, nearly a right angle with the headf. 2. Cephalites campanulatus. PI. XIV. figs. 12 & 13. Plaits very deep ; increasing very rapidly from base and dividing, and so reduplicating, very constantly, both longitudinally and transversely ; after attaining the fullest expansion, folding inwards and downwards, and gradually contracting till they more or less nearly approach the base, whence, folded upwards in a single plait, the membrane rises, usually simple and plain, in a funnel form, to the margin of the head surrounding the central cavity, to which its marginal edge is attached : head enwrapping the body and attached to all the prominent plaits as far as the point where they incline rapidly towards the base : diameter of body greater than height. * See ante, p. 213. f I have an interesting specimen of this species in which two individuals are close together ; actually touching. But they cannot be mistaken for an example of C. constrictus, each individual having separate roots or places of roots, (see before, p. 46,) and not being parts of one single body. Fig. G. 290 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification This species differs very widely in outward appearance from C. capitatus. In that species the head is indeed so largely de- veloped as to be the most conspicuous part of the entire body ; but it still leaves a view to some extent of the wall. In the pre- sent species the whole fossil, unless actually looked at from be- low, is so entirely enveloped by the cephalic membrane, — rendered necessary on account of the great depth and consequent tendency to looseness of the fold, — that no idea of the character of the membrane of the wall itself can be gained externally. The modification of the fold is exceedingly remarkable, and exceedingly difficult to be ascertained. The description given, however extraordinary it may appear, is the result of very laborious and careful examination, comparison, and section of all the spe- cimens which I have been able to obtain. A familiar illustration may perhaps assist in understanding the arrangement of this membrane. If the inquirer will glance at the hangings of any window, looped up, as usual, in festoons at some distance from the ground by curtain pins or ropes, he will see a contrivance rudely imitating the very elegant plan adopted by nature, to give, in a small space, a very great extent of surface combined with security to the polypiferous membrane of C. campanulatus. Take a piece of linen cloth : join together the side-edges along their whole length, gathering the lower edge to a point : ffx the upper end of the sac thus formed* to a circular plain wire : at a third of the length from the bottom fix another wire, which, though alto- gether uniting in a circle, is deeply zigzaged : the upper wire remaining fixed, raise the lower wire equally all round, and so that the drapery hanging from the upper simply circular ware shall fall within, and that hanging from the zigzaged circle shall fall on the outside. Over both wires draw, smoothly, a separate cloth, to which fix both wires. Then, by holding the entire contrivance at any point of the plain wire circle, the whole will be retained in its place. Such a contrivance will afford the best idea of the very remarkable arrangement of the internal membrane of the present species, and of the object and importance of its deeply extended head. It is obvious that, if the lower wire were zigzaged, not only in its horizontal plane but also in a direction perpendicular to that plane, though it w^ould affect the points at which the outer covering or envelope w^ould be touched, it would in no wise affect the principle of the plaits or folds whose extremities touched that envelope. The following two figures may render this matter still clearer. * To act properly, and to give a full idea of the extent of surface gained, the sac should be very much wdder at the middle than at the top or bottom, in order to fill the lower zigzaged wire and yet inclose the plain fold of the cloth without compressing or touching it. 291 of the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. Fig. H. Fig. I. In each figure the dotted line is the envelope. Fig. H is a longitudinal section as it would be seen if one could be taken exactly clear through any spot where there was no lateral divi- sion of a plait — the presence of which gives a false appearance of anastomosis to a section. It will be seen that the membrane may be traced from the point of the base to c and thence to a in a continuous line, and that the projecting plaits are affixed, at various points, to the envelope a — b. Fig. I is a transverse sec- tion taken about the middle of a specimen. The inner circle is the membrane where simple and unwaving, and forming there- fore necessarily an unbroken circle. Between this and the en- velope the plaits are seen, cut horizontally across. The membrane begins to fold upwards in its last plait at dif- ferent distances in different specimens from the inner margin of the head ; and it is rarely that the folding upwards will take place on exactly the same plane all around ; whence, on section, a de- ceptive appearance is often given, as if there were a double or triple or still more numerous ramification of the central cavity. This is seen in the following curious section of a flint of this species in my possession. Such cases only afford instances of the care and caution necessary in the investigation of such a subject as the present. It will be clearly seen that the mode of fold, of which an attempt has thus been made to convey an idea, secured free access of sea- water to all parts of the surface of the membrane, external and internal. By the same contrivance that membrane was held se- curely in its position ; the regular funnel- shape assumed by the last plait, with its margin fixed at the top, securing it within * ; * See observations on the head, before, p. 282. Fig. K. 292 Mr. Toulmin Smith on the Classification the carapanulate envelope, to which the projecting points of the plaits were affixed, securing it without. The size of the internal cavity varies in different specimens, as will be seen by figs. 12 and 13 of PI. XIV. ; of which fig. 12 is a general view of the external aspect of one specimen; fig. 13 is a section, with the matrix cleared away from the inner funnel-shaped simple mem- brane, of another. There is certainly no form among the Ventriculidse which might, at first sight, be less supposed than the present to have had any affinity with the fossils which have been described as belonging to the genus Ventriculites. This will be well under- stood by comparing PI. XIV. figs. 12 and 13 with any of the figures on PL XllI The condition in which these specimens are found, — their deep folds preventing their ever coming free from the chalk, or being developed without the laborious use of the needle, — renders it impossible to make any confident observations upon them as to the processes ; a remark which also applies to every other species of the present section. 3. Cephalites constrictus. PI. XV. fig. 1. Whole body very low, much-elongated and narrow, with roots at one end : plaits very deep, and running longitudinally from the root extremity; each plait constricted at short and not very regular intervals, and sometimes to nearly its whole depth : cephalic membrane covering the whole upper surface and sides, to the margins of which last, as well as to many of the pro- minent points of the plaits, it is attached ; usually constricted at considerable intervals, with a single opening in the middle of each compartment thus caused. The specific description will satisfy the inquirer that this is a very extraordinary form. Externally it has nothing which would indicate any Ventriculitic affinity, and it has indeed been described by Dr. Mantell under the name of Choanites suhrotundus ; but it has no relation whatever to Choanites. The appearance of the fossils is so remarkable, that, but for the fixed rule of preserving every fragment which I could not understand, I should never have been able to establish or even suspect the true affinities. A suite of seventeen specimens enables me, however, now to point out the true general characters of the species without leaving any room even for doubt. In the two very different states in which the fossil, or frag- ments of it, are found, it has very different appearances ; the one state (see left hand of figure) shows the upper, the other (see right hand of figure) the lower part only, or its cast. The com- 293 of the Ventriculidae of the Chalk. parison of several of these apparently anomalous fossils led me however to conceive that the connected rounded bodies seen in the former set of specimens had some relation to the very pe- culiarly complicated and almost angularly raised surfaces seen in the latter. With this clue I cut down some of these rounded bodies, and found the identical surfaces last named below them. Several sections being made, and the whole series being then compared, order and method became at once apparent where all had previously been anomaly and confusion. The characteristic Ventriculitic structure was detected : the Ventriculitic fold was traced : and the Ventriculitic root was found. I conceive the habit of the animal to have been very different in one respect from that of all the species which have hitherto engaged attention. While the latter stood rising upwards from a central root, this species, attached at one end by a root, and thus secured in its position, floated horizontally, like a ship riding at anchor. It had therefore no central cavity in the direction of its length, but, instead of this, it was covered by a head investing the upper and lateral surfaces of that whole length ; and which head, with rare exceptions, for such exceptions do exist, was con- stricted at intervals, causing the animal, when seen from above and entire, as in the greater part of fig. 1. PI. XV., to appear like several distinct globose bodies linked together. The fact of the head being occasionally, though rarely, not constricted at all, will satisfy any philosophic inquirer that such an appearance is deceptive, and that the explanation thus given of that appear- ance is the true one. Besides this, however, if the head be re- moved, and the lower surface of the fossil only seen, all trace of separation and distinctness is gone. The membrane of the wall does not divide into lobes, as in Brachiolites : there is simply, in order to ensure the greater security of the whole polypiferous surface, an occasional constriction of the head and narrowing of the plaits attached to it ; which plaits expand again, like an open fan, in the following compartment. The appearance of the plaits themselves is very remarkable. Their frequent constrictions give them a puckered or zigzag ap- pearance, so that a vertical section has a figure of this kind. This figure shows, also, how the pro- jecting points of the plaits are often attached, for security, to the head. When the body is broken away the cast left is very curious, the matrix being always broken off in many of the places where it has filled a pucker in the upper plait, depressed where there was a pucker in the lower plait. This is seen on the right hand of fig. 1. PI. XV. Fig. L. 291 Mr. Toalmin Smith on the Ventriculidse of the Chalk. The species rarely attained half an inch in height or an inch in breadth, though specimens often extend between two and * three inches in length. It seems to me that the cephalic constrictions most probably mark periods of growth *. They vary in number much in dif- ferent specimens, and, as has been seen, are sometimes not found at all, in which case there are several openings in the undivided head. Specimens sometimes assume irregular forms, as if, after death, the long body had become twisted, which I have little doubt was, in many such cases, the real fact. I have placed this species next in order to C. campanulatus^ inasmuch as, on the one hand, the mode of attachment of the cephalic membrane to the plaits resembles very much that which is found in C. campanulatus^ while, on the other hand, the fact of the openings in the head of this species being generally several instead of only one, places it in some relation to the species which will next claim attention. 4. Cephalites perf or atus. PI. XV. fig. 2. Plaits wide and very deep, so as to leave no distinct and single central cavity ; dividing, and so reduplicating, very constantly, longitudinally, but not transversely ; somewhat winding both longitudinally and laterally ; occasional points of anastomosis near the outer surface : head covering the entire top and round- ing to some distance down the sides ; having several small round perforations arranged without any regular figure ; body of nearly uniform breadth and often twice the height of its diameter. The peculiar arrangement of the plaits and head in the last two species rendered any anastomosis of adjoining plaits not essential in either of them. The much greater height of the present species rendered occasional points of anastomosis an im- portant means of securing the permanence of the position of the folds. The width and depth of those folds rendered a large head necessary, while it made unnecessary any large single cen- tral cavity ; the several small openings in the head giving suffi- cient access to the sea- water for the purpose of bathing freely all the internal surface of the polypiferous membrane. The unity of formt is not in the least degree impaired by the existence of these several points of access. The one head still holds in place all the several plaits, a contrivance for the security of the entire * Specimens, apparently entire, are sometimes found, having one only of the rounded divisions, and thus bearing some resemblance to a very small C. campanulatus, with its root at one end instead of at the base, f See before, p. 207 note. Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera, 295 animal and of the individual polyps wholly different from that which is found in every species of the family Brachiolites, In all the various and so greatly varying forms which have been thus seen to be included in the genus Cephalites one end is found to be subserved, namely, the maintenance of the security of the whole mass, and of each individual of its myriads of living tenants ; together with the unimpeded access of the sea- water — that element upon whose constant presence the life and subsist- ence of those myriads depended. The great diversity is no less striking than is, in each case, the completeness of the varying methods which nature has adopted for securing that ever-teeming, ever-active life which excites the inquirer^s increased admiration at every step he takes. [To be continued.] XXX. — Notes, ^c. on the genera of Insects Pissodes, Hypera, ^c. ; with descriptions of several new species. By John Walton, F Jj S Fam. CURCULIONIDiE. Genus Pissodes, Germ., Schonh., Steph. 1. Pissodes Pini, Linn., Gyll., Steph., Schonh. Recently found in Scotland rather plentifully by Mr. Weaver ; “ on rails, in a fir- wood, Weybridge, in June,^^ Mr. Smith ; “ under side of a fir-log, Dalmeny Park, Scotland,” Mr. R. N. Greville ; under the branches and chips of the Scotch fir lying on grass, Gosforth Woods, Northumberland,” Mr. T. J. Bold. 2. P. notatus. Fab., Gyll., Steph., Schonh. — Fabricii, Steph., non Leach MSS. Two specimens of this insect in the collection of the British Museum, taken in Scotland by the late Dr. Leach, appear to have been mistaken for the following by Mr. Stephens. A single specimen found under a stone in an old gravel-pit at Yaxham near East Dereham, Norfolk, by Mr. Wollaston. 3. P. picece, Illig., Schonh. — Fabricii, Leach MSS. sec. specim. Mus. Brit. Oblong-ovate, piceous, sparingly clothed with flavescent scales. Head short, convex, obsoletely punctulated, front with a deep fovea between the eyes ; rostrum nearly as long as the head and tho- rax, moderately stout, cylindrical, slightly curved, closely punc- tured, brown, and sprinkled with scales at the base. Antennae scarcely reaching to the middle of the thorax, rather thick, rufo- piceous, setose and pubescent. Thorax considerably narrowed 296 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera, ^c, anteriorly, dilated and rounded at the sides posteriorly, eonvex above, elosely rugose-punetate, a slender abbreviated carinula on the middle of the baek, and two remote foveolse on the disc. Elytra elongate, punctate-striate, the punctures deep, oblong, remote, very unequal, small towards the base and apex, and much larger in the middle ; the interstices closely rugulose, alternately broader and elevated; sprinkled with obscure lutescent scales, and with a broad unequal abbreviated fascia behind the middle composed of flavescent scales. Legs elongate, pale rufo-piceous, femora and tibise annulated with whitish scales in the middle. Length 4 lines. There is one specimen of this insect, reputed to be British, in the collection of the National Museum. Genus Hypera, Germ. (1821), Curt., Steph., Westw. Phytonomus, Schdnh. (1826)*, Spry et Shuck. Great confusion has hitherto prevailed in this country as to the specific identity of the insects of this genus : although our cata- logues contain from twenty-nine to thirty-one specific names, of which seven have been sunk into varieties and twenty- two de- scribed as specifically distinct by Mr. Stephens in his ^ Manual of British Coleoptera,^ yet, after a most rigorous comparative ex- amination of numerous specimens, 1 have not been able to iden- tify more than fourteen distinct species ; I have therefore ven- tured to go further, by reducing eight more names into syno- nyms or varieties. It appears to me that British entomologists have relied too much on the colour and markings of the scales, and on the colour of the difierent organs of the body, as specific distinctions, but these characters in a majority of the species are extremely variable and consequently unsafe to depend upon. I have corrected the names of a few insects by means of well-au- thenticated foreign specimens, and in accordance with the autho- rities so often named in my former notes, which will I hope have a tendency to establish the nomenclature upon a uniform and permanent foundation. 1. Hypera punctata, Fab., et auct. alior. Cure, medius et aush'iacus, Marsh., Kirb. MSS. 2. H. fasciculata, Herbst, et auct. alior. — sticticus, Kirb. MSS. Very rare and local : it has not occurred of late years to my * I cannot find any reason assigned by Schonherr for changing the name Hypera-, I have therefore, in accordance with the just law of priority, followed those British authors who have retained it ; yet it is rather remarkable that Germar hinr.self, with many other continental entomologists, have adopted Phxjtonomus. Latreille employed a similar name {Hyper la) for a genus of Crustacea, which occurs for the first time in ‘ Cuv. Reg. Anim.’ iv. 1829. Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera, 297 knowledge. In the cabinets of the British Museum, Entomolo- gical Society, Curtis, Stephens and Walton. 3. H. Pohjgoniy Linn. sec. ej. Mus., Pah., GylL, Steph., Schonh. — aratorvdiX.flAwn. sec. ej. Mus,, Marsh., Steph. 111., Kirb. MSS. — canescens var. et VicicsN^v., Steph. sec. ej. Mus. — picicornis var., Steph. sec. ej. Man. The male has the anterior tibia acutely dentate in the middle within. Of Rhynch. Vicice of Gyll. I have never seen an indi- genous specimen agreeing with the two foreign insects in the col- lection of Mr. Kirby. Rather common ; found in damp meadows near Lyndhurst, Battersea Fields, Arundel, Yorkshire, &c. in June. 4. H. PolluXy Fab., Gyll., Germ., Schonh. — alternans var., Steph. 111. — Kunzii var., Steph. Man., non Schonh. — palustris (Leach MSS.), Steph. — Jullnii (Sahib.), Schonh., var. sec. Germ. — hitaniatus, Kirb. MSS. I sent many specimens of this insect to Germar, who has sub- divided the varieties as follows : — a. ^^With gray scales upon the elytra, and with small square spots arranged in rows — the true PJmjt. Pollux, auctor. b. With brown scales ; the elytra checkered with black, and with two broad, gray, black checkered longitudinal lines — Hypera palustris of Steph. c. “ Brown or black, with three gray unspotted longitudinal lines upon each elytron — Hypera alternans of Steph. ; Kunzii, Steph. (but not Schonh.) ; Julinii, Sahib.* ” Identified as Rh. Pollux of Gyll. by a foreign specimen in the collection of Mr. Kirby. I possess foreign specimens from Ger- mar of Hy. Kunzii, which is undoubtedly a very distinct insect, and unknown as British. There is a fine series of varieties of Rh. palustris of Leach in the British Museum ; also Mr. S. Ste- vens and myself have a long series of this insect. Occasionally found on grassy banks, at the sides of ponds and ditches, in marshy places, but not plentifully, in June, 5. H. Rumicis, Linn. sec. ej. Mus., et auct. alior. Procas pyrrhodactylus var.. Marsh., Steph. H. albicans, griseolus et elongatus, Kirb. MSS. This insect in general habit and sculpture very much resembles the preceding ; it may however be distinguished by having the rostrum gradually dilated from the middle to the apex. Extremely common on docks in marshy situations. * Ent. Zeit. no. 5. p. 100, 1842. Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 20 298 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera, 6. Hyper a murina, Fab.^ Gyll., Germ., Sclidnh. — Pollux et elongata var., Steph. sec. ej. Mus. — nehulosa var., Steph. sec. ej. Man. — fusco-cinereus. Marsh, sec. Mus. Steph. et Kirb. — interruptus. Marsh, sec. Stejih. Catal. — dorsiger, Kirb. MSS. This is a larger insect than any of its congeners, and chiefly distinguished by having the thorax subglobose, greatly dilated and rounded at the sides ; the elytra elongate, nearly four times as long as the thorax. Pare ; found in damp grassy places. Plumstead, Barnes Com- mon, Mr. S. Stevens. 7. H. tigrina (Bej.), Schonh. — elongata. Curt. MSS. Elongate, black, thickly clothed with cinereous and silvery white scales, and with white and fuscous hairs. Head short, convex, closely punctulated ; eyes oblong, depressed ; rostrum rather longer than the thorax, subcylindrical, slender, curved and punctulated, clothed with hair before the base in the male. An- tennae inserted before the middle of the rostrum, rather longer than the head and thorax, rufo- ferruginous, pilose ; clava oblong-ovate, obscure black. Thorax subdepressed, broader than long, consider- ably dilated, and rounded at the sides a little before the middle, closely and minutely punctured ; abroad stripe on each side and a line of silvery white scales down the middle. Elytra oblong- ovate, four times as long as the thorax, the shoulders prominent, obtusely rounded, moderately convex above, distinctly striated, the strise closely and minutely punctured, the interstices narrow, convex, transversely rugulose ; thickly covered with cinereous or silvery white scales, and a series of large subquadrate black spots alternating with white ones on the suture, and with black spots arranged in rows on the alternate interstices rather indistinct an- teriorly but distinct posteriorly. Legs long, black ; femora mo- derately clavate, simple, squamulose; tibiae round, pubescent; tarsi elongate, piceous. Length 3 lines. This very distinct insect may be discriminated, by having a longer rostrum than any other of the genus, by having the thorax laterally dilated before the middle, and the elytra spotted with black scales. I understood Mr. Curtis that three specimens, all nearly alike^ of this new British insect, were found near Hover, one of which I have seen in his cabinet. A single specimen was taken in the same locality by Mr. Marshall the latter end of J uly. Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes_, Hypera^ ^c, 299 8. Hyper a PlantaginiSj DeGeer, Gyll., Steph., Schdnh., Kirb. MSS. — villosula^ (sec. Mus. Wilk.), Steph. — cordicollis, Kirb. MSS. Occasionally found in several localities by brushing amongst grass, but never in any numbers. 9. H. nigrirostriSf Fab., et auct. plur. Common everywhere. 10. H. trilineataj Marsh., sec. Mus. Steph. et Kirb. — Trifolii^ Steph., non Herbst. — stramineus var., Marsh., Steph. sec. ej. Man. — borealis. Germ. Mag. iv. p. 339. — nigrirostris var., Gyll., Schbnh. Cure, dissimilis var. major, Herbst. Never elothed with brilliant green scales like Hy. nigrirostris, and may further be distinguished from the varieties of that in- sect by having a dark denuded stripe on the middle of each ely- tron posteriorly, bordered within and without by a series of white or fuscescent spots : as to the form, size and sculpture it very closely resembles the foregoing. Although Gyllenhal and Schonherr have eited this insect as a variety of the preceding, yet I concur with Germar that it is sufficiently distinct. Common in the North of England on the different species of Vicia, Trifolium and Medicago. 11. H.variabilis, Herbst, et auet. plur. — suhlineata (var. sec. Mus. Kirb.), Steph. — bimaculatus. Marsh., Steph. sec. ej. Mus. — villosula (sec. Mus. Wilk.), Steph. — stramineus. Marsh, sec. Mus. Kirb. — pheeopa var. et rufipes var., Steph. sec. ej. Man. Very abundant on the same plants as the last. 12. H. meles, Fab. sec. ej. Mus., Germ., Schonh. Rh. Trifolii, Gyll. Cure. Plantaginis, Marsh, sec. Steph. Catal. H. murina, Steph. — pieipes var., Steph. sec. ej. Man. This insect differs from the preceding by having the thorax very short, and much more dilated at the sides. There are foreign speeimens which agree with it in the cabinet of Mr. Kirby from Gyllenhal. Rare in the vicinity of London. Taken near Ross, Hereford- shire, by Mr. Spry. * This synonym is repeated under No. 11, because it is represented in Wilkins's cabinet by two different insects. 20* 300 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera^ 13. Hypera suspiciosa, Herbst, Germ./Schdnh., Steph. Man. Cure, miles, Pk., Gylk, Steph. — pedestris, Pk., GylL, Steph., var. sec. Germ, et Schonh. — bitceniatus , Marsh. — senex, Kirb. MSS. Variable in form : the narrow elongate varieties have been mis- taken for Cure, elongata of Gyll., of which there are foreign spe- cimens in the cabinet of the Rev. P. W. Hope. Frequently found in damp meadows and in marshy places. 14. H. Arundinis, Fab.^ et auct. alior. Rhyneh. Sii, Leach MSS. Extremely rare ; I do not possess a specimen, nor have I heard of any recent captures : there are examples in the cabinets of the British Museum, Entomological Society, Mr. Stephens and Mr. Curtis. Genus Limobius, Schonh.^ Hypera, Germ., Steph., Curt. Phytonomus, Schonh. olim. Char. Gen. Antennse moderate, rather slender, eleven-jointed ; scape moderately incrassated towards the apex, reaching to the eyes j funiculus six-jointed, the first longer and stouter than the second, third obconic, fourth and fifth nodose, sixth cup-shaped ; clava ovate or oblong-ovate, four-jointed. Rostrum twice or three times as long as the head, rather stout, rounded ; scrobes oblique, somewhat deep. Eyes lateral, oval, more or less pro- minent. Thorax, base and apex truncate, dilated and rounded at the sides. Scutellum minute. Elytra ovate or oblong-ovate, the shoulders obtusely angulated, moderately convex above, densely clothed with scales. Obs. Closely approximating to the genus Hypera, but the funiculus of the antenna is only six-jointed. 1. Limobius dissimilis, Gyll., Germ., Schonh. Hypera fulvipes, Steph. — fumipes, Curt. Ann. Nat. Hist. v. p. 280. I found many specimens of this insect upon Geranium pra- tense growing on hedge-banks near East Tanfield, Yorkshire, in July, Taken in Scotland by the Rev. W. Little ; Newcastle, Mr. S. Stevens. 2. L. mixtus, Schonh. Oblong-ovate, black, thickly clothed with metallic brown or cinereous scales, variegated with white and black, and with short subercct black hairs. Head short, convex, thickly punctulated ; * Mant. secund. Fam. Cure. p. 44. Holmiae, 1847. Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera, ^c. 301 eyes oviform^ rather prominent ; rostrum as long as the thorax, round, thickish, bent, and closely punctulated. Antennse inserted near the apex of the rostrum in the male, and between the mid- dle and the apex in the female, testaceous ; clava oblong-ovate, obscure, testaceous. Thorax as broad in the middle as long, a little more narrowed before than behind, moderately dilated and rounded at the sides, rather convex above, closely and delicately punctulated ; clothed with brown scales, a large rhomboidal pale patch on the disc, and a broad whitish line on each side. Elytra ample, oblong-ovate, shoulders very prominent, obtusely rounded, punctate-striate, interstices rugulose ; thickly clothed with conico- ovate scales, two subquadrate velvety black spots at the base, a short white line on the scutellum, an oblique pale vitta down each elytron, broadest on the shoulders, spotted with black on the margins, and united beyond the middle to a transverse irregular silvery white fascia, which is joined to a subtriangular velvety black one. Legs moderate, rufo-testaceous, pubescent ; tarsi elongate. Length If — 2 lines. Exclusively of the six-jointed funiculus to the antennse, this insect is well characterized, by the conspicuous velvety black fascia on the elytra, combined with the conico-ovate scales. Varieties occur with gray or silvery white scales, and these being more subject to abrasion, are frequently found partially de- nuded, and the spots and stripes more or less obscure ; others occur of a brassy yellow, with the markings distinct, and the body and legs pale testaceous. Many specimens of this insect were found on Erodium cicuta- rium on the Chesil Bank, Isle of Portland, in June, by Mr. Wol- laston, to whose indefatigable industry, we are indebted not only for this, but for many other additions to the British fauna ; sub- sequently found in the same locality by Mr. Bowerbank and myself in September. Genus Tropiphorus, Schonh. Barynotus^ Germ., Schonh. olim, Steph. Char. Gen. “Antennse moderate, rather slender; scape cla- vate, extending beyond the eyes ; funiculus with the two basal joints somewhat long, subclavate, remainder rotundate ; clava ovate, acuminate. Bostrum shortish, stout, subcylindrical, a little incrassated towards the apex, carinated above ; scrobes curved, evanescent before the eyes. Eyes rounded, depressed. Thorax truncated at the base and apex, rotundate-emarginate beneath adjoining the neck, the sides straight at the base, rounded anteriorly, narrowed in front, carinated above. Scutellum none. Elytra short-ovate, when closed emarginated interiorly at the 302 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Pissodes, Hypera, h^c. base, shoulders scarcely prominent, with an elevated carina to- wards the apex of the suture. Femora clavate, unarmed. Obs. Allied to the genus Barynotus, but chiefly differs in having the rostrum and thorax carinated ; and without a scu- tellum.” — Transcribed from Schbnherr. 1. Tropiphorus Mercurialis, Fab., GylL, Schonh., Newm. Cure, JScidii var., Marsh., Kirb. MSS. Barynotus Mercurialis var., Steph. — Terricola var., Newm. Ent. Mag. v. p. 173. I have found many specimens of this insect on Mercurialis perennis 'm a shady wood near Mickleham, Surrey, in June, which have the alternate interstices of the elytra distinctly elevated. I have also found many specimens by brushing amongst grass in meadows, and in moss in the woods of Yorkshire, that have the alternate interstices of the elytra scarcely or very slightly elevated, but agreeing exactly with the former in every other character ; the latter are considered by Gyllenhal and Schonherr as varieties, and after a most careful examination of numerous specimens I have no hesitation in citing them as such. I possess foreign specimens from Germar. Genus Barynotus, Germ., Schonh. Merionus, Steph. 1. B. ohscurus, Fab., GylL, Germ., Steph. — pilosulus. Marsh. 2. B. moerens, Fab., Herbst, Germ. — elevatus, Marsh., Steph. Genus Otiorhynchus, Germ. O. eheninus, Schonh. Elongate-ovate, black and shining. Head short, broad, a little convex, obsoletely punctulated posteriorly, front rugose-punctate, with a deep round fovea ; eyes round, brown, moderately promi- nent ; rostrum rather longer than the head, stout, angulated, di- lated at the apex, rugulose-punctate above, with a carinula in the middle a little elevated and obsoletely bifid anteriorly. An- tennse half the length of the body, black or piceous, pilose and pubescent. Thorax somewhat longer than broad, equally dilated and rounded at the sides, convex above, subpul vinate, closely tuberculated at the sides, punctured or remotely punctured on the back, totally black and glabrous. Scutellum short, trian- gular. Elytra elongate -ovate, not broader anteriorly than the base of the thorax, a little expanded before the middle, attenuated posteriorly, acutely rounded at the apex, four times longer than Mr. H. J. Carter on the Animality of Freshwater Sponges. 303 the thorax, convex above, distinctly punctate-striate, the punc- tures rather large, remote, angulated, the lateral interstices tuberculated, obsoletely rugose on the back, totally black and shining. Body black beneath, granulated and cinereo-pubescent anteriorly ; abdomen punctulated. Legs rather long, stout, black ; femora robust, clavate, simple ; tibise pilose ; tarsi dilated, piceous, clothed beneath with a flavescent pulvillus. Length 5 lines. This insect may be placed in the genus next to Otiorhynchus tenehricosuSj to which it is nearly related. I have a foreign specimen of Ot. ebeninus of Schonherr from Germar. Four specimens of this insect, which is new to the British fauna, were found by Mr. B. N. Greville on the west highlands of Scotland, to whose liberality I am indebted for a specimen. XXXI. — Notes on the Species y Structure, and Animality of the Freshwater Sponges in the Tanks of Bombay. [Genus Spon- gilla.) By II. J. Carter, Esq., Assistant Surgeon*. There arefourf species of Freshwater Sponges in the Tanks of Bombay, each of which is readily distinguished by tlie following characters : — Two are known from the other two by the peculiar form of the spicula which encrust their seed-like bodies. 1 . Is darkly cinereous or mouse-coloured when dry, purplish under water when alive, encrusting, repent, spreading in circular patches when isolated; smooth or interrupted by gentle emi- nences on the surface, attaining the thickness of half an inch in the centre, oscula tending towards a quincuncial arrangement ; texture compact, fine, delicate ; structure rectangularly reticu- lated; friable. Seed-like bodies spherical, l-67th of an inch in diameter. Spicula of two kinds, large and small ; large spicula smooth, slightly curved, pointed at each end, I -80th of an inch long; small spicula straight or slightly curved, thickly spini- ferous, I-400th of an inch long. 2. Is of a faintly yellow or bright green colour, encrusting, re- pent, spreading in irregular patches on fixed bodies, globular when surrounding a floating nucleus ; even or interrupted by gentle eminences on the surface when fixed, presenting meander- ing ridges and sulci when attached to floating bodies ; attaining the thickness of half an inch when fixed, of two inches when floating ; texture coarse and open, structure rectangularly reti- culated with a suberose crust slightly tenacious. Seed-like • Reprinted from the Transactions of the Bombay Medical and Phy- sical Society of 1847, and communicated by the Author, f See Postscript at p. 310. 304 Mr. n. J. Carter on the Species j Structure, and Animality bodies spherical, l-36th of an inch in diameter. Spicula of two kinds, large and small j large spicula smooth, slightly curved, pointed at each end, 1-5 7th of an inch long; small spicula smooth or thickly spiniferous, slightly curved or straight, l-200th of an inch long. Transparent portions of investing membrane abounding in the small spicula. 3, Is of a light yellow colour, massive, spreading, convex, with short irregularly formed conical projections on the surface, or meandering ridges with sulci between them, attaining a thick- ness of two inches ; texture fine ; structure fibrous, plumose, ob- liquely reticulated towards the base, rectangularly reticulated towards the circumference; friable. Seed-like bodies spherical and l-40th of an inch in diameter. Spicula of two kinds, large and small; large spicula smooth, slightly curved, pointed at both ends, l-57th of an inch long; small spicula composed of a straight portion, sometimes slightly spiniferous, terminated at each end by a toothed disc with its points recurved or horizon- tal ; the central portion is l-400th of an inch long, the dkcs l-600th of an inch in diameter. 4. Is of a bright yellow colour, massive, spreading, horizontal on the surface, with projecting, plumose, irregular portions, at- taining a thickness of about two inches ; texture coarse, loose ; structure fibrous, branched, plumose, obliquely reticulated ; semi- friable, may be compressed with the hand in water without under- going much injury. Seed-like bodies ovoid, l-28th of an inch in their long diameter, and 1-5 0th of an inch in their short diameter. Spicula of two kinds, large and small ; large spicula smooth, slightly curved, pointed at each end, l-66th of an inch long ; small spicula l-300th of an inch long ; consisting of a straight portion, terminated by a toothed disc at each end, with its points recurved or horizontal, l-950th of an inch in diameter. Transparent portions of investing membrane abounding in little siliceous stellated bodies, their arms projecting from a central cell, tapering to a point which ends in a stellated circle of re- curved spines ; they are l-600th part of an inch in diameter. The measurements of the seed-like bodies and the spicula are taken from the average size of the largest of their kind. Habitat. — On the inclined and under surfaces of rocks, or at- tached to floating bodies in the tanks of Bombay ; never at the bottom, and sometimes so high up as to be only covered by water three or four months in the year. Investing membrane. — The investing membrane of the Fresh- water Sponge, like the skin and the mucous membrane in the human body, is continuous throughout ; and, like a shut sac, surrounds the parenchymatous structure and spicular skeleton of the whole mass, without inclosing it. In some instances it of the Freshwater Sponges in the Tanks of Bombay. 305 abounds in spicula^ as in No. 2;, where they are mostly spini- ferous_, and in No. 4t, where they are of the eurious stellated form described. There are also, in addition, little sac-like bodies which are ever changing their form and vibrating particles, both of which will be hereafter mentioned. If a portion of the mem- brane be carefully held before the blowpipe under a red heat, the animal matter may be driven off, while the forms of the bodies mentioned appear to remain unaltered ; sometimes even a siliceous skeleton of the membrane itself may remain, so tho- roughly does silex pervade every portion of its structure. But there is a transparent reticulated network (probably filamentous) which can only be seen when the membrane is fresh. Spicula. — The smooth spicula and the spicula terminated by toothed discs are hollow. In the smooth spiculum the form of its cavity may be seen by charring the animal matter which lines its interior. It will be found to be wide in the body of the spi- culum, and to terminate abruptly at each end in a linear con- tinuation. I have not been able to see it in the spiniferous spi- cula, on account of the number of little spines which encrust them. The small spicula in each species are principally derived from the crusts of its seed-like bodies. In all the species the spicula are siliceous, and the largest are so much alike that they are of no use as a specific distinction. Seed-like bodies. — The seed-like bodies are spherical or ovoid, according to the species. They all present an infundibular de- pression communicating with their interior ; when young they are transparent and filled with minute granules like the vibrating bodies to be hereafter mentioned ; as they get older, a crust of siliceous spicula, arranged perpendicularly to their surface, is se- creted from their external membrane ; it is from this crust that the small spicula in the different species are principally derived. In Nos. I and 2 they are straight, or slightly curved, and spini- ferous. In Nos. 3 and 4 they are straight, sometimes spini- ferous, and terminated at each end by a toothed disc ; the discs of their free extremities surmount litBe papillary projections on the surface of the seed-like body, and they present a hole in their centre, which communicates with the cavity of the spiculum on which they are supported ; their fixed ends are applied by a simi- lar disc to the silicifying or external membrane of the seed-like body. The latter is coriaceous, and presents a hexagonally tes- sellated appearance, on which rest the fixed discs of the spicular crust. I could not perceive any holes in the centres of these hexagonal divisions. Before the seed-like body arrives at its state of maturity, it is filled with minute granules suspended in a viscid transparent 30G Mr. H. J. Carter on the Species, Structure, and Animality fluid; afterwards tliese are parcelled out into spherical trans- parent cells^ equal in size and very numerous ; what becomes of them then I cannot say ; but I have often observed in the reti- culated structure of the dried Spongilla^ a group of the spicula of the seed-like bodies, thrown together in an irregular manner, and 1 would infer from it, that, when the young Spongillse are sufficiently advanced to be capable of supporting an independent existence, the seed-like body containing them is burst, and all traces of it disappear, except the group of spicula mentioned ; — and, for the young Spongillse, it appears to me that, some time after they have been liberated, they become stationary, and pass- ing into the form of a seed-like body, ultimately end in being the reproductive sacs of their own species. ]\Iost of these seed-like bodies, although they have been ex- posed in a piece of sponge to the direct rays of a tropical sun for a whole year, on a black dry rock, will, on being cut open, pre- sent a fresh-looking, yellow, transparent, viscid granular matter in their cavities, not unlike the yolk of a hard-boiled egg. They do not appear to possess in themselves any power of locomotion, and their being transported from place to place, or their adhering to the perpendicular or inclined surfaces of bodies, may depend upon the presence of one or more of the little animals I am about to describe. Animality. — As to the animality of the Freshwater Sponge, I think there can be no doubt whatever. Look, for instance, at a ragged portion of it, torn off* with a needle (under a magnifying glass of one-tenth of an inch focus), and it will be seen gradually to assume a spheroidal form ; and if there be a spiculum near, it will embrace it within its substance ; it may be seen even to approach it, and as it were spit itself upon it : still watch it, and it may bear away the spiculum; and then regard its circum- ference, and on it will be observed little papillge, which gradually vary their form, extending and retracting themselves, until one of them may be seen to detach itself from the parent mass and go off to another object. This little animal, one of the group which it has left, may remain stationary on the second object, or descend to the watch-glass, assuming in its progress all forms that can be imagined, spheroidal or polygonal, while every point of its body aj)pcars capable of extending itself into a tubular at- tenuated prolongation. When dead and dry on the watch-glass, it is sometimes transparent, sometimes filled or smrounded by granular bodies, and though frequently irregular in shape, its natural form appears to approach nearest to that of a Florence flask, sometimes more, sometimes less globular; it is then (though its size varies with its age) about the one-thousandth part of an inch in diameter, not including the elongated portion, which in of the Freshwater Sponges in the Tanks of Bombay, 307 length is about one quarter of the diameter of the body, and ap- parently corrugated like the neck of the entozoon Cysticircus longicollis. These transparent little sacs (the genimules of Grant and Hogg ?) are sometimes filled with green matter. They ap- pear to be able to adapt themselves to any form that may be convenient for them to assume, and when forcibly separated from each other (by tearing to pieces a minute portion of the sponge under water in a watch-glass), the isolated individuals may be seen to approach each other, and to apply themselves together in twos and threes, &c., and so on, until, from a particle only discernible by the microscope, they assume the form of an aggre- gate visible to the naked eye, and such a portion, growing and multiplying, might ultimately reach the size of the largest masses adhering to the sides of the tanks at Bombay. They appear to belong to the genus Amoeba of Ehrenberg. Dujardin has re- cognized them, and they are correctly figured (as they appear under a lens of one-tenth of an inch focus) in Johnston^ s ^ British Sponges,^ p. 61 ; — as well as certain filaments, which the day after a piece of sponge has been treated in the way which I have just mentioned, may be seen extended from them, terminating or not in little transparent bulbs ; floating, or fixed by their ex- tremities, branching irregularly, long or short, each branch ter- minating or not in a bulb, and presenting similar pedicellated bulbs here and there in its course ; when fixed on the watch- glass, disposed irregularly in straight lines intersecting each other, — radiating from a common centre or bulb, or in the form of an areolar membrane; frequently moniliform, as if they grew by the addition of cells to their free extremities. The aggregated position of the animals I have described, im- bedded in the transparent tissue of the sponge, bears a great re- semblance to that of some of the Compound Tunicated Animals ; especially in their ultimate development into a mass, intersected in all directions by canals, to allow of the presence of that ele- ment which is necessary for their existence, — the freedom they possess in the early part of their life, of moving through the water or creeping over the surfaces of solid bodies, and their ultimate destination of becoming permanently fixed in a granulo- gelatinous mass, secreted or formed by themselves. There is also a curious fact connected with the vitality of the Freshwater Sponges, and I think it also prevails with the Sea Sponges, for it was by observing the latter and their seed-like bodies, in the amorphous species, that I was first led to notice it. It is, that they may be taken out of their natural element, dried, and kept for months, without losing their vitality. This I have inferred from observing the sponges attached to the rocks on the upper parts of the tanks, which are uncovered for many months 308 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Species, Structure, and Animality of the year (indeed the greater part of it), to be now again in the full performance of all their vital functions. I have not yet been able to prove it entirely to my satisfaction by direct experiment, but, on the sides of a finger-glass in which I placed an old dried portion of No. 1, about a month since, changing the water daily, there are now growing atoms of new sponge visible to the naked eye, and there are large portions of the original mass adhering to other objects in the same vessel ; but I have not yet been able to satisfy myself of the presence of new tissue in the latter. Supplementary note. — Since writing the above Notes,^"* I have had the pleasure of reading Mr. Hogg^s Observations on the Spongilla fluviatilis,^^ &c., published in the Transactions of the Linnsean Society, vol. xviii. part 3rd, wherein he advocates the opinion of its vegetable nature; but when, in support of his views, he quotes Dr. Johnston^s remark on Dujardin^s experi- ments, p. 396, — viz. that locomotion is no proof of animality ; several Alga are locomotive — it must of course mean such movements as do not appear to be directed by an instinctive power; for there are certain changes of form accompanying locomotion which convey an impression to the mind of the pre- sence of a guiding influence, beyond anything that is met with in the vegetable kingdom, and which would seem to require no additional evidence to prove to the observer that he is regarding motions peculiar to animal life. Such appear to me to be evinced by the young Spongillje. Moreover, I have ascertained by experiment, that when the transparent spherical capsules which contain the granules within the seed-like bodies (in No. 4) are liberated (by breaking open the latter under water in a watch-glass), their first act is to burst : this takes place during the first thirty- six hours ; and their gra- nules, which will presently be seen to be the true ova of a pro- teaniform infusorium, varying in diameter from about thel-4300th part of an inch to a mere point, gradually and uniformly become spread over the surface of the watch-glass. On the second or third day (for this varies), each granule will be observed to be provided with an extensible, pseudo-pediform base ; and the day after most of the largest may be seen slowly progressing by its aid, or gliding over the surface of the watch-glass in a globular form, by means of some other locomotive organs*. During the time that these changes are going on, the smaller gramdes, most of which also have an extensible base, amass themselves together in irregularly formed portions of granulo-gelatinous matter, while a few of the more matured animals, averaging l-300th part of an inch in length when extended, may generally be ob- * The same changes take place in the granular matter from the dried seed-like body. of the Freshwater Sponges in the Tanks of Bombay. 309 served creeping about, singly or in pairs, with a number of glo- bular bodies within them, varying in diameter from the 1-2 150th to the l-1075th of an inch ; similar bodies also may be seen here and there, singly or associated together, fixed to the watch-glass by a plastic granulo-gelatinous matter, and bound down by fila- mentous threads (such as I have before mentioned) parting from them in different directions. After some days, from being nearly transparent in the first instance, the granular matter with which they are filled becomes more defined and evident, and as they enlarge, their circumference presents a cortical investment like that of the seed-like bodies ; their colour also becomes brovmish, and their circumference, from being at first smooth and defined, rough and irregular ; they appear to be motionless in themselves, however much the matter contained within them may assume different shapes, and that peculiarity connected with their size and general appearance is quite sufficient to distinguish them from the granules of the matter in which they are imbedded. In the different stages of development I have mentioned, these bodies may be viewed, both within and without the more ma- tured Protean, but, as I have not yet seen them deposited or fixed to the watch-glass by the animal itself, I am unable con- fidently to state that they contain its proper ova ; should they prove to do so hereafter, the assumption that the animal itself ultimately passes into the form of a seed-like body may not be worth much. The development of the ovum appears to take place in the fol- lowing way: — When first liberated from the spherical cells of the seed-like bodies, it consists of an ovoid or globular sac of green- ish homogeneous matter, surmounted by a red spot, and inclosed within a transparent envelope ; the former then changes in shape, becomes granular, and its granules obtain a certain latitude of motion ; thus transformed, it occupies and projects above the upper part of its transparent envelope, which in its turn enlarges and becomes spherical. Should the ovum in the commencement not have been firmly bound down by the filamentous structure to which I have alluded, the granulo-plastic matter, and the agglomeration of the minute vibrating bodies which accumulate around it, and which appear to be actively engaged in this part of the process, it may become vagrant ; but if otherwise, it has probably become fixed for the whole period of its existence ; un- less, as I have observed in some gemmules when kept in distilled water, that the whole community appear to find it necessary to separate and forsake their spicular structure to go in search of food. The form of the young Proteans from the granular matter taken from the seed-like bodies of Nos. 2 and 4 resembles P. 310 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Animality of Freshwater Sponges. dijfiuens (Muller) *; that which chiefly accompanies No. 4 is of the figure given by Dujardin, to which I have already had occa- sion to allude ; while the vibrating bodies themselves, when com- bined, take on the appearance of minute Proteans, and every particle of the fixed transparent granule- gelatinous matter, which serves as a nidus for the whole, appears to be endowed with the power of continually extending, retracting, and altering its shape. I have further observed, that the granulo-gelatinous trans- parent matter has in some places arranged itself into the forms of full-sized spicula, disposed in linear continuation, over-reach- ing each other side by side, just as they are seen in the fibrous structure of the old sponge; their surfaces however are not yet silicified ; nor should I expect this to take place, as my experi- ments have been conducted with distilled water, had not Dr. Grant mentioned that siliceous spicula were formed in the gem- mules of Spongilla which he nourished with rain-water. Thus does every step towards the ultimate structure of the Freshwater Sponge, every form that is taken by the living mat- ter of which it is composed, appear still more nearly to approxi- mate it to the nature of the genera of Ehrenberg^s Pseudopodia. In a subsequent communication received from the author, he observes, that he has confounded two species under the head No. 2, and that the bright green coloured species there mentioned is distinguished from all the rest by having a crust of double- pointed smooth spicula round its seed-like bodies. He supposes this to be Spongia lacustris (Linn.), Spongilla friahilis (Lam.). Further, he observes respecting the animality of the Freshwater Sponges, that the animals of which they are but a congeries are identical with the infusorium Proteus \ 1st, because they are composed of a semi-transparent gelatinous matter ; 2nd, because this gelatinous matter is endowed with the power of altering its shape and of locomotion ; 3rd, because in it are seen transpa- rent cells [contracting vesicles) of various diameters from 1 -9000th part of an inch to a mere point (which he formerly supposed to be sphinctral orifices), dilating and contracting themselves as in other animalcules; and 4th, because this gelatinous matter is provided with greenish yellow granules moving with, and espe- cially characteristic of both the Proteus and the animal of the sponge. He regards the Proteus as being more active in changing its shape, &c. than the animals of the sponge when first torn from each other, from the habits of the former having been vagrant * Dlainville, Manuel d'Actinologie (Atlas, pi. 11. fig. 12). 311 Bibliographical Notices. perhaps from the commencement and its full development thereby having been unimpeded, and states that the Proteus feeds upon its like as well as upon other matter, inclosing its food within its own substance after the manner of the Hydra. While examining the transparent border of a portion of sponge growing from the seed-like bodies, he has observed the contract- ing vesicles distinctly, and a little within this, the animals them- selves distinguishable, though amassed together and ever chan- ging their form ; but he does not appear to have ever seen them inclose an object within their substance after the manner of the Proteus. In the development of the contents of the sporangia or seed- like bodies, he observes, that when the latter are opened under water in a watch-glass, the transparent cells within them, having been eliminated, swell and are bursted by the imbibition {endos- mose) of that fluid ; and that then the true ova of the Sponge with which they are filled, spread themselves over the surface of the vessel. Each ovum appears, not to be globular or ovoid as he formerly supposed, but discoidal, very much resembling in size and appearance the globules of the blood, it being only when they are turned on their edges that they appear ovoid. The red spot in their centre he also now thinks to be an optical illusion, while he has every reason to believe that the ovum retains its planiform state until its transparent vesicles and granules have become developed and the power of locomotion in it fully esta- blished.— Ed. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, represented from living Subjects ; with practical Observations on their Nature. By Sir John Graham Dalyell, Bart. Volume first, containing fifty- three coloured Plates. London : John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row, 1847. 4to. Pp. 270. [Continued from p. 139.] The most interesting chapter in this interesting volume is that which narrates the history of the Hydra tuba. This marine animal is called a Hydra by our author because it has the form and the cha- racters of the freshwater polypes, and possesses also their qualities — their greed of living prey (p. 87), their proliferous evolution of 5mung, their endurance of privations, their power to recover from apparently immedicable wounds, and their strange germinations and monstrosities under the influence and direction of the experimen- talist (p. 93). This hydra is found attached to submarine bodies ; the body is fleshy, inversely conical, encircled on the oral disc with 312 Bibliographical Notices. a series of long slender thread-like tentacula, — and thus it lives ap- parently for an indeterminate period, exercising all the functions of a perfect and adult animal even to the repeated production of young in all res})ects alike to the parent. So it lives until, from some un- known causes, a change comes over it, and it begins to unveil itself, and to exhibit one of the most wonderful revelations in animal trans- mutations. A pendulous column or roll is observed as if implanted on the disc of the hydra ; at first it is faintly indented by circles and is terminated by a circular row of tentacula ; the indenting circles become more deeply waved, the tentacula shorter until they are ob- literated ; and then each roll of the column is successively separated and liberated from the others until the whole embryonic column is dissolved, the individual rolls floating at freedom in the bosom of the waters, obviously the young of one of those large Medusae which swarm our seas in the months of the latter summer and autumn ! — Now this short sketch of the metamorphosis is not of any new dis- covery, for Sars had made us in some degree acquainted with it, but the account of it given by Sir John Dalyell excels all others in full- ness and completeness, and in its freedom from conjectural explica- tions. The metamorphosis itself is wonderfully curious, but what strikes us as the most unaccountable fact in the process is the un- certainty of the periods at which the change shall take place. The Hydra tuba shall remain for years a hydra propagating its kind, and we know of no data to fix the period when it shall begin the process of change into its mature and final state ; and, to add wond^ to wonder, having cast oflf several of these medusean embryos, a basis remains out of which another Hydra tuba shall arise, to go through the same hydra life and the same medusean metamorphoses as its predecessor. We suppose that these facts — for facts they are — will not support the opinions of Steenstrup on alternating generations, nor can even be reconciled with them. The way in which Sir John discovered that the Hydra tuba was the embryo of a Medusa was this : he took a large Medusa, of unde- termined species but beautifully figured on plate 15, and placing it in a vase of sea- water the spawn — “ a brownish matter like dust” — was shed from its ovarian fringes and settled at the bottom. This spawn consisted of “ an host of animated creatures in quick and va- ried motion,” partaking much of the nature of the planules of the Ser- tularians. The changes they rapidly underwent were noted and de- lineated ; and in eleven or twelve days after “ the planule had been discharged from the unwieldy Medusa, it was converted to a sta- tionary hydra.” (p. 105.) “ This new animal was provided with a complement of eight arms, yet so immature as to be of unequal dimensions. Different groups, under metamorphosis, showed the utmost irregularity in respect to evolution, to their shape and pro- portions : nor was it until thirteen days later, or three weeks after their birth, that any appeared with eight regular tentacula. Thus was a most perplexing problem solved — the Hydra tuba proved to have sprung of a Medusa.” (p. 105.) The progress of discovery went on. Sir John had “remarked 313 Bib Iw graphical Notices. colonies of minute transparent animals swimming in vessels of sea- water, during the months of February, March and April. Their general aspect very much resembled a flock of birds in distant flight, as re- presented by landscape painters. After being transferred to vessels free of other subjects, they continued several days in activity and then disappeared. I could not account either for their origin or their transience. They occurred only at rare intervals, and always iden- tically under the same form.” (p. 111.) 'I’hese very minute beings, for the expansion of an individual is only between one and two lines, were evidently allied to the Medusse “ both in configuration and in habits,” but they differed from the Medusse in the early date of their appearance. To distinguish them Sir John called the species Me- dusa bifida, and we have it minutely described and variously figured. Sir John was first led to remark that it was chiefly observed in ves- sels containing the Hydra tuba (p. 114) ; and subsequently, and as it were by accident, he discovered that the hydra was in fact their source ; and moreover that the hydra was identical with the Strobila of Sars ! The discovery is told in a most interesting manner, and with a truthfulness which there is ho gainsaying. We shall quote only a few of the many passages we have marked, previously observing that Hydra tuba in its strobila-form is some- thing like a fir-cone or a cylinder cut into several whorls, each whorl, when detached, becoming what is named the Medusa bifida. The strobila throws off these whorls in succession to the number of from ten to twenty, when the basis, as already stated, reassumes the form and habits of the hydra. “ First, a smooth fleshy bulb sustained a cylinder of about half its own diameter, indented by plain circles, which were soon converted to waving curvatures. A row of twenty or tv/enty-four tentacula crowned the summit of the cylinder, which row disappeared or was obliterated as the waving in its vicinity deepened, and the diameter of the cylinder there expanded, that is, towards the summit. Con- comitant on obliteration of the terminal row, a new circle of tenta- cula, at first few, but gradually augmenting, w^as emerging from around the bulb, while the struggles of Medusae, into which the waving strata were evolving, accomplished their liberation to swim unconstrained in the surrounding element.” (p. 121.) “ Certain facts admit of no dispute ; such as the existence of a vigorous hydra attached to a solid substance, with long flowing silky tentacula ; an alteration in the figure of the body, or the formation of an embryonic roll of Medusae on the disc ; the gradual maturity of each Medusa and its liberation from the roll ; the disappearance of the original tentacula of the hydra ; the emerging of a new circle of tentacula from a smooth fleshy bulb, sustaining the embryonic roll, as the former are obliterated, and as the Medusae approach ma- turity ; the evolution of thisfleshy bulb as a perfect hydra, along with their departure, which becomes the parent of progeny by gemma- tion, and its permanence as an independent animal.” (p. 122-3.) “ All the Medusae in the embryonic roll are separate and distinct animals. Each is in close application to that which is next below, if itself be uppermost, or lies between two if intermediate. The pro- Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Scr. 2. Vol. i. 21 314 Bibliographical Notices. boscis is outermost if the individual be uppermost in the roll ; thus all lie in the same direction, the proboscis outermost, as the Medusa escapes, from the next left behind. When the last remains in ad- hesion to the fleshy bulb, its proboscis projects outwards also. Thus the under surface of the embryo is always outwards, while a portion of the roll.” (p. 124.) “ Although by repeated, long, and painful observation, I have en- deavoured to learn the history of the Hydra tuba and the Medusa originating from it, my purpose has been but partially attained. I have selected many individuals, and I have chosen colonies of both, to discover whatever changes they should undergo. The hydra grew, it fed, it bred, its existence was long. The Medusa lived, it neither fed nor bred, its existence was infinitely shorter ; nor did it undergo the smallest change from the first moment of liberation for fifty-five days. Its life could not be protracted, on any occasion, beyond sixty days. Between the form and habits of these two animals there is not the smallest correspondence.” (p. 128.) We pass on to take a cursory notice of our author’s account of the Ascidian Zoophytes. Plates 43 and 44 illustrate Cellularia loriculata. “The hydra is minute, lively and active, almost transparent or dingy white ; it seldom protrudes from its dwelling, which has scarcely any percep- tible margin. When doing so, twelve is the usual number of tenta- cula displayed. Some have fourteen.” (p. 234.) Farre says that the tentacula are only ten in number. Cellularia reptans occupies plate 45. The hydra has twelve ten- tacula. Cellularia fastigiata is the subject of plate 46. The hydra has six- teen or eighteen tentacula. Cellularia ciliata forms the subject of a pretty plate, no. 47. “ None of the numerous tribe of Corallines can exceed the symmetry, ele- gance and beauty of this interesting product waving amidst the waters. The singularity of its parts and proportions seem to have originated wuth the vigorous efforts of a sportive organic nature.” (p. 239.) — To the vigorous enthusiasm which dictates such a passage, and there are many such in the volume, we owe the strength which supported our author in his long yet unwearied labours. — The hydra has from twelve to fourteen tentacula, and is remarkably vivacious. Cellularia avicularis is figured in plates 48 and 49. Of the latter we know not what to say : it does not please us, and is useless as a scientific drawing, however imposing it may look to the amateur or artist. Sir John has found the species only as a parasite on the Fhistra trvncata. “ A lively ascidian hydra with fourteen, fifteen, and, I believe, sometimes sixteen tentacula, inhabits the cells.” (p. 242.) 'i'he bird’s-head processes or avicularia our author has seen on Cellularia ciliata, fastigiata, avicularis, and Flustra Murj'ayana. The obscurity which hangs over their function has not been lessened or removed by his researches ; and the conjecture which he throws out doubtingly that they may be i>arasitical seems to us altogether un- Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 315 tenable. “ I cannot believe,” says Sir John, “that it (the avicu- larium) is connected with the hydra, from finding it seated and ac- tive on the side of those cells wherein there are none. Nevertheless, it is an integral part of the zoophyte, in so far as being generated along with new or reproducing portions. This, indeed, does not exclude the character of a parasite ; for I have understood that those infesting the larger animals sometimes occur in the foetus.” (p. 245.) Valkeria imbricata is well-figured on plate 50 ; V. cuscuta on plate 51, and on the same plate V. spinosa in a less satisfactory and less complete manner. Sir John is of opinion that the genus Serialaria is unnecessary, and he places its only species in the genus Valkeria. It forms the subject of plate 52. The cells are not ranged in a straight line in single series as usually described, but “ in partial alternation, the convex side of one being applied to the opposite recess formed by the union of two, somewhat like the position of two rows of cells in a honeycomb.” (p. 250.) Like all Valkerice, the polype has eight tentacula. Bowerhankia repens and B. densa are figured in plate 53, and the species are described in the text. But beyond furnishing us with a series of interesting figures and authentic and original descriptions, we do not find that our author has added any novelty to our know- ledge of ascidian zoophytes, beyond some additions to their external anatomy and some corrections of less careful observers. And now we bid a farewell — we trust a short one — to our author, whose book has engrossed very pleasantly some days of our leisure. We learn that his portefeuille contains many similar memoirs to those herein published, and we could wish to have the influence of hastening also their publication ; but surely such influence, if pos- sessed, is unnecessary, for in the honourable fame this volume has secured for Sir John Graham Dalyell there is enough to urge him on to the completion of his ever-during monument. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. Feb. 10, 1848. — The Pvev. Dr. Fleming, President, in the Chair. The following communication was read : — “ An Account of a Botanical Excursion to Braemar, Clova, and Ben Lawers, with his pupils, in August 1847,” by Professor Balfour. Having made some general observations on the botany of the alpine districts of Scotland, Dr. Balfour proceeded to give a detailed ac- count of the localities visited and the plants gathered. From Aber- deen the party went to Ballater, thence by Lochnagar to Castleton of Braemar, where they remained ten days, examining Ben A ven, Ben- na-Muich-Dhui (on the top of which they slept for a night). Cairn Toul, Breriach, Glen Callater, Clova, Glen Isla, &c. Leaving Brae- mar, they walked by Glen Tilt to Blair Athol, and thence by the Pass of Killiecrankie to Kenmore, Ben l^awers and Loch Lomond. All the usual, and many very rare alpine species were gathered. Carex 21* 316 Miscellaneous, leporina was picked both on Lochnagar and on Cairn Toul ; Carex vaginata w^as found on every hill in the Braemar district ; Woodsia hyperborea was gathered in Glen Isla, Glen Phee, Clova, and on Ben Lawers ; Luzula arcuata was seen on all the lofty summits in the vicinity of Ben-na-Muich-Dhui ; Mulgedium alpinum was detected in considerable quantity on Lochnagar ; also a beautiful variety of Hie- racium alpinum with remarkably long leaves and involucres covered with long white silky hairs : it is H. alpinum var. longifolium of ‘ Flora Silesia.’ In the vicinity of Ballater, and also in Glen Tilt, Equisetum umhrosum grew in profusion. The sides of Loch Etichan and the rocks near Loch Aven were covered with numerous alpine varieties of Hieracia, presenting remarkable transition torms : among them were H. alpinum, Halleri, nigrescens, Lawsoni, &c. Orobus niger was gathered at the Pass of Killiecrankie. Dr. Balfour then made some remarks on the progress of vegetation in the vicinity of Edinburgh and the injury done by the late frost, in the course of which he stated that Galanthus nivalis was in flower in the Botanic Garden, and Eranthis hyemalis in Dr. Neill’s garden on the 10th inst. MISCELLANEOUS. THE COMMON FLEA (PULEX IRRITANS). Everybody know's that common domestic insect, the flea ; but it is not everybody who knows that it undergoes a series of changes as singular as those of the butterfly or beetle ; being first a minute egg, then a long slender worm-like larva, then an inactive pupa inclosed within a cocoon spun by the larva ; and lastly, the perfect flea itself. My object in this article is to describe these transformations, and to add a practical suggestion for the easy destruction of these little pests. During the course of the past summer, having dropped a very minute insect on the floor of my library, close to the spot where one of my spaniels is in the habit of lying near my feet, I w^as obliged, in order to find it, to sweep the carpet very carefully with a fine brush upon a piece of white paper. By doing this I found my specimen ; but I also discovered a number of very small, white, worm-like larvae, which I immediately recognised as those of the common flea. I was not sorry to make this discovery, being anxious to examine the structure of this larva, and especially that of the parts of its mouth (hitherto undescribed), in consequence of the interesting position which the perfect insect occupies in the classification of hexapod in- sects, forming, as it does, a separate order, to which the name of Aphaniptera has been applied, from no wings being visible upon the insect, although their representatives exist in the shape of two flat- tened scales on the sides of the body attached to the proper w’ing- bearing segment. The female flea deposits about a dozen w'hite, slimy eggs of an oval form (fig. a, one of the eggs very highly magnified), and wdiich are of a rather large size in proportion to that of the parent insect. "I’he larvae are hatched in summer at the end of five or six days. They are at first white, but subsequently assume a slight reddish tinge. Miscellaneous. 317 with a dark, longitudinal streak down the back, which is the dorsal vessel. They are long and slender (fig. h represents a group of four of them of the natural size, and fig. c one of them highly magnified). The body consists of thirteen segments, gradually but slightly tapering towards the head, the segments being armed at the sides with strong bristles. They are destitute of legs, but are nevertheless able to crawl along with great rapidity, using the parts of the mouth and the appendages at the end of the body in locomotion. When disturbed they writhe about in a serpentine direction, or coil themselves up spirally remaining for a short time immoveable, and thus easily escape observation. The head is small and conical, furnished with two short antennae composed apparently of two joints, the basal one being very short, and the outer one terminated by a bristle (fig. d re- presents the front of the head seen from above, very highly magni- fied) ; the mouth is furnished with two large brown horny jaws, point- ed in a slight hook at the tips (fig. c?**), and the lower part of the mouth seems to consist of a large fleshy somewhat bilobed lip, furnished with two very minute two-jointed palpi. I also observed a small semi-globular tubercle on each side of the head behind the antennae, which may be the rudimental eyes. The terminal segment of the body is furnished with two small deflexed hooks, preceded by a co- ronet of minute setae, and which are evidently employed in walking. When full-grown these larvae assume the pupa state, having first entirely voided the remains of their undigested food, as is the custom with other larvae. All the larvae which I kept encased themselves within a cocoon of a silky texture and of an ellipsoid form, of a whitish colour within and grayish externally, often covered with minute particles of the adjacent materials Rbsel, however, observed that some of the larvae underwent these changes without forming a cocoon. The pupa inclosed within the cocoon bears considerable resemblance to the perfect insect, with this difference, that the legs are folded close on the sides of the body, and the insect is inclosed within a thin pellicle, each of the limbs being covered by a distinct case ; of course during this period the insect remains quite inactive, but as soon as the period for its final transformation arrives, it stretches forth its limbs, and casts off the thin pellicle with which it had been covered, and then appears as a perfect flea. Figure e represents the pupa highly magnified, with the cast skin of the larva (fig. /) attached to the extremity of its body. 318 Miscellaneous. One curious question still remains to be decided in the natural history of this insect, namely, the nature of the food of the larva. Although the perfect insect is generally found on warm-blooded ani- mals and man, there is no question that it is capable of breeding to a vast extent in places not frequented by such animals. Rooms left for a long time vacant, and some hot sandy localities, may be found occasionally swarming with fleas. At all events the larvae are never found on the animals attacked by the perfect insects. M. De France, who endeavoured to determine the question, found numerous small black grains in company with the eggs or larvae of the flea, and which he asserts become the food of the larvae, being nothing else than dried drops of congealed blood, which, upon being moistened, imme- diately re-assume a fluid state and red colour. These grains have been generally regarded as the excrement of the perfect fleas, but M. De France considers them to be in fact drops of blood which have fallen from the wounds made by the flea. My own opinion, now that the remarkably powerful structure of the jaws of the mouth has been discovered, is rather that the larvae roam about and feed upon hairs or particles of woollen or feathers lying on the spots frequented by the animals attacked b)’’ the perfect flea. The knowledge of these facts in the (economy of this insect sug- gests that by carefully sweeping carpets, mats, &c., on which dogs or cats are in the habit of lying, and by collecting the sweepings in a dust-pan and burning them (instead of allowing the larvae to creep away into cracks of the floor or even in the hollows between the threads of the carpet), we may destroy the larvae in great numbers, and thus prevent them from arriving at their perfect troublesome form. — J. O. W. in the Gardeners' Chronicle for March 4. Instance of a singular Anomaly in the History of the Honey Bee. By George Darling, Esq. Mons. Huber, in his wonderful and accurate researches into the history of the Honey Bee, discovered that, if a young queen passes the twenty-first day without intercourse with the drone, she will be only partially fertile, laying nothing but the eggs of drone brood ; nor does she lay these eggs in the appropriate comb, but in the comb proper for workers. This curious fact I have seen proved several times ; but one not noticed by the careful Frenchman came under my obser- vation this summer. 1 had placed a young queen in a small experi- mental hive ; she was very soon impregnated, and filled a sheet of comb with eggs. I removed her to another hive, and, in the usual time, the bees turned out several young brood for queens to make up for her loss. One of these, at the proper time, emerged from the cell, and destroyed the others. Three days after hatching she began to lay eggs, and as I supposed all right, but about a week after, when I examined the hive, I found the queen thrown out, and three cells converted into royal ones ; but to my surprise, I found that all the grubs were drones, both those in the forced royal cells, and those through the combs ; and I have no doubt that the bees had, on find- ing their queen imperfect in her functions, killed and thrown her out ; but here their instinct had not been sufficient to teach them that a Meteorological Observations. 319 drone grub could not be converted into a queen, for they sealed up the grubs and waited patiently the time for their hatching. The young drones never hatched, but shrivelled in the cells, which would lead to the conclusion that the food suitable for a young queen is not adapted to bring a drone to perfection. — From the Transactions of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, vol. ii. p. 205. METEOROLOGICAL. OBSERVATIONS FOR FEB. 1848. Chiswick. — February 1, 2. Clear and fine. 3. Cloudy. 4. Overcast: rain. 5. Densely overcast : heavy rain at night. 6. Overcast and mild. 7. Densely overcast : rain. 8. Cloudy and fine. 9. Cloudy : boisterous : clear. 10. Very fine : heavy rain at night. 11,12. Very fine. 13. Overcast. 14. Rain. 15. Densely overcast ; rain. 16. Frosty; clear and fine. 17. Clear: cloudy and fine. 18. Fine. 19. Rain: hazy and damp. 20. Foggy: cloudy: clear. 21. Overcast : rain. 22. Rain. 23. Heavy clouds : fine. 24. Densely overcast : rain. 25. Rain : showery. 26. Barometer most remarkably low : boisterous, with heavy rain. 27. Heavy rain : clear and boisterous at night. 28. Fine : clear. 29. Very clear : boisterous, with rain at night. Mean temperature of the month 39°*62 Mean temperature of Feb. 1847 34 *79 Mean temperature of Feb. for the last twenty years 39 *32 Average amount of rain in Feb 1*95 inch. Boston. — Feb. 1, 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy. 4. Rain. 5. Cloudy: rain p.m. 6. Rain. 7. Cloudy. 8. Cloudy : rain p.m. 9. Cloudy : rain early a.m. : rain A.M. 10 — 13. Fine. 14. Rain : rain p.m. 15. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 16 — 18. Fine. 19. Cloudy: snow early a.m. 20. Rain. 21. Fine: rain p.m. 22. Cloudy: rain P.M. 23. Fine : rain p.m. 24. Cloudy : rain p.m. 25. Fine. 26. Fine : rain early A.M. 27. Cloudy: rain early a.m. : rain a.m. 28. Cloudy. 29. Fine. Applegarth Mnnse, Dumf'ies -shire. — Feb. 1. Hard frost a.m. : thaw and rain P.M. 2. Thaw : threatening frost again. 3. Thaw : rain; high wind. 4. Heavy rain : snow gone. 5. Heavy rain : floods. 6. Moist a.m. : showery p.m. 7. Thick fog ending in rain. 8. Heavy rain all day. 9. Rain a.m. : cleared : rain p.m. 10. Slight showers. 11. Very fine spring day. 12. Dull morning : wet p.m. 13. Heavy rain and high winds. 14. Fa:r, but threatening change. 15. Rain all day. 16. Frost : a shower of snow. 17. Hard frost : hills white : snow. 18. Hard frost: rain p.m. 19. Showery. 20. Beautiful day: slight frost a.m. 21. Raw frost a.m. : moist. 22. Storm of rain and wind : flood. 23. Stormy day : violent showers. 24. Snow for two hours : heavy rain. 25. Fair and milder. 26. Fair a.m : drizzle p.m. 27. Heavy rain all day. 28. Heavy rain : thunder. 29. Showers : hail. Mean temperature of the month 40°*1 Mean temperature of Feb. 1847 36 '2 Mean temperature of Feb. for twenty-five years 37 ‘3 Rain 5*53 inches. Mean rain in Feb. for twenty years 2‘04 „ Sandwick Manse, Orkney. — Feb. 1. Snow showers ; cloudy. 2. Frost : clear. 3. Cloudy : showers. 4. Rain: damp. 5. Snow-drift : snow. 6. Snow: cloudy. 7. Rain. 8. Bright : showers. 9. Cloudy : damp. 10. Rain : cloudy. II. Bright: cloudy. 12. Rain: show'ers. 13. Showers. 14. Showers: clear. 15. Damp : rain. 16,17. Bright : frost. 18. Sleet : rain. 19. Sleet-showers: showers. 20. Bright : snow-shower<^. 21. Snow : red aurora. 22, 23. Cloudy : rain : aurora. 24. Bright: frost : fine : aurora. 25. Showers. 26. Cloudy: showers. 27. Showers : rain. 28. Damp: rain. 29. Clear : cloudy. The following are the averages for Dec. 1847, with which we have been fa- voured by our correspondent the Rev. Ch. Clouston of Sandwick Manse, whose usual report miscarried owing to the stormy weather which then prevailed : — Barometer. A.M. P.M. 29*597 29*595 Thermoineter. A.M. P.M. 39*93 40*66 Rain in inches. 5*24 i=r ^ Or^c30«oi • •LOt^iDr^c^fMvo •>* to to 1 •ajiqs -saujiuna • •••*** ■••••*• VO ••••«• VO • • • • « !>• CO 1 tp j to 1 •uoisog • • • : i • • • • •coo^^^»oCT^r'“Ooo • : : : :o-^o :oo ; ; : ;io : : : : — : to to d •qoiAVSiqo ! isgsssssa i i isg I ;2g§=§ d 9 CO Wind. •2iai.vipuBS ‘A3U5[J0 C i 1 S S'* i 1 " B «=’ 1 ^ i sJ g c «? 1 ^ 1 ^ ^ aJ aJ a,- | •ajiqs -sauj’iuna ne.sw. ene. s. sw. sw. ene. ssw. s. sw. sw. w. sw. sw. sw. sw. wnw. se. e.-sw. wsw. w. w. sw. w. e. nw. ne. e.-sw wsw. w-sw. •uoisoa nw. n. wsw. sw. calm calm ssw. calm calm calm calm calm calm w. calm calm calm calm sw. calm w. w. w. calm w. calm s. w. w. •ui'd I •5[0iA\siq3 ^ ^ ^ >■ ^ ^ i i ^ i i i «; c i «; & ^ ^ i ^ ^ ^ i i i « Thermometer. Orkney, Sand wick. •ui‘d $8 wld -•a^^o■rJ-O0M^'O0^'O to to •Ui*E ^8 •uo}soa lO »P ip ip >p c^^X)^^oc^ — ^coo^o(NOi>.?NLOLomrNr^o^o--iou:»oovbvoc^?M d '^iO'c3 GO — CO 0^ m (M 0^ 00 O — lO CO > to ic o^ co'^'^tototctotoiO'*ii<"^'^to«0’5t-^'^rr"^rrTj tp d Barometer. Orkney, Sandwick. o t^o^a^to coo d t^c^d o r^to uo-^io Tj-ddCOO— <-<^OOC0l^'tOC0^---■yH■^qOcb••«^•ctO^ c^oM^^'P ^9>9 d iptpcpLp^'^tp(9ipc99t ^^6^6^c^6^6^6^6^a5c»cb c^6^6^6^6^6 6 (:^o^6^(^db o^cbcocbdbcb ddddddddddddddddcocoddddddddddd d to CO cr» d •U1B$8 •uo;soa tOtO'^COtOco-^-^dt^dO'OOOO-^OOtOUOOOOOOO'^tO'^dO tpyrp '?'9^9 '?'9 *P9'9 S^'P'P 9 c^6^c^6^6^^^6^l^cbcbcib 6^c^6^6^6^6^6 6^3^o^c^a)cbc»c»i)db 6^ dddddddddddddddddcodddddddddc-id CO d 6t d Chiswick. c s coco— ^C^UOOO-^t^O'^dOOC ’^CO-^dCOTttOddd — dUO'iT<^ loto-^— tor^— (Old rroocoicotot^— -rfcoto'OiOi'^ot^coiocoi-'Tco r^.:-d'7-99cio99QO(9.oo(9i9 — i^d — ipcptp— 9 — 9-^t^d<» o>(b 6 6 6 o (3^<^^l3^db(» b\b^b^b\&\C> c> c^6^(^<^(3^<3^•oobcb <^^cb dcococococoddddddddddcocoddddddcodddd o to tp 6^ d X Rl S tocot^o OM>-(Oi(C'O00«0 — CO'TfVOVO OCO -^COC — coo C'COi^d r^-"(00 o coc^to-'ri a\ d •il^uoiY JO SAt?CI I 1848. 1 Feb. -"dcb''^t.2\9>. — 11. Section of V. quincuncialis, p. 208. — 12. Section of V. muricatus, p. 210. — 13. Plaits of V. .striaius, pp. 214, 216. — 14. Plaits of V. mammillaris, pp. 214, 216. — 15. Plaits of V. radiatus, p. 216. N.B. For Ventriculites hicomplientus see fig. E, p. 219. PI. XIV. (all in chalk). Fig. 1. Cephalites longitudinalis, p. 281. — 2. Cephalites guttatus, p. 282. — 3. Cephalites paradoaus, p. 283. — 4 & 5. Outer and inner surfaces of Cephalites alternans, p. 283. — 6. Cephalites bullatus, ^.2d>4. — 7. Section of Cephalites bullatus, p. 284. — 8. Cephalites retrusus (moulded from a cast in flint), p. 285. — 9. Cephalites catenifer, p. 286. — 10. Cephalites compressus, p. 287. ' — 11. Cephalites capitatus, p. 288. — 12. Cephalites campanulalus, p. 289. — 13. Vertical section of Cephalites campanulatus, p. 292. — 14. Piece of the matrix from inside of C. catenifer, showing projecting parts, which filled the depressions in the living animal, broken away, p. 286. — 15. Transverse section of fold of membrane of C. catenifer, p. 287. — 16. Plaits of C. catenifer, p. 287. PI. XV. (all in chalk, except fig. 6, which is flint). Fig. 1. Cephalites constrictus, p. 292. — 2. Cephalites peiforatus, p. 294. — 3. Brachiolites tuberosus, p. 354. — 4. Brachiolites elegans, p. 355. — 5. Brachiolites convoluius. The specimen has been vertically divided and one-half cleared out, thus showing the convolutions and the interior, p. 355. N.B. For Brachiolites angularis see fig. O, p. 357. 25* 372 Mr. F. Walker on the Migrations 0/ Aphides. Fig. G. Brachiolites racemosns : the right-hand portion shows the form of the arms as seen on outside of flint; the left-hand portion shows the root and longitudinal sections of several arms, p. 364. — 7. Brachiolites tubulatus^ p. 366. PI. XVI. (all in chalk). Fig. 1. Brachiolites foliaceus : the lower part showing the outside, the upper part a vertical section, p. 364. — 2. Brachiolites digitalus, p. 365. — 3. Brachiolites fenestratus, p. 367. — 4. Brachiolites labrosvs, p. 368. — 5. Brachiolites protensus, p. 369, XLL — Remarks on the Migrations 0/ Aphides. By Francis Walker, F.L.S. f’rom the great Author all that lives its stated boon of life receives. Ere long again restored to thee ; Each insect too minute to name Yet owns a portion of thy flame, Part of tliy numerous family. Resplendent cars of fiery glow From realms of light to earth below 'J'hy animated offspring bear ; And when this mortal trial ends, Again the glorious car attends To wing them to their native sphere. Lorenzo de Medici. In the following notice I have enumerated some of the species of Aphis that migrate at regular periods from one kind of plant to another, or whose food has been partly altered by the cultiva- tion of plants. Aphis Rosa migrates from the rose to the teazel ; - A. dirhoda from the rose to grasses and dags, and the introduc- tion and growth of corn have afforded it a new nourishment, and have consequently modified its habits ; and the cultivation of va- rious species of rose brought into this country has also increased its food, and that of A. Rosa and of the three following species : A. trirhoda migrates from the rose to the columbine, and this change of food is probably not aboriginal, but consequent on the cultivation of the latter plant. A. tetrarhoda and A. Rosarum appear to live only on the rose genus. A. Avena has its first habitation on grasses, and the cultivation of corn has furnished it with a new and abundant source of food. A. Caprea migrates from the willow to umbelliferous plants, and in this case both the winter residence and the summer pasture of the species are aboriginal. The food of A. Urticaria is divided between the nettle and the bramble, and both these plants are also original sources. A. Humuli lives permanently and aboriginally on the Mr. F. M^alker on the Migrations 0/ Aphides. 373 sloe, and the hop-grounds now provide it with a plentiful provision in the summer. Its presence on the hop is depen- dent on the proximity of the sloe to the hop-grounds, and these plantations should be inspected, and the extent of the sloes in the vicinity and their distance from the hops ascertained, and the length of the flight of the Aphis should also be observed, in order that the hop and the sloe may in time be kept suffi- ciently remote from each other to conflne the Aphis to the latter plant and thus to prevent its injuring the hop. A. Ulmariae dwells on the broom, and the meadow-sweet is its summer food, and the cultivation of sweet peas, peas, beans, clover, tares, vetches, saintfoin, &c. has added greatly to its means of subsist- ence. A, Lactucce is very abundant on the sow-thistle and some allied plants, and its oeconomy is modifled by the presence of the lettuce and the black currant in gardens, to both which plants it is very partial. A. Brassicce feeds especially on the sea-kale in a wild state, and also on the wild mustard, and the introduc- tion of the cabbage from the South of Europe has added to its food in this country. A, Pruni has settled on the plum since that tree was brought into Europe, and it has received the name of A. Arundinis from its feeding on the reed, which is its earliest habitation. A. Mali and A. Sorbi dwell on the white-thorn as well as on the apple, the service, the medlar and the mountain- ash. A. Persicce is so named from its having fixed itself on the peach since that tree was planted in Europe, but its other name, A. Prunicola, denotes its primitive habitation and food. A. Juglandis and A. Juglandicola have accompanied or followed the walnut in its successive cultivation westward from Persia, which is its native country, and that of the peach and of the apricot. A. Ahietina has probably come into England with the spruce fir, and a few other species that feed on the fir-tribe may have also been brought over from the continent. A. Bubi abounds on the bramble and on the raspberry, and during the summer is also common on Geum urbanum, the common Avens, and on a species of Epilobium or willow-herb. A. Dianthi (otherwise named A. vulgaris and A.Rapce and A.vastator) feeds on a very great variety of green-house plants. The furze seems to be the principal winter-quarters of A. Rumicis, and I observed that it swarmed ])rofusely and laid its eggs on that plant in the autumn of 1846, and the following year was remarkable on account of the devasta- tions of this Aphis in the bean-fields ; it feeds also on the labur- num, the poppy and the dock, and on very many other plants. It was unusually abundant on the laburnum last year, and great numbers of humble-bees came to feed on its honey. The lady- bird [Coccinella 7 -punctata) was also extremely common with this Aphis, and it promises to be equally so this year, for great numbers have already appeared during ^larch and April. 374 Bibliographical Notices. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Flore de France, par M. Grenier et M. Godron. VoI. I. Part 1. Paris, 1848. 8vo. We have much pleasure in recommending to the notice of our bo- tanical readers this first portion of what promises to be a most valu- able work. Now for the first time there is a probability of our pos- sessing a general French flora of a truly scientific and comprehensive kind. All the former attempts at such a work have been deficient in one or other of those respects : — the best of them, although high in scientific character, is very incomplete in other points. Many large districts of France seem long to have suffered an almost total neglect from botanists, and it is only of late that the publication of good local floras, and the more general distribution through France of that botanical knowledge which was so long confined, in a great degree, to Paris, has provided the requisite materials for a complete flora. The work before us is arranged very nearly in accordance with the system of DeCandolle as developed in his ‘ Prodromus and this first part, commencing with Ranunculaceae , includes thirty Natural Orders, concluding with Coriarire. The language is French ; the plan similar to that of Koch’s ‘ Synopsis Florae Germanicae ’ and Babington’s ‘ Manual of British Botany.’ Were we to attempt a detailed examination of the contents of this work, we should extend far beyond our limits ; we therefore merely remark, that the apparent tendency of the authors is to divide species rather more than seems desirable to us. This work is as necessary to the student of British botany as Koch’s ‘ Synopsis.’ Both of them ought to be in the hands of all who aspire to a higher rank than mere collectors. We look anxiously for the continuation of this flora. A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New Engla7id to Wisconsin and south to Ohio and Pefinsylvania inclusive, arranged according to the Natural System. By A. Gray, M.D. Boston, 1848. 12rno. 710 pages. Dr. A. Gray has here supplied botanists with a very valuable con- densed account of the plants of the northern ])art of the United States. It includes the flowering plants and ferns by Dr. (^ray him- self, and the mosses and liverworts from the pen of Mr. W. S. Sul- livant. Mr. John Carey has elaborated the genera Salix, Populus and Carex. The plan of the book is similar to Koch’s ‘ Synopsis Florae Ger- manicae,’ and must prove as useful to the student of the plants of its province, as that work has been found to be by the botanists of Central Europe. We need scarcely add that it is an excellent work ; the name of its author is a suflicient guarantee of that being the case. It is just what was wanted by the European botanist, since, in conjunction with Linncean Society. 375 Hooker’s elaborate ‘ Flora boreali-americana,’ we are now supplied with an accurate account of the plants of those parts of America in which the genera and species are most nearly allied to those of North- ern Europe. It is most interesting to observe the considerable num- ber of species which seem apparently correctly identified with those of Scandinavia and Britain, and we are much struck with the great number of European weeds which are naturalized in the United States. It is to be hoped that, now that this work is off his hands, its author will hasten the publication of the continuation of the ‘ Flora of North America,’ of which one complete volume and three parts of a second, extending to Compositce inclusive, have appeared from his pen in conjunction with Dr. Torrey. It is now five years since the last portion of that flora was published, and we can assure its authors that it is not without great anxiety that European botanists have been long expecting its continuation. In conclusion we can strongly recommend this Manual to all bo- tanists. It is published in London by John Chapman. In the Press. We are glad to learn that Mr. Ralfs’ beautiful work on that in- teresting tribe the Destnidiece, will be ready for distribution to the Subscribers in the course of a few days. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. LINN^AN SOCIETY. June 1, 1847. — The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. Read a “Description oi Athalamia, a new genus oi Marchantie • «S 0) 001 "s <;j s e I s t cn ^ s s S ^ in ^ s IS s ■*- k2 C iS! ~ 53 £ o ^ f s <5 53 ^ -”' '«> as *« C «3 3 SQ Rain. •JJDlAVpUBS ‘XaujIiQ r^LO • 'cor^ - r^ *051:^ :cr>0r^00 ^VOVOtO *iOOOO• o • CO 05 CO to o o m -rf • io^CO"^COCOCO'^'^rt'^CO'^'^-^^'^'^^'^-<^tOi^'5j''^'i^'^'^tOtO op CM "'d' .si 1 IS o •UTI\[ o'ocooitooors— i'0ooi0'^t0'>;3*0'ovor^050tot>’^0tr)050 — coo5to COtOCM COCOOl CM -rfCOCOCOCOCOCM COC0 « CMtOCOiCOCOOOtOO^CMCOtO— p0005p>p ;c3C05tor^^O'.co7-‘p-7'CM'o>p‘P'^7J*05C^qpc'5^qpo'Otpip -tocx) a3O5O5<^O5O5<^COiO5O5C)0CX)<^^i0t005'^050 tOQOtOCM -^CO — 01 — — tOCOCMiO 05 to — *00 o t^i^r^9 CO ^i^to CM 9 OM^tptc 959 1^9 t>-cx) t^c» ob ^<350 0505050 O5(^00C30 i^05 05 05 05 05 05CX)cib 0505050 ^0505(^0505 ^rj<0'0 O cototo — 05C005 (05toO'-c»cK-^(M(97f<9ii05'^<»i^-^-^p<— 9ortoc» — — c»toc»cip(X)05 (i) (350 <0> (05^(0 (O ^(05C»(X) (0505^(35(05051^(^05(^(35(0 O (^^(3505^05 (MCMCOCO-^c4ro'^tocor^obc35o"— *cMcortiotdri(»05 0*-H‘ ^ — . — — — — CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM'M'MCOCO 0^0 « c p s THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [SECOND SERIES.] No. 6. JUNE 1848. XLII. — On a proposed Neiv Order of Gasteropodous Mollusca. By Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock. [With two Plates.] \ At the last meeting of the British Association at Oxford we took the liberty of bringing under the notice of the Natural History Section two or three curious little mollusks, which had recently been found by our friend Mr. W. P. Cocks on the coast near Falmouth. These mollusks belong to a group very little known to British naturalists, but interesting on account of their zoolo- gical relations, and the modifications they show in the molluscan type. Want of time prevented our making our communication to the Oxford meeting so full as we could have wfished, but having since had the opportunity of making further investiga- tions, particularly with regard to their anatomical characters, w*e now offer our remarks on this group in a more detailed and somewhat amended form. The three species which we then described we considered to be new. On showing our di’awings to Dr. Johnston, however, he at once recognized our Chalidis nigricans to be his Limapontia nigra^ a species which we had previously not been able to make out. There cannot be a doubt that our little animal belongs to the genus Chalidis of Quatrefages ; these genera therefore must be synonymous ; and as the name of Limapontia has precedence, it becomes necessary to adopt it. The description and figure published by Dr. Johnston in Loudon^s ^ Magazine of Natural History,^ taken from a single specimen, did not give the cha- racters so well as could be wished ; it will, therefore, we trust not be thought superfluous if we redescribe and figure it on the pre- sent occasion, especially as this is the species upon which our ana- tomical details are founded. Ann. ^ Mag. N, Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 27 402 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a proposed New Order Limapontia nigra, Johnston. PL XIX. figs. 4, 5, 6. JoLnst. in Loud. Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ix. p. 79. Body black, or sometimes of a transparent brownish green, rather depressed, the sides slightly overhanging the foot. When in full progression the sides are almost parallel, but more fre- quently they are a little convex, and when the animal is at rest it becomes nearly circular. Head truncated in front and flat at the sides, where it is elevated into two crest-like ridges, arched from behind forwards. Eyes large, situated at the posterior ex- tremity of the crests, in a pale circular space, which is prolonged on the crest. Foot of a yellowish colour, slightly stained by the viscera ; narrower than the body ; the sides are parallel, and it tapers gradually to a bluntish point behind ; in front it is trun- cated with the angles rounded. Length line. A single specimen was obtained by Dr. Johnston in Berwick Bay ; since which it has been found in great abundance by Mr. Cocks at Falmouth, in small pools among the rocks, between half-tide and high-water marks, feeding upon Conferva glances- cens. We have also got it in similar situations at Cullercoats, and Mr. Richard Howse has taken it at Whitburn. The following observations on this species have been commu- nicated to us by Mr. Cocks : — “ They are found on Conferva glau- cescens; they eat its branches and the microscopic larvae with which the plant is infested. In July 1847 I procured a portion of the Conferva, not more than one inch in length and four- eighths in breadth, containing upwards of twenty patches of spawn ; each patch contained from 50 to 150 ova. Stragglers are sometimes met with on the Conferva albida ; but the spawn, never. I have found them in the shallow pools on the rocks at half-tide in the months of April, May, June, July, August, Sep- tember, October, and November. In December I visited all my old haunts, but without success : the slugs had migrated, and the Conferva was in a decayed state or dead. In fine warm weather they congregate on the surface of the Conferva, but in dull, cold, or windy weather, they descend towards the lower portion of the plant. They are active, very hardy, and tenacious of life. I have kept them in bottles for a month or six weeks, without changing the water, with apparently very little injury. They appear to be most plentiful during the months of June and July, at which time we met with them in great abundance at Cullercoats ; but on visiting the same spot again in the autumn, not a single individual was to be found. It is probable that the old individuals die off during the winter, and the young brood do not come to maturity until the following year. Their remain- ing so much longer on the Cornish than on the Northumberland 403 of Gasteropodous Mollusca. coast may be accounted for by the difference of climate^ as their position in shallow pools exposes them a good deal to change of temperature. The spawn forms a small pear-shaped, transparent, gelatinous mass (PL XIX. fig. 7), with the ova, which are yel- low, imbedded in the centre. Some spawn, deposited by an in- dividual, in a vessel of sea-water, on the 3rd or 4th of June, was hatched, and the larvae swimming about on the 20th of the same month. The larva very much resembles that of the Nudibranchs, as may be seen by a reference to the figure (PI. XIX. fig. 8), having, in that state, a transparent shell and an operculum, which afterwards disappear. A transparent and nearly colourless va- riety of Limapontia nigra is frequently found at Cullercoats, in which the green biliary organ is seen through the skin, as repre- sented in PL XIX. fig. 5. This species, when bruised, has a peculiar sweetish smell, like that of moist sugar, which appears to be derived from the Con- ferva it feeds upon. In Loven^s ^ Index Molluscoriim Scandinavise ^ this species is made synonymous with Planaria limacina, O. Pabricius, and P. capitata, Muller. The former we can find no description of, but the Fasciola capitata of Muller (Verm. 70) may be either this or a nearly allied species. He describes it however to be spotted with white, which is scarcely a character of L. nigra^. Acteonia corrugata, n. s. PL XIX. figs. 2, 3. Body limaciform, black, depressed, somewhat bulged at the sides, and covered with regular wrinkles like an Avion. On each side of the body there is a slightly elevated ridge, with a few pale tubercular spots. Head carinated at the sides ; each carina being produced above into a short, flat, ear-like tentacular process, which is whitish. The eyes are placed in circular palish spots at the posterior extremity of the ridges. The posterior extremity is obtuse and pale ; there is also a palish spot near the centre of the back. Foot linear. Length one-eighth of an inch. Found by Mr. Cocks at Falmouth along with the last, and feeding upon the same Conferva, but rare. The genus Acteonia was formed by M. de Quatrefages for a small mollusk found on the French coast. It comes very near to the last, the chief difference being in the form of the carinated ridges at the sides of the head, which in this are produced into flat, blunt, angular projections making an approach towards ten- tacles. * Perhaps Fasciola capitata may be the black species Pelta, described in the ‘ Ann. of Nat. Hist.’ vol. xviii. p. 289, which agrees with Muller’s de- scription in having a ridge along the side, and is also sprinkled with pale spots. 27* 404 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a proposed New Order Genus Cenia*. Animal limaciform ; the back elevated ; head slightly angulated, and bearing two linear tentacles on the dorsal aspect, behind and exterior to which are the eyes. Anus a little behind the centre of the back. Cenia Cocksii, n. s. PL XIX. %. 1. Body robust, considerably elevated on the back ; black above, fading into fawn-colour at the sides. Head slightly angulated at the sides, and having a black central stripe, the sides of w hich, as well as the tentacles and the area surrounding the eyes, are yellow or fawn-coloured : on each side of the back, near the re- gion of the anus, is a slight ridge with three or four pale tuber- cular spots. Tentacles of moderate length, cylindrical and linear ; the points obtuse. Eyes very large. Length three-sixteenths of an inch. Two or three specimens were found at Palmouth by Mr. Cocks on Chorda lomentaria and Dumontia filiformis, in pools between tide-marks. We dedicate this species to its discoverer, whose exertions have added many species to the different departments of the British fauna. These animals have been placed by M. de Quatrefages in his order PhJehentei'ata, which, it will be recollected, is formed by detaching the Eolididce from the other Nudibranchiataj and uni- ting them with these to form a new^ order, founded upon the gastric, or, according to that authors views, the gastro-vascular system of organization. This order we have already objected to, both on account of our opinion of the incorrectness of the theory which the name involves, and because it breaks up the order Nudihranchmta, which appears to us to be a natural group, w’ell- distinguished by their external characters, and, though somewhat different in their internal anatomy, showing modifications, in that respect, so gradual that it is scarcely possible to draw a line of distinction which would separate them even into families. M. de Quatrefages seems now inclined to give up this group as an order, but thinks it convenient to retain it as a section of the Nudi- branchiata. We cannot, however, agree in any arrangement that would bring the Eolididce into closer relationship with these little animals than with the other families of the Nudibranchiata ; nor do we think that these animals can with propriety be referred to * In our communication to the British Association we proposed the name of Jctis for this genus, but having since found that this name is already ap- propriated to a genus of Mammalia, we have now changed it to Cenia, an ancient name of the place near which it was found. 405 of Gasteropodous Mollusca. an order, so remarkable for the beauty and variety of the branchial appendages with which the species are adorned. The mollusks now under consideration are, on the contrary, distinguished by the extreme simplicity of external form, and by the absence of any specialized breathing organs. It would, therefore, be more in conformity with the views on which the existing orders of Gasteropoda were established by Cuvier, to consider this group as forming a separate order, characterized by the absence of spe- cialized branchiae ; and as the function of respiration is entirely performed by the skin, we propose to call this order Pelli- BRANCHiATA, and to include in it the following genera : — Elysia^ Pisso [Actaon^ Oken). Limapontia, Johnston {ChalidiSj Quatrefages) . Acteonia, Quatrefages. Cenia, Alder and Hancock. The Placobranchus of Van Hasselt, a genus involved in great obscurity, may possibly belong to this order, as it has a very evident relationship with Elysia ; but, as it is stated to have la- mellated branchiae, disposed on the back and lateral lobes, we think it more probable that it is an aberrant group of the Nudi- branchiata, forming a passage to the present order through the genus Elysia, the latter being itself a slight departure from the more simple form of the Pellibranchiata. On the other hand, this order is nearly allied to the Infero- branchiata through a small mollusk which we have already de- scribed in the ^ Annals of Natural History*,^ having very much the form and appearance of the Pellibranchiata, but possessing external plumose branchiae, under the right side of the cloak, as in the former order, to which it must consequently be referred. This animal we take to belong to the genus Pelta of Quatrefages, though the characters he assigns to that genus differ in many respects from those we find in our species. In consequence of the extreme degradation from the molluscan type that M. de Quatrefages has seated to exist in these little ani- mals, they have become objects of much interest in a physiolo- gical point of view, and we therefore consider ourselves fortunate in having the opportunity of examining two or three of the ge- nera, and especially in having got one of these in such great abundance, as, notwithstanding its minuteness, to enable us to make out its anatomy very satisfactorily. The anatomy of this spe- cies {Limapontia nigra) we now purpose giving in detail, and from the slight examination we have been able to make of the other two genera, species of which we have described, we believe it may be taken as a fair example of the anatomical characters of the order ; * Vol. xviii. p. 289. 406 Messrs. iVlder and Hancock on a proposed New Order and as the species subjected to dissection is one of the most simple forms of the group, it is consequently likely to show any departure from the molluscan type in the greatest degree. It will be seen, however, that no such extreme degradation as that sup- posed to exist by M. de Quatrefages, is to be found in our little mollusk, whose organization, though showing some interesting modifications, agrees upon the whole with that of the other Gas- teropods. Anatomy, by Albany Hancock. In describing the anatomy of these animals we shall confine ourselves almost entirely to that of Limapontia nigra, as of it alone have we possessed a sufficient number to warrant our en- tering at all into details on the subject. We would premise, how- ever, that on account of the extreme minuteness of this species, we have been compelled to use the compressor, and to rely on this mode of investigation to a considerable extent. Being fully aware of the danger arising from examinations conducted solely by the aid of transmitted light, especially on animals so highly organized as the Pellibranchiata, we have taken every precaution to avoid error ; and having had an exhaustless supply of speci- mens, we have verified most of the points over and over again. To prevent the confusion arising from the multiplicity of parts, we soon found it necessary to separate the viscera, and it was not until we succeeded in doing this that we made out the genera- tive system, which is of vast complication in this animal. The digestive ap];>aratus is much simpler, and may be almost entirely determined without the aid of the compressor. We observed nearly the whole of this portion of the anatomy in an individual whose skin was rendered transparent by removing the epidermis and pigment cells : the oesophagus and intestine, being tilled at the time with matter, rendering these parts opake, were seen very distinctly ; the two lateral branched vessels forming the biliary organ were also observed in connexion with the sides of the stomach. We have said thus much on the mode of investigation, that the authenticity of the following details may be duly estimated. The Digestive System opens on the inferior surface of the head, where a small puckered orifice indicates the entrance to a short channel, which leads to a muscular buccal mass (PI. XX. fig. I a). This is circular when viewed from above, but, when seen in pro- file, is irregularly quadrate, with a projection in front from the inferior angle. We could not distinguish the least appearance of corneous jaws. The tongue [b) however is very easily seen : it is a prehensile organ, and appears to be placed in the cavity of the mouth as in the Eolididce ; that is, it is bent fr m behind of G aster op odous Mollusca. 407 forwards and supported in the eentre of the cavity on a fleshy arch. When seen in the compressor, it is always doubled near the middle, as may be observed in Eolis under the same circum- stances. It is composed of ten or twelve plates or joints, each bearing a large crystalline spine, or rather process, apparently of a flattened or scoop-like form. These spines or processes are directed backwards to the oesophagus. In connexion with the anterior, or outer extremity of this prehensile organ, is placed what might be taken for an oval sac (figs. I c and 2 a), contain- ing spines, much resembling those of the tongue, but smaller. Professor Allman has pointed out in Actceon an appendage of the same kind, and supposes it to be a vesicle for the purpose of ge- nerating the spines of the tongue. In two or three species of the PolycerincBj as well as in some species of Doris, we have ob- served a similar organ, and have ascertained that in these species it is not a vesicle but a portion of the channel of the mouth, im- mediately in advance of the tongue, having the interior lined with rows of minute spines, forming, in fact, a prehensile collar, which on being everted forms a circle of curved spines, directed inwards, so as to lay hold of the food and carry it backwards to the tongue, which immediately conveys it to the oesophagus. In Actceon and Limapontia there can be little doubt that this sac- like appendage is an organ for the same purpose, though, on ac- count of the minuteness of the species we have examined, we should have found much difficulty respecting it but for the homology above alluded to. Be this, however, as it may ; judging from analogy, this sac-like appendage cannot be for the pur- pose assigned to it by Professor Allman, for the spines of the tongue are generated at the opposite extremity, as any one may convince himself by viewing the tongue of Purpura or Buccinum, when the spines will be observed at the inner extremity in a state of growth, apparently soft and not perfectly formed. Immediately in front of the buccal mass, and probably con- nected with the channel of the mouth, is a folliculated organ (fig. I d), which, perhaps, from its position and character, may be considered a salivary gland. The oesophagus (e) is a long, slender tube, passing from the posterior part of the buccal mass near the inner termination of tlie tongue, and ending about the centre of the body, where it dilates gradually into a stomach of no great size (/) ; but whose entire configuration we could not determine, having only seen its anterior portion, the rest being overlapped by the opake granular substance of the hepatic organ. The intestine {h) is short and slender ; it arises from the left side of the upper surface of tlie stomach, and, taking a sweep 408 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a proposed New Orderr backwards and towards the right side, ends in the anus (i), which is median, and a little behind the centre of the body. At first we could scarcely determine the position of this organ, though we had traced the intestine almost to its termination ; and, notwithstanding that there is at this part of the back a swelling indicating its presence, yet there is no prominent nip- ple, and it is very difiicult to see the opening. The position of the anus however was made manifest by our observing excre- mentitious matter passing out of it, and its situation cannot therefore be doubted. We succeeded in gaining further proof of the position of this excretory orifice by using the compressor, so as to force the contents of the intestine through it. This w^as attained by placing the animal in the instrument wdth its dorsal ridge exactly in profile, and then adjusting the pressure, with great care, to avoid rupture. In this way we, more than once, forced out the contents of the intestine. Along each side of the back immediately below the skin, and distinct from it, is a v/ide, somewhat folliculated, and branched vessel (^, g, g, g), having the interior lined with a layer, more or less thick, of dark green granules. These vessels are joined to the sides of the upper surface of the stomach, which is nearly covered with the granular substance. In these vessels we think we perceive the true homologue of the liver of the more typical mollusks ; and in proof of this opinion we would refer to the na- ture of their contents, which, as just stated, are green and gra- nular. When these granules are highly magnified, each is found to be an aggregation of very minute corpuscules within a delicate membranous vesicle, having much the character of the micro- scopic structure of the glands of the papillie of Eolis. In Cenia and Acteonia the digestive system would appear to be similar to that of Limapontia ; both are furnished with a mus- cular buccal mass without jaws, but having a lingual apparatus formed as in Limapontia ; the hepatic organ has the same dispo- sition as in that genus ; and the anal aperture in both is indicated by a slight swelling on the median line near the centre of the back, though we have not determined its position in these two genera with the same precision as in Limapontia. This account of the alimentary system is very different from that given by !M. de Quatrefages in the description of his Cha~ lidis ccerulea. The anus and intestine he has altogether over- looked, and the two lateral hepatic vessels he has called the stomach, that organ having likewise escaped his observation : there can be no doubt, however, that C. carulea is as highly or- ganized as L. nigra. The Generative System lies immediately beneath the organs 409 of Gasteropodous Mollusca. of digestion, and is highly complicated and of great extent, filling by far the largest portion of the body. Each individual possesses both male and female organs, as well as the additional apparatus of a spermatheca, as observed in the Nudibranchs. The external orifices are placed on the right side of the body and are three in number ; two immediately below the eye, and one nearly half-way along the body. Of the two anterior orifices, the one in front h that of the male intromittent organ (PL XX. fig. 4 a), and the other, which is close behind it, is that for the passage of the ova (/) ; the third orifice (m) is in communication with the sperma- theca, and is that by which impregnation is effected. Of the position and nature of these orifices there can be no doubt, for we have had frequent opportunities of observing the animals during coitus, and have also seen them when spawning. The male intromittent organ lies doubled upon itself immediately ' within the orifice, and when partially exserted (fig. 4 a) is of a subconic form, but is capable of much elongation and attenua- tion. The point (figs. 4 & 5 is furnished with a minute curved crystalline spur-like process, which is perforated (fig. 6 a) . The base of this process is united to a tube (figs. 4c & 5 c), which, pass- ing through the axis of the penis, runs a short way backwards and is joined by the oviduct aty, immediately after it is united to the duct of the testis at g, and then terminates in an elliptical bulb {p) at the end of the copulatory passage, just^where it receives the duct of the spermatheca (r). Near to the point where the oviduct joins this tube, it is attached to what occasionally assumes the appearance, in the compressor, of two elongated glands (m) with undulated walls, but which is very possibly a portion of the large mucous gland belonging to the female parts, afterwards to be more fully described. In tracing the male organs backwards, it is seen that the duct of the testis, after its union with the tube of the penis, runs for a short way parallel to the copulatory channel, as will be by and by more particularly mentioned ; and after communicating with it at /, soon reaches the median line of the body, about midway between the head and the tail. The duct of the testis then suddenly dilates, and, almost directly afterwards, divides into two branches, one going to each side of the body [d d) ; here these branches again divide into two nearly equal portions, one of which goes towards the head, the other towards the tail ; these portions divide and subdivide two or three times, the extremities ending in blind sacs. This multiple organ, there can be no doubt, is the testis, though we have no direct evi- dence in proof of this. Its anatomical relationship, however, appears sufficient to warrant this opinion. The ovarium (// h h), like the testis, is also divided into two parts ; one, much the larger [h h), occupies the posterior portion 410 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a proposed New Order of the body ; the other (//) lies on the left side immediately be- hind the buccal mass, and extends backwards as far as the middle of the body. This organ is composed of large globular vesicles of a yellow colour, six of which make up the posterior, and four the anterior portion. The ova are generated in the interior of these vesicles, which are united by short ducts into pairs ; each pair having a single channel of communication with the central duct. Thus it would appear that the ovary as well as the testis has a dichotomous arrangement. The channels of the two portions of the ovary are united near the median line of the body, a little in front and to the left of the union of the two divisions of the testis ; and almost immediately after their junction, the comnfon oviduct, passing towards the right side, is suddenly enlarged and doubled once or twice upon itself (i) ; it is then as suddenly con- stricted, and shortly afterwards reaches the tube of the penis at y, just in advance of its union with the testis, as before stated. At this point the tube of the penis is attached to the upper surface of a large pellucid gland (^), which lies along the right side of the body, extending from the base of the penis to the orifice leading to the spermatheca. The colour and general appearance of this organ resembles that of the mucous gland of Eolis, and like it, no doubt, secretes the transparent jelly-like envelope that covers the eggs. This gland is of an irregular form, but neither its shape nor general structure could be determined with preci- sion, on account of the distortion produced by the compressor. The opake granular portion associated with this gland in Eolis would appear to be wanting, unless the two glandular-like organs (m), before noticed in connexion with the tube of the penis, are the homologues of this part, which we are rather inclined to think is the fact. The mucous gland terminates in front in a widish channel which opens externally (/) immediately behind the base of the penis. It is through this opening that the spawn, as before stated, issues from the body ; but we have not been able to ascer- tain how the eggs reach this channel : most probably the oviduct, shortly after its junction with the tube of the penis, sinks down into the channel of this gland ; and thus, as in Eolis, the passage for the eggs is accomplished. Whether this be the mode of com- munication or not, it is certain that the eggs find their way into the channel and anterior portion of the mucous gland, for we have had ocular proof of the fact. On one occasion, observing an individual spawning, we placed it in the compressor, and de- tected numerous ova, as described, in the anterior portion of the gland and also in the channel : a little more pressure forced them out at the orifice. The s|)erniatheca (ry) is an oval sac of considerable size and of of Gasteropodous Mollusca. 411 a brownish yellow colour. It lies a little behind the buccal mass, near the median line of the body. From its right side issues a small duct (r), which, turning backwards, communicates with the bulb (p), or dilated portion of the copulatory passage, at the point where it receives the tube of the penis. From thence the copulatory passage or channel {o) leads backwards, and for a short way runs parallel to the duct of the testis, to which it is closely adherent ; it soon contracts and turns to the right side. At the point where the contraction takes place it communicates at /with the duct of the testis; afterwards the walls of the chan- nel continue parallel until it approaches the external orifice, when it suddenly expands into a sort of shallow pouch {n). During copulation, the intromittent organ, entering at this orifice, will pass along the channel just described, probably as far as the bulb, or dilated portion, in connexion with the short duct of the sper- matheca ; from thence the seminal fluid will readily reach that vesicle, to be there retained until required for the fertilization of the ova. How this takes place will be seen if we trace the eggs from the ovary to the external outlet. The eggs pass from the ovigerous sacs by the small ducts be- fore described, and, reaching the central duct, find their way at once into the dilated portion {i) of the common oviduct ; and there, probably, are advanced another step towards maturity : they then pass along the constricted part of the oviduct, and reach the tube of the penis near its junction with the bulb of the copulatory passage, when they will be within the influence of the fluid stored up in the spermatheca, and also of that of the testis of the same individual. The bulb (p), or dilated portion of the channel leading to the spermatheca, may be probably a sort of reservoir for the retention of the fertilizing fluid secreted by the testis of the same individual. If so, this fluid may be supposed to pass from the duct of the testis at the point (/) where it com- municates with the swelled portion of the channel, and it may be here that the eggs are fertilized. During coitus the seminal fluid will pass directly onwards through the duct of the testis to the tube of the penis. And thus, perhaps, we arrive at a correct understanding of the function of those two points of union. The eggs, after being thus fertilized, pass downwards into the chan- nel of the great mucous gland (/:), and then become enveloped in their final covering previous to expulsion through the opening (/) at the base of the penis. It would appear, from the diagram of Chalidis caerulea given by M. de Quatrefages, that he has confounded the ovary with the testicle, and that which is called the testicle is probably a portion of the great mucous gland. The salivary gland has the 412 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a 'proposed New Order appearance of the sperraatheca. Further than this, these organs seem to have escaped observation. In Cenia and Acteonia we have not been able to investigate the reproductive organs ; they both, however, have the intro- mittent organ provided with a curved crystalline spur- like point. The generative system of Actceon {Elysia), as given by Pro- fessor Allman, appears to have a considerable resemblance to that of Limapontia. We think we can recognise the same parts, though Professor Allman differs from us in assigning to them their various functions. To arrive at a just conclusion on this difficult subject, it is necessary, in the first place, to ascertain the position of the external orifices, and their connexion with the several parts of these complicated organs. Unfortunately in Actceon these points could not be determined. In Limapontia, on the contrary, we have had the good fortune to succeed in making them out with sufficient certainty ; consequently we have been able to speak with more confidence than we should have otherwise done. The large irregularly -formed organ in Actceon, which is designated testis, is undoubtedly the same that we con- sider the mucous gland. The opening of the gland externally, and the detection of eggs in the anterior portion of it and in its channel, are sufficient to prove that this cannot be the male secreting organ. If then this be the mucous gland in Actceon, the testis must be sought for elsewhere. It seems to have escaped notice. The vas deferens, however, has been traced backwards until it bifurcates near the median line of the body in the same way as it does in Limapontia. Here, therefore, judging from analogy, the testis begins ; and it will probably be found occu- pying a position in the neighbourhood of the ovary. The oval pouch [y] is most likely the homologue of the dilated portion of the common oviduct, and the small tube that passes from it backwards, dividing dichotomously, will prove, very probably, to lead from the ovarium. The oval body {x), we would surmise, corresponds with the dilated portion of the copulatory channel at the base of the spermatheca ; like it, it is in communication with the vas deferens, or testis, and with the oviduct ; and, if this con- jecture be correct, it will also communicate with the oval sac wdiich we take to be the spermatheca : it will likewise have an external outlet. From the description we have given of the reproductive system of Limapontia, it is evident that it does not differ in any material degree from what has been observed in the Nudibranchs. The ovary and testis are certainly considerably modified, and are differently arranged in the body ; their ducts, however, and the duct from the spermatheca, as in Eolis, ai’e all brought of Gasteropodous Mollusca. 413 together on the superior wall near to the channel of the great mucous gland^ and then communicate with each other. Hence the inference that the eggs may possibly receive the fertilizing influence of two individuals, as we suppose to be the case with the Nudibranchs. The most interesting modification of these organs is in the position of the external orifices. In Eolis all these three are placed close together within a common opening : in Limapontia, as before described, the orifice leading to the sper- matheca is removed to a considerable distance from the other two. The nature of these orifices becomes therefore better under- stood. From this arrangement we have been enabled to deter- mine beyond a doubt, that the channel leading to the sperma- theca is really the copulatory channel, and that the orifice at the base of the penis is that through which the eggs pass ; and thus the anatomy of this animal becomes confirmatory of our views, elsewhere expressed, of these parts in Eolis-. Vascular and Respiratory Systems. — From the minuteness of the species on which our observations were made, we have not been able to trace the former system to any great extent. The heart, however, we have determined with sufficient precision : it is com- posed of two distinct chambers, — a ventricle and an auricle. These may be seen by placing the animal sideways in the com- pressor. We succeeded in this way, after having made several fruitless attempts in the usual manner, of depressing the animal with the back uppermost. In the more transparent individuals the heart may be observed beating near the middle of the back, within an indistinct, irregular, oval swelling, without the aid of the compressor ; but the best way of ascertaining its parts is that, above-mentioned, of compressing the animal sideways, and thus obtaining a profile view of the heart. In this position the two chambers are rendered quite obvious. They lie immediately be- low the skin, wfithin a clear space, which perhaps indicates the extent of a pericardium. The ventricle is placed in advance of the auricle, and is pyriform, with the apex in front ; the auricle is a little larger than the ventricle, and is separated from it by a very marked eonstriction : its form resembles that of the ventricle, but is a little narrower and has the attenuated end posterior ; this end terminates in a well-defined vascular trunk, which ap- pears in close contact with the skin. By adjusting the pressure so that, when the parts are rendered sufficiently transparent, the heart is permitted to swell and contract, the blood may be seen passing along the aorta, which issues from the anterior apex of the ventricle. In this way we could trace the aorta as far as the buccal mass, where it bifurcates. On leaving the ventricle it dips a little downwards, and then advances towards its destination. 414 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a proposed New Order Further than this we have not been able to make out the vascular system. When subjected to the pressure of the instrument, the pulsa- tions of the heart are very slow, but when the animal is at liberty it beats with great rapidity, — probably ninety times or even more per minute. We could not ascertain the number exactly on account of the restlessness of the little creature, and the impossibility of seeing the pulsations excepting in some particular lights. M. de Quatrefages describes his Chalidis ccerulea to be without a heart or any traces of a vascular system. We have seen that Limapontia nigra possesses not only a well-formed bipartite heart, but that it has also an arterial system, and from the sudden con- traction of the auricle behind it, it is evident that the venous system is not altogether deficient, or that portion of it, at least, which M. Milne-Edwards calls branchio-cardiac. The deductions of M. de Quatrefages therefore, in this instance, cannot be sus- tained. Respiration appears to be performed by the whole surface of the body, as it is entirely clothed with vibratile cilia, not even excepting the under surface of the foot*. The cilia are large and vigorous, and their action may be detected under favourable cir- cumstances with a powerful single lens. Nervous System and the Senses. — We have not paid sufficient attention to this part of the subject to enable us to give a detailed account of its anatomy. The cerebral ganglia were consequently not fully determined : they are placed as usual round the com- mencement of the oesophagus, and are four or more in number. The central or upper pair are somewhat pyriform, and are placed further apart than usual : they are connected by a stout com- missure. The lateral pair are rather smaller than the central ones, and are of an elliptical form : they appear to be united below the oesophagus by a short collar and two small oval buccal ganglia ; but these were not determined with sufficient certainty. Nerves pass from these central ganglia to all parts of the body. The optic nerve is of considerable length, and springs from the outer margin of the central ganglion, where it joins with the lateral one. This nerve enters the base of the black pigment cup of the eye, which is large and pretty regularly formed. Half-buried within the mouth of this cup is a spherical crystalline lens, which is protected in front by a cornea, that passes close in ad- vance of it : the whole is enveloped in a thin membranous sac. * Limapontia is not, by any means, the only slug that has the under sur- face of the foot ciliated. We have detected these minute organs on the same part in the Nudibranchs, and in Purpura, Littorina and Patella. It is there- fore probable that all the Gasteropods have cilia on the crawling disc. 415 of Gasteropodous Mollusca. The auditory capsule contains a single spherical otolithe, and is attached to the central ganglion at the root of the optic nerve. In Acteonia corrugata the auditory capsule is also furnished with a single otolithe. EXPLANATION OF PLATES XIX. and XX. Plate XIX. Fig. 1. Cenia Cocksii, much enlarged. — 2. Acteonia corrugata. — 3. Side view of the head of the same. — 4, 5, 6. Different views Lirnapontia nigra. — 7. Spawn of the same magnified. — 8. Larva of the same. — 9. A portion of one of the lateral hepatic trunks of Cenia Cocksii, show- ing its granular appearance. — 10. A few of the granules more highly magnified, exhibiting their mi- nute structure. Plate XX. Fig, 1. General view of the digestive system of Limapontia nigra : a, buccal mass ; h, tongue ; c, prehensile collar in advance of the same ; d, salivary gland; e, oesophagus; f stomach; gg g g, lateral he- patic trunks ; h, intestine ; i, anus ; j, cerebral ganglions. — 2. Tongue removed from the buccal mass : a, prehensile collar. — 3. Two joints or plates of the tongue more highly magnified. — 4. General view’ of the reproductive system : a, penis ; h, crystalline point of the same ; c, tube of the penis ; d d, testis ; e, duct of the same ; f junction of the duct of the testis with the bulb of the copulatory channel ; g, junction of the duct of the testis with the tube of the penis ; h h h, ovigerous sacs containing ova ; i, dilated portion of the oviduct ; j, junction of the oviduct with the tube of the penis ; k, mucous gland ; I, external orifice leading to the same, and through which the eggs pass ; m, two elongated glands pro- bably connected with the mucous gland ; n, shallow pouch at the external orifice leading to the spermatbeca ; o, copulatory cbannel ; p, bulb of tbe same ; q, spermatbeca ; r, duct of the same. — 5. Intromittent organ of Limapontia nigra: a, penis; h, crystalline point ; c, tube. — 6. Crystalline point (much magnified) of the penis of Cenia Cocksii, exhibiting the perforation at the extremity a. — 7. Profile view of the heart of Limapontia nigra : a, ventricle ; au- ricle; c, aorta ; d, venous trunk leading to the auricle ; e, dorsal skin ; //, clear space, probably showing the limits of a pericar- dium. — 8. Cerebral ganglions of L. nigra, with nerves : a a, central ganglions ; h, commissure uniting the same above tbe oesopbagus; cc, lateral ganglia ; d, buccal ganglia ; e e, eyes ; //, auditory capsules. — 9. Auditory capsule, with otolithe, more highly magnified. — 10. Eye greatly magnified, exhibiting the nerve, pigment cup, lens, cornea, and general capsule. 416 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Anthonomus. XLIII. — Notes, &^c. on the genus of Insects Anthonomus ; with a description of one new species. By John Walton, F.L.S. Fam. CURCULIONID^. Genus Anthonomus, Germ., Schbnh., Steph., Curt. There is the greatest imaginable confusion amongst the species of this very pretty and interesting genus of insects ; ten have been catalogued and described as specifically distinct, but I must confess my inability to distinguish out of that number more than four ; notwithstanding all the care I have taken, it is very pos- sible I may have erred or blundered ; should this be the case, I must plead the infirmity of human judgement, from which the most skilful cannot claim exemption, and I can only say I shall feel truly obliged if any entomologist will have the kindness to point out any errors I may have inadvertently committed, and thus give me an opportunity of correcting them before the con- clusion of my notes on this family of insects. § A. Anterior femora strongly dentate. 1. Anthonomus Pomorum, Linn. sec. ej. Mus. et Auctor. alior. — incurvus, Steph. sec. ej. Mus., non Panz. There are foreign specimens of Ant. incurvus in the collec- tion of Kirby from Gyllenhal, and others in my possession from Schonherr; it is a small insect (length 1|- line), about one-third the size of Ant. Pomorum, from which it only difiers by being much less and inhabiting a different plant ; according to the opi- nion of Gyllenhal, ^ scarcely a distinct species,^ and to Germar, ' obsoletely distinct / in Sweden it inhabits the bird cherry [Pru- nus Padus), and possibly may be found on that plant in this country, where it grows wild in the mountainous districts of the north of England and in Scotland. I have not yet seen an indi- genous specimen. I may refer to some very interesting observations relative to the habits and oeconomy of Ant. Pomorum in Mr. Curtises ' Bri- tish Entomology,’ vol. ii., and in the ^Ent. Mag.’ vol. i. p. 33. Found on the blossoms of the apple- and pear-tree from about the 25th of May to the 15th of June, and under the bark in winter ; the late Mr. Bainbridge reared many specimens, either from the larvae or pupae, I forget which, obtained from the buds or the rust-coloured blossoms of the apple. 2. A. Ulmi, DeGeer, Marsh., GylL, Steph., Schonh., Kirb. MSS. — pedicularius, Germ. Mag. iv. p. 322. — Druparum var., Steph. sec. ej. Mus., non Linn. — fasciatus, Kirb. MSS. The form, sculpture, and general habit of this insect approxi- Mr. J. AValton on the genus Anthonoinus. 417 mate very closely to the following, and being subject to consi- derable variation of size and colour, its varieties, without a careful comparative examination, are extremely liable to be mixed, as I have noticed in many cabinets, with the next species ; it may how- ever be satisfactorily discriminated by its having the rostrum evidently longer, more slender, with the antennse inserted further from the apex ; the tooth of the anterior femur distinctly longer and more robust ; the basal half of the tibia curved and more di- lated within in the middle ; the posterior femora each with their tooth excessively minute, and scarcely perceptible without a powerful lens. There are foreign specimens of Cure. Druparum in the Lin- nsean and British Museums, in the collection of Mr. Kirby from Gyllenhal, and in my possession from Schdnherr ; Cure. Drupa- rum is incorrectly recorded to have been found near London and in Somersetshire, but a variety of the insect now under consi- deration appears to have been mistaken for it, nor has it hitherto been discovered as an inhabitant of this country ; in Sweden it occurs copiously on the leaves of the bird cherry, and will pro- bably be found in Britain if that plant is diligently searched. Found plentifully on the leaves of elms (Ulmus eampesti'is) near Gravesend in July, and in many other localities throughout Great Britain, but never, as far as my experience goes, in company with the following. 3. Anthonomus pedieulariuSy Linn. sec. ej. Mus., Marsh., Kirb. MSS., Steph. 111. Cure, fasciatus. Marsh. Rhynch. Ulmi var., Gyll., var. y. Schonh. A. Pomonce, Germ. Mag. iv. p. 323. — Pomorum, Steph. sec. ej. Mus. — Ulmi var. Steph. sec. ej. Man. — maculosus et rubrescens^ Kirb. MSS. I have frequently examined the insect in the cabinet of Lin- nseus labelled ‘ pedieularius/ which agrees with his description, and which is, beyond all doubt, specifically identical with this insect ; I have therefore followed Marsham and Kirby in adopt- ing the name given by that illustrious naturalist. Much doubt has hitherto existed as to the distinction of this from the preceding insect : Gyllenhal, Schonherr and Stephens think they are the same ; whilst Marsham, Kirby, Germar and Curtis have separated them into distinct species, but without di- stinguishing characters : it appears that Gyllenhal, from his de- scriptions of the varieties of colour, has confounded this with the preceding insect, and that by depending too much on the incon- stant character of colour he has overlooked specific differences Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vnl. i. 28 418 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Anthonomus. which are constant. I have a Swedish insect sent me by Schon- herr as Ant. Ulmi var. 7, which undoubtedly belongs to this spe- cies, and which it is evident he has also confounded with the pre- ceding. Exclusively of colour, it may at once be distinguished by 'a comparative examination of the following eharaeters : the rostrum is shorter, thieker, and the antennje inserted nearer the apex ; the tooth of the anterior femur evidently shorter and not so stout ; the tibia of a different form, being nearly straight, except at the base whieh is a little bent, and much less dilated within in the middle; the posterior femora each with the tooth larger, and distinctly visible with a lens of an inch focus. I have found this insect on the leaves of the white-thorn [Mespilus Oxyacanthd) in hedges on the west side of Turner^s Wood, Hampstead, sparingly in April of dark colours, and abundantly in September of pale eolours ; and also in many other localities in the south of England, but never on any other plant, or in company with Ant. Ulmi. ^ B. Femora minutely dentate. 4. Anthonomus puhescens ?, Payk., Gyll., Germ., Sehbnh. Ovate, testaceous, einereo-pubeseent. Head small, round, tes- taeeous, punctulated and pubescent ; eyes globose, brown-black ; rostrum rather longer than the head and thorax, slender, a little curved, punetulated, deep rufous, shining, and more or less fus- cous at the apex. Antennse rather long, slender, rufo-testaeeous, clava elongate and fuscous. Thorax transversely impressed and constricted anteriorly, a little rounded at the sides, bisinuated at the base, moderately convex above, testaeeous, elosely and deeply punctured and pubeseent. Seutellum small, elevated and densely pubescent. Elytra ovate, very convex above, testaeeous, deeply punctate-striate, interstices narrow, eonvex, indistinctly punctu- lated and sparingly pubescent. Legs long, testaceous ; anterior femora minutely dentate, posterior femora scarcely or very obso- letely dentate. Length Inline. The form of the rostrum, with the place of insertion of the antennse, and the form of the tibise, are very similar to Ant. pe- dicularius ; but the absenee of a fascia on the elytra, and the mi- nute tooth on each of the femora, at once distinguish this insect from the pale varieties of the two preceding, to wLieh it is allied. This insect agrees in all its essential eharaeters with Gyllen- haPs description of Rhynch. puhescens ; there is however a dif- ference in the colour of the head, that of the former being testa- ceous, and of the latter black or fuscous ; but colour is so ex- tremely variable in these insects that I consider it of very little value as a subsidiary specific character. 419 Mr. J. Walton on the genus Anthonomus. Three specimens of this, with other British insects, taken in Herefordshire by Mr. Doubleday, were given by him to Mr. Smith, one of which was kindly presented to me by the latter gentleman : it occurs on pines in the north of Sweden. 5. Anthonomus Rubi, Herbst, Gylk, Germ., Steph., Schonh. Cure, ater et melanopterus, Marsh, sec. Mus. Steph. et Kirb. A. obscurus var., Steph. sec. ej. Mus. — brunnipennis var.. Curt. Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 280. This insect greatly varies in magnitude (length — 2 lines) and ifi colour, which two circumstances have led to its being separated into different species : the varieties may be subdivided as follows : — a. Black, with the basal joint of the antennae, the base and apex of the femora, the tibiae and tarsi fusco-piceous or fusco-fer- ruginous : Cure. Rubi of Herbst, and melanopterus of Marsh.: very common. b. Entirely black ; or black, with the basal joint of the antenna fusco-piceous : Cure, ater of Marsh. : not uncommon. c. With the head, rostrum and thorax piceous black or piceous ; the elytra and legs fusco-testaceous or fusco-ferruginous : Ant. obscurus of Steph., and brunnipennis of Curt. : not of fre- quent occurrence. I have examined the original specimen of Cure, clavatus of Marsham in the cabinet of Mr. Stephens, and I have no doubt it is a large female specimen of Balaninus {Rhynch.) Brassiere of Fab., with the apex of the rostrum morbidly tumefied and the palpus exposed* : Mr. Curtis gave me a specimen of Ant. brun- nipennis,I sent to M. Schonherr, who returned it as a variety (y) of Ant. Rubi, accompanied by Swedish examples which agree with it : there are similar specimens of this variety in the cabinet of Mr. Stephens, under the name of Ant. obscurus, which I have carefully examined, but not being able to discover sufficiently di- stinctive characters, I am compelled to consider them, as well as Ant. brunnipennis, merely as immature varieties. Widely dispersed throughout Great Britain, and found on various plants in many localities. * I beg to return my sincere thanks to Mr. Stephens, not only for the in- valuable privilege of inspecting his rich indigenous collection of insects (that of the late Mr. Marsham being now incorporated with his own), but for the facilities he has invariably afforded me in examining its rarities, which have been the means of enabling me to rectify many mistakes, originating in most cases from the great difficulty of distinguishing species from varieties. 28* 420 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. XLIV. — Some Notes on the Botany of Sinde. By Captain N. ViCARY, 2nd European Regiment*. The following notes have been made from plants_, collected under considerable difficulties, at seasons (Dec., Jan., Feb.) the worst that could be selected for collecting plants, or when I was accom- panying an army in an enemy^s country, with scarcely the means of transporting my private baggage. I mention this merely to show that much remains to be done of botanical interest in Sinde, and that my collection gives but a limited, although a charac- teristic idea of the plants that flourish in that region. The flora of Sinde falls naturally into three divisions, that of the hills, the plains, and the coast. The hills, being either the bases or out- liers of the Hala range, are barren in the extreme, owing to the want of rivers, the rareness of natural springs, their saline nature where they do exist, and the absence of periodical rains. Little that could be called soil exists ; a few of the intervening valleys only are favoured with arable land. The hilly country generally presents a most desolate and bar- ren appearance — little vegetation meets the eye — scarcely any- thing but the bare, broken, pale or rusty yellow tertiary strata of which they are composed. My Beloch guides informed me that rain at a proper season falls on an average about every fourth year, that shortly afterwards vegetation appears abundantly, and that on those occasions the Beloehees are in the habit of collect- ing and storing dried grass ; at such seasons the botanist would doubtless find much to excite attention, but at any time the few plants found are very interesting. A species of palm is very abundant in this division, near springs and lining the banks of water-courses. If not new, I be- lieve it to be Chamcero'ps humilisy but I have seen neither flowers nor fruit. The tree has scarcely any stem above ground ; the leaves are flabelliform, and the petioles channeled with lacerate stiff margins. The denuded and dry spadix of one tree which I saw was about six feet high, with numerous lateral branchlets. The Beloehees make sandals of the leaves of this tree. A Viola is found near water-courses, nearly allied to, if not identical with, V. 'patrinii. A species of Reaumuria, with leaves diff’ering somewhat from the described kinds, also exists on the tops of some of the lower hills. This, and a Scrophularineous plant { Antic ha?'is)y are the most ornamental plants found in the Lower Halas. A Gi'ewia, allied to G. sapida, forms small shrubs rising from the fissures of the rocks ; its small red berries are eatable. * From the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for Nov. 1847. Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. 421 Orygia trianthemoides is found near the base of the hills^ He- ptophyllum tuberculatum in the upper valleys^ and Peganum Har- mala everywhere. I found Tribulus alatus, Del., and Calligonum, both Egyptian forms, at the base of the hills ; a species of Zygo~ phyllum, differing little from Z. simplex, is found forming dense matted beds near springs in the upper valleys. Seezenia, a Sierra Leone genus, is abundant both in the hills and at their bases j also a new species of the Cape genus Monsonia. Neu- radaprocumbens, an Egyptian or Arabian plant, is plentiful on the borders of the Sinde desert, and also in the hills, is particularly plentiful too near Shahpoor on the western border of the desert. On the sand-hills at the same place I found species of Rhazya ; it is a pretty small shrub with so much the habit of the garden oleander, that our sepoys called it ^^Bun Kunale.^^ It is also found throughout the hills, but invariably in sandy places. A species of Forskalea with ovate leaves is abundant in some places amongst the hills ; the leaves of this plant adhere to every- thing with great tenacity, and can only be removed piecemeal ; the whole plant is clothed with sharp hooked hairs. A Sophora, with pretty yellow laburnum-like flowers, is also found amongst rocks near water, accompanied by Linaria ramo- sissima, and a variety of Lindenbergia urticcefolia. Several spe- cies of Salsola are also abundant ; one in particular in the hilly country with terete pungent leaves and axillary capitate inflo- rescence, of which unfortunately I am without specimens. A new species of the African genus Limeum is also found on the skirts of the Halas. Plantago amplexicaulis is found in the inner val- leys along with Haplophyllum. An Echium of the Cape type, and possibly new, and Trichodesma Africanum, B.B., are abundant in the fissures of rocks amidst the higher hills. Salvia primula- jEgyptiaca, and a new species of the same section, are widely spread through the hills. A new Linaria, very like L. triphylla, is found from the base of the hills upwards. Solanum Forskalii, or a species akin to it, is also abundant. Hyoscyamus muticus is found in moist places. An Asclepiad, with the habit of Orthanthera viminea, is very abundant on the mar- gins of water-courses ; it forms a large bushy shrub, and I suspect is the same plant described by my friend Dr. Falconer as “ Campelepis.” Cometes Surattensis is found occasionally along the whole base of the Hala mountains ; a Caralluma or some nearly allied plant is abundant on the higher ranges, but I never saw it in flower ; a new and pretty species of Cleome is found in the passes leading into the Hala range at a low elevation : with this I close my notice of the hilly region of Sinde. The plains of Sinde are of a very variable character, some places being very fertile, and others barren, and naked desert 42.2 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. with little to be seen except Salsola and Tamarisk, and even these afFeet the borders of desert places. The tamarisk on the borders of the desert in some places yields a considerable quantity of manna ; it exudes from the bark of the younger branches in the form of translucent tears. It is collected in some abundance in the neighbourhood of Meher, south of Larkhana^ and used to adulterate sugar ; my servants eat a considerable quantity of it without being in any way affected. In fact they were wonder-stricken^ and returned thanks to God for having miraculously created sugar in the desert jungle. I had about a seer of it for near a year ; it remained unaltered, and was at last destroyed by exposure to rain. This species of manna is noticed by Dr. Royle in his ^ Illus- trations of Botany/ p. 214. I saw neither flowers nor fruit, so cannot speak as to the species, but the shrub has the habit and appearance of T. gallica. The little desert of Sinde flanks the base of the Hala range, varying from ten to twenty-five miles (or more) in breadth, ex- tending in a southerly direction to beyond Meher, where it nar- rows to three or four miles, and there are more or less extensive patches of desert nearly as far south as the Munchaul Lake. In a northerly direction branches of the desert extend to near Mit- tun Kote, flanking the base of the Boogtee Beloch hills (spurs of the II alas) upon which Deyrah and Kahun are situated. This tract is sometimes called the Burshoree desert, from the name of a halting-place on the other side, N.W. of Shikarpoor. The soil is a hard-baked yellow clay, often exhibiting proofs of lacustrine or alluvial origin, generally extremely arid and devoid of all ve- getation. In some places even in the heart of the desert Salsolce are abundant, in others the surface for miles is perfectly naked ; in many places saline matter abounds, efllorescing and whitening the surface, or cementing the soil, which crackles under the feet as if ice-bound ; saltpetre is or has been manufactured at the southern end of the desert. It will be seen that but for the Indus this desert would form a braneh of the great Jeysulmeer desert, which in some places south of Bhawulpoor approaches the Indus so closely that its sands are poured into the stream ; hence we may expect the vegetation on the borders of both to be somewhat similar. Not far south of Bhawulpoor a species of Anabasis, very like (if not identical with) A.florida, makes its appearance; this plant abounds on the borders of the desert, and on both banks of the Indus wherever the desert approaches. The borders of the Sinde desert are usually belted with sand- hills, and outside them a belt of Acacia catechu of greater or less breadth. Capt. N. Vicary’s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. 423 I have already noticed Monsonia as existing on the western bor- ders of the desert ; I also found it in desert places in Lower Sinde. Antichorus [Corchorus) depressus abounds on the desert bor- ders^ particularly at Khangurh ; Physalis somnifera is also found here, and extends into the hill valleys. In Lower Sinde, south of Sewan, a species of Euphorbia, very like E. pentagona, abounds in many places forming impervious patches of jungle : near Kotree, and also between that place and Sewan, I found an Ochradenus,” I believe identical with the Egyptian O. baccatus, Delisle. Fagonia is abundant throughout Sinde, both in the hills and plains ; I have no specimens, but considered the species to be F. Mysorensis ; the flowers are pale purple. At Meher and some other places a species of sugar-cane is in cultivation, which I believe to be unknown in India ; it is called Buhadooree the stems are slender and trailing ; they grow to ten or fifteen feet in length, the base not being thicker than a finger ; ten or twelve are usually fastened together so as to afford mutual support ; the cane is said to yield the best sugar, but in small quantity. Cleome ruta, Jacqt., is abundant on the rocks at Sukkur and throughout Sinde. Typha angustifolia is found on most lands subject to the annual flooding of the Indus, and from it vast quantities of mats are manufactured. A species of Adenanthera, I believe A. pavonia, is often found near villages in Lower Sinde ; this tree has a weeping habit, and at a distance looks not unlike Salix Babylonica, A remarkable species of Acacia is also found near villages ; in its mode of growth and appearance it strongly resembles the funereal cypress. The Sindeans call it Cauboolee Baubool,^^ a name which points to its foreign origin. I was not fortunate enough to see this tree either in blossom or fruit. Between Kotree and Km-rachee I noticed a species of wild cotton trailing up trees to twenty feet ; I was sick in a doo- lee at the time and unable to take specimens. Bodoncea Burmanniana, and I believe another species, are found in Lower Sinde. Aristolochia bracteata, and a Verbena akin to V. officinalis, but perhaps distinct, exist on the smaller hills of Lower Sinde ; Orthanthera viminea abounds throughout Sinde and is a very useful plant ; like many others of its order, the bark yields a strong fibre ; in this shrub it is of greater length than perhaps in any other Asclepiad. I am not aware of the fibre being used by the Sindeans, but the thin osier-like branches are bruised, and twisted into a strong coarse kind of rope in common use. There are also numerous well-known Indian forms of plants in the plains of Sinde, particularly near the cultivated districts, of which I took neither notes nor specimens ; the date flourishes 424 Capt. N. Vicarys Notes on the Botany of Srnde. in several parts of Sinde_, but thrives best at Sukkur and its vi- cinity, on both banks of the Indus. There are two varieties : one with pale yellow, and the other with brown fruit ; the fruit is smaller than the Egyptian date, but when ripe is very palatable ; only eertain trees produee good fruit, about a third of the whole perhaps. The fruit of the remainder is injured by tapping for the juiee, from which sugar is manufactured. The plants of the coast are of a mixed and peculiar character, and many of them belong to more northern genera. Berrcea in- cana, Cav., grows plentifully on the sand-hills of the coast ; the only known species of this genus is a native of Succotra, and is described as being only three inches high. The Km-rachee plant forms a bush two feet in height, and when in flower is very pretty ; perhaps it may be a new species. A very hoary Atriplex, not far removed from A. verruciferum, is also very plentiful : Ipomcea bilohata spreads over the sand in every direction, and Sccevola Taccada, Roxb., is abundant on the tops of the sand-hills ; the berry is white at flrst, but turns purple when ripe. A new species of jEgialitis is also found all along the coast, and a new shrubby plant of the Paronychice, with the bark and almost the leaves of an Equisetum. Cadaba Indica ? grows on the rocks at Minora Point ; I also noticed this plant in the Hala mountains, but am rather doubtful as to the species ; I have only seen the cucumber-shaped fruit which is made into a pickle by the Sindeans. I shall now proceed to notice seriatim such plants of my her- barium as appear to me deserving of elucidation. Umbellifer^. Indigenous plants of this class are rare in Sinde ; I have but one specimen from the Hala mountains, which for the present I have referred to — 1. Libanotis the plant smells strong of asafoetida. Rhizophorace^. I found a fresh flowering branch of a tree of this class floating in the surf on the beach at Kurrachee, but nowhere detected living trees. 2. It belongs to the genus Ceriops of Arnott ; the many mouths of the Indus will doubtless afford others of this order. Crucifers. 3. A species of Farsetia abounds from Bhawulpoor throughout Sinde ; it is often the only food procurable for camels, who eat it greedily along with a frutescent Crambe ? In the Hala moun- tains it is used for the same purposes. 425 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. Capparide^. 4. Cleome ruta, Jacqt. : Sukkur and other rocky places in Sinde. The petals are pink, and bear at the base of each a fringed scale. 5. Cleome fimbriata, Vic. : lower hills in Sinde. Stems and leaves hispid from gland-capitate stiff hairs ; leaves all simple, lower ones long-petioled, round-cordate, quintuple- nerved, outer lateral nerves lost in the margin, three medial nerves stronger and inarcuately reaching the apex. Upper leaves smaller, subconform narrower, subsessile ; flowers pale purple ? from the terminal axillse ; pedicels lengthening in fruit ; calyx clothed with gland-capitate hairs. Sepals four, subequal, lan- ceolate. Petals four, shortly clawed with acute oblong-deltoid laminae, apices bearing out gland-capitate hairs, and ciliate with them ; bases toothed slightly on the margins, and bearing above claw transverse free fimbriate petaloid scales. Fertile stamens four, rather longer than petals, one anther larger, torus small. Ovary subsessile, linear, rather rough ; style caducous, cylindric, short ; stigma discoid, capitate. Capsule linear-cylindric, fur- rowed on opposite sides, shortly stipitate, densely clothed with strongly stipitate, peltate glands, one-celled, two-valved, valves separating from the placentiferous narrow replum ; seeds nume- rous, cordiform, smooth, amphitropous. I have given my note of this plant, as it seems to be not far removed from C. Di'o- serifoliay Del. ; and perhaps eventually it may prove to be the same. 6. Cleome rupicola, Vic. : passes leading into the Hala range of mountains and lower hills. This plant is not unlike C. glauca, DeC., vol. i. p. 239, but the stems and leaves of my plant are clothed with scattered gland- headed hairs, and the young branches are four-angled. Leaves el- liptic, ovate and obovate, petiolate, upper leaves reduced to linear- lanceolate bracts. Racemes often six inches long. Petals orange- rufescent, secund, smooth ; stamens secund, in an opposite direc- tion to petals, six ; gland of the torus semilunate ; siliques pen- dulous, falcate, flat, subsessile, fifteen lines long, two lines broad, bearing some scattered capitate hairs ; seeds densely beset with brown hairs, numerous. 7. Cadaba Indica ? : on rocks near Kurrachee and Hala moun- tains. I am doubtful about this plant, having seen it only in fruit. The leaves near the apiees of branches are often supported by two stipulary thorns. The fruit is nutant, longly stipitate and cucumber-shaped, bluntly trigonal, three to four inches long, and turning red when ripe. 426 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. Resedace^. 8. Ochradenus haccatus, Delile : Lower Sinde. I believe this to be the Egyptian plant, although the Sinde one differs in some trifling particulars ; my specimens are not sufiiciently advanced to show the spinifacient habit. VlOLACE^. 9. Viola patrinii, D.C. ; Kurrachee and Hala mountains. Reaumuriace^. 10. Reaumuria HypericoidesfN'Adi.'. Doz Akhooshtee, and spurs of the Hala mountains. The leaves of the Sinde plant are spatulate-linear and crowded to the ends of the branches. Sapindace^. 11. Dodoncea BurmannianOy D.C. : Lower Sinde. This shrub is not more than three feet in height, with leaves about an inch in length, never more, and blunt cuneate-linear. I have some doubt as to the species ; there is another in Sinde of which I have no specimens. Malvace^. 12. Althcea pumila, Vic. : near Shikarpoor. Plant herbaceous, from six to ten inches. Stems slender, stellately hairy, stipules ovate, leaves stellate, hairy on both sides, lower ones caudate at base, palmately three- partite with the lateral lobes bifld, the apices roundly tridentate, mid-lobe cuneate, the apex roundly three- flve-toothed. Flowers very shortly pedicelled, axillary, blue. Involucre ten-cleft with linear lobes. Calyx half five-cleft, with acute lobes ; anthers about ten ; styles ten, filiform. Stigmas capitate. Carpels arranged round a central shortly ten-winged columella, the apex of which is filiform, not marginate, transversely corrugate, one-seeded. 13. Pavonia odorataj Wild. : between Kurrachee and Hydera- bad. 14. Serrcea incana, Cav. : sand-hills, Kurrachee. This plant is rather pretty when in flower ; it forms small bushes about two feet in height. Anthers twenty-five to thirty, stipitate, reniform, one- celled, stigmas ciliate. 15. Ahutilon Indicum : Sinde and Hala mountains. 16. Sida acuta : plains of Sinde. TiLIACEyE. 17. Antichorus {Corchorus) depressus, Linn.: Khangurh and borders of desert. 18. Grewia sapida ? : all hilly places in Sinde. 1 have doubt- 427 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. ful]y referred this to G. sapida, but I suspect it is a very differ- ent plant ; my specimens are not sufficient to determine ; the petals bear a large scale at base and are bifid with toothed lobes. The berry is red and eatable when ripe. PoRTULACE^. 19. Orygia decumhens, Porsk. : eastern base of Hala mountains. The sepals and petals are red, and the stems and leaves are often coloured ; this plant does not seem to differ much from O. trianthemoideSj Heyne. PARONYCHIEAi. 20. Cometes Surattensis : all Sinde. Rutace^. 21. Peganum Harmala : all Sinde. 22. Haplophyllum tuberculatum, Andr. Juss. : near Deyrah, Boogtee Beloch hills. Zygophylle^. 23. Trihulus alatus, Del. : eastern base of Hala mountains. 24. Fagonia Mysorensis : Sukkur and all Sinde. 25. Zygophyllum obtusum, Vic. : valleys of the eastern slopes of Hala range; plants gregarious, herbaceous, decumbent, pale green. Leaves fleshy, simple, spatulate-linear, blunt, or rounded at apex, sessile and subsessile, stipules acuminate, scales at base of stamens deeply bifid. Capsule deeply five-wing-lobed, five-celled, each cell opening inwards, with two to three pendent seeds. Flow- ers shortly pedicelled, yellow. 26. Seezenia lanatum, Wild. : all rocky places in Sinde. The stamens in the Sinde plant are most certainly alternate with the sepals of calyx, and not opposite to them ; some doubt may exist with respect to the identity of this plant with that from Sierra Leone, I therefore give my note of it. Plant spreading, semi-erect, stems and branches flexuose, woolly at the joints within the stipules; younger branches, under surface of leaves, and their margins papillose from sessile glands, other- wise smooth; leaves petioled, opposite, three- foliate, midleaflet obovate, often retuse, lateral leaflets oblique-ovate, all entire and shortly apiculate, stipules linear, often uniting with the margins of the stipules of the opposite leaf and thus appearing interpetio- lary ; flowers green tinged with yellow, axillary, solitary, pedicels in fruit longer than the leaves. Calyx five-parted with a valvate sestivation, lobes lanceolate, each bearing opposite the centre of its base an adherent scale half its length and with free shortly fimbri- ate margins ; stamens five, hypogynous, opposite to the divisions of calyx; filaments slightly flattened, smooth, tapering; style five- 428 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. cleft almost to the base, with long linear terete lobes ; stigmas capitate, rough ; ovary oblong, five-celled and ribbed. Ovules five, pendent from the apex of columella. Capsule five-furrowed and seeded, detaching from base into five cocci, and thus remaining for a long time pendent by short funiculi from the seeds to the apex of columella ; the cocci are internally bivalved and perforated on the inner angles of apices for the passage of the funiculi. Co- lumella persistent for a long time after the seeds have fallen, five-angled, with the apex discoid, five-lobed, and with the pla- centas in the sinuses between the lobes ; seeds brown, oblong, acute at both ends, with a scanty green arillus. GsRANIACEiE. 27. Monsonia Asiatica, Vic. : eastern base of Hala mountains and Lower Sinde. I believe that this is the first species of Monsonia found out of Africa. The Sinde plant belongs to the section Holopetalum.^^ Plant semi-erect, herbaceous, clothed everywhere with long, white, silky hairs ; leaves long-petioled, cordate-ovate, blunt, irregularly dentate, seven-nerved, stipules herbaceous, linear-lan- ceolate ; peduncles slender, two- to five-flowered, with from four to six unequal linear bracts at apex, pedicels slender, flowers blue. Calyx sepals apiculate, three-nerved, petals entire, stamens pen- tadelphous in a double series. Capsule very longly rostrate. Rosacea — Suh-ord. Neurade^. 28. Neuy'ada procumbenSj Linn. : borders of Sinde desert, at base of Hala mountains, and near Shahpoor. This curious plant has heretofore been noted as a native of Egypt, Numidia and Arabia. Leguminos^. 29. Sophora tomentosa, Linn. ? At Coombe in the Boogtee Beloch hills, a shrub of four feet. 30. Crotolaria arida, Boyle : borders of desert. 31. Crotolaria oxalidifolia, Vic. : eastern base of Hala range. Prostrate or semi-erect, with branches from six to eight inches long, all parts clothed with appressed strigose hairs, stipules lanceo-linear, adnate ; leaves petioled, three-foliate, leaflets shortly petiolulate, midleaflet obcordate, lateral leaflets oblique, obovate, blunt; peduncles slender, opposed to a leaf; legume sessile linear, trigonous, hairy, nine-seeded and constricted between the seeds. 32. Tavernieria nummularia, D.C. : Hala mountains, near Hey rah. 33. Alhagi maurorum, Tourn. : Sinde passim. 34. Cassia obovata, Collad. : Sinde passim ; this plant is also abundant in the Punjaiib. Capt. N. Vicary’s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. 429 35. Adenanthera pavoniana't Near villages, cultivated ? Plants of this order are comparatively rare in Sinde ; my her- barium contains only four others, and two of these are Indigofer (2. Urticace^. 36. Forskalea ovata, Vic. : Hala mountains. Plant rising erect to two feet, all parts clothed with sharp hooked hairs; leaves alternate, triple-nerved, white, tomentose beneath excepting the nerves, lower ones broad ovate, upper ones ovate, all narrowed at base into the petioles and grossly dentate ; involucres of four to seven linear-spatulate lobes. This plant comes near F. tena- cissima, and perhaps may be a broad-leaved variety of it. ARISTOLOCHIACEiE. 37. Aristolochia bracteata : Lower Sinde. CnENOPODIACEiE. 38. Salsola Indica : Sinde desert and Halas. 39. Salsola stricta ? : Upper and Lower Sinde. 40. Anabasis fiorida, M.B. : borders of Sinde desert, and banks of Indus to near Bhawulpoor. 41. Atriplex verruciferum^ M.B.?: sand-hills near Kurrachee. I have doubtfully referred this as above, but it is probably a new species. The whole plant is lepidate-hoary and shrubby. Leaves shortly petioled, oblong, ovate, and obovate, blunt, narrowed at base into the petioles, lower leaves often remotely toothed. Upper leaves entire, valves of fruit orbicular with the reflexed entire mar- gins and subcordate bases lepidate, otherwise smooth. Stamens of the male flowers five. PHYTOLACCACEiE. 42. Limeum obovatum, Vic. : skirts of the Hala mountains near Kotree. Roots ligneous, descending deep into the soil ; stems herbaceous prostrate, minutely pubescent. Leaves cuneate ob- ovate and ovate, obtuse with a point, minutely pubescent ; flowers opposed to a leaf, three to five together, very shortly pedunculate, pedicels minutely bibracteolate. This plant comes near L. Capense. POLYGONACE^. 43. Calligonum Polygonoides ? : all Sinde. The specific cha- racters of this curious genus are founded on peculiarities of the fruit ; unfortunately I have never seen the fruit of our Sinde shrub, and have merely referred it to €. Polygonoides, because that plant makes a nearer approach in habitat to Sinde than C. Pallasia. This shrub is common throughout Sinde, and is found on the banks of the Indus nearly as far up as Bhawulpoor ; near Shahpoor, at the eastern base of the Hala mountains, it is most 430 Capt. N. Vicary’s N'otes on the Botany of Smde. abundant, forming small trees of ten or twelve feet high, with a diameter of six to ten inebes at base ; when in full flower it looks rather pretty. Menispermace.e. 44. Cocculus leceba ?, D.C. : Lower Sinde. Myrsinace^. 45. ^giceras fragrans, Kon. : mud-flats, Kurrachee harbour. CoNVOLVULACE^. 46. Ipomcea bilohata : sand-hills, Kurraehee. 47. Convolvulus lanuginosus, Desr. ; Hala mountains. 48. Convolvulus parvifloruSj Vahl: base of mountains. 49. Breweria evolvuloides ?, Chois. ; Hala mountains. As I feel considerable uncertainty about this plant, I add my note. Shrub erect, of one to two feet, stems slender, ligneous, all parts densely clothed with a sericeous pubescence. Leaves very shortly petioled, elliptic, upper ones lanceolate, entire, mucronate and emarginate from the reflexed mucro, triple-nerved, pubescence more dense beneath. Flowers axillary, one to three together, sub- sessile. Calyx persistent, not enlarging, with two linear bracts at base ; sepals, three exterior and two interior, a little shorter, lan- ceolate acute, hairy beneath. Corolla with a deeply five-lobed limb, the lobes hairy beneath. Stamens scarcely exsert, filaments broad at base with five short teeth alternating, anthers reniform- cordate, ovary two-celled, ovules four, styles two, divergent, fili- - form, stigmas discoid orbicular, continuous (not peltate) . Capsule chartaceous, dry, hairy towards apex, longer than the dry calyx, two-celled, septa membranous, four-valved ; seeds from two to three, oblong, black, very minutely scrobiculate, of a nutty hardness. 50. Evolvulus linifolius : base of Halas. 51. Cressa Cretica, var. Indica : all Sinde. Sc^VOLACEiE. 52. Sc(2vola Taccada, Roxb. : tops of sand-hills near Kurrachee. Plantagine^. 53. Plantago amplexicaulis, Cav. : Hala mountains. Plumbagine^. 54. jEgialitis obovata, Vic. : sand-hills, Kurrachee. Shrub of two feet, stems ligneous, annulate with the ensheathing bases of fallen leaves, densely foliaceous upwards ; leaves blunt cuneate- obovate, retuse, glaucous hoary, smooth, articulated to the sheaths at base, spikes paniculate, flexuose, terminal flowers secund, utri- culus bursting at the apex into five short acute teeth. Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. 431 BoRAGINEiE. 55. Heliotr opium Rotleri : Kurrachee. 56. Echium ? : Hala range. I am unable to refer this to any of the many described species, and therefore attach my note. Plant fruticose, erect, about a foot in height, growing from fissures in rocks. Younger stems, leaves and calyces densely clothed with short appressed strigse. Leaves five to six lines long, ligulate-linear, blunt-pointed, sessile, alternate. Racemes simple, many-flowered; flowers solitary, sessile, secund, bluish white, bracts like the leaves but smaller, bracteoles none, pedi- cels short, adherent to rachis for half their length. Calyx with blunt linear unequal segments (sometimes only four, the fourth broader) ; tube of the corolla ten-nerved with a ring of hairs within at base, smooth in the middle, and the faux closed with hairs which indistinctly form five very small tubes between the anthers ; lobes of limb patent, blunt-ovate, slightly auricled at base (one lobe often broader). Margins minutely and remotely toothed. Sta- mens not exsert, filaments very short, anthers mutic, linear-ob- long blunt and undivided at base, style shortly exsert, its base becoming angular in seed ; stigma peltate capitate with two mi- nute central points ; achenia rather smooth with an incurved point, one or two, often only one maturing, attached to base of style, perforation at base oblong triangular. 57. Trichodesma Indica\ Sinde passim. 58. Trichodesma Africanum, R. B. ? : Hala mountains. I have referred this to the above with some doubt ; it has the same prickly hispid habit, but differs in some particulars ; plant growing from fissures in rocks, erect, 1 to feet. Leaves and stems dark green, hispid from hard white prickle-bearing calli, leaves opposite at the divisions of the racemes, otherwise alter- nate, upper leaves subsessile, lanceolate, acute, prickles longer on the margins and midrib beneath. Racemes lax, the lower ones from opposite axils, upper from alternate axils and terminal ; peduncles usually three-flowered, lengthening with the en- larging calyx in seed ; bracteoles none ; calyx rigid, hairy, five- angled with rounded auricles, segments acute, corolla blue with caudate lobes, stigma simple, blunt, pedicels lengthened with the much-increased and nutant calyx in seed, achenia four, subtri- gonal, the outer faces concave, marginate, the margin acutely serrulate with slightly glochidiate teeth. My specimens do not exhibit the lower leaves. Labiat^e. 59. Salvia jEgyptiaca, Linn. : slopes of Hala mountains. 60. Salvia pumila^ Benth : slopes of Hala mountains. i32 Capt. N. Vicary^s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. 61. Salvia Halaensis, Yic. : slopes of Hala mountains. Plant of ten to twelve inches, erect ; old stems ligneous, younger stems obsoletely four-angled, densely clothed with short hairs and sessile yellow glands ; leaves much-corrugated, cordate-ovate and broad-ovate, blunt or rounded ; slightly winging the short petioles, and often forming two lateral denticulse at their apices ; margins undulate lobate-crenate. Racemes two to three inches long, dense-flowered, subspicate; flowers blue, solitary, almost sessile; floral leaves small, bractea-formed, ovate, entire, hairy and longly ciliate; bracteoles nearly as long as bracts, linear- lanceolate, hairy ; calyx lanato-pilose, enlarging and becoming nutant with the lengthening pedicel ; upper lip shortly triden- tate ; the mid-tooth smaller, all acute, lower lip bipartite with linear filiform lobes. Corolla, upper lip erect, short, bifid ; mid- lobe of lower lip orbicular emarginate. The achenia of this plant give out much mucilage in water. VERBENACEiE. 62. Verbena officinalis ? : spurs of the Hala mountains. Lower Sinde. 1 have referred this doubtfully to V. officinalis. The foliage of my specimens is from the ends of the flowering branches. The leaves are petioled, opposite and alternate, both surfaces shortly pilose, ovate and broad-ovate, blunt or emarginate, five- nerved, margin serrate, with the three serratures at the apex larger. ScROPHULARINAE. 63. Linaria sindensis, Vic. : base of Hala mountains. Upper and Lower Sinde. This plant is extremely like L. triphylla. Herbaceous, stems procumbent or semi-erect, eight to ten inches; leaves scattered, solitary, glaucous, entire, ovate, narrowed into and winging the petioles ; apices soft-pointed ; young leaves often shortly pubescent ; flowers purple tinged with yellow, subses- sile, axillary, solitary, bracteoles none ; upper lobe of cal)rx folia- ceous, broad-ovate, greatly exceeding the other four linear-lan- ceolate lobes; lower stamens with their anthers united; stigma simple; capsule obliquely globular, two-celled, upper cell abor- tive, lower cell many-seeded, bursting irregularly ; seeds conical. Testa spongy, furrowed. Linaria ramosissima, Wall. : Hala mountains. The Sinde plant is softly pilose, in other respects it is the same. Anticharis, Endlich. : Hala mountains. A. viscosa, Vic. This plant belongs most certainly to End- licher^s genus, and probably to the very species, but as I have no means of referring to the specific characters given, I have allowed my herbarium name to stand for the present. Capt. N. Vicary’s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. 433 The Sinde plant is so viscous that everything adheres to it. Flowers blue; leaves ovate-lanceolate, narrowed into the short petioles : pedicels short, minutely bibracteolate above the middle : seeds truncate, oblong, longitudinally grooved with minute trans- verse strise. SoLANACE^. Solanum Forskalii, Dun.; cordatum, Fors. : Hala mountains. Both species appear to be different forms of the same plant ; our Sinde plant is sometimes prickly, sometimes not ; the leaves are variable also. Stems slender ; prickles both curved and straight, near the ends of the branches only ; young shoots and leaves starry pubescent, old leaves smooth, round-cordate or subcordate at base, narrowed into the petioles, margin entire or occasionally sinuate toothed; flowers rather longly pedicelled, blue ; the corolla greatly exceeding the half five-cleft calyx; berry red, smooth, rather larger than a pea. Physalis soranifera, var. fleccuosa : all Sinde and Hala moun- tains. Hyoscyamas muticus, Linn. Hala mountains. APOCYNEiE. Rhazya stricta, Decaisne. This shrub is abundant in the Hala mountains and at their eastern bases, but particularly at Shahpoor. It usually grows upon sand-hills, and has somewhat the habit of our garden oleander, but does not rise to more than three feet. The flowers are pale blue turning white by age. There is a small entire margined nectarium. AsCLEPIADEiE. Periploca aphylla, Dec. Bot. Jacq. All hilly parts of Sinde. This is my friend Dr. Falconer’s Campelepis, Ann. Nat. Hist, vol. X. p. 362. This shrub abounds in the Boogtee Beloch hills near Deyrah. The habit is that of Orthanthera viminea ; the branches are de- void of all pubescence. The leaves are linear-lanceolate (not ovate), and are seen only on the young surculi. The flowers are of a dark dull red colour ; the long uncinate filiform processes of the faucial corona are inflected over the genitalia in the earlier stages of the flower, but subsequently become reflexed through the divi- sions of the corolla. The pollen of this plant requires to be re- examined in the fresh flowers ; in my opinion it not only differs from that of Periploca, but from the pollen of every genus of the order. Orthanthera viminea. All Sinde. With few exceptions the above- noted plants are foreign to our Ann. ^ May. N Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 29 434 Capt. N. Vicary’s Notes on the Botany of Sinde. Indian flora, flourishing between the parallels 25° and 30° N. lat., or nearly equivalent to the tract between Allahabad and Hurdwar. At first sight it appears strange that so many northern forms should exist in Sinde in excess of those found between the same parallels in India, but a slight examination of the countries form- ing our northern frontier will, I think, sufficiently account for it. The Himalaya mountains, the Hindoo Coosh, and probably the Tukt-i-Sulleemaun range, form an impassable barrier to cer- tain classes of plants, but the lower ranges of the Hala moun- tains, which in many places are not more than 1500 feet above the sea, offer no such obstacle ; besides this there is the coast- line, which with its constantly drifting sands offers a facile mode of transmission to seeds ; thus we find several Egyptian, Arabian, Persian and African plants in Sinde : that they have not spread into India seems also easily accounted for ; the Indian desert of Jesulmeer proves in a south-eastern direction a sufficient pre- ventative. The course via the banks of the Indus is to a narrow extent only open to the north-east, and accordingly we find some Egyptian forms extending to Delhi and its neighbourhood, as has been remarked by my friend Dr. Royle in his ^ Illustrations of Indian Botany,^ pp. 70 and 160. Salvadora persica, Capparis aphylla and Farsetia, are found throughout Sinde; however Giseckia, so abundant near Feroze- poor, is not found in Lower Sinde ; Orobanche Calotropidis, Edgw., is found from Umballa to Kurrachee, and is extremely abundant in Lower Sinde ; the flowers of this plant are change- able, being blue at first and becoming pale yellow, hence two varieties have been supposed to exist. No Scitamineous or Or- chideous plant exists in Sinde ; of the latter order Zeuxine is sparingly found under the tamarisks, nearly as far as Subzul- kote, following the course of the river. The coast-line alluded to above offers no obstacle to the dif- fusion of plants in a southerly direction via Cutch and Goozerat towards Bombay, but as yet these countries, the delta of the Indus and the south-western tail of the desert are botanically unknown ; in the other direction, a botanical excursion to Son- meeanee Bay, or farther if possible, would serve to connect our Indian flora with that of Africa, Persia and Arabia. I have still some curious Sinde plants of which I hope to give an account hereafter. Subathoo, 27th September, 1847. Dr. MantelFs Observations on Ventriculites. 435 XLV. — Reply to Mr. Smith’s Remarks on Dr. Mantell’s Account of the Ventriculites. To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. Gentlemen_, It is with great reluctance that I intrude on your indulgence and request permission to notice some of Mr. Smith’s animad- versions on my figures and descriptions of the chalk zoophytes which I first distinguished by the name ‘‘ Ventriculites,” in a memoir published in the ‘ Linnsean Transactions ’ in 1815 ; although I ought perhaps to consider myself as hors de combat, since Mr. Smith concludes his memoir by the assertion, that the field was entirely untrodden, and the task a new one the nature of those zoophytes being totally unknown ” till he un- dertook to elucidate the subject ! ! I should not presume to occupy your pages by a lengthened comment on Mr. Smith’s communications, even could I fully comprehend the author’s meaning, which in many instances 1 am unable to do, for his genius has removed a subject, which I once imagined to be simple and easily interpreted, far above my feeble capacity. But I feel that it would be uncourteous to the readers of my works, who indulgently give me credit for truth- fulness and accuracy of observation, were I to pass wholly unno- ticed Mr. Smith’s impeachment of my scientific veracity. I shall therefore content myself with affirming, that notwithstanding all the remarks Mr. Smith has inscribed on your pages, I see no reason whatever to alter a single word in the following de- scription of the zoophytes which 1 designated Ventriculites, ex- tracted from my ^ Medals of Creation :’ — “ The original form of the Ventriculite was that of a funnel, or hollow inverted cone, terminating in a point at the base, whence numerous fibres proceed, and by which the zoophyte was attached to other bodies. The outer integument was reticulated — that is, disposed in meshes like network — and the inner surface was studded over with regular openings, the orifices of tubular cells, each of which was probably occupied by a polype. The substance of the polypa- rium or framework of this aggregation of animalcules appears to have been analogous to that of the soft Alcyonia, and to have pos- sessed a common irritability, and been able to contract and expand. This opinion is based on the circumstance that some specimens occur in which the zoophyte is in the form of a nearly flat circular disc, and in others, in that of a subcylindrical pouch : in the former state, the outer reticulated structure is elongated, while in the latter it is con- tracted and corrugated. The polype-cells are cylindrical and very regular : the flints often present beautiful casts of them, which ap- pear like rows of minute pillars on the inner surface.” 29* 436 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : Mr. Smith’s ‘^folded membrane,^ polype-skinj^ &c. are in my opinion purely imaginary. If the tubular cavities disposed with so much regularity on the inner surface of the fossils to which I restricted the term Ventriculites were not cells inhabited by polypes, then I affirm that we have, at present, no evidence that any of these zoophytes were polypiferous ; and I readily admit that this may still be regarded as an open question. The only unequivocal instance I have seen of the soft parts of a polype from the chalk strata, is one in flint discovered by the Rev. J. B. Reade, and figured in the 6th edit, of my ^Wonders of Geo- logy,’ p. 304 : but there is no proof that this polype belonged to a Ventriculite. How far it may be deemed expedient to admit of the applica- tion of the term cephalic membrane ” to the margin of a cup- shaped zoophyte, or to group together under the name of Ventri- culidce the incongruous assemblage of fossil zoophytes thus classed by Mr. Smith, I leave for competent naturalists to determine. To those geologists who like me aspire only to a general knowledge of the organic remains found in the respective strata, I believe that the accurate and simple exposition of the form and structure of the Ventriculites, given in my works, long before Mr. Smith commenced his arduous labours, will be found alike true to nature and perfectly intelligible : the sublime transcen- dentalisms in the communications to which the above remarks refer, are far beyond the comprehension of such humble ob- servers as. Gentlemen, your very faithful servant, Gideon Algernon Mantell. Chester Square, Pimlico, May 5, 184S. XLVI. — Reports on the Progress of Physiological Botany. No. 4. By Arthur Henfrey, F.L.S. &c. On the Multiplication of Vegetable Cells by Division. On the 22nd of November 1847, Prof. Mitscherlich read before ‘■he Royal Academy of Berlin, a portion of an essay on the De- velopment and Composition of the Confervse. This has been published in the monthly report of the Academy*, and is so in- structive that it deserves a somewhat detailed report here. Prof. Mitscherlich selected the Confervfe on account of the simplicity of their structure and the rapidity of their develop- ment, and C. glomerata is the species which he found best adapted for the observations, as the cells are very distinct from each other, and develope well beneath the microscope. Moreover * Monatsbericht der Kbnigl. Preii's. Acad. Nov. 1S47. On the Multiplication of Vegetable Cells by Division. 437 it is the plant on which MohFs observations on cell-division* were made, which observations however were made on distinct indivi- duals in different stages of development. The author placed the plant on a slip of glass, covered it with thin glass, and laid a loose filament of cotton round the latter, the end of the filament being made to dip in a glass of water close to the stage, so that as often as the evolution of gas from the plant elevated the thin glass, the water soaked up by the filament ran in and kept the plant constantly surrounded with water. By this means he was enabled to continue the observations on one plant for several weeks. In the first place Prof. Mitscherlich gives an account of the structure of the plant and the action of various reagents upon the tissues. The entire plant, with all its branches, is surrounded by a common, connected membrane ; this may often be clearly distinguished in perfect cells from the membrane of the indivi- dual cells ; it withstands the action of acids longer, although much thinner, so that when sulphuric acid is applied to the Conferva under the microscope, the membrane of the cells is dissolved, and when after some time openings occur in the outer enveloping membrane, the contents escape, and the envelope remains as a tube with very thin walls. It is clear that the envelope is yet undecomposed, and that what is seen is not the mere remnant of an enveloping membrane, from the faet, that when the upper part of the tube is properly focused, it requires a quarter of a revolution of the adjusting screw to bring the lower part into focus. The envelope is finally dissolved by the sulphuric acid, without acquiring a brown colour or leaving a brown residuum ; therefore it is distinct from the substance of the long cells of wood, or of the cells of the stones of fruits ; it is not coloured blue by iodine and sulphuric acid, therefore it is not cellulose ; it was not possible to obtain enough of it for analysis ; it agrees best in its peeuliarities with the cell-membrane of Yeast. No special structure could be made evident by any meehanical or chemical means. The cell-membrane which forms the wall of every individual cell consists of vegetable fibre-substance (Faserstoff), the so-ealled cellulose. It is coloured brown by iodine, and when sulphuric acid is applied to the wall thus coloured, every part acquires an intense blue tint and then it dissolves, the blue colour disap- pearing without leaving a trace of brown behind t- From all re- searches at present known to us, the blue colour which iodine pro- * Vermisch. Sclirift. p. "63, 1845. t The author recommends a saturated solution of iodine in iodide of potassium or sodium, to avoid the inconveniences attending the separation of the iodine which occurs when the alcoholic tincture is used. 438 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : duces can only indicate a compound of iodine with starch. Iodine in a divided condition, whether dissolved or in powder, is always brown ; but that the blue compound which fibre-substance (cel- lulose), iodine and sulphuric acid produce, when washed away with water leaves a residuum which gives no blue colour unless sulphuric acid is again applied, implies that the starch which has been found has been converted into dextrine by the addition of water and the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid. When the Conferva is heated with hydrochloric acid of the usual strength, the cell-wall swells up and splits into separate fibres, the diameter of these being less than xqUo ^ limetre. They often appear as long as the cell, and lie side by side in the direction of the length of the cell ; no spiral arrange- ment or crossing of these fibres could be observed. The walls of many cells, which consist of cellulose, become split up into such fibres by boiling in hydrochloric acid ; this may be seen very plainly in the bass-fibres of flax, and a splitting-up of this kind occurs in mechanical operations upon them, as in the manufac- ture of paper. The cuticle does not pass in between the conti- guous cells, so that the walls of the two cells are in immediate contact. The contents of the cell consist at first of a gelatinous mass, coloured green by chlorophylle; the green colouring matter, which forms but an insignificant proportion of the w^hole, is dissolved on the addition of hydrochloric acid, and the gelatinous mass con- tracts. Iodine colours the mass brown, and then denser masses (nuclei), which lie irregularly scattered through it, become more evident. It withstands the action of sulphuric acid longer than the cellulose ; heated with nitric acid and then saturated with ammonia, it gives the xanthoproteate of ammonia, and therefore consists at least in part of proteine compounds. At a certain epoch of the development the nuclei of the gela- tinous mass become opake and increase in diameter ; then starch can be distinctly detected in their interior by means of iodine ; in other Confervse, for instance in Spirogyra, these points, in which starch is sometimes formed, may be perceived more di- stinctly. Sometimes the green gelatinous mass lies closely ap- plied to the cell-wall in C. glomerata, and the whole cell is densely filled with it ; sometimes, and particularly in rapidly developing cells, a clear fluid lies between the gelatinous mass and the wall, and in this fluid sometimes occur particles in molecular motion ; spaces filled with clear fluid also occur in the interior of the mass, and are traversed by reticulated processes of the gelatinous matter. The author observed and determined the growth and multipli- cation of C. glomerata in cooperation with his assistant M. Lasch, On the Multiplication of Vegetable Cells by Division. 439 in a great number of specimens ; it will be sufficient to describe the complete course of the changes. On the 19th of September a lateral branch consisted of two cells ; on the 21st of three ; on the 23rd of four ; on the 24th of six ; on the 26th of seven cells ; in another branch from a cell at some distance^ the same multiplication and enlargement occurred. No formation of cells within cells was observed, solely multipli- cation by division. This usually commenced when the length of the cell was about j%ths of a millimetre. The gelatinous mass usually separates a little from the cell- wall, and then a small ring is formed upon the latter; thus in the fourth cell of a side branch nothing was perceptible in the morn- ing, then the foundation of a ring was formed ; some two hours later the diameter of the ring was already more than half the diameter of the internal cavity of the cell ; the gelatinous mass was retracted. About a quarter to one o^ clock the mass parted so as to leave a cavity ; a few moments after the mass divided on one side, and about half-past two the division was complete. The forma- tion of a septum is generally effected in from four to five hours ; the wall is a new structure and by no means a constriction *; it is at first a very thin membrane which extends across from one wall to the other ; fresh cellulose is deposited upon this mem- brane, and when the cell elongates and enlarges every cell ex- hibits its own proper wall, which, where the walls of the parent- cell and new cell are in contact, stands apart from the former. Sometimes it happens that a cell-wall is only half-developed, very often only on one side; deposits are then subsequently found on these structures ; and unless the development of the membrane is continuously traced under the microscope, these structures may easily be taken for the commencement of infold- ing or constriction. If the Conferva is boiled in solution of soda of 1*35 sp. gr., which does not dissolve but loosens the texture of cellulose, the deposited mass frequently separates from the septum by which the division is first of all produced, and thus it may be distinctly observed ; acetic acid has the same effect. The division takes place most frequently in the terminal cell, but also very often in the others, even in the old cells of the primary filament. From the manner in which the gelatinous mass is divided by the new membrane, it is very clearly seen that the mass is not surrounded by a membrane ; projecting pieces also and separate portions of the gelatinous mass are generally seen, which are not * The author appears to misunderstanfl the way in which the constriction is said to take place. No one now supposes that the cell-wall is constricted, only the contents; and the septum is certainly a new structure, a double layer of membrane formed in the fold. — A. H. 440 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Progress of Physiological Botany : inclosed in a membrane. When solutions which act through endosmose are applied to the cells, these abstract water from the gelatinous mass, and the outermost layer, which thus becomes the densest, may easily be mistaken for a membrane. The side branches are formed by the bulging-out of a cell, and this always occurs at the same end in all cells ; thus if we call the end of a cell where such a protrusion has occurred, the upper end, it will be found at the upper end of all the cells. This bulging portion elongates into a cell, and the membrane which produces the di- vision is usually formed close to the parent- cell. Sometimes it happens that if the parent-cell dies, or the contents have run out by a wound, the cell of the lateral branch elongates into the parent-cell. The formation of the lateral branches by protrusion is of espe- cial interest for the explanation of the multiplication of the top- Yeast [ober-hefe) ; no formation of cells within cells takes place in this. The author has repeatedly observed the whole course of the formation of a cell, in Yeast, beneath the microscope, and no little cell could ever be seen in the little nodule which first of all originates by the bulging-out of the parent-cell ; a small gra- nule of the contents of the parent-cell sometimes lay in front of the place where the bulging took place, but this never entered the young cell. In the l)ulging of the C. glomerata an opening exists which is almost as wide as the new cell ; in the Y^east the opening is very small. The cell-membrane itself grows forth as in the Conferva glomerata, and the gelatinous contents increase within j some of this matter can be detected, by means of iodine, in the nodule at the very commencement of the protrusion. The cells of Yeast are composed of a cell- wall and gelatinous contents which become granular, and the granules again consist of cell -wall and gelatinous contents, therefore of cells; the cell- wall is probably identical with the cuticula of the Confervse ; the cellulose layer is wanting in the Y'east, and in the Confervse the primordial utricle which H. von Mohl has pointed out in other cells does not occur. The deposition of starch takes place in the Confervse, as in other plants, when the usual process of development in the cell is not so active or is hindered, and it ceases when this process be- gins again*. The remainder of the paper relates to the chemical analyses of the difierent portions of the Conferva ; but it will be more inter- esting to consider here the relations of the observations brought * Starch is not usually formed abundantly in cells until they have ceased to grow. Indeed the formation of starch and the process of growth may be regarded as directly opposed pluenoniena, one being the accumulation of nutrient matter, the other the consumi)tion of it. — A. H. On the Multiplication of Vegetable Cells by Division. 441 forward in the preceding pages to the investigations of other in- quirers. In the first place, with regard to the action of sulphuric acid and iodine upon the various membranes, H. von Mohl* * * § has shown that this depends more upon the age of the structure than any- thing else. He finds that these reagents produce the blue colour in young cell-membrane, and that the older structures which are usually coloured brown, are brought into a condition to acquire the blue tint with iodine by boiling in nitric acid or solution of potash ; and this without destroying the membrane, at all events without converting it into starch, since it remains insoluble in boiling water. He finds solution of potash produce the effect best in epidermal structures ; nitric acid in the ligneous tissues. It is uncertain whether this altered condition of old tissues de- pends on spontaneous alteration or the penetration of the tissue by new substances. Unger f also states that these structures which are usually coloured brown by iodine may be made to ac- quire the blue colour by boiling in concentrated sulphuric acid. These observations show that mere chemieal reaction is not suffi- cient to determine the physiological nature of the tissue. The outer layer, which Prof. Mitscherlich calls the cuticula^ is appa- rently the wall of the original cell ; the new eeli-walls do not form part of it, being deposited on its interior in successive layers, with which the new septa are continuous. With regard to the process of division many modifications of opinion exist ; almost all recent observers however agree in attri- buting the prineipal influence to the substance which Prof. Mit- scherlich calls the gelatinous mass. This is the Schleim of most German authors, translated by many English authors as mucus, and by myself always as mucilage or mucilaginous matter ; a bad term, and one which it would be desirable to replace universally by the one proposed by H. von Mohl, Protoplasm, which involves no theory of its chemical nature, but certainly is correct in the view it assumes of the function of this matter. Some German authors apply the general term of Inhalt or cell-contents to it : it is the cytoblastema of Schleiden and the endochrome of other authors. KutzingJ holds that this protoplasm is enveloped in a speeial membrane, whieh he calls the amylid-zelle. H. von Mohl§ de- * Ueber das Waclisilium der Zelhnenibran. Bot. Zeitung, vol. iv. p.3.37, 1846. — Translated in Annals of Nat. Hist. Ser. 1. vol. xviii. p. 145, 1846. Untersucbung der Frage: Bildet die Cellulose die Grundlage sainmtlicher vegetabilischen Membran ? Bot. Zeitung, vol. v. pp. 497, 521, 54.5, 1847. t Die Intercellularsubstanz und ibr Verbaltniss zur Zellmembran bei Pflanzen. Botanische Zeitung, vol. v. p. 289, 1847. .■j; Linnaea, 1841, p. 546. § Beitrage zur EnUvickelungsgescbichte der Pflanzen. Botanische Zeit- ung, vol. i. 1816. — Translated in Taylor’s Scientific Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 91. 442 Mr. A. Henfrey on the Prog'ress of Physiological Botany. scribes sucb a structure under the name of i\iQ primordial-schlauch, which I have translated and adopted in my*own researches under the name oi primordial utricle. Unger* also takes the same view. Nageli maintains that there is no special membrane inclosing the cell-eontents^ and like Prof. Mitscherlieh he believes that the ap- pearances which the protoplasm presents when coagulated on the surface have deceived the above observers. My own observations f have led me to agree with H. von Mohl, and the independent membranous nature of the primordial utricle is also asserted by K. MullerJ. The action of the protoplasm in the production of the septum in cell-division is therefore either immediate, as asserted by Nageli §, who declares that it secretes the new membrane or thickening layers, as the case may be, or it is the investing mem- brane of the protoplasm, the primordial utricle, on the surface of which the new deposits are formed and moulded. Nageli says, that the protoplasm divides into two complete portions, at once, and deposits the septum, perfect, though as yet very thin. Unger also describes the division of the primordial utricle as being effected at once, and the formation of the whole septum as simultaneous. It has just been seen that Prof. Mitscherlieh holds the forma- tion of the septum to be progressive ||, and H. von Mohl^ de- scribes and figures the whole series of stages which he saw, and which convinced him that the process of formation proceeds from the periphery to the centre ; that the primordial utricle gradually folds in, and secretes the cell-membrane as it advances. My own observations** agree with this view, and it is principally supported by what I saw in common with H. von Mohl, namely the con- tinuation of the cell- contents through the imperfect septum. However Nageli states that this appearance is produced by the adherence of the contents to the centre of the septum. On the other hand, I believe with Von Mohl that the conclusion that the contents are divided into two parts at once may be founded on an error caused by the action of reagents, which when they cause the protoplasm and primordial utricle to contract violently, also fre- quently produce a rupture across the isthmus which connects tlie contents of the two parts of the dividing cell. * L. c. supra. t Ann. of Nat. Hist. Ser. 1. vol. xviii. p. 364, 1846. X Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte cler Charen. Botanische Zeitung, vol. iii. 1845, — Translated in the Ann. of Nat. Hist. Ser. 1. vol. xvii. 1846. § Zellenkerne, Zellenbildnng, &c. Zeitschrift fiir Wiss. Bot., Heft 1 & 3. The former paper is translated in the Ray Society’s publications, 1845. II Prof. Mitscherlieh does not attribute any function to the cell-contents. ^ Vennisch. Schrift. p. 363, 1845. ** Ann. of Nat. Hist. t.c. Mr. F. WalkeFs Descriptions 0/ Aphides. 443 I may add to the above^ in conclusion^ that the opinions of observers are becoming more and more in favour of the view, that multiplication by cell-division is the regular mode of increase in vegetating or growing parts. Nageli* asserts it in his most re- cent publications, and Unger f considers that it is the mode of increase in the cambium layer or growing region of wood. On the other hand, Mohl, Muller, Nageli and many other authors, agree that spores, pollen and embryos are produced by free cell- formation from nuclei. XL VII. — Descriptions 0/ Aphides. By Francis Walker, F.L.S. [Continued from p. 345.] Eighth Group. The following species is one of the most beautiful of the Bri- tish Aphides, and is distinguished from all other kinds by its peculiar structure. 17. Aphis JuglandiSj Frisch. Aphis Juglandis, Frisch, Ins. xi. pi. 16. f. I, 5. Lachnus Juglandis j Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 150. 3. The viviparous winged female. It feeds from July to October on the leaves of the walnut, Juglans regia, and is stationed in clusters along the middle vein of the upper side of the leaf. The body is pale orange : the head is darker, and rather short and broad : the front forms an angle where it retreats on each side, and is slightly concave in the middle : the feelers are filiform, and a little more than one-fourth, or sometimes full one-third, of the length of the body ; the fourth joint is much less than half the length of the third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is less than half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is much shorter and more slender than the sixth ; the tips of these joints are black : the eyes are red : the mouth reaches to the mid- dle hips ; its tip is black : the discs of the chest and of the breast are black ; the sides of the fore-chest are notched : the abdomen is rather large, and sometimes it contains upwards of thirty young ones which are all of the same size : the nectaries are extremely short, and less than one-twentieth of the length of the body: in the pupa there are four rows of brown spots along the back of the abdomen ; the middle rows, which are confluent in the winged insect, have a short and slender transverse brown line on each interval between the spots : the fore-legs are much shorter than * Zeitsdirifl fur Wiss. Botanik, Heft 3, 1847. f Z. cit. 444 Mr. F. Walker^s Descriptions 0/ Aphides. the hind-legs, which are rather long and stout ; the shanks are nearly straight : the wings are colourless and of moderate size ; the veins are brown and strongly marked ; their borders are clouded with brown; the space between the rib- vein and the fore- border of the wing is clouded as far as the brand, which is irre- gularly spindle-shaped, and for the most part colourless ; the first and the second branch-veins are nearly straight ; the third is distinct at its source, inclined inwards, and forms two very obtuse angles where it throws ofi“ its forks ; the first fork begins soon after one- third, the second long after two-thirds, of the length of the vein : in the hind-wings the space between the vein and the fore-border is clouded for more than half the length of the wing ; the tips of the other veins are also clouded : the feet, the tips of the shanks, and the tips of the hind-thighs are brown ; there is also a slight brown mark at the tip of each of the other four thighs. Length of the body 2 lines ; of the wings 5 lines. The oviparous wingless female. Found at the end of October. The body and the limbs are hairy ; the former is pale orange, and spindle-shaped : the head is black, slightly varied with orange, hairy in front : the breast is pale yellow : there are four rows of black spots along the back, the middlb rows consisting of long transverse spots, some of them confluent along the back of the ab- domen ; there is also a transverse row of four narrow black streaks on each interval between the large spots : the abdomen beneath is orange ; its tip is yellow and its sides are varied with alternate spots of pale yellow and black : the spots on the chest are larger than those on the abdomen, and sometimes all the spots on the latter are nearly confluent : the feelers are yellow with black tips, and about one-fourth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow ; in the hind -legs the tips of the thighs, the shanks except their tips, and the feet except the middle part,'are black. The winged male. This also appears at the end of October, and much resembles the winged female : the head and the abdomen are orange, and the latter has some short black bands on its back, those towards the tip are interrupted : the feelers are black, yellow at the base, and about half the length of the body : the wing-ribs are pale yellow : the wing-brands are brownish black. Ninth Group. 18. Aphis bifrons, n.s. A single insect found near London on the 20th of July, 1847, on the alder ? The viviparous winged female. The body is yellowish brown and thickly covered with white })owdcr : the head short and broad ; the 445 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. forehead broad, very slightly convex, with a little tubercle on each side at the base of the feelers : the eyes are dark brown and promi- nent : the mouth reaches the hind-shanks : the chest and the breast are dark brown ; the fore-part paler : the feelers are setaceous, more than half the length of the body ; the fourth joint a little shorter than the third ; the fifth a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth full half the length of the fifth ; the seventh a little shorter than the fifth : the nectaries do not appear above the surface of the ab- domen : the legs are tawny, long and rather stout ; the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are dark brown ; the shanks are very slightly curved ; the fore-legs are a little shorter than the hind-legs : the wings are colourless, and not very long ; the veins and the wing-brands are tawny ; the brands are irregularly spin- dle-shaped ; the rib-veins widen gradually into the brands very soon after the middle of the fore-border of the wing ; the fourth vein springs from hind-border of the brand at three-fourths of the length of the latter ; the third vein is distinct along its whole course, and is forked a little before one-third of its length, and forked again just after two-thirds of the same. Length of the body line ; of the wings 4 lines. Tenth Group. 19. Aphis Populi. Aphis Populi, Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. 736. 27 ; Faun. Suec. 996 ; Fabr. Ent. Syst. iv. 216. 27 ; Syst. Rhyn. 298. 27 ; DeGeer. Ins. hi. 94. 15. tab. 7. f. 1-7 ; Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 126. 98; Ratz. Forst. Ins. hi. 218. 16. Myzeegirus, Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 2“® serie, v. 479. The viviparous wingless female. It is pale yellowish green, oval, and hairy : there are irregular stripes of darker green along the abdomen : the feelers are pale yellow, and shorter than the body ; their tips are brown : the mouth is pale yellow ; its tip is brown : the eyes are dark brown : the nectaries are brown, and less than one-twelfth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow, and moderately long ; the feet and the tips of the shanks are brown. It is surrounded by its offspring which are almost white, and prettily mottled with green. In the middle of June 1846 beneath the leaves of Populus nigra, the black poplar, and P. di- latata, the Lombardy poplar. 1st variety. This is smaller than the preceding, and when young is pale dull green with a bluish line on each side, oval, convex, slightly pubescent ; the head, a large spot on each side of the fore-chest, the feelers, the mouth, the nectaries, and the legs are blackish green : the feelers are less than one-third of the length of the body : the eyes are dark brown : the nectaries are 446 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. not more than one-twentieth of the length of the body. Beneath the leaves of Pojmlus alba, the white poplar, a little before the middle of April. In the beginning of June when full-grown it is pale green, varied with vivid green, and is hairy, oval, and rather flat : the feelers are pale green, shorter than the body ; their tips are brown : the eyes are black : the mouth is pale green ; its tip is brown : the nectaries are very short : the legs are pale green, and moderately long ; the feet and the tips of the shanks are brown. There are often two interrupted brown lines along the back ; these lines vary in breadth and distinctness, and sometimes occupy the greater part of the back ; they occasionally occur only on the head and on the fore-part of the chest. The young ones have the front convex in the middle : the broods are less numerous in this species than in the kinds with long nectaries : the little ones before birth are of various sizes, and the smallest do not exceed the size of the heads of the largest. The oviparous wingless female. In colour it resembles the vivi- parous wingless female: the feelers are not more than. one-half, or sometimes than one-third, of the length of the body, which is more or less lengthened towards the tip : the hind-shanks are slightly dilated and of a rather darker colour than the other shanks : the fore-chest, like that of the male, has a dark spot on each side. Its eggs are three or four in number. The viviparous winged female. Black, and rather small : the fore-border, the hind-border and the underside of the fore-chest are dark green : the abdomen is green, and has an interrupted black band across the back of each segment, and a line of black dots along each side : the feelers are black, pale yellow towards the base, and shorter than the body : the eyes are black : the mouth is dull green : the nectaries are black, and hardly one- twelfth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow and moderately long ; the knees and the tips of the shanks are brown ; the hind-thighs are black : the wings are colourless, and much longer than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale yellow ; the wing- brands and the veins are black, and the latter are slightly clouded. ] st variety. Smaller than the preceding : the abdomen and the underside of the fore-chest are pale green : the feelers are pale brown, pale green at the base, and a little shorter than the body : the mouth is pale green with a black tip : the legs are pale green : the wing-brands and the veins of the wings are brown. On Populus alba, the w^hite poplar, in the beginning of June. At the end of August it much resembles the male in colour, and sometimes, as in that sex, the wing-brand extends beyond the rib-vein which passes through it, and the zigzag line men- Mr. F. Walker^s Descriptions 0/ Aphides. 447 tioned in the description of the male indicates the border of the brand. The pupa is elliptical, and of a bright yellow colour. The winged male. It acquires wings early in October, and its deep red or crimson-coloured pupse may be seen for some time previously feeding here and there among the viviparous and ovi- parous females. The head is broader than the chest : the front is armed with bristles, slightly concave in the middle, and retreat- ing on each side : the eyes are prominent : the feelers are seta- ceous, and as long as the body; the fourth joint is much more than half the length of the third ; the fifth is much shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is a little more than half the length of the fifth, and increases in breadth from its base to its tip ; the seventh is rather longer than the fourth, and is much more slender than any of the preceding joints : the fore-chest is rather broad and short ; its length is one-fourth of its breadth ; the sides are con- vex and not notched : the nectaries are not more than one-twentieth of the length of the body : the legs are rather short and stout ; the shanks are very slightly curved : the wings are long and colour- less ; the veins are brown ; the wing- vein does not widen into the brand, but passes along its hind-border which is very slightly curved, and not angular ; it is spindle-shaped ; the veins are strongly marked ; the first and the second branch-veins are near together at the base, the first is straight, the second is slightly curved ; the third is obsolete at its source, and is forked before one-third, and forked again before two-thirds of its length, and it forms two very slight obtuse angles where it casts ofi’ its forks ; a very slender zigzag line runs along the brand at a short di- ^ stance from its hind-border ; the fourth vein is unusually long. The body is yellow : the feelers, except the base of the third joint, the tip of the mouth, the disc of the chest and that of the breast, and the four hinder thighs, are brown : the eyes are red; the wing- brands are brown. Irregularities in the wing-veins : — 1st, The fourth vein is curved towards its tip. 2nd, The tip of the lower branch of the first fork, and the tips of both branches of the second fork are wanting. 3rd, The lower branch of the second fork is obsolete. Length of the body f-I|- line ; of the wings 2^ lines. This species may be found from June till October, but is not abundant till the autumn, when the winged female disappears ; but the viviparous wingless female is common in October, the season for the pairing of the male with the oviparous female. 20. Aphis hirticornis, n. s. The viviparous winged female. The body is dull dark buff ; the disc of the head and that of the chest are brown : the feelers are 448 Mr. F. AYalker^s Descriptions of Aphides. slender, setaceous, hairy, and as long as the body ; the fourth joint much shorter than the third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth increases in breadth from the base to the tip, and is not half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is as long as the sixth, and much more slender than the preceding joints : the front of the head is nearly straight, and has no tuber- cles : the tip of the mouth is brown, and reaches the middle hips : the sides of the fore- chest are convex : the nectaries are about one-twentieth of the length of the body : the wings are colourless ; the veins and the wing-brands are pale brown; the rib-veins widen into the brands which are irregularly spindle-shaped, and form on the hind-border a scarcely perceptible angle from whence springs the fourth vein ; the first and the second veins are nearly straight; the third vein is slightly inclined inwards, and forms two very obtuse angles where it throws off its forks ; the first fork begins after one-third, and the second fork before two-thirds of the length of the wing ; the two forks are sometimes much nearer to each other in one wing than in the other : the legs are yellow, and moderately long ; the shanks are very slightly curved, and rather hairy; the tips of the feet are brown. Length of the body \\ line ; of the wings 3 lines. July, on the oak, near London. Eleventh Group. 21. Aphis Aceris. Aphis Aceris y Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. 7361 ; Faun. Suec. 999 ; Fabr. Syst. Ent. 735. 9 ; Sp. Ins. ii. 385. 10 ; Ent. Syst. iv. 211. 11 ; Syst. Rhyn. 295. 11 ; Gmelin, ed. Syst. Nat. i. 2208; Geoffr. Ins. i. 495. 5 ; Reaum. Ins. iii. 281-350. t. 22. f. 6-10; Scopoli, Ent. Cam. 137. 397 ; Enc. Meth. i. t. 116. f. 6; Rossi, Faun. Etrusc. 260. 1372 ; Schrank, Faun. Boic. ii. 1. Ill; Fonscolombe, Ann. Soc. Ent. x. 173. 13 ; Kaltenbach, Mon. Pflan. i. 125 ; Ratzeburg, Forst. Ins. iii. 218. Acerifex, Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 2“^® serie, v. 479. This species abounds on the different species of maple, such as Acer Pseudo-platanus, the sycamore; A. Platanoides, the plantain- like or Norway maple; A. campestrCy^e^ field maple; A.opali- folium, the guelder rose-leaved maple; A. Monspessulanum, the Montpelier maple ; A. tataricum, Tartarian maple ; A. Negundo, ash-leaved maple. The egg-born viviparous wingless female. It is hatched in the middle of February or later, and is then very small, black, bristly, linear, or slightly increasing in breadth towards the tip of the abdomen : the limbs are short and thick : the mouth reaches a little beyond the tip of the abdomen, a character retained through Mr. F. Walker^s Descriptions 0/ Aphides. 449 life by some species of Aphis : the nectaries do not rise above the surface of the body. In March it increases in size, sheds its skin, is broader than before, and of an olive-green colour, with a large pale green spot by each of the nectaries which are dark brown : there are four rows of large tubercles along the back, and some of smaller size intermixed : the feelers are pale green, darker towards their tips, or nearly brown, and not one-fourth of the length of the body ; the fourth joint is much shorter than the third ; the fifth is as long as the fourth ; the sixth is a little shorter than the fifth, and the seventh has the same proportion to the sixth : the front is convex : the mouth does not reach beyond the hind-hips. The viviparous winged female. The pupse of this generation appear in April, and are very variable in colour, in breadth, and in outline ; the colour varies between bright pale yellow with a slight green tinge or with two green stripes along the back, pale green, dark green with black spots, red, and brown ; the back is covered with bristles, and the underside is sometimes black : the feelers are more or less than half the length of the body ; their tips, the feet, the tips of the shanks and the hind- thighs are brown ; the latter are sometimes red ; the shanks are sometimes yellow : the nectaries are pale green with brown tips, and vary from one-twelfth to one-twentieth of the length of the body. The wings are unfolded soon after the middle of April, and when this process has just occurred the fly is pale green, but afterwards the crown of the head and the disc of the chest become black : the body is bristly, especially the abdomen, which has a black band across each segment both above and below ; the feelers are black or brown ; they have a broad yellow band at the base, and are more than half the length of the body ; the fourth joint is more than half the length of the third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is spindle-shaped, and hardly half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is much more slender than the sixth, and more than twice or thrice its length : the eyes are dark brown : the mouth and the nectaries are black : the legs are pale yellow and bristly ; the feet and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks are brown or black, which last colour is most prevalent in the four hinder legs whose thighs are some- times nearly all black : the wings are colourless, and much longer than the body; the wing-ribs, the wing- brands and the veins are bufi*, brown, green, or pale straw-colour. The colour of this insect for a short while after it sheds its skin is a most delicate green or yellow inclining to white, and resembling that of some very young leaves, but more beautiful. At the end of September this winged Aphis is black : the abdomen is dark dull yellow ; the disc of its back except the sutures is black, and there is a row of black dots Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 30 450 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. on each side : the feelers are nearly as long as the body : the mouth is dull yellow ; its tip and the nectaries are black, and the latter are one-tenth of the length of the body. The second form of the viviparous wingless female. The winged mother in the beginning of June gives birth to a large progeny of pale green young ones ; these are covered with long white hairs, and have white limbs and brown eyes ; they sit in clusters beneath the sycamore leaves ; the number in each group varies from ten to some hundreds, and they continue thus without any increase of size for three months or longer ; they are arranged with their heads converging towards the centre of the group. There is a thin membrane or rim or edge round the body : the eyes are red : the mouth reaches a little beyond the hind-hips ; its tip is brown : the feelers are more than half the length of the body : the legs are rather short and stout. In September an alteration takes place ; the body increases in size, becomes more and more plump, and much less hairy, and its rim ceases : the fourth joint of the feelers is about half the length of the third ; the fifth is as long as the fourth ; the sixth is much shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is rather more than twice the length of the sixth. I have found the full-grown viviparous wingless female on the maple in August, but its occurrence then and during the preceding month is uncommon : the body is rather narrow, but rapidly increases in breadth towards the hinder part : the back and the limbs are hairy, and the feelers are nearly as long as the body ; the fourth joint is much shorter than the third ; the fifth is very nearly as long as the fourth ; the sixth is not half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is longer than the fifth. Both the wingless and the winged viviparous females in October resemble those of the pre- ceding generations : the forehead is slightly convex, rather bristly, and has no tubercles at the base of the feelers : in the winged insect the seventh joint of the feelers is longer than the fifth : the third wing-vein sometimes sends forth its second fork before two-thirds of its length. The oviparous wingless female. This appears in the autumn, and when very young is pale yellow j it acquires its full size during October, and at an early period of the growth two deep green spots appear on the back, and afterwards there are two brown stripes along the back, having a buff space between them, and sending forth on each side a short branch to the border of the abdomen which is much broader than the chest ; these stripes are sometimes very uneven, or broken, or various in shade and in tint ; the colour of the whole body is also variable, being yel- low, or brown, or green varied with black, or almost black : it contains eight large full-grown eggs which quite fill the body even to the fore-chest : the abdomen is lengthened or drawn out towards Mr. F. Walker^s Descriptions 0/ Aphides. 451 the tip : the feelers are hardly half the length of the body ; the foui’th joint is much shorter than the third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the foiu’th ; the sixth is more than half the length of the fifth j the seventh is a little longer than the fifth : the fore- legs are not much shorter than the hind-legs ; the hind-shanks are slightly curved, tawny, and darker than the other shanks. The winged male. This may be found from the middle of Oc- tober till November : it is like the winged female with the excep- tion of the following particulars : — the abdomen is dark green, and has a row of large transverse black spots along its back, and one of black dots on each side : the feelers are thick till near their tips : the legs are yellow ; the hind-thighs from the middle to the tips, the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black. The feelers are scarcely hairy, and much shorter than the body; the fourth joint is much shorter than the third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is rather more than half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is as long as the fifth ; the wing-brand is irregularly spindle-shaped, and gradually widens soon after the middle of the wing ; the fourth vein springs from a little beyond the middle of its hind border ; the third vein is obsolete for some distance from its source, it is forked at one- third and forked again just after two-thirds of its length ; the second vein is also obsolete before its source : the legs are hairy ; their shanks are straight. Length of the body — 2 lines ; of the wings 4 lines. 22. Aphis Acericola, n.s. The viviparous winged female. Found on the sycamore at the end of May and in the beginning of June. The body is black, and rather long : the fore-border and the hind-border of the fore- chest are green : the abdomen is grass-green, and has a row of black spots on each side ; the disc of its back is black, but tra- versed by narrow green bands : the nectaries are black, and about one-fifteenth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow, and moderately long ; the feet are darker : the wings are colour- less, and much longer than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale yellow; the wing-brands are black; the veins are black. In other characters it resembles Aphis Aceris. Length of the body line ; of the wings 4 lines. Twelfth Group. 23. Aphis Populea. Aphis Populea, Kaltenbach, Mon. Pflan. i. 116. 90. Lachnus punctatus, Burm. Handb. Ent. ii. 93. 5. The viviparous wingless female. This insect sometimes occurs near London in the summer on the twigs of the Lombardy pop- 30* 452 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. lar, Populus dilatata, and of the willow-tree, Salix alba, vitellina and caprea ; it is fixed there in dense masses, and each row over- laps the one below it. Large companies of ants [Formica rufa) are continually passing up and down the trunks of the trees whereon it is stationed. The body is oval, rather flat, hairy, and of a very dull yellow colour, and thickly covered with gray pow- der : the front is broad and slightly convex : the feelers are seta- ceous, hairy, and much less than half the length of the body ; their tips are dark brown ; the fourth joint is less than half the length of the third ; the fifth is full as long as the fourth ; the sixth is little more than half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is much longer and more slender than the sixth : the mouth reaches the hind hips ; its tip is dark brown : there are six rows of dark spots along the back : the nectaries are yellow, and not more than one-twentieth of the length of the body : the legs are stout and rather hairy ; the fore-legs are much shorter than the hind-legs ; the feet, and the tips of the shanks and of the hind- thighs are dark brown : the body contains about twenty young ones of various size. The viviparous winged female. This has much resemblance to the viviparous wingless female : the sixth joint of the feelers is much less than half the length of the fifth : the discs of the head, of the chest, and of the breast are dark : the wings are colourless, and of moderate size ; the veins and the brand are tawny ; the rib-veins widen into irregularly spindle-shaped brands soon after the middle of the fore-border of the wing ; the first branch- vein is nearly straight ; the second is slightly curved ; the third is in- clined inwards, and forms two angles as usual ; its first fork begins after one-third, and the second at two-thirds of its length ; it ap- proaches very near its source before it becomes obsolete. Length of the body line; of the wings 3 lines. It is infested by an Aphidius, and is also devoured by the grubs of a Sgrphus and of an Agromijza. 24. Aphis Salicis. Aphis Salicis f Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. 736. 26 ; Faun. Suec. 995 ; Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat. i. 2207. 2210; Fabr. Syst. Ins. ii. 389. 46; Ent. Syst. iv. 219. 47 ; Syst. Rhyn. 301. 47 ; Reaum. Ins. iii. 281-350. t. 22. f. 2; Deg. Ins. iii. 50. 11; Schrank, Faun. Boic. ii. 1. 102. 1176; Rossi, Faun. Etrusc. 264. 1398; Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 131. 100; Ratz. Forst. Ins. iii. 218. 18. SalicifeXj Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 2“® serie, v. 480. The viviparous wingless female. Dull green, covered with white powder, rather flat, and increasing in breadth from the head till near the tip of the abdomen : there is a row of black spots on each side of the body : the sides are dull orange, and so disposed Mr. F. Walker^s Descriptions 0/ Aphides. 453 as almost to form a tubercle on each segment : the fore-chest is large : the middle chest is rather shorter : the hind-chest and the following segments are much shorter and of nearly equal size : the feelers are slender, almost filiform, pale green at the base, brown at the tips, and less than one-third of the length of the body : the eyes are brown ; the mouth is dull green : the nectaries are yellow, and about one-twentieth of the length of the body : the legs are dull green, long and stout ; the feet are brown. In the middle of April on the shoots of the willow. 1st variety. Dull olive-green, varied with browm. The viviparous winged female. The wings of this fly are un- folded before the middle of May : it is metallic black, and shghtly covered with gray powder : the fore-breast and the underside of the abdomen are grayish green, and the back of the latter has alternate bands of black and gray : the feelers are black, slightly setaceous, and hardly half the length of the body ; the fourth joint is much shorter than the third ; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is a little longer than the sixth : the mouth is dull green with a darker tip, and reaches a little beyond the base of the hind-legs ; the eyes are black : the nectaries are orange and extremely short : the legs are black, long and stout ; the thighs towards the base, and the shanks except their tips are dark red : the wings are colourless, and longer than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale yellow ; the wing-brands are long, and dull buff ; the veins are brown ; the rib-vein does not widen into the brand, but passes along its hind-border ; the first and the second veins are nearly straight ; the third is obsolete at its source, and is inclined in- wards, and forms two very slight obtuse angles where it throws off its forks ; the first fork begins soon after one-third, the second soon after two-thirds of the length of the wing : the legs are rather stout, and long, and hairy. Length of the body 2 lines ; of the wings lines. Thirteenth Group. Containing one species which seems to be always wingless. 25. Aphis Salicivora, n. s. The viviparous wingless female. The body is oval, flat, hairy, and yellow : the hairs on the sides of the body are very long : the front is hairy and slightly convex, and has no tubercles : the feelers are slender, setaceous, and nearly as long as the body ; the fourth joint is much shorter than the third ; the fifth is fully as long as the fourth ; the sixth is shorter than the fifth, and in- creases in breadth from the base to the tip ; the seventh is much 454 Mr. BlytVs Remarks upon specimens of Mammalia and Birds more slender than the preceding joints, and is rather longer than the fifth and the sixth joints together : the eyes are red, and rather prominent : the tip of the month is brown, and reaches the middle hips : the nectaries are very short, and not more than one-twentieth of the length of the body : the legs are rather short ; the tips of the feet are brown. 1st variety. The feelers are less than half the length of the body. The oviparous wingless female. The body is spindle-shaped, and contains two eggs : the feelers are rather less than half the length of the body : the hind-shanks are not dilated. The wingless male. It has a narrower body, and longer and stouter legs than the female : the body is nearly linear, and ob- tuse at the tip : the feelers are much stouter than those of the female , the fifth joint is shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is much shorter than the fifth. Length of the body line. Sometimes above eight hundred insects of this species feed together under a single leaf of the willow, S. caprea, from the beginning of May till the end of October, the latter month being " the time for the appearance of the male and of the oviparous female. [To be continued.] XL VIII. — Corrections of Critical Remarks on Mr. Gray’s Ca- talogue of Mammalia and Birds presented hy B. H. Hodgson, Esq., to the British Museum” Ann. and Mag. N. H. vol. xx. p. 313. By E. Blyth, Curator to the Museum of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. Page 313. Presbytis priamus does not inhabit Ceylon, but the entelloid group of monkeys is represented over the low northern half of that island by a peculiar species, of which Dr. R. Templeton (late of Colombo) has favoured me with a living adult male, which I have since figured and described by the name Pr. thersites, Elliot (J. A. S. B. xvi. 1271). I have given coloured figures also of Pr. entellus (verus), Pr. priamus, Pr. hypoleucos, Pr. Johnii, Pr. cephalopterus (three varieties of colour), Pr. pileatus and Pr. Phayrei. There is another large monkey in Ceylon, peculiar to the elevated and colder parts of the island*, which remains to be examined, but would seem to be very probably Pr. Johnii, which is common in the Neilgherries ; and Dr. Templeton assures me of the existence of a small monkey probably undescribed, — all additional to the w^ell-known Pr. cephalo- * See Major Forbes’s ‘Journal of Eleven Years’ Residence in Ceylon,’ ii. IH. presented by Mr. Hodgson to the British Museum. 455 pterus and Macacus sinicus (or the Wdndura and Kdlawi of the Cin- ghalese *) . The Tibetan Lynx I have since described by the name Felis isa- bellina : vide J. A. S. B. xvi. 1178. P. 314. For Sorex Perrotellii read S. Perrotettii. P. 317. Sylvia indica, Jerdon, proves to be my Phylloscopus gri- seolus, which must therefore now stand as Ph. indicus (Jerdon) : while my MS. udime jlaveolus (cited by Mr. Gray) refers to the spe- cies which was named Motacilla affinis by Capt. 4'ickeil. P. 319. For Staparola read Stoparola. P. 321. For Emberiza sinops read oinops. Mirafra assamica, M‘Clelland and Horsfield, v. Plocealauda typica, Hodgson, has another synonym (apud Jerdon), it being the Alauda mirafra, Temminck. P. 323. Phalacrocorax leucotis, nobis, is the Graculus sinensis (Lath.). P. 383. For Toontoonu (native name) read Toontoonee, or Tdntdni. P. 384. For Tas-feek (ditto) read Tao-feek. P. 386, 1. 14. After the word “ individuals ” insert of Halcyon srnyrnensis. I find that though many females of Palaornis pondicerianus are black-billed, others have the upper mandible coral-red as in the male, and some again imperfectly so ; the latter being probably a transitory stage from black to red. One in my possession had the upper mandible black for more than a year, when its colour changed rapidly to bright coral-red. P. 387 et seq. Jungle-fowls. A remarkable fact w^.hich I have ob- served both in the wild Gallus ferrugineus (Gm.), and in G. Sonne- ratii, is that for two or three months in the year (earlier in the former than in the latter species), the nuchal hackles are replaced by a growth of short blackish feathers, nearly as in a pheasant but devoid of brilliancy. This I have seen in no race of domestic fowls, not even in the hybrids produced between the male G. Sonneratii and a common hen ; the hackles of these, when shed at the moulting sea- son, being immediately replaced by others like them. In a curious small Malayan domestic cock I have (without wattles), the hackles fall and leave the neck quite bare for a season, giving him a rather singular appearance. Respecting the matrimonial arrangements of the wild G. ferrugi- neus, I have still been unable to satisfy myself whether they are mo- nogamous (as Capt. Hutton affirms) or polygamous to a greater or less extent. Capt. Tickell well remarks : *'* They dwell in such deep and tigerish jungles as not to be easily watched. I have met with the males and females,” he adds, “ indifferently together — commonly one male to three or four females. I remark however that just now * The Inuus silenus, which has been generally assigned to Ceylon, is un- known there in a state of nature, though inhabiting (as I have been assured) the neighbouring provinces of Travancore and Cochin, on the mainland of India. 456 Mr. Blythes Remarks upon some Mammalia and Birds. (February) the hens occur occasionally in little bevies by themselves ; and during a w^hole day’s search vre do not find more than a solitary cock bird, and then by himself. But these separations of the sexes are not proofs of monogamy or polygamy. The eggs are generally six to ten in number.” Early in January I came upon a party of eighteen or tvrenty (driven together at least out of the jungle by the beaters) ; and the sexes in this instance were about equal in number. Mr. Skipwith writes me word, that he has made inquiries on this subject of several shikdrrees, and was told that when the opportunity offers the cock is decidedly polygamous; “ and I suspect,” he adds, “ this must be the case, from a fact that has repeatedly come under my own observation when shooting, that in every covey of birds there are two or three hens to every cock.” Capt. Hutton states however that in the breeding season he has constantly found them paired ; but this seems to have been in places where the species was not very nu- merous, the few pairs being widely scattered. The following remarks on Jungle-fowl shooting may be here quoted from the ‘Bengal Sporting Magazine ’ (for May 1837) : — “ The Bhund Moorg, or Jungle-cock, is pretty generally known to Indian sportsmen. It is found in almost every part of the country where there is jungle. Being however exceedingly shy, and fre- quenting the thickest cover, an elephant is necessary for this sport, though an occasional bird may be shot on foot. They sometimes rise in pairs, affording an easy right and lefter, though likely to flurry a young sportsman on first coming across them. I have always found that, on beating for jungle-fowl, the best place is to take up a ])osition eighty or one hundred yards ahead of my coolies, and allow them to beat the birds towards me. They take a good charge of shot to kill them dead, and when they are only wounded will run a considerable distance. In this case, there is little chance of bagging the bird. On the Calcutta and Benares roads they are very plen- tiful, particularly at Oondah, Bancoorah, Chatua, Chundunkearee, Chass, and Goomeah — the last-named place especially. “ As the day breaks (on the line of march) you hear them crowing on all sides ; at this early hour venturing to the skirts of the jungle to feed in the grain and rice Khets, but appearing always on the qui vive, and on your approach they immediately disappear. When accompanied with chickens, the sportsman (?) has the best chance of success, as they seldom forsake their young, and the chuck, chuck of the old hen directs to the spot where they are. The weight of a jungle-cock is about S^lbs.” Such is the wild common fowl. The habits of one of the two Cingha- lese species are thus noticed by Major Forbes : — “ These Jungle-fowl are continually announcing their position by a shrill double call, which is somewhat like the cry of the partridge, but has no resem- blance to the crowing of a ‘ domestic ’ cock*. This call, when com- * The crow of G. Souneratii is exceedingly diflerent from that of G.fer- ri/gineuSf either wild or in any domestic variety, — a sort of charrdh-cha~ r'ulclia. Bibliographical Notices. 457 menced by one jungle-cock, is answered by every other within hear- ing ; then, with hostile intent and alternate sounds of defiance, they gradually advance to their morning combat ; they are even more pugnacious than their domestic brethren ; and I have seen jungle- cocks, when replied to (apparently in a very different dialect) from the fowl-yard, advance within its precincts, and give battle to its champions. In taste their flesh resembles that of the pheasant : in appearance, the males are like the common red dunghill-cock, only with more glossy plumage, and a yellow spot in the centre of the red upright comb ; the female is much smaller, and in colour resem- bles the heath-hen of the moors.” I know the species referred to by Major Forbes, and suspect it is that named G. Lafayettei ; being distinct from that of which the hen is figured in Hardwicke’s ‘ Illustrations ’ by the name G. Stanleyi, and which inhabits more elevated ground. The habits portrayed are very decidedly those of a polygamous species ; and (equally with those before cited of G . ferrugineus) vividly recal to mind those of the British pheasant. And G. Sonneratii will answer and defiantly crow against a common fowl, however widely different its voice, the same as the Ceylon species ; at least I speak of G. Sonneratii when tamed, but not domesticated, and which if he breaks loose is most readily recaptured by putting out a common domestic cock to entice him to combat. P. 393. Is not Turdus rvfulus, Drapiez, \e\modestus, Eyton, iden- tical with T. javanicus, Horsfield, vel concolor, Temminck } As regards the Lanins pheenicurus and L. super ciliosusy I may re- peat my observation that the colouring characteristic of the latter is peculiar to the Malayan bird, common as L. phoenicurus is through- out India ; but that what I now consider to be females or young m^es of the former are undistinguishable from the Indian L. phoenicurus. L. tigrinus is distinct altogether : and I may remark that I have lately described a beautiful new shrike from the Tenasserim pro- vinces, which is very nearly allied to L. Hardwickii. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Recherches sur les Animaux Fossiles, par L. de Koninck. Liege, 1847. {Premiere Par tie, Monographie des Genres Productus et Chonetes.) This is the first of a series of works entitled ‘ Researches on Fossil Animals,’ containing monographs of the genera Productus and Cho- netes. These works are intended to supply the geologist and natu- ralist with complete monographs of different genera, so as to embody in one volume all the species of a genus which are now more or less distributed through many periodicals, memoirs and transactions of Societies. The first part contains a list of 107 works and memoirs to which the author has referred in the subsequent pages. To this 458 Bibliographical Notices. succeeds an historical introduction and observations on the generic characters, with a classification of the species. A detailed descrip- tion of each species is given, to which is appended a very complete synonymy. From the geologic and geographic distribution which follows we extract a few notes. The number of species of Productus described amounts to 62, of which 4 are Devonian, 47 Carboniferous, 10 Permian, and 1 Triassic. Of the 47 Carboniferous species 35 only are found in the lower divisions, viz. : — P. striatus. — giganteus. — latissimus. — flexistria — mammatus. — arcuarius. — porrectus. — undatus. P. proboscideus. — genuinus. — Nystiaiius. — Medusa. — plicatilis. — Griffitbianus. — sublaevis. — Boliviensis. — expansus. P. coatatus. P. fimbriatus. — subquadratus. — Buchianus. — brachytbaerus. — Desbayesianus. — spinulosus. — marginalis. — Villiersi. — granulosus. — tessellatus. — Orbignianus. — Humboldtii. — Verneuilianus. — pyxidiformis. — Christiani. — Leuchteiibergensis. Not any species belongs exclusively to the middle division, al- though 7 are common to the lower and middle portions, viz. P. mar- garitaceus, undiferus, Flemingii,pustulosus, Keyserlingiams, aculeatus, mesolobus. The P. carbonarius is found only in the upper division. The P. Cora, semireticulatus , scabriculus and punctatus appear to have lived from the commencement to the close of the carboniferous period. It is interesting to observe that all the Devonian species have common general characters, and may be arranged in the same group (Caperati) ; a similar remark also applies to the Permian species, which, with the exception of three, are nearly all comprised in the group (Horridi), so that the latter group is almost composed of Per- mian species, the P. Orbignianus, P. Verneuilianus, being the only carboniferous forms ; and it is not a little singular, in consulting the table of classification (page 29), to find that the Permian species have a much greater affinity with the Devonian than with the car- boniferous, notwithstanding the considerable period which must have elapsed between their development. Under the geologic distribution of the genus Chonetes we find there are 23 species known at present, which number may probably be in- creased when the fossiliferous deposits of America, New Holland and Asia are more explored. Nevertheless the geological results to which the known species lead us are deserving of notice. From the obser- vations of M. de Koninck it appears (contrary to the opinion gene- rally admitted), that with the exception of one, not any of the 23 species pass from one system to another, or even from the lower to the upper beds of the same system. The following table shows their distribution in the different parts of the palaeozoic series : — Bibliographical Notices. 459 Silurian. C. striatella. — cornuta. Devonian. C. Falklandica. — sarciniilata. — dilatata. — crenulata. — liana. — setigera. — arrnata. — ininuta. — convoliita. Carboniferous. Permian. C. concentrica. C. variolata?? — papilionacea. — comoides. — Shuniardiana. — Dalmaniana. — sulcata. — Buchiana. — tuberculata. — variolata. — elegans. — Laguessiaiia, — perlata. From the inspection of the above table, it appears that the genus Chonetes attained its greatest development in the carboniferous system ; it is there also that the species present many varieties of form and are of the greatest size. This latter remark applies also to Productus, to which Chonetes is closely allied. However, the pro- portion in which this development has taken place is very different for the two genera. With regard to their distribution in time, the following conclusions are drawn from the table above quoted : the two Silurian species belong to the upper beds of the system ; in the Devonian system the C. Falklandica, sarchiulata and dilatata cha- racterize the inferior beds, the C. crenulata, nana and setigera are characteristic of the middle portion, and the G. arrnata, minuta and convoluta are found only in the upper beds of the same system. The C. concentrica, papilionacea, comoides, Shumardiana, Dalmaniana, sul- cata, Buchiana and tuberculata belong exclusively to the inferior beds of the carboniferous system, the C. elegans to the middle, and the C. Laguessiana and perlata to the superior beds of the same system ; and lastly, the C. variolata belongs to different carboniferous deposits, and appears even to pass into the Permian system. In a memoir of this nature, it is almost impossible to attain abso- lute correctness, more especially from the author not having had the means of verifying all the species from original or well- authenticated specimens ; independently, however, it is a work of great research, and will be of considerable value to the palaeontologist, in placing before him carefully executed figures of the species belonging to these two genera. The volume is in quarto, illustrated by 20 plates, and contains also an alphabetical, synonymical and chronological table of all the species. Monographia Heliceorum Viventium, sistens Descriptiones systematicas et criticas omnium hujus families generum et specierum hodie cogni- tarum. Auctore Ludovico Pfeiffer, Dr. Cassellana. Fasc. 1,2,3. Lipsiae, 1847-48. It is with great pleasure we announce the appearance of the com- pletion of the first volume of this excellent monograph, containing 460 Linncean Society. the Helices. 'J’he author gives moderately long and complete com- parative descriptions of 3 species of Anostoma, 2 Tomigerus, 24 Stre- ptaxis, Q Proserpina, and 1148 species of Helix, with their synonyma most carefully and completely elucidated. It forms one of the most important additions which have lately been made to the study of shells. Malacologically considered, the work must be regarded as a retro- grade movement : the author is a pure conchologist, belonging to the same school as Klein, Montfort and Schumacher, for he pays little or no attention to the animal, and even refuses to adopt genera formed on the study of them : if the same system was followed with regard to the marine mollusca, several groups which are now considered as families, each containing several generally adopted genera, must be reduced to a single genus. In the same manner, the immense num- ber of kinds of Helices are arranged together in an artificial manner, without any attention to their relation to one another, which is more to be regretted, as Ferussac in his ‘ Prodromus’ arranged the species which he knew in most excellent natural groups ; but Dr. Pfeiffer appears to be quite destitute of the faculty of distinguishing or cha- racterizing natural groups, though he describes the species so well. It was the remarkable union of these qualities in the same individual which so eminently distinguished Linnaeus, Jussieu and Lamarck from other naturalists, and causes the great value of their works. A large proportion of the species are described from the English collections, and where the author has not observed the species him- self, he quotes descriptions given by its original describers. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. LINN^AN SOCIETY. Feb. 15, 1848. — The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. Read a memoir “ On the early stages of the Development of Le- manea jiuviatilis, Agardh.” By G. H. K. Thwaites, Esq. Commu- nicated by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, F.L.S. Mr. Thwaites attributes the neglect of the early condition of this conferva to its having been confounded in this stage with Trente- pohlia pulchella /3. cJicdyhea, Harv., with which it is frequently found growing intermingled. He states that it may be observed in great abundance towards the end of November, covering the surface of stones with a uniform, dark olive, somewhat villous coating, and adhering with great pertinacity by means of its minute roots. The structure of the plant at this early stage is found to consist of nu- merous conferva-like filaments, of about a line in length and spa- ringly branched. Each filament is about y ^^q^th of an inch in dia- meter, and consists of a single row of cells, which are from 4 to 6 times longer than wide, and have a blue-green endochrome arranged Linna^an Society. 461 in a spiral manner, except in the terminal cells, where it is more abundant and gives them a darker colour. This stage Mr. Thwaites regards as analogous to the confervoid filaments which form the pri- mordia of a moss, or to the mycelium of a fungus ; and he adds that Kutzing has described and figured the early condition of Lemanea torulosa, Agardh, as very similar. From a cell near the base of this conferva-like structure a branch is given off, which at first differs apparently from the ordinary branches only in its cells being much shorter. This little branch increases rapidly in length and thickness from the multiplication of its cells by fissiparous division ; and to enable it to acquire a firmer support, a number of roots are given off from its base (in the same manner as in the phyton of a moss), and it is thus enabled to attach itself and maintain an independent existence. From this period it gra- dually puts on the well-known characters of the full-grown Le- manea. Mr. Thwaites believes that the study of the early development of the Algce would well repay the careful observer. He thinks it highly probable that very many of the structures now classed with the Pal- mellce are merely immature states of more complicated species ; but he recommends great caution in such investigations, as without a good microscope and a practised eye, very essential characters readily escape detection. Read also a portion of Dr. Buchanan Hamilton’s Commentary on the 9th Part of Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus. March 7. — The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. Read a memoir “ On Melianthece, a new natural order of plants, proposed and defined by J. E. Planchon, docteur-es-sciences.” Com- municated by the Secretary. After an introductory critical sketch, the author proceeds to com- pare together Melianthus, Diplerisma (a new genus founded upon Melianthus minor, L., and Mel. comosus, Vahl), Natalia and Ber- s ama ; that is to say, the four genera which he proposes to unite under the common name of Melianthece. This comparison includes chiefly descriptive details, of the results of which the following synoptical table will afford a summary view : — (^See the Table on pp. 462-3.) A glance at the characters suffices to show that those among them which are common to all the genera are also of undoubted primary importance in most natural tribes. So, for instance, the structure of the seeds, the relative position and numerical propor- tion of the floral parts, the position and even the shape of the disc, the pinnate leaves and the constant presence of stipules, are so many points by which the connection of these plants is established. Ad- mitting then the homogeneity of the order, the author proceeds to point out its more general affinities. Ord. MELIANTHE^, Planch. Linncean Society. 463 oj Fd.^ ^ -2 o .fep 33 S I 3 . s- O 43 • O O OJ — 4 -tJ ^ 4 O • P O CIS -2 4 4 4 3 4 CO 5 I- U P /-^ n >. S h fP O 4 33 o .2 -2 fl 4 CO 4 F^ O 4 g 4 o fC 2 4 -w fP ; o o ; ‘C '?H I O) 4 -U C+Fl CO f- 05 2'^ fS2 P“ 4 2-2 o:g P O) > O Pf^ F^ S p ® 3 j= « o s “r- S ^ ^ '5 C !P ■'3 ° 8 - 4‘,S?4 Pf^^ „4 I a fP fco S ^ ® 60 P P fP - CO 4) 4 P "p ‘f®! P F— I ^ o cs d id <-> *- '4 p 4 d • S 4 O 60 4 •fP ^ ffi <1 H o P 2 "p u 60 § -I i O) ^ ^ ^ u c« O * ■ §:2fP ^ C/3 C I g'lS.S-^ 8 - !-! a a P fP CO -P g p . fP a c. .-p ;p ^ p a- p ° !> P S-i ® -2 ^ c« ^ O O 00 'P ^ 4 o Ph^ X 2 5 a. 22s 2 a pJ S 8 . Pf P. 8 CO S 2 I ® o fP 2 p 4 -ij fP a p P 0^ O Pf g 4 a fP 2 >~» i< 'o3:§ ^p ?2 .2 .2 ‘2 ‘2 p ,p -M C+.I s.s Pf P 0-5 "p p p t>» a .g fP o 4 'P fP 60 4 SfP 4 •p p 8 c3 4 a rt oT 4 -p ^ "o :g 82 fco o is :.S 4 • ,fPf2'5 - 4 2 P 2 P T3 • p 4 P P F^ P S-c -M P fP c 60 Pulp Pu 61d" 1.2 J- o o i 2 bi a fP 60 2 ■“ H F^ 4 C3 4 P "rt o 4 !-f 4 -2 § g-o g’i £ 01^ ^ rS ^ 2 CO g -u) r? g 2 a.P -^-F§ ^ 0-: H ■ . 5 »> (M ■§ ^ ■s a ’5- 2 ® Sh O O O 00 <" 1; ., 4 fP a fTf, P fco o .sP P p P 2 8 -S rp ^ C« P O _, w CP 'P 'PffP 5 a 'P a 8'J2 2 jh 2 a .2 -5 #1. ^ P O P .^08 PfPf^ g 2 ' O fP P -K p .2 .2 '2 '2 p p '3 _ fP F73 60 p a fP O Pf 2 P P fP P S '® ^ Pf >. 60' f2 P rp p .fO -p cOPfOSPfP'S”^ P 2 3 o 8 a-F- V ^ vT 5 "c Q ) 5 O cq Bain. •Jiampues ‘iCau^JO ^ : i^ooioo : : : : : : : :r^: : 9 : i 9 r r 9 i | • { f f | r f i 9 9 ; f : 1 9 : 9 r • 40 d •ajiqs -saujianQ •uoisog : : : : : o o — : : : • : • *T tcN^oo : i ; 00 d •jiaiAvsiqo : : : : q? :9S9'-'-* •c^o^c^^^^oo— : o [DidiSiq3 ^ O X ^ ^ g ^ O ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 ^ ^ o* O • V ^ ^ S3* Thermometer. Orkney, Sand wick. •m*d fs coovooo ooo vO CO 00 6 •UI'U _ -■Id rt!(N .-'N -In _ifi rtlD 0-— ‘O-— •— -hqo-m— 1 1 00 yp CO Dumfries- shire. 1 — •r^oOiOCSmCNr^'^— — ■rOLOC^^•^OlOO 1 VO 1 •XBH _ _ -Id -Id -D -:-i t-^ 6 40 •Ul'B ^8 •uojsoa ip ip »p lO !>■ vb Chiswick. •UIK S. ;:X^22. S. ^ ^ osc^^o o 00 1 CO'Tt'CO'rf'^COC^COCOCOTf'^COOI'^'^COOOCO'^rt-^'^COCNOICOOICNOI 1 o vb 1 •XBK — t^— •c^'^'^oooTtt^'oooc-^ tO’^'ctir, LOIO^C lOtOiOiO'O U0OiOiOiOrOOVC 1 VO d do 40 Barometer. Orkney, Sandwick. ”i ^ ^ ^ '5i‘'^t>-t>-cor~ao.CO ‘P‘P'P7t*P90C ‘p'^ipipc^OO o o o^ooSto^o 6^o^6^6^c^c^c^6 6 c c^6^6^6^6^6 (NOJO<(N d ei t^cpcx’io ■^^‘p^i>.»p»p-^ipi^o>^p^--00 OOO O- lO o o^o o• CO LC to tO 0^ CO C^ O to 01 — CO 9>(pC»<»^9ipipcppiU0<^y:)t;^;»^i^^.^'^ « {£5^ 0101(N'MCNCN010)CN(N(NCNCJ01ciC ‘P‘P‘PTi‘01 o — d co-cttovd-r^cd oso — d co-ofio© r^oc cso _ — — ddddddddddco @ ^ o ^ Mean. 1 1 470 INDEX TO VOL. I. Acteonia, new species of, 403. Actinia, new species of, 34. ^gialitis, new species of, 430. Alder, J., on some new British species of nudibranchiate mollusca, 189 ; on a proposed new order of gastero- podous mollusca, 401. Alga3, on the mode of formation of spores in, 236, Alima, new species of, 226. Alope, characters of the new genus, 225. Althaea, new species of, 426. Amber, on the occurrence of fossil in- fusoria in, 397. Amici, Prof. J. B,, on the origin and development of the vegetable em- bryo, 49. Anacharis Alsinastrum, description of, 81 ; synopsis of the species of, 85. Anthonomus, on the British species of, 416. Anthracite coal, on the fossil vegeta- tion of, 157. Anticharis, new species of, 432, Antiopa, description of the new genus, 190. Ants, on the habits of some Indian species of, 147 ; on the habits of some English species of, 240, Apalanthe, synopsis of the species of, 87. Aphides, descriptions of, 249, 328, 443 ; on the migrations of the, 372. Aphodius, new species of, 143. Araneidea, on certain phaenomena in the physiology of the, 173. Astacus, new species of, 225. Atamisquea, on the genus, 384. Athalamia, characters of the new genus, 375. Athyreus, new species of, 386. Aulacoseira, characters of the new genus, I67. Babington, C. C., on Anacharis Alsi- nastrum, 81 ; on Sagina ciliata and Carex brizoides, 153. Baird, Dr. W,, on the genus Cypri- dina, 21 ; on Caligus Stromii, 396. Balfour, Dr., account of a botanical excursion to Braemar, Clova, and Ben Lawyers, 315. Basilosaurus, observations on, 246. Belemnites, observations on some, 388. Benson, W. H., on the genus Ptero- cyclos, 345. Birds, observations on some Indian, 454. Blackwall, J., on the physiology of the Araneidea, 173. Blyth, E., on some East Indian mam- malia and birds, 454. Books, new: — Sir R. H. Schom- burgk’s History of Barbados, 67 ; Broderip’s Zoological Recreations, 71 ; Rainey’s Experimental Inquiry into the Cause of the Ascent and Descent of the Sap, 73; Daly ell’s Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, 132, 311; Messrs. Gre- nier and Godron’s Flore de France, 374 ; Gray’s Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, 374; Koninck’s Monograph of the genera Productus and Chonetes, 457 ; Pfeiffer’s Monographia Pleliceorum viventium, 459. Botanical Society of Edinburgh, pro- ceedings of the, 236, 315, 464. Botiytis, new species of, 467- Boys, Capt., on the habits of some Indian species of ants and other insects, 147- Brachiolites, characters of the genus, 352. Broderip’s, W. J., Zoological Recrea- tions, noticed, 71- Brown, R., on an undescribed fossil fruit, 376. Bulimus, on the habits and geogra- phical distribution of, 270. Caladium distillatorium, obseiwations on, 188. Calandra, new species of, 107. Caligus Stromii, description of, 396. Campylodiscus, new British species of, 321. INDEX. 471 Cavex brizoides, occurrence of, in Great Britain, 154. Carter, H. J., on the species, struc- ture and animality of the freshwater sponges in the tanks at Bombay, 303. Cells, vegetable, on the multiplication of, 436. Cenia, new' species of, 404. Cephalites, characters of the genus, 270. Cephalopoda, on some fossil remains df, 388. Cereus, on a curious pligenomenon in the, 77. Characese, on the mode of formation of spores in, 236. Chitones, observations on, 228. Chonetes, observations on the genus, 457. Chorinus, new species of, 222. Clark, G., on some bullocks brought from the island of Lombach, near Java, 73. Cleome, new species of, 425. Coccinella, description of a new species of, from New Zealand, 66. Coleoptera, new, 66, 107, 142, 295, 386, 416. Confervae, on the development and composition of, 437. Cotswold Naturalists’ Club, proceed- ings of the, 140. ' Crotolaria, new species of, 428. Crustacea, descriptions of new, 221. Curculionidae, on some British species of, 295, 416. Cyclotella, new species of, 169. Cypridina, on the genus, with descrip- tions of new species, 21. Dalyell’s, Sir J. G., Rare and Remark- able Animals of Scotland, noticed, 132, 311. - ' Darling, G., on a singular anomaly in the history of the honey-bee, 318. De Jussieu, A., on the anomalous forms of dieotyledonous stems, 127. Denny, H., on the habits of insects, 75 ; on the habits of ants, 240. Diatomaceae, observations on the, with descriptions of new genera and spe- cies, 161 ; on some, found in the stomachs of certain mollusca, 322. Dickie, Dr. G., on the ovule of Eu- phrasia officinalis, 260 ; on Diato- maceae found in the stomachs of certain mollusca, 322. Dickieia, new species of, 171. Diurospermum, description of the new' genus, 381. Doubleday, E., on new or imperfectly described lepidopterous insects, 121; on the pterology of the diurnal Le- pidoptera, 379. Dougall, W. S., On the reproduetion of cryptogamic plants, 236, 238,465. Echium, new' species of, 431. Edgeworth, M. P., on a new genus of Lentibulariae, w'ith remarks on some Indian species of Utricularia, 381. Ehrenberg, Prof., on tw'o new genera of siliceous-shelled Polygastrica from Patagonian guano, 392; on the occurrence of infusoria in amber, 397 ; on some mieroscopic orga- nisms found in the stomach of a Peruvian freshw'ater fish, 465. Embleton, Dr. D., on the anatomy of ^ Eolis, 88. Embryo, vegetable, on the develop- ment of the, 49, 260. Entomological Society, proceedings of the, 141, 229. Entopyla, description of the new genus, 393. Eolis, on the anatomy of, 88; new species of, 191. Ephippiphora, characters of the new genus, 226. Euphrasia officinalis, on the ovule of, 260. Euterpe, new species of, 121. Falconer, Dr. H., on Athalamia, a new genus of Marchantiese, 375. Fauna of Ireland, additions to the, 62. Ferns, new species of, 326. Filices, on the reproduction of, 465. 'Fire-fiies of the tropics, on the, 268. Flea, on the metamorphoses of the, 316. Forbes, Prof. E., on some new fossil shells from Barbados, 347. Forskalea, new species of, 429. Fossil conchology of the great oolite of Minchinhampton, observations on the, 115. Fruit, fossil, some account of an un- described, 376. Gamboge, on the plants producing the, 155. Gaudichaud, M., on the growth of leaves, 274. Gebia, new' species of, 225. 472 INDEX. Geophilus longicornis, on the vene- niferous glands of, 140. Gnat, on the digestive apparatus of the, 241. Godron’s, M., Flore de France, no- ticed, 374. Gosse, P. H., on the insects of Jamaica, 109,197,268, 349. Grammitis, new species of, 327. Gray, J. E., on Chitones, 228 ; note on Porcupines, 246. Gray’s, A., Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, noticed, 37f Grenier’s, M., Flore de France, no- ticed, 374. Greville, R. K., on a new species of Spiridens, 325 ; on two new species of ferns, 326. Hancock, A., on the anatomy of Eolis, 88 ; on some new British species of nudibranchiate mollusca, 189 j on a proposed new order of gasteropo- dous mollusca, 401. Hemiptychus, description of the new genus, 392. Henfrey, A., on the progress of phy- siological botany, 49, 124, 180, 274, 436 ; on some points in the struc- ture and growth of monocotyledons, 180. Hofmeister, W., on the origin and de- velopment of the vegetable embryo, 60. Honey-bee, on a singular anomaly in the history of the, 318. Hope, Rev. F. W., on some new Co- leoptera, 142. Hydra tuba, on the history of the, 311. Hypera, on the British species of, 296. Iguanodon, discovery of the maxillary organs of the, 466. Infusoria, descriptions of some new genera of fossil, 392; occurrence of, in amber, 397 ; notice respect- ing some recent Peruvian, 465. Insects, on the habits of some, 75, 147, 159; on a new method of re- laxing, 144; notes on rare British, 141, 229; of Madeira, on the, 76; of Jamaica, 109, 197, 268, 349; on the formation and use of the air-sacs and dilated tracheae in, 383. Jansonia, description of the new genus, 235. Jeffreys, J. G., on some British mol- lusca, 239. Johnston, Dr. G., on a new British mould, 467. Jolie, M., on the Nummulites, 395. Kippist, R., on the new genus Jan- sonia, 235. Koninck’s, L. de, Researches on Fossil Animals, noticed, 457. Lagena, on the recent British species of, 1. Lampyridae of Jamaica, observations on the, 268. Larus Bonapartii, occurrence of, in Europe, 192. Leaves, on the growth of, 274. Leidy, Dr. J., on two new species of Planaria, 78 ; on a new subgenus of Planaria, 242 ; on a new genus and species of fossil Ruminantia, 389. Lemanea fluviatilis, on the early stages of the development of, 460. Lepidoptera, descriptions of new, 121; on the pterology of, 379. Leptalis, new species of, 122. Leymerie, M., on the Nummulites, 395. Limapontia nigra, description of, 402. Limeum, new species of, 429. Limobius, on the British species of, 300. Linaria, new species of, 432. * Linnaean Society, proceedings of the, 234, 375, 460. Locusts, note on some Indian species of, 148. Lycett, J., on the fossil conchology of the great oolite of Minchiuhamp- ton, 115. Lycopodiaceae, on the reproduction of, 465. Mammalia, observations on some In- dian, 454. Mantell, G. A., on some Belemuites and other fossil remains of Cejdia- lopoda, 388 ; on the Ventriculites, 435 ; on the discovery of the max- illary organs of the Iguanodon, 466. Marchantieae, description of a new genus of, 375. Marsileaceae, on the reproduction of, 465. Mason, Rev. F., on the gamboge of the Tenasscrim ]>rovinces, 155. Medusae, on the dcvclo{)ment of, 25. INDEX. 4-73 Meliantheae, observations on the new order, 461. Meloe, on the anatomy of the, 377- Meteorological observations, "J9, 159, 247, 319, 399, 468. Miers, J., on a new genus of plants of the family Burmanniaceae, 234 ; on the genus Atamisquea, 384. Mitscherlich, Prof., on the develop- ment and composition of Confervae, 436. Mohl, Prof., on the origin and deve- lopment of the vegetable embryo, 55. Mollusca, notes on rare British, 239 ; on the occurrence of Diatomaceae in the stomachs of certain, 322. , gasteropodous, on a proposed new order of, 401 ; new species of, 402. , nudibranchiate, new British spe- cies of, 189. Monocotyledons, on some points in the structure and growth of, 180. Morris, J., on a new species of Nau- tilus, 106. Mosses, on the reproductive organs of, 238 ; new species of, 325. Mould, on a new British species of, 467. Muller, K., on the origin and deve- lopment of the vegetable embryo, Muller, Prof. J., on Basilosaurus, 246. Mulsant, M., on a new species of Coccinella, 66. Nageli, M., on the growth of leaves, 275. Nautilus, new species of, 106. Newport, G., on the anatomy of the Meloe, 377 ; on the formation and use of the air-sacs and dilated tracheae in insects, 383. Notonecta glauca, on the habits of, 158. Nucula, new species of, 348. Nummulites, observations on the, 395. Nymphon, new species of, 227. Oleandi’a, new species of, 326. Onthophagus, new species of, 143. Ophiomeris, description of the new genus, 234. Orthoseira, characters of the new genus, 167. Otiorhynchus, on a new British spe- cies of, 302. Owen, Prof, on Mr. Cuming’s collec- tion of shells, 149. Pagurus, new species of, 224. Pfeiffer’s, Dr. L., Monographia Heli- ceorum viventium, noticed, 459. Phogocata, description of the new genus, 242. Pissodes, on the British species of, 295. Planaria, new species of, 78; on a new subgenus of, 242. Planchon, J. E., on Anacharis and Apalanthe, 85 ; on Meliantheae, 46 1 . Plants, rare British, 315; new species of, 425. , monocotyledonous, on the structure and growth of, 180. , cryptogamic, on the reproduc- tion of, 236, 465. Poebrotherium, description of the, 389. Polygastrica, on two new genera of, 392. Polypes, on the rapid growth of, 137. Porcupines, notes on, 246. Potatoe disease, remarks on the, 377- Potentilla, monstrous growth of a, 77. Pouchet, F., on the digestive appa- ratus of the gnat, 241. Productus, on the genus, 457. Pterocyclos, observations on the ge- nus, 345. Pyrophorus noctilucus, observations on, 200. Rafflesia Patma, observations on, 154. Rainey’s, G., Experimental Inquiry into the Cause of the Ascent and Descent of the Sap, noticed, 73. Reeve, L., on the habits and geogra- phical distribution of Bulimus, 270. Reid, Dr., on the development of the Medusae, 25 ; on a new species of Actinia, 34. Royal Society, proceedings of the, 388. Sagina ciliata, British haft tat for, 153. Salvia, new species of, 432. Scalaria, new species of, 347. Schizonema, new species of, 169. Schleiden, M., on the structure and growth of monocotyledons, 182. Schomburgk’s, Sir R. H., History of Barbados, noticed, 67 ; on some new fossil shells from Barbados, 347. Schonherr, Carl Johan, notice of the late, 397. Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 32 4-74 INDEX. Semanoptems, new species of, 142. Serpent tribe, on the extensibility of membrane and muscle in the, 394. Sertularia, on the development of, 136. Shells, on Mr. Cuming’s collection of, 149 ; descriptions of new species of fossil, 347. Shepherd, Prof. F., on the habits of Notonecta glauca, 158. Sinde, notes on the botany of, 420. Smith, J. T., on the Ventriculidae of the chalk, 36, 203, 279, 352; on some curious phaenomena in the night-blooming Cereus, 77- Sparganium ramosum, on the struc- ture and growth of, 181. Spiders, on the reproduction of lost parts in, 173. Spiridens, new species of, 325. Sponges, freshwater, on the structure and animality of the, 303. Stems, on the anomalous forms of dicotyledonous, 127. Stephens, S., on a new method of re- laxing insects, 144. Teschemacher, J. E., on the fossil vegetation of anthracite coal, 157. Thompson, W., on the fauna of Ire- land, 62 ; on the occurrence of the Bonapartian gull in Europe, 192. Thwaites, G. H, K., on the Diato- macese, with descriptions of new genera and species, 161 ; on the habits of Tinea granella, 234 ; on the early stages of the development of Lemanea fluviatilis, 460. Tinea granella, on the habits of, 234. Treviranus, Prof., on the anomalous forms of dicotyledonous stems, 124. Tritonia, new species of, 191. Tropiphorus, on the British species of, 301 . Tubularia, on the development of, 134. Utricularia, on some Indian species of, 381, Ventriculidae of the chalk, on the classification of the, 36, 203, 279, 352. Ventriculites, observations on the, 435. Vicary, Capt. N., on the botany of Sinde, 420. Walker’s, F., descriptions of Aphides, 249, 328, 443; on the migrations of Aphides, 372. Walton, J., on the genera of insects Pissodes, Hypera, &c., 295 ; on the genus Anthonomus, 416. Westwood, J. O., on the common flea, 316 ; on the potatoe disease, 377 ; on some new species of Athy- reus, 386. White, A., on an apparently new sub- genus of Calandridse, 10/ ; on some new or little-known Crustacea, 221. Williamson, F., on Caladium distilla- torium, 188. Williamson, W. C., on the recent British species of the genus Lagena, 1 ; on a new British species of Cam- pylodiscus, 321. Wollaston, T. V., on the insects of Madeii’a, 76. Wright, Dr., on the veneniferous glands of Geophilus longicorais, 140. Xenocarcinus, characters of the genus, 221. Zebrida, characters of the new genus, 222. Zollinger, M., on Ratflesia Patma,154. Zoological Society, proceedings of the, 221. Zoophytes, hy droid, observations on the, 133. Zygophyllum, new species of, 427. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. Jr Mag. Mat Mist. S 2. Vol V.IL.l. ArmJ'Mai^. S.ZN,• ('. Sovrrhi A./lnnrork rie! ^innJc Mcuf. Nat. Hist. S 2. VoLL I’l.V. (tc7. V. Dc C Sotrerh} j; Ann. k 2fag. Nat. Eist. S.2. Vol. i . Pl.U. Ann.Jc Mm Nat. Hist. S. 2.\ollI‘L VII. J.l^f.C.i ^cu'erh r .k . Am.k Mag. y at. Hist. SM. \oj. I /V VfU. Anackari.c Al.snnastmm ■ t tV^.SuLUr dr/et J'c. A;m ,i S. 2. Yoll. FllX. S p{LT^ tuLtum. rcumosujn J.Dt.C Sofrcrbj' Ann.&. Mag.]^at. Eist. S. 2 EoiXFl X . tf IK;. , Arni A: Mist X-?. VoU 7? X/. A G H KT .^,/' ^^.Pe.C Si>ur/'/)f' Kfc E Ann. A' Mag. Nac. Mist. S.2. Vol.1. Fl.JU. rUI K T. dd J.DfC. Soweriy scf 1 'iiwOTW n '■**: ift#!:; v/ ^ ’. J<'/(VvZ;- ov ^ / '/i t/l/iit 1! A'liut/i t/f/ . Ajul. k AhwSoL Eut. S. 2. VoLI n.XLV. ■iMii ^ /J/‘J'.S,'i‘i r/'< J .J’l'ljlin/ri I'intitfy rf^f. Arm. X- Ihq. Nat. Hist. S. 2. \ oil , HI. NT. / Tou/f/ij/i A'/iut/i /•/<"/. Ami .f- )Iiig A\it. Hist. S. 2 . W»l.l. //. . Wl. ^ l'A\tW C r0?^f^i c '^'^‘“W^i SSII / /'. uJiiiin Smi/h iln <•/■/> f -rr.' J Jf C Sonerbr.v‘ .AJUI.& S2. \o\Ln.WJl (yrammitis NtrAfunJes Ann X Nat. Hist. S. 2 . Vol 1. PI. XVlU. J)' ( ire n/Zf . J.De C. So»vf' 2fJer- VdiK.XlX. I'rvQted hj R-olfmaudel & Walton. ^bm.S. Ma^.Nat.Sist. S.2. V0II.//XX. /. Uu/u nrk »/v 1 W -k 1 / 7 ' — .9 I (H-15STD UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS- URBANA C001 OF NATURAL HISTORY$ 505ANSER.2 annals and magazine 1 1848 3 0112 00911 7na/i